I’ve been working at Ovalhouse this Month. My Dramaturg, Sarah Dickenson, suggested I write everything that happened as I went deaf, leading up to having the cochlear implant, and after I was switched on. I wrote a 23,000 word draft, so that we had the scaffolding for the show. This was painful to write!
It feels good to be generous and then ruthless with the material (I cut it down to 6,000 words in two days!). The material is my own life. Editing is my favourite part of the writing process. It’s the fun part, where the best ideas happen.
We’re adding and subtracting all the time. Rachel Bagshaw, outside eye director on this R&D, joined our script meeting this week. She had marvelous ideas about the layers of the story and Sarah and Rachel bounced off each other and me getting closer to what the story is about. It is about a lot. It is complex, so these dramaturgy meetings have been crucial and exciting.
I’m loving getting to know the Ovalhouse team. It’s a wonderfully open and welcoming environment. I met other Deaf artists (DLive), here this week, working on their Jack O’ Kent FiRST BiTE scratch. I also bumped into Joseph Mawle. Happy deaf awareness week!
You can book to see my scratch performances at Pulse Festival 1.50pm on 1 June (Ipswich) and Ovalhouse 12-14 July at 7.30pm.
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