One Man Show

When I was facing surgery, I was truly inspired by many of the stories that I read about how people faced their new life and coped with it. I wanted to do something to raise awareness of what it meant to be an ostomate. I was a drama teacher for forty years and have also been involved in local community theatre projects, so I decided that my way of communicating must be through theatre. To this end, I wrote a one-man show; similar in style to the Alan Bennett 'Talking Heads' series (many people in the UK will remember these).

A recording of it was made, and you can see/hear it here https://youtu.be/Ww-PBUuLNfQ?si=Yfs9YqbGSrtD9IZd.

I have performed it live once as part of a Salisbury Fringe event. I am now looking for other appropriate venues to perform.

Please have a listen, and if you are part of a church, social, community group within a reasonable traveling distance from Andover, Hampshire, UK, and you'd like me to come and perform the play for you, please get in touch.

The reading lasts 23 minutes, but the live performance is more like 35 minutes. Then I am willing to do a Q&A about both the play and my circumstances.

Well done John.
I felt that that was half an hour well spent.
Thank you for sharing
Best wishes

Bill

Thank you for your kind words. Best wishes.

Hello John.
You're welcome!

I did have a chat to my wife about whether she would like you to perform for the stroke group that she runs, but she felt that it would not be an appropriate subject for them. Besides which, it would probably be too far to come.
Anyway, I thought it was worth a try, even if the approach was unsuccessful.

One thought that I had was that, when I was working in the local Day Centres, they were often getting people in to talk or perform in one way or another and I am sure that if you approached you local Day Centres, there might be an opportunity to do your stuff there. Also, I use to give talks (about my research) to the local WI, Rotary, Round Table, and many other local groups, whose social secretaries always seem to be on the lookout for people willing to 'perform'. I even gave a talk to a local 'Mother of Twins support group', which was quite an interesting experience.

Best wishes

Bill
   

Excellent presentation. Great elucidation of a life-changing event. Shows how you can have great plans, but then "life happens." You have done well with this video.

"It all comes to this: The simplest way to be happy is to do good." -- Helen Keller

My Ostomy Journey: LeeAnne | Hollister