April 2019, by sean burn (blog 1)
we reckon, like philip pullman and many others also that what humans
need most after food, warmth and shelter are stories. why weve kept
hold ov our words forever, tried sharing them too. one our cycles ov
poetry - tree from throat & spine - deals with our worst sectioning - final
lines reading
so many velvet revolutions, words fuelling ours
have seen libraries where poets heads are missing
drunk the underground stories since first hospitalized
age thirteen - know where everyone else is buried
the last so we are - having words while others didnt
our voice has been the only thing not taken from us - and tho mostly
ignored we still found ways to sneak words out - sometimes
conventionally and sometimes un ...
a few years ago we dared apply for the first year ov graeae theatres
'write to play' scheme supporting disabled and deaf writers. we were
amazed to be accepted. we also managed to get a play on tour that
year thanks to the much-missed jackie fielding. collector ov tears was
north-east play ov the year, 2014 (british theatre guide) and is still in
print via aurora metro. we also had our first heart-attack - psychiatrists
comment after 'whoops, yes, i wondered when that was going to
happen. i suppose we should have warned you about those sideeffects'
will burn forever as does the fact that the enforced
antipsychotics aka neuroleptics (no informed consent there) are 'contraindicated'
for those with heart conditions or having undergone heart
surgery. does this mean their continued drugs-peddling wz criminal
negligence?
on the graeae scheme, selma dimitrijevic ov greyscale theatre was our
mentor - she 'had our back' as independent advocate and much more
and she remained so supportive ever since. she even offered to host us
as artistic associate and try help a little with some ov those words, voice,
silensings, being heard. we didnt know playwrights could receive
support in this way but are glad to have found out. joey is where its led.
we need more tho! will someone hear more ov our stories and allow us
to survive longer down the line, theres still so much to tell! joey is the
hardest thing we've written, we've cried a lot too, probably driven others
to tears. (collector ov tears featured actual tear bottles - the final tears
collected in that story were ov joy the day maggie 1.0 resigned)
now weve always hated being boxed in when to be human is messy,
complex, it involves more not less friction. and joey is slippery - crossing
multiple boundaries, refusing to get nailed. down. joey explores plurals
- including (bi)sexualities; resisting power; musics. we'll never forget the
surge ov excitement ov stiff little fingers live album hanx or tuning in to
john peel. just as con partys reckless brexit threatens returning
bloodshed to irelands blurred border it also has finally been
acknowledged how bands like stiff little fingers contributed to peace in
northern ireland by bringing together young people from both sides that
divide
current growth market in psychiatry is 'oppositional defiance disorder'
aka asking questions. our joey was forever asking questions. those
questions live on - questions like what actually matters, whats not being
said, why is it being done like that? why not design oppressions outta
every system - to mess up in the ways we do is expensive. joey is about
these multiple possibilities, ov rewriting futures, its not too late
sean