“It was really apparent what the theme of the beautiful writing was, and it was incredibly moving. I cried at the end of the first half, and I stood up and danced at the end of the second….funny and fulfilling.”

“It should be on every year so we can learn the words and sing along. You’ve all got great comic timing. I’m so glad we got to see it, my face hurt from smiling so much! Encore!”

Review by Bespoke Black Book for Out Cast’s Brighton Fringe show, Eurovision: NOTBIG Decides!

“A riot of original songs, comedic chaos and exaggerated characters. Even casual Eurovision fans will be swept up in the sheer joy of it all.”

You can find out more about the last year’s Halloween show here

I received some great feedback on the script, which was especially encouraging as I know that verse dialogue is unusual as part of a film script. You can read more about Blank Canvas here

Featuring a mix of original songs and fan favourites, the musical follows the fortunes of a tiny island country, the Northern Overseas Territory of Biglandia Island Group (NOTBIG) as it attempts to enter Eurovision. Having tried several failed schemes to make NOTBIG great again (or great in the first place!), the president decides that entering – and hopefully winning – the Eurovision Song Contest will help the country make its mark on the international stage.

The whole island becomes devoted to a nationwide musical effort to write their winning entry – and the audience will help them decide the act they should send though to the contest. But not everything goes according to plan…

I last wrote a script performed by Out Cast for their sell-out Halloween musical, Camp Fear. For this latest show, Simon Gray returns as musical director, while Dave Mantle has written the music for the original songs.

In the words of Elliot Toms: “More that just a humorous origin story of a certain famous cartoon franchise, Camp Fear is a take of confronting our inner demons, conquering hate with love, and embracing differences.”

The cast featured professional actors, those returning to acting, and singers acting for the first time. Musical direction was by Simon Gray, who has a career in opera and musical theatre, on national tours, in the West End, regional theatres and in major concert houses in the UK and worldwide. Katie Mayfield, director and choreographer, has worked both locally in Sussex and further afield on productions including Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping Beauty for Ropetackle Arts.

The whole team was pleased to receive great audience feedback, which was invited after the show to inform the company’s future productions.

“Super inclusive! Felt joyful.”

“Really moving and funny. Had a tear in my eye.”

“The right amount of silly!”

“So many great moments – too many to pick a favourite, everyone shone at some point… Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! Glad it’s a sell-out show.”

“My face hurt from smiling so much and it’s left me in such a good mood. Encore!”

The session featuring Time and Tide was called Lost at Sea, encompassing a variety of films inspired by the sea that the festival organisers described as as ‘reflective, calming or a force of nature’. I took part in the Q&A following the session. You can check out the full festival programme here – and the trailer, which includes some shots from Time and Tide, is here

There was a short Q&A session after the screening, with me and co-producer Marc Green, John Locke, star of The Last Lighthouse Keeper, Alexx Paul Sherman, cinematographer and editor of The Last Lighthouse Keeper, and Justin Spray, director of The Arena.

The awards were presented by William Nicholson, screenwriter for Gladiator among many other films, who gave a thought-provoking talk before the presentation – with useful advice covering screenwriting, directing and the art of collaboration and compromise, while remaining true to a central vision. Coincidentally, The Arena, the first part of the Time and Tide trilogy, has aspects that were influenced by Gladiator, so this was a particularly resonant session for us!