The Society for Exploration, Research and Intergalactic travel

“The Society for Exploration, Research and intergalactic travel” has lost one of their best explorers, but fortunately a search party is being gathered to look for her. The audience for the “Waldweihnacht” this year will be asked to help find the missing explorer in a different world where Christmas is not allowed. On the way they follow an eccentric professor, gatecrash a grumpy customs agent and meet a swashbuckling outlaw who explains why Christmas is so important. And then they go to deal with the king…

So far we’ve got the story as far as the Customs point. It’s a good challenge because I’ve pretty well no experience writing for children, which this is aimed at, and I have to repeatedly stop myself from putting in sub-plots to make it more ‘Interesting’. I’ve also got to find a sword from somewhere, preferably one that isn’t too obviously made from cardboard. However, I'm learning a lot as I go, and it is clear that the experience gained on "Prof. Ohnelieb" is helping: The piece is coming together much more quickly and I'm learning to fit into the style of outdoor theatre. Remembering where everything is and where all the characters need to be is interesting on a "Stage" that is about 10m wide and over a kilometre long.

After this is complete, and hopefully the whole piece will be ready for translation by tomorrow, I’ll be onto the next major projects. A magazine wants me to write an article for the end of the year-and they’ll pay me a bit for it as well. Before that though, I need to change writing gear and prepare two ten-minute serious dramas for Christmas Eve...