Next week, my new short play, You're So London, opens alongside four others at the Creed Street Theatre in Wolverton just outside Milton Keynes. Produced by Carabosse Theatre, the play features in the Real Ale and Drama Shots pub theatre night.
Four people are going through a divorce and, although they are still in love, they have to leave their one true lover. A romantic Scottish womaniser, a sassy Chelsea flirt with a love of fine dining and champagne, a northern high-flying businessman and a small-town American gal with a lot of shoes are all packing their bags to leave the one city they love too much. They are just not as London as they thought. I told you it was short.
I hope it might be a little bit funny. The play is directed by the delectable Caz Tricks and has a really super cast and I'm so, so pleased that the play is being worked at my local theatre.
The Creed Street Theatre is in the heart of the old railway town of Wolverton and is an independent fringe venue providing a range of new, professional, experimental artistic performances, events and experiences for local audiences. The 1908 Grade II listed building began life as the St.George's Institute and Sunday School. It is over a century on and the theatre still boasts it's original proscenium arched stage as well as many other stunning preserved and, also, restored historic features.
It is the chosen platform for local independent theatre and it is a staple of the cultural community in and around Milton Keynes, which it so marvellously serves. This incredible, upcoming venue hosts enthralling theatre to ground-breaking film, creative learning to emerging art. I first remember the venue under the it's previous guise as MADCAP - While at school, I did my two weeks work experience there and, in a bear costume I found in the attic, I sang a rather hideous rendition of 'Memory' from Cats, luckily, to an empty auditorium.
Preservation, community and sustainability are at the heart of this all-encompassing arts centre. All the profits raised are re-invested into the fringe programme and an important phase of development for the theatre, which is to come.
The beating pulse of the Creed Street Theatre is it's resident theatre company, Carabosse. First introduced to me by the director of my last play, Dan Phillips. Carabosse is an extraordinary collective of bloody talented actors and an equity card - all from the local area. Established by Sally Luff, this is a group of perfectly marvellous passionate persons. Having got to know this group, I have seriously fallen in love.
I am not an experienced playwright but never before, during a rehearsal or production process, have I felt as though I am apart of a family. Carabosse Theatre Company is an eccentric family.
And you have a chance to be apart of that family too by coming to see their new show, Real Ale and Drama Shots 2, open next Thursday (21st November) and runs until Saturday (23rd November) at the Creed Street Theatre in Wolverton, Milton Keynes.