The brilliant Sex Cells

It’s kind of another creative side project, but it’s certainly one of the most interesting:

Mark Denton’s wife, Anna, wrote an excellent play a while back (her first) and asked me to read it. I thought it was excellent and congratulated her on a fine job.

The following year consisted of several Facebook status updates where she outlined her frustration in trying to find the backing to put it on.

In the end she and Mark have done the whole thing themselves, booking it for a month at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. They hired the director, cast, stage designer etc. and set about making it happen. Then they produced the advertising (thanks to Dave Dye) and suddenly Anna was filling Facebook with stories of the ups and downs of staging a play in a proper theatre in London.

Having enjoyed reading it I was looking forward to seeing it in the flesh, which I finally did last night.

It was excellent.

Really, really good.

Funny, moving and full of great lines that wouldn’t be out of place in a script by Mike Leigh.

I’m immensely impressed that they put their money where their mouths are, but more than that, as a writer, I’m impressed by how bloody good it is.

It’s running until the end of the month, so go and see it. On the one hand you get to see a really good play, and on the other you get to support a new talent. She’ll keep writing (a musical is in the works) and we’ll keep having great stuff to see.

(In case you missed the link above, you can book tickets here. And here’s a review that isn’t from me.)