Well, the weekend is over, and Spaceboy has had it’s very first production. And I’m pleased to say that the World Premiere of Spaceboy at The Black Box Theatre, Woking was nearly full on the Friday, and SOLD OUT on the Saturday!

The production was truly excellent and very highly praised by the audiences in after show discussions. I’m a very pleased playwright!

I am so grateful to Nell King (Director and Anna), Nathan Trapnell (Director and Nathan) and Alex Paterson (Hayden) for all their hard work.

Thank you too, to Scott Freeman (Sound), Jason Orbaum (Lighting) and to Nina Lemon (Artistic Co-Director for Peer Productions and The Black Box Theatre) for recommending it be produced.

And a huge thank you to both audiences who took the risk on coming to see a new play by a new playwright and in a new theatre too. I am so pleased you were just as amazed and praiseworthy about the production as I was.

I couldn’t fault the sound, light, staging, acting or direction. The whole production was an excellent interpretation of my script, and to be very honest, I really could not have done it better myself.

Spaceboy is my baby. I conceived, developed and gave birth to Nathan Greene, Anna Walker and Hayden, and indeed the Spaceboy himself, David Walker. I nurtured them, gave them a helping hand and unleashed them into the world. And I’m so pleased they have all been warmly welcomed.

They now all have lives of there own. I was even asked by audience members during the post show discussions what happens to them after the point at which the play ends.

To which I answered: “I’m sorry, I’m just the writer, I haven’t a clue. I stopped writing about their story then.”

It was almost as if these characters are real people, and I’ve just told the story about what happened during two weeks of their lives.

Obviously, as the writer, I included some ‘character history’, but I have no idea what happens in their lives after the traumatic events during that fortnight.

Should I? I really don’t know. How could I?

I must admit, I had unreasonably high expectations for this World Premiere Production, not to mention grave concerns that it might not be any good, especially as (unlike other works of mine) I was to have nothing to do with the production.

I was being paid a royalty for licensing of my script, so whatever they did with it, was entirely up to them. I had no control. (Yes it was a little difficult to let go, not unlike letting your child go to school for the first day.)

And yet Peer Productions at The Black Box Theatre certainly met, if not exceed those expectations, and I had no reason for any concern at all. They just made my writing sound and look even better!

The play has been to various people in various formats, crying out to be noticed. There’s been some nibbles; long-listed in a writing competition and even considered by Radio 4 – the first part, ‘If I Fall’ – but now I’m so pleased to say that it has been produced, and what a brilliant production it was as too.

For those who missed it, you certainly did miss something! And I’m not saying that because I wrote it! I’d say the exact same words if I’d seen that production and it had been written by somebody else.

In fact, I was so mesmerised by the show, especially when my character of Hayden (Alex Paterson) came alive in the second part – Moondust Will Cover Me – there were many, many times I actually forgot that I did write it!

At one point when Hayden had his back to me because he was sat in a certain part of the audience – the show was staged in traverse with staging at each end too – I glanced at the faces of the front row of the audience facing him. Each were transfixed. They had exactly the same frozen expression of intense involvement in Hayden’s story. It was amazing. And those exact same frozen expressions were held for minutes, not seconds. I was completely freaked out!

In fact I was so blown away by this 17 year old’s entire performance, I gave Hayden Alex’s surname in recognition of Alex’s outstanding acting and highly realistic characterisation of my tragically love-troubled teenager. (I must also point out that this is a true testimony to the highly skilled directors, Nathan and Nell.)

Whilst the other Spaceboy characters had surnames, Hayden never got one. But he has now, I have corrected the character list in the script to include his full name, Hayden Paterson, in Alex’s honour.

I now have very fond memories of Spaceboy. I’ve made some truly great friends and even have a framed poster in my office as well.

But it’s time to move on. Time to get something else finished on its its way into production. I’ve been given a whole new boost to my confidence and am busy finishing my Nuffield Theatre Writers Group Full Length Graduation piece; more on that later!

The World Premiere of PAFoster’s Spaceboy has been such a fantastic experience for me; the best of experiences for any playwright, I’m sure. There really is nothing like the immense feeling you get from watching a superb production and performance of a play you have written.

Thank you all so much!