Farm Visits



 

 

A huge thank you to Tom Shardlow and his colleagues  at Synergy Farm Health, who put up with me trailing round with them on several farm visits yesterday. And I couldn't've had a kinder welcome from Rod, Jeremy and Sid, amongst others, who were operating the three units I went to.

 

It was fascinating to watch the procedures involved in pregnancy diagnoses, harvesting bull semen and dealing with lame cows. And also very sobering to hear of the injuries sustained by farmers and vets alike, when dealing with such robust animals.  

 

The photo above shows Tom wearing his portable scanner and scanning goggles, which he used when seeing if a series of cows were in-calf or 'empty'. It's all extremely clever stuff, with the image of a calf  foetus appearing on a grid on the goggles.

 

Occasional trips out like this are ideal for Archers' writers  - it's a welcome break from sitting in front of the screen and helps keep us up to date on current farming and veterinary practice. That's particularly useful at the moment, when a meeting to discuss long-term storylines is looming. 

 

And I'm planning another escape today - to attend a trustees meeting for  Sue Wylie's project  'Kinetics' . Sue has recently been interviewed on Radio 4 and Channel 4 about her marvellous play which deals with her own experience of the onset of Parkinson's disease and the friendship she developed with one of her  students who was heavily into parkour.  The connections and contrasts between the two of them and their experience of motion and emotion are gripping.  The play has since been made into a fantastic film, which is being shown by various Parkinson's groups around the country, but which deserves a much wider audience.

 For more information about this remarkable actress and her work, go

to:   https://twitter.com/Kinetics_Film

Nic Grundy

 

Congratulations to Heather Bell, Trevor Harrison, Edward Kelsey  and - above all - Philip Molloy and Becky Wright for their marvellous work in last night's episode of  'The Archers' ( Friday  23rd Feb 2018), when poor Nic Grundy died.

 

The cast played a blinder - which is a huge relief for this old hack, who wrote the episode.  They made the most of everything written. And much gratitude to Julie Beckett for such a fine job of directing it.  It was all very sad, but lovely.

 

 



The Brotherhood of Smoke

 

 

 The OUP have now published my new play 'The Brotherhood of Smoke', for readers and actors of all ages, if they like detective stories - particularly if they like Victorian detective stories.

 

 

 



 



 

 

The plot centres on the great Parisian policeman Henri Fizeau joining forces with two young cockney  con artists, Jack and Mercy, in a desperate attempt to forestall a band of ruthless political assassins. The Band of Smoke's target is Queen Victoria and their killing ground is the opening of the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace (pictured above) in 1851. With the Brotherhood's murderous plot already well-advanced, only Jack, Mercy and the extraordinary M. Fizeau can prevent the greatest celebration of internationalism and technology mounted in Victorian times from triggering world-wide war.

 

And as if that wasn't enough excitement for an old hack, I also wrote the next twelve episodes of  'The Archers', being broadcast between Sunday 14th and Friday 26th May. Hurrah!

 

 (The image  of the Crystal Palace is from the Hulton Archive/ Getty images)

THE BROTHERHOOD OF SMOKE

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the provisional cover for  my play about Queen Victoria and the Great Exhibition of 1851, which the OUP are bringing out on April 1st 2017. It tells the story of two young Cockney  confidence tricksters, Mercy and Jack, when they encounter the great French detective Henri Fizeau and have to work with him to try and stop Queen Victoria being assassinated by the mysterious Brotherhood of Smoke.

 

And belated congratulations to Jo Simons and the Dorchester Youth Theatre for their excellent production of Thunderwar  this summer.  Audiences seemed to enjoy the story of  young computer games' enthusiast Charlie Tapp and the lessons he learned when his Viking warlord avatar, Rokan Karm, stepped through the screen to become Charlie's life coach. If any other youth theatre is interested in seeing a copy, do email me and let me know.



The White Rose and the Swastika -

 

 

 

Good luck to the Georgian Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Richmond, North Yorks, who are putting on 'The White Rose and the Swastika' on Monday 11th July and Tuesday 12th July 2016, at 7.30 p.m.

 

I hope rehearsals and the performances go wonderfully well.



Thunderwar

 

 

Dorchester Youth Theatre's production of my new comedy 'Thunderwar' is being produced as part of a double bill at the Dorchester Corn Exchange on Thursday 30th June and Friday 1st July.

 

Details as follows:



Thunderwar

 

 

10th December  2015 - 15 copies of  my new play handed over to the Dorchester Youth Theatre Intermediates Group, with a view to production next summer. First read-through to come in January. Hope they like the tale of  Charlie,  learning how to cope when his Viking avatar, Rokan Karm, steps through the computer screen to show him how to stand up for himself. Will follow the play's progress next year.

 

And a very unseasonal image to  finish with: a Purple Hairstreak, photographed at Alner's Gorse Reserve in Dorset this summer. 

 

 



Swallowtail Butterfly

Lots of writing for the Archers at the moment, but v. little else happening, while a select number of youth theatres debate whether or not to stage  my new comedy 'Thunderwar' - about the secret life of a teenage computer games enthusiast. Do let me know if you'd like to see a copy.
As a break from the keyboard, my wife and I went in search of the swallowtail butterfly (p.m. britannicus) at Strumpshaw Fen a couple of weeks ago. After a disappointing first day's search, we saw lots on our second visit. Here's one of them in in all its glory - species number 52, in my incredibly slow quest to see all the British butterflies. Wood White, Chequered Skipper, Black Hairstreak, Large Heath, Scotch Argus and Mountain Ringlet still to go. Well - it keeps you out of mischief.

 



Burning Everest - new page

 

Just a quick note to point out a new page on the website - a response to a number of delightful and perceptive emails I've received recently. Hope it helps students and tutors alike.

Please feel free to email any questions not covered in it (or about any of my other plays.)

JEKYLL AND HYDE

 

 

 

 

 Good luck to the Oast Youth Theatre, who are putting on my adaptation  of  'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' from the 18th-20th September 2014.  Ticket and performance details can be found at: http://www.oasttheatre.com/
 

 

This is the same splendid company who premiered 'The White Rose and the Swastika' in 2012, so they clearly have excellent taste. (tee-hee)

 

 

This will be the second production of the play, which was published by the Oxford University Press in 2011.

 

 

My Swordhand is Singing - the play

Set for publication  October 2014 

Here's the cover for the dramatisation of 'My Swordhand is Singing' , which is being published by the Oxford University Press in October 2014.

 It's been a real joy adapting Marcus Sedgwick's powerful and chilling tale of redemption in 17th century Transylvania.  Throughout the adaptation, I've tried to keep as close to the spirit of the original novel  as possible, so it was a great help being able to contact Marcus directly and get  his thoughts on a wide range of questions about the themes and language of his work.

Kirsty Stanfield, who edited the adaptation for the OUP, has also been a terrific support in seeing the project though.

I hope the finished play will offer interesting challenges and rewards to any school drama group  or youth theatre who are brave enough to face the undead and decide to tackle it.

If you have a go at staging the play, I 'd love to hear  how you get on, so please do get in touch with any thoughts or questions you have about it.

Adapting 'My Swordhand is Singing'

Cheery news from the Oxford University Press, who have asked me to dramatise Marcus Sedgwick's wonderful Gothic novel 'My Swordhand is Singing'  for the Oxford Modern Playscript series. It's a quite stunning read and should be great fun to work on. It means I'll be spending a good part of the winter grappling with  vampires. Very jolly.

Also worth noting that the BBC Writers' Room is making six of my Archers' scripts available for download  this week (October 20th - 26th), should you wish to see such things. They can be viewed at:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/be-inspired/the-archers-week

And finally - the butterfly above is a Northern Brown Argus. Spotted and photographed after a two hour wait in the sand dunes at Pease Bay on the east coast of Scotland in June this summer. Nothing to do with writing, but a splendid 47th butterfly in my incredibly slow attempt to see all 59 British butterflies.

Butterflies in the summer; vampires in the winter. It's the year of winged beasts.

Young Actors Company







 This photo's taken from the Young Actors Company's recent production of 'The White Rose and the Swastika'.

Gracie Baker, playing the Executioner's Assistant, stands in the shadow of the guillotine towards the end of the play, when Hans and Sophie Scholl, and their friend Christoph Probst, face execution for their brave resistance to Hitler and the Nazi regime during World War Two.  

The Cambridge Local Secrets e-zine, concluded its delightful review of the production thus:

A great story, smartly written and well performed, creating a real atmosphere on the stage, and while entertaining, establishing some key moral values such as justice, standing up for one’s belief in ‘good’ and the overriding message that even a small voice can make a noticeable difference.

To see the whole review, go to: http://www.localsecrets.com/ezine.cfm?ezineid=3484~the+white+rose+and+the+swastika+theatre



On a completely unrelated note, it was a joy to hear Philip Fox playing Maurice Horton with such terrific comic timing in the episode of  'The Archers' which went out on Monday 8th April. Amongst a host of marvellous characters in the programme, Maurice is a particular favourite to write for.

An audio-clip of part of his conversation with Tom was still available to listen to at the Archers' website at the time of writing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr





Young Actors Company - a fine review

Here's a link to  a rather delightful review of the Young Actors Company's production of 'The White Rose and the Swastika' last week:

http://www.localsecrets.com/ezine.cfm?ezineid=3484~the+white+rose+and+the+swastika+theatre

Well done to the cast and backstage crew for their fine work. I hope to put one or two production photos up in the next week or so.

Here's the splendid poster used by the Oast Youth Theatre  for their production of 'The White Rose and the Swastika'  this summer. 

Afterwards, someone at the theatre was kind enough to contact the Little Theatre Guild, and their comments appear in the November issue of the Guild's newsletter.

The White Rose & The Swastika by Adrian Flynn, chosen by Oast Theatre Youth. “This moving and gripping new play showed us the conflicting and changing loyalties of young people in Germany just before and during the Second World War, and the courage and camaraderie of an underground student group, The White Rose. A large cast showed real understanding of the situation of those of their own age having to choose between their own morality influenced by their parents’ values, and the unquestioning nationalism demanded of them. The Youth Theatre provided a moving experience for audience members of all ages.”

It's always very encouraging to know that a play has done well.  

Now, as we head into winter, I've just finished another set of scripts for the 'Archers' , which will go out in February next year. It feels odd to be looking forward to Easter in the scripts, when in real life, I haven't started Christmas shopping. Oh well - one of the many quirks and joys of being a scriptwriter. 

All the best for now

Adrian

Photos of Burning Everest

Here are a couple of splendid photos from a recent production of 'Burning Everest' at Thomas Aveling school.   By all accounts, it was very well received, so well done Mrs Chloe Whelan, her actors and backstage crew.

What an imaginative mountain. I really like this.

The White Rose/ Tower of the Blue Horses

And - hurrah! Here's the Tower of the Blue Horses, now available as an Amazon e-kindle book.
The novel is based on the true story of the White Rose student resistance group. The group was centred round  a brother and sister - Hans and Sophie Scholl - and a small number of their close friends. It operated in Munich in the early years of World War Two, under almost impossibly dangerous circumstances.
The novel follows Hans' growing disenchantment with Nazism,  from his teenage days, when he was a proud member of the Hitler Youth, through his army service in France and Russia, up to his extraordinary acts of rebellion during the war. We see his personal side as well: his difficult relationship with his pacifist father; his clashes with the Nazi authorities, and the growing importance of his friendships with Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst and others in  the White Rose - above all, with his sister Sophie.
It is intended for any reader, from teens onwards, who has an interest in history and has ever wondered how they might react in the kind of circumstances the White Rose faced.
It's available to download from Amazon - ridiculously cheaply - to any Kindle, or Kindle app.
[The product image is a reproduction of Franz Marc's lost painting 'The Tower of the Blue Horses', with a nicely judged title designed by Karolin Schnoor.]

The White Rose

Hi.
Just to let you know there's now an extra page on the website - The White Rose.
It's dedicated to a brand-spanking new novel about the White Rose resistance group, entitled 'The Tower of the Blue Horses' .  It tells the story of  a young man called Hans Scholl, who, together with one of his sisters and some close friends, risked their lives fighting against Hitler from inside Germany, during World War 2. It is a fascinating, frightening and, ultimately, inspiring tale, intended for anyone from their mid-teens onwards.
If you go to the page, you'll learn why the novel's called  'The Tower of the Blue Horses' , and be able to download, or view online, some short sample chapters.
I hope you enjoy it, if you take a look.

Thomas Aveling School

Here's a rather splendid poster from a recent adaptation of 'Burning Everest' at the Thomas Aveling School.

Does anyone else have any artwork related to any of the plays  to share?

It would be fascinating to see what your imaginations have come up with.



Opening Blog

Some delightful letters about 'Burning Everest' arrived from a school in Eire a while back.
To kick off this blog, I thought I'd put in a few quotes and answer the questions raised:

'My class and I have just finished reading 'Burning Everest.  I thought it was brilliant..My  favourite character was Stubby because he just ignores all the people who call him names. ..I was just wondering if you have an interest in Mount Everest like Jim' - Shannon

I've never been  to Mount Everest, but would love to go one day.  It was reading about George Mallory's disappearance on the mountain which originally got me interested in that side of the play.

' In the play Jim's mother Sharon put him in foster care and married Matt. I apologise for asking but has anything like that ever happened to you?' - Chloe

No - I was never in foster care. But I know of children who had been through some quite similar experiences to Jim. And I think most people are familiar at some time in their life with some of the emotions he feels - for example: rejection, the fear of losing someone dear to us, the frustrated anger that makes you lash out at people close to you and so on. So it was fairly easy to  imagine what might have been going on in his head.

'Why did you put someone with a prosthetic leg into your story?' - Dean

I don't think I consciously decided to have a character with a physical disability in the play - that was simply how Stubby was when I imagined him. Later, when the play was finished, I was quite glad I had, because it made an interesting contrast with Jim, who appears to be in perfect health, but whose problems are all on the inside, where they aren't immediately obvious to the people who have to deal with him.

It's always great to hear from people reading or performing the plays. If anyone else has any thoughts or questions you want answered about any of them, please send them to: hello@adrianflynwriter.com