Edinburgh

So I am here. At Edinburgh. At The Fringe.

As a theatre maker there’s the making bit, and then the performing it. Having made this show in 2010, developed and toured it in 2011, now in 2012 the making is a distant memory. Today it’s about getting it out there, showing, sharing, performing the work. Each summer for the last three years I’ve returned to this show.  In between I’ve delivered freelance education projects, conceived a baby, been to France (twice), birthed a baby (girl, 8lb 4oz) moved house, created a new time specific show and trained to be a teacher. Each time I resume action I fear I won’t remember it… the show. Some things are exactly the same.  Many things are quite different.  There’s the allowing myself to take time to be heard.  There’s remembering to maintain eye contact without being confrontational.  And there’s the attention to detail required in each story. But then there’s the audience. What will they laugh at? Where will they sit? Will they be vocal? And how do they take their tea? Each of the 13 audience members bring their own expectations and experience to the table to gently influence today’s tone and rhyme.

What will Edinburgh bring? I am part of something quite exciting up here; Northern Stage have taken over a massive and very old church to create a new theatre venue hosting work that was ‘made in the North of England’. Each day is peppered with performance that in some way has a connection with the north. There’s darts throwing, heckling, a live band, a ventriloquist’s dummy, bananas, biscuits and milk. While I am up here there’s seven other shows on.  I’ve seen four of them so far and plan to see the others before I leave. They are all very different, happening across 2 different spaces, the majority with one performer but one with lots. The one thing that seems to run through all the shows is honesty. There’s not much pretending.  Each show, although it’s performed feels like an intriguing glimpse into their world. It’s not about tidy, little shows that just carry on, no matter what. These shows all acknowledge the here and now in their own individual way. I am pleased that Tea could be part of this.

As I brew up at Edinburgh the seed of an idea for the next show is being to grow. I can see 12 objects, in a square grid, a can hear bad pop music and I can feel another performer there with me.

 

Summer 2012

30 years ago an 8lb baby girl was born with a coned shaped head.  The mother of this baby reminisces about being woken in the early hours of the night by a whispering midwife with a cup of tea and informed that her baby needed feeding. This tea was in a big mug; it had been made in a pot and quenched the new Mummy’s thirst as in turn she refreshed her daughter.   There was no plastic cup, no long life milk, and no limit on the amount. This was proper tea at the beginning of a new chapter in a family’s life, the very first page in the story of my life.

And the teas kept coming.   The best cup I’ve ever drunk in my life was the brew I downed in the delivery suite after the arrival of my very own daughter. The worst was a lukewarm machine made cuppa sipped whilst waiting to hear if my sister had made it through brain surgery. At my wedding a champers reception was replaced with a brew!

Keep the tea coming. It’s important, small but important. It gently improves the quality of one’s life. Like a random act of kindness a good cup of tea, an unexpected offer of brewing up or a cuppa brought to you in bed can warm you inside and improve your day dramatically.

Now I am leaving my baby girl at home to brew up for Edinburgh. The Fringe is the Premiership for theatre makers. Northern Stage is showcasing 17 pieces of work from the North of England. I will be there for 5 days; 4 shows, and 36 tea bags. I am taking my tea pot. But this is not a show just about tea drinking.

Tea is an Evening Meal

Edinburgh Fringe

Northern Stage at St Stephens

Tues 7^th till Fri 10^th August

14.40pm daily

http://www.northernstage.co.uk/st-stephens/whats-on/tea-is-an-evening-meal

Repeat Performance

To do it all again?

To readdress, to refresh.

To flatten out the crumpled newspaper and to unwrap the familiar objects.

To remember the words, the actions, the pauses.

To meet up with old pals and collaborate once more.

To do the old stuff in a new time and place.

To see what still works and what needs to be adapted.

To brush off the dust and breathe life into yesterday’s project.

To take my familiar to new eyes, new ears, new mouths.

To see what others think.

To build on the previous positives and make more.

To enjoy it again, to be within what I know and what I like.

To have the chance to push it a little further.

To do it all again?

Or not to?

 

Tea at the Brothel

So it was the secret, the one that was always going to happen but just in a different way. My three nights at Northern Stage in Newcastle weren’t on the flyer or the website. They were part of a crazy and intriguing event. Theatre Brothel is the brain child of Grey Scale Theatre Company. They had 3 shows and Northern Stage provided 3 shows (one of which was Tea). The audience bought a ticket to The Brothel not to an individual show. They saw 2 shows throughout the course of the evening. Which two shows was determined by their answers to a series of weird and wonderful questions at the beginning of the evening. These questioned were asked by the performers.

As the audience moved around back stage, entering the places that are usually prohibited to them, the interaction and interplay began. The theatre has been (almost completely) coved in red gels giving it the feeling of a dark and slight seedy place. I really got into the questioning part, I liked the clip board and the playful interaction but the responsibility of assigning shows to be people was the daunting part. I felt like I had a power over the success of their evening. I found it hard to say “you should see my show!”

Grey Scale took in the 3 other shows and to me, we felt like a big company for the week. I enjoyed thoroughly being part of the team, having my 15 minute call and having a whole host of folk to debrief with at the end of the night. Seeing three of the other shows that were part of The Brothel was great too. Performing my own work and then 15 minutes later seeing another one performer show and witnessing their interactions gave me a much heightened sense of my own. Previously my show had been running at about 45 minutes and it seemed to be getting shorter although I had added a couple of small sections. When Alex (Kelly of Third Angel) came along to help me out and see the show in Sheffield he sussed out why this was happening. I was talking extremely fast! Seeing Grey Scale’s work reminded me of the joy of pause, the power of just looking and the tension of silence. I fed this back into my work and then show has back to 50 minutes plus and I had chance to breath. Experiencing the work in a different context really allowed it to be refreshed and reignited ready for the next leg of the tour.

Southern living Northerners

It turns out that if you do enjoy tea of an evening amongst a sea of supper and dinner consumers, whenever the opportunity arises you’ll sniff out another tea eater and gather together in a gaggle. A gaggle of northerners is something to behold! Your beliefs and your rituals become much more defined when they are inherently different than those of the people around you. In Oxford the southern living northerners delighted in tales that allowed them to reminisce about their roots. There were of course many audience members amongst them that came for different reasons. Those that were friends of northerners, lovers of tea, keen theatre goers and those intrigued by a show happening for just 13 people.

Oxford Playhouse booked Tea is an Evening Meal as part of their Playhouse Plays Out season, with events taking place throughout the year in an interesting mix of non-theatre venues. We were programmed into The Jam Factory- the old OxfordMarmalade Factory which is now a bar, restaurant and gallery. The warm, white, lofty space worked well and eight shows in four days allowed me a period of consolidation as the show became familiar and established in my memory. But the audience interplay was still surprising and at times challenging. Michelle and Stuart (in fact all the staff at The Playhouse) were so warm and welcoming, they even presented my technical manager Craig and I with a jar each of Frank Cooper’s Fine Cut Oxford Marmalade!

All in all it felt very positive to know southern strangers as well as familiar northerners connected with the show and enjoyed the work. Also Oxford in the sunshine is a delightful place to spend a few days! So now it’s back to the north for me, the table, the tea pots, the hobnobs and the rest! Back to home to Sheffield.

So this week’s challenge was performing stories about people, to those very same said people. How will it feel to retell tales that gently laugh at a situation with its main character right there looking me in the eye? In fact there was a lot more people gathered at the table that were unknown to me than I expected. The mix of family members, work colleagues and friends was more than equalled by those there to see a theatre performance, to witness a different type of theatre experience, rather than to just see me.

Originally there were six shows programmed to be performed at Sheffield Theatres and at one point it looked like it might not happen at all which would have left a hole in the tour- personally, financially and actually. In the end the six shows sold out with about 10 days to go, not only because of my personal connections but also due to Sheff being Third Angel’s base. So an extra show was added to make it 7 shows in 3 days. I was pleased to have the opportunity to connect with The Crucible professionally for the first time and for 90 people to endorse the show by turning up to see it! I performed in the Adelphi Room, a space with three glass sides, which sits on the front of The Crucible above Tudor Square. I really was in Sheffield, the sight of it bled into the room; the city ambassador chasing a youth, the crowds pouring out of The Lyceum, my daughter in her pram.

It has taken along time for Sheffield to truly become my home. Getting married and having a baby here helped but getting off the bus and stepping into the city’s theatre to work made me feel proud and gave me a real sense of being accepted by this place. A deep sense of home.

Awaiting Tea Guests

The story so far

Its week three of seven. So far I’ve opened inStockton, had extra unexpected guests inLeedsand now I am heading south. The first week began up in the North East with one night at The Arc. The Northern Stage gang headed toStocktonto attend a dress rehearsal, they photographed the work, filmed a bit, watched and feedback. It was a bit scary having so many (experienced and shit hot) people there.

The shows themselves were received well, people got it. Well, all expect maybe the Guardian reviewer. He didn’t hate it, don’t get me wrong. Most people leave the show smiling and reminiscing about their own personal tales. Alfred Hickling said “Draper’s presentation is not really a play: it is more like the interval, where you sit down with some refreshment and reflect with fellow audience members over the significance of what you are seeing” That made me feel said for him. Does he have no family or friends? No table? No meal time rituals? No, instead he thought of a show interval, shame.

In Leedsthe show was part of The Mezze Festival along with Analogue’s show for an audience of one, Laura Mugridge’s Running on Air which takes place in a VW camper van and Lavantes Dance Theatre’s interactive happenings. It was great to be part of such an impressive hub of intimate activities. I had a show full of family, one with two extra guests and an audience member who repeated about 50% of everything I said.

After eight 45 minute long shows, plus a dress rehearsal, an interview on BBC Radio Leeds and other press interviews I was a little tired and the show was getting shorter! So after a few days off (and my daughter’s christening) I went to Lawrence Batley inHuddersfieldand Harrogate Theatre to generous venue staff and warm audiences. Including one American woman who said “Oh my god I feel like I understand English people now!”

This week I am heading to Oxford. I am interested to see what people who eat supper or dinner make of Tea is an Evening Meal. I’ll let you know…

If you want to see what audience members think of the show or add your own tales go to.

http://teaisaneveningmeal.co.uk/teatime-tales/

The Tour

It’s funny how when you’ve been planning something for a long time it seems to creep up on you all of a sudden. Back last summer as we chatted about the idea of touring Tea is an Evening Meal the reality seemed a whole lifetime away. But now, here we are with just over a week until the tour starts! It all kicks off at The Arc in Stockton next Tuesday 3^rd May, then we head to Leeds, Huddersfield, Harrogate,Oxford, Sheffield,Newcastle, Dartington, Hexham and Latitude Festival. That’s 37 shows, 518 cups of tea, a few long van journeys and a whole lot of intimate theatre.

So what’s it all about then?

Tea is an Evening Meal is a one-woman show with a difference. This intriguing and interactive show gathers a small audience of thirteen people around a dining table.  This playful dinner party provides us with the opportunity to share the laughs and delights of family meals and regional identity.

I am the host and I’ll welcome you with a brew and a biscuit. The audience join all the people I have shared meals with and gathered stories from. From Andy and his aggression problem, to the girl who sat in the wrong chair, to ingenious ways children deceive their parents into believing they have eaten all their greens. The stories allow you a glimpse into other people’s meal time experiences. The show creates an intimate experience without it being scary or intimidating for audience members. They listen to tales as if they were guests at a mate’s dinner party.

It may make you ask…

Can you eat food after someone else has touched it?

Would you ever eat out in a restaurant alone?

Is it ok to re-boil water that already been boiled in the kettle?

What kind of person sets the breakfast table before they go to bed at night?

Tour dates: 

STOCKTON / ARC,Stockton / 3 May

LEEDS /LEEDS MET GALLERY & STUDIO THEATRE / 4–6 May

HUDDERSFIELD / Lawrence Batley Theatre / 11 May

HARROGATE / Harrogate Theatre / 12 May

OXFORD /Oxford Playhouse / 18–21 May

SHEFFIELD / Sheffield Theatres / 26–28 May

DARTINGTON / Studio 3 / 8 June

HEXHAM / Queen’s Hall Arts Centre / 14-15 June

LATITUDE FESTIVAL / 15-17 July

So please take your seat at the table for one of the ‘intimate’ theatre experiences of 2011!

For all the information on the show, including the full tour schedule and how to book have look at the lovely little show microsite:

teaisaneveningmeal.co.uk

Tea is an Evening Meal

So last week I started rehearsals for the tour of Tea in an Evening Meal which begins on the 3^rd May. I originally made this piece last year when I was commissioned by Northern Stage to make a new theatre show as part of their 40^th birthday celebrations. I worked with Third Angel’s Alexander Kelly to create a one woman show. When the work was performed at Northern Stage in Newcastle in June 2010 it was received well by people in theatre as well as the people who came to the theatre. Therefore Erica Whyman at Northern Stage along with Alex and I felt that the work should have a life beyond the original commission, so we met, discussed and wondered whether venues would bite. And they did. So Tea is an Evening Meal is touring to 9 venues and 1 festival to be performed a total 37 times this summer.

Last week Erica Whyman and Mark Calvert from Northern Stage joined Alex Kelly and I in Sheffield to begin rehearsals. The table arrived (delivered via the roof) and the mugs and tea pots were unwrapped. We still await the arrival of 14 wooden chairs and 1 working tea urn.

I was curious to see if text I was word perfect in nine months ago had made it into my long term memory. Some had, some hadn’t, not really. A few stories needed clarifying. None were cut, some were simplified, and others were given more detail. We looked at moments when I was in charge and moments when the audience could lead the way.

The experience and skill of the three directors was evidenced in the way they listened and the questions they asked. Attention was paid to the detail. When to touch a chair. Who to look at, when.

The show doesn’t need to be ripped apart and remade; instead it was a process of revisiting and tidying. The rehearsals provided an opportunity to make some decisions both creative and practical. Now I am charged with not only remembering but also refreshing the work. Just today I went to spend sometime with the table to make sure I can navigate my way around it. The salt cellars are full, the spare sugar bowl purchased, I just need to put the kettle onto boil!

Tea is an Evening Meal

National Tour

3^rd May till 17^th July 2011

Who’s this Faye Draper then?

So this is this place where I am going to share a little, chat a bit and give a glimpse of what I am up to.  Some of you will know what I ‘do’ and some may not. Well…I improvise, joke, talk, play, list, devise, collaborate, dance, question and perform.  Think that’s it really.

My performance work is always playful; I interact and respond to the things around me. I draw from the place I am performing in and from the people who are there with me. I acknowledge what happens in the moment both planned and unplanned. The spontaneous interplay allows my work to be frank and truthful.

I gather stories from friends, family and strangers. I sometimes do this without people knowing or even by accident. I hear brilliant accounts of personal experiences which I scribble down for a later date. I retell my own and other people’s tales. I add bits and I miss bits out. I quote my Mum and a lady I met in a bus station once. Recalling these anecdotes gives my shows a conversational feel even when there is only me performing. There is a home made, low tech feel to the work.

I am not good at acting but sometimes I pretend

I can’t spell well but I endeavour to create poetic text

I like to be honest, sometimes too honest

I use chalk, film, words and string

I am not a trained dancer

I am a performer

I’ve got a way with words as long as you don’t mind my northern twang

I love surprises

I sometimes perform alone

I often collaborate

I am a Mother

I am Faye Draper