Day 15 - Our humblest thanks...

(Clockwise, from top left) Max, Ronan, Lisa, Liz, Dan

A big hello to you all!  Above is a photo of the company (sans Naomi, who wasn't feeling well) taken by Ronan's sister Dee, whilst we lunched in the Udderbelly Pasture.  Those of you who don't know us - I've labelled the photo so you know who's who.  I also need to apologise to Dee, as it seems my suggestion that nothing really happened yesteday may have made her visit seem unimportant - she is a lovely lady, and we all enjoyed meeting her.  It's also great that she liked the show.  Thanks, Dee!

Getting 'Norman Shadowboxer' up to Edinburgh has taken a lot of hard work, and we've had a great deal of help from some lovely people; this post is dedicated to them all:

Elizabeth Fazzio - For coming up with the first itineration of Norman, and being at the centre of the company's foundation

Heidi O'Connell - Our Associate Dramaturg, for being a founder member of EmptyBox Theatre, the original narrator and a continuing source of support whilst developing the piece. Come back to us, Heidi!

The International Student Puppet Festival - For hosting the first ever showing of 'Norman Shadowboxer'

Central School of Speech & Drama - For giving us somewhere to start out, and providing us with space to start finding out what the show could be

Penny Francis - For being such an inspiration to us, and for supporting us in our work

All Saints C of E Primary School - For allowing us to come in and do our first school show (and for then getting ALL the kids to see it as the day progressed!)

Heather Young and Siva Zagel - For believing in us early on, and for persisting in trying to get us to bring the show to C Venues!

Bailey Lock and Lyric Hammersmith - For inviting us to come in for some R&D on the back of one scratch performance

Vicky Ireland - For some invaluable feedback about the show, helping us improve it even further

Linda Lewis and Emma Leishman at Puppet Centre Trust - For welcoming us into your family of puppetry enthusiasts - we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with you!

Mark Tinkler of Music Platform - For helping us have a base to try things out over the past few months

Pooles Park Primary School - For being that base, and for allowing us to trial performances and workshops with pupils

The Cochrane Theatre and Birbeck College - For providing us with rehearsal space when preparing for Edinburgh

Rymans - For providing us with 50 boxes for Edinburgh, free of charge

All of our families, friends and loved ones - For your continuing support of our work, and patience with us as we try to get things just right (hopefully we'll make a living off this soon!)

And, most importantly, to all those who have seen the show and have enjoyed it in some way.  We'd never claim to have made a perfect show, but if you've taken something away from it - be you child, adult, critic, important theatre person or A.N. Other - then we hope we can continue to make work that makes you smile.  We plan to be around for a while yet, so feel free to tell us what you like and how you think we can become even better!

I'm sure I've forgotten some people, so apologies - I do this not out of malice, but tiredness.  Everyone we've met along the way on our journey has helped us make the show we have today, so we all owe you a huge debt of gratitude.  Here's to many more years of appreciating your support.

- Dan