by Abbi Dawson

As we come to the end of the Kicking & Screaming tour it’s a good time to look back and see how much the show has grown since we first took it out in April last year when it was just a little wee baby trying to find it’s feet.

 As my role as Stage Manager at the end of every show I clean up the set and all the mess of the toys, yoghurt and Shreddies that have been thrown around, and I cannot help but think of myself as a mother picking up after a long day with her kids. I’ve seen K&S develop from one tour to the next, and the characters thrive. It has certainly been a fun filled journey, with plenty of laughs along the way.

A show day from start to finish can take me through a whole range of emotions; such as joy, rage, love, sadness, optimism, fear and surprise. A roller-coaster ride that I believe could mirror a day in the life of a parent, and I am sure our two directors would agree with this.

The final scene of K&S perfectly describes how I feel about the show (spoiler alert for who has not watched it yet). Watching each washing line come out of the washing machine, starting from baby clothes that grow in size up until young adults, and knowing it’s time for them to leave the nest and fly. The 8^thNovember in Reading is our final show, I will feel like a very sad parent who has seen my baby grow up and leave. However, in the hopes that they would come back and visit, I also hope this will not be the last time we get to re-visit K&S and I’m extremely excited and hopeful for it’s future.

 We’ve had lots of fun and adventures along the way, below is a picture from our 27mile bike ride to Stonehenge with some of the Tangled Feet family on K&S!