I did it!

Have I written about this before? I can’t remember. Once again the panto’s been cancelled. An alternative, not particularly interesting (as far as I was concerned) smaller scale live performance Christmas was discussed.

Even though there are members of the board who have stated unequivocally that they would rather poke their own eyes out with sticks than ever do another Zoom show, I said I thought it would be better to do something fresh and original online than regurgitating those old chestnuts, A Child’s Christmas in Wales and A Christmas Carol. That, of course, would depend on actually having some fresh and original material. 

Two members, whose work has featured in previous online shows, immediately said they could probably come up with something. I said I could give it a go. Even as I was saying this, I was worried. Could I come up with something? It took a few days, but I finally came up with the germ of an idea. That’s all it was for a while. I was hoping my playwright friend Robert could come up with a better idea when he was visiting last week. He did have an idea, but it didn’t really do anything for me. 

Yesterday, with a deadline of Thursday looming, I sat down at the computer and commanded myself to write. Okay, who are the characters? I knew who one was, because that was the basis of the idea, but I needed three more. All right. Noel, his wife Angie and his sister Carol. (Are you sensing a Christmas theme in those names?) All three of them are at Noel and Angie’s home, waiting for his Uncle Nick to turn up for Christmas dinner. Okay, fine. Now, just write!

And I did. Four pages yesterday. Another four today. First draft done!  

It does, of course, remain to be seen whether the board will sign off on it. The play, Waiting for Nick, is definitely not kid-friendly. Obviously I hope they’ll want to do the play – if for no other reason than it will give me something to throw myself into for the next couple of months.

Yes, it would be disappointing if they say thanks, but not thanks. But that is not what matters. What matters is that two weeks ago I rashly said, “Sure, I can come up with a short Christmas-themed play by the end of the month.” And I bloody did it. If they don’t like it, fine. I did it!