Bauhaus Drama Launched!

I am delighted to announce that Bring Again The Now Of Then is now available for downloading and streaming. With approximately 30 revisions and 2 read-throughs, it has been the culmination of 5 years’ work. I am really happy with the outcome! Everybody involved has been thoroughly tremendous: Alex Bennett, Paul Gallagher, Jill Korn, Mark Coleman, Stuart Edgar, Andy Jones, Dani Heron, Lauren Downie, Iain McAleese, Julia Ndlovu, and Lorenzo Novani. It is slightly surreal to know the drama is complete. Now, I have to convince people to take a wee gamble and listen to the series. All episodes are available here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/bring-again-the-now-of-then-the-bauhaus-in-weimar/id1799557549

The seeds of the project were actually sown writing another play in 2017 (They’ll Get You Now You’re Gone) about an architect. A reference was made to Walter Gropius, the first director of the Bauhaus. My interest piqued, I listened to a few podcasts on the Bauhaus and then watched Bauhaus 100 on BBC 4 - a tremendous documentary. A number of masters were covered during the hour long programme. For each, an archive of images and manifestations of their work was paraded across the screen. Amongst their number was one female master, Gertrud Grunow, for whom there were just two images. Her work had been as ethereal as to almost not be there. In the years that followed the opening of the Bauhaus, a number of books were published but Grunow was always omitted.

Walking one day, I had the thought could…should…I write a play about the early years of the Bauhaus through the eyes of Gertrud Grunow?

Having not done anything like this before, it was a challenge…particularly having a narrator able to interrupt at any time. I listened to Fault Lines: Money, Sex and Blood inspired by Emile Zola’s Rougert-Macquart cycle featuring Glenda Jackson, and slowly my ideas developed. I caught Grunow’s voice (my interpretation - as so little material on her exists) and my confidence grew. Having a narrator lends the drama a certain intimacy and Jill Korn has done an exemplary job capturing the nuances of Gertrud.

I would dearly love to know what you think.