Theatre Deli, 2nd November 2023

Among various worlds, we meet an angel, sat onstage with cobbled-together wings made out of scraps of cheap magazines, and leaflets. It gestures at a chess board and says:

“Be not afraid.

“Please be not afraid.

“I know am not what I was.”

Thus began Paradise Craved; a reflection of half a life loving Paradise Lost, exploring craving, loss, and sacrifice through a conversation with a fallen angel over a hideously imbalanced variant-chess game.

You will lose the game. You will lose the War In Heaven, as the creature you are playing with tries to understand how to bear losing.

You will go to Heaven and try to interpret the Voice of God (secretly, this is largely random sound shifting, yet there are great debates).

You will pass through Hell and into some form of Eden, as best you can make it.

Test audiences described it as "weird, heartbreaking", which is what I aim for in about half my work.

I miss Paradise Craved. I also know that, for reasons personal and commercial, it will amost certainly never be performed again.

So to those who joined me in losing the War In Heaven: thank you.