Key Projects

Be My Eyes

BE MY EYES - A FRESH, FUNNY AND THOUGHTFUL NEW PLAY ABOUT MISSING PEOPLE AND WRONG DIRECTIONS. Playing with perspective, Be My Eyes is a dynamic exploration of how we receive and interpret stories. One person’s late is another’s missing. One person’s missing is another’s found. …An online couple meet for the first time in the real world. A young woman tries to make sense of her surroundings, her emotions and her Sat Nav… Fine Chisel performers, in collaboration with composer Julian Bradley - www.julianbradley.com Devised by the new company, Be My Eyes offers both dark and comic snapshots of contemporary life and the ways in which we communicate. Sometimes we don’t need words. ‘Excellent, really very funny… it’s rare to find a devised piece with such sharp and polished conversational banter.’ THE SCOTSMAN ‘A poignant depiction of the journeys we face in life… always sincere and committed.’ THREEWEEKS ‘Tautly Directed.’ THE STAGE THIS PRODUCTION PREVIEWED AT THE COOLER NIGHTCLUB, BRISTOL 25-27 MAY 2009 THEN RAN FOR A MONTH-LONG SUCCESS AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE 7-29 AUGUST 2009

Firing Blanks

Having a baby is complicated. It's even tougher when you need another man's sperm. Richard finds an unlikely therapist in the form of Kate, a quiet but fierce witted teenage girl, alone on a park bench. Always touching and often funny, Firing Blanks is a fresh and compelling new play about donor conception (and ducks) with an original live soundtrack by James Hill. From makers of Be My Eyes (2009): ‘Excellent, really very funny’ Scotsman ‘A poignant depiction of the journeys we face in life’ ThreeWeeks Fine Chisel are a fresh Bristol-based company. They make original, dynamic, rousing theatre. James Hill is a multi-instrumental composer and performer; he writes and plays with several bands including Felix Fables. Firing Blanks was written in light of conversations with individuals and families (including the writer’s own) who have faced issues surrounding assisted reproduction, with the full support of the national Donor Conception Network. The play is a bold and timely exploration of under-discussed common fears and big questions. What exactly makes a man a man, and a potential father? The gentle strumming of a solo busker wafts over the park as two people tell their intimate stories, his music guiding the action between the real world and fantasies of what the future might bring. Writer and director Tom Spencer founded Fine Chisel in 2009. Firing Blanks is his first play, after the success of devising Be My Eyes. Performers Robin McLoughlin and Holly Beasley-Garrigan have worked with award-winning companies including The National Theatre and Precarious. The production comes to Edinburgh after previews at the North Wall Arts Centre, Oxford (30 July) and The Tobacco Factory, Bristol (31 July).