Thank you to everyone who came to see a rehearsed reading of my new play Sewage: Definitely Not A Musical at Folkestone Live.
The play explores the impact sewage spills have on a family living in a coastal community and has two other stories weaving through the narrative. We were expecting an audience of around 25 but 75 people turned up which I feel is a genuine reflection of how angry people feel about the state of our seas and rivers, rather than my popularity!
It’s always terrifying showing new work to actors, let alone a paying audience; will they laugh and if so, at the right bits? Will we be giving them information they already know? Will the three narratives work together? Suffice to say, we were overjoyed with the audience reaction. Thanks to everyone who gave their feedback which I’ll be working into the next version. Here is some of the feedback:
“A brilliant way to communicate what’s happening with our water in an engaging, funny and memorable way highlighting the shift from a sense of public duty and concern with public health to a culture of profit focus and impoverished public health system.”
“A funny and powerful much-needed play to understand the impact of sewage spills on everyday people.”
“Great acting, superb writing and audience participation.”
“I loved the characters. The play made me feel angry but informed and more empowered to do something about the state of our water.”
“Informative, funny, educational, truthful and brilliantly written.”
“Shocking, eye opening and very funny.”
“Hard hitting, entertaining and funny.”
“Important, engaging, call to action.”
“Enlightening, comedic, thought-provoking, angering.”
Despite all the amazing feedback, I plan to develop the play further to bring more of the seaside communities’ experiences to life and lean more into the panto/musical/agitprop themes. We’ve got an R&D project planned for 2026 where we’ll be working with several partners, all connected to campaigning against sewage spills, subject to funding, as always. If it comes off, it will be very exciting. I’ll be talking about the play at the Folkestone Book Festival on Thursday, 20 November at 4pm at The Quarterhouse Theatre.
A special thanks to all the wonderful actors – Debbie, Sasha, Joy, Lucy, Harry, Miranda and Fraser – who gave up their time to rehearse, provide feedback, help with directing and perform the play. They were fantastic and I couldn’t have done it without them.
