Green door what’s that secret you’re keeping?

This article was originally published for BOLDtext Playwrights

According to the 1956 hit song, ‘there’s an old piano and they play it hot behind the green door’. It’s a tune that was running through my head as I approached a battered green door in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter. However, rather than finding a smoke-filled speakeasy, I discovered an entirely different world of wonders: a perfectly preserved 130-year-old jewellery manufactory.

It’s a typical Birmingham experience. In every part of the city you can wander down a seemingly half-abandoned street, only to stumble across something extraordinary. In this case it’s the Grade II* listed Alabaster & Wilson factory on Legge Lane. It’s also typical of Birmingham that it’s a name barely anyone recognises, even though the company made jewellery for such lofty figures as Princess Diana and the Queen. The business closed four years ago, not because they didn’t have customers, but because an offer was made on the building and almost everyone working there was due to retire.

However, one jeweller remains. Patrick Lambert continues to work at the top of the stairs on the first floor, acting as a kind of custodian while a future for the building it sought. He is a master craftsman and is also far too humble, which in itself is another typically Brummie quality. Patrick very generously spent about three hours showing me around the factory, regaling me with stories of its past, and letting me into some of the secrets of the trade. What struck me most was when he breezily admitted that “nobody gets rich making jewellery”. In fact, he’s often had to work second jobs in pubs or at the airport to make ends meet.

Patrick Lambert, the last jeweller at Alabaster & Wilson

It’s this I hope to distil into my 10-minute play for Gem of a Place, which I’m thrilled to say will be performed inside the Alabaster & Wilson factory, a building that is rarely open to the public. Without gritty, unprepossessing streets like Legge Lane and without brilliant unsung artisans just like Patrick, London jewellers wouldn’t have made their profits and the great and the good wouldn’t have been able to sparkle and shine. And that’s typically Brummagem too.

So don’t miss this opportunity to go behind the green door and discover an extraordinary hidden world for yourself. Tickets are on sale now!

BOOK your TICKETS HERE

Catch Gem of a Place by BOLDtext Playwrights on 9, 10, 11, 16, 17 & 18 September at 11:30am, 2pm & 5pm.

It is presented as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival and Birmingham Heritage Week.

Bold Text Playwrights get Sunstroke

We didn’t have a great deal of time to devise our latest show at the Birmingham Rep, but coming so soon after the summer break our minds turned to holidays.

It has fallen to me to curate the show, which we’re calling ‘Sunstroke’ and for the first time will feature all eight Bold Text writers in one night. The idea for a selection of dramatised ‘postcards’ came to me before the appalling massacre in Tunisia, let alone the refugee crisis in Europe. As time has gone on however it has tragically become more and more topical. All eight micro-plays take place during the evacuation of an unspecified holiday resort and look at what responsibility we bear as both tourists and westerners to the countries where we choose to soak up the sun. My play ‘Stateless’ is a monologue by a British ex-pat who discovers he may not have integrated into his adopted country as well as he thought.

I’m delighted that Jessica Dromgoole has agreed to return to direct the show, which stars actors Sean Connolly and Bharti Patel. All donations taken on the night will go to the International Red Cross.

The Russell Brand Effect: The Morning After

Bold Text Playwrights are back at the Birmingham Rep  with a selection of short plays looking at the General Election. When The REP gave us two dates straddling the election we thought it was the perfect opportunity to write topical pieces responding to the run-up and the result. Somewhat cheekily, we’ve entitled it ‘The Russell Brand Effect’ in response to the comedian’s call for people not to vote. Well the electorate did vote, the Conservatives have gained a surprise majority, and my piece ‘Better Devils’ is a domestic drama that looks at what happens when you spend so much time attacking with your friends you let your enemies win.

Directed by Ola Animashawun, my play will be performed alongside pieces by Nicola Jones, Helen Kelly and Sayan Kent. Our first day of rehearsal in the Jewellery Quarter has been enormous fun, helped hugely by the talent and humour of our actors Marcus Hendry, Rochi Rampal and Jan Summerfield (pictured above).

 

Selfies @ The REP

Bold Text Playwrights return to the Birmingham Rep with monologues – or selfies – written and performed by the writers themselves. My selfie ‘Quake’ is a meditative piece that looks at the continuing impact of childhood experiences (including my upbringing as a Quaker) on my work as a writer today. Here’s an excerpt:

Words, words, words – tumbling through my mind

Thoughts, memories, misremembered

Lyrics

From the last song I heard

Conversations I wish I’d had

Conversations I wish I hadn’t

Trying to reassemble the clutter that should be swept away

Tripping

Stumbling

Self-sabotage

I’ll be joined by fellow Bold Text members Liz John, Sayan Kent and Julia Wright. We’ve had our first rehearsal with director Jessica Dromgoole and having not acted for some years I’m finding performing my own work a lot more nerve-wracking  than I expected! Nonetheless I think it promises to be an intimate, insightful and very entertaining evening.

Bold Text at The REP

A few months ago I joined a collective of six other writers to create Bold Text Playwrights. Our first performance of rehearsed readings will on Monday 7th April at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Bold Text aims to create more opportunities and platforms for mid-career writers in the West Midlands. We are collaborating with the REP’s ‘Open Door’ pilot scheme to present three evenings of new work. An extract of my new play ‘Liberal Guilt’ will be performed on April 7th:

Leanne and Polly are best friends. They also both work for the Lib Dems. When the coalition is formed one leaves and one stays. But what is the point of principles without power – and what is the worth of power if you compromise all your principles? Based on firsthand experience and interviews with senior party members ‘Liberal Guilt’ looks at the future of party politics if we choose to abandon it.

Further details can be found on the Bold Text website: http://boldtextcollective.wordpress.com/

You can book your FREE ticket by visiting: http://www.birmingham-box.co.uk/event/open-door/

Bold Text @ Open Door is funded by Arts Council England