Finally...some internet and time!

Hi all,

We are in our last week of Contes Dores in the beautiful town of Harrogate. The show is going very well; our pack up time has quickened to 30 mins where needed and the kids are as enthusiastic as ever!

Since I last posted we enjoyed a week in Wokingham and Reading, performing to a variety of year groups in some lovely schools. We performed at a secondary school, which is always a bit nervy due to the quite childish nature of the show, but we were very well recieved there and it was much better than when we visited the same school last year. This was followed by a friday gig in the uber-picturesque village of Ewelme, south Oxfordshire. The school was amazing...it was like a castle; all nooks, crannies and mysterious corridors! Unfortunately their hall was really small, so we performed in the village hall just down the road. The kids and teachers really enjoyed the show and I think the whole school came to see it, which was nice, as you can always count on 6 year olds to get the crowd going!!

The following week we went to stay in Cambridge with Emilys mum Shona, and had a lovely time catching up with her. Shona came to Tunisia to spend christmas with Emily and we all had a great time with her out there. She cooked us some fab food, which always makes me happy! After staying with Shona we did a strange day in a town near Bedford, performing a great show in the morning to a really nice primary school, before moving next door for an afternoon show in a middle school. It was supposed to be for a teachers conference, but only 10 showed up, so some year 6s got brought in and were a bit confused by it all as they hadn't done any prep work on the story or vocab in the show...plus we were in a corner a cavernous sports hall! The teachers did enjoy it a lot though...we could hear them laughing throughout and the kids even managed to learn the choruses to the songs by the end of the show, so it was a success! We then went to do a show in Stretford, Manchester, which was very good. Lots of visiting primary schools came and really enjoyed themselves. This was followed by a show in Northwich at a high school with more visiting primaries.

Then I got to go home...yay!! We were away for 4 weeks and I had missed the north quite a lot...I was really chuffed to be back in the cold, dank grimness of Sunniside once again!

We have just finished a very rowdy show in our first school in Harrogate. They saw the show two years ago, before I was in it, and enjoyed it again!

After this week I begin rehearsals for Islands, which opens in Hexham on the 22nd April. I'm looking forward to being back in a theatre...not that I dont enjoy primary schools; there is always a great camaraderie to be found in the staff room, but I find there is much less mashed potato on the stage than in the school hall!!

hasta luego

Jack

Quick networky post...

Hello to any readers of The Courier who are visiting this page after the article in the paper on Monday. Although there wasn't enough space in the article, we'd love for you all to become fans of us on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hexham-United-Kingdom/Theatre-Sans-Frontieres/132121159401 and/or follow us on Twitter - http://twitter.com/theatresansf

We are touring at the end of next month, and these will be good ways to stay in touch with us and see what we're up to! Of course, you can find all our tour dates, locations, information about previous shows and so on at http://www.tsf.org.uk

Thanks,


Stu

Busy, busy, busy + no internet = not very much blogging!

Hi,

We have been touring hard in the south east, living in a cottage with no internet access. the show is going well. We have a morning off today, getting a little bit of internet time in, but it's not enough...we have to leave for Sonning Common high school in half an hour. So it's short and sweet today. I will try and write something with more substance this weekend when I go to visit my brother for his birthday in Totnes. I don't think he has the internet either though...I'll find a way though, he sleeps until mid afternoon, so there should be time in the morning!!

Ok Do k

Must rush

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Jack

Half Term

Hi all.

Last week was exciting, full of ups and downs...

We performed in Newcastle, Blyth, Bishop Auckland, Wakefield, Warrington and Glasgow. The best Premier Inn was in Glasgow, for all who are interested! We were photographed a lot last week, lots of the schools wanted photos for their websites, newsletters and govenors. We posed after the show with some children from the schools. The performances we did were lively, the show is getting much closer to the 1hr 5min target, Warrington was 1hr 6!! We just need to keep Paddy on track!

On Wednesday night, while driving from Wakefield to Warrington, I put £60 worth of petrol into the van. When I took the company fuel card up to the kiosk to pay, they told me I'd put the wrong fuel in!! aaaaaaagh!! So I had to pay for the fuel, then we waited to get the fuel pumped out. We got to Warrington at half 10 and I felt really sheepish! Hopefully I will never do it again...I've heard loads of 'wrong fuel' stories from loads of people since, which has been nice!

Its half term now, Emily and Mariae have gone to Tunisia and Portugal respectively. Paddy is planning a new music show with a friend of his and I am taking a couple of days off before the final five weeks of the tour begins. I will also be doing some fixing jobs; sewing, spraying and stapling mainly!

The second part of the tour sees us bound for the south of England for four weeks. We will be in Kent, Essex, Beds, Oxford, Hampshire and more before finishing the tour with a week in Harrogate. We will be staying in rented accomodation, which I'm really looking forward to...I enjoy cooking my own food too much to be in hotels and restaurants all week!

Bye for now

Jack

I've been to Northumberland

Hey all,

This week has been eventful. We started with a jump start of the van in Piercebridge and a squashed show in Staindrop, which was very lively! Then two shows on tuesday with a very rowdy but involved bunch of year 8s from Blyth! Then to the north of Northumberland, staying a night in Beadnell Towers on tuesday night, doing shows in Seahouses and Wooler on wednesday. We were in Alnwick on Thursday in the ornate Dukes Middle School hall, and a middle school in Bedlington on Friday. I went to look at a possible venue for the La Pelota tour in the autumn on thursday, it was good and I think we could use it.

Tonight I am off to Newcastle to do shows in the city and Blyth tomorrow. Then we are in Bishop Auckland on tuesday, my homeland! Wed, Thurs and Fri we are in Premier Inns in west Yorkshire and Glasgow, before its half term and Emily and Mairae go on holidays! While they're enjoying sun and warmth, I'm going to fix a chair leg, sew the set, and explore amplifier options!

Aaaah the life!

Jack

School dinners and map reading

Hi,

We have finished the second week of Contes Dores tour. We have all driven lots, Paddy and I especially, as we travelled all the way up to Amble and back from our native south-west Durham. I have sewn, glued and sprayed lots! The show got much smoother last week, with our changes between scenes becoming less frantic. Emily, Mariae and Paddy are also remembering the order of the strike, which is very nice to see! We enjoyed school dinners at Murton community primary school and Hummersknott secondary! School dinners are a bit of a taboo for me!

This weekend I went to find a plastic apple and gold spray paint so I could respray the apples. One of the existing golden apples lost a stem, so I had to replace it...a very nice man at a fake plant shop gave me a golden delicious for free! I did some sewing as well, sorting out a basket lining, and making a new thing for the set so it looked a bit prettier.

This coming week we are going to stay in some B&Bs and hotels as we are in the far north of Northumberland for a few days. The following week sees us travel to Wakefield, Warrington and Glasgow, before half-term.

Speak soon

Jack

Busy, busy, busy

Hi everyone,

Since I last posted I have battled the snow trying to get to Aydon Castle Cottages where John and Sarah live. Paddy and I dropped the van there on the way back from Tunisia and it got snowed in pretty deep! I walked a mile one morning, from their house to my stuck car with armfulls of props I had to repair and remake. It was all fun though and I helped dig Sarah out a few times. I got all the props, education packs and costumes ready for the tour of Contes Dores to begin on Jan 18th. I also managed to do some database work for the office, as well as booking some hotels for us to stay in while on tour...aah the office life! I am enjoying it as much as the touring side of the job! It must be those lovely people who work there :)

We have now finished the first week of the tour. It has gone well, with lots of enthusiastic audiences and teachers. We are getting back into a good rhythm as a team now and I'm looking forward to the 5 weeks we will be spending on the road, once we are finished in the north east. We will be living in self-catering accomodation for a few weeks, which always creates a great bond between the crew.

Sorry for the delay in posts, but I have been very busy organising my first tax return!

I will post again before we are finished touring the north east.


Jack