The Midnight Soup is very much a train show. I think most of my work so far, has been train work. I guess I enjoy it as a space to let my thoughts run a bit freer. I like that ideas are moving forward in time with my moving forward geographically.
A lot has happened to the show since the residency in Stockton, and a lot is yet to happen.
There is a structure to the piece now – a sequence of events, of stories, of questions… There is music, and there are new themes emerging.
A lot of the show boils down to being a consideration of family, of identity, of belonging and of choice.
It is very much written to be a conversation starter, nothing more, nothing less.
I am now at another one of those thrillingly frightening moments – I have no choice but to get this raw material up on its feet. I have no choice but to let go, and give it away – to see what happens, when people are invited.
It’s possible that after I’ve done that, I’ll realise that I’ve got it all wrong. It’s possible that I’ll realise I need to go back to the studio and start again, from the beginning.
As I prepare to start sharing, there is a balance I need to find, a line I need to draw; the vulnerability line. This project has more truth in it than any other project I’ve ever been involved in. It’s got more of myself than any other project I’ve ever involved in. It’s much more raw than anything I’ve done before.
It quite loudly states something that is important to me – it makes a number of my beliefs, of my values, clear as crystal.
One of the things I want it to do is to have all the room that is necessary for anyone else, for everyone else – for their beliefs, and their values. For those to be acknowledged understood and respected – even if they differ from mine or other people’s. The Midnight Soup is about starting a macro conversation at a micro level.
It’s perhaps a difficult conversation, and I don’t want to shy away from it.
I do owe it to myself, though, and to others – to make it safe.
Maybe this means that formally, it will be safe… In many ways, it needs to be nothing more than a simple story told well.
It’s a lot more work than it sounds.
And I can’t wait for that work.
A lot of that work will take place in April – during a residency which we need to re-adjust following the announcement that Residence are losing their home in the Milk Bar (where I was due to spend a week working on the show in April). If anyone knows of any venue that may let me play in one of their spaces, do let us know – it would be super helpful.
In the meantime, I’m still planning a quick trip to Bristol – bringing Le Bistroquet to the Milk Bar in the afternoon of 28th March. Do watch out for further details, and tell your friends!