The Suitcase is Still Packed. Here's what happens next

Nathan Schulz
22 hours ago
3 min read

There's a particular feeling you get as a theatre maker when something doesn't go the way you planned. It's not quite failure. It's not quite disappointment. It's more like the universe tapping you on the shoulder and saying — "not yet. Not like this."

That's what pulling the plug on Co-Stars: Storytime LIVE! felt like.

The honest truth is we weren't selling tickets. Six bookings by the end of the season, nothing before it. And deep down, if I'm really honest with myself, I think I'd chosen the wrong location. I love the challenge of untraditional spaces — it's in my DNA as a theatre maker — and The Raven felt right on paper. A beautiful venue, the potential for families to stay for lunch, the atmosphere. But something wasn't clicking the way I'd hoped.

And then there was Around the World in 80 Days.

Directing and performing Phileas Fogg simultaneously while managing set construction, sound design, lighting, and a cast doing their absolute best with the time we had — it was a lot. More than I'd anticipated. The challenges were real, and they were mounting, and at a certain point something had to give. I chose the production with a cast depending on me, an audience with tickets already in hand, and an opening night on the horizon.

As of posting this blog we have had our opening week, and first 3 shows. We pulled it off in the 11th hour. An intimate audience on the Friday night, a big crowd of 80 on Saturday matinee and then back to an intimate audience of 38, which all helped the performers to gie everything they had, and the production finally found its feet. That felt like enough.

But here's what I want you to know about Co-Stars.

YouTube was always part of the plan. From the very beginning, the idea was to make Co-Stars as accessible as possible — to reach families who couldn't get to a park or a pub or a festival venue, who needed the story to come to them. The live show was one expression of that. YouTube was always going to be another.

When the ticket sales weren't coming, it didn't feel like defeat. It felt like a nudge back toward something I already knew.

What you're going to see on YouTube is essentially the show. Me, the illustrated story images, the sound effect cues, the world of Jules Verne reimagined with a steampunk twist — all of it. What's missing is the live star projection, the suitcases opening in the room with you, the particular magic of a child realising the story actually needs them in that moment. That part is still coming. I haven't let go of it. I know exactly how From the Earth to the Moon and Back works as a live experience, and one day — in a park, or a library, or somewhere unexpected — we'll do it properly.

But for now, the story is ready. And I want you to see it.

**Here's what's happening:**

In the coming days if you become a free subscriber you will be able to RSVP to see Co-Stars: From the Earth to the Moon and Back one week before it goes live on YouTube — a private premiere, just for the people who've been part of this journey so far.

When the video goes public, it'll be free on YouTube for four weeks — a theatrical run, the same way a stage production would have a limited season. During that window, the Join In Edition eBook will be available on a pay-what-you-wish basis, because accessibility has always been at the heart of what Co-Stars is trying to do.

After four weeks, the video moves to rental-only. The eBook goes back to its regular price.

And while all of that is happening, I'll be filming the next Co-Stars story.

The suitcase is still packed. The story is still ready.

It's just going somewhere you can watch it from your couch.

— Nathan

Theatre, just not as you know it.