A TRIBUTE TO MARCIE LANE by LIZ TAYLOR

January 21, 2017
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Posted in Liz Taylor Podcasts
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PODCAST

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THE STORY

There are a few hats that I currently wear but I’m a mum first and foremost and I couldn’t imagine my life without my lovely boy. I still can’t quite believe I’ve got him and the idea of anything happening to him is just too awful… And so, incomplete families and lost children have dominated my recent work. I don’t know whether, by writing about them, I subconciously think I’ll be able to rid myself of all these fears but there it is and so there was always going to be this tangent to my ‘Tribute’.

I wanted to layer the script a bit though and to make sure the deceased got a rounded tribute that paid testament to her character. I hit on the device of reading out a statement / email, not meant for a funeral, which allowed me to present a deeper insight into the narrator, as well as into Marcie. I also liked the idea that there had been an argument and, through the recounting of it, we got to learn more about the two characters and their relationship.

Finally, I wanted the reveal to be poignant and to strike a real chord. A few years ago, I read an interview with a woman who had lost her only child. In the piece she said that you’re an orphan if you lose your parents and a widow or widower if you lose a husband or wife. There isn’t a name for those who lose a child. Perhaps because it’s too awful to put into words.

THE WRITER – LIZ TAYLOR

I started writing as a teenager and my first play, Half Return, ran at the Royal Court Young Writers’ Festival. The play was published twice and I got to take part and represent the UK at the first international young writer’s festival, in Sydney, as a result of all the interest.

Although theatre was my ‘in’, my main passion is for television drama. I absolutely love it – continuing drama, single dramas and series. Over the years, I’ve been given some experience as a storyliner on Coronation Street and attended workshops for both Emmerdale and Hollyoaks and I’m in thrall to these programmes and the people who make them.

I also spent some time developing an animation project, pitched for children’s TV, which followed the escapades of a mischievious pop band. It generated interest from a number of broadcasters as well as a couple of music publishing houses. Fuelled by this interest, I drafted a second animation project for children, a few years ago, which was shortlisted in a BBC Childrens Writers Room competition.

Along with the above, I have a single adult drama, Three More Minutes, that I use as a calling card and I have completed the first draft of a pilot for a four-part drama series, The One.

I’ve built a career in PR and marketing and I now work as a freelance consultant and writer. In 2015 I made the shortlist for the Northern Writers Awards and I was also shortlisted by Screenwriting Goldmine last year. I live in Manchester and I’m married with a son.

THE ACTOR – SALLY ORROCK

Training: Drama Studio. Philippe Gaulier

Theatre: The Gods Weep (RSC) Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads (York Theatre Royal/Pilot Theatre, Tour), Get Carter (Red Shift Theatre Co. National Tour and Edinburgh Festival), The Minotaur ( Sheffield Crucible), Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V (Nuffield Theatre, Southampton), Platform (ICA), Educating Rita ( European Tour – Tour de Force Theatre Co.), A Midsummer Night’s Dream ( Queens Theatre, Hornchurch), Kvetch (Battersea Arts Centre), Hamlet (Horla Theatre Co.), Slag (GRiP Theatre).

TV and Film: Doctors (BBC), Eastenders (BBC), Holby City (BBC), L8R Youngers (BAFTA winning, BBC), Bricks! (Channel 4), Bubbly (Deep End Films), The Question (Short Film).

Radio: Over 100 Radio plays for the BBC and member of the BBC Radio Rep. Numerous Voice overs and Dr Maxine Myers in Zombies, Run! (Six To Start).

Play readings for: National Theatre Studio, The Royal Court and Soho Theatre