David Austin, DIY Member
David performing in his glittery suit in a performance of Don’t Call Me Babe! which toured special schools in the North West in 2013.
David Austin is a founding member of DIY and has been in every core company production since 1994. In 2013, as part of our “Picking Up the Threads” project, he looked back at the company’s past shows:
Picking Up The Threads : David Remembers … from DIY Theatre Company on Vimeo.
David brings fantastic musicality to the company and has often had an important role in creating and performing music for our shows – including our “Give Me Space!” performances for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Watch a short video of Give me Space – working with professional musicians.
This musicality came to the fore during the pandemic when David created soundtracks for a number of the company’s Lockdown videos all recorded down the phone! Follow the links to watch the videos.
We shall Overcome released for Christmas 2020
We asked David some questions about herself:
Tell us one of your favourite things about DIY Theatre Co.
I love being in the shows. My favourite show out of all the shows we’ve done is “Don’t Call me Babe!” because it was about me and Martin dressed up as Fab Travel agents. We asked people where they want to go for their holidays. We like to be on stage – especially doing it for an audience.
Tell us one of the things you are most proud of doing at DIY.
Going on tour. We like doing our shows in schools for the children. We’ve done loads of shows in schools. We get a lot of effort and quality out of the shows we do.
What else do you do, outside of DIY?
I usually like to go shopping. I have a cup of tea or coffee in a cafe. I buy what I want to buy.
What motto do you live by?
Get out and about!
Tell us about a piece of performance or visual art that has inspired you.
I like watching films on telly. I watch any films but my favourites are classical films like “Gone with the Wind”. I like to see that every now and again – I’ve got it on video but not on DVD. I like to see “Paint your Wagon” – the Western musical starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seburg. I like the Beatles’ films as well like “A Hard Day’s Night”. That was the first film in black and white, but when they released the second film “Help!” in 1965 that was the first one in colour.
What makes you smile?
Listening to music. I’ve got all the LPS at home – not just single and double albums but box sets as well – Reader’s Digest. I listen to allsorts – I like the 50s and 60s like The Beach Boys and The Hollies. My favourite 70s group is ABBA.