Wits End

As artistic director of The Circle and Star Theatre (please visit circleandstar.com to join the mailing list and see our wonderful program of shows) it is part of my remit to direct shows. This is both exciting and exhilarating but slightly nerve-wracking.

In May and July I presented my brand new solo show ‘Fagin - Hero or Villain?’ which I wrote and directed and which is coming back again in December. But its easy directing yourself. Even if you turn up late and don’t pull your weight and act like a dick, you’ve only really shown yourself up and you’ve only got yourself to blame, ‘that is the last time I work with myself!’

But this November (9th-22nd) I shall direct a brand new comedy written by Estée Stimler. This play, a one act comedy about a Jewish funeral, was one of the first things I read last autumn when I was thinking about what to direct.

There are many considerations being a smallish fringe theatre; size of cast, length of show, audience appeal. This play is around 70 minutes, it has a (manageable) cast of 5 who all get a nice dose of funny, and its about death. I am also drawn to the Jewishness of the humour, something very close to my heart. I grew up in a household that constantly told Jewish jokes, that loved early Woody Allen movies and Mel Brooks and Seinfeld and Curb. This script has echoes of all of those.

I am genuinely loving the process of putting this show together. From the casting, to ideas for the set, to what we intend to do in the room when the audience arrives; every aspect is something to relish. If we get it right, it paves the way for our next production.

Come and be part of the congregation for Marvin Becker’s funeral and burial and be aware that his children, Cooper, Denise and Yitzy (and Aunt Phyllis), shall be sitting shiva at the Becker family home at Wits End.

All details and booking information can be found here :

VICTORY TO THE MIMERS

Two years after wrapping, the short film I co-wrote with our director James Green called 'Victory To The Mimers' is now streaming online!

It is a bitter-sweet dramedy about the Mimers Strike and a comment on the state of publicly funded arts. It features myself and Lee Ingleby playing my brother and Toto Bruin as my daughter.

Watch it on Youtube, via the BIFA Qualifying platform @directorsnotes