Catching Up and Catching On

Another few months have flown by. The 1984 tour went well and we received some very positive comments from audience members and venues alike. Shortly after our performance at Sale, the Company went en masse to The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester to watch their interpretation of Orwell's dystopian view. We came away really impressed with their version; much bigger budget than ours and very well executed. The fact that we were touring our small-scale version whilst the main-house production at the North West's foremost theatre was producing theirs was quite a buzz. There was a definite kinship with the other actors as we watched. Had we had the time, it would have been great to catch up with them and have a good discussion.

As if two productions of 1984 were not enough, we then heard that Northern Broadsides are to produce their take on the novel in the Autumn. We'll definitely catch that show when it comes to The West Yorkshire Playhouse in September.

So now, here in the Summer months (ignore the sound of the rain on the windows) we are finalising our latest production. '2020Vision' will premiere at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in less than three weeks. I will write more about the production in the next few days. The piece is an original, devised play about the technology that we are reliant upon and what happens when it fails.

I have an interesting relationship with technology and can see the pitfalls as well as the positives of using it. I know that my Blackberry has a habit of running my day, but I also love twitter and the ability to keep up with friends, colleagues and other interesting people. Just lately I have discovered a number of really talented musicians whose compositions are available on-line. This is one aspect of the internet that I enjoy. I have also had to deal with the consequences of 'cyberbullying' on a group of students. Technology has improved our lives in so many ways but it has also enslaved us: we must use it carefully and consciously to genuinely benefit our lives rather than becoming ransomed by it.