Welcome to Episode 39 of the West Park Park Bench Podcast.
Today's episode is a little bit special. Don't know if it's gonna work 39 coming up to 40 I will do episode 40 will be the start of Episode Three series three.
So, stories. Today's episode is stories. Stories about what? Well in the week I attended a networking event for theatre producers called Producers Pool and Producers Pool. It's going to be happening once a month now but it's been a bit sporadic. It kind of really took hold in COVID when the physical events which were in The Palace in London, migrated into zoom and found its global audience. So we have people who we had a few people from the US we had I think there was a France I think there was someone from Singapore and then there's UK and also there's a quite an active Scotland contingent as well.
But... stories one of the topics that came up at Producers Pool was how do we market shows that have LGBTQ acronym, content and themes and stories to audiences that aren't LGBT+, now, any show has its core audience and it comes from its story and this is what came out of the discussion that we had is that whether it's a play that has a love story at the core of it, or it has a message about society, or it has a through line where you follow somebody's story, it's their story. It's a human story. And stories are integral to the way we pieced the world together and common stories or the way that we we put reality together. Now often when you think about going to see a show. You'll want to see something that's going to be focused at you and targeted at you and that you are going to enjoy and you do migrate to the things that resonate with you and being able to see you in the story. I think we all do that. And I think when you're going to see a play if you don't go to the theatre very often. That one thing is a one special thing. Cinema is more about the story. Because you go regularly to a cinema and the story and the cast and the diversity in that cast. Unless it's a story that specifically LGBT, Focused. There is well there is a there is a turning wave there is a turning wave in the entertainment industry. And that is to cast people in roles that have the life experience to flesh and embody those roles and right now I think that is so important. It happens probably in independent theatre that story core...
Regular listeners will know that there are occasions in the West Park Park Bench Podcast that I have either dogs walking past or people walking past and it just gives me a moment to pause and see if my train of thought is still there on the other side. And here. We're in stories.
Stories are incredibly important and the diversity of stories who's telling the stories but the reason or the purpose for this particular story focused is because I realised that from that conversation I don't always see listening to someone else's story purely to hear a story that isn't related to me. It's not something that I do. And the one time that I am exposed at the moment to stories where I don't choose those stories. Are the times that I really enjoy the activities that I'm doing so there's, there's two, there's two kinds of live streams zoomy things that I do one is for the Royal Historical Society. And those lectures are absolutely fascinating. None of them are my topic in fact the last one, which was PR, it was a bit of a workshop about how do you get your research or your paper into the press? And that was really interesting take on what I already know about press and marketing and theatre but flipped to be for historical for history, academics and researchers. But usually it's it's a topic from history a very narrow topic that has been researched and is sometimes it's I'm hearing them for the first time and they are amazing.
So links in the description if I forget links do message me and say can you put in the links to the RHS, Royal Historical Society. The other other stories that I go to and this is this is what's kicked off this episode really was Beeston Tales. Now Beeston Tales takes place every month, third Wednesday of the month. And this next one, I'm not going to be here. I'm going to be in Mull on the Isle of Mull. But I am able to attend but me being able to attend and me being able to be in the room and set up the kit isn't gonna work this time. If I've got my kit with me I often we had to cancel June's or at least the livestream was cancelled because I had my kit in London. This occasion my kit is going to be on mainland, I'm just going to be the person not on the mainland. So the challenge is going to be to enable the storyteller, Beeston Tales I can't remember Mike's surname there's Mike and Tim Ralph's. It'll come to me. I'm sure you listen to this, Mike. Very sorry. But one thing that Tim and Mike do every month is bring in a guest storyteller, and then invite storytellers from the local area to take up slots that around that. It's a two hour session. Now it's a long story session. And first of all, that's a bit of a long time, big interval. But it really works and you spend your time in these stories and the storyteller tells a story for an entire hour on stage. It's essentially a monologue, but it made me realise that hearing storytellers tell folk stories and legends that actually you know, but hearing them being told in a performed fashion is really special, because you kind of notice... it's like watching Shakespeare, you know the story, but it's a different performance interpretation. And the different stories that Tim and Mike bring toBeeston Tales has really has really exposed me to storytelling in a way that I wouldn't normally see. And that's because I'm the Zoom controller. And that's the great thing about my job is that I do get to sit in the back of some amazing keynote speeches, some amazing storytellers, some amazing shows, and taking the Spatial space into the Edinburgh Fringe, I really want to go up to the fringe, but it's a really daunting thing even for me. I've been twice before. They were both on behalf of Equity, and I had a stipend to see as many shows as I could in I think I was there for three days. And also go and see the shows go and visit the cast afterwards, have a chat to them, what's their experience, and even being there kind of on the edge of the industry it was quite daunting going up there to just be audience must be terrifying. But I want to go up there and be audience, and be terrified. I also want to go out and take shows but the thing is if you go into Edinburgh and you're taking a show you are there with your show. It's regular slots. Especially stage managing. If you're doing a venue, you're probably in the venue all day. So I've got to get my head around how much of myself I want to give the fringe. And I think that goes for attending in the audience as well. How much of yourself do you want to give the Edinburgh Fringe because you do have to take time to sit and pause and reflect on what you're seeing.
You need to eat, you need to sleep. You can immerse yourself in it and you can choose to go and see particular things there may be a show that you're anchoring your whole experience around and that's a really good thing because then everything kind of branches out from that what's around it whereabouts is your venue.
...the stories, the stories that you choose to listen to the stories you you choose to attend and the stories you choose to be present at, and the stories you choose to listen to. And I think that's what today has really emerged in my thinking as I was swimming up and down the pool. And as I was heading for the bench, what is today's topic going to be and it's stories.
It's also the test for, Can I live stream in a podcasting format? The only live streaming podcasting platforms that I am aware of is Clubhouse, and Twitter Spaces.
Fingers crossed if things are working properly, this is going live to Twitter spaces. After I finished this recording, which we're drawing to the close of this now, I'm going to pop back to the Twitter Spaces and see if there's anyone there because it is an opportunity to open the mic and have a chat about today's topic, which is stories, and especially because its Stories hashtag Edinburgh Fringe 23 (#EdinburghFringe23) that hashtag is probably going to be happening on the end of my podcasts all the way through to the end of August.
So I'm going to bring this episode of The West Park Park Bench Podcast to a close the next three weeks are going to be unbenched. And then the weeks after that will be Westpark Park Bench Podcasts. They will be at the same time but they will be live streaming to Twitter Spaces.
Cool if anyone knows any other live stream audio platforms, because during the fringe, I'm going to be doing my show, webcast show which is "If you can't be there be here" which is going to be done through StreamYard so that will be streaming to my Facebook Group. My YouTube and my Twitch. I think I can only do three and Elise is going to be using the same account so Elise Harris is going to be doing her two shows. I'm going to be doing my one live show and this podcast.