{"id":3421,"date":"2017-10-15T15:28:38","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T14:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodvale.com\/?p=3421"},"modified":"2017-10-15T15:28:38","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T14:28:38","slug":"get-me-the-urgent-biscuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/get-me-the-urgent-biscuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Get me the Urgent Biscuits"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a story that starts with an ending, Sweetpea Slight<\/strong> has written a keenly observed memoir about the vanishing world of London\u2019s West End in the 1980s and 1990s. Katherine Locke<\/strong> talked to her about the changing times and her life working with theatre producer Thelma Holt.<\/p>\n

Sweetpea Slight has written a witty, rollicking account of growing up in the Eighties, set against a colourful, eccentric, theatrical backdrop. She takes us by the hand and leads us through a grimy London and reminds us what it was like to be young, impressionable and keen as mustard in an era where the art was edgy, housing was frequently substandard and to work in the creative industries meant giving it everything you had.<\/p>\n

The story starts with the ending\u2014Slight leaving Thelma Holt, the theatrical producer she had worked with for twenty years. In characteristic form, the parting was unsentimental (brutal, even), but underpinned with huge affection. Sweetpea portrays Thelma as her mentor and describes how mesmerised she was with the larger than life character throughout their time together.<\/p>\n

\u2018Thelma had a way of getting the most out of everyone\u2019, says Sweetpea, \u2018She could summon up the extra mile needed to put on the best productions with the best people for the lowest budgets\u2019. Slight recalls her paltry starting wage and being told by Thelma \u2018You don\u2019t need much for food, darling, just don\u2019t eat\u2019.<\/p>\n

Thelma Holt is an ex actress (\u2018I am never going to be as good as Vanessa Redgrave, darling, so why compete?\u2019), turned theatre producer. Working at the highest end of the business, Thelma was instrumental in bringing productions from Russia to London and worked with some of the most respected actors of the time. \u2018In some ways, the book is love letter to Thelma\u2019, says Slight, \u2018Or perhaps a break up note\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, Bring Me the Urgent Biscuits<\/em>, is not just a roll call of luvvies\u2019 anecdotes, but equally a coming of age story about a young girl fresh from the Dorset countryside. Slight grew up in West Dorset and was educated at Powerstock Primary School, followed by Beaminster Secondary. \u2018Dorset was very different then\u2019, she recalls, \u2018the lanes were narrower, there was very little culture readily available and it felt like a long way from anywhere\u2019. Her parents, both artists working hard at their own practise, whilst simultaneously teaching at local colleges, were a rarity in those days. Blown in from London seeking a simpler life and wanting to give their children a rural upbringing. \u2018In some ways, it was an idyllic childhood\u2019, she says, \u2018but being the child of artists, with our funny clothes and strange London ways, really did set us children apart\u2019.<\/p>\n

In a way that probably isn\u2019t possible now, Sweetpea travelled to London in her parents Saab at the age of eighteen with a vague idea of trying to get into drama school (RADA). \u2018I had always been fascinated with theatre\u2019, she says, \u2018I would spend long hours as a teenager listening to plays on the radio and being transported from my Dorset bedroom\u2019. However, she didn\u2019t make it to college, instead a chance meeting turned into a life changing choice.<\/p>\n

Thelma Holt had obviously spotted something in Slight (or \u2018the child\u2019, as she frequently referred to her) that made her the perfect assistant. Loyal, hardworking and dizzy with the magic of the theatre, Sweetpea gave her heart and soul to the job.<\/p>\n

\u2018I had no concept of not working hard for a living\u2019, she says, \u2018perhaps that is because I grew up with parents who were always working and still are. There is no such thing as retirement for artists\u2019. Slight was no Trustafarian, the work ethic was firmly embedded in her, which suited Holt perfectly. \u2018Work was everything for Thelma\u2019, she says, \u2018it was all consuming and she expected the same level of dedication from her staff\u2019.<\/p>\n

Above all,\u00a0 Bring Me the Urgent Biscuits<\/em>\u2014a reference to Thelma\u2019s request for biscuits when the going got tough\u2014is laugh out loud funny. Often reading like a Carry On<\/em> script, the theatrical shenanigans are recalled with a keen sense of the ridiculous and a fantastic ear for dialogue. The stories of both Sweetpea\u2019s home and working life are captivating and keep the reader turning the pages long after it should be lights out.<\/p>\n

She recalls a time that has past. At 52, Slight says it feels very odd to be old enough to be writing about history, but nevertheless she writes about a pre-digital London, which would be very hard for the younger generation to recognise. \u2018Life was not the same then\u2019, she affirms, \u2018for one thing drinking and drug taking were considered normal\u2019. Although she didn\u2019t indulge herself, the theatre was fuelled on Green Room drinking and her home life was made chaotic by the casual drug taking and partying of her flatmates.<\/p>\n

\u2018In those days, it wasn\u2019t at all unusual to see actors in costume propping up the bar and technicians, who were working with hugely complicated equipment, sinking pints was commonplace. That just wouldn\u2019t be acceptable these days\u2019.<\/p>\n

Slight also notes that there are far fewer opportunities for actors from less than privileged backgrounds now. \u2018University was free then and if your parents weren\u2019t well off, you got a grant on top\u2019. This brought a diversity to the theatre that appears to be lacking today, she thinks, \u2018the acting world is dominated by the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch now. It is a shame, because the theatre needs a variety of experience to bring it alive\u2019.<\/p>\n

The process of writing the book also required hard work and dedication, as it had to be fitted in around her full time job (she now works as a PA for Anne Robinson). \u2018The book was written at weekends\u2019 she explains. This is her first attempt at writing anything \u2018that wasn\u2019t embarrassing poetry\u2019. Originally, the book was written as a series of vignettes that gradually morphed into book shape. \u2018My agent was incredibly encouraging\u2019, she says, \u2018she told me I could write, kept the deadlines rolling in and the enthusiasm high\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was hard\u2019, she says, \u2018mainly just getting into the right headspace for it\u2019.<\/p>\n

The book has received glowing national reviews and Sweetpea is inspired to think about her next project. She isn\u2019t ready to reveal anything yet, but thinks it will be another non-fiction piece. However, her natural ability to tell a thumping good story means she could probably choose any medium she likes and make a great success of it.<\/p>\n

Sweetpea clearly understands the business of story telling. Perhaps it was her years in theatre, or maybe long evenings listening to plays in her teenage bedroom, but she fully understands the form and is able to inhabit it with ease. In fact, one of her favourite quotes is from the inimitable Joan Didion, \u2018We tell ourselves stories in order to live\u2019. With that in mind, we very much look forward to the next one.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a story that starts with an ending, Sweetpea Slight has written a keenly observed memoir about the vanishing world of London\u2019s West End in the 1980s and 1990s. Katherine Locke talked to her about the changing times and her life working with theatre producer Thelma Holt. Sweetpea Slight has written a witty, rollicking account […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-3421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles","tag-katherine-locke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}