Minty Bit Stronger

I'm going to treat you to a story from my dusty bookshelf of memories. This particular yarn will be familiar to a few readers and some might have even lived it with me. For this latter reason I will change the names of those involved to hide their identities. So, why am I sharing this? Wrong question. Why am I sharing this now? The issue of fidelity and questions of blame, repercussion and consequence have hung in the air in recent weeks. I am left, watching from the sidelines, with my dusty storybook eager to be opened. Its lessons, eager to be shared. Are you sitting comfortably? Shall we begin? It's was a grim autumn in 2005 and I had been working for Skittles Theatre company for eight months since leaving Blackpool. It was a summer like no other travelling up and down the country performing day in, day out and not having a care in the world. My second tour of Alice in Wonderland was finished and my Tour Manager Natasha and I were heading back to the Scottish head offi...

It's not all tube strangers and hula hoop letters here at Minty Bit Stronger. I also like to occasionally offer up some culture to feed my readers vociferous intellectual appetites. The culture I speak of is theatrical in this instance. A play called Cardenio, arguably a lost Shakespeare masterpiece, being performed at the spooky Rose Theatre . Cardenio could be described as a play about two women who share little similarity besides their mistreatment and objectification by men; conceivably a one act tragedy about feminine rebellion in an age of accepted misogyny. This is what I took for my truth. A play so rich and beautifully complex as Cardenio has any number of themes to satiate a theatre goers thirst. The themes of power, ownership, fidelity and duty sit alongside themes of love, family, sacrifice and honour.   The title character Cardenio (Matt Gibbs) and Luscinda (Paloma Oakenfold) are in love, but she is passionately desired by King Fernando (Ryan Burkwood). The Ki...

At the rehearsal tonight our set designer, who is a wonderful eccentric genius, unveiled his drawings for the panto in December. I think each one is a beautiful piece of art. I can't wait to see the final completed set. Mother Goose will be on at the Tyler Theatre Eltham, November 30th to December 3rd.

Cinderella On my way to a rehearsal for 'Mother Goose', I found myself recalling all the other productions I've been in since I was a child. I wasn't a stage school brat and I didn't have pushy parents but I did get my acting bug pretty young. I guess my earliest acting memory was a raging battle to be cast as Joseph in a school Nativity play. I must have been about six but none-the-less I was furious to be given the role of 'wise man with myrrh' and I wouldn't rest until I was certain I would be the greatest 'wise man' that Layton had ever seen. Tea towel on head I was keen to shock, awe and maybe even steal the show. I was going to be brilliant! Obviously, I was rubbish because in the next biblical production I was cast as 'elephant's legs'. It was Noah's ark and the Ark was a giant cut out of a boat with various 'animal print' legs shuffling it along. I didn't even get a tail. And, I think I was at th...

Last night was a fierce deadline that threatened to keep me captive late into the evening. I wasn't it's only victim hoping for an eventual escape, with me were Little Linda, Kerry, Fay and Two Victorias. All of us cursing, waiting and wanting to go. Myself and one of the Victorias had plans to see Hamlet and it was clear we wouldn't be on time. Eventually our over complicated, archaic system loaded the final page of the magazine and we fled the scene. Finally, on the tube whizzing eastward away from work Victoria and Fay set about applying their makeup. Fay hoped off at London bridge looking very happy with her bouncy pony-tail and Victoria and I hurried onwards to our culture date. Late, but not deterred we were ushered to our seats. Beforehand, knowing we would miss the opening I explained to Victoria, Hamlet was essentially The Lion King and if you bare that in mind we'll be fine. A few minutes in... I had begun to follow. Hamlet/Simba may be crazy in Love o...