Errol's Story
Life can be hard, but you just keep going and enjoy the bloody ride.
I’m on a lifelong process: trying to sort my life out. I was in jail doing a 20 weeks sentence for silliness, when Cardboard Citizens came in and did a play for us. What was different was that they ran the play and then Terry said: ‘We’re going to do it again, but if there is anything you don’t like or think could have been done differently then shout stop and tell us how you think it should go’. If you said stop, they said come up, and you took their place. This was ideal for me because I like getting involved in stuff. I really liked interactive theatre, and I really believe it can be used for many things.
Cardboard Citizens rang me up within a week of me coming out of jail. And at the time I thought, wow, I want to do more stuff. It gave me the taste. I’m going reinvent myself as a performance poet. When I came out of jail, I’d probably done one or two performances at the university before that. Now I’m at the stage where I’ve got many poems that are written and memorised, and ready to deliver at a drop of a hat and entertain people. I've won slams all over London and run my own spoken word night at Vibe gallery. You should come along.
My proudest moment was doing the 300 mile fundraising bike ride with Cardboard Citizens. What was really good was that it was hard. It was really hard, but you just keep going. Life can be hard, but you just keep going and enjoy the bloody ride. And at the end I performed my poem, and it was really well received. I was very active during that ride. I’m trying to get back into uni now. It’s to make an impact, and that’s what I wanna do. I believe I’ve gotten support. I’m aware that Cardboard Citizens are there, but I don’t feel any pressure. They’re there to support me and share my goal. The skill which I think I’m in the process of developing is just being calm and easy. When things are not going how I would like them to go, I say my bit and then sit down and don’t say anymore. Look for the bigger issue.
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