Sketch a day - 240/365

Today the Old Bird theatre team were at Loading Bay, in Bradford; doing prep for our rehearsal period that starts Monday. Holy fuck! Suddenly here we are, here we are, HERE WE ARE.

All of this work on the script falls away as the work begins, again, again, AGAIN!

I absolutely love the rehearsal process. I love watching actors do their incredible magic. I love watching how they embody words, ideas and feeling. They are the bravest humans I know.

And

I love working with Deborah (Pakkar-Hull). She's a brilliant and thoughtful director. And she starts with embodiment. I think, because I am so often a very mind-bound person, I find the ways of allowing feeling and physicality to lead, kind of amazing.

I dunno. I love words and thought. I don't intend to denigrate these things. Or undervalue.them. They are the sea I swim in. But I love that I get to work with folks who swim in other seas. Who dive in from different points. Who flow differently.

This gets to the heart of my intense, nonsensical love affair with theatre. The ways words are not complete in themselves and are never meant to be. There is no show without a team.

Which is a long way of saying, after all the stress and the illness (tests today say I am ok, thank goodness!) and the full fat fuckery of bringing in ambitious work on ultra lean budgets. In the midst of all that?

Here we are. And I am grateful. And excited. Everything to play for.

And so, that's about it. Only it's not. Because all of this has happened on a day when I have also read about the destruction of thousands of olive trees on the west bank of Palestine and the targeting of a seed bank there (because, not content with genocide, Israel is bringing ecocide upon Palestinian lands). On a day when I have felt the excitement and hope that comes from being alive and able to do the things I love and care about (aka pursuing ones dreams), on a day like this?

I can not end before remembering folks in Palestine, who have hopes and dreams too.

Who have lives that matter too.

I can't end without saying again. Free Palestine. And to ask, why is the UK selling arms to Israel? Why is the UK trading with Israel?

I can not end without saying, please write, sing, shout, protest, pray, send money, do what you can.

Because we must all do what we can.

And when we do, justice and peace will come again to this people and their land. One day, all the trauma of all the peoples of this land will be healed. It will come. One day. But only through love and justice. It will never never arrive with bombs and hate.

That's all I know.

Free Palestine.💔🇵🇸❤️