Schools, black paint and varnish

Once again I kick off the blog with apologies for the long gap since the last one.  As the title suggests my weeks have been filled with the school tour with Cat’s Paw Theatre and the weekends with painting and varnishing the theatre.  Both in their way as necessary as each other to Mr Alexander’s on-going survival.

The schools work, along with my newly acquired pension, has meant that for the first time ever, in all my life, it really looks as though I shall survive through the winter without going into overdraft.  You don’t know how pleased I am about that.  Winters have been a horrible financial struggle, especially the last few.  I think I have become more of a worrier as I have aged so perhaps it’s just that I am more aware of such things now than I was in my youth and middle age.  I certainly check my bank account now more often than I have ever done and I now have several spreadsheets all with income and expenditure details on them. I know, saddo. I would never have done that as a young man.  But this excellent news, along with not having to use my credit card for everyday stuff, means a much more well-tempered Mr A than in previous years. Bookings have been creeping in and despite the fact that there are probably too many one day stands then I would like (it’s a tiring business setting up and pulling down and doing three shows in a day) the 2015 diary page of the website (www.mralexander.co.uk) is looking healthier than a month ago.  As I am not going into the season desperate for cash it also means I can be just a little choosier about the gigs I do accept.  One of the advantages to being a showman pensioner.  Sorry I wont mention it again.

The Cat’s Paw work has also been most engaging.  More than ever teachers tell us that the subject of sexual consent and issues surrounding it are real problems for our young people.  Parents think the schools should be doing it and schools think the same about the parents and the result is that many young people are growing up without the clarity that only straight information, taught sympathetically, can give.  And that’s what we do.  Two hours of engaging theatre and facts about the issue, lots of active engagement in discussion and lively debate and exciting electronic interaction with our new clicker/voting pads.  It’s exciting and ‘state-of-the-art’ and I’m very proud to be part of it.  If ever you’d like to see it live, do let me know.  We welcome visitors and it is fascinating, even though I would say that, wouldn’t I?  The new presentation for 16+ on the same issue which we have been doing for sixth forms and colleges is still being worked in but should be equally strong before too long.  Later this month we will hear whether the Welsh Government is to sponsor the project for another year, and the signals are positive, but of course it is government funding and we are a theatre company so there’s nothing very sure in that combination.

The DVD develops apace.  The final edit is booked for the week after next and I am almost finished with the design of the insert and the cover. I am very pleased with progress.  It should all be ready for the end of April and our launch and World Premiere on April 25th at the Corn Exchange Theatre in Wallingford.  (www.cornexchange.org.uk/whats-on) It would be great to see you there but tickets are beginning to sell so if you want a good seat book now.

And the rest is black paint and varnish.  Which in its way is therapeutic and relaxing.  I can listen to Radio 4 and think about all manner of things as I review the state of each one of thousands of items; flats, props and fittings which make up the stage and my performance life.  Each piece has its story to tell and if I listen it can keep me fascinated for hours.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

February

A strange month and usually a difficult one for me.  But not quite so bad this year.  I’ve been so busy with all the diverse and challenging aspects of my life that I haven’t had the time to get low. Ted Hughes’ black dog of depression has been wandering around the lorry in the middle of the night but I haven’t paid it much attention.  It’s certainly been cold enough.  The frost has been shivering through the thin roof so by 3.00 am I’ve had to brave it most nights and light a fire before snuggling back into bed with the dogs and enjoy the slow process of the heat allowing me to go back to sleep. If you’ve been half expecting the next chapter of my childhood story I’ve not felt quite up to that one yet. Maybe next time. Life is a lot easier than this time last year and I’ve always believed that if I can survive until the start of the Six Nations then there’s a chance I’ll make it through the following two or three months.  And what a great start that was. There’s even light in the evening sky at five o’clock and I don’t need the torch any more on the seven-thirty am walk with the dogs. And of course now I’m a pensioner I receive the wonderful monthly payments as a reward for all those years of contributions.  Fingers crossed I will manage through till May.

The DVD has been progressing well, the design for the insert is almost finished and next week I’m shooting the last few sequences and voiceovers.  The music is all recorded, including a new piece which will be the background for the section about the dogs.  I’ve almost finished the planning for the launch event/world premiere of the documentary at Wallingford Corn Exchange Theatre (www.cornexchange.co.uk) on April 25^th and I’ve been planning and practising some new magic elements for it.  It should be a good night with the world premiere of Rhys Edwards’ documentary and Maff Potts playing live with Mr Alexander’s Ragtime Band.

Weekdays are really full with work for Cat’s Paw Theatre.  Last week we hit the Wrexham leg of the tour, with one or two very difficult schools.  One on special measures which was a tough challenge in both two-hour presentations.  I’m right at the centre of the piece and had to use all my experience to keep the little darlings on the topic.  The hall was very cold and noisy fan heaters made the creation of a theatre atmosphere all but impossible.  Interruptions by school staff coming and going made it difficult for the young people to focus on the subject. The result is that at the end of the day I felt totally wiped out. What with all the same challenges that everyone has; coming back to a cold place, tidying up, chopping logs, lighting a fire, changing out of costume (shirt and tie and smart trousers) and thinking about something to eat, I was beginning to go down.

Then yesterday was one of the Rhyl High Schools.  It turned out it was the same school that had been attended by a celebrity who had been accused and found guilty of rape a few years ago and has been recently released from prison, still publicly claiming his innocence.  The school had several of his relatives still there and therefore the topic was very current.  The discussions were animated and much of the information we gave was entirely relevant to their views on the case.  Afterwards the teachers gave us very positive feedback and said they would be writing to the Welsh Government agency that funds us to say how useful, valuable and important the presentation is.  It’s those moments that make me realise how lucky I am to be part of such vital work.  Despite the cold halls, the noisy fan heaters and the interruptions by all sorts of things, this feedback makes me feel positive and valuable again.

Sod off, black dog.

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

Help! revisited

A blessed day off thanks to a Cat’s Paw cancellation and a chance to catch up with washing, cleaning, letter writing and the myriad little things we all have to do to stay afloat.  I imagine with my action list for the day in front of me now, the day will be gone in a flash.  At least we’re having that little half hour longer in the day now which seems to make all the difference, if only psychologically.  The promised snow didn’t arrive but the rain is pattering on the lorry roof and hissing as it hits the hot chimney cowl.  A rather pleasant sound, amplifying the feeling of cosy warmth inside from the woodburner and the dogs having a lie-in on my bed.  We’ve all been up at sparrow’s burp lately and it’s great to have an easy day for a change.

In re-reading the latest part of my ongoing saga of a former me, I am amazed how much my life has changed “in oh so many ways”.  The boy I am writing about seems to be a very different person.  I remember little about our escapade shoplifting in Horsham, but snatches keep coming back like a half-remembered dream.  I have this feeling there were more boys doing it than the two of us who were expelled (although that has a fascinating aspect of the story yet to come).  In the process of reviewing all the paperwork, which has been sitting in an old box file passed down to me when my Mum died a few years ago and which I left untouched until recently, I have discovered a mystery which will probably never be fully unravelled.  It is fascinating though and I shall explore it a bit in the next few chapters. It’s like a detective story at a vast distance of time away. I am disguising the names of those involved as at least one of them is still around and I have tried to contact them on the internet.  I wonder if they can remember any of what went on.  I can only remember patches.

I had a very close friend at CH.  He will be putting in an appearance in the story.  I will call him Andrew.  I don’t know whether Andrew knew what was going on in Horsham. I can’t remember how many boys took the short train ride from Christ’s Hospital (like Hogwart’s, it has its own railway station) into Horsham that July afternoon in 1965, but I have a feeling it was five. I will start from there in my next episode.  What I am unsure about is whether Andrew was with us, and this is crucial for the story.  If he wasn’t, did he know we were going into town to steal stuff?  I am sure we did talk about it beforehand, and I think we split into two groups.  I was with another friend and the other three went on a different route through the town.  I think there was a rivalry between the two groups about what we could get away with, but this is really only conjecture.  It was my friend and I who were caught, or at least observed and later identified.  The other three denied it and weren’t punished.  I think we would not have snitched on them.   There was a code of honour in the Christ’s Hospital Alibi Club.

Back in the lorry in 2015, the phone calls and emails are starting to happen.  The booking enquiries for Summer 2015 are coming in.  It’s great because, almost for the first time ever, I have not been through a period of personal gloom through December and January.  Partly it’s being so busy with Cat’s Paw and the DVD but also it’s because of the generous application of real help by a few good friends, several of them in Wallingford and one in Sheffield, who have made it their business to keep me feeling buoyant. They helped me “keep my feet back on the ground”.

They know who they are and I thank them for their real friendship. 

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

Help!

‘Help, I need somebody…HE…EH…ELP!’

The dayroom radio blasted out the Beatles' latest.  Several boys who already knew the words showed off by singing along with the Fab Four, screeching and doing imitations of John and Paul at the microphone.

David’s stomach churned.  The next half an hour would tear him apart inside out.  Clarence had said he would be writing today so today was David’s last chance to do the same.  It had to be written. The letter paper stared at him. What to say?

‘Help me if you can, I’m feeling down

And I do appreciate you being ‘round

Help me get my feet back on the ground

Won’t you please, please help me’

The irony of the words was lost on David.  He had the most difficult letter of his life to write.  And after the most difficult term with O levels winding to an end, the dreaded results due this summer which were probably going to be a great disappointment to his parents.  Keeley, the Housemaster, said in his report this term ‘It is high time he learnt to stand on his own two feet, and not to excuse his behaviour, particularly to himself, as being the result of circumstances beyond his control’.  And now this.

He began

Dear Pat and Richard,

He always put his Mother’s name first, from the day she had written secretly asking him to include his Father’s name on letters.  He had previously addressed only her in his weekly letters home.

I don’t know whose letter you will receive first mine or the headmasters, but if you already know about this dreadfull business, please don’t worry about me.

He could imagine his Mother’s face when she read the letter from Clarence. The Headmaster had not included her at the top of his letter, but she would have been passed the letter, silently, by his Father.  ‘I am sorry to say that your elder son has got himself into some serious trouble which I must discuss with you.’  David imagined the scene and the thought tore through his stomach like a bayonet.

I have been taking some things from shops in Horsham, I really don’t know what the outcome of it will be. I have of course seen the Headmaster about it.

Clarence’s beak-like nose twitched as he stared at David.  This had to be real trouble.  Would it be another beating?  David had heard that Clarence was the worst.  His cane hung on one of the hooks on the wooden coat stand behind the black leather-topped desk.  David eyed it nervously. What did he know?  What was it this time?  Within ten minutes David knew that this was far too serious for the cane. Some Horsham shopkeepers had been to the school to report that boys had been seen shoplifting last Saturday.  David didn’t know how they knew it was him.  But it was true and David didn’t deny it.  Clarence had told him he would be writing that day to his parents to tell them to come down to the school as soon as possible. He advised David to do the same.

I have been doing alright in O levels but the whole week has unerved me a lot.  I really don’t know why we all did it. I expect it might be helpfull for you to talk with one of my friends mother about this (WOO5805) I have been so looking forward to the end of term as well.  I don’t think Paul knows but I will tell him. Maybe it’s better if you don’t see me before the Headmaster.  The whole thing is ridiculous and we all realise what we have done.  We are all sorry.  Don’t worry it will turn out all right.  I have learned my lesson and that would be better than going on and getting bigger and bigger.  All my love, David

(to be continued)

All the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander

Editing the DVD

I have been up to my ears over the last few days and must apologise to my readers for the delay in writing this chapter of the blog.  There may be those who have be expecting the next episode in the life and times of a boarder at Christ’s Hospital, trying to make sense of the world in the early nineteen sixties.  I am sorry but that episode will have to wait for a while. No real excuse but I have been helping Rhys Edwards with the editing of the DVD and talking to the manufacturers about the design of the cover and booklet.  All of which I am very pleased to report has been progressing excellently.  Rhys has finished the short version of his film which he is to enter for the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival (https://sheffdocfest.com) which is in June.  It’s eight minutes long and is magical.  Of course yes it is about Mr Alexander, but that’s not why his film is magical.  Rhys has managed to capture exactly what I do and my life on the road.  Quite simply it is the nicest compliment and complement to the show. I am so pleased with the film and, even though it is about me, it is also a great little film.

I am hoping that once the film has entered the competition it will be available for everyone to see via the internet.

The longer version for the DVD is also shaping up very nicely.  It has been fascinating to sit next to Rhys at his editing suite watching the skills of a film maker.  I love watching any skilled artist creating their work.  There is a fluency and ease about the practical skills that they use and watching Rhys create the moments of the film, deleting microseconds, fitting music to the shots and allowing the whole to emerge was exactly that; fluent and easy.  Maff’s wonderful Mr Alexander suite of ragtime music fits at least as well as Scott Joplin’s and in some ways even better because it is personal and completely unknown.  I love The Entertainer, but it is almost a cliché and therefore has to be treated with care, whereas Maff’s music has all the wistful pathos of Joplin, say in his almost sad tune Solace, but of course it’s original which makes it more special.  The final tune of the documentary is perfectly suited to the theme and the content at that point in the ‘story’ and I am so happy with it.

I have also been talking to the artist who is designing the DVD cover and booklet inside.  This is planned to look like a period theatre programme complete with mock adverts and all the usual articles that might be in such a thing. 

So it’s been very busy and as well as all that I’m starting a four week, every day, tour with Cat’s Paw Theatre, including a newly devised piece for 16 plus year olds, still on the same subject (rape and sexual consent) but with a new cast and a new story which is more appropriate for that age.  It seems that the North Wales police are finding that (hopefully as a result of our visiting every school with the version for Year 9, 14 year old children) that the demographic of reported rape crime has shifted away from under 16s to the older ones; the college students and sixth formers.  Of course we can’t claim that this shift is as a direct result of the work we have done raising awareness, but we know that over five thousand 14 year olds every year have seen the production and leave the hall after our show knowing what rape is and the clear definition of the complexities of sexual consent.

I won’t promise to continue the story about my own childhood education in Christ’s Hospital next time, particularly as it requires some very careful and slightly painful thought, but I will try to do it.  Various people have told me they find it a fascinating insight into boarding school life in the nineteen sixties so I think it’s worth continuing.

In the meantime, all the best from a road near you,

Mr Alexander