大象传媒

So, we're two days before the opening not just of Life in the Theatre, but of The Mooted Theatre Co's first ever production and as is usual at this stage we're all running round like headless chickens, chewing our nails to bloody stumps and wondering 'How on earth did we get here?'

Mooted actor Bill Laughey in action.

Actually its a little more organised than that, but anyone who has ever been involved in a theatrical production knows that there is an inexorable momentum towards opening night that is both wonderfully exciting and terrifyingly scary at the same time.听 Calm heads and steady nerves are needed because it is usually the last minute decisions that can make the difference between a production that is good and one that is really special.

This is my 20th show as a director, so only the normal first night nerves apply, but setting up our own company was always going to be a bit daunting.

Mooted is a project that was first suggested last Autumn when I, having wanted to set up my own company for a long time, found like minds and potential collaborators in actors Bill Laughey and Andy Curry. There was support to be had behind the scenes too, from Caroline Cordts and my wife (and long time collaborator) Cath Doman, who takes care of make-up and set design.The decision to actually get it all underway, as all good decisions are, was taken in a pub.

We agreed that at the heart of our work is our audience: we will seek to always entertain, amuse and surprise those who come to see the plays that we put on.听We all felt from the start that we didn't want to become mired in a process of theatre-making which was more about us than the world around us, which engaged those taking part far more than those watching it.听Above all, we want our work to be open, honest and outward-looking.

It's been a huge amount of work for all of us - nobody does just one job in Mooted. We're all a busy bunch with many paths - but this is our love.

Between setting up the business side, the marketing, the future production planning, the venue booking and liaison as well as the actual act of putting together the production itself, we've all been incredibly busy. You make time, but it's pretty all-consuming.

We agreed at the start that we didn't want to become categorised as one type of company. So in the months and years to come, hopefully you will see classics both ancient and modern, farcical comedies and heartbreaking tragedies, large scale epics and intimate psychodramas.听 If we like a play, and we think our audience will like it too, then that's probably the best place to start when choosing what comes next.

At the moment, we're hoping to fill the venues we've booked. If we manage that, we stand to make a small profit. That would be fantastic - for at least a couple of us, the intention is to run the company full-time. We have big plans!

So where does it all begin?听Thursday 29th May in the basement of City Screen with the appropriately titled 'A Life in the Theatre' by David Mamet.听

The stars of Mooted's first production.

The play follows two actors (Andy Curry and Bill Laughey) through the highs and lows of a life-changing season, sharing the detritus of their lives and their dressing room together.听 This is a comedy not just about actors but about friendship, jealousy, love and hate, the passion of youth and the wisdom of age.听 Along the way they negotiate the trenches of World War 1, Shakespeare, an ER operating theatre, an 80s law office and a lifeboat stranded in the Atlantic.

It is about knowing when to speak and when to listen, and when to teach and when to learn. It is also the story of two people spending an awful lot of time together in a confined space!

Though we are starting small with this production, the intention is to produce work that will ultimately have a national as well as a regional profile, and is exciting, dynamic and thought-provoking.

Mark France, Mooted Theatre Co

Warning: The production contains some language that may offend.