day eight.two

managed to catch the first half of Happiness Patrol's Tales of Terror tonight, which was surprisingly & spine-tinglingly wonderful. Great acting, and riviting performances. Managed to clock Jeremy Hardy, but the box that I use to slip in and out of the theatre was locked when I tried, so all I could do was listen through the door - everyone sounded like they were having a good time. A trudge back to the cathedral through heavy rain to catch some glorious James MacMillan sung by The Sixteen and then back to the office to tidy up som eloose ends for tomorrow... Today is James MacMillan's 50th birthday.

day seven.two

just back from announcing the UOGB for the final Ukulelescope, and ensuring that the Happiness Patrol's Tales of Terror got off to a good start. I am seeing the full show tomorrow evening, but I did manage to pop my head into the conclusion of the rehearsal. It will be very, very good. Like all good storytellers, Happiness Patrol are telling ghost stories with almost no set and props. However, one of those props, used for the final story, is a large coffin, which they apparently dropped off at the box office earlier today, happily coinciding with a bunch of children arriving for more Dreamfighter education performances.

natasha's a hit, baby

check out the excellent reviews from emerging theatre group The Happiness Patrol's latest show - four-star from the Birmingham Post and another one here. THP visit Lichfield with a brand new show in July.

hit the baby, natasha

The Happiness Patrol, the young theatre company from Birmingham who will be performing their newly commissioned show Tales of Terror at the Lichfield Festival between 15-18 July, have an even newer show to do before then. Hit the Baby, Natasha! is Philip Holyman's reworking of Chekov's Three Sisters, and runs from 21 -23 May at Birmingham's Old Joint Stock Theatre. Tickets available via here.

Philip Holyman, Artistic Director of The Happiness Patrol, has previously been involved with the Festival when he rewrote Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows into Mr Toad's Prison Break, an outdoor theatre show for families, as part of last autumn's Lichfield Literature weekend.

For those that might be interested, a review of their previously sold out show Masque of the Red Death from can be found here.