Bolt-ons

Sheila Dibnah, Fred's widow and film-maker, Nick Wilding, come to the Octagon for a meeting with David Thacker and myself to discuss how the play is progressing.

We also throw ideas around about the potential additional Fred-related events that could be mounted in the lead-up to, or during the run of, The Demolition Man. Sheila and Nick have a "Fred Dibnah Night" that they present together and Nick has miles of footage of Fred that has never been seen in public, some of which could be included in the production.

Jon Gilchrist, Head of Marketing, pops into the meeting and seems excited by the number of possible 'Bolt-ons' that could be part of the 'Fred Fest'. Leslie Etherington also drops by to ask Sheila about Fred's favourite foods so that these can be incorporated into the Octagon restaurant's menu for pre-show dining.

All very exciting.

Writers' Spiral

I have a writing weekend in which not much actual writing gets done. I never experience writers’ block as such but suffer from something I call ‘writers’ spiral’, where I feel to be stuck on a particular idea and end up going round with it in my head in ever-decreasing circles.

It helps to get up from the desk and do other things. I have to remind myself that I’m just as likely to have a workable creative idea whilst pushing the supermarket trolley or washing the kitchen floor as I am sitting in front of the computer screen, staring out of the window.

A pepper-pot of a play

Lizzie is otherwise engaged today so just David and I meet to discuss my rewrites from last week. Again we read the script out loud and sometimes I play Fred and sometimes I play Sheila Dibnah. David multi-tasks as director/dramaturg and actor - but somehow never gets around to playing Sheila!

I am very pleased that David is very pleased with how the play is developing. He is a man for detail, which I really appreciate and his meticulous approach is helping me to spot the holes in the script, of which there are many more than I thought.

One of the big holes I identified previously in Act One I've now managed to fill, at the same time introducing a whole new strand in the script - about the importance of hands. But as we go through this draft line-by-line I realise it is a pepper-pot of a play. I determine to fill the minutest of holes.

Out of the blue, I come up with an idea for a whole new scene to replace one I've never been totally sold on. This is a breakthrough because the scene I am proposing to ditch is the only interior scene left. David is delighted, I guess, because it has been his wish all along to set the whole play in Fred's garden.

As we pack up at the end of the afternoon (we are about half way through reading the script now) David tells me I've written a love story - a love story between an unlikely couple - and not just a play about a famous son of Bolton.

Dribbling

I meet with David and Lizzie to discuss the latest draft. They feel the play has moved on (phew!) and their general feedback is very positive. David suggests the three of us read the play out loud and, of course, I get to play Fred. This is a fine-tooth combing exercise as we tease out anything slightly unnecessary and untheatrical, anything we feel doesn’t earn its keep or drive the narrative forward. This is a pains-taking operation of two and a half hours – by which time we have only reached page 39 (out of 116)! - but we all enjoy the creativity of dramaturging the play as a team. Principally I learn that I need to be more economical with biographical info and also that I have a tendency to ‘dribble’ (i.e. scenes peter out rather than end snappily). I resolve to stop being a dribbler.

Perhaps I should have cut that last sentence?