What a lovely evening. I’ve been quietly nervous about it for a while. It’s another first. Client wanted a Midsummer Night’s Dream themed wedding entertainment. Couldn’t afford to pay for writing fee or costume. So Ffion and I worked for our basic. But we still had to write it.
Thankfully Ffi and I have been around the block by now. Between us we know a lot of material and we both have confidence with it as well. I collated things I knew we knew, she objected and rewrote, we both disagreed and then agreed, and we ended up with what the client wanted. “Themes of love, and Cupid’s meddling”. We had specific out of context bits that we needed to shoehorn in for him. So… we did. And it was good. It landed. And we made a new thing. From many plays.
Good people, getting married at The Globe (the swan) because they fucking love Shakespeare. Really lovely, and anyone who knows us knows how lucky they were that it was Ffi and I organising their Shakespearean wedding entertainment. The right combination of love and experience. It’s why I’m trying to hold firm with price for future work – sure they could save some money, but why not offer the client a good experience? I’m not desperate enough to engage in this race to the bottom they are catalysing. Let us be the expensive option for the client, they’ll get it back in feedback.
There’s a disconnect between the corporate, the education and the stage departments in that building. I would never mention in an audition for main stage there that I did this work for The Swan – there’s unnecessary division between the branches. But… despite that I know that I’m turning in respectable work with integrity that meets the client’s needs. I’m really fucking proud of the level of skill Ffi and I have got to with this event Shakespeare stuff. It’s perhaps largely venue specific, but we’ve got enough now that we could do it anywhere and it would land well. And it’s nice being good at stuff.
I haven’t been able to see past today for at least a week. The client is in events, so actually there’s loads of alignment in our lives, and the best man is also in the same game as me. We probably walked past each other at VSM in Paris, the client and I, or BCY. I would’ve been carrying a load of screws, he’d have been worrying about condensation on projectors. That crazy summer. But yeah.. different strands and yet we both know events and we welcome the madness that they entail.
A happy small event. Onwards now.
AlBarclay 