Elephant in the room

Where to begin, so much to say and time is precious.

Somebody's Son by Marcia Layne is a play, a piece of theatre. It's not life and death. Nobody has died, well not in this play anyway.

Last week I returned home late one night, to be greeted by my beloved family. Still supporting me and still checking if everything had gone well with the show.

My husband gave my weary face a gentle kiss and went to bed, whilst our eldest son stayed with me and shared his food.

We did the wind down together, th...

I want to write this while I remember what it feels like.

I'm writing as a wife and a mother working, a working wife and mother.  These responsibilities come before anything else. Of course I'm also a daughter, daughter-in law, a sister, sister-in law, aunt, niece, cousin and a friend.  All of these roles belong to me.

I need to tell you about my job as a Director/ Producer. I'm not in this on my own, I work alongside Marcia Layne Writer/ Producer, together we are Hidden Gems Productions.

To mak...

Second week complete. Introductions done, journey continues.

So why tell this story? Lost and Found by Marcia Layne is about taking a look again at a story we all thought we knew.  Hidden in plain sight. Why do we tell stories? To know ourselves and each other better? To mark a moment and move on. To honour our past?

Traveling through time with the cast and crew. It’s been a privilege working in rehearsal, learning and growing together, exploring Marcia Layne’s many layered script. Just wha...

I’ve arrived at the end of the first week of rehearsals. The creative team agrees that when we speak about the work outside of rehearsals we have to start with a little speech that goes something like this

CAST Member: Yes I’m in a play called Lost and Found and loving the work

FRIEND: Oh yeah, what’s it about?

CAST: Yeah it’s about slavery ….

FRIEND Starts to put their serious face on or shoes to run away.

CAST ‘No, no wait, it’s alright it’s got laughs and everything.

FRIEND: Eith...