Inspiration will come, I found mine on a bus.

Daniel Hoffmann-Gill on stage in Richmond North Yorkshire

In 2007 I was coming home from London to Nottingham on a National Express coach.  I’d been auditioning for yet another tv commercial.  It was a strange time in my career, I have had some really successful periods as an actor. I did TV, Films and Theatre but I was never really satisfied.  I’d had enough of playing “cheeky bloke next door” or “the thick bloke on Heartbeat”.  If you don’t know heartbeat just google it.  So as I was looking out the window on the back of the bus an older fella came and sat next to me.  I don’t remember his name, I don’t remember what he looked like, I just remember what we talked about.  He told me that he had just walked across England, coast to coast.  From St Bees in Cumbria, on the Irish Sea across the Lake District, the Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales, the Vale of York and the North York Moors to reach the North Sea coast at Robin Hood's Bay 192 miles later.  192 miles of beautiful English countryside and adventure.  This chance meeting inspired me to move away from mainstream storytelling and took me on to one of the most exciting journeys of my life, a journey I'm still on.  

That spring (2006) Daniel Hoffmann-Gill and myself started walking from Bangor to Boston with no money, no accommodation and no food.  All we had was a 90 minute comedy that we performed to try and make friends.   We walked across the country in 16 days, we never slept rough or went without shelter.   

It goes to prove that you never know where inspiration will come and if you sit and listen long enough things will change.

If you want to know where the next adventure will take me join the mailing list and I'll let you know as soon as it happens.

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From the 2006 advertising bumph 

This year we’re back with Coast To Coast.  A brand new show about how we survived, who we met and where we slept en route, from the Buddhist retreat deep in the Welsh mountains, to the mosquito infested Shropshire mere.  Hear about the man whom God told to leave for America to find his future or the street sleeper who taught us how to forage food from the skip at the back of Tesco.  Fast, funny and forthright this is a show not to be missed.

Coast To Coast is an extraordinary story by two outstanding storytellers, with video diary footage from our coast-to-coast theatrical odyssey.  This innovative show will entertain and encourage the whole family to pull on their boots and have an adventure of their own…

Voting

This is Annie Kenney, a mill worker born in Saddleworth, to get her vote she was imprisoned several times and went on hunger strikes.  

What did you have to do for your right to vote?  
During a Liberal rally at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, in October, 1905, Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst interrupted a political meeting to ask Churchill and Sir Edward Grey if they believed women should have the right to vote. Neither man replied. The two women got out a banner declaring "Votes for Women", and shouted at the two politicians to answer their questions. Kenney and Pankhurst were thrown out of the meeting and arrested for causing an obstruction and a technical assault on a police officer. Annie Kenney was imprisoned for three days for her part in the protest, and 13 times in total.

Whoever you vote for, vote.

What your finger length says about you.

Ever thought what your fingers say about you?  

A.  You are a thoughtful person with much time to waste.  Your favourite food is probably meat.  A Charmer.  If you were a dog you'd be a labrador puppy.

B. The boss.  You are the one who always gets things done, the one everyone puts on, but you will always get the job done.   

C. You are a walk over.  Everyone thinks you are a knobhead and no one listens to a word you say.  If you were a country you'd be France in 1939.  

Of course this is made up and only my opinion I have no scientific knowledge whatsoever.   In fact I don't even know why you are here reading it.  

Listen up.

I've just found this and thought I'd share it with you.  It's a little story about marketing and what happens when you tell a small white lie.


Listen to my story of about lying.

Here's a good test, put the words "reformed burglar" into a search engine and see who you find.

And they're off!

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to Oldham's first general meeting of artists and professionals involved in getting the town's independant quarter moving.

The idea is to invite small businesses to make use of a number of empty retail units in the eastern lands of the town.  Music makers, theatre companies, artists, clothes shops, boutiques and large department stores made up of smaller companies were discussed.

I take my hat off to the council, who are putting their money where their mouth is and doing good for a town by securing an incredibly bright future.

They have already been very supportive of Hard Graft giving us two shops and offering us this year's venue for GRASS in August.

If you have an idea and want a low cost way of starting your future business in Oldham, I urge you to take a look

here


Can I just tell you that Hard Graft theatre has turned 63 shops into theatres, 63!

NEWS OF OUR WORLD

3 Is the magic number. Hello and welcome to the Hard Graft Theatre Company email service.   Someone called me last week and asked what we were doing next, so here I am. I am currently putting together 3 shows that I think you are going to love.  If you likedThick As Thieves, then the follow up GRASS is right up your alley.  Oldham Council are once again supporting us by letting us use another empty building in the town.   GRASS is based on the true story of what happened to me when I was witness to a fight in a pub.  It's funny, moving and was nominated for MEN Award when it was first performed in 2008. Along with GRASS I am working on bringing you all something very special later in the year, I'm not going to say it out loud yet as I don't want to tempt fate, but it should be amazing. And finally, we are now taking group bookings for our excellent Christmas show RED RIDING HOOD.  Getting bigger and better every year a must for the under 9's and their family and friends.  To book a group booking call me on - 0161 764 4972 or Mobile 07956913 666 And finally, thanks to your ongoing support we have been nominated for aManchester Theatre Award this week.  Fingers crossed. See you soon Best wishes Mark Whiteley Hard Graft Theatre Co. Ltd.

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DO NOT PRESS

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Signs of my times.

This week (along with putting grant applications in) I have been mainly messing about with signs.

The Church around the corner in Bury

The estate agent left this outside.