Women in Tune
2009 Festival Review by Carol Lovekin
It’s Only a Week in a Field
Some one said this at the end of the final pre-WIT meeting. The rest smiled wryly, hugged their dog-eared folders close to their chests; one another closer. We were a small group ~ all the usual local suspects & with only a week to go before set-up began, hadn’t a clue as to what was about to unfold. The shoestring we had been working with all year was terribly frayed. We were, frankly, operating largely on hope. With a depleted bank balance & a small pre-booked list all we could do was get on with it.
On the first day of set-up, the crew began to arrive: old, familiar, determined faces; bright & shiny, marvellous new ones, all willing to work in the most appalling weather conditions. The Storm Dragon was abroad! But as ever, the magic began to unfold, albeit drenched with unrelenting rain rather than sparkly dust. And the women simply got stuck in. (Stuck in mud, stuck in wet clothes & stuck in a wind-battered crew marquee because the alternative for some was a tiny wind-battered tent.)
Without a doubt, WIT 2009 has been the most physically challenging for many years. Fewer crew numbers than usual, a shorter set-up time due to financial constraints, plus quite dreadful weather meant the workload was particularly gruelling.
But it was also the most rewarding, not least from a financial point of view. During the first few hours of Friday morning, in a Log Cabin hastily decorated (because the Storm Dragon ate the Log Tent) we began taking money. I shall never forget counting that first bundle of notes; asking Avril to double-check because I hardly dared believe the evidence before me & in any case, I have to take my shoes off to count to eleven. (And still they let me run Log Cabin!)
That we have made a healthy profit this year is testament to both wise organisation tempered with sound common sense (thank you & respect, Lesley & Glenn) & the generosity of the women who travelled from near & far to become Women in Tune again in every sense of the word.
More technically able women than I will perhaps be reviewing the various splendid stage & workshop performances. That they were all outstanding was self-evident. With this in mind, may I remind you all that this is your website & urge you to make use of it? Employ it as you might a magazine to which you could contribute an article. Write your reviews & thoughts & experiences; share them with your Witty sisters!
My personal highlight could well have been my first ‘stand-up’ routine ever. In a big frock & wellies it was quite a moment. Equally, it might have been the ‘Bitchness’ Workshop in the Spontaneous Combustion Tent. Yes, dear reader, I heard ‘Bitch’ rather than ‘Butch’ which caused at least one gorgeous butch to fall over herself laughing! Had it in fact been a ‘Bitchness’ workshop, (& it does an Aquarian woman no harm to connect with her inner bitch) I was far too busy re-attaching my damp Velcro Meet ‘n Greet smile to attend. Maybe next year...
In truth, my WIT ‘best bit’ came on Monday evening when Paula & Sandy, two of the women who had taken part in my writing workshop, joined me on stage to read.
I offer my piece simply because it encapsulates, on a personal level, much of what WIT meant to me this year.
My WIT Box
There is this box marked WIT into which I shall put it all, metaphorically & in reality. (In reality I stuff a great deal of it under my bed, into the back of cupboards & my cellar. And I shall return a variety of items to the places around my home from which I stole them.)
My WIT box is sturdy & this year I shall decorate it afresh; place within it, along with my ‘things,’ my promise to myself that I shan’t be one of the WIT women who burn out.
My lovely WIT box into which I shall place my gratitude to Logan & Sam, two young women who responded after I had put my ‘ask’ out into the universe. In a field, by a fire, I asked for what I had learned I needed & there they were. It was decided quite effortlessly & took less than a moment.
Into my WIT box I shall put their smiling, joyful faces. And next year, I shan’t be afraid to open it: my WIT box full of meetings & magic, flowers, flags & sisterhood. And in the bottom I shall place the knowledge that I can be gentle with myself.
It may only have been a week in a field, but what a week it turned out to be. And the other ‘best bit’ is this: we have secured the future of Women in Tune 2010 & beyond. We have begun shaping a new Collective with a view to a more equitable, more inclusive, transparent way of working & communicating. WIT has some amazing women on board now ~ a generous mixture of old hands & new with a pool of skills & qualities par excellence.
I am proud to be part of this new incarnation; thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of Women in Tune 2009 with our commitment, hard work, vision, artistry, wisdom, wit, creativity, generosity & love.
In sisterhood
Carol