You'll Find It Impossible To Fly Your Fate - The Duchess of Malfi

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed below are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the company. As with all my insider reviews, call me biased if you want, but I wouldn't write about a show I'm working on if I didn't enjoy it.


It has happened again. Galleon Theatre Company have taken me completely by surprise with their latest production, The Duchess of Malfi. Despite having been partial to a number of planning conversations with Bruce Jamieson (the director) and Alice De Sousa (the producer), I was under the impression that we were doing a traditional, classical Jacobean tragedy. Even after the first read-through I still believed so. When will I learn that that is simply not Galleon's style???


The Duchess of Malfi, written by John Webster and first performed 400 years ago is of course a classic Jacobean tragedy, full of betrayal and murder, but though our production uses modern dress, it's direction is sensational enough that I believe it would hold the attention of its original audiences in 1614.


And tis a fitting bang with which the Galleon Theatre Company will be leaving the Greenwich Playhouse for good, dividing the critics and sending audience members fleeing from the auditorium in tears, hopefully a production we will be remembered for.

Ferdinand and the Cardinal

The play documents a family's undoing at it's own hands. A sister is left widowed by the Duke of Malfi, and her two brothers, the cruel and immoral Cardinal and the sadistically unhinged Lord Ferdinand, wish to secure her fortune for their own use by forbidding her to remarry, leaving the slime-ball Bosola to watch over her.
But of course the wilful and passionate Duchess will not be dictated to, and the ultimate result is the death of pretty much everyone, as one would expect from any Jacobean tragedy worth it's salt.


Bruce Jamieson's adaptation of The Duchess of Malfi as always cuts to the heart of a select few story lines, allowing the audience a much easier and dramatic journey through the story. Aided by Natasha Piper's modern day-ish costume choices it is made clear that many of the themes explored in the play are still more than relevant today.

Cariola at the mercy of Bosola and Castruchio

As expected, there has been some outcry at the portrayal of women in this production, something which amuses me. Those that have protested seem to forget the fact that this story was written four centuries ago, when women were considered the possessions of their husbands, fathers or brothers, and in order to gain any amount of freedom oft had to take measures into their own hands using the only guile they had available to them; their femininity. The women of The Duchess of Malfi also suffer a great deal of abuse at the hands of men. However, the story is not so outdated that such issues are not translatable to a modern day audience.


The company for this production have proven outstanding. We were lucky to have some Galleon regulars join us for this final show, as well as some brilliant new additions to the company. Charlotte Randell's minimalistic set design makes excellent use of the space with rich curtains enhancing the pretence of civility in the first half of the show, and the amazing painting on the studio's back wall as stark evidence that everything is crumbling to ruin in the second half. Philip Jones's lighting design starts bright and cheerful, growing gradually more shadowed and dark as the plot thickens. Jamieson's selection of music to underscore the action, expertly edited by Robert Gooch, sparks off and reinforces the emotion generated by the cast. 

The Duchess

Alice De Sousa, producer and co-founder of the Galleon Theatre Company, takes the title role of the show with the same passion and fire she gives to all her endeavours. And that passion has been her greatest advocate over the recent weeks as De Sousa has been balancing her role in the show, with the ongoing campaign to find the company a new home, as well as negotiations with her film company and other businesses.

The Cardinal

Bruce Jamieson is the only choice for the irreverent Cardinal of Aragon. Heavily tattooed and not adverse to a spot of BDSM, Jamieson's portrayal is bold and loud and has no problem using his societal position for his own purposes.

Duke Ferdinand

Robin Holden (Hamlet in September 2011) returns to the company playing the younger brother Ferdinand. A little obsessed with his sister, his lust for treasure and the Duchess's seeming betrayal sends him on a rapid downfall into madness and lycanthropia, ultimately being responsible for the death of both his siblings. While Holden had to act a little crazed as Hamlet last year, the contrast between these two roles is great, and his switch from overbearing devotion to his sister to cowering pup under his brothers gaze is a delight to watch.

Daniel De Bosola

Another regular Galleonite, Damian Quinn, takes on the role of Daniel De Bosola with an aplomb that would be at home with the RSC. Although you know Bosola is one of the bad guys you can't help but like him, with his cheeky asides to the audience and impudent opinions of those that pay for his services. Quinn masterfully carries off Bosola's gradual development of a conscience, which results in him being one of only two characters left alive at the end. Not the way this story traditionally pans out, but it works.

Antonio

Lord Stamford sorry Derek I mean Darren Stamford has been promoted from trusty sidekick Horatio in last years Hamlet to the Duchess's love interest Antonio, and he plays the part brilliantly. One of my favourite parts of this show is watching the tender and playful interactions between the Duchess and her secret second husband. Stamford's Antonio is simply an honest and good fellow who wants nothing more than to protect his wife and child, and his reaction to the news of the Duchess's death is one of the most genuine performances in this production.

Cariola

The Duchess's companion, Cariola, played by Emma Grace Arends, is such a sweet and innocent little character that she almost seems out of place among the darkness and betrayal of the story. A delightful troublemaker backstage, Arends is a joy to watch, especially in the background, where her performance is as faithful as when she delivers her lines. Cariola's semi-witnessed death is by far the most harrowing in the production, to the extent I've been known to miss a lighting cue that shortly follows it.

Delio

Alexander Neal, playing Delio, is another great addition to Galleon Theatre Company. Delio is one of those characters where you're not entirely sure what to make of him. Being Antonio's best friend you hope he's one of the good guys but his dealings and connections do make you wonder from time to time, and Neal gladly plays with this concept throughout. Ultimately, he is one of the hero's of the show, taking part in and surviving the final slaughter scene and it is his reaction to this that gives you a clear sense of his character. When all the violence is done with, reality hits him and he collapses, delivering one of the most poignant lines of the play. 

The Doctor and Castruchio

Barry Clarke is back doing what he does best; the comic relief. Though both the characters he plays in The Duchess of Malfi are amusing, they have their darker sides that Clarke gleefully toys with. As Castruchio, an ambitious but dull-witted politician, he's a fine old cuckold who's wife will gladly go off with most any man, yet he has no qualms being involved in the almost rape of Cariola at Bosola's hands. As Ferdinand's Doctor, the comedy is in his demise due to his overconfidence in his abilities, while his blood spattered appearance and manipulation of his patient is oh-so sinister.


However some of the best performances in the show come from three gentlemen with barely a handful of lines between them.

The Cardinal's Men

Alex Reece (left), Phil Gerrard (centre) and Martin Foreman (right) form three fantastic groups; the Cardinal's men, the executioners and the Doctor's keepers.
Their ominous and menacing presence keeps the audience on their toes. As the characters have no names, I hope it's clear that here I refer to the characters rather than the actors themselves. Alex you know must have been some bully's muscle at school, Phil has somehow ended up as the bitch of the trio, though he's no less scary, and Martin is the really quite creepy ringleader.

The keepers

I truly hope that these three return in future Galleon productions so we can see what more they've got for us.


This, sadly, is the last production that will be produced and presented at the Greenwich Playhouse due to it's closure in April. At present we do not have a new home to move to. For more information on the closure, and how you can be of help please read the press release on the Galleon Theatre Company website.


The Duchess of Malfi is performing until March 18th at The Greenwich Playhouse. Tickets are available here.


All photo's courtesy of Robert Gooch.

When The Door is Knocked On, Open It - The Possibilities

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed below are mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect those of the company. As with all my insider reviews, call me biased if you want, but I wouldn't write about a show I'm working on if I didn't enjoy it.

The Possibilities by Howard Barker is a pretty heavy going and heavy handed piece of writing. Goodness knows when I was first given the script during the 2011 Drama Studio London Graduate Season, when this production was first developed, I was not impressed. In my mind it was preachy, self-righteous and I was not looking forward to working on it.

And I know I wasn't the only one. It took the company quite a while to find a way into the text, a series of 10 short plays that I saw little connection between other than presenting how vile humans can be to one another.

Courtesy of James Oaten

So you can imagine my relief when in the technical rehearsal at the Camden People's Theatre, I found myself amused and intrigued by what this group of nine actors were showing me.

Barker doesn't do light-hearted. His work is known as Theatre of Catastrophe, exploring the darkest depths of human motivation, violence, sexuality and the hunger for power. No wonder we had to put an audience age-restriction on this production.

The author strives to provoke differing responses in the audience; in one scene you may sympathise with one character while the person sitting next to you will sympathise with another. In a number of the plays in this production it is not entirely clear cut who is in the right and who's in the wrong. Though not necessarily balanced, arguments are presented from both sides, which hopefully will leave the audience asking questions.

Courtesy of James Oaten

The chief example of this is the play She Sees The Argument But...(affectionately dubbed Space Nuns by the company) in which a futuristic society is attempting to negate public sexual expression in order to reduce crime.

When this production of The Possibilities was first presented it coincided with Slutwalk London, a protest against the attitude of some establishments that if a woman dresses in a certain way, she's inviting abusive behaviour from men. 

While you can see where their argument is coming from, is it a woman's problem if a man can't control his urges?

Howard Barker writes "We must overcome the urge to do things in unison". I'll admit when I read that quote while gathering research for this post, I had to laugh, as Matthew Parker and the company have completely smacked that idea out of the venue. The main theme of the links between the plays is unity, fighting against oppression, whatever it's form.

Courtesy of James Oaten

Each of the nine actors, when not in one of the plays, presents a character based on an activist or radical thinker. Olivia Onyehara's character Maya is based on Assata Shakur, a member of the Black Panther's Party and Black Liberation Army in the 1970s. Max, played by Phil Bishop is based on Voltaire, and Robert Sladden's Jan is based on Jan Opletal, an 18 year-old who was one of the leading members of the peaceful protests against the Nazis before he was shot at a demonstration.

Between plays the nine activists work together to set-up the next scene and ground their fellows who took part in the last. The sense of camaraderie and united intent is enhanced with provocative music from PJ Harvey, Regina Spektor, Muse and Black Hawk Down and choreography from Parker based on the pressure positions that prisoners of war are forced to maintain for hours.

Courtesy of James Oaten

As I've said, this show is not light-hearted. It is a dark and disturbing piece of theatre, but despite that the company doesn't smother the occasional dark humour that crops up throughout. In Unforeseen Consequences Of A Patriotic Act Nina Moniri presents us with the occasionally gormless but protective and opinionated servant who accompanied Judith when she executed Holofernes. Phil Bishop's eccentric book seller in Only Some Can Take The Strain has proven to be an audience favourite, and the lieutenant of the battery played by Jonathan Butler in The Philosophical Lieutenant And The Three Village Women is such a smug git you can't help wanting to hit him in the face.

I have nothing but admiration for the cast of The Possibilities. This has been a great opportunity for them to show off their acting range. Each actor plays main characters, extras and activists, all with the same level of dedication and conviction and I love having a quick glance around the playing space during each play to see what everyone else onstage is doing.

The fantastic physicality and vivid visual element is a credit to Matthew Parker's directing style, and Simeon Miller's dark, and sometimes understated, lighting design is a perfect compliment to it.

Courtesy of James Oaten

The Possibilities is a bold choice as a first show for Red Line Productions, the company started by Nina Moniri upon her graduation from Drama Studio London this summer. Moniri hasn't given herself an easy ride with this show, featuring in 7 of the 10 plays as she was cast in the graduate season and learning what it takes to be a producer, so much praise goes to her for the success of this show. I look forward to seeing where Red Line Productions goes next.

At the end of the day, anyone involved in the theatre industry knows that the appeal of a show and its message can be highly subjective. While studying theatre at Dartington College of Arts, the major thing I learned was that if you can't engage with the meaning of the show then just sit back and enjoy it for the theatricality of it.
The political activism element of this show never greatly appealed to me, but what bought me back when the show transferred to the Tristan Bates Theatre was the cast's performances and the fact it's a great show. With nearly 200 lighting and sound cues it's one of the most challenging shows I've ever had to operate, but I love it, and I encourage anyone who wants to see a great piece of theatre, that's not mainstream, to get down to Covent Garden to see The Possibilities before the end of it's run.

Courtesy of James Oaten

The Possibilities is playing until 19/11/11 at the Tristan Bates Theatre, London.
Tickets can be booked here. [The Tristan Bates online booking system has been experiencing some difficulties in the last few days. If you have trouble booking tickets please call the box office.]

"Report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied" - A comment on Shakespeare

Hamlet and the true star of the show :-)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed below are mine alone, and not necessarily reflected by the theatre company.

I'm not exactly Shakespeare's biggest fan. I have a lot of respect for the bard, he was a prolific author, a great story-teller, and as a writer-in-training I've learned a lot from him. But ask me to go see a Shakespeare production and I'm unlikely to jump at the chance.

Polonius

So when I got a call from the Galleon Theatre Company asking if I'd be interested in stage managing their upcoming production of Hamlet, I was a little wary. I do have a habit of zoning out during shows once I've been op-ing them for more than a week; not to the extent I miss cues, my brain has usually trained itself to wake up when I hear key-lines, but it takes a very special production to keep my attention throughout an extended run. I didn't expect Hamlet, a show that normally comes in around the four hour mark to be one of those.
At my interview, the producer and director quickly changed my mind. Just the energy and enthusiasm they had for this show was infectious, and as I spoke to them I garnered more about their ideals and values when it comes to theatre. I wanted to do this show.

Bruce Jamieson, the director, and co-founder of Galleon, has an uncanny knack of zoning in on the crucial elements of Shakespeare's works, unpicking the threads and thus slimming down the play to it's core story-lines. This production of Hamlet sees four hours reduced to two and a half (with the interval!) and twenty scenes across five acts reduced to fourteen.

The set design, complimented by Robert Gooch's lighting

To compliment this streamlined script, the design team took it into the gothic-romantic Victorian era. Russell Fisher's set design consists of an intricately detailed, slightly ambiguous image on the back wall that seems to morph with the lighting and changing atmosphere of the play. We've had audience members go up and touch the wall after the show to prove to themselves it is a 2D texture-less painting. The only set dressing is a "stone" bench and two gothic torches. Eleanor Wdowski's costume design gives the gents a dapper edge and the ladies are understatedly glamorous.
All in all, the design transports you to another place and compliments the action without distracting.

Claudius and Gertrude

Now add to this a phenomenal cast. Bruce Jamieson as Claudius is actually scary, unlike many portrayals of the character you get the impression he'd happily handle the problems he must delegate to others himself. Darren (or is that Derek?) Stamford's Horatio is stalwart and endearing; Kevin Millington's Osric deliciously camp; Barry Clarke's Polonious wonderfully funny, intentionally and obliviously; Andrew Leishman's gravediggers apprentice is doting yet moronic; Peter Rae's Laertes stoic and constant to his goals.

Robin Holden has to be applauded in his role as Hamlet. It's a daunting enough task just learning all those soliloquies, but unlike a number of Shakesperian performances I've witnessed, he feels and understands where every word is coming from. Jane Stanton plays Gertrude, and though younger than commonly cast for the part, her grace and modesty shine through as she transitions from love-struck newlywed to doubting and suspicious wife. Rosencrantz and Guildernstern (played by Millington and Leishman respectively) have a delightful dynamic, in synch with each other, but also competing for the influential favour. Currently Guildernstern has Hamlet's favour, it'll be interesting to see if this shifts by the end of the run. You can't help but smile at Elana Martin's Ophelia; she's sweet and a little bit cheeky, which makes her descent into madness all the more distressing.

The gravedigger and her assistant

Of course mention has to be made of Elizabeth Donegan's varied roles in this production. She successfully makes the player queen, Ophelia's lady and the gravedigger very different and lively characters. The same can be said of Christopher Peacock in his roles as the ghost, the player king and the priest.

And Hamlet is not complete without a proper fight. Phenomenally choreographed by Ian McCracken, the intimate nature of the venue means the audience feel the danger of every sweep of the blades.

But where would any show be without the love and support of it's producer. Unlike so many theatre producers, Alice De Sousa is hands-on in the process and is constantly letting the company know that she's enjoying their work, rather than just telling them what needs to be improved. This lady has been a steadfast advocate of the arts for many years, and despite all the hardships the industry has no doubt thrown at her, her passion is unwavering.

The dual between Hamlet and Laertes

In my opinion, this is one production of Hamlet that won't be easily beaten. Yes, I work for the company, call me biased if you want, but I don't rave about the shows I work on that I don't enjoy. Remember what I said above about zoning out during shows after a week? We're three weeks into the run and it's not happened!

I believe this is the direction Shakespeare productions need to move in. I sympathise with the traditionalists who feel it's verging on sacrilegious to edit Hamlet the way it has been here, but in order for the bard to maintain his status, we have to acknowledge that this generation simply don't have the attention span for traditional Shakespeare.

I studied Hamlet at A-level, spent two months scrutinising and analysing the text. When I got asked to work on this production, how much of that did I remember? Not much! I had to go back through the text one night in search of speeches that had been reclaimed in rehearsals and I got lost. Who were these people? What was going on?

Osric

Shakespeare was a master at weaving together story-lines, and that's all well and good to have lot's of extra characters and action happening around the main plot, but you'll have more chance of that being appreciated in a novel than a play. In a novel you've got your own time to get your head around who everyone is and what's happening, but when you're seeing a play, you're being bombarded with information from start to finish.

It's understandable that those who do know the plays extremely well may have been slightly jarred by the absence of a scene or the moving of a soliloquy. But ultimately, this generation isn't as aware of Shakespeare as previous generations. That's a sad fact, but entertainment has to evolve in much a similar way as species do. Even with my advantage of being slightly more tuned into the language as a result of taking part in Tudor re-enactments, I find it difficult to engage what's being said in front of me. If you're lucky you get a company who are very in tune with the text and convey it effectively, but woe-betide if you get a company who can give a great dramatic delivery but actually don't know what they are saying.

The same can be said of the world of publishing. Recently I've been reading a number of Victorian novels as research for The Pirate's Daughter, and despite being brilliant stories, having to wade through information dumps and pages and pages of description can be extremely tiring. Modern novels are a lot more streamlined; adjectives, adverbs and similes are frowned upon unless delivered with great skill.

Ophelia in her madness

Ultimately, adaptations like this are the only way to prevent Shakespeare (many generations from now) slipping into obscurity. Galleon Theatre's streamlined production of Hamlet remains true to the core of the story, while being accessible to the new generation.

Hamlet is playing at the Greenwich Playhouse in London until 9th October 2011.
Tickets can be booked here.

Procrastination

Ok, yes, I've done it again. I got distracted.

I've been finding it really hard restructuring Felicity, largely due to the fact it jumps so much from present to past. Now, I had started to write the story pieces on scraps of paper and arrange them on my wall. Then I ran out of blu-tac. I would have used electrical tape instead, Lord knows I have enough of the stuff, but it rips the paint off the wall.
So I started writing them on Stickies, post-it notes on the Mac, but it wasn't long before I became discouraged by the idea that I'd have to go back and type all this into OpenOfficeWriter or TextEdit afterwards. I know, I'm lazy, but there is nothing more annoying than flashing back and forth between programs or trying to arrange your computer screen to try and use the programs simultaneously. I know these are all ridiculously poor excuses for not getting anything done but there you have it.

That's when I started looking at computer programs for writers. Obviously, the free one's held more appeal, like everyone else at the moment I am totally skint, so paying for a program was not really an option.

I already own a copy of Storyweaver, which is an interesting product, aimed more at the character and plot development side of writing. It has a sister product called Dramatica which seems to focus more on the story structure. I would like to own this product, and might download the free trial just to have a proper look at it, but the price of it put me straight off.

Celtx was recommended to me by a friend. It's dubbed as the "No.1 Choice for Media Pre-Production". Judging from the video tutorials linked to the website and from what I've seen my friend produce with it, it's an awesome piece of software...if you're writing a script. A lot of the features the program provides are geared towards, as it says, media pre-production, so it's great for writing films, radio plays, animations and possibly stage plays as well. It does have a novel setting, but it is limited and I found it very difficult to get my head around. They do offer extra features that you can buy, but I'm not sure they would have made my attempts to write a novel with the program any easier. If I ever decide to continue writing my two plays or one of the numerous films I started when I was in my teens, I'll probably take another look at it.

yWriter5 looked to be exactly the program I was after. It had sections where you could develop characters, track character and goal arcs through your process, storyboarding features, and the bit I liked the most, it allowed you to work in just scenes that you could then rearrange into the order you wanted them. I know this is all stuff you can essentially do with basic word processors, but this type of program keeps everything in one project so you don't have to go off searching for that character profile or inspirational photo that you accidentally filed in the wrong place.
The software has been written for PC and Linux formats, but the creator Simon Haynes, provides instructions as to how you can make the Linux edition work on a Mac, with the help of a platform called Mono. Sadly, Mono is updated quite frequently by it's creators, and with all due respect to Haynes, yWriter doesn't keep up with the updates. As such, I couldn't get the software to work and abandoned my efforts after reading several similar Mac related stories in the community section of his website.
But if you are writing on a PC or Linux system, I do urge you to at least take a look at this program.

During my hunt for a good, free piece of writers software, I found many positive mentions of Scrivener, so thought I might as well check it out. I fell in love immediately. This software really was everything I'd been looking for. It contained everything yWriter has, but better laid out, the features were more advanced but also more freeflow, so though they might recommend that you use certain features one way, there is nothing stopping you from using it in a manner that suits you and your process better.

My favourite features in Scrivener include the split-screen settings, so you can view the cork board with all your story elements on it in one section, and then have the editor open next to it so you can keep an eye on what's happening in the scenes around the one you're writing. Then there's the snapshot function which allows you to catalogue drafts of a scene and compare and contrast them, or revert to an earlier edition. You can also choose whether to write so you only see the scene you're working on (far less daunting!) or if you see the rest of the chapter, or the entire manuscript itself. But I love the full-screen function. I know other programs provide this as well, but it allows you to write without anything else on your computer distracting you, no clock or toolbars, just you, what you've written and the cursor. I've got mine set to the old black screen with green type, very cool.
There are plenty of statistic tracking tools, including being able to check the frequency with which you use certain words, great if you know you have a crutch word to watch out for.
It even has target tools. You can set target word counts for a document or for a session, and deadline counters.

The creators of the program also provide an excellent in-depth, interactive tutorial.
Unfortunately, this software is not free, but compared to most similar software, and for what it contains, it is well worth the price of $45 (USD). So I can't go out drinking for a couple of weeks, it'll force me to write!
At the moment, this software is available for Mac, but the Windows edition is in the public beta stage and they are seeking writers to test the program.
Alternatively if you are a PC user, Storybook appears to offer a lot of the Scrivener features in a free program and could well be worth a look.

So the excuse of not having an efficient way of playing with the plot has now been blown out the window.
But yup, as you've guessed, I'm still not writing much. Admittedly the weekend was very busy, taking advantage of opportunities to network contacts for my proper job.

I read this blog post this morning that struck a chord with me, The Procrastination Equation by Jennifer of the Procrastinating Writers blog group.

I'm sure we all know that as writers, as with many other jobs, there are times when we are willing to do almost anything but write. Housework that you've neglected, shopping you suddenly remembered or even tidying your finances suddenly seem far more appealing.

So what am I going to do to make myself write? Well, I'm trying personal bribery! And I'm using a double pronged attack.

My first self bribe is Dexter. Yes, the tv series. As twisted as it may seem, this guy is my dinner companion. I'm now not allowed to watch a new episode unless I have written for a minimum of 20 minutes each day.
I know 20 minutes doesn't seem like much, but when you consider I write nothing most days, this will be a massive leap. I've read about a number of writers who use a small minimum time target and they usually go over the time anyway. So it's just a starting point and considering that my life is very up and down busy-wise right now, it'll mean I can still reach the target even when I've got a day from hell, even if it's scribbling something down while on the tube.

My second self bribe is to buy a Kindle. I've got a ton of PDF documents, mostly sound engineering and writing related, and a couple of eBooks on my laptop that I would like to read, but I hate reading long pieces of literature off a computer screen, sat at my desk. So a Kindle would allow me to curl up on the sofa to read or take my reading on the tube, rather than spending money on ink to print it all off. As I mentioned before though, I'm skint, so this is a little savings program for me.

In the mug is 7 pound coins. Every day, once I've written for at least 20 minutes, a coin can be put in the pig. Pretty straight forward right? But I've upped the stakes a little. Using this system it will take me 111 days, or 15 weeks to save the money to buy a Kindle. But, if I write every day for a week, then I can take the 7 pound coins out of the pig and put in a £10 note instead, which means it would only take me 11 weeks and 1 day, or an entire month less to save enough money. Pretty cool huh? And seeing as this blog entry has taken me well over 20 minutes to write, the first coin is going into the pig.

I just want to assure you that I am still working on The Future Holds... series, but I'm going to stop saying "I'll try and get it done by..." because it just frustrates you and it frustrates me. We've already discussed my aversion to deadlines but if this bribery thing works out then maybe I'll be able to post work up more promptly.

Hope you all enjoyed the ridiculous number of recent bank holidays!
x