Just two weeks to go before Fleecehold and Folkestone Live!
I hope you've all been enjoying the lovely weather this week.
We had our first rehearsal for the Folkestone Live performance at The Quarterhouse Theatre and I’m delighted to say the revamped play is coming together nicely.
We have four new amazing actors - James Holmes, Alexander Halsall, Tristan Pretty and Debbie Christie - and I’m in constant awe of how well they and Sasha and Lucy remember their lines. Because there are lines and then there are lines about leasehold. For the actors, it’s like learning a new language. It’s so easy to muddle up leasehold and freehold at the best of times, let alone in front of an audience. And then there’s all the service charges and the Devil’s favourite, permission fees…
Here’s a few seconds of one of my favourite scenes involving a developer (Tristan) and sales manager (Alexander) trying to get the marketing director (James) on board over the introduction of ridiculous permission fees that often come as a huge shock to leaseholders.
Not surprisingly, leasehold isn’t a subject known for inspiring great works of art, though it does inspire a great deal of anger. This is one of the reasons I wrote the play. I was angry about a system that has no place in 21st century and should have been abolished long ago.
Writing a play about Katie, Jo and Cath, the three warriors who founded the National Leasehold Campaign and took on the establishment, helped me feel like I was doing something to fight the rotten system. The play may not make the slightest bit of difference to the cause. But I do think, on some level, stories have the power to change how we think about issues and, at the very least, foster empathy for the plight of people trapped in the cladding scandal and hostage to extortionate service charges.
If you’re in Folkestone for the weekend of Friday, 12 July to Sunday, 14 July, please come and see Fleecehold and all the wonderful shows at The Quarterhouse and at The Grand Burstin. There are 27 acts to choose from including stand up comedy, children’s theatre and dance in the town’s first ever theatre and comedy fringe festival. Tickets are all reasonably priced as organisers are keen to encourage as many people coming to see live shows in the town as possible.
Fleecehold also returns to the Camden Fringe at The Cockpit, Marylebone, from Thursday, 22 August to Saturday, 24 August.
Hope you have a great weekend!