WHO HERE'S LOST?
2021
What do we make with
our lives?
An artist worries his work has lost its way.
An architect wants to see her buildings a final
time.
A changing landscape searches for itself.
Who Here’s Lost? is a story about what we value
as we go along, and how we present it to others.
It features bubble-wrap, party games, museums
and ants.
And ice cream.
So if you’re lost, just think about the ice
cream.
Who Here's Lost? was intended to be a show
at the 2020 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I
had an afternoon slot confirmed with The Pleasance,
in The Attic, where I had performed Black
Cocktail in 2004 and Coelacanth in 2005,
and everything was on track. Then the
Covid-19 pandemic lockdown happened, the
Fringe was cancelled and things that were
on tracks were taken off the tracks and
put back into boxes.
In the
summer of 2020, I published the book of
the show as a story but the intention was
always to get it onto the stage. I'd first
read the piece to an audience at The Idler
Academy tent at the 2019 Port Eliot
Festival, and the reaction was wonderful;
I'd also staged scratch readings at the
Islington Tap in late 2019, and the
Bookseller Crow in early 2020. But it was
always going to be a challenge to make it
into a show what with the understandable
uncertainty in the live entertainment
industry. I resolved to get it done in the
summer of 2021, booking the piece into a
slot as part of a Double Bill with Joanna
Neary's wonderful Wife on Earth, at
the Hen and Chickens Pub Theatre in
Highbury at the end of July, and arranging
dates in the Autumn.
I
rehearsed alone at home in my front room.
Simon Oakes and Suns of
the Tundra recorded a beautiful and
haunting soundtrack for the piece. Jules Scheele had
made a brilliant illustration for a
poster, based on a photograph by Andy Lane, and
Stephany Ungl
ess designed some fabulous
publicity and these would all be ready for future dates.
Other performances followed - the Kings
Arms in Salford as part of the 2021 Greater Manchester Fringe Festival
(when it was Shortlisted for the Award for Best Spoken Workd
Performance); The Constitutional in Farsley, the Next Music Bar in
Brighton and the West End Centre in Aldershot.
In 2022, the Fringe was
looking like it would be near-normal again so I committed to bringing
the piece to The Pleasance Attic. They moved my timeslot to 11.35am and
the planning began. I kept the staging simple - just a couple of IKEA
chairs, some bubble wrap and a few small props - and the awesome Robert
Wells came on board as stage manager / technical operator.
I presented the piece as part of the 2022 Machynlleth Comedy Festival in
May 2022, and it went down brilliantly. Other preview shows were at the
Discovia Summit in Chateau du Fey, France, on the MS Hans at the
Hermitage Moorings, at the Idler Festival, and again at the Hen and
Chickens in July.
The Edinburgh Fringe run was a delight. I contributed a piece for Three Weeks
about how much I was looking forward to it. And the response to Who
Here's Lost? was fabulous; so many people came up to me afterwards to
buy the book and to talk about the ideas, gags and images from the
performance. I was really happy with the work - artistically it was a
progression for me in playing with form and content and I feel I keep
getting better at what I do.
But there were
challenges. The timeslot meant it was always going to be difficult to
attract audience numbers, and I found it difficult to build momentum.
Press reviews were generally very good, but rare. But what was a true
joy was to see so many other comics and performers at the show, and
their response and the professional boost they gave me were really
wonderful; Tim Vine, Lucy Porter, Paul Currie, Justin Moorhouse, Luke
Wright and many others really "got" the piece and could see what I was
striving for, and their comments lifted me throughout the month. I even
had Sir Ian McKellen in the audience one day, and his words about the
show were uplifting and kind. Although I worked without a director, the
brilliant Erica Whyman came to a performance and her notes were truly
invaluable in making improvements as the run continued.
I saw 40plus shows over the Fringe and recommended all them
on my Twitter account; I made lots of new friends and contacts; I spent
a glorious month in one of the world's most beautiful cities.
I really hope the show has a future so if you’re interested in booking a live
performance of this or any of my other
pieces, please contact me and I can send you a document about staging the work.
"IN THE SKY HANGS A MOON SO LARGE AND BRIGHT IT LOOKS LIKE AN ADVERT FOR MOONS"Read script extracts from Who Here's Lost?
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