So, one project is nearly at an end and I'll be sad to say goodbye tonight to the brilliant people who have helped give Ignition the energy and enthusiasm that have carried us through a pretty hectic 10 days of shows. I've written a page all about it here.

And on to the next project. I'll be spending the next few months working on Tiger a new dance piece with choreographer Natasha Gilmore and writing a new version of Sleeping Beauty for Sherman Cymru this Christmas. Magic! Have a look in the Future section for more info. Not to mention the ongoing tour of Pondlife and the upcoming French production of Simon La Goudouille. Maybe I'll get to go somewhere further south after all. 

What an amazing time I've been having working with some of the people of Shetland who have put everything into bringing Ignition to life. I have really loved all the workshops and rehearsals that we have tried to fit around people who have normal lives and can't just come to a rehearsal. Sometimes they have to get a 2 hour bus ride just to be there. 

I have loved all the stories and I hope we've always worked from what they have given to us rather than imposing any kind of crappy cliches on them. 

It's resulted in some unique pieces; a boys' love of Dolly Parton; a man searching for a view, somewhere he can lay his ukelele; a woman cast adrift in a camper van trying to forgive her husband for dying; a girl surviving in a world without power, just her and one last battery to remember the world with; a storyteller trying hard to tell the one story that has always haunted him; the thoughts of 5 lost souls as they travel on an endless bus journey. There are so many parts to this show that it's impossible to write about them all. People are amazing. You just have to listen.

Photographs courtesy of National Theatre of Scotland

Nice review for Pondlife in the Auckland Theatre Festival this weekend.