[Notes and jottings from the writer.... with the most recent notes first, going backwards....]

2nd March 2007

We have been having more sessions with Olly the designer going into schools, and for me the work of being the 'writer' of Princess and Ginger is more or less finished.  It is over to the actors, musician, director, designer, lighting people, stage manager and everyone now.  So there will not be many writer's notes on the web site from now on.  But I will leave these here, for anyone interested in looking at the process of creating the play.....

10th January 2007

Well, the script of the play is finished now.  At least the first draft, because I have talked to Iain, and we agree that it will probably change a lot in rehearsal.  It was quite difficult to write the script, because so much happens in the story of Princess and Ginger.  For the play, it would be too complicated to have everything in.  In some ways, we only need a very simple story to make a good play.  But I think our story is really quite simple - it is just that we have made up so many details, that it sounds complicated

The script is on the website, on the documents page, so you can have a look yourself.  See what you think.  What is fun for me is I can write things in the 'stage directions' and leave Iain and Olly [the designer] with the problem of how to do them.  So for example I can put ,'Princess climbs on the back of the flying elephant and they fly past the castle'...  very easy for me to write, but quite a big problem for them.  It will be interesting to watch how they decide to do that.  But I know that all of the playmakers will be working with them too, and if their ideas are half as good as they were when they made up the story, I know that they will find the way.

[*Pizza, by the way, is the name the playmakers have given to their esteemed writer, Peter Wynne-Willson - who's job it is to make all their wonderful ideas into a play]

What Pizza is thinking at the moment

 Nov 10th [after just completing the story version of the play]

I was pleased with the way the story came across when we all got together at the REP yesterday.   At the last stages of writing the story up, I was able to go back through all the ideas we had collected, and sneak quite a few more back in, in little details.  For example, on the way between places, the butterfly takes Princess past some of the worlds that never made it into the main story [like the octopus playing football, the snappy crocodile and wrong-eyed monster] But I know it may be difficult to get these into the play.

When I told the whole story to the 'playmakers' it seemed quite long, but I think the story is really quite simple, and when it is a play, there will be more things to keep the audience involved - music, lighting, different characters, some participation etc.  I expect we will need to miss out some things though.  But then again, other things will be there which can't be in a storybook, so maybe some more ideas will be used up in different ways. 

I could see some dramatic potential in quite a few elements - the blowing the wind, flying on the elephant, the butterfly.  The whole character of Ginger and her spiders, the sounds [nasty and nice sounds] The spooky cave, and the bouncing bannagans....   When Lorna and Ali, the two actors, acted out some of the story we began to see exactly how exciting it will be when it is finished.

I have one big problem now, as I start making the story into a play.  We probably only have enough money for two actors.  Iain [the director] would quite like three, but I have to write the script without knowing what will be decided about this......tricky.......

One thing I am thinking is that the story as it is would make a great story book, with someone illustrating it - or using children's work.   I wonder if that would be possible?  The right kind of visual artist could have a field-day with these ideas I think.

I am having a little rest, and some thinking time now, and then I will set about the task of writing the script.  Watch this space, as they say.

Nov 8th [as I put together the 'final' version of the story....[Week Five]

In a way the story of Princess is the journey from being a child that loves the world in which she lives, when everything is going well, who is upset when it goes wrong, when confronted with badness, and who learns through her experiences and from friends, to deal with the badness - finding out that things happen for a reason, and they can be put right.

[I have been talking to Iain, the Director, who was pointing out that the play doesn't need to explain why...that is more of an adult preoccupation...]

Iain was also talking about the possibility of repetition ['again, again'], [maybe in the play, and not necessarily in the story version, and the discussion also settled on an aimed for style which uses objects around to represent things, and which has the kind of participation which is manageable within an essentially theatrical form.

One thing I found myself saying which may be useful to remember is that I am trying to write the play that the playmakers would write if they could write plays...I want it to reflect not just their imaginations [which is 'easy' because the ideas are all theirs, but also their concerns, their energy, and their kind of world-view and logic.

Question - do I try and make the story more symmetrical or neater?  If it was a traditional story, probably each animal that Princess visits would give one idea for making Ginger happy, and in the last scene she would try them out.  Do I sort it out like this, or leave it a little more 'messy'?  hmmmmm.

I am pretty happy with the story and structure as it is, but I have re-read all the children's ideas from earlier at this point, to see if there are things I have forgotten which will fit well into the story now.

Here is a list of those things that aren't in it yet that I would maybe like to squeeze in....IKEA, Special K  The octopus, the monster with wrong-doing eyes, football, cutty-down tree, everything pink, apple-bubbles, colourless caterpillar, the butterlfy is called Hannah, and lives in a coach, ]

 Potential action in the play flying the kite, the wind, flying, following the butterfly, singing and dancing, transformation into monkey, games - hopscotch and catch, the bus-ride, creating music, confrontation 1 with Ginger,  the cave, ..confrontation 2 with Ginger, reconciliation, celebration.

Nov 6th [beginning of Week Five notes]  It is Monday of week five, and I have been trying to write out the whole story in its best form.  You can see how I am getting on by clicking here [story outline]

Nov 3rd [end of week four]

With the idea-catchers, there has been time this week for thinking about some of the meaning behind the story.  When the children are talking about witches, who cannot sleep and are grumpy - is that reflecting their lives?  We talked about what seems to concern our playmakers in their everyday lives, and how this may be reflected in their stories...

Some things that came up:

Death and dying...what happens?

Friendship - making friends [not so much breaking friends]

Playing/toys..

Sharing

Learning new rules [maybe because starting at nursery]

Coping with change [ditto]

Solving problems - strong desire to put something right if it is wrong - make someone happy if they are sad etc.

I think this is a really useful list, and it would be good to see the play reflecting some or all of these areas of concern/interest. 

Also, some thoughts on structure.

It feels too repetitive right now.  I think perhaps the robots and bannagens are too similar, and maybe they can become one and the same thing.

I like the way they visit the cave with the bear, but it is too similar to visiting Ginger's castle, which follows it immediately.  Maybe they need to be separated. 

Not sure about the right time in the story for the changing of Princess into a monkey.

October 29th - Thoughts from the beginning of week four

There are some things that I think must definitely be in the play:

Bannagens [these were invented by the playmakers, and we don't know much about them, but I think they could be useful..]

Pizza - [not me, but the food - I don't know why, but it keeps popping up, so I think it has to be in the play.]

Monkey with a banana nose

The flying elephant [certainly flying has come up a lot]

Robots

Beautiful butterfly

One-stop the snake

Sad dinosaur, with chicken pox in his spikes

The witch [I am not sure it will actually end up being a witch exactly, but the baddie, who hates noise....]

Other animals [the ones that have come up most are probably crocodile, octopus, tiger, giraffe....]

Problems/Questions

What do the playmakers really want the play to be about - I don't mean the story, I mean the meanings/issues if you like?  There seem to be journeys quite often, friends and enemies come up a lot, magic and transforming...  but I think I need to talk with parents too, about underlying interests/concerns that the play can be exploring.  As well as a story and characters, there needs to be a point....

Maybe this witch is a grumpy mum...she seems a bit like that to me...she hates noise, she hates stuff, but maybe there is a reason...I think we need to know the reason.

Where will it be set?  What is the world of the play? We need to decide this.