Highlights include being rowed across the Thames and denying your identity and being winched to safety overrooftops from the White Tower and suspending in the air. The team of twenty live actors are fantastic, challenging and in your face as the story demands. The final scene is frantic, intense, and scary as we’re locked in a cage and the future of London hinges on our decision.

More than just showing you videos, it makes you think – what would you do? Betray the plotters or save the crown? Deny your religion and save your life? Taking place in Tower Vaults, The Gunpowder Plot is the latest immersive experience from the award winning Layered Reality.

Tickets are on general sale now at www.gunpowderimmersive.com

Jamie is a generally happy young man, 16 and living in Sheffield – but with ambition. He wants to go to the school prom in a dress. Will his classmates accept him, or is this doomed for disaster?

Camp, playful and giddy, it was a riot of singing and dancing with some incredibly witty one liners. The songs fell a little flat at times, although there’s a good mix of heart wrenching ballads and uplifting toe tappers, but was made up for by a pacy script and fun storyline.

As with all of these underdog stories, including the Billy Elliot that this musical has echoes of, we were rooting for Jamie from the start.

Of course it’s all about Jamie, but many of the other characters are also given space to share their stories and over time the whole cast is given a depth often not seen in musicals.  Empowerment and acceptance are at the core of this narrative, as well as whistle-stop tour of LGBTQ history but it never feels forced or pushed on you. The teen dialogue is accurate, and we’re given the opportunity to see a variety of people and cultures enjoy themselves onstage. It’s not just acceptance of Jamie, but everyone.

Based on a true story and documentary, this is a performance well worth seeing. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is a joyous celebration of flying arms and flailing legs, bright lipstick and sequinned outfits, that will leave you feeling fizzy and uplifted as you leave the theatre. The theatre you’ve promised yourself you’ll return to very soon indeed.

Why festivals matter

It’s a great way of reaching audiences and engaging with new people. You can find out more about what they want, what they like, and how they read and consume your content. You can raise your profile and become known. You might meet useful people. You can probably sell some books. Either way, you’ll have fun!

Be a festival supporter

If you want to appear and festivals, then go to them. You can learn a lot by watching and listening to others, and see what works and what doesn’t. Follow them on social media and engage with them in conversation.

Do your research

Before you start pitching you need to know what is out there. The simplest thing to do is google ‘literature festival UK’ and you’ll find lots of search results. There used to be websites and newsletters for it, but unfortunately, Covid-19 took a hit, and many are defunct. The Writers & Artists Yearbook does have a section, and you can register online for their listings for a fee. Go through and see which ones resonate with you. If you’re a crime writer you might look at Newcastle Noir or Harrogate Crime Festival, whereas if your niche is poetry, you’ll consider The European Poetry Festival.

As part of that research whittle down a shortlist of 8-10 that you’d love to appear at. Make a spreadsheet of the festival, website, contact details, dates (try not to apply for ones you can’t actually make, or that clash) – and then a space to hone your offer. Some festivals have details guidelines on the websites, so make sure to follow those.

One size doesn’t fit all

Because in doing your research you should have discovered that every festival is different – so your pitch needs to be. That doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel every time. But you do need to show that you have thought about why your work is relevant to them and will help them position their festival as something different. Look at the kind of events they have run before – do you fit in. You don’t want to repeat last year’s offering, but it can help you see the kind of things they programme. Look at the language they use on the website – are they chatty and informal, or very bookish and studious? This helps you determine their audience. Look into the ethos of the festival, see who they’ve booked in the past and how your work and platform relates to them.

Show you’ve done your research and thought about them by suggesting content for a particular stage, or say ‘I know X last year sold out, so I think Y might suit your audience.’

Your event is not a hard sell for your book. Some of the best talks I’ve ever heard are not about the artist’s book at all, but about topics and issues that come up. It’s an opportunity to engage with an audience in a very immediate and exciting way.

What can you offer

You’re obviously getting a lot from being a speaker at a festival – what can you give back? It’s not enough to just have a book out – so does everyone else who is applying. What makes you stand out? Are there particular topics you cover in your book that you can speak knowledgeably on? Have you had to do research and are now an expert in a certain field? Do you have a unique perspective on the writer’s life? Stand back from your work to stand out from the crowd.

Do what they say

If they have a form, use the form. Or if they ask you to email, that. Probably don’t phone them.

Leave the bells and whistles at home

Don’t try suggesting the most elaborate set up – festivals are busy, the stages change acts constantly. There’s no time to set up your backdrop, custom lighting and props unless you’re headlining and they’re setting aside a venue for you.

Endorsements

If you can get recommendations from other festival promoters or people who have seen your work, that will go a long way towards selling you. The fact is that the festival organiser won’t have time to read every book of every author who contacts them, so they will be looking for other evidence that this is the person for them. And social proof sells. If you haven’t been on a festival stage before, have you got quotes from readers you can share?

Evidence

If you’ve got a short video of you speaking or performing, that’s great. That gives me reassurance that you can get up in front of people and deliver. Not every writer is a good public speaker. That’s ok. But know your talents, and showcase them where you can.

Make it easy

I’ve lost count of the number of authors who email me and say ‘I’m a writer and I have a book.’ Do you know what, I don’t have time to do the digging myself. Send me

• Who you are
• A short bio – 2-3 lines max
• Name of your book/work
• A short blurb – again 2-3 lines max
• Any subjects you feel confident speaking about
• What you want to offer – do you want to do a reading, be on a panel, do a workshop, a talk, a Q&A. This will help me work out where best to fit you in the line up.
• Headshots

Check and check again

My name isn’t Fran or Sandra, I don’t run Ramsgate Book Festival, and I’m not a fan of crime. When doing cut and paste jobs it’s very easy to forget to change the name, or address it to the wrong person. It’s an easy way to get someone’s back up, so do check.

Follow up

If you don’t hear back within a few weeks, chase again. But not within a few days. Many people run literature festivals for love, so they’re not on it full time and can’t be as responsive as you might like. But say 2-3 weeks – a gentle nudge to check they have your email is fine. Don’t phone someone on a Sunday afternoon – that’s really not cool.

Don’t take it personally

The fact is, you won’t win every pitch. That’s ok. Feel free to ask for feedback. They might just have a packed agenda, might not have the budget, or you might just not be the best fit. There’s plenty more out there, so get pitching.

And that’s it! If you’ve got any questions, please email me!

So I thought I would try out Save The Cat, and hope I could glean something for my writing. The Save the Cat! movement started a book by Blake Snyder: Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need. The basic premise is that the hero of the story must make viewers like him and root for him.

The software is based on the structure discussed in the Save the Cat! Books and has the boards, beat sheets, and loglines sections. With over 3.25 hours of exclusive, original video production, this brand new Save the Cat! Online Storytelling Course teaches you how to plot a hero’s transformation.

Sadly I’m not a video learner, and the videos average at about 30-45 minutes long. I confess I skipped through the videos to get to the worksheets where the same information is laid out in print.

All of the examples were big Hollywood blockbusters rather than independent films, which I would have liked to have seen more of

The layout, structure and stages of the course were well set out and presented. The pace at which it was presented was steady and clear. I’m sure screen writers and video learners will get a lot from it.

And I’ve learned how important is to plot, and not be such a pantser.

Thanks to Justin Brown for his help with this one.

Dr. James W. Pennebaker, currently chair of the psychology department at the University of Texas, Austin, has conducted much of the research on the health benefits of expressive writing. In one early study, in the autumn of 1983, Dr. Pennebaker asked 46 healthy college students to write about either personally traumatic life events or trivial topics for 15 minutes on four consecutive days. For six months following the experiment, students who wrote about traumatic events visited the campus health centre less often, and used a pain reliever less frequently, than those who wrote about inconsequential matters.

The power of writing for wellbeing is that anyone can do it. You just need a pen and paper (which I recommend, rather than typing, as the temptation is to edit as you go, which isn’t in the spirit of things, and there’s also something pleasantly visceral about pen on the page that is often missing in our technology heavy world) and you can get started. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a wordsmith, or an author, or just write a shopping list. You can write.

There are a simple five steps to WRITE:

• W – What do you want to write about? Name it.
• R – Review or reflect on it – close your eyes, take deep breaths, and focus.
• I – Investigate your thoughts and feelings. Just start writing and keep writing.
• T – Time yourself – write for 5 to 15 minutes straight.
• E – Exit smart by re-reading what you’ve written and reflecting on it with one or two sentences

The latter one really matters. By reflecting on what you have written, you can learn from and build upon it. But don’t feel you have to have come up with anything profound. Just the process is enough.

The feedback from groups, which I have run in universities, prisons, NHS settings, community groups and privately, has always been excellent. People learn new things about themselves, reflect on their personality, relax and calm themselves, and feel inspired.

If you want to know more about my writing for wellbeing workshops, get in touch fbaker@live.co.uk

He doesn’t want to be here. He wants to be at home, away from potential viruses.

But that doesn’t stop him being witty and charming. Both shows are fun and vibrant, with a joke a minute, each one being quickly set up and smashed down.

There’s a few things that always happen in a Stewart Lee gig. He always slurs other comedians – this time it’s Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Carr and Pheobe Waller-Bridge – apparently Fleabag isn’t the first time ever that the fourth wall has been broken, who knew. There’s a lengthy bit about Alan Bennett, and Dave Chapelle doesn’t fair too well.

As a self professed fat, balding, deaf, man in his fifties with poor eyesight and diabetes, he doesn’t look like your typical snowflake. And he’s not. He’s just very culturally and socially aware, and believes strongly in political correctness. He has centre left politics, and isn’t afraid to share them.

It’s not intellectual comedy, but it is cerebral. It’s not deadpan, but it is laidback. He takes you on a journey, but there’s no conclusion. You don’t need those things with Lee. You feel comfortable, even as he challenges you, and the crowd are roaring with laughter throughout.

Is he the world’s greatest living stand-up? I’ve not seen enough to answer that. But as a man to spend my last day of freedom with, he’ll do pretty well.

The foundation focuses on making the arts, media and entertainment industries more inclusive and accessible in the UK. They helps to develop and launch the careers of young creatives from BAME, LGBTQ+, disabled and low income groups as well as anyone who feels their story is not being told in the mainstream. The Visionary Honours launched last year to ensure culture, media and entertainment that have inspired social change and debate are recognised, focusing on equality, diversity, inclusion, mental health, anti-social behaviour and environmental change.

Highlights include Booker prize winning author Bernardine Evaristo for Girl, Woman, Other, Marika Hackman’s vibrant and vital Any Human Friend, Greta Gerwig’s beautiful Little Women, and BBC1’s Seven Worlds, One Planet.

From books that are breaking down mental health stigmas, to television shows inspiring self-love and positivity, films and documentaries that ignite and inspire generations to come, to gender-bending, rip-roaring feminist theatre shows and songs that are brimming with hope and a social message to be heard, the Visionary Honours offer a vital space and platform for under-represented voices that are having a cultural impact in the UK today.

Spanning across culture, media and entertainment, the Visionary Honours is not just about rewarding talent, but primarily about highlighting the social impact their work has had and the inspiration it will give the next generation of creatives to make their own mark in the arts and communities beyond.

Founder of the awards and creator of the hit West End musical Thriller Live, Adrian Grant commented ‘The Visionary Arts Foundation believe that entertainment and media has the power to change the world and voices of all cultures, creed, gender, sexuality and ability should be heard, seen and respected. Through the Visionary Arts Foundation it is our goal to open doors and provide opportunities for young creatives and to inspire them to produce work that can influence positive social change.’

The winners will be chosen by a public vote which opens on Thursday 20th February and they will be announced at the Visionary Honours on Wednesday 18 March at Ham Yard Hotel.

Look Back in Anger by John Osborne is a manifestation of disagreement with the stagnation of the everyday life. Osborne finds the medicine for this stagnation in manipulation of feelings, constant change of moods and brutal honesty, with its debut press-release calling him the ‘Angry young man’.

Jimmy, disillusioned by the structures of working-class life, constantly insults his beloved but upper-class wife Alison. He balances on the verge of passion and hatred that keeps everyone alive but destroys him and everyone around.

Polish born, Actor and Director, Sebastian has worked in theatre, Film, TV in a wide range of styles, roles and forms. Sebastian is a founder of Big Boots Theatre Company. He received an Offie Nomination for Holding the Man in the category of best director (2017).

Sebastian has written musicals and directed at the Polish Children Theatre ‘Syrena’ in Hammersmith. His other credits include A Little Night Music, The Crucible and Great Expectations.

I caught up with Sebastian to find out more about the play and what its relevance in 2020.

Why is now the time for a revival of the play?

Anytime is good for a good play. Anytime is good for a good drama. We often focused on relevance or themes of the play but we forget about the timeless interpersonal relationships between people in it. Many actors who came to audition said that they felt angry some point in their youth. This might mean that people do still feel connected with the play and what it is really about. And, let’s acknowledge that anger is one of our feelings instead of pretending it is something about the post war generation only. In fact we are not all so very nice and calm all the time. Let’s stop being afraid of our anger. Let’s use for a good cause. And, this play is really about complicated love too. This is timeless.

There’s been lots of talk recently of working class voices being absent in the arts. Do you think this is an issue?

This is a big question to answer in a few sentences. We’d need to define working class first. I, for example, can be defined as working class, I work and saved in order to produce and direct Look Back in Anger. But I’m also educated and I am an immigrant. So what am I really?

The issue is that the arts are divided, elitist and commercialised. Also British theatre seems to me very hierarchal where writers and producers running the show most of the time. Yes, of course working class artists have a difficult take off and often give up quickly before they peak not being able to sustain the competition and working for free.

If we look way back how theatre was before, it belonged to the poor and outcasts trying to entertain the elite. Some point we institutionalised the arts and turned it into a commercial, profitable business. With national schools and academies, we have created an elite. So, no surprise that now it is difficult to break into it. The voice of working class is out there but has no support, money, appreciation…

What does Look Back In Anger say to us today?

That life has not changed that much. We are probably angrier than ever actually. Little illusion left and hope that the future will be brighter (and I mean also literally). The 1% rules and exploits and we just get the scraps. But, Look Back in Anger also says that we need to try and even it is a futile fight that burn us out it is our responsibilities to fight. If we want things to change.

Kitchen sink drama like this (or A Taste Of Honey or A Streetcar Named Desire) were most often praised in the 50s for putting settings and characters on stage that hadn’t been seen before. Now those plays have passed into folklore, do they still shock us in the same way? Or can they shock a modern audience in a new way? 

I don’t think it is about shocking, definitely it isn’t my focus. There are new working class dramas around much more relevant to our times that might be making much bigger impact on the society. However, I think Look Back in Anger has a different purpose now. When I first saw Look Back in Anger I was living in Poland. It was way before I learned English and knew about British class or colonial society. What I remember from that performance was the incredible intense energy, the disagreement with mundane routine and stagnation. I felt connected with Jimmy who was “angry and helpless”. In fact, I think many young people today too feel like this. I do not want to shock. I’d rather create opportunity for people to talk, go home and think. Shocking is easy and theatre often looks for it. It is a shock not theatre.

Do the class anxieties that drive the play speak to a modern audience in the same way? Many people have called the 2010s an angry decade (brexit, populism, social media trolls etc) – does this give the play a relevance to a modern audience? ( wonder what the 2010s version of Jimmy would be, angry, disaffected, working class and riven with class anxiety, would he be venting his spleen on Twitter? Voting UKIP? Campaigning for Corbyn?) How are young men today more or less enfranchised than in Osborne’s day?

Very interesting question. As a social worker I deal on daily basis with angry young people both boys and girls. Jimmy today would feel as hopeless as in the fifties but today’s Jimmy would be smoking cannabis and running around with a knife in his pocket. Anger manifests in weird choices, anger is ultimately fear that cannot be contained.

To me, sadly, the world has become a scary place to live in because people have become scared and angry. There are the global issues that really matter now, not the domestic ones.  We need to be joining forces, working together, building bridges not walls and separate from each other. But the people has become scared and some people use it  manipulate us for personal gains and power. Jimmy rebels against all that. This is why Look Back in Anger is so important today.

How has your previous work informed your approach this time?

Every play is a different meal and you need to cook it with different ingredients. But I always cook my meals with a pinch of psychology and sociology focusing on the main flavour that is the energy and emotions. The new territory for me is definitely the kitchen sink drama. It is also a British classic and people either, to my surprise, don’t know it at all or have a very fixed idea what it is and how it needs to be presented. I’m more visual artist and prefer dynamic and textured plays. Look Back in Anger is by all means the most text based play I ever worked. Although I am enjoying the process, it comes with challenges.