FranticT

First published in Oh Comely magazine, Decenber 2014 Home is where the spiders are. Home is also where I work and write. In Native American culture, Spider was the creator of the alphabet. She weaved the letters into her web and gave them to the tribes. When I see a spider sitting in my windowsill, she inspires me to type. When I rescue my boyfriend from a spider, I have her cross my palm to bring creativity and good fortune. Spider is also the one who weaves dreamcatchers, catching nightmares like flies, leaving dreams to fly free. I moved into a new home last month. It is beautiful, with large rooms paved in wood. But the first few nights I slept here, I had nightmares. If it was the feeling of unfamilarity or the past of the place I don't know. But I blessed the doors with rowen branches to keep out uninvited guests. The next day, I saw a spider in my bedroom. I have slept soundly since. I have not told my boyfriend where she is though. I want him to sleep soundly too.

First Published in Dramatic Shorts, Edited by James Quince, 2014 Characters Vicky Mark Headteacher MARK, dressed in a cycling outfit, sits on one of three waiting-room style chairs. One leg is crossed over the other, and he reads a magazine, looking very relaxed. His helmet, coat and rucksack sit on the chair next to him. To the side of the chairs is a door with the word ‘Headteacher’ on it. After a few seconds, this door opens and the HEADTEACHER steps out. MARK closes the magazine and looks at him calmly. HEADTEACHER: Oh, Mr Carson. Hello. (He shakes MARK’s hand. ) You’ll have to forgive me; I just have to make a quick trip to the restroom. MARK: Of course. HEADTEACHER leaves down an unseen corridor. MARK resumes reading his magazine. VICKY enters from the corridor. She is slightly out of breath and unravelling the scarf wrapped around her neck. She carries a large shoulder bag. She slows as she sees MARK and comes to a gradual stop, keeping her eyes on him. MARK does not look up until he finishes his paragraph. He looks at VICKY. Pause. A small smile from both. MARK: You came then. VICKY: Of...

First Performed at Kingston Library, October 31st 2014 Order of Ceremonies: Frankenstein by Mary Shelly The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson The Believer retold by Mike Treacy The Tale of Tam Lyn performed by Mark Turauskis The Raven by Edgar Alan Poe Master of Ceremonies : Good evening, and welcome to an Evening of Penny Dreadfuls. Before we take you on our dark journey through Gothic literature, I am first obliged to tell you that should the unthinkable happen, and the dead rise from their graves or the fires of Hell engulf the building, setting off the fire alarms, you should leave via the entrance you came in. Our staff members will show you the way. Also, there will be several soul-catchers present this evening, so if you are happy to have your visage captured on camera, if you could sign your soul away at the back table, we would be much obliged. Now, we will take you back to our time. Queen Victoria is on the Throne of England. The city streets are teaming with cut-throats and the country fields haunted by ghosts. Those who don’t want to be handed a...

First Published in A Fountain of Ink, The Great British Write-Off, 2014 As I walk along the road Rushed as always, new And old walk beside me, ever Driven by the cold shiver, The fear of being last In the line as we wait For the train. I wait As I have waited before. By roads. On platforms. When at last– The train arrives, and a new Frenzy sweeps the platform, a shiver As we prepare to fight forever! Fight for a seat that will never Be as sweet as the one I imagine as I wait... I sit underneath the fan and shiver As I watch coloured cars on roads Zoom on their way to new Horizons, whilst I sip the last Of my peppermint tea, eat the last Of my lunch and contemplate if ever I will have my share of strange new Lands and will they be worth the wait? I stare out the window at fields and roads And I cannot suppress the shiver Of cold. The bloody shiver Caused by the fan above me, that last Pain on my long road Home, the place I will never Leave again. I can’t wait To curl...

First published on The Artfice, July 2013 Whilst at university, I attended some ironically solemn lectures about the importance of ‘fun’ in the theatre. I would sit in a sea of stern faces and learn how to play and enjoy myself on stage. I would take notes. I would nod with understanding. And when faced with an audience, I would make my lecturer despair at my restraint. You see, fun is a serious business. Having fun in drama involves taking a make-up remover to the war-paint you wear: War-paint that consists, not of woad and semen, a lá Keira Knightly in King Arthur , but of conditioned behaviours and inherent social rules. Play-acting entails taking these behaviours that protect you from ridicule and wiping them all off. Practitioners are left bare-faced; a raw human that is driven by impulse. Having fun and following instinct in front of an audience can feel just like walking outside without make-up: There is a fear of being perceived as crude and ugly. It is tempting to shield our true selves from view by performing the plays that we ‘ought to’, rather than the plays we want to. Companies end up taking an overtly...

First commissioned by Standout Books, 2013 When your plot is driving in one direction, you could surprise the reader with something entirely different and unexpected by using a plot twist. A twist can be used in any genre of fiction to stop a story becoming predictable, or expose character traits, and the power of the plot twist can be guttural to a reader. But how do you go about writing a compelling twist? Types of Twist You must decide the kind of twist your novel needs. Below are some examples of ones you could choose. Something fishy is going on If you have a resolution you really want to keep hidden from the reader, you could throw a few red herrings into the stew-pot. Make the protagonist chase a lesser villain or show an innocent boyfriend in a dubious situation. Red herrings distract your protagonist, and therefore distract your reader, from the plot revelation. A good example is Bishop Aringarosa in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The bishop’s lesser evils distract the reader from the unexpected mastermind of the plot: Sir Leigh Teabing, the frail old man and mentor of the hero. Use red herrings with caution...

A look at the origins of Hollywood in melodrama.

A look at Inclusive theatre and its merits.

A how-to for writers, written for Standout Books.

Why does science fiction appeal to those with Aspergers?

A non-traditional family story told in a traditional style.

We left granddad’s house two hours ago. Making our way through the country, we made our way through the cassettes. I have Walked a Dinosaur, looked on The Bright Side of Life and The Red Car and the Blue Car have finished their race. Kids Go Nuts, and then the car goes quite...   A short story about a car journey at night.

A story of a non-tradtional family told through tradtional means.

A short essay on inclusive theatre and how it can be emulated in mainstream theatre.  

A look at how sexual assult has been perceived in the past and present.

My response on the death of Margaret Thatcher.

A musing on the rise of toy cameras and lomography in British culture.

A look why people with Aspergers Syndrome may be drawn to certain genres.

Looking at the decline in ticket sales and attitudes to theatre

My thoughts on Susan Fletcher's novel, The Silver Dark Sea

My review of A Moveable Feast by Earnest Hemingway.

Footsbarn’s Christmas Cracker takes the audience back to pagan England and the mid-winter celebrations which brought frivolity to the freezing cold, when the world is turned upside down and the Lord of Misrule rules over the proceedings. Footsbarn’s Christmas Cracker was the first play to be performed at the Globe in the winter. As such it needed to cater to the weather more than anything else. When I saw the play there were icicles hanging by the wall and despite looking forward to the performance, I was not looking forward to standing in the cold for the duration. However, Footsbarn took into account both the weather and the groundlings. The play was short, at just one hour long, with an interval halfway through and mulled wine on sale outside. And whilst I was cold, this helped with the authenticity of the piece. The play was marketed as a “party” to call back the summer to the world, and with the cabaret styles episodes, there was little time to focus on the weather or indeed anything other than the piece. The use of episodes was perfect for keeping the audience entertained. If one episode is not to your taste, the...

Last Friday, I began a very busy weekend with a trip to the theatre. Taking advantage of the A Night Less Ordinary scheme (possibly for the last time now the government has eliminated it) I managed to acquire a free ticket for The Factory’s Round 2 at The Rose Theatre, Kingston. In all honesty, I nearly didn’t go: I had lots of research to do for uni; I started a new job on Saturday morning; the performance did not start until 10pm and I was going alone as I only managed to get the one ticket. A Night of Ordinary seemed like the better option. But the concept of Round 2 intrigued me enough to know I would regret not going. Round 2 was described in the Rose’s press release as “a collection of short plays written by Factory writers. With over thirty new plays the audience get to choose which six plays they’d like to see each night and which actors they’d like to perform them. The results are more like a music gig than a night of new writing.” The evening was certainly more relaxed than watching a regular scripted play at the Rose. As I walked...

As I walked into the auditorium, I saw an immediate difference between this set and the sets of previous shows I had seen at The Rose: This one came out into the audience. The cushion pit had been put to good use by placing a number of (thankfully very soft) carpets on the floor, which gave the area the feeling of a plush Victorian home. This immediately involves the audience, adding a sense of fun to the proceedings. This trend was continued when the actors entered and started to use the entire pit area as a canvas, speaking to members of the audience to involve them further. This mingling was done with the actors out of character, which I initially thought was unnecessarily Brechtian for this type of family play. However, I was later placated when I saw that the speaking ensemble were acting as the story-tellers and put on their characters on stage. At one point near the beginning, one of the storytellers asks the rest if they want to play “Bob Cratchit, anyone?” This was the cue for one of the first cases of notable acting within the piece. Daniel Goode, who played Cratchit along with other...

Recently, as part of a third year project for my Drama degree, I directed a production of Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco. For those of you who don't know the story, it involves the inhabitants of a small French town transforming into rhinos until only one man is left. Needless to say, it was a difficult play to put on stage. For months I had dreams of rhinoceroses: Every four legged animal suddenly seemed to grow horns. I was constantly asking my actors to crawl around on all fours, emitting grunts and trumpets, and eliciting strange looks from even our fellow dramatists. With moments of Black Swan-like dreaming, I think it is definite that I lost some of my sanity. I'm still not certain if this is a good thing...   Anyway, this is where my pictures are from. One of my set designers took these photographs during rehearsals. It makes me so proud to look at it and I hope the visual elements are pleasing to you too!   And just a quick warning - no matter how passionate you are about something, never forget to hold on to your humanity.  

Inspied by Maori traditions.

A quick warning for anyone who has not experienced camping in the rain...