processes

A long time ago, in a galaxy of hope and possibility… We devised a creative exercise that we called ‘The Thirty’. Essentially, it was the two of us talking through a list of 30 ideas that we felt …

I’ve been working on a kind of self-help tract for my own self, to reconcile some of the contradictions of being a caring artist in the shadow of capitalism. This is the second notebook post on the …

Since late lockdown, I’ve been working on a kind of self-help tract for my own self, to reconcile some of the contradictions of being a caring artist in the shadow of capitalism. For a while I …

The story of Something Ending, a song from A Million Tiny Glitches... Something Ending from A Million Tiny Glitches by Sleepdogs When my brother Mike died in 2012 he did so in a dramatic way very …

Some subroutines I’m trying to run for my writing, whenever possible. Or whenever I remember. Warning: contains pedantry. 1. No roles, only desires Many of my stories are about people who wouldn’t …

How being a musician affects scriptwriting and storytelling – The second in a series of short (ish) articles – WARNING: contains autobiography – 2. Craft work I've been thinking about a gig I went to …

How being a musician affects scriptwriting and storytelling – The first in a series of short (OK, short-ish) articles – 1. Story ghosts One of the amazing things about making digital music – …

Last year I was lucky enough to be awarded an Industry Fellowship on the Bristol & Bath Creative Cluster Expanded Performance programme. Yeah, it's a mouthful... basically it meant I was part of a …

So my play Babel's Cupid has just been announced as one of the three runners-up for the Yale Drama Series Prize 2021. Over the moon, me. Many thanks to judge Paula Vogel and Yale Drama Series, and …

On quantum emotions. Writing drama, you're regularly asked to justify the actions of the fictional people you're creating, to give them clear reasons for doing what they do and saying what they say. …

The peeps at Watershed's Pervasive Media Studio invited me to do a lunchtime talk for them over summer. I've been banging on forever about how the theatre industry (and wider arts/creative worlds …

Last year, Tim and I wrote an Ethical Policy for Sleepdogs*. I’ve been meaning to post it up for months, and today it feels like my non-negotiable duty to share anything that stands up for y’know, …

I made this for the Sleepdogs office. It’s about not always doing things the same way, with the same patterns (unless that’s the right thing to do.) Also: trying to be clear and kind – to others, to …

[EDIT, 2021. This article from 2018 contains thoughts and reflections on the practice of Chris Goode, who at the time was horrendously abusing many people involved in his work, and beyond. But I've …

Last Saturday, I spent the day with our brilliant friend and collaborator Sharon Clark, and wor Tim, in the Residence space, for a day of peer mentoring / problem solving / critical reflection. I’ve …

Here's two interviews with me talking about making stuff and all that. The questions were from students at Bath Spa University. 1. Interview by Connor Sullivan on sound design and site-specific …

Here's our final Thought Residency thought #7, Piano Thought: Thanks for listening. Our November 2017 Thought Residency was commissioned by MAYK, as part of the their Thought Residency series.

Here's Thought Residency thought #6 Nightshift Thought: Our November 2017 Thought Residency was commissioned by MAYK, as part of the their Thought Residency series.

Here's Thought Residency thought #2, Awesome Thought: Our November 2017 Thought Residency was commissioned by MAYK, as part of the their Thought Residency series.

We had a conversation with Bristol producing team, MAYK, a little while back, which went something like this: Team MAYK: "Some colleagues in Canada do this thing called Thought Residencies. We talked …

When I was kid, I dreamed of being a film star (obviously). And in those fantasies, I pictured my adult film star self as having white skin. This didn’t at the time strike me as weird or odd in any …

(Author’s note: I am, occasionally, a theatre critic.) Please do not use the phrase ‘self-indulgent.’ It will almost always be factually incorrect. You’re perfectly entitled to use the word …

Watch out. Absolute marathon, this one. Over the next few months I’m working as a dramaturg and writer alongside some great artists, as well as giving a few talks and workshops about sound design for …

We’re right on the brink of starting Dark Land Light House rehearsals now, and as everything’s starting to focus in on the detailed stuff, I thought it might be good to remind myself about the more …

Edit, 2018: so you might have arrived here because I've posted up a new mix of the DW theme. Good. Thanks. This post was all about my original take, back in 2015. Scroll down to the bottom of the …

The film above is edited from footage we shot in Normandy this summer, around a screenplay I've been writing called Utah. I’ve been writing it for about 7 years now, on and off. Well I say ‘writing’. …

So if all (i.e. funding) goes to plan, we’ll be making Dark Land Light House next Spring. I cannot tell you how soul-quakingly exciting that feels. As Tim’s already talked about, we’ve been working …

We welcome your ears to the second What The Found Sound, where we delve into bits of our sound archive we’ve most likely forgotten about, and liveblog our reactions. A few footnotes at the bottom of …

Last month, we went out to Athens to be resident at the totally ace Bios for a week, to start researching Steady State. The residency was supported by Caravan, who not only stumped up the cash money …

Hello and welcome to What The Found Sound, where we delve into bits of our sound archive we've most likely forgotten about, and liveblog our reactions. A few footnotes at the bottom of the page, but …

Oh hello. Well, a while back you might have seen Rupert Christiansen’s Telegraph blog on the subject of women in theatre. If not, here it is. I’m not going to get rude about Mr Christiansen’s …

How I’m writing Dark Land Light House: – In 2008 we outlined a story. A sci-fi horror set on a lighthouse in space. It was meant for radio at first. – Then we thought about it as a film for a while. …

Thing is, I like working from scripts. I don’t much care what format the script comes in, or whether it’s in the right order, and I’m never averse to suggesting abstractions or deletions; but the …

To be clear, I made this chart for myself... (Click here for full-size readability fun.) I’ve been getting back into the frame of mind where I’m writing theatre for other people to produce. And I …

With The Bullet And The Bass Trombone about to hit the Caravan showcase at Brighton Festival, we thought it might be interesting to dig out this blog interview we did before the first previews of the …