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Daddy Day Care

Life and work are seamless at the moment.

I could be changing a nappy at home or teaching how to change a nappy at work. I could be bobbing a baby at 2am or discussing birth at 2pm. I could be folding baby clothes in the kitchen or watching the actors juggle them whilst singing. It is week one of rehearsals for the tour of Kicking and Screaming (Tangled Feet’s show about becoming a parent) and week 5 of my new daughters life!

The story of Kicking and Screaming follows two couples as they grapple life with a baby from the birth to their first birthday. Its comic, tragic, a bit mushy and very musical and this is just like having a child! There are times when my tiny little daughter will make me laugh hard as she scares herself with her wind. Times (mostly at 4am-5am) when it’s desperate, exhausting and tear inducing! And times (lots and lots of times!) when I can be found singing Frere Jacques or Wind the Bobbin up on repeat.

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

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Find out why Fiona signed up for regular Pilates classes and joined a climbing wall.

Last week we completed the final rehearsal period of Emerge/ncy, ready for its premiere performance as part of Brighton Festival on 28^th and 29^th May. We climbed, devised, got used to our fantastic costumes and inhabited the 8 metre tall ‘structure’, which will be our base during the 8 hour durational performances that will take place next weekend and over the summer at Watford Festival and GDIF.

Personally, it all started six weeks or so ago when I signed up for regular Pilates classes, joined a climbing wall and found out about aerial classes because the show is going to involve off-ground activity, amongst other feats of endurance. As someone who has never had much upper body strength, I needed to embark on an eclectic training programme lasting about 6 weeks, or so I thought, but actually it lasts indefinitely, because once you’ve started you can’t stop. It has been frustrating and rewarding in turns, as I wrestled with trying to climb a rope, building core strength, climbing walls, getting scared, giving up, crying and starting again.

Emerge/ncy is going to be extraordinary to perform, and we hope it will be compelling for the folk who come to experience the performances with us, you don’t have to be there for the full 8 hours!

Fee xx

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