Yesterday evening saw the beginning of something which could turn out to be very interesting indeed. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from someone at Tramshed Theatre, a theatre company in Woolwich, inviting me to a steering group meeting. A couple of my friends in GAD, the Greenwich Association of Disabled people, had apparently suggested that I became a member for a new theatre project involving disabled people. I thought it was an intriguing idea: it may well be the very thing I need right now to get me out of my flat and get my creative juices flowing.

Until it’s new venue opens in a couple of weeks, Tramshed is based in Woolwich Works, in the historic old buildings of the Woolwich Arsenal. Until a few years ago, that area was extremely run-down and dilapidated: after it ceased to be used as a munitions factory, it was totally abandoned. Yet you should see it now. The old, eighteenth-century factory buildings are still there, but have been renovated and spruced up almost beyond belief: plush, modern glass and metal beams abut two-hundred year old brickwork in a fascinating way. The room we met in last night felt like the performance spaces I remember from university, yet you could tell something far darker and more brutal had been there before. To be honest I found it fascinating.

The meeting itself went well. There were about ten people there, including my friends from GAD. There were, of course, the usual introductions, followed by a couple of ice-breaking games. It was only an initial meeting, so we didn’t really get into much detail about what shape the project could take. Yet I was struck by a sense of potential: by the end of the meeting, there were all sorts of ideas floating around. I could tell there was a vast amount of creativity in the room. It reminded me of ten years or so ago, when Lyn first started going to paraorchestra meetings, and how that eventually became their performance at the paralympic closing ceremony.

The greatest things are often born of the meekest beginnings. I think this project gives me the opportunity to participate in something potentially remarkable. I now want to get to know the guys at Tramshed behind it; I want to show them my writing, films, and what I’m capable of. Perhaps I could then write something for them, or at least help to put something together. Who knows what this project will turn into, or when it will be finished, but I can’t wait to watch it take shape. I have a feeling this could become something incredible.