It’s great being able to be is use your personal stories and anecdotes to direct a show. We’ve been talking a lot about the role of fathers – in both birth and the early days of having a child. It’s a full on time and a huge focus, effort and responsibility is on the shoulders of the mother. Dad becomes the protector in labour, a carer post birth and a soother, baby bouncer and nappy changer for the first few weeks of the baby’s life (and beyond!) Having a baby is a very visceral experience – its full of colour, movement and emotion. I think that in Kicking and Screaming we have managed to capture some of that feeling – some of the joy, some of the sweat (the actors certainly work hard!) and some of the weird and wonderful things you have to do. I hope for an audience it’s a real mix of touching story, hilarious scenarios and an authenticity that can only come from the show being made by parents.
Its nice when making art feels as personal as this. It’s as if authoring this story is a bit like sharing part of my world with the wider public and creative team and by doing this it’s helping me celebrate it and understand it myself.
Here goes Week 2 of rehearsals and Week 6 of being a father
Nathan Curry, Co-Director, Kicking and Screaming.
For full Tour details see /productions/25-kicking-and-screaming