[Take Two!] musically retells the story of it's own creation, and how our previous musical, A Life Directed (below) was written, developed as a workshop before ultimately falling apart, told from the perspective of the writers, me and Benjy Cohen.
[Take Two!] debuted in it's original form at Sandwich Technology School in 2014, performed by promising young acting students. This version of the show was conceived to salvage the mess left behind by our attempted workshop of A Life Directed, ultimately feeling rushed and unfinished.
Following the 2014 production, we decided to rewrite and reframe the entire show from the perspective of the young actors. We looked more objectively at how our actions in creating the original [Take Two!} and focusing on Benjy and I as characters (also played by us) alienated the rest of the cast who had auditioned and rehearsed a very different musical.
We debuted the revamped version of [Take Two!] in 2015 at The Landor Theatre in London, to positive reception. Benjy and I chose to leave [Take Two!] after the 2015 production and move onto future projects.
Footage 2014 ver.
Footage 2015 ver.
A LIFE DIRECTED
Before [Take Two!] came A Life Directed.
A Life Directed is a comedy musical by me and my long-time collaborator, Benjy Cohen. The show follows the absurd story of Richard Davies, a young film director who in losing a bet with his brother is forced to sing everything he says; causing strain on his work and relationships.
Benjy and I originally planned to workshop the show with student actors in 2013, but during rehearsals ran into many logistical issues that left us unable to workshop the show in it's (at the time) current form. This resulted in the creation of [Take Two!]
