Return from a journey. The Tempest and The Boathouse - Part One. Blog 11 2014

Good afternoon


Its a bright sunny autumn afternoon, nice for a long walk in the countryside. I am on a week long retreat here in the beautiful Kent countryside at Broome Park - a majestic manor house snuggled in fields and trees that go on for miles. There is a deeply restorative stillness here. I am indebted to the generosity of my dear friend Amari for these few days of time on my own  - we were together early in the week before Amari travelled back from Canterbury West to North London.  As ever we had our usual mix of engrossed conversation, laughter and hilarity. Thank you Amari. So just sitting here beginning to write this -  listening to Tracy Chapman. Bliss.

Sam Palmer as Prospero in Joss Bennathan's Present Moment Theatre Lab Production of The Tempest, designed by Libby Todd. Photo by Claire Williams Photography

This peace comes at a perfect time for me after six months of intensive creative work which whilst wonderful - inevitably uses up large amounts of energy and leaves me running on empty. This is the pattern, the cycle of making work - full on and stop.  Indeed I came across some words that really chime for me at this time:

“As Aristotle said, 'Excellence is a habit.' I would say furthermore that excellence is made constant through the feeling that comes right after one has completed a work which he himself finds undeniably awe-inspiring. He only wants to relax until he's ready to renew such a feeling all over again because to him, all else has become absolutely trivial.” ― Criss Jami - American poet, essayist, existentialist philosopher, and designer.

The speeds at which we operate when in intensive creative projects are like no other times - well for me at least. Our heads are filled almost to the exclusion of anything else, ideas tumble -  people join together in the endeavour to make those ideas manifest, and with an absolute deadline that cannot be escaped. 

Such has been the last two months for me and this is the first time I have felt like or wanted to come back to my blog since this period began. Indeed I haven't looked at it once in this time, neither having the time nor reflective ability to write. I had even forgot how to use all the formatting tools. So today when I suddenly had the motivation to write at last and even to look at the analytics, I was somewhat surprised that it has being getting along quite happily without me. Indeed there are still some 500-600 views per day, which is both surprising and humbling for something I have neglected for some time. A year or so ago when I was new to the blogosphere I was curious as to the numbers of Polish people who were regular readers, and today once again my curiosity is awoken by the fact that the majority of readers most recently come from the Ukraine. I could begin another forensic exploration of why, but I'm not in the mood to do so. Its simply a little interesting, and I wonder about its modest links to the current political landscape in the Ukraine?- maybe, maybe not. Funny.

So I want to share some of the curiosities, serendipitous and frankly life affirming experiences I have been fortunate to have during this period. The story is far too much to write in one blog post, which I am advised should never be more than 1000 words. Mea culpa. (Catholic upbringing giveaway?) So I am going to write this in a few instalments, to due them justice. 

Suffice it to say the time has been filled with working with some truly amazing people in the mounting of the Present Moment Theatre Lab production of The Tempest. I have been pleased to work again with my long-time artistic peer and colleague Joss Bennathan- Artistic DIrector of Present Moment, and with some new friends Jules Tipton, Associate Director, Rae Francis, Production Manager, Elli Andrews, Stage Manager. Its been great to work with the creative professional team and of course the twenty seven young people who performed in the show from East London, most of whom had never been in a play before. It was a powerful and moving production and an example of realising what some would think impossible with a group of East End teenagers, i.e.; understanding and speaking Shakespeare so that it inhabited their bodies and psyches, minds and hearts. 

The production was beautifully crafted by Joss Bennathan, and it was wonderful to see the parents of these young people experiencing their own children differently at the gala performances at The Royal Academy of Performing Arts. This was inspirational for all who participated. The project was uncompromising in its ambition to achieve excellence, and it did not fail. It is a real joy to see young people rise to such a demanding challenge and all the more proof of what's possible when people expect more of them than they may have expected of themselves. This project took up most of my time this summer and was pretty hardcore, but hugely rewarding. 

Alongside this special project I also had one very close to my own heart which I was privileged to lead artistically - this was the realisation of the launch of The Boathouse which along with Jasmine Street Lab is my newest and most precious project. Some of my readers will know about it and may have even attended the launch, for others its new. I was also delighted to be awarded a People Going Places grant from Creative Barking and Dagenham (An Arts Council funded programme for the borough) to enable further development of the venue. 

None of this would have been possible without the generosity, imagination and sheer hard work of our 100 volunteers and contributors, and especially without our creative team of Val Jones, Euan Maybank, Rachael Smith, Johnny Paterson, Claire Bullen and of course the inimitable Steve Drury. 

For over two years I have been actively involved with plans for the development of a new arts venue at the heart of the emerging Icehouse Quarter in Barking, where I worked for the past five years as Artistic Director of Arc Theatre. Indeed I have been involved in the development since 1998 when these old industrial buildings were abandoned and derelict. 

Cllr Darren Rodwell Leader of the Council,  The Worshipful The Mayor, Elizabeth Kangethe LBBD. Steve Drury, Development Director - Rooff and Chair of The Boathouse CIC, Carole Pluckrose - Artistic Director - The Boathouse CIC

Thanks to the council in Barking and Dagenham and to the vision of Rooff Ltd (independent construction company) who purchased the buildings in 2010, the realisation of a destination for the arts here is becoming a reality. We had been treading water a little during the past couple of years too in anticipation of all the building works being completed. It required a toughness of resolve and bucket loads of faith to stay with the project when its potential was not yet visible or concrete  - and when it was a building site for so long. 

One of the things I have learnt among many things from working with Steve Drury (Development Director) and Mark Horn (Owner and MD) is that in construction it is of course the ability to envision a building that is at the core of their business, and then the knowledge of just how long it takes to realise. How long did it take for Norman Foster's design of the new Wembley Station to be realised? Indeed the team at Rooff describe themselves as Artisans with a keen imagination, knowledge and understanding of building innovative and sympathetic buildings. The Granary (which houses the Boathouse) with its unique pyramidal shape is one such example.

Some of us in theatre have come to a place in these times where we think in the short term, thanks to the painful challenges of funding and to the fact that our art form is ephemeral. Much is made on a shoe-string budget with less rehearsal time than we would like, and whilst lack of funds is often the 'mother of invention', it also takes its toll.  The patience and different sense of time demonstrated by Rooff's artisan leaders has been a godsend for the development of the studio spaces as a venue. Its a belief that ideas as well as buildings too take time to germinate.

I was looking for a shape, a way of putting a wrapper around the beautiful studios spaces we have right next to Barking Creek, a secret jewel in the heart of East London. One day, quite by chance I happened upon the idea of calling it The Boathouse, it was so obvious I am not sure why it hadn't come to us before. Its by a river, surely there must have been a boathouse there at some point in the history of the riverside? Indeed when the name was adopted (rather quickly actually)- Steve discovered to our pleasure that there had indeed been a boatyard on this very site! - Of course there was. 

So this is it for today - part one of the Boathouse emergence story.  More when I next feel moved to do so in part two - The serendipity of Life and Hokusai Says.

Catch up with you soon.

Cover image - photo I took on a lovely autumn walk around the grounds yesterday