Francesca Rose On Letting The Words Fly The Nest

18 Oct Francesca Rose On Letting The Words Fly The Nest

Learning  rehearsals are finally under way. It’s a relief really. There was a sense growing in us all of something about to happen. That feeling of taking our marks, being left all keyed up, with nowhere to go until the starter gun fires. Waiting…waiting… … But it’s rolling at last.

I have been reflecting on the experience of letting go of my literary baby and how many parallels exist with the parenting experience. That moment when those of us who are parents just know it’s time to let our children fly. To entrust them to the care of others who turn out to become major influences in their life’s journey, whether we like it or not.

When I think back, it was hard to let anyone even read my words. Lobbing them at the page, you live gloriously inside your own head and as such you are the boss…and not open to praise, criticism, opinion, other than your own of course. And there it stays until it grows up and needs to breathe all on its own.

My work is now being analysed, directed and delivered by professionals whose skills lie in those arenas. I couldn’t do it all, in the same way that I couldn’t teach my children every area of their curriculum, prepare them for every eventuality for their entire journey throughout their formative years and beyond. I’m no Jack of all trades.

Handing my play over for production requires a bond of trust in the same way that I had to learn to trust my childrens’ caretakers and educators. More importantly, these people are not me… and as sure as night follows day, there was and always will be tension…. areas of discomfort and disagreement. So if that happens do I sit there silently, stewing for a bit and then do the equivalent of ‘phoning the school and being that parent…?

Way, way back, working on Deborah’s Children our Director (the lovely Glynne Steele) and I nearly fell out seriously over changes he wanted to make to the script. Heated exchanges followed. You’ll be pleased to know it wasn’t a showstopper in the end. With a conciliatory air, I sent him this… https://youtu.be/OYj8YEcx4DQ

and he sent me these ….

…and so the day was saved.

But I have changed. Using my parenting analogy I must ask this: whose needs are served by keeping our children so close that they become something that is only defined by us as parents? So if my ‘baby’ is my text…what then? If it looks right in 2D it might not work on stage. Skilled actors and directors bring layers and interpretations to my text that I hadn’t ever considered. How will Learning fly if I keep its wings clipped and restrict its movement?  Wider scrutiny is scary but good,….no, necessary. In some ways, the scrutiny by the cast and director forms a safe place…a transition between what is in my head and the terror of a live audience. So when I asked my mentor Seamus what he did if a director wanted to make unanticipated changes, his unfailing wisdom went a bit like this:

Seamus: (shrugs) Run it and see

Me: (unsure) So what if I still don’t like it?

Seamus: (familiar twinkle in eye) Ah…then the writer is King!

So whether my response is, ‘Yes, go with it…I love it!’ or ‘Over my dead body will you do that to my script’ there’s nothing to fear in giving the ideas space to breathe. I might even see something infinitely better that I’d ever imagined.

If you watched the video above…”Responstible”  is most definitely not a word! But it might become one with a fresh, new meaning that elevates it above the original.