Manchester bombing atrocity

The Manchester bombing, deliberately targeting young children innocently enjoying themselves at a concert is shocking beyond words.  I can’t comprehend how or why someone could be so cruel and callous, but I was distressed also to hear that Dr. Naveed Yasin, an orthopaedic surgeon who had spent 48 hours operating on the injured from that despicable crime was later racially abused in the street, called a ‘Paki bastard’ and told to go home.  While it is natural to be angry and even furious about what happened on that tragic day, we should remember that the person who committed this horrific crime was not a Muslim, but a terrorist, and the majority of Muslim citizens in this country are as equally appalled by what he did as are the rest of us.  I think on the whole the UK is a tolerant place to live and work, but sadly there are those among us who when events like this occur will use the occasion to voice their own hateful prejudices...  We are all human beings made of the same clay, bound on the same journey together, sharing the same planet; no single act, however horrifying and terrible should stand in the way of our unity; together we are strong, no matter what God we choose to worship or the colour of our skin.  Dr. Yasin was a hero who relentlessly battled to save the life of those injured on that fateful day, and Manchester is his home, England his country. 

Cathy at the House of Lords

Cathy tour is now over, and it’s been quite an experience as we performed not only in theatres, but homeless hostels and many prisons too, including Wormwood Scrubs and Pentonville and the inmates there were amazing; wonderfully welcoming and keen to share their own life experiences with us.  The very last gig a few weeks ago I think reflects the diverse venues we have been touring to, as we were invited to perform the play at the House of Lords as part of an evening reception for the ‘Homes for Cathy’ charity.  Again the people there were moved by the play and we were made very welcome by the Lords and MP’s who had attended the event, and were later invited to ‘Strangers Bar’ for a few late drinks by the labour shadow housing minister, John Healey.  Can’t believe it’s all over; it was difficult to say goodbye to the cast and crew after so long, but a fantastic final outing for Cathy, and what a privilege to have been a part of it all.   Here’s some picture of the event – the cast and crew and John Healey too!

A couple of breaks!

There was a break in the tour of ‘Cathy’ during December when I unfortunately had a second break!  During a drunken moment at a local party I accepted a challenge to arm wrestle; something I’ve done a few times with varying success... however this time things didn’t go quite as planned and I ended up with a rather nasty broken arm – see picture!  Well of course it was my own stupid fault for taking part in the first place, but also rather stupidly I was kneeling at the table, so my opponent had a bit of an advantage and was always gonna beat me.  I felt things weren’t going well and was just about to call time on the whole endeavour when I heard a sickening crack and my arm was suddenly limp and was dangling in a pretty alarming manner.  The pain was excruciating, so an ambulance was called and off I went to hospital.  My first thought was ‘will I still be able to perform in the show in a few weeks time’, and with the aid of a sling which I wore for the first scene, thankfully the tour carried on and I didn’t let anyone down.  However, a few weeks later we were visiting a night club in Manchester after a late show and it had been snowing and the steps down to the entrance were wet and I slipped and fell on my arm and broke it again!  My arm is on the mend though now, but not quite so well knit together as I would have hoped.  But as you can see from the picture there is evidence of another break from some years previous – a metal plate, seven screws and six pieces of wire in my elbow from an injury on a building site where I was labouring.  I’m always doing stuff like this and Sarah remarked that life with me is never dull... Got to be more sensible in future though... but I did arm wrestle in my local pub with my left arm recently and won too!

Acting again!

I’m treading the boards again!  Touring in Cardboard Citizens production of Cathy.  Been a while, but auditioned a month or so ago for this wonderfully powerful play by Ali Taylor which addresses many current issues regarding homelessness.  I’m playing five different roles and had a week to learn them before opening at the Pleasance Theatre in London as the previous actor had fallen ill and was unable to carry on...  A bit nerve-wracking the first few nights, but all is going well and I’m really enjoying acting once more.  We have also been playing at hostels and a woman’s prison, meeting some incredible people whose lives are sometimes sadly mirrored somewhat in the play.  We do a thing called ‘forum theatre’ afterwards involving the audience directly in decisions which the main character may have made to change her history; a unique theatrical technique I have never done before, but which really gets ideas and passions flowing.  Below are links to Cardboard Citizens and ‘Cathy’.  It’s quite an extensive tour if you can catch it...

CARDBOARD CITIZENS TOUR CATHY FROM OCT – BOOK TICKETS NOW  

Book now for our brand new Forum Theatre piece Cathy, on tour until Feb 2017. Written by award-winning playwright Ali Taylor and directed by Adrian Jackson, this powerful, interactive piece explores resonances with Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home to offer a timely reflection on the impact of spiralling housing costs, gentrification and the challenges of the forced relocation away from London.

 

Click here to book now and join the conversation on Twitter using

The tragic case of Ellie Butler

The recent traumatic and devastating case of Ellie Butler, a six year old girl who was murdered by her father is something I find very disturbing; particularly as the trial judge exonerated him from a previous offence of shaking and injuring her as a small baby, and then after spending most of her life in the tender care of her grandparents she was handed over to a man and woman she barely knew.  I work as a carer in children’s homes with kids some who have been physically and sexually abused, and at the moment I am working with a very challenging ten year old girl whose parents were nothing short of monsters; the abuse she and her nine siblings suffered at the hands of their parents is something that will probably scar them emotionally for the rest of their lives, and the thought of this poor girl being sent back to the very people who did such terrible things to her fills me with horror.  Yet this is exactly what happened to Ellie.  Her grandfather has been speaking in the media about it recently, of how he and his late wife fought tooth and nail to keep her with them, but were basically told they were interfering with judicial procedures and warned to back off.  At the end of her life when her grandfather last saw her, Ellie was covered in bruises and was withdrawn and quiet... a few days later she was dead, and Ellie’s own mother colluded to cover up the murder.  We are only carers, but the work we do is the stuff no one really hears about, and believe me life in a children’s home is nothing like Tracy Beaker.  We work for minimum wage with complex kids who for various reasons cannot be fostered or adopted, and sometimes I do feel their needs are not properly supported by the agencies and social workers who should have their best interests at heart... a point sadly proved by Ellie Butler’s tragic story. 

BBC Audio Drama Award

Last year I was involved as an actor in an online drama called The Kindness of Time, which recently won BBC Audio Drama Award 2016.  If you’d like to listen, here’s a link to the site: http://www.rosieboulton.co.uk/ 

Seeing Noise in South Africa

I went to see my play Noise at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, and was kindly hosted by the play’s director, Dorothy Anne Gould and her husband, Mike who made me very welcome.  It was a fantastic production, great reviews and standing ovations!  Had such a great time also hanging out with Dorothy and Mike and seeing the wonderful work she does with some of the homeless guys there – an inspirational woman!  Lots to remember and reflect upon…  We talked about some of my other my plays too; most notably, River’s Up and Mr and Mrs Schultz, don’t know if anything will come of this, but I would love to see my work again in that amazing theatre.  Also had the all clear just before Christmas following a scan and biopsy as I had some worrying results following my regular medicals to do with my previous cancer, so a very positive end to 2015.  Below are a couple of reviews and a production photograph of Dorothy’s very talented cast…

'Noise' is relevant and uncomfortable

Jennifer de Klerk  ‘Artslink Co Za’

11/21/2015 11:56:11

Jennifer de Klerk: Music so loud that the walls vibrate, plaster dust sifts from the ceiling and the bass throbs through your head.  You can’t think, you can’t sleep; all you can do is stuff your ears and endure, hoping that the neighbours will come to their senses soon. They never do.  It’s not an uncommon scenario in my part of the town, so I related well and truly to the dilemma of Danny and Becky, a delightful young couple staking their claim on a flat in Hillbrow.  Young, so very young. He’s 18, starting his first job. She’s 17, pregnant, cast off by her family. It hurts, but she has Danny and the baby and a fresh start as a new family.  The first scene is beautifully played, kids in love, having fun, playing house … then the noise floods through the walls and reality sets in.  Exhausted, irritated, bickering, they ask the neighbour to turn it down. He turns it up. They report him to the agents and Matt, physical, psycho, unemployed, drunk and booze-driven, enters their lives.  There’s another beautifully played scene between Matt (Rowlen von Gericke) and Becky (Nokuthula Ledwaba), a delicate game of connection and withdrawal, a cat playing with a mouse…  The end is clear, the future is written – desperately you hope for a resolution, a way out, a way to preserve the innocence, the dreams. But this is reality …  The play was originally set in Birmingham in the UK, obviously then a down-and-out city. Unfortunately it transposes only too well to modern Johannesburg and has been neatly recast in the vernacular. Danny (Thabo Rometsi) and Becky are instantly recognisable and so, unfortunately, is rage-filled Matt lashing out at the world that has denied him.  Fear, helplessness, nowhere to turn, where the strongest rule and the weak endure, or leave, or die … it’s a bleak and despondent outlook.  This is not a comfortable play, but one impossible to forget, a searing piece acted and directed with exceptional skill.  Certainly I will remember it next time the noise shakes the ceiling and no one answers the phone.  Noise is written by Alex Jones and directed by Dorothy Ann Gould. It runs at the Market Theatre until December 6.

This is a powerful piece of theatre, but you have to wonder why anyone would want to see it. We live amidst brutality and madness, where the abuse of women is rife, and men and women, alike, carry ourselves with a constant tinge of wariness. Noise heightens this in 90 minutes of domestic soapy cum thriller. Theatre Review by LESLEY STONES.  ‘Daily Maverick’

A play now running at the Market Theatre in Joburg is stunningly well performed, and excellently directed. But I would not recommend it to anyone. I came out of Noise feeling traumatised, as if I had lived the experience of the characters with them.  Noise was written by Alex Jones more than 20 years ago, and set in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. But the play feels like it has always belonged in Hillbrow, where it’s now set thanks to director Dorothy Ann Gould, and Mark Graham Wilson, who helped to adapt the script.  It is a powerful piece, but you have to wonder why anyone would want to see it, or why Gould wanted to revive it. We live amidst brutality and madness, where the abuse of women is rife, and men and women, alike, carry ourselves with a constant tinge of wariness. Noise heightens this in 90 minutes of domestic soapy cum thriller.  When we meet a young and decent couple, excited to be moving into their new flat in Hillbrow, we just know something bad is going to happen. And it does, when the neighbour’s music comes boom-boxing through the walls at all hours of the day, and night. That is intolerable by itself, but when they meet the source of that noise, the drug-addled, psychotic and unemployed Matthew, the trauma escalates.  Gould writes in the programme notes that Noise is “searing, brutal, and cathartic.” I missed the cathartic part, sitting through the show and jumping every time the music began, tense for what was about to unfold. Actors Rowlen von Gericke, Thabo Rametsi and Nokuthula Ledwaba are all excellent, but it the men who control this story. Von Gericke is terrifying as the psychotic neighbour, clearly unhinged and swinging from lost and lonely to violently deranged in a second. He is utterly believable, as is the entire story about a young couple whose hope and optimism is ground down, and snuffed out brutally by this third party.  Rametsi as Dan and Ledwaba, as his young wife Becky, capture a playfulness and almost tangible love between their characters in the early scenes, although their chatter drags on for too long, when you know that action is lurking in the wings. Rametsi is a powerful force, an open book of an actor, who has you initially sharing his enthusiasm and delight for life, then later feeling his fear, and helplessness, despair and loss. It is the searing combination of Von Gericke’s mania, and Rametsi’s shattered dreams, that make this play so viscerally gruelling, aided by the brutality that stunts Ledwaba’s Becky.  The noise that erupts from time-to-time hammers home the inhumanity of it, often so loudly that you cannot hear the words until the volume is toned down to let the dialogue continue. The pounding in your eardrums is another reason why you feel you are living the trauma with them. You leave wondering what you would do in the same situation. Call the cops? Resort to violence yourself? Be defeated and broken? You’ll admire the intensity, and talk about the actions, and emotions, for sure. But I doubt you will, actually, enjoy it. DM