>>>>>Killing Time<<<<<

The play has a nice new beginning. Have slung 12 pages out and replaced them with finer material that sets the tone with more immediacy and less of the usual Hull Truck antics. "Ah, a lump of coal and a piece of haddock in your hand, you must be working class" etc etc etc. And suggestions for the set, such as "The Humber Bridge can be seen in the distance", which hinted at Cameron Mackintosh exuberance and a budget running into £millions, have now been replaced by "pump dry ice everywhere and don't stop until the audience have choked to death". All in all, a job half done. I now have to stitch together the rest of the material, which now seems, no, is, all over the place. Much of the rest will be retained but needs re-ordering and making a damn sight funnier, although it's getting there. When I eventually sat down and started writing after the lengthy process of research, I had two "jokes" written in my Moleskine, one of which I've ceased to find funny and the other that, on inspection, made absolutely no sense whatsoever. So, I've come a long way, although the play - which deals with the afterlife and death by cancer, as well as being a biographical piece of drama - is getting less and less of a comedy. I'm just getting over the initial hang-ups of trying to second guess the audience's reaction, and settling into a groove of writing something that entertains me first. I'm getting it sussed, though, and by the end of the coming week, the job will be done and dusted.