Tuesday, September 13, 2011

BBC Points West Interview with Dan Lashbrook, Rob Pratt and Petra Schofield


The Points West Interview for the Show I Stage Managed at the beginning of the summer - I'm in it three times - spot me if you can.

This show was an amazing experience, a fantastic company and the best crew I think I've worked with!

Hopefully it'll be on again in the New Year taking a trip to other places - we'll see :)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Grief

It's been a long time since my last post.

There are many reasons for this.

Mostly that in the last 3 months I could not think of what to write or even how to start.

My Dad died on 15th of February, he was 56 and it was totally unexpected.

Tonight, for the first time, I think it has truly sunk in that I will never see him again.

Grief is indeed a very odd process. Different for everyone, confusing, painful and, eventually, cathartic for all.

For the first time since a week after he died I had a dream with him in last night. The first dream I had back in Februrary it felt natural that he was there. He came up to me, helped me fix my car (in the moddle of a dark field?!) we chatted and when it was time to go I asked "do you have to?" and he said "don't worry, I'll be back".
Last night however he was just a part of the dream, like watching him in a film, and yet I knew there was something wrong, and he shouldn't be there which left me feeling very uncomfortable and having a bad night's sleep.

The best advice I've been given is just to let it happen, and be patient with myself - something I usually find hard to do. Therefore as I type this the tears are streaming and my stuffy nose is getting worse, but I know I have to let it out.

I miss him. I'd just love to hear his voice again (even if it was to complain that I only ever rang when I needed something!) to feel him give me a great big hug, and to talk about all the theatre stuff I'm doing, the website stuff I'm sorting and what new films he's discovered lately.

His number is still on my phone under ICE (In Case of Emergency) and every so often I scroll past it and the though crosses my mind that, just maybe, if I rang,  he'd pick up. I know he won't, I'm not even sure it would be his voicemail, but the thought is there.

Certain things still feel like yesterday. The panic at 1:15am when I read the email telling me to check my phone - which I'd left in my car and on silent because of being at work. Running down the road in my Pyjamas and scrabbling around to find it, the 18 missed calls from every member of my family. And my sister Vicky being the first one to ring me back and bravely having to tell me. I can still hear the hesitation.

I just felt I had to write this, I used to write this blog a lot and it helped. If this post help one person to feel like they're not completely alone in their particular stage of grieving then I feel it has been for more than just a release for me.

For anyone out there who knew my Dad, Dave Key, and did not know about his death or would like to get in touch then please do. There is a facebook page in his memory here. I was, and still am, immensley proud to be his daughter.

I think I'll add my eulogy at the bottom of this post. I'm not sure why, but it seems fitting, and it would be good to know that others could read about him. There was so much more to say than this, but I had to narrow it down :)

My Dad


I have so many memories of my Dad it is difficult to select a few to sum him up, and on top of that there were always ‘the stories’.

He was a man who loved electronics and gadgets. He once bought me a ‘make your own radio’ set and proceeded to ‘help’ me make it whilst explaining the inner workings in great detail – another thing my Dad was very good at. The fact that he taught us about computers from a young age has certainly paid off, I’ll never forget the excitement as we waited for our first BBC micro to load up Chuckie Egg from a tape!

On my 18th birthday he took me to the Art Gallery in Birmingham, we walked round for at least 3 hours and it was great to see him enthuse about it and get to discuss styles, artists and favourites. I will always treasure that as we didn’t often get to talk about art.

He’s always loved cooking. My Aunt says he would bring home amazing things from school and was the king of Spag Bol at Uni. The smell of fresh pizza will always remind me of my Dad as he used to make them from scratch early in the week so we could freeze them and eat them later on. He used to make our birthday cakes – always artistic. I think one of his best was definitely a model of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang complete with wings for one of Vicky’s. When we would go to the beach we’d be there with our buckets and spades, digging holes and making mounds of sand. But Dad taught us to strive for more by creating minor works of art, and teaching us about Physics whist demonstrating how to make a bridge out of sand. The entire Thunderbirds set was one of his more ambitious models. He’s probably one of the only Dads I know who was proficient at a French plait.

Him entertaining with the guitar and songs about ‘Scouts with knobbly knees’ and an ill-fated trip to go fish-fingering, are major memories from house parties when we were little. More recently added are some great jamming sessions with Jo’s uncle John. His guitar playing led to him, and my Uncle and friends forming ‘The Gyrating Toadstools’. He was also able to sing harmony without having any music – something I always aspired to after many family car journeys with us all singing, I was really chuffed the day I managed to do it.

Acting and theatre were definitely major loves of his life. Some of my favourite memories are the stories about the Edinburgh fringe, when they had to build their own fire escape, the fact that my Granny says he would start to become the character he was playing in real life – particularly worrying when he was playing a football hooligan, and all of his performances with Wythall Theatre Company. He had a reputation for being the last to learn his lines, but when onstage he was a force to be reckoned with, his timing was impeccable and his presence amazing. He was also a very generous person to act with. For me his tour-de-force performance was ‘Sir’ in The Dresser. It was honour to be onstage with him.

One of the things I’ll miss most about my Dad was his sense of humour . He told me on more than one occasion that the joke that summed up his sense of humour was this: “A man walks into a bar and asks for a double entendre, so the barman gave him one”

There are so many other memories of my Dad that I could share but mostly I will remember him as the BBQ chef, the bicycle builder, the bedroom decorator, my chief-cheerleader in my chosen career, the guy I could always talk to about geeky things, Rock Band player, a great friend to hang-out with, a mine of information, a great hugger and a rock to lean on. He is a part of all of us here. But I consider it an honour that I got to call him my Dad.


Love you xxxx