If you build it, they will come
I’ve always liked Kevin Costner. Even the four-hour marathon that is the Dances with Wolves director’s cut. We’ll skip over The Postman (most people do).
He had the right idea in Field of Dreams; building a baseball field to host a game between long-dead stars. Or something. To be honest, I can’t remember much more about it, apart from lots of whimsical gazing across the meadows. And the busloads of tourists turning up at the end. The lesson being, obviously, it’s ok to follow your dreams as long as you make a shedload of money at the end of it. And, perhaps more importantly, make people happy.
People seemed to be happy yesterday. The energy in the building was buzzing and it was fantastic to see so many people turn out for the events. I really think we’re building something special here, both in terms of nurturing writers and also celebrating what a great theatre community we have here in Birmingham. Here’s just a few bits of feedback on Twitter from yesterday:
Good first day with @capitalplays good to be out of my comfort zone, learning about stuff I don’t know about.. Well done all
— Pippa Frith (@Pippa_Frith) May 24, 2012
Fantastic morning w @capitalplays @mac_birmingham, using an on-line resource to write a collaborative play. Fully inspired!
— Elisha Owen (@ElishaOwen11) May 24, 2012
Exploring new writing again today. And what a piece! Looking forward to 2nd day of rehearsal.@capitalplays @mac_birmingham
— Ciaran Duce (@CDuce) May 24, 2012
Very friendly and passionate #theatre people here at @capitalplays#capitalfest12twitter.com/alina_stan/sta…
— Alina Loredana Stan (@alina_stan) May 24, 2012
It feels as though things are steadily growing. Word is spreading that we’re here to have a lot of fun and produce some great new work. We don’t have Kevin Costner, or James Earl Jones, or John Malkovich, but we’ve got three fantastic new plays, three full days of theatre chat and performance, and an ice-cream van right outside the door.
What more could you want?
