I’m taking a bit of a different tack for today’s update. I’m currently ensconced in the audio-visual suite at Hope Street Limited’s premises, just round the corner from the Everyman, delving into in various methods of research and debating exactly where I’m going to go for my lunch.
Tomorrow, the performers are going to present their initial ideas for how they wish to pursue their storytelling traditions. Not many of them are in today; those that are have been attending meetings with the lead artists or doing physical exercises in the library, hence my change of scenery. I’m moving back into historical research for a few days whilst this is going on – but this is of a different bent to my previous work. Whereas then it was focused on the mythos of Spring-Heeled Jack and people connected to it, I’m now looking more broadly into the recent history of the places where we’ll be performing.
In some ways, this research is easier than what I was doing before – because it’s more factual, there’s less extrapolation and the information is more readily available. On the other hand, if you run into a dead end, you’re kind of stuck – you can’t co-incidence your way out of trouble here.
That’s not to say there isn’t interesting stuff to be found. For example, there’s neighbouring suburbs of the Australian city of Brisbane called Everton Park and Everton Hills, which amuses me greatly. Everton (the Liverpool one) also used to be an affluent suburb in the days when towns were places of pestilence and suburbs the last word in upper-class living. And, when John Houlding wanted to form a breakaway club from Everton FC, it was originally going to be called Everton Athletic, which frankly sounds like a complete failure of imagination on his part.
I would write more, but food calls, and then I have to go hill-walking. It’s only one hill, but it’s a pretty steep one.
Huyton Couture 