‘Off the Scales’ - Endings and Beginnings: E-Letter 6
Hello friends,
Welcome back to my Off the Scales letter. Six weeks ago, when I sent my first letter, I promised to share a bit of insight into the making process of this new musical through the initial research and development phase for six weeks. This makes this the last letter in this initial series! Thanks so much for taking the time to return this week; grab that brew and let me fill you in.
Last weekend I held a ‘work in progress sharing’ online, to an invited audience of people who had been interviewed for the research, and people who have generally supported me and this work so far. During the event - hosted on Zoom! - I shared sections of writing, improvisation and music that me and the team had worked on during the R&D weekend. I opened the event sharing context behind the show and my own journey, and so for this final letter I want to share this with you too.
The Off the Scales journey starts with my own story. I joined Weight Watchers (WW) over 5 years ago. And for a long time this was my ‘double life’ - I didn’t want to tell other people about it because it felt like people would judge me and the reality was the group I am part of is incredibly special to me. And by being a member of this group, something quite amazing happened - and it’s not just about weight loss I might add here - it was that I met the most wonderful people. People who turned up, week in week out, to support one another.
I remember once turning up to a WW class and everyone was so lovely to me and pleased to see me, and I was so overwhelmed that I started crying! I realised this was the only place I went where I could turn up, with all my food guilt and shame, and no one was asking anything from me. We even have a saying “If you’ve had a bad week - you need your meeting. If you’ve had a good week - your meeting needs you.” I have lived this mantra for many years now.
Thanks to our group I have friends that range from 28 to 88 in my life. We would have not met under any other circumstance. We even joke when we go out for coffee or the pub together - “I wonder what people think about our group when they see us out together!?” It is a group of completely different people, who live very different lives, who do all sorts of jobs and are a complete range of ages. And we gather together every week and support each other with huge amounts of heart, and lots of laughter!
The reason for sharing this with you is because, it is through this experience I just knew there was a story to be told. And I also know, through meeting all these brilliantly diverse people who shared their journeys and lives with each other, how complex weight loss and weight gain really are.
When I picture this show, I see it in community spaces. The village halls and church halls, and school gym halls. With the out of tune piano in the corner, and the rattling heaters, and the tea urn with stacks of mis-matched donated mugs. When audiences arrive in the space they will be met and welcomed, possibly by members of the community there, and invited to pop 20p in the honesty box and help themselves to a cuppa and a biscuit (or two), or a piece of fruit.
There will be a horseshoe of chairs, laid in a few rows and the audience will come and join the group. Community members will chat to them, ask them how their week has been, ask them if they’ve tried a good recipe this week. We’ll open the show with a ‘setting up’ song. A movement piece which I like to call ‘dance of the translate tables’! Where the actors move trestle tables and fold out chairs into place, like a synchronized dance piece.
I also know that this show isn’t about promoting going to a weight loss group, to lose weight to have a happier life. It is about finding people who you can be authentic around, your support network. It’s about watching a group of characters grow in confidence. It’s about not waiting to be ‘thin enough’ to deserve an enjoyable life.
When I began the process of starting to develop this show idea, I knew it had potential but I didn’t know where it would take me. I began, about a year ago now, by gathering some amazing people to collaborate with, and some friends from my Weight Watchers group, and started talking about what this show could be and how to make it relatable. When the actors joined the team to devise with us two weekends ago, I was truly amazed at how quickly they bought characters to life and developed them over two days. We were able to work on initial concepts around inner monologues, group meetings, character backstories, exercise classes, fantasy/dream sequences, and Lorna even wrote two wonderful songs!
There is a lot to share and it’s hard to cover it all, but thankfully the illustrator Emma Paxton captured the 'work in progress' event in a beautiful visual summary:
So what's next? Now it's time to write.
There's so much material already started, ripe for developing further. Some of the characters are already beginning to emerge and they need filling out and more characters born to join them. There will be more research to spark inspiration and new ideas. I'm interested in the role of the group leader especially, so I imagine more interviews with people who have been in this role. Next week I also start a weekly writing group to provide the discipline to keep writing regularly, which can be such a challenge when the intense R&D time has ended. By the end of the year I plan to have another week or so of workshopping time with actors and music, and another work in progress sharing to take the temperature of where Off the Scales is heading next.
I’d like to finish this final letter with a thank you, to the many people who helped me to get to this point. This project felt almost impossible a year ago and even more so for the pandemic making rehearsing together actually impossible at times, but we found a way! I’m so grateful for all the support and trust: all the people who have been interviewed; everyone who’s talked with me about this idea over the years and encouraged me to go for it; and the exceptional group of artists who were part of the R&D and sharing, who bought these ideas together and taken it to a whole new level I couldn’t have even imagined! And finally thank you to you, for taking time each week to check in and read this letter.
I look forward to checking in with you again in the future, when I have some more updates to share. Until then, take good care.
Love,
Kate x