5. A Freelance Summer, by Associate Artist Laura Turner

A Freelance Summer

I don’t know if it’s just me, but summer always feels like a time outside of time as a freelancer. I don’t know if that’s because there’s part of me that’s never quite got past the “summer holiday” feeling of September beeing a new start just as much as January, and I also don’t know if what I feel is specific to working in the creative industries with big events like the Fringe over summer, or being a freelancer more generally, or…just me? Anyone else?

The start of summer always feels like a time full of promise – a time to focus on the projects that make you happy and excited, the passion projects that you might not have been able to focus on the rest of the year. It’s exciting, this time when people are away on holiday and you feel a little less answerable to emails and phonecalls. Thinking about all the new ideas you’re going to have, the plays and pitches you’re going to write…

Smash cut to the end of August and September fast approaching, and have I achieved all the things on my summer to do list? Er…

Of course I haven’t, and of course there’s now a part of my brain going into self-destructive overdrive. But, I figure if the start of summer is a time for reflection and planning, the end should be too. So, yes, while I haven’t done all the things I imagined I might, I have done other things that have been just as (if not more?) invaluable.

So, here’s what I’ve been up to this August – what about you?

The Fringe

Would I even be working in the theatre industry these days if August hadn’t involved a trip to the Fringe? With Looking Glass Theatre performing my new play MODERN LOVE IS NOT A DREAM, I had a flying trip to Edinburgh to see the show, and a few others of course. There were shows I loved, shows I longed to see but couldn’t, and as usual, the chaotic over-stimulation of just being around so much going on. What were your Fringe best bits? Let me know…

A Different Fringe

As well as Edinburgh, this summer I was also at the Durham Fringe Festival with my company, Fury Theatre, and our new show BODY OR SOUL. As a producer, this was the first time I’ve taken a show to a festival, and doing a smaller, localised festival like Durham was a great first step. It’s definitely something I’d recommend to anyone thinking about taking a show to Edinburgh but feeling a bit intimidated and wanting to learn the ropes on a small scale.

It was a great and more compact festival atmosphere, but with all the challenges you’d expect of the festival experience as a producer, writer and actor. The competition for audiences, flyering and trying to stand out from the crowd, super swift get ins and get outs, and late nights followed by days trying to catch as many shows as you can. All in all, it was a pretty awesome first festival toe-dip, and has definitely kick-started a desire for the full experience. Maybe next year?

Dear Evan Hansen in Rehearsals

This month I was lucky to observe the team at Nottingham Playhouse in rehearsals for the upcoming DEAR EVAN HANSEN tour. For me as a broadly narrative-based drama/genre writer and producer, the world of a high profile musical, touring into multiple venues, is another world. It was fascinating to see how all those moving parts need to be held together in the rehearsal room. The practical considerations sometimes feel closer to the surface than other projects – but never at the expensse of the creative energy in rehearsals, which was amazing to see. The to and fro of practicality and creativity that the crew, cast and creative team are balancing is incredible and I’m so excited to see the show when it opens at NP in September. It also gave me the experience of sitting in the biggest production meeting of my career so far!

Let me know what you’ve been up to this summer over on socials (@ljzturner) or my emails are always open if you’re a writer, actor, director or creative who wants to meet and chat, or send me something to read – especially via Women’s Writes Open Submissions which remain open here: https://forms.office.com/e/etZMZRaMap