BP News

From Junk to Teen Detective

The ceaseless journey of Big Spirit continues…

When our party of 19 souls (yes 19!) arrived back from Edinburgh on 19th August we were exhausted but exuberant. The group had given 5 performances of their play Junk to well-filled houses at our venue, Greyfriars Kirkhouse and garnered extravagant praise along the way. Congrats to them, all, especially Charlie Woodcock and Katie Rallison for their deft and creative direction. Those of you that managed to come along on 1st September to see it at the QMT will no doubt have formed your own opinions about the impressive skills of the company.

But as ever in theatre, it's sad goodbye to that show and on with the next. Brenda Bly – Teen Detective is the sort of musical the company love to do – it’s tough to stage, full of vigorous routines and quick-changes and, of course, an assortment of eccentric characters including Rocket women! This is a brand new musical from the States that has had only limited showings in the UK and I feel it is quite a coup that its first amateur outing will be at the QMT with Big Spirit. There is a large production team with Tim Hallas as MD, Katie Rallison spinning her usual choreographic magic, Dan Writer running the technical side while I do my best to direct the dang thing.

If it all sounds like a lot of fun – it’s meant to be. But hey you lot – don’t let the youngsters have all the laughs. What about the BPs taking an adult company to Edinburgh one year? You’ll have a great time (that’s guaranteed) and also be part of the greatest Arts event in the world. So get stirring…