My love for Neil Simon started as a youngster. I was off school with Asthma and ‘Barefoot In The Park’ was showing on television and even though it was, what I considered, an ‘old’ film, I loved every minute of it. That love affair with his work continues until today. He had the very rare talent of being able to make you roar with laughter one minute and the next have you crying into your tissue. He was an exceptional, insightful playwright.
I have been really enjoying the new series of Talking Heads on the BBC. The first series was aired in 1988 with Alan Bennett in A Chip in the Sugar, Patricia Routledge in A Lady of Letters, Maggie Smith in Bed Among the Lentils, Stephanie Cole in Soldiering On, Julie Walters in Her Big Chance and the wonderful Thora Hird in A Cream Cracker under the Settee. I remember watching these and being totally enthralled. In 1998 the second series was aired with some of the same cast playing different roles Patricia Routledge in Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet, Eileen Atkins in The Hand of God, David Haig in Playing Sandwiches, Julie Walters in The Outside Dog, Penelope Wilton in Nights in the Gardens of Spain and Thora Hird in Waiting for the Telegram. When they were first published I remember appearing in and directing the odd one or two here and there. I even have a dusty old copy of the scripts on my bookshelf but haven’t revisited them in a good few years.
During our last production of Spine I was asked a few times what the role of the Director is. The answer is that it can vary from company to company, but in The Green Room Productions it goes something like this:
As the Director, when I read a great play it captures my imagination. Usually the story visually unfolds in my head and if I can see it working well on our stage I will decide to produce it.
The next step is to cast the play. The Green Room Productions has a pool of very talented actors so I will try to cast from them. If this isn't possible then I will hold auditions to find other actors to suit the roles.
