In response to a request from Gail Hunt, I spend a bit of time writing a kind of press release on the forthcoming Forest Fringe residency for the plasma screens at Central - typical job for the conscientious convenor I suppose, and surprisingly difficult to try to encapsulate what you are doing (and attempting to achieve) in just a few eye-catching words. Here it is:

Forest Fringe Residency

Fridays November 13, November 27, December 4th

Following their success at the Edinburgh Festival, MA Advanced Theatre Practice has invited Forest Fringe to curate three evenings at Central. Spread over three separate Fridays, directors Andy Field and Deborah Pearson will present a programme of performances giving a sense of the full spectrum of the work they support and develop at this innovative venue.

This initiative has been supported by the Centre of Excellence in Theatre Training.

With a short notice of this kind, every word seems to be crucial and telling a story - so I spend a ridiculous amount of time crossing words out and swapping them around. Is it a 'residency'? Should I qualify 'success'? Has the word 'innovative' been worn out by over-use? What's the point of doing all this heart-searching anyway?

What I realise, as I write, is that this humble notice is one of constituent parts of the frame for the event, and that framing the event is somehow an (increasingly?) important ingredient of what the event will be. We want to be prepared for what we will experience - as what we will experience becomes wider and wider in its range of possibilites. Reading about the event, hearing about the event, wondering about the event - becomes as important as experiencing the event - or rather becomes part of experiencing the event. I look forward to seeing my notice (in some shape or form) on the plasma screens! And what I realise now - imagining it there, as I glance up from the queue for coffee at some future date - is that it needs an image. I'll write to Debbie and Andy and ask for one - either pictures of themselves, or better still, a picture of (or from) the Forest Fringe.