TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG

They tell me blogging is the way to get more hits on your website - is this true? Although I use social media extensively I only blog occasionally -mainly because of the time factor. As a playwright, writing for the amateur theatre market, I want to use as many tools as possible to spread the word but so far my blogs haven't generated much response.  When you are trying to set up a small business and promote your own work you have to find the best ( and cheapest ways of advertising).  As a working mum I am squeezing in writing as well as admin, advertising, publicity etc. usually all before breakfast.

So, here goes another 6am blog. While the rest of the house sleep I am getting up to date on three new titles going up on the website www.scripts4stage.com  this month.

BAGGAGE is a two hander for women. A one act play dealing with friendship and homelessness .When Sandra, a tired frustrated housewife meets Annie a woman with a terrible tragedy living rough they find some common ground. This is about their emotional baggage as well as the physical "bags" they carry.
Originally written in 2006 as a short sketch, New Flight Publications published it online and Amazon last September but with it being premiered this month, the script was developed in rehearsals and with new images it was republished to coincide with the first performance.

REMEMBRANCE DAY - a drama about fathers and sons with a ghostly feel. This was originally written in 2007 and produced in 2009 by Hand in Hand Theatre Productions it was successful at both All England Theatre Festival, National Drama Festival and Geoffrey Whitworth playwriting competition and received rave reviews. It was then licenced by NODA and in 2014, two other groups performed as part of WW1 centenary. New Flight took the Rights in 2015 and the script was available on download. This tenth anniversary edition is the first time it has appeared in paperback and it is hoped for the 2018 centenary it may prove popular.
The story of five generations of the Watson family against a backdrop of war. Darren, the young protagonist in 2006 is getting bullied and into trouble. His dad, a veteran from the Gulf War is suffering from PTD. Darren meets a stranger who takes him back to 1916 when he learns a lot about
fathers and sons so he can make his own footprint in the future.
This all male cast requires two young teenage boys as well as three older men but could work for a boys school or youth group as well as theatre groups.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME - a light hearted look at one family who leave the stressful world behind and find some peace of mind is "another place" but where exactly have they been?
This one act amusing  piece was again written in 2006 and although available on download since 2015 this is its first publication.  3Males 3 Females ( including a teenage boy and girl) plus a couple of walk-ons but an ideal festival play.
The Hargreaves are overworked and under stress and their world is running out of time until they end up in an old fashioned hotel in the west country where time seems to have stood still. There is a twist in the tale to leave them and the audience wondering - was it a dream or just a little bit of magic?

Three new titles means New Flight Publications have twelve one act plays on www.scripts4stage.com in a year. With new titles in the pipeline for the coming months. Also, an anthology of poetry A Poem For All Seasons has been on Amazon since Christmas 2016 with a new one planned for Christmas 2017

If you read this blog please leave a comment to let me know if blogging is helping - To Blog or not to Blog is still the question.

NEW PLAY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

New for 2016, MAKE ME INVISIBLE by Bev Clark - a play for young people which explores the world of an adolescent boy who feels he is alone, isolated, bullied and not understood by his peers.  Through his older self as the narrator and his younger self as the protagonist, we see through his eyes, the gangs of kids who pick on him and belittle him and finally ignore him as if he is “thin air”.

He sees them all as animals - the long-legged laughing girls are hyenas. The goading name-calling boys are monkeys. The foxes who pretend to be his friends but then laugh behind his back.  The owls, ravens and snakes each find a way to hurt him.

When he cannot cope with the stress of the classroom or playground he retreats into a series of surreal, dream-like scenes expressed through physical theatre, movement, sometimes with music - sometimes with poetry.

His one fascination is with the sky and the stars. From an early ambition to be an astronaut he now wants to fly so he can be lifted up from all of his earthly unhappiness.

The ending is ambiguous left for you to interpret whether he overcomes his obstacles or submits to his failings.

A poetic one-act drama for teenagers allowing for some improvisation and devising around the issue of loneliness and isolation.

The script is available to buy from Amazon.com for £4.95 and performance licences are available from www.scripts4stage.com