Bedlam- the movie at the Brewery is this year's 'big show' for Stepping Out Theatre Company, and as ever it's a rumbustuous ensemble piece featuring songs, belly-dancing and insanity - this time ghosts too. Written by Mark Breckon, it's a play about a film about a drama that's haunting the writer and putting a fatal curse on each director... lots of gags and goodhearted fun, bound to delight the many fans of Stepping Out. The Bristol Evening Post found it 'hard not to be won over by the relentless charm and sheer unpredictability on display... Bedlam is a blast." See more here.

Adam Peck has returned from the American badlands of Bonnie and Clyde to more local terrain for The Unremarkable, his play in development at the Ustinov. "I was interested in the mundanity," Adam says, "I wondered if you could make a play about the minutiae of life." His protagonist Tom narrates his outer and inner landscapes as he stalks an unknown woman along the streets of Bristol for six months, mostly in monologue with occasional intrusions from her physical manifestations to remonstrate, counsel, or attempt seduction. Opinions in the audience discussion afterwards varied as to whether this was perfectly normal behaviour for a bloke feeling a bit low - the playwright was in this camp - or the initial self-grooming stage of a psychotic misogynist murderer-in-the-making who was scarily in denial about his own darker aspects. Guess which seemed more likely to me. But everyone from Bristol thrilled to recognise the street names and recycling bins and the script was considered bold, witty and really lovely.

I don't generally dip into personal stuff in my blog but on this beautiful Easter Saturday I'm making an exception: I'm SO FED UP with this chest infection, it rumbled on all through the cold weather and now, despite sunshine, blue skies, birdsong, and assorted budding foliage, it's returned in full throttle, making me sound like a dying donkey and wish I was. Not witty but accurate. Here's an image of the tantalising world outside I want to see more of, I'm back to bed with my lemon & honey.
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