Fortuitous sunshine in the midst of this car-wash summer (thanks Audrey for the apt phrase) as Stourhead becomes a concert hall for local community choirs, so no better way to spend Saturday than picnicking by the lake listening to massed voices singing Dance me to the end of love...

That evening was the last night of my play Mascara at the Alma Tavern Theatre, with the best performance of the run. This has been the most intense experience of my writing life ~ not even publication of my first novel came near the excitement of being included in a close team all much more experienced than me in this chaotic, emotional, seductive world of theatre... Now the get-out's over, set dismantled, the imaginary world we visited nightly for two weeks gone forever, and it feels a bit weird. All that's remains is those audience messages after each show. So here, as a way of pinching myself to prove it's all true, is another selection ~ a bit long, but indulge me, there are lots more too!
"Powerful, real, intense, upsetting, brilliantly acted, relevant. I couldn’t fault it."... Fantastic. Actress stunning and sexy. Thanks for a good night!... Wow!...WOW!!...clubbing scene was hilarious and the end really packed a punch... Clever shifts in tempo to keep the pace going, clever mirroring of relationships ..."A very impressive performance all round: a well crafted and thought-provoking script, a superbly directed mise-en-scène and wonderful acting – Olivia particularly subtle and one to watch. " ...Brilliant explosive and chilling ending. Great performances... The author did a wonderful job on threading opposing views.. I loved this... I was riveted throughout... "We regularly go to the theatre all over, including London and this performance was equal to any." ...gripping, thought-provoking play, excellently acted, directed, set... The most insightful and powerful studio production I've ever seen....deserves to be seen elsewhere. Highly engrossing. Beautifully subtle and sensitive writing – intriguing and challenging subject matter, adapted and implemented with intelligence and skill... original and fascinating... welcome moments of humour. Strong performances and perceptive, well-judged direction with a visually arresting set. ...highly emotive and beautifully performed. I would definitely recommend it to others. I was captivated and completely engaged from start to finish. "The actors gripped me from the moment they came on stage. They were able to switch between characters so effectively – they really took the audience with them through the whole journey... Thank you all for such a fantastic evening!" ...Fantastic, incredibly intense and the tension built to a great climax...definitely a hit. Terrific. Absolutely brilliant. Clever and complex. Totally engaging all the way through – varied pace and clever dialogue, sensitively written and consistently intriguing. An amazing evening. Deeply moving and thought-provoking. Brilliantly written and staged. God! Riveting performances of an amazing, deeply disturbing play.. "I kept thinking these were the actual people not actors!!! Even though I cried I thought the acting was superb and the writing of the script very clever and the twist brilliant... The best play I have seen."...Very well staged and acted, with an original and exciting script. Dynamic performances and directing– hugely enjoyable evening! Well done all round! Very emotional. Loved the club scene! Well done Stepping Out!...Powerful, educational, amazing drama, loved the disco scene. Acting fantastic. Moving....Fantastic performance. Well-written play, well directed... should be should be shown again, perhaps even afar. Congratulations, a fab show. ...Riveting – superbly acted overall, fantastic theatre....What good theatre is all about. Very sensitively done, fine writing, well directed. A thought-provoking exploration of the subject. Congratulations.... the nightclub scene was genius...Best play I've seen in a long time. ...All that one would hope from a play... "Huge congratulations on Mascara. The writing was incredibly condensed and raised so many unnerving questions about the family and social norms – I could watch it several times over and still get something new from it. I love the way it never tells the audience what to think – you have to think for yourself! It is an excellent piece of writing and certainly deserves many further outings. I do hope it can be brought to London at some point as I am sure it would be perfect for a fringe audience down here."

Back in the real world... there's Winchester to prepare for, and Frome Festival is less than a month away... And if you're in Bristol on July 7th, there's The Complete Reworks of Shakespeare at Colston Hall including PlayText the Living Bard which since you ask is café wall projection of 2 popular plays rewritten by me & Alison as mobile texting scripts... Lord what fools these mortals be. Lol :-)

"Amazon will tell you it's incredibly easy to publish on Kindle, you just press click, but that's actually not quite true" warned marketing expert Jenni O'Connor in her Sunday workshop at New Oriel Hall for Writers Events Bath. Her power-point presentation rapid-fired through the complexities of e-book publishing in exhausting detail but Alison and I were both inspired, so blog musings may well take a kindling turn before the end of the year...


And no need to wait for July to hear sensational performances as Frome Poetry Cafe next Wednesday has a sizzling line-up of new guests. Real world looking quite bright, all in all!