In Part Three of Cy Henty’s interview I asked about his comedy pilots for the BBC, his podcasts and alternative films and the philosophy that sustains him as an innovative actor, writer, artist and comedian.

Leslie: Tell us about your podcasts and what they led to. Continue reading AN ACTOR’S TALE Part Three →

In Part Two of Cy Henty’s story I asked about his tour with Russell Brand, his run at The Pleasance Theatre and his character work in indie films.

Leslie: Can you tell us about what happened when ‘Sam and Cy’, your comedy double act with Sam Ball, got taken up by a London agent and ‘went big’?

Cy: We were fortunate enough, through this agent, to end up on The University Tour with Russell Brand. I remember him stripping off at one show and demanding a bottle of Jack Daniels from behind the bar – at another spraying the audience with a fire extinguisher and all of us getting escorted out by security. Continue reading AN ACTOR’S TALE, Part Two →

I asked actor, writer, artist and comedian Cy Henty about his stage career – including touring with Russell Brand and a run at The Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh. Cy has starred in thought-provoking and sometimes scarily-absurdist films, playing the part of a manic gameshow host in a conch codpiece in one, and a policeman with an imperial moustache in another. Behind this, in his personal life, Cy is a people person, an ex-Mental Health Occupational Therapist and a passionate father who likes working in duos.

In a revealing three-part interview, Cy gave a frank account of what it’s like to work as an actor and caring individual in the hectic world of alternative stand-up and horror/comedy. Continue reading AN ACTOR’S TALE, Part One →

Often, when I describe a location in a story, I draw on details of a place I’ve lived or visited. When I do, the images that come up are usually more like impressions from dreams than moments captured in real time. They might be slightly distorted, or blurred and selective, or they might include several locations run together – but I draw from direct experience because that way I can get closer to my subject matter. Continue reading THE POWER OF LOCATION →

I interviewed textile artist Jane Charles, whose quilts have been chosen for major displays at the National Exhibition Centre and around Europe. Jane teaches creative textiles to adults and children and has had several major commissions, including projects for New Bradwell School, Orchard Academy and the giant-sized Wolverton Quilts.

Leslie: As a textile artist, can you describe your materials, methods and the range of artworks you produce, please? How did you first learn and develop your skills? Continue reading A LIFE IN QUILTS AND CREATIVE TEXTILES →

I invited writer and producer Amy Zamarripa Solis to guest blog about the ‘City of Culture’ arts-led type of regeneration seen recently in Margate, Folkestone, Liverpool and Brighton. Amy responded with a piece about the new Eastbourne Devonshire Collective venues where she is a key player. Amy also runs the arts organisation Writing Our Legacy and her own arts management / production company This Too Is Real.

Amy writes:

‘Arts-led regeneration is a tough subject in the UK these days. Not just because of austerity, Brexit and shrinking local authority budgets. Continue reading ARTS-LED REGENERATION – TOP DOWN OR BOTTOM UP? →

By Leslie Tate

I write reflectively about relationships and the crazy powers of the untrained mind. It’s a creative method that Sanford Meisner called, ‘Living truthfully under imaginary circumstances’.

When asked about my target audience, I usually quote Kurt Vonnegut, ‘Write to please just one person’. Continue reading LIVING TRUTHFULLY UNDER IMAGINARY CIRCUMSTANCES →

As an author, I know that words are never neutral. They all have their colours. I also know that when you name colours in a story, they stand out. So some characters can be identified by their hair colour or eye colour or a piece of coloured clothing whenever they appear.

Colours give a book energy. They have speed while words have mass. But working with them is similar. Both require attention to detail, careful placing, and may need thinning out or thickening in places.

So I use them and edit them and switch them around – and sometimes when I reread my work I feel that a passage or whole chapter is colour-coded. Continue reading COLOURS AND THE STORYMAKER’S DREAM →