What Are The Magic Words?

I have been struggling to find exactly the right words to say when handing out flyers in order to maximise that tiny window of opportunity to spark someone’s interest in Can You Dig It? I have tried several different permutations and discovered that asking people questions like: “Do you like gardening?” is a very bad idea because they always say “no” even if they are dressed in a wax jacket and wellies, are covered in mud and wearing an “I love gardening” T-shirt.

I have also tried a variation on that: “Show about gardening.” This does not go down that well either. How come everyone is pretending to hate gardening all of a sudden? I think I’ve had most success with: “Musical comedy show about growing vegetables.” That at least seems to get people’s attention. Quite often it makes people laugh but sometimes they give me a pitying look as if I am wasting my time and everyone else’s with my silly show. How wrong they are.

I wonder what our sisters-in-vegetable-cultivation-based-arts over at Allotment say to draw people in? We went to see this glorious play by Nutshell theatre – based on a real allotment – this afternoon. It’s brilliant and not just because you get a scone and a cup of tea at the start. Both actresses were superb and there was plenty of vegetable cultivation detail for us allotment nerds to enjoy. We met director Kate Nelson, who has temporarily given up her plot to the project, and were impressed by her dedication. Apparently the set designer made her dig up her asparagus bed, which is a real sacrifice. Asparagus beds takes years to get established!