Partnerships They say writing is a solitary activity and, for the most part, so it is. However some successful books do get written by two or more writers - even fiction. It's more common among scriptwriters however, and the world of comedy is highly populated by writing partnerships. The musical theatre too has had its Gilbert and Sullivan, Rogers and Hart and so on. Even Brecht worked with other people, notably the composer Kurt Weill, but it is said he used to leave his rough scripts lying around the reahearsal room and allowed, even encouraged, actors and assistant stage managers to contribute. I don't believe a word of it myself. However, over the years I've enjoyed working with certain gifted people and I'd like to mention some of them here. My first working partnership was with a bunch of kids in a high school in Leeds. I set up a theatre workshop and these youngsters came along twice a week and sometimes on Saturdays to help me make plays. Most of our stuff was what is now called "devised", that is we made them up ourselves without writing much down. We did Lord of the Flies like this, and did shows on themes like War and Pollution. They taught me a lot, those kids, not least how to do a show on a budget of a fiver. This economy has stayed with me, and I've always found it difficult to know what to spend a big budget on so, when I got my first 'proper' job teaching Drama and teamed up with Sue Lawson we mounted our first dance/drama spectacular for thirty quid, borrowed from the PTA. We turned a healthy profit and used it to do the next show, and so on. Sue was a P.E. teacher who was interested in Dance, so we did dance/dramas together. I can't list them all as I'm sure we broke the copyright laws, but our last piece together was Arturus Rex based on the Arthurian Legends. Again we had some marvellous kids to work with, whose commitment was astonishing. Sue left, and I went to Bretton Hall to do my degree. On my return I met the whirlwind that was Margaret Arnold. The ultimate 'can-do' warrior, she only worked with me for a short while, but she roped in her husband and half of his rock band, found someone who could play the penny whistle very fast, and recruited and trained a small choir. Oh, she also played the drums in my version of the Medieval Mystery plays which featured mumming actors, the Windmill Morris team and the rockingest folk band since Fairport Convention met Steeleye Span. They called themselves Infra Jig and even had some tee-shirts made. Alas, like many such bands it was short-lived. Musical differences and the Tesco run took its toll. I took the folk rock thing across the Pennines with me and milked it for all it was worth in my promenade production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Margaret's husband, Malcolm, by now completely tuned into the way my mind worked wrote, arranged and recorded a remarkable soundtrack for the show, setting some of Shakespeare's lyrics to folk tunes and recording backing tracks for the cast to sing or dance to. Again I was blessed with a talented group of teenagers who, once they understood what promenade theatre was about, took the show to their hearts and made it heir own - punk fairies, Oberon the playground flasher and a hippy Puck. Those kids didn't need a director, they just needed turning loose! Incidentally, there's a lot more to Malcolm Arnold than his ability to write music for my plays. He's a talented composer, arranger and music producer who plays guitar, keyboards and flute. He could probably get a tune out of a tin opener if he wanted. In addition, he is a gifted painter, but in recent years he has turned his attention to the written word. Check out his website, The Sigilhouse. At the same time I was involved with a couple of Youth Theatre groups, and I worked with Phil Sixsmith and Phil Christopher on a number of shows which we took to the Edinburgh Festival. Again, I couldn't quite get away from the Arnold influence and Malcolm again did some music, arranging and recording folk songs for a play based on the story of a Lancashire highwayman. When I went into the primary sector I once again found myself with a tiny budget but with large casts (every child in the school!) But I had a lot of fun writing the plays for these kids. Of course I needed help, and my colleagues would nod their heads and indulge my whims - yes we can all be Munchkins, grains of sand, starving peasants etc. My long-suffering colleagues were Joy Plowes, Carole and Mike Rees, Anne Moore, Margaret Starkey, Lorraine Green and Judith Walford. All these were professionals, of course. They more or less had to go along with me - it was part of the job. However, I was also able to call on the services of Hazel Taylor. Hazel was the mother of two of the children in the school. She wandered in one day and asked if she could help. I threw her a book about stagecraft by John McGrath of Welfare State International. "Make me a giant worm," I said, "One that can get chopped up and swept down a river in little pieces." So she did, for my production of The Lambton Worm. Over the years she and I made stuff like giant puppets, a hot air balloon and a family of elephants, not to mention the usual scenic backdrops and properties - all from paper, card and the magic ingredient - willow withies! My most recent partnerships, which are still ongoing are with Malcolm Arnold (again!) who helped me to set up this website, and with the various people I have worked with to launch my book Gernika! Back to Who?