It has been a very busy couple of weeks and I have been enjoying virtually every moment of it. Last weekend was spent at the Strumpshaw Tree Fair (a truly wonderful local mini-festival full of local arts and crafts, performers, storytellers and the marvellous Foolhardy Circus) and, whilst the sun was relentless, the magnificent weather did make for a delightful weekend (and it made the Norfolk Cider Company’s brews all the more satisfying).
On Saturday I had the delight and privledge to work with some magnificent actors at Dreamstone Productions for yet another murder mystery on a Mid-Norfolk Railway steam train. This performance was the Phoenix’s Revenge, a Bond-themed story, with the Gavin Bromley as a very convincing contender for Daniel Craig’s replacement.
I played the self-taught anti-establishment hacker, Dominic Bolsha. The wonderful thing about these performances is the chance it offers for improv: you learn your backstory, the key events and the pieces of information that need to be incorporated into your performance, and the rest is down to you and dynamics developed between you and the other actors. I spent a fair while arguing with the minister of defence and generally making myself unpopular with everyone involved (although, I’m fairly sure the audience were won over by my natural charm). Alas, I clearly pressed a someone a tad too far and ended up the second victim of the night.
Sunday found me working with Casebook Events once more. If you ever see one of these on in your local town/city, I strongly recommend them as they make for a delightful day’s entertainment. The event involves taking on a case file and following a series of clues around the local area, meeting strange and interesting people and uncovering the story and solving the mystery. Everyone seems to enjoy it emmensely, but what makes it particularly delightful is how it involves the local community and takes you to areas of your city that you may have been unaware of. Tourists to the area obviously get a lot out of, but generally local residents find themselves being taken to new places and it really adds to the appeal.
I found myself stationed in the prisons of Great Yarmouth’s Tollhouse museum, somewhere I had never been to before. An absolutely fascinating place with huge amounts of history that is apparently one of the oldest prisons of its kind in Britain. It certainly made for an atmospheric encounter (perfect for my performance).
I ended the weekend in a first meetup for a exciting new project I’m involved in. A play called The Ellis Project, written and directed by Deborah Iverson of SDL Theatre. This a play that explores history, love, mental health and the unknown through the medium of a haunting “ghost story” set in a remote village in East Anglia. The cast all seem amazing and I am extremely excited to be part of this project. The play will be performed 30th September and 1st October in Halesworth and I can’t wait to start rehearsals.
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Mattie Tucker 