Monday 13 June 2011

Quick Quiz: #11 Polar Bear


Where are you working at present?

All over the place. In a good way. I’m a resident artist at BAC where I’m developing a new piece for young people. I’m working on a new epic episodic online animated story with Birmingham mac. I’m working with Akram Khan on his new performance piece. I’m running the spoken word collective at Roundhouse as well as developing a new full length story for a run there in November. I’m leading an educational project with the RSC called Sound & Fury and a bunch more stuff. When you write it down on paper it looks like a lot and it is. I think i should write it down more often, might help me make sense of my time a bit better.

Describe your occupation and why you love it

I think of myself as a writer. Sometimes the things I write are for me to perform myself. Sometimes they are entwined with musicians and producers. Sometimes they are for other people to perform and sometimes they’re to be read. like those book things.
Alongside my writing I spend half my time helping other people work with words. This ranges from leading sessions with young children through to helping adults craft words for their own mouth.
It’s pretty hard not to love it because my time revolves around ideas. Either mine or other people’s, and that’s pretty much a dream situation. It can be hard and tiring and a little disorientating sometimes but I have a lot of ideas so to base my professional life around them is nice.

Who do you most enjoy working with and why?

Talented people. I don’t care whether you’re 4 or 64, if you’ve got ideas and skill I get excited. When two or more people start working on something together it stops being about either of them and becomes completely about the thing they are making. Everything from that point has to serve the work and if everybody involved gets that, and is also talented, it can make for amazing collaboration.
I’ve got a couple of people I work with again and again and the main reason for that comes down to personality and common sensibilities and, most importantly, a lot of skill.

What’s your dream day?

Wake up. Build a train track. Bit of jungle ninja role play. make breakfast. Drop kids to school. Cup of tea. talk ideas. Cup of tea. think. write. make lunch. share ideas. cup of tea. talk ideas. write. arm wrestle. plan dinner. pick up kids. look for mini-beasts. football. make dinner. bath time. kids to bed. cup of tea. talk ideas. write. watch a film. when everybody is asleep get headphones on and have one person hour long silent disco jungle rave.

Favourite ever show and why?

T.V show I’d have to say Northern Exposure closely followed by Twin Peaks. Both the perfect mix of amazing characters, suspense, comedy and an element of the surreal.
On stage my girlfriend to me to see a production of Mark O’ Rowe’s ‘Howie the Rookie’ at the Bush theatre about 10 years ago and it blew me away. The simplicity of the form and the craft of the storytelling. I’d never been to the theatre before other than school trips to naff versions of C.S Lewis tales and I dropped lucky. It was brilliant and had a big influence on me, long before I even thought about writing for myself to speak.


Favourite actor/actress and why?

Marlon Brando. Became a bit of a Brando nerd at uni and he’s still my favourite. in terms of current people. I really like Mark Ruffalo and Meryl Streep. There’s too many. I think I like people who make things seem effortless and yet don’t seem to need you to think that they’re cool. That applies to real life too. The best actor of my generation in my opinion is Riz Ahmed. I haven’t seen him in anything and not thought he was brilliant. I think there’ll only be more from him too.

Favourite band/musical artist and why?

Come on mate. You kidding? my fingers are tired now. A Tribe Called Quest. Nick Drake. Bjork. Ella Fitzgerald. Jono McLeery. LTJ Bukem etc etc etc

Where do you see yourself in 25 years?

Sitting on a train typing answers to interview questions. I’m seeing some kind of moustache though. Seriously, I don’t think about stuff like that so i have no idea. I’d like to think that my life is still about ideas and that my children’s lives are about whatever floats their boats too.

Any exciting future projects you’d like to mention?

Loads but not a lot that i can really without wanting to jinx things or give crappy two line blurb summations of. Excited about the Roundhouse run in November. Excited about the young people’s piece at BAC and finally getting some musical tracks finished and out into the world.

What’s your favourite cheese?

I can’t handle the hardcore ones. the ones that smell like horses. Too much for me them. I’ll rock a little brie and grapes on some nice bread, or maybes a applewood smoked on my rarebit if it’s that kind of night. have been known to pull out the buffalo mozarella when I’ve had to. For the ladies like, but that’s strictly a smoking jacket type affair scenario.
Laughing cow is also nice.

Do you have twitter?

www.twitter.com/homeofpolar and I do follow theprompt. It seemed like the right thing to do

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