The Drama SpeakEasy

Join our fun and nurturing 11+ group please get in contact if you think this could help your child or share with any year 4/5 parents! Feedback from a group parent just finished: “I’ve been really surprised with how cool, calm and collected **** has been! She can be anxious sometimes but this test doesn’t seem to have phased her… she went in confidently and came out smiling and happy. We are just super happy that she felt ‘ready’ thanks to all the work they have done with Suzy, and whatever the result is we know that she gave it a good shot. I’m just relieved that it hasn’t caused her any stress and she’s felt comfortable and happy going through it.” #hernebay #whitstable #hernebaytutor #kenttest #11plustuition #canterbury #11plustutor

2 months to go! 😬 Some days training is hard, but I'm doing lots alongside others this time which always makes things easier. I'm also fundraising for Adelaide Place Community Hub which is all about bringing people alongside others 🥰 I'd so appreciate anything you can contribute to both spur me along and to support to a brilliant cause... Thanks for considering!

Clothesbank and ESOL classes I'm running a half marathon for the first time this year... eek! I hope my hard work in training can also help towards an important cause...

You’ll find me here most weeks ☺️ Free tea/coffee and varying lunches made by incredibly talented volunteers!

The most gorgeous sharing on Thursday. Well done to all of the women who got up in front of a big crowd and shared their poems. There were many out of their comfort zones but they absolutely smashed it. So proud of these ladies who don’t always have the easiest of times. And thank you for my flowers and chocolates 🥰

And thank you to for writing a poem that introduced our session so perfectly -
“I’ve never met a second step as terrifying as the first one…”

How cool that our booklets were for sale at Reap and Sew Market today! 🥳🎄

It’s been a while so I thought an update was due…

Back in July, I failed to get funding for the biggest project I’d put together to date. I know this is true for many, but as I’d been fortunate enough to receive funding successfully for the past eight applications, it knocked me sideways and I was really disheartened. It takes so much admin and planning and working for free before a creative project can begin… and all of that work makes it feel like the project actually started months ago. I couldn’t face more admin to put in another application.

All I wanted was to get back in the creative room and run some workshops that I knew would be so beneficial to the participants. So I decided to volunteer for a short while with women’s group and run some poetry sessions.

This was an incredibly tough group, participants that have so many barriers to engagement due to what they’re going through. But 4 weeks turned into 9! And women, who I thought would never want to stand up in front of others and share poetry they’d written, are doing just that!! The nervous intimidation and challenging interactions turned into the beautiful building of trust and the gorgeous creative expression of some amazing people. I’m so proud of all of these women and can’t wait for our show and tell next week!

Anyway, I’ve definitely got my mojo back 🥳 Not totally sure what’s next but I’ll be continuing to build projects with brilliant people 🥰 (Get in touch if you want a Creative Facilitator specialising in theatre, poetry & creative writing. I also offer bespoke one to ones to support confidence-building 🙋🏻‍♀️)

News coming soon… 🤞

Part 2 of “How do others do it?” a brilliant poem created by the Creative Parents Project this term. It took us a while to figure out this second half - it sounded so fab when we performed it aloud with different voices - how do you think it sounds on the page? This is the lovely Fiona who “didn’t leave the bottle warmer on”! 😅🙃(I hope she doesn’t mind me sharing that 😉) (.paints.etc working her magic again)
———

So maybe we’re not sorry, because it will happen again.

we’re not sorry we’ve been up since 3.a.m.

we’re not sorry we’ve left a little vomit in our hair

we’re not sorry we sometimes feel a lot of despair

we’re not sorry our clothes are tie-dyed with baby juice

we’re not sorry our ni***es are playing fast and loose

we’re not sorry we feel we just “can’t people today”

we’re not sorry - in fact, there’s just too much to say

So if you waited ‘til we came, we might not say “sorry”
But we do “thank you” for staying, it’s one less worry

And if you just had to go, maybe this isn’t our season
Thanks for your “Sorry!” - you don’t need to give a reason.

Part 1 of a brilliant poem created by the Creative Parents Project this term. Many weeks parents were late and although we all want to make the most of the sessions, a) we know this often can’t be helped and b) this made for an interesting discussion! This poem was inspired by the lovely Rebecca whose portrait is here (.paints.etc working her magic again) What stops you getting out the door?!
———
~How do others do it?~

I’m so sorry I’m late,
there was an unexpected poo just as I was heading out the door.

I’m so sorry I’m late,
my toddler took off all her clothes and threw them on the floor.

I’m so sorry I’m late,
I thought I just had enough time to put some washing on

I’m so sorry I’m late,
I had to dash back home because I left the bottle warmer on…*

(*it turns out I didn’t actually leave the bottle warmer on!)

I’ve left a breast pad somewhere
I had vomit in my hair
I forgot about monthly bleeding
My baby is back to back feeding
I didn’t want my b**b to be cold
I was negotiating with a two year old
“No Mummy, I want to be the one to choose!
Will this unicorn hairband go with my shoes?”

How do others do it? Are we missing a trick?
We’re so sorry we’re late,
maybe you’ll get used to it…

What a beautiful end to an incredible project!! Lots of things to share, but right now, I’m having a cup of tea! 😴😅🥰

Super excited for another end-of-term celebration for the Glasgow Creative Parents Project tomorrow! This time we’ll be sticking with our regular venue but converting it into:
-a performance space for sharing our pieces
-a cinema for screening a short film we’ve been working on
-and a dining area for some lovely catering we’ve got in

Who knew Partickhill Bowling and Community Club could be all these things?!
🥰🥳🎬🎭🖼️🥘