Hi, I'm from Venus

Another marketing brainwave just hit me. When giving out leaflets in Edinburgh, Bianca and I will introduce ourselves with "Hi, I'm from Venus, where are you from?" If they laugh and correctly answer "Mars" or "I'm from Venus too" we will know they know what we're talking about (or rather, where we're coming from) and we can then go on to tell them about the show. If they look at us blankly or say "Sorry?" we will explain the Venus and Mars concept and then go on to tell them about the show. Job done.

I Wish I'd Thought Of That!

I'm aiming to put on an Edinburgh Fringe show full of the sort of ideas that make me say "I wish I'd thought of that" and then remember that I did!

My Edinburgh Heroes

One of my little fantasies is to get the established performers whose shows I have enjoyed in Edinburgh in the past (and will see again this year if they are on) to come and see my show. These would include (in no particular order) Janey Godley, Kit & the Widow, Rhona Cameron, Deborah Frances-White, Idiots of Ants, Michael McIntyre, Jimmy Carr, Dean Friedman, The Paper Birds, Naked Voices, the Shakespeare for Breakfast crew, Paul Merton and the Just a Minute team! Maybe I should offer them free tickets? Or I could be really cheeky and offer to swap one of mine for one of theirs which would save me a few quid! It may be a little presumptuous to imagine that just because I like their work they would like mine but actually it’s not so far fetched to think that we could have similar tastes. I have probably been influenced by them all in some shape or form, although I hasten to add that I have not stolen (or even borrowed) any of their material. If I had, I wouldn’t want them to see my show and find me out. Anyway, I don’t need to; I have plenty of ideas of my own. Actually, there is a way I might get Dean Friedman to come and see Venus and Mars - if I use one of his songs as background music and write to tell him I am doing so. Have already included a PRS fee in my budget. Wondered about “Woman of Mine” Just listened to it and it starts “I’m gonna find me a cave, gonna shut myself in and not come out again. I’m gonna stay there ‘til I rot in my grave and if someone comes a-knocking I just won’t let them in” How appropriate is that?! And it well and truly predates the first Venus and Mars book (published 1992) as it was recorded in 1977. Perhaps I could invite him to come and sing it live at one performance. Hmmm....I wonder if a free ticket to stay and watch the show would be adequate payment….

The End!

Wrote the final scene today! That doesn't mean it's finished, just that I've worked out how it ends. Still quite a bit to fill in, in between. Have incorporated the giant pink flower. Realised it fitted in perfectly with an idea I jotted down ages ago, before I bought it, about men preferring practical gifts and women liking pretty things. Delighted with the final scene as I feel it incorporates a bit of everything - romance, sex, music, dancing, humour, pathos, relevance, visual interest..... Have also come up with some publicity phrases today: - Sophisticated silliness. An intricately woven intellectually stimulating tapestry of historical accuracies and anachronisms. Some nudity (well, sort of) and rudity (but no crudity)

New Photo

Changed my photo on here because a kind friend pointed out that while I might think the previous one was funny, in miniature it just made me look like a victim of bad cosmetic surgery. Thanks Chris! Hope this one's better. Script is coming on in leaps and bounds. Best ideas always come either in the shower, while driving or in bed in the early hours. Have to get them typed up or scribbled down quickly before I lose them.

Prop Number 2 Ordered (also pink)

Got Michael to order me a baby pink plastic colander I spotted on e-bay. He was outraged that it came to £3.87 including p+p but I said that was fine. He reckoned it would be too small to fit on anyone’s head because it said “baby”. Explained that “baby pink” is the colour. Think it’s exactly what I need. Erica had a metal one for the 20 minute taster rehearsed reading we did in November but it was too heavy and she had difficulty keeping it on. This should be better.

Button Badges

Will be giving out button badges in Edinburgh to promote the show. Just realised what they need to say on them "I'm from Venus" (pink ones) and "I'm from Mars" (blue ones). Will obviously give each to the appropriate gender but if they choose to swap that's up to them! Just need to find out how much it will cost......for what? 5,000 (2,500 of each)?

Saw this and Thought of You

Spotted giant pink artificial flowers in a shop yesterday for £7.50 and immediately thought “I have to write one of those into Venus and Mars” so I got one. My first prop purchase. So that leaves just £192.50 in the production budget. It’s huge; as big as my head. Very excited about it. It’s like I’ve bought the show a present, rather like buying a teddy for your baby before it’s born. Then took it to the cinema to see Slumdog Millionaire. Think it enjoyed the film. Now it’s standing by my desk to inspire me as I write the script. Shop was called Evolution which seems somehow appropriate; with the themes of Adam and Eve and other early human myths and the evolving relationship between the genders and changing status of women. Don’t know yet which scene it will appear in. It might even feature on the poster. And in the street publicity. I’m envisaging an elaborate Comedia d’el Arte style mime where Mars keeps trying to present the huge flower to Venus and she turns him down until he gets it right. Or perhaps he tries to put it in his button hole but it’s too big, then in her hair (same problem) then in a vase but it topples over. Perhaps, instead of a mime, just a freeze…..or rather a series of freezes, like a live strip cartoon (no, not that sort of strip!) while Bianca and I give out leaflets and talk to people about the show.

Venus and Mars and Other Myths.......

"Venus and Mars and Other Myths of Mr and Ms" is the title of a show I am planning to take to the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2009. I am the writer and director of the show and it will be staged by my theatre company, Life Experience Productions. The script is not finished yet, although a preview of a 20 minute taster version was performed in Cambridge in November 2008. I am currently in the process of applying for a venue. Watch this space for personal insights into the creative process as well as the practicalities of putting on a show at this spectacular international, freely accessible to all comers (but rather costly to participate in these days) Festival of the Arts.