London, 5th of May 2026

👋 Greetings, dear readers.

I have literally just came back from the second iteration of the Two Islands Playback Theatre Gathering, held once again at Buckden Towers, in Cambridgeshire. And I’d like to share my feelings about it, fresh out of the experience of a member of the organising team.

From last Thursday (30th April) to this Monday (yesterday), the organising team worked on-site to accommodate Playback Theatre practitioners from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland under the theme of Cross-Pollination With an attendance of 62 participants, we were so happy to see every nation represented: Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland… even various parts of the Republic of Ireland, such as Cork and Dublin.

Starting with the positives, I was delighted by the number of first-timers attending a Playback Theatre gathering, including those who have only just begun their journey. This was acknowledged during the closing of the event with a 'popcorn' of positive words from them. It made me feel hopeful about the future of a community that has, for many years, felt diversity-deprived, pocketed, and stale.

With that said, where there is light, there are always shadows, especially for those of us trying to hold things together and care for the participants. I want to address one thing we could have done better: setting priorities and staying mindful of our own needs, because when it comes to trying to make a delightful experience for the others, we tend to neglect our own wellbeing. One example might be giving priority to the attendants to choose workshop, potentially filling them before any of the organising team could join.

We also found ourselves cast as “demons”, constantly reminding participants of the housekeeping rules or policing food portions to ease the load on the sole on-site cook and housekeeper. This didn't always land well with everyone. When there is service, there is always some entitlement. It isn’t precisely joyful having to clean up after participants when we lack a dedicated team due to a very tight budget.

Yes, I’m aware this seems like a rant—and partially, it is—but I’m not saying there was any ill intent on the part of the (vast majority of) attendees. In fact, it's very likely that other organisers had to clean up after me at some point! In general, people were kind, understanding, and helpful. But, this constant availability can take a lot of mental and emotional load on those overseeing the smooth development of an event. Spoiler: it’s never smooth. If you organise an event, please, take care of yourself and set clear boundaries.

To end on a positivity sandwich: despite low moments, overall I truly enjoyed the experience. I also wore my performer hat alongside my peers from True Heart Theatre, offering a wholesome, emotional, grounded, musical, and fun performance commemorating the 20th anniversary of the company. On Saturday night, we also held a truly delightful open mic where, among great singing and poetry, I had the chance to read some of my work-in-progress in a safe environment, getting positive reception.

I’m pretty sure the bad feelings and heavy moments of the experience will fade away, leaving only the positivity and connections made during these days.

I don’t know when the next gathering will take place, hopefully soon and with a new organising team. 😛

Love to you all! 🫶

🎭 The Theatre bit

I’m doing Italian on Duolingo. Yes, I know—it’s not the best way to learn a language. But when you already speak Spanish and Catalan, it’s a good way to fill the gap between cousin languages. I’m mentioning this because it allowed me to revisit opera recently.

I wouldn’t consider myself an opera geek; I just enjoy listening to it every now and then. I have a favourite (I think I mentioned it before) which is Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

It’s my favourite opera for many reasons: it’s short, it’s about theatre, and I actually worked on it… 20 years ago. The plot revolves around an itinerant Commedia dell’arte company that arrives in a town for a performance, unfolding a story of secret love and jealousy, and how those weave into the drive of performing—making it very meta.

I’ve been listening to it again recently and I also found a good recording by the French National Orchestra of it that allowed me to revisit the piece. Although it has subtitles in French, another cousin language, I truly recommend it over the recording of the production with the problematic Placido Domingo.

📆 What is coming up

• 🇬🇧 6th of May - Not GCSE Drama at Hoopla! Impro (London, UK). The most dedicated drama students are coming back to Hoopla for another exam. They are a nervous wreck, care to come and show support?

• 🇬🇧 8th of May - Acaprov at Shoreditch Balls (London,UK). After a delightful show in April, we wonder how our next musical will go. Care to find out? Get your tickets here.

• 🇬🇧 10th of May - True Heart Theatre 20th Anniversary Playback Theatre Performance and Jam (London, UK). Kind of self-descriptive. Join us in the celebration of the company. Come for the performance, stay for the hot pot. 😁 Info and tickets here.

• 🇬🇧 15th to 17th of May - Acaprov at The Brighton Fringe (Brighton, UK). I’m going to be in Spain during this year’s Brighton Fringe but I encourage you to enjoy a batch of improvised musicals at the Brighton Fringe by the hand of my dear friends of the Acaprov cast. Check dates and tickets.

📚 🎮 🎥 📺 The geeky dessert

Speaking of opera, I want to recommend not only an extremely good Japanese RPG but one that holds the best opera piece ever in a video game. The 'Opera of Maria and Draco' was included in Final Fantasy VI, an absolute masterpiece released in 1994 for the Japanese Super Nintendo, arriving later in the Western world.

Due to the technical limitations of the system, imagine the work the composer Nobuo Uematsu had to do to make players read the lyrics while the melody was unfolding. Luckily, we don’t have to make the same effort; we can listen to it properly, for example, in this rendition.