A fond farewell from Ferment Producer Emma Bettridge

As her time with our Theatre draws to a close, Emma Bettridge reflects on her six-strong years of artist development and all the exciting things to come from her swansong Fortnight this July.

Empty spaces, what are we living for
Abandoned places, I guess we know the score
On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for

(bear with me, I'm making a point, promise)

Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore
The show must go on…

How jolly! I fancied citing lyrics from something subtle and understated to write this, my final post for the good ship Bristol Old Vic Ferment. But I suppose there is a seriousness here (as well as being SUCH A GOOD SONG), I’ve been here for six and a half truly brilliant years and now someone else (to be announced shortly…!) gets to do this, whilst I get to do something else! And the shows must go on, because they will, because there’s such a wonderful pool/stable/beehive of theatrical wonder-makers doing all of the art. In a really excellent way. For all of you. For all of us.

So don’t cry for me, do not stand at my grave and weep, because this Fortnight is kick-ass. Filled to the brim with old faces (sorry Vic), young faces (sorry Willy), face faces (all of you) who are all just trying something out. Arnolfini are helping us to host it (beers out the front chaps?) and we’re ending this fortnight (and my time here)* on the stage at Bristol Old Vic. What’s not to love? We’ve got brand new plays, we’ve got in the dark headphones pieces, we’ve got cabaret, we’ve got dance… name a genre, go on, name it, I bet we’ve got it.

So I’m really delighted to be leaving in the glow of such a wonderful thing. Knowing that each piece will resonate with someone in some way. It’s bloody lush this job. I will miss all of the people enormously and will look back with deep pride at all the things we did.

Emm x 

*apologies for massive bracket over-use. Sorry, not sorry.

Ferment Fortnight kicks off at Arnolfini 9-11 July before returning to Bristol Old Vic for four more nights of scratch theatre 13-21 July. For more info and to book tickets, click here.