tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88741565652412848362024-03-19T01:02:29.352-07:00Zoё MurtaghMouth fluff about stuff. Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874156565241284836.post-66668935916361802472017-03-22T08:20:00.001-07:002017-03-22T08:20:52.236-07:00OMGWHATHAVEIBEENDOINGFORTHELAST10MONTHS<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How are you? And I mean that as a genuine <i>‘how are you?’ </i>not a ‘<i>what are you up to right now?’ </i><b>How are you?</b> Drop me a message and let
me know, maybe if you’re northern based we can go for a coffee (I drink coffee
now, I am a new woman. I know this is not world bending news but as an avid
tea-drinker, I never thought I might partake in a coffee or two a day.) and
talk about it more (unless you’re a murderer then fuck off). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently took part in a project with Coney in Hexham along
with 5 other fantastic local artists. The car rides home were just as fruitful
as the sessions, as Millie Harris & Kat Pierce of Theatre Hoodang fame &
I courageously, selflessly and hilariously embarked on single handedly (triple handedly?)
addressing the fact that as artists, in our experiences, we are often only ‘semi-honest’
with ourselves and each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SO on the theme of honesty, I thought I would finally use
this blog that has been rotting away in the depth of a garish floral square of
the net to be honest about a few things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I haven’t used this platform in a very long time, I may
just skim over a few things I hope to cover in more detail in a future post. On
that note, I am making a March resolution right now, that I am going to aim to
update this blog post weekly (or at least fortnightly), at least until my
website is finished. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read on for clumsy explanations, excuses, provocations and
ponderings on why this hole in the internet has been absent of my ramblings for
so long. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HERE GOES! SINCE MY LAST POST IN MAY 2016 (!!!!!!!!) I …<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>Am in a
new relationship</b> with someone who I’m not going to talk about on this area
of the internet but does make AMAZING homemade pizza. Like seriously, why would
I blog when there is dough-a-flippin’ in the kitchen????<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>TOOK ‘SACRE
BLUE’ TO EDINBURGH FRINGE.</b> This will almost definitely be a follow up blog
post as it literally threw me off my practice for about 3 months and made me
question EVERYTHING. I think under the circumstances, me and Tory made a really
fun show that effected lots of people in lots of different ways and I am proud
of the way that this work engaged with certain groups of people. There is also
a whole load of other stuff that comes with this being my first solo work and
something that was being a closely watched process by a lot of different people
and I am not in a rush to revisit this show again any time soon. That being
said, this was a really pivotal time in exploring what voice it is that needs
to be put out into the world and I am grateful to all the people that helped
make this happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>MADE
& TOURED ‘THE LAMPPOST PETITION’. </b>This is the show that I did talk
about in my last post almost a year ago. I had an absolute bloody BLAST making
and touring this piece. I worked and collaborated with so many wonderful older
people, chatted to so many great charity and social workers, had a brilliant
team and a great time making this work as part of ‘Bridging the Gap’ scheme. This
piece is the most completed out of all my previous works but still has stuff to
be done to it. I am looking to tour this piece again VERY SOON. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>GOT A
CHRONIC CONDITION THAT MAKES ME VERY VERY TIRED & UNABLE TO WORK IN THE WAY
I WAS PREVIOUSLY </b>(BUT on the bright side and in the spirit of adapting
& not getting too down about it I also…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>BECAME AN
ASSOCIATE ARTIST OF ARC STOCKTON. </b>Yay! Honestly, this venue and the people
that make it are so so bloody important. Their ethos is just bang on and I am
at my happiest working there and with them. This is what an arts centre
should/could and can feel like. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>MOVED
INTO A NEW STUDIO. </b>After realising that working from home was totally counterproductive
as I am absolutely and irrationally obsessed with Undercover Boss USA, I spent
a little bit of time hot-desking in the wonderful Greyscale Studio at Breeze
Creative’s Bamburgh House. This was super lush as it proved to me that I
absolutely do work better in a ‘place of admin work’. And then a studio became
available at Space 6 in Commercial Union House where I could work surrounded by
other great makey-people. So now I have my own space that I have spent the last
couple of weeks painting, organising, wiggling round AND creating in. I bloody
love it, I feel like a proper adult here. But in a cool ‘I can use this fancy
hot water machine thing’ way rather than a scary ‘wtf is a tax return’ way. The
amazing Amy Golding (Curious Monkey) and super lush Maria Crocker (The Letter
Room) are currently waving at me through the window on their route to the
kitchen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>SPENT A
LOT OF TIME LEARNING. </b>I’ve been trying to break away from my usual
technique of WHACKING OUT A HUGE METAPHORICAL KNIFE AND STABBING IN THE DARK
WHILST RUNNING AROUND SCREAMING and actually spend some time learning,
workshopping and listening. I had a brilliant 2 days in Manchester with
Scottee, a fab 2 days in York with York Theatre Royal & the Young Vic, an
energising time in Hexham with Coney as well as taking part in
workshops/discussions and surgeries more locally, in addition to helping
artists earlier in their career than me and broadening my reading lists and
inspirations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>BEEN
WRITING. </b>Short texts, manifesto’s, scripts, nonsense. All of it. Except
blog posts, obv. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>STARTED
PERFORMING AT SPOKEN WORD NIGHTS AGAIN. </b>As part of my own political
activism I performed some poetry at Wearside Women in Need event in Sunderland,
and out of this I have started performing a bit more locally. I also performed
a piece about Brexit in Manchester as part of ‘True Tales: Undivided’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>BEGAN
CREATING A NEW PIECE. </b>‘<i>Will there be
stew…?’ </i>is a piece I am currently in the early early stages of exploring.
It is a sort-of follow up to <i>The Lamppost
Petition </i>and will be looking at themes of heritage, home and Irish
identity. I am absolutely buzzing because ARC have set me up with Deborah
Pearson who is INCREDIBLE and she will be mentoring me throughout this process.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><b>MAKING A
WEBSITE. </b>So I actually have some form of online presence outside of cat
memes on twitter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There ya go. That’s about it really. Oh yeah and <b>trying to ignore the fact that the world is
floating around like a crouton of despair in a soup of global chaos whilst
still playing my small part in making it tastier. </b>I don’t really know where
I’m going with that metaphor but basically as you’ll all be more than aware of
- things are odd right now & it’s hard to keep your head up when there’s so
much to be done and it seems never ending. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what’s next? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->I’m performing an early collection and gathering
of ideas at <b>GIFT Festival</b> (Gateshead
International Festival of Theatre) on Friday 28<sup>th</sup> March. This will
be in the form of a site specific live art durational performance at St Mary’s
Heritage Centre and is free and open to all. I’ll also be performing my Brexit
poem as an opening act for another piece of work the following day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->I’m working on a cabaret performance. Hopefully
going to be working with Mother’s Ruin at ARC Stockton to create a short piece.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->I’m working with another live artist to explore
themes of happiness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->I’m working with Coney and other local artists
to create a piece for Hexham. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hopefully write again before another 10 months passes. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chat
soon bbz. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">xoxoxoxo</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00it6FXKXVF3lS5ZlFvcpWFdq4YnO_DpjKaptLTwuVF3XryRn1rV2EgQFKSeBGeTu2n70TB2MyugrVkpp2GTDo-mbdFfy5Ruv4lN-tPsFCdgD7O0oQO-KT1iSRWjzkJpTHy_vGhWFBJmC/s1600/picturesbybish.com-30.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00it6FXKXVF3lS5ZlFvcpWFdq4YnO_DpjKaptLTwuVF3XryRn1rV2EgQFKSeBGeTu2n70TB2MyugrVkpp2GTDo-mbdFfy5Ruv4lN-tPsFCdgD7O0oQO-KT1iSRWjzkJpTHy_vGhWFBJmC/s640/picturesbybish.com-30.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874156565241284836.post-39345876290923480182016-05-10T08:44:00.002-07:002016-05-10T08:49:02.134-07:00The Lamppost Petition<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">H</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">iya, </span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm making a new show called 'The Lamppost Petition' - this title is taken from a story that my Nana told me. I would tell you the full story now but I'm saving it. Although, if you ask me about it in person, I will tell you the whole story from start to end without taking a breath. </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a piece about the things you never said and the
questions you always wanted to ask. It’s the photograph you carry round in your
purse and the sound of that song that tastes like apple pies (apples from the
garden back home, you know?) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taking a look at aging as a social, political and personal issue, 'The Lamppost Petition' is going to be a performance about family histories, yarn bombers, Worther's Originals and how maybe we could do a bit more to support the older people in our lives. An examination of the stories given to us by our grandparents, and how these change as these people begin to leave the world... And a celebration of all the badass over-60's doing rad shit everyday. (Like these wonder women pictured below - who MAY or MAY not be Over 60.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MHSNPViU-uBxMQX_-o7bOsShcWJSP84Q4PoPZJ_NcZkjq9jRRbEbaCFYDS2TtUQK8fUCANnNyh6xEb_p4jiXS9mDPLPCto3TUpfYERbK7Umemh0dP9KZdRurA417QHM3qHTKua9oT2W-/s1600/This+Picnic+is+Political.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #666666;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6MHSNPViU-uBxMQX_-o7bOsShcWJSP84Q4PoPZJ_NcZkjq9jRRbEbaCFYDS2TtUQK8fUCANnNyh6xEb_p4jiXS9mDPLPCto3TUpfYERbK7Umemh0dP9KZdRurA417QHM3qHTKua9oT2W-/s400/This+Picnic+is+Political.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Note: I am looking to identify the women in this picture in the hope to chat to them during the making of this show. This photograph was taken by me on the 4th October 2015 at the Take Back Manchester protest during the Tory conference. If you know who these women are, or someone who may do, please give me a nudge. If you somehow happen to be reading this and you are one of these women - HI! I hope you don't mind I've splashed your image all over the place and please say hello.)</span> </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm making this show with the help of the North East Artist Development Network's (NEADN) 'Bridging the Gap' scheme, and this show will be touring to four venues in the North East in Autumn 2016. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(More info about the two projects selected for BTG <a href="http://narcmagazine.com/news-north-east-theatre-makers-selected-for-bridging-the-gap/" target="_blank">here</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'll be making this show with help from charities and older people's organisations Equal Arts, Search Newcastle and Contact the Elderly and through these connections will be chatting to lunch clubs, knitting groups, bollywood dancing groups, choirs and (hopefully!) some people involved in CREE project (tbc). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking at my own family history that stretches from Italy to Ireland to Retford, Nottingham and Newcastle, I'll be doing some weird stuff with paper and teabags. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>ARC Stockton</b> - Tues 20th & Weds 21st September</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Live Theatre, Newcastle</b> - Weds 22nd & Thurs 23rd September</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Custom's House, South Shields</b> - Weds 28th & Thurs 29th September</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Maltings, Berwick</b> - Friday 30th September</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The show will be accompanied by an installation where participants are invited to sit with me, have a cup of tea (or coffee if that's your jazz) and a biscuit and have a natter. There will be 'provocations' and questions on coloured strips of paper and the idea is that together we create a huge and ever-growing paper chain of memories, quotes, advice etc. A tea party without the twee but with the sweet sensation of satisfaction, sharing and storytelling. I will be trialing this installation at <a href="https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/remembertheperson" target="_blank">Dementia Awareness Week</a> at ARC Stockton on Tuesday 17th May. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, if you would like to chat to me about aging, grandparents, family stories, the affect of our current government on the needs of older people or anything else (within reason!) then please get in touch. I will be holding a series of one-to-one and group chats and would love to hear as many family stories, accounts from grandparents/grandchildren/health-workers/individuals etc etc etc etc as possible. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Recently whilst facilitating a series of 'Creative Age' drama workshops for people living with early stages of dementia and their carers, I mentioned this project to them and they all began to sing this song (<i>George Formby - Leaning on a Lamppost</i>). So here it is for you to enjoy! </span></div>
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Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874156565241284836.post-1514219012643608612016-05-03T05:33:00.002-07:002016-05-03T05:33:46.456-07:00Some Thoughts on 'Get Yourself Together'<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Get Yourself Together’ by Josh Coates, Anna Ryder & James Varney<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was ummhing and ahhhing whether to post this but here it is. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a post that I’ve wanted to write for a while. A
piece I had to ask Josh Coates’s permission to write. Not just because he’s a
fellow artist, but also because he’s ma boyf. I first saw ‘Get Yourself
Together’ in early preview form at Royal Exchange’s Swan Street studio in
Manchester. This was the second time I had seen Josh perform, the first time I
had been in the same room as his family and the day that we decided to stop
messing about and confirm our relationship status (oooh err). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What struck me most about the performance is how open and
honest and truly charming Josh is, and I’m aware that there is no possible way
this can be said in any way objectively. After the preview, I wandered
backstage to give him a hug, and say well done, and he was tucked away in the
corner of a corridor in the ‘backstage’ area of the studio hugging his Mum and
talking about his Granddad. I stood there awkwardly looking in their direction for
longer than was probably appropriate. In fact it was probably a bit creepy. I
had a ‘Where’s Wally’-style red & white stripy top on so I was not very
subtle. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought maybe this was what we
did now. Wait backstage for each other after our performances, alongside family
members to say ‘Well Done’, slap on the back, kiss on the cheek. But it soon
became clear that this moment was not for us. It was for Josh and his lovely
Mum. And I’m glad I tiptoed backwards out of the room (again, creepy), and went
to help myself to the free wine and breadsticks (?!?!?!?!) and make chit chat
with Josh’s friends, who were very soon to become my friends (MUAHAHA.) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see, that day, Josh, Anna Ryder (Director of the piece
& one of my most bestest friends) and James Varney (Dramaturg and one of my
most lovely newest friends) made a huge step onto what I’m sure has been an
incredibly tough, empowering and rewarding journey. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since this day in 2015 (31<sup>st</sup> July), I have seen
Josh perform extracts of the show at a showcase in Elsmere Port, and the full
version/final preview at The Custom’s House in South Shields. And it was this
performance in this little town at the North East coast that made me want to
write this piece, because this was the time that the performance changed
something in me. This was the time when regardless of Josh being my boyfriend
and Anna & James being my friends, the performance drop-kicked me in the
most joyous and devastating way. This was the performance that a bulk of the
previous development work had been leading up to, and it was bold, beautiful,
angry, funny and ...‘lingering’. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For this performance Josh was both my boyfriend on stage and
a complete stranger, both a friend and an educator, both someone that I care
for and someone so earth-shatteringly angry. None of these things are mutually
exclusive. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The company are asking for change. They are telling you the
facts, the figures, how it makes them feel and what these feelings manifest as
(lots of paper and vegetables in your eyeballs). And it was this most recent
time of seeing this material that I wanted to help make that change. Not that I
didn’t agree with Josh’s stance on the issues back in July, or that I didn’t
feel engaged with the work then because of course I did, but now it’s different.
It’s different because in the past few months, as the political, social and
personal factors of the subject matter the show confronts has been shifting,
the material and performance has been shifting too – the piece growing as the
issues swell, the performance defining and asserting itself in a place where
using this stance, this space, this voice is of the upmost importance. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the performance I cried. If I was not Josh’s
girlfriend I probably still would have cried. But because I am, I cried more
(probz). Also I just really love crying. After the performance... I cried
(obvs). I cried because I knew that this 55-odd minutes of theatre had made
something happen. Not just for me but for everyone else in the room. It made
you laugh and then think ‘...fuck’. It made you play ‘catch up’ just to stop
you in your tracks. It doesn’t tell you exactly what to do but that’s okay
because whatever you do end up doing as a result of this work is probably going
to be with them. But it makes you want to DO SOMETHING, even if it is just a
hug or a handshake or a chat on the way out, which is what most of the South
Shields audience did. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in advance of the performances at Royal Exchange (Studio)
and Northern Stage (Stage 3), I urge you in the most biased yet genuine way to
see this work, as no doubt the vote the day/(s) before will have charged the
performance even more. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that maybe this is what we do now. Not just me &
Josh, but all of us. We are learning when to (creepily) tiptoe out of the room
and towards the bar, and when to shout about what you’ve seen and
compartmentalise the effects this has on us, as individuals, as activists, as
artists, as normal human beings, as boyfriends and girlfriends and friends and
peers and voices. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t say whether I will cry again on Friday, whether I
will laugh at the jokes in the same way or whether I will take it in my stride
in a way that I have previously been unable to. But I certainly will cherish
the moments of sharing, the chaotic moments of punk explosion, the tenderness
of the relationship with the audience and the energy of action. And as an
artist, best friend, new friend, girlfriend, cat-lover and person, I am proud
to have seen the progression of this work and hope it can be experienced by as
many people as possible, even though by the time you see it, it will have
changed yet again. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, get yourself a cuppa. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Zoe xx</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Get Yourself Together at Royal Exchange Manchester - 6th & 7th May - Tickets here: <a href="http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/get-yourself-together" target="_blank">http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/get-yourself-together</a> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Northern Stage, Newcastle - 24th & 25th May - Tickets here: <a href="http://www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/Get-yourself-together%C2%A0" target="_blank">http://www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/Get-yourself-together </a></span></div>
Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874156565241284836.post-8037644570339694252015-11-17T16:03:00.001-08:002015-11-17T16:03:04.342-08:00Cob Blog<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's another one of those posts I do that is more like a big list about me trying to process life/work stuff late at night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I want one of those ones that makes your teeth ache. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You know, the ones that suck your thoughts out of your brain through a curly straw and then restructures them into something translatable, like bubbles?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of those ones that whispers to you, looks you straight in the eye then slaps you round the face and runs away. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I want one that shouts your name and then hides behind corners so you can't quite catch a glimpse. One that has a voice so strong you can still hear it through a hurricane that shares it's name with a middle aged condiment specialist. (Janet? Timothy? Violet? Sticky Stu?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It doesn't tippex out the bits it doesn't want you to see. It doesn't make a fuss out of addressing you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It doesn't ask if you're going anywhere nice on your holidays next year. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's a furry animal and it doesn't give a flying fuck if you are allergic to it. It invites you in for a cup of (ethically sourced) tea. It offers you the comfiest chair, whacks the heating on because you are company and it would be rude not to. It is the only place where you can still get those biscuits that your Nan used to have when you were 5 and even though you knew they were from Poundland you could never find them anywhere else but they're here now and it wants you to have all of them and eat until you feel sick and happy and then a bit mad at yourself and then just full. It'll tuck you up in fresh sheets with just the right amount of pillows but it won't lie to you about the monsters in the wardrobe so don't you dare leave one leg hanging out. It remembers what the cold side of the pillow feels like. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It doesn't mind if you don't listen but it demands your full attention. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It wants you to love it but deep down it's really looking forward to a fight. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It takes sick days. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yeah... a good old fight. It's heart is in the right place but it also wants to drop kick you just to see what happens. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's accent changes slightly every time depending on who it's speaking with because it likes to be accommodating and understands that not everyone calls bread rolls 'cobs'. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's the most optimistic pessimist you'll ever come across. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It always runs for the bus and it always catches it. But then it has to stand. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's the type that old men smile at when it carries flowers down the street. The type that teenagers won't fess up to liking, that's when it know's it's on to a winner. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's tried cross stitch but it doesn't have the patience so it filled a box with silly string, wrapped it up and wrote your name on the tag in it's best handwriting. (It took evening classes in calligraphy but hasn't mastered the fountain pen.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Are you bored yet?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It never asks that but it's always implied. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There is no wrong answer but it knows the one closest to right. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Shurrup ya twat. (It says.) ... Go on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's a pointless answer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A phantom wee. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hit it in the chest, 10 points. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's always the Beyonce but won't ignore Michelle. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's that song that goes duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duhhh... You know the one? Like duh duh duh duh duh duhhh.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's what would happen if Mary Poppins jumped into a Dali painting by accident. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A cinnamon roll. Tinfoil chewing gum. Wires made out of spaghetti that you can't find the end of but that'll knit you a bloody nice cardigan. Playdough under your nails but in your favourite colour. It ages you by decades but makes you feel young. Silly similies. Death Metaphor. Anthropompomorphism. Imagery that doesn't quite pin the tail on the moose. That one about the mood being like the weather that has fallacy in it. (gust of wind.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just random words squished next to each other really but take from that what you will. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Is it easier to describe what it's not? Who cares. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Warm custard in a holey boot. Holey as in has holes in it. But that's just because it's saving space for you. Room for a little one?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dunno what work I wanna make. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dunno what sort of work I like to see. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It saves the cheese sauce just before the point of curdle. It gets confused between pulling the trigger and a trigger warning. It gets up early to walk the dog but it won't make sense until after a coffee. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I want one of those ones please. </span><br />
Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874156565241284836.post-62734270405409714972015-08-17T15:40:00.003-07:002015-08-17T15:40:50.497-07:00A really long post where I talk about nothing really but use the word 'PLONK'<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I liked the moment when the actor said 'fuck' and a woman turned to the man next to her with anticipation as she awaited his reaction to this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like watching people sneak in late and and seeing a performer take a mental note of it as they clamber to the end of a row apologetically as everyone shuffles their bags under the chairs to avoid a trampling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like the giggle of a woman sat at the front, as someone on stage walks towards her, as she realises she is about to be spoken directly to, and might even have to do or say something to help the show progress. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like people watching.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A popular pass time, I think. Bunch of nosey rogues. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the street, in cafes, in parks, at work, in the theatre. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That's not to say that when watching a show I'm not 'watching the show'. I am, but I find it incredibly hard not to be aware of what's going on around me (the same reason I sit at the back of buses or avoid seats near a wall in restaurants). I normally position myself at the back, in a corner, as high up as possible. (Creep). This partially must come from me, as a theatre maker (...maybe one day I'll find a label for how I see my role that fits properly, most I've tried so far feel a little bit on the tight side) wanting to get a sense for what reactions a piece might provoke, and take inspiration from them for my own work. It could also come from the part of me that has worked several roles within Front of House and Communications teams, getting a sense for what the audience response is in order to gage how to handle them when the doors are open and we're wishing them goodnight, or when reading audience survey feedback or planning action for a new season. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But mainly I just like to catch the moments that most people miss, I am a moment-theif, indirectly third-wheeling on a moment between humans in the audience and humans onstage, between people in the audience and other people in the audience, between people and themselves. This is not in any way to undermine the work happening on stage, most of the time I am completely engaged, engrossed, other words beginning with 'en', but there's still something uber magnetic about the pull of my attention to shuffles, tuts, chunters, belly laughs, exchanged glances and tummy gurgles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If we have been to see a show together at some point, we might have shared a moment, I might have observed you in a moment, or we might have created a moment, you might have even caught me in a moment. At the same time I will have been gatecrashing other people's moments, a pat on the knee, a squeeze on the arm when a subject matter is close to home, a chuckle at a reference to a private joke. If you're reading this and think I'm some sort of weirdo (I am) for doing this then I encourage you to let yourself indulge in these moments next time you are in an audience or on stage too, but I'm well aware I am not the only person deliciously guilty of observational nosiness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I like the moment someone laughs at something no one else finds funny, and I like how other people react to this. I like when a performer makes a mistake and acknowledges it and the audience make a joint decision to support or condemn this. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A swiftly brushed away tear, a tickly cough that interrupts a serious scene, the fizz of a can of pop, the drip of a spilled pint, a sigh of boredom, a gasp of shock, a scream of surprise, a wince at feedback from the microphone. Noticing someone else on the other side crying. You're the only 2 people crying. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Figuring out who is what to who. Strangers. Work colleagues staying a polite distance, one looking distinctly uncomfortable in a sex scene. Old friends who both laugh at the word 'goo' whilst everyone else is silent. New friends who want to chat all the way through or are wishing it to start so they don't have to ask anymore awkward questions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Your Mum accidentally elbowing someone who you recognise in the head as you settle into your seat. Apologising profusely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A whole audience laughing, crying, staring blankly. A real crowd pleaser. An audience divider. A heckle. Heck! I'm particularly fond of the dynamics of a heckle. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I saw a performance at a festival in Croatia once where a man kneeling on the front row (in the round) fell asleep mid-show and face-planted the stage. Plonk! Ouch. It's one of my favourite memories that makes me laugh every time I think of it (seriously, like when you start laughing in the cheese aisle of tesco because you remembered something that happened 3 years ago, and you have to disguise it by hiding behind a block of Cathedral City, pretending to care about the nutritional info, that sort of thing). The company performing took it extremely well and with true professionalism, it was a Romanian company and the guy on stage dressed as a rainbow unicorn stepped around him politely as he continued a jousting scene. The man didn't seem to bothered, and leaned on the shoulder of the person next to him (I presume a friend) to continue his snooze. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyway, the reason I decided to write this post is because I've been in Edinburgh and feel as though I have spent as much time observing audiences as I have watching shows/drinking overpriced cider and it is only when seeing lots of theatre in a short space of time that I am faced with thinking about audience reactions so intensely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also, I went to go and see The Letter Room performing their new show 'Five Feet In Front' (Northern Stage at Summerhall - highly recommend) and towards the end of the performance, the vibration from the speakers under the seats was so consuming that I genuinely thought we were having an earth quake. I glanced at my best friend sat next to me who could clearly sense my anxiety as I tried to figure out the logistics/likelihood of there being an earthquake at the exact moment the company launched into their final foot-stomping musical number and thought 'HA! I wish I could have seen my own face in that moment', and wondering how I would have reacted to someone else experiencing that too (probably with lots of concern and a little bit of wonder.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The embarrassment of a ringing mobile phone, a sniff, arms fighting for space on the arm rest, tall legs cramped into narrow rows meaning knees digging into the back of your chair, the restlessness of someone who cant decide whether their hair should be up or down, the hesitation when asked 'how are you all?' by the performer, someone 'whispering', an awkward smile at someone opposite, a dying flurry of mumbles as the lights dim, a concerned glance at the man next to you who is frowning because the actor just said 'fuck'. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I realise that this has been a very long post about not very much at all. And I wish I could have caught the moment that you realised that. Or the point you decided to give up reading to the end. Well, now I've just told you all that that is a thing that I do, have a song by Francois Hardy. It's one of those songs that makes you want to sit in a window seat of a cafe sipping coffee (you like coffee because you're sophisticated) whilst it's raining outside and pretend you are the protagonist of a film, in the bit just before the big revelation (and you're also french): </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cya x</span>Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8874156565241284836.post-33911182985351833382015-07-27T14:41:00.001-07:002015-07-27T14:45:29.925-07:00There's a Jelly Bean Party in My Rib Cage <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Help! I’ve got jelly beans trapped in my chest and they are
clogging up my brain. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sitting in a calm environment, listening to music of choice,
start to think about something, get a little bit excited about something. A
little bit scared about something. A little bit like the first day back at
school after the summer holidays or going to work with a new haircut or
attempting to sing in public for the first time, or asking someone if they
think you’re well fit or saying what you really think about an important issue
to someone influential or sitting on the front row of a comedy gig or taking
the day off work to go camping or not saying sorry immediately when a stranger
barges into you in the street or pressing the big red button or maintaining eye
contact with someone nice for a long time or seeing a film alone or standing
somewhere high in the wind or braving a dash through the house in just a towel
when your flatmates have friends round or reading something that you have
written out loud for the first time. Reading something you have written out loud
to a stranger for the first time. Saying words that you have written out loud
to a room full of strangers for the first time, lots of times. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Help. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am currently in the process of making a show. It is really
scary (not the show, just the thought/act of making it/performing it). I had an
idea whilst sat on one of the many bridges in Newcastle at some point in
September last year. I told this idea to people and now there is a thing that
is happening that I have every control over and absolutely none over all at the
same time. As the show is about anxiety and panic attacks, this is worrying for
me. It is also the best thing ever. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine jelly beans in my chest jumping up and down.
Imagine on the way up, they scream a question:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHY ARE YOU THE PERSON DOING THIS?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHO IS THIS FOR?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DO YOU REALLY NEED TO USE THAT MUCH CANDY FLOSS?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHAT IF PEOPLE DON’T LIKE IT?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHAT IF YOU DO THAT THING WRONG AND YOUR FACE GOES ALL RED
AND YOU JUST POP ON STAGE? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARE YOU QUALIFIED ENOUGH?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DO THEY EVEN LOOK LIKE NEURAL PATHWAYS? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IS EVERYONE GOING TO THINK YOU’RE A PLONKER?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHO EVEN IS TERRY? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YA GONNA JUST DO IT ANYWAY THOUGH RIGHT?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And imagine that on the way down, another jelly bean has heard
that jelly bean’s question and is screaming back an answer (out of politeness):</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I DON’T KNOW. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ANYONE WHO’S EVER FELT IT, ANYONE WHO LIKES THE RED AUNTS,
ANYONE WHO IS THERE FOR SOMEONE WITH
ANXIETY. FOR YOU. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YES. IF ANYTHING, MORE. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THAT WOULD BE A SHAME :(</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOT BIOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DEFINITELY NOT.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOPE. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MAYBE. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE TRIANGLE, SILLY. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHO ARE YOU KIDDING, YOU HAVE TO! YES YES YES YES YES. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello. My name is Zoe, if you are here reading this then you probably already know that. I know this is an unconventional
first blog post but I didn’t want to do the whole ‘I like cats & baking
banana bread & reading the same books over and over again’ speech, even
though all of those things are true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a performance maker and poet in the
very early stages of my career and I created this blog so I could have a space
to process my thoughts about theatre and some life that happens in between. It just so happens
that this space is public. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So... hello. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope you are cosy, warm, fed and watered, and I
hope you decide to come back to my blog occasionally. I hope occasionally you’d
like to join in. I hope that you occasionally get some inquisitive jelly beans
in your chest. I hope you have some comforting and honest jelly beans bouncing
around in the mix too, to help with those questions, but if not, that’s okay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
hope you don’t mind my over-use of the word occasionally, or my use of repetition, because that’s probably not going anywhere.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s bean ( tehe puns ) one particular jelly bean in
my chest for a while, this one was a gobby little shit who had several
questions:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ARE YOU EVER GOING TO START THAT BLOG YOU’VE BEEN TALKING
ABOUT FOR THE PAST 4 YEARS? ARE YOU STILL GOING TO FIND A GARISH FLORAL BACKGROUND?
WILL YOU EVER BE BRAVE ENOUGH? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOTE: the jelly beans might actually be swimming pool water. </span></div>
Zoe Murtaghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15400557261090477300noreply@blogger.com0