tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32507928442973844772024-03-13T00:35:52.318+00:00Bulletin Editor South WestOccasional online journal entries of Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W.'s Editor & writer, performance poet & storyteller S.V.Wolflandbulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-86489412210392708682013-07-06T19:20:00.004+01:002013-07-30T15:53:47.996+01:00Exeter Respect FestivalThe first weekend in June and it was time for the Exeter Respect Festival held in Belmont Park (which as ever was completely transformed into a miniature version of the summer rock festivals which just - to everyone's surprise - packs up shop at 6 o'clock). It was very impressive how, despite all the funding cuts, everyone pulled out a stop to put on as big a community show as ever, and it really does feel more like a 'festival' than just a community event. This time, the person who used to be in charge of the cabaret programme was no longer involved, and so it was up to us to find acts to fill the whole weekend! After a lot of hard work and many kind offers from talented folks, we had a packed line up covering most artforms, with which we were mighty pleased.<br />
On Saturday we had the ever-wonderful Kimwei, (whom I believe was booked for 3 different venues during the Festival, and so had to be careful to not clash with herself!) who did a fantastic set with her usual professionalism and assured and gifted playing and voice. What a way to start the festivities! We had a Taking the Mic Festival Special, with Exeter's premiere open mike showcase coming out to play from its home at the Phoenix Arts Centre, hosted by the warm, wise and witty poets, slam champ Tim King and actress Morwenna Griffiths, the latter dazzling in pink. We were treated to sets from the sizzling Clive Pig, the delightful Jackie Juno, excellent sets from James Turner and Solomon Doornails (aka Chris Gower) amongst others, and they were kind enough to have asked us to perform as part of it too! So despite hosting the venue and doing some storytelling, we actually got to do some spoken word too! I did some performance poetry and Deor aka Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher did again his incredibly moving tribute / funeral oration to his Father, who had so recently passed away. Kind folks said how moving it was, and one guy how it had reminded him of his own dad.<br />
The day ended with a truly stomping set by the phenomenal Val Crowe, and those of us who hadn't seen her perform before were staggered as to how come we'd managed to miss her so far? She was instantly booked as the guest performer for the June Taking the Mic, and I was immensely sorry to miss her (as it clashed with Glastonbury). Her deft and sultry voice and thundering guitar are of rock god proportions and not to be missed! She looked the part too in DMs and pink hair and there were video cameras going aplenty.<br />
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On Sunday we were lucky enough to have the amazing Dave Sawyer with his exquisite and haunting Sanzachord (an instrument of his own design as he is a fantastic visual artist, much concerned with sound and who often combines the two to make extraordinary aural objet). He mixed thrilling solo improvisations with harmonies in accompaniment to the word of James Turner (author of the 'Forgeries' poetry collection) which they perform as the duo 'Sanzastanza' and it was spellbinding as always.<br />
Next we had the brilliant Substance and Shadow Theatre performing teaser extracts from their new play 'Skin Deep' all about ska, punk, skins and reggae music subcultures of the 1980's. It looked absolutely gripping, as they gave us a flavour of four of the characters with adroit skill, leaving everyone wanting to know more! It was absolutely wonderful to host such a talented theatre company (the day before their first performance for the Ignite Festival of Theatre), and with such a great play too. We've played a previous play of theirs on the 'Phonic Drama Show' and I have to say it was our favourite so far! They deal fearlessly and humourously with heavy topics such as sexual identity crises and social unrest, but with care, empathy, insight and aplomb. Rosie and Mitch Mullin are terrific writers and all four of the cast were fine actors - Superb!<br />
Then we had the Sidewalk Anthem, comprised of the really lovely Julie Yount and very fine singer Stuart Wills. Julie's voice is so sweet and classic, just a perfect distillation of the folk/pop singer genre that I was amazed to find that Stuart's voice was melodious (and beautiful) enough to compliment perfectly! Two such great singers in one band! So that (to my surprise) whichever of them started singing (and together they were amazing!) I knew after hearing a few bars that we were all in for a real treat. The day ended with Linda Dumchen doing some lilting cover versions to bring our festival cabaret to a fitting close.<br />
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It was so hard - so soon after Matthew's Father's funeral - to get one's head into such a different space. On Friday, we put up the tipi three times - and three times it fell down, once into a rose bush! Unheard of - but we were so tired that I couldn't even read the instructions, and so all the mistakes were ones we've never made before - not tying the rope round the poles, not tying the lift pole to the canvas...! Doh! And the idea of hosting a cabaret for a whole weekend after so many heavy conversations and all that grief - well, it can be imagined how unappealing the entire weekend was to us beforehand. So we were doubly grateful to all our acts for being just so amazing, and lifting us out of ourselves by their talent and energy! Special thanks must go to the incredible Kimwei (her sound system was excellent to borrow!), Tim and Morwenna, the former again and Gabrielle for all their help and TLC with tea and homebaked biscuits when it was all over! And Julie and housemate Iggy for unexpected kindly help at the end too. Thanks folks, we really couldn't have done it without you!bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-2390300000687781602013-07-06T18:41:00.000+01:002013-07-06T18:41:01.723+01:00The Roving Theatre Poetry FestivalIn May (and I had no intention of leaving it so long to update this blog!) playwright and former artist-in-residence at the Globe Theatre Peter Oswald and his company, came to the Bike Shed Theatre for a fortnight to take up a residency there, with his extraordinary new verse play 'Lucifer Saved', prefaced by poetry performances by various talented poets, and a number of Poetry Nights, including with performances by his award winning other half, the well known poet Alice Oswald. I was lucky enough to be asked to perform as part of one of the Poetry Nights, and to my delight, Peter Oswald actually performed a verse version of the story of Egil's poem The Head Ransom, adapted from the C12th Egilsaga! It was wonderful to hear, not least as the story and the poem are still not nearly as well known as they should be. Richard Thomas of Symmetry Pebbles magazine did an amusing and thoughtful set, and slam champion Aisling Fahey gave a warm, witty, heartfelt and very mature set provoking both laughter and the occasional tear. It was really delightful to perform alongside such company. Huge thanks to all of them and especially Peter Oswald and Simon Williams.<br />
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What was also so lovely was simply the fact that the festival was a perfect fit - I have been trying (in various forms, before settling on a storytelling theatre as it seemed that gave people an easier handle on it for booking purposes) to combine poetry and theatre from not long after I left college! But when I touted 'The Poetry Theatre' I was still surrounded by obstacles, and so never really gave it its fullest chance to shine. That said, there were some interesting gigs - I'll not forget performing 'The Secret Garden', a set of glorious garden related poetry (and three of my own involving nature) in a constructed 'bower of bliss' to open a garden sculpture exhibition at Ilminster House arts centre in Somerset! A beautiful building, and it was tremendous fun to do (if nerve-wracking trying to build a garden arch etc. indoors when I had so little experience of such things!). Since then companies such as Live Canon and The Lion's Part have done similar things to acclaim. And I have woven poetry into various shows which we've done - but who knows, perhaps 'The Poetry Theatre's time is yet to come?bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-37112809918667507162013-02-04T17:57:00.002+00:002013-02-15T17:47:14.979+00:00The 'Standing Up for Freedom' Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have always loved Philosophy. Even while finishing my 'A' Levels, and asked what I planned to study, I replied that (while English and Drama seemed on the cards) I was much tempted by Philosophy, much to my drama teacher's horror! (In the end I did Writing and Philosophy.) But a full show tracing the evolution of a single concept? The history of the very idea of 'freedom'? Now that, I thought, would be really something! And so it was. Last night, in the Northcott Theatre Bar, on an intimate stage, played in and out by Rachmaninoff's Piano Concertos, Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher presented his new full length show 'Standing Up for Freedom' - and it was frankly brilliant. Cicero, Kant, Marx, Socrates, Neitzsche, Foucault, and Thomas More's Utopia all featured, along with Hegel, Rousseau and Deleuze. From Kant's paradoxical speech making us wonder if he is the most radical or reactionary? To Neitzsche's hilarious skit on the Kant, from Marx's impassioned critique of how industrialized society was/has evolved, to Alcibiades' spilling the beans on love, we were treated to a rip roaring rollercoaster ride through Western thought and the whole idea of freedom - individual freedom, freedom within a state, freedom given by others or freedom lent by perspective, the many faceted crystal of it all was explored and polished up to shine anew in a scintillating, and sometimes extraordinary new light. Having laughed at Rousseau's dandyism or Hegel's quirky snuff-taking, been foxed by Foucault's twist at the end or swept up on a desire to see Utopia, we then ended with the Trial of Socrates, that key moment in the founding of Western philosophy - and it was as moving, funny, poignant, eye-opening, devastating and beautiful as Plato himself could have wished. We roared our lines (as the audience played the people of both Konigsberg and Athens) and delivered the sentance, and then it was time for the music to play out...and as the Stand Up Philosopher took his bows, there were a few questions from the floor, and then it was time to get drinks and folks bought books (and my Philosopher's Oracle Boxes too!), we caught up with lovely friends who had come, and of course mingled with the rest of the audience, who did not at all appear to think that an hour and a half of philosophy was too much! People said how well it worked having the unifying narrative of tracing one idea, how it was better to engage with than only as short pieces on a mixed bill (excellent though they are), asked when and where they could see him perform again, sounded enthusiastic about the idea of further shows on different themes...all in all, it was a very successful evening, Matthew performing really well, with well-timed changes of jacket and hat, and some great (but not distracting) props, leaving folks wanting more... The lighting was very good, the back of the stage in red, a spotlight to the fore, and all around a purple wash alternating with dark blue, the Theatre Bar a deliciously intimate setting (packed!), with circular tables all candlelit. It definitely proved that philosophy and theatre mix well, that knowledge, and ideas can be presented as performance art, that ideas, in the right hands, CAN be brought truly alive, and without compromising their meanings. bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-90894403328857197812012-11-01T20:30:00.003+00:002013-07-30T13:46:21.686+01:00The Castle of Dreams & Nightmares<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After months of planning, preparations and sundry site visits, the interactive performance with enchanted garden installations which were our Halloween Tours for English Heritage at Old Wardour Castle are over. Done and dusted - and after all the stress and last-minute hassles, the gruelling nature of setting up and performing when it was around 3 degrees C on Saturday and colder in the night! and wet on Sunday, and all the rest, on Monday we woke to the rest of the packing. To talk of anti-climax would be understatement. Tuesday and (despite being tired and strangely averse to getting cold) finally the exhilaration came. Thrilled to the core, it washed over me at last. Strange as it may seem, beforehand (with everything to arrange, sort, co-ordinate and generally worry about) was not a helpful time for excitement. During it, as I kept walking across the courtyard lit up with shadowy creatures,<br />
or went up the main staircase and to the upper hall with its lighting and shadow-tableau, it's prisoners at the grilles, or through the Grotto covered in unicorns/nightmares and goblin-faces, or across the lawn with its beautiful gobos and lit by the near-full moon, I had moments where I knew it was an amazing thing to be doing, a wondrous thing to have been commissioned to create...but of course, I had no time, or very little, to stop and admire. Hence the startling lack of good images of key vistas and moments, (or indeed the performances themselves). I was aware that Narcissus the Nightmare (most beautiful of the company's unicorns, and the one that's most wearable) on his stand at the topmost alcove of the Grotto's dry waterfall, with an organza cascade falling below him to level after level and lit by our finest colour-changing outdoor spotlight, and all around the glory of the structure of Joseph and Josiah Lane of Tisbury's magnificent rockwork Grotto of 1792, the viridian dappling of the gobo light on the lawn stretching away before the scene...was both astounding and (in my view at least) returning the Grotto folly and C18th garden to something of its original purpose. But still, I could not give myself to elation until (conversely) it was all over, and fully accomplished. On Tuesday it came - the realization fully that it was one of the projects that I had most wished to do, that we had been given a large enough canvas to test ourselves and had shown what we could do. The kind of exhilaration and thrill that rarely accompany a task. It was the kind of thing one is in this line of work for. Those moments that somehow vindicate one's artistic vision. 'The Castle of Dreams & Nightmares' comprised them both! The gods of Old Wardour Castle were with us that night, it seemed. Huge thanks to our amazing team, Mandy Rodgers (fabric master!) and Lewis Reford (tech supremo!), Andi Branston for turning up on Sunday to help take all the stuff back to Devon despite everything he'd just had to cope with, and all the English Heritage team who made us feel so welcome - Sally, Greg and company, and to Charlie for booking us. And lastly...Old Wardour itself. To quote the script - 'The only hexagonal castle in the country, Ladies and Gentlemen - and that is NO coincidence!'bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-37047917739087256292012-10-22T14:34:00.000+01:002013-07-30T13:43:24.990+01:00Halloween Tours at Old Wardour Castle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Haven't meant to neglect the blog, but we have been so busy putting together preparations for the Halloween Tours at Old Wardour Castle for English Heritage! There's a lot of variation in this job, and this project is no exception! For four (!) tours a night for two nights (the weekend before Halloween) at four different sites throughout the Castle and Gardens, Widsith & Deor Storytelling Theatre will be presenting 'The Castle of Dreams & Nightmares'! Which will be an interactive performance tour with arty dream and nightmare themed installations, enchanted garden lighting, sound, special effects, sculptures (some life size), figures and masks, with storytelling and poetry woven into the plot, in magnificent historic surroundings. Old Wardour is one of the most atmospheric ruins in the country, and is Britain's only hexagonal castle. It is Mediaeval, but surrounded by a delightful C18th landscape including one of the finest Grottoes still extant, and a charming Banqueting House. It also overlooks a lake and is backed by glorious woodland.<br />
It has been months in preparation, and (despite all the writing of scripts, rehearsing, site visits, making maps of entrances, exits, passages and alcoves, making things/creatures/figures, buying and fitting of lighting of all kinds, spotlights, floodlights, fairylights, single small spots, lanterns, oil lamps, torches...! delivering stuff there, carting it all the over the site, making props lists etc.) of course there are always last minute issues. We thought that two of the core Collective members were definitely coming - but the sister of one has just passed away, sadly, and the funeral is the day before. We thought that another associate might have been coming, but conversely, his partner is about to deliver a baby. We had of course planned the whole thing so that (if we were to have no other cast or help at all) we could just about manage everything ourselves, at a push. However, we definitely have two members of the Collective coming, which is great, although again, one of them is without her vehicle! Which complicates camping and transport co-ordination.<br />
On the good side, we have been given permission to use the Banqueting House as our 'green room'! And when we have gone to try out the lights and visuals there, it has all looked rather amazing. So, while on the one hand one should only be excited, one is actually stressed, and will be relieved most of all, once it's all over, it is well to remember that elation (especially when something takes a lot of preparation and hard work) often comes afterward. If you manage to enjoy yourself while there, that will be a bonus! There has been so much 'lugging' and journeying involved in all this! But we have had moments of inspiration when putting the finishing touches to the Shadow Lord (all 6ft of him!) or putting together Dr. Cecelia Davenport's (one of our characters) study or Julius de Winter's (our other main character) props, or the moments when one of the figures' lights will come on that should take people's breath away, that has all made it quite an experience already. We have really had a chance to stretch ourselves with the special effects in a location that is finally a big enough canvas to encompass something of the full range of our ideas, and that has been (if stressful as things must have a work-like-clockwork element) rather wonderful in a way. We have got a lot out of the project already (despite swearing and lifting heavy and unwieldy things, packing and unpacking a lunatic number of times a crazy amount of stuff) due to those eureka! moments. Those times when you think 'that's perfect there!' or 'that will really work' or 'that fits exactly' whether a visual, a light, an effect or something included in the 'plot'.<br />
When we went around Kensington Palace earlier in the year and thought 'these visuals, these interactive performers! This is SO what we would have done ourselves!' I loved it completely, my only wish was that some promoter would give us that kind of huge canvas and a budget to see what we would do with it. Well here it is - a Medieval Castle with an C18th Grotto and Gardens...in many ways this is what the ongoing project that is Widsith & Deor productions has been lying in wait for... It's a very strange feeling. I am too cynical, or rather, too much of an experienced weather&event foot-soldier, hence too hard-bitten if you like, from all the mud-spattered, break-even, "wtf" events which we have done to feel exhilarated. But if this comes off, as I hope and think it might, then... Watch this space!<br />
<br />bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-35519970172855831972012-09-25T19:57:00.001+01:002012-09-25T19:57:38.853+01:00Beautiful Days - onward and upwardAfter a hectic summer including Dorchester Play Day right after the Beautiful Days, we are gearing up for a Halloween event at Old Wardour Castle in Wiltshire - a lot of work! The festival was good, despite the worst lot of rain we'd seen there. It just dried up enough to get off site without tractors on the Monday! The workshops went down a storm, we were packed to the rafters as usual. I was especially pleased to hold my all-ability workshop host corner, where the very unconfident or small can make headdresses or mobiles and the older or more ambitious can make dreamcatchers, whilst those in between can design themselves some wings! And of course with Deor's leather workshop running alongside, we can kit people out completely! Wings, headdress, leather wristbands, a dreamcatcher round your neck (depending on size), leather head band, you name it, the possibilities are endless! I was stupidly delighted when a participant (parent, child or teenager) made an especially good mobile, as they are my own design. It was great to catch up with Andi and Mandy of the Collective, and really good to work with Lewis at last who stepped in to the breach at the first Beautiful Days commission, when we were doubled booked and had to go to the Sunrise OffGrid instead. We also ended up doing an hour and a half of storytelling each day as one storyteller had had to drop out! So it was just us and Kulchalee to hold the fort each day! Lastly we were put on in the Majical Youth big top, but as well as being a mudbath, the sound system gave up (I don't know whose it was) as did the back up, so we were left yelling across an empty acoustic - exhausting for the voice, so all in all we worked hard. But being with the Collective who are always such good fun, and a bottle of Pimms (thanks to the ever-wonderful Deor!) got me through!<br />
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Then on the Wednesday afterward, we were lucky enough to have Mandy with us to help out at Dorset Play Day - rammed as usual, and Carol the organizer complimented me on being 'so patient'! As she came in while I was showing three different participants of varying skill how to make dreamcatchers, while cutting fabric for a much smaller headdress-maker. It was very kind of her - although what I was going for was super-efficient and keeping-one's-head rather than patient! No one was being unreasonable, just all-at-the-same-time! Mandy was great to have with us and was amazing at folding up the huge and unwieldy tipi pvc flooring into a square! I was much impressed. And we all had supper at the Imperial, a beautiful pub with a Brunel conservatory near Exeter St. David's railway station. And then we would have been off to another festival...but as they hadn't paid us from last year! 'A Sussex Peepshow' the diary of travelling Punch & Judy performer, Walter Wilkinson in the 1930's sums up the life of the travelling player perfectly...bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-71619383825306602082012-08-27T20:38:00.000+01:002012-08-27T20:38:07.225+01:00Science Day Following on from the previous post; We did Science Day in North Devon in June as usual, but this time at Bideford College instead of the lovely lawn at Tapeley Park. But it did mean protection from the weather! And it was good to see that the smaller tipi which Deor devised himself could be put up in an indoor environment with high enough ceilings to great effect. It was a busy day, folks loved the storytelling and masks. We sold nothing at all, but then it was the wrong kind of crowd as different people seemed to come to those who come to Tapeley Park, despite the event always being under the auspices of the school. It was sad too as the charming Yolande who has kindly booked the Collective year after year for workshops in writing and colours of the rainbow, writing and soundscapes, junk carnivals and Science Day itself in schools and at the Park in N.Devon many times, (and indeed bought, read and liked 'Porlock the Warlock'!) is leaving Bideford College for Jersey. She will be sorely missed, and I and the whole Collective would like to thank her for all her support and her belief in the Collective and in Widsith & Deor.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-58868754946918354782012-08-27T20:08:00.000+01:002012-08-27T20:08:21.761+01:00A Busy (and Sideways) Summer It seems incredible not to have updated this blog for so long, but so much gets in the way (and to be honest, Facebook doesn't help). However, since the last post about being a guest poet, there has been the SOS Global Challenge (July) or the 'Things you can never learn; Don't whatever you do accept an invitation to perform at an event which you can see no possible reason for anyone to come to. If you can't, the public won't either!' And why can you not learn it? Because of those times when enough confirmations haven't yet come through, so you're worrying about say practice pitching your marquee or whatever...Well don't. Something else will turn up, and you'll wish you hadn't! As I say, some lessons almost can't be learnt. You think it's something you wouldn't dream of doing again and then...<br />
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But this whole summer has been one of communication failure. At first we (Widsith & Deor Storytelling Theatre) thought our first main festival (after the Exeter Respect) would be the Imploding Inevitable Festival (in Cumbria) and then (having booked us ages before), they cancelled the booking saying that they hadn't had enough ticket sales to cover performer's fees, and so were pretty much only having music and comedy and reducing the festival! So first of all, we thought we were going to Cumbria, then it seemed that we weren't...Next the Nova Festival got back to us asking for more details, as they had only just seen our e-mail as it was stuck in their spam filter! So we packed off the details, but of course (as we hadn't been given a mobile number or similar) it happened again, and so they got the details too late! The same kind of thing happened with the Boomtown Fair (again, we had the availability check), and of course we didn't do Glastonbury or the Big Chill as both weren't running due to the Olympics! And then, just when we were thinking everything had fallen through...Kendal Calling got back to us - where was our risk assessment form? What? we asked? We'd been booked, but this time it was us who hadn't got the e-mail...! So off to Cumbria it was, after all...<br />
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bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-6963600949592365802012-06-11T20:45:00.000+01:002012-06-11T20:45:10.449+01:00Taking the Mic - Great to be a GuestIt's no longer May, but then I've had a lot of things getting in the way of regular blog post paste ups! But here it is, a little later than planned.<br />
It was great to be asked to be the guest performer at the Phoenix's monthly spoken word, music, comedy and variety extravaganza, 'Taking the Mic', by charming poet hosts the Festival Slam Winning Tim King, and Poetry Columnist for the Express & Echo, Morwenna Griffiths. I chose (as it seems to be going down really well with people) an extract from a sequence which I'm currently working on called 'The History of This House in 50 Objects', which charts the people who live in / drop in and out of / return to / interact with a place that is or becomes part artistic community, part eco-gypsy camp, and part inadvertent foster home to a whole range of folks. It deals with moments and happenings and glimpses of the past through the objects which they've left behind, intentionally or otherwise. The sequence seems to really interest people - after presenting a piece or pieces from it, I always get people coming up and thanking me or asking me if it's real, or saying they'd they'd like to see one of the objects etc.. It's a strange project to be working on, and in a way I'm definitely not 'writer material' and have the soul of a visual artist or performer - despite words being at the core of all I do - because I have (habitually) not wanted to write about people (!) thinking it rude and intrusive, especially without asking first. And, while not meaning to be 'precious' about it, have hated it when fellow writers have written me into plays or poems (always - from my own perspective at least - so ill drawn as if seen through a distorting mirror, or merely reflecting a point they wished to make that wasn't to do with the supposed 'original character'). And in '50 Objects' I face that problem. Of course none of this will be the way the protagonists see themselves - how could it be? Is it moral? Can it be right? (And why is it different to people writing a cliched / distorted image of the author?)<br />
Well, I've thought long and hard, and come up with the following. Firstly, the people who have written things referring to others are often just friends, and mostly not close friends either. The people in '50 Objects' by contrast all lived together, sometimes cheek by jowl, they were - in the pre-C20th meaning of the word 'family' - a household, the people of the household, which is a distinctly different relationship with different ties and duties. Secondly, once you have suffered at someone's hands or on their behalf, I think it gives you more latitude over your shared past together. Thirdly, many won't remember and over half never read books, most never read poetry. So the chances of them coming across it to be offended are quite low. And those that do or might or who would mind? Those are the ones (I believe) who have least right to, being the ones who made it necessary to write as 'therapy' in the first place. A forfeited right, if you like, like a prisoner imprisoned for a crime and having no television perhaps. And then the names have been changed to protect people. And finally it has been 'fictionalised' to save the parallels being too obvious. In a way, also - the things left behind ultimately belong to whoever claims them. And the stories attach themselves to the things. I don't leave things about or with others for just those kinds of reasons. But if you have left all this stuff, then the duty of care for the material remains of the past passes out of your hands and into another's. And I am not claiming 'to truly know' all these people. Only describing their actions, their words, and sometimes their actions toward me. Is that right? I can only say that - after all that has happened, it feels justified, and in parts even just. I have been told that while depressing (!) in parts, that the portraits which it paints of the inmates are rounded, and that I always mention the positive sides / redeeming features etc. in each one. The things that explain their darker actions. And that is what I intend. No one is without virtue or good sides here, and I am not pretending to be without flaws either. The narrator in the text is an observer not a hanging judge. I have also been told not to have such scruples, and that that's 'just what writers do'. But I (who for <i>preference</i> have always written of colours, forms, landscape, structure, ideas, philosophy, politics, gardens etc., and then dialogues but between people I know well with their permission) hope that always when I do write of human relationships (and not just in a diary or journal or a fantasy/sci fi novel!) that it will be as ethical as I can make it.<br />
On a less serious, or rather less soul-searching note! people have also called it (quite a few times now) 'inspirational', which is very kind. I am guessing this is to do with the Spinoza-ist style tiny 'democracy' in action from time to time, or the 'I am my brother's keeper' elements; also the 'let's all live together and make art' moments. (Even now I must write in an abstract way when writing about it, for all that it deals with emotions as some writers have dealt with every sordid detail in film noir novels). Anyway, people respond to it, and I keep writing more of it, so something feels right. 'The History of This House in Objects' is the history of a shared house, the house itself, the people who come and go, the things they leave or give, the tales that belong to the things. I guess it was writing about the objects themselves first that gave me the key, and the rest of it came pouring out once the floodgate was opened.<br />
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It was a good night, performing an extract from it at Taking the Mic as a guest. Many performers seemed to be on top form, so it was a really buzzy evening. The Stand Up Philosopher (rather appropriately) did a 'Best of All Possible Worlds' set by Leibniz! Which went with the theme of - what is this I have been given? How do I make the best of it? Jackie Juno and Jon Freeman's sets especially also seemed to go with the confessionals-as-art side of the theme, with some very moving and emotive work, so all in all in a strangely fitting combination/setting for '50 Objects'. Big thanks to all the other performers on the night, and huge thanks to Morwenna Griffiths and Tim King for asking me!<br />
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bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-43539982483621016612012-04-16T20:54:00.001+01:002012-04-19T17:55:27.385+01:00The Showreal Showcase ShowPhew! What a night it was, and more epic than I had thought to put it together! Deor aka the Stand Up Philosopher and I thought a couple of months ago - wouldn't it be great if there was a showcase event where folks could do sections of shows that they haven't enough footage of yet (in this age of the showreel-for-everything) that they're trying to sell to promoters who (understandably enough) say 'have you got any video of it?' to. And that maybe if we asked a friendly venue like the lovely Bike Shed Theatre if they had a free evening for it, we could solve the problem for ourselves and a bunch of other artists with the same issues! And so the Showreal Showcase Show was born. We printed flyers and posters, put them in places round town like the Phoenix Arts Centre, and posted it up on Facebook and associated pages, and waited...e-mails started coming in - folks were interested, and signing up! Excitement mixed with anxiety characterises the charting of a new venture, and I wondered what made it different form organizing events which we've previously put together? Well, firstly it was a number of other people, half of whom we didn't know. Which made it different from the hassles of putting on our own shows or something like the CCANW fundraiser, or the Glastonbury Poetry&Words Tent, where one was asking folks one knew. Secondly, there was printing the programmes at the last minute. This has often been near the end of the process, but again, not with the added responsibility of getting it right for other artists. Doing the promotion? We never enjoy that (I know it's wrong! but we never have - both naturally shy! Daft for performers but surprisingly common), and we had to do the lot - because of the dates there was no in-the-brochure back up, just us, and our two radio shows and Facebook etc. and Spoken/Written. Or was it writing intros for everyone? And so trying hard to get it right, while at the same time doing all the usual - the sound and lighting in an indoor theatre venue, positioning our own lighting (and new fog machine), changing into costume and character, carting the machines and costumes and props and books and sign and all the rest in and then out again, psyching up for our own performance, remembering it, the very different 'energy' of performing (when it's all masks, cloaks and coat tails/top hats) to compering or doing tech stuff...And so having to combine the lot. May be that was it. But it was hard work and it was stressful - and explained to us why no one was already doing it! Although something of the same was being done previously in the wonderfully experimental acoustic open mike settings of the Exeter Catweazle Club, followed by Duckaroo, both hosted by the wonderful Kimwei Westbury and The Jon Freeman. <br />
The logic was to film everyone and give give all performers a free DVD of their slot. And be (to begin with at least) free for the audience. We got there, and David Lockwood one of the co-Directors of the Bike Shed Theatre was extremely kind and helpful in showing us how to operate things/where things were, like how to use the lighting controls etc. We unpacked the van, folks started to arrive, all the performers turned up, some audience and supporters too, and (if flustered by worry and lack of time in the days running up to it and last-minute printer hassles/paper jams), we began!<br />
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We kicked off with a dance troupe called Stillmoving Dance, doing 1950's style number, which was a lovely lively and engaging way to start the show! Followed by Tim King, co-host of Taking the Mic and slam winner of the Exeter Poetry Festival Slam, who did a sketch of a performance lecture on physics show which he's working on - wonderfully experimental and just the sort of unique act we were hoping the Showcase would attract! Engaging, informative, interactive, it had all the hallmarks and promise of a great-looking show to come. Next up was storyteller Sara Hurley of Blazing Tales - she told a section from her show about the River Dart and Dartmoor called 'River' - professional and polished folktales interwoven with beautifully poetic observations/descriptions of the moor and flow, woven together in a hypnotic tapestry. One minute she was a quirky character in the tale, the next she was inviting us to sit with her by a limpid pool, and feel the drop drop drop of the river on our skin...wonderful! A real treat. Then came popular performer Jeff Sleeman with a collection of comic poems, many hilarious, and all on themes of modern life, ending with a humourous song. Then after an interval (time to get changed etc.)<br />
we did our sector from the Carnival of Monsters - the Djinn Baltazare called forth from his box to tell a tale of his dealings with Sinbad the Sailor! I thought the huge bodymask with light up eyes looked splendid in the swirling smoke and coloured lights, and I think Il Vappo (my character the Ringmaster from Old Venice) is one of my favourite characters in our (Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre's) entire repertoire. People seemed to like it, and called it 'amazing'. And then we finished the evening with a spell-binding and show-stopping set from Kimwei, gifted percussive guitarist who stands beautifully poised on the contemporary classical/rock-pop divide, always either doing very deep pop music (with sort of folk backdrops) or accessible, danceable and delicious new 'classical' pieces. Last night was no exception and she wowed us all with a Latin mass she's been working on for the last four years, her voice (naturally more alto) hitting angelic soprano. A storm of applause ended an evening that had gone incredibly well for a first time show! And one where we didn't know what might happen next! We were so grateful to all the acts for being so brilliant and exactly the kind of thing we'd hoped for - experimental, variety of artform, things which folks had been working on for a long time, or were still wanting feedback on, or had performed as a full show a few times, but never got enough chances to do that favourite show (a familiar one for us too!).<br />
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Huge thanks to Stillmoving Dance, Tim King, Sara Hurley, Kimwei Westbury, Jeff Sleeman and of course to David Lockwood and the Bike Shed Theatre for having us! And lastly to our lovely supportive audience. We hope to be doing another in the Autumn, or perhaps before (but in another venue as the Bike Shed are booked till season's end) and are thinking of making it a once-every-two-months event. Stay tuned! bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-83669396113958855442012-03-05T20:24:00.002+00:002012-03-05T20:37:09.599+00:00Just back from Cardiff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAozpLWGRvvqMVW2_u15mTMY1gmg_d3eaVTOVVPvjYeN7spYfOT6UwqNan9Yec8vtkuTcknqWt0PZPbdJKBBeirg7-kFyxRhh1RsP30lVuLq_vARu9kWQFZ-E-eDK2pzUsP0Bv-l2yZ_Y/s1600/Dickensian+Twist+Slam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAozpLWGRvvqMVW2_u15mTMY1gmg_d3eaVTOVVPvjYeN7spYfOT6UwqNan9Yec8vtkuTcknqWt0PZPbdJKBBeirg7-kFyxRhh1RsP30lVuLq_vARu9kWQFZ-E-eDK2pzUsP0Bv-l2yZ_Y/s320/Dickensian+Twist+Slam.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br />
Just back from Cardiff and performing as a guest act at the Dickensian Twist Slam as hosted by the unstoppable Mab Jones with her boundless energy and charm, at the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, to celebrate the 200th centenary of Dickens and also World Book Day. We were there as Widsith and Deor's Monster Theatre! I.e. storytelling theatre but with a cast of 90% Monsters (bodymasks), presenting our new adaptation of Charles Dicken's Christmas story 'The Chimes'.<br />
It was good weather for travelling, despite a quick hail storm before Bristol! And then over the Severn and Wye Rivers, with what felt like driving over the Sea, the bridge was so vast, and then at last into South Wales. It had been far too long! and was good to be back (I used to go to South Wales a lot at one stage, although knew Swansea rather than Cardiff). Surprisingly, (having spent a lot of time formerly also in North Wales, and knowing West Wales a little and the Marches pretty well) I had never yet been to Cardiff but always meant to go, so this was the perfect opportunity. The weather cleared up, we found the Arts Centre and parked down a quiet road, and then it was off to have a quick look round before the evening show. Cardiff had a Castle which looked a complete mixture of styles! A wonderfully eccentric timeline through architectural fashions, and the city centre seemed full of interesting arcades, packed with small independent shops. We passed open air market stalls, one of which had the kind of stall I run myself, except that it sold chocolates: The signs modest, to-the-point and ever-knocked-over by the shy proprietor, who had toasting tongs to pick the chocolates up, which weren't ideal for the task. The goods themselves were large and square and evidently about taste and not fancy swirls or wrappers. The brown paper bags to put them in were also, purely functional - the emphasis was definitely on the goods themselves! And they were indeed, some of the finest chocolates I have ever had - amaretto and coffee were the chosen flavours, in plain chocolate, and they were freshly picked off the chocolate tree. Divine. No sales pitch, no fripperies, just some of the best-tasting chocolates a gourmet could wish for. The Bute Park looked lovely, we passed a view of the expansive waters leading to Cardiff Bay, and when at last it was time for a drink, we discovered that Wetherspoons had taken over a beautiful theatre building, The Prince of Wales. It had split levels with a modern but sympathetic and stylish spiral staircase, balconies and boxes with huge red velvet curtains fringed with gold in alcoves, a balcony above tiered with theatre seating, a bar where the stage had once been (it looked like), curtain still above where the proscenium arch must have been, a theatrical frieze, some striking - plasterwork? decoration over the proscenium arch as well, stained glass windows in unexpected places, an airy roof of exposed timbers over the upstairs bar, and altogether was (as well as a very busy pub) a magical space! And then (after a brief supper) it was back to the pleasant, airy, Chapter Arts Centre to unload the cargo of Monsters and meet Mab Jones, who had so kindly liked our Monster Theatre videos. There was a brief open mike, and then the slam proper, with people interpreting the C19th inspired element in a whole variety of different ways. To listing as many titles of Dickens' novels in a poem as possible (though I could've sworn he left out Bleak House!) to tacking the author's character, to lauding the age in which he lived in wry rhyme, to an almost dancer-like recitation/performance of a C19th poet (Browning), and many other takes, some more or less loosely having a nod to the theme. It was a very tough set of decisions for the randomly picked five judges, as at least five contenders were equally good, they just had very differing styles, so in a sense, it felt wrong to pick one above the others. But the most slam-friendly professional did just win, as something about the confidence that lots of bookings and experience brings tipped him upward in the judge's eyes, understandably, and he did have the most stage presence. Moreover draws can be so messy! And absolutely impossible between so many. But was still a pity to see folks who'd done so well in the first round get knocked out, and the five turn into just three, but the more slams I see, the more I just feel this is the nature of the beast. It's very rare that I've thought 'yes it should be x' and then it was, at the end. So I couldn't help but feel for all the finalists, but then it says much for the quality of the performances elicited by the slam! And of Mab Jones ability to attract such talent. She kept the pace moving with great aplomb - no mean feat with so many contestants, an open mike, AND two guest acts! Our own adaptation of 'The Chimes' seemed to go down very well, with myself as Toby, and Deor doing amazing quick-changes as all three aristocrats AND the goblin of the bells, all with bodymasks, three of them huge, and two with light up eyes. There was a heap of generous applause and I and Deor got lots of kind compliments, Deor about the masks (people just love them), and myself about the storytelling. 'I've never seen two person storytelling done in that way - it's great!' was a comment from one of the poets that left me glowing. 'Brilliant! That was spot on!' said one woman from the audience - I wish I'd said more in reply than just a sheepish 'Hey thank you!' but you always think of something more to the purpose long afterward! The evening finished with a Vaudeville act dressed as Queen Victoria with lots of showmanship, and then it was time for the show to end, and 'so to bed' as Pepys used to say!<br />
Huge thanks to the wonderful Mab Jones for having us!bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-32060268759520714732012-02-26T19:02:00.001+00:002012-02-26T19:09:25.871+00:00Bristol Acoustic NightAt last I got to Bristol Acoustic Night! The much-acclaimed, long running, and positively legendary acoustic evening at the Halo Cafe Bar in Stokes Croft, Bristol. I feature it regularly in Spoken/Written, have heard so much about it, always meant to go, but things kept cropping up, until at last, this half term, with a day and a half free, and one of those being a requisite Monday, at last I was free to go! Stokes Croft itself is an interesting area - so covered in graffiti that I wondered if it was a partial legacy of the graffiti festival which I'd heard about? There were a couple of images signed Banksy, and some very colourful pieces, some pretty clever at angles to trick the eye or reflecting the street, and one near a large crossing that looked as if was probably wonderful from a distance/the other side of the road, but the 'bigger picture' was, quite literally, not available close-up. It either looked (the whole area) terrifically arty or like a vision of street gang apocalypse! However, the trendy bars and stylish boutiques and shabby chic charity shops gave the lie to the latter and underlined the former. We found an especially comfortable cafe bar called The Social, with red leather sofas, fairylights, exposed brickwork, solid wooden tables and fantastic coffee, with free biscotti - some of the best I'd had, full of orange and lemon flavours.<br />
Then it was time to head on down to Bristol Acoustic Night, and the Halo was a smart restaurant/cafe/bar, with quite a large lounge at the back, where the Night was held. It had tables and chairs, and sofas as well, a well defined stage area with black backdrop and logo poster, professional PA and its own sound technician, reliable mikes, ambient lighting, and generally I could see at once why it was so well known. A great venue of good size and ideally equipped. Introductions and compering were done by Andi Langford Woods and Julian Ramsey Wade, with great aplomb and flair. The latter punctuating the proceedings with some heartfelt performance poetry including a very fine love poem at the end. Andi was charming and he and Hazel Hammond the tattoo poet ended the evening with a comic duo dialogue poem story. Acts were of a very high quality, but I must just single out Luke Blake and Guilia, the latter an excellent guitarist and the former with a really lovely voice, Hokkers a very talented singer/songwriter with a great vocal range, and Pink Sniper, whom I was rather surprised not to have come across before as he was a deadly political performance poet. Great performance, had presence, and the work was fantastic - blow after blow of sophisticated and punchy analysis of pop culture problems and attacks on mainstream notions with unremitting accuracy and thoughtfulness all wrapped with quirk, truth and terrific delivery (from memory of course). Just my cup of tea. And I agreed with him too!<br />
The Stand Up Philosopher gave a brilliant set - Foucault's History of Sexuality Vol. 1 condensed into under ten minutes, and it went down extremely well - he had some lovely comments, not least from a guy who said 'That was brilliant - I don't know much about Foucault, you must tell me in the interval.' And when I came back from the bar in said interval, they were indeed deep in conversation! Also Luke Blake (doing a PhD in - performing arts? and philosophy) said it was the 'most perfect expression' of the combination he'd seen. It was superb and the video is up on the 'Withywheel' YouTube Channel (the channel for all artists from the Cartwheels Collective). <br />
I did a sequence from a poetry performance called 'The Maze of Love' and it seemed to go down well too. All in all, a great night with some truly fine talents, and some I'd really like to see again! Well done everyone, and big thanks to Andi and Julian for having us!bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-3499233571233208742012-01-22T18:33:00.000+00:002012-01-22T18:33:18.583+00:00That Time of Year Again...Well after the Christmas and New Year break, it's that time of year again...Yep, time to go hell for leather on all the venues and event promoters whom you started bothering last September. A handful in September, as it was still the high from the last season. Then a few in October. More in November, and you always mean to do as many in December...but even if you don't flag, mysteriously offices shut earlier, folks are on leave, or simply it's more answerphone than staffed phones... And now it's time to hot up the pace, ringing all those whom you've e-mailed and who haven't yet replied, reminding those who've sounded interested, trying to get hold of those who've mentioned bookings in order to elicit firm dates (not least because of those who are asking when you're free - of course you as yet have no idea!). E-mailing again all those who've lost your details when they were away or off sick, and phoning new places to ask whom to contact. Filling in online forms for various festivals, and generally gearing up be a stalker - well, that's how it feels. My intentions are honourable - I just want some work, but now I know what days x works, when y has been on holiday for how long, and when they've been off sick, that z takes long lunches, that v never gets into the office before 10, that u always leaves early, and that o is only ever available on a Thursday... If I had been employed to check up on these folks about the amount of time they are actually in their offices, I'd have had a fat cheque or two by now! Sorry, I couldn't help being silly for a moment there, but it IS demoralizing trying to get hold of very busy people to get an answer to your question, and that being one of importance to you. It does one good to see the funny side from time to time.<br />
I was just wondering how many times I'd already rung x and y, when my co-performer Deor reminded me just how many times it took me to eventually get through to a certain big festival curator last season. Because it's only when you've caught their fancy or captured their imagination, whipped up their interest, that they give you their mobile number, and start calling you back. THEN communication becomes smoother and easier, simpler. But - you have to get to that point first. When you're booked and performing, everything feels right, and afterwards, with the festival programme or venue brochure tucked safely under your arm, you forget all about the huge amount of admin. - and I don't mind admin.! - but I mean the soul-destroying chipping away at the rock face, and the feeling of dogged warding off of despair that it induces - you forget about all that stuff that you had to do in order to make it happen. And it feels as if it was always going to be, that you would get these gigs.<br />
It wasn't of course. If it hadn't been for all that hard graft, it would never have got arranged. Promoters are busy. Festival organizers have to deal with dozens of acts, sometimes hundreds, depending on the size of their marquee, field or area. You have to convince these folks that they ought to remember you, that you will be great, and remind them of that.<br />
I only remember the curator ringing me back and everything going from there, negotiating the fee and parking permits. 'No' said Deor - 'Twenty phonecalls it took to get to that stage.' 'Twenty?' I gasped. But when he said it, I DID recollect - yes, unless you're at one of those gigs who just book you time and time again, that's the sort of effort we're talking about. The thing to keep telling yourself? 'Something WILL happen. I MUST just keep on'. And remember - it was like this last time, and the time before that... Call it the 'January Blues'.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-23073622596607030302011-12-21T17:10:00.000+00:002011-12-21T17:10:02.656+00:00Word Command Winter Panto!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8tV8kCrxhD9NGtGTt1iq7LWXdcrRNcAvS4ph4Ns_eER9UDCeVfnZ_WT1r3lfpQOrBz4rKk5yfL-YNWO5ncmtQ_81bD87PRi6VCIUfTS8_da0EgJsbDi8yAH20BC8l4VS4f7gDqYc3io/s1600/372905_196325730448576_57870340_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio8tV8kCrxhD9NGtGTt1iq7LWXdcrRNcAvS4ph4Ns_eER9UDCeVfnZ_WT1r3lfpQOrBz4rKk5yfL-YNWO5ncmtQ_81bD87PRi6VCIUfTS8_da0EgJsbDi8yAH20BC8l4VS4f7gDqYc3io/s1600/372905_196325730448576_57870340_n.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Time for Christmas shows and the Epicentre Book Cafe had a special Word Command last Thursday - the the Word Command Winter Panto! Hosted by and starring Bryce Dumont (as Bing Crosby, he was modelling it on past television specials!), Lucy Lepchani, Chris Brooks, Robert Garnham, ourselves Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre and others. Everyone had a Christmas twist, often comical, (Chris's classic audience-join-in rhyming was extended to bring in the festive season!) often thought-provoking (Lucy reminded everyone that the elderly are simply folks like everybody else who have lived longer - and had some asking for drugs of the illegal variety as a present!), and sometimes outre (Robert's surreal 'Wardrobe Man' and flashing-lights-with-antlers hat!). It all made for a delightfully seasonal mixture, as Bryce read out apologies of various Hollywood folks of the 'Golden Age of Cinema' to add to the fun.<br />
We did our new adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'The Chimes', one of his Christmas stories (but one which is told less often than 'A Christmas Carol', with some of our latest bodymasks. (Deor has been busy the last two months!). So Mint the Mouse Troll was Chief Goblin, Nosferatu acted as the Prime Minister, the King of the World played a merchant banker, and so on. I just played the one character - Toby, the poor message runner whom the story circles around. It was about fifteen minutes long, but due to those who unfortunately couldn't make it (the weather wasn't pleasant, with a lot of spray, rain and sleet on unlit roads), we did have time for it. And it went down very well! Folks were extremely kind about it, and we were very pleased with how it went. It's always so nice to have the opinions of fellow professionals who see a lot of acts and performances! So it really means something when they give praise. Big thanks to Bryce for having us, organizing it, hosting it all and making great coffee! And to Lucy, Chris and Robert for being so great to watch and saying such nice things! A Merry Christmas One and All!bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-70866442609911273112011-12-01T22:14:00.002+00:002011-12-01T22:14:33.074+00:00The End of the Line?<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Spoken/Written is in real financial difficulty. With so little money coming in, it hardly makes sense to spend the time putting it together which could be spent trying to work in other ways. For the sake of those who have paid, Spoken/Written will probably carry on until around next Easter. But after that – if it continues at all, it will be a reduced version. If Spoken/Written continues, it will just have to feature more news about the Collective – the arts network which hosts it – in order to have a reason to be. and to evolve as one of its early models – the Spiel Unlimited newsletter – evolved.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> My initial impulse, years ago as Editor was to run Spoken/Written Bulletin S.W. – as it was funded by the Arts Council through tortuous grant applications until July of last year – as some sort of Public Service Information station. Anonymously – I thought it would be somehow a trifle tacky to tell people it was actually edited by a poet, writer, performer and proof reader, themselves on the look out for gigs and freelance work. I imagined this to be somewhat self-serving and tawdry, so it was issued as if by magic like an automated system, with the aim of benefiting as many people interested in words as possible. After much nagging from people who were surprised to discover that I edited it, or that I still had the illusion that it was like the BBC, I gave in and started writing Editorials. At first with the idea of communicating things of interest which I had found out in the course of putting an Edition together. I suppose I thought people would feel gratitude for or desire to help something or someone so disinterested and virtuous (!). I have always suffered from too much C18th/19th century novel reading. (Whom did I think I was? Monsieur du Pont from The Mysteries of Udolpho?!)<o:p></o:p></span></div></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> But I have learned a lot since then. That unless you ask for aid, no one will give you it. That people think that because something ought to be funded, that means that morally it must be in some meta-sphere, and hence no one need bother. That generating goodwill is about more than providing a service, even if people say they value it. In fact that that it is often about selling yourself and your lifestory or quirks as a 'brand' (something that I at least find hard as the words 'brook, spirit and bear' spring to mind - although if I could grit my teeth, I suppose I ought). And 'getting your name out there'. Something that people can feel a 'personal loyalty' towards.</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;"> Finally, as Spoken/Written earned so little this month and has had no feedback for months, I must assume that some things also run their course. That, for a mixture of reasons, the main one of which is probably technology, that it is no longer as needed or as useful to folks as once it was. I have also learned that some kinds of idealism are just plain dumb, and that if no one understands what you’re doing or why, then you won’t get any credit for it and so really should not expect any. I guess I am just feeling 'disenchanted'. But then working on something for six years, founding it, nurturing it, getting a feeling of worth from it, and then looking at it coming to an end was never going to be easy. I've learnt a lot, got better at admin, got published in an anthology and a few zines, including my all time favourite, 20x20 Magazine, and been offered the odd gig, all as a result of Spoken/Written. I've also gained some much appreciated freelance editing work and grants consultancies. Three Arts Council grants (though stretched too far and perfectly reasonable pay has been drawn out to pittance). And a lot of experience in research, 'the scene', how internet searches work (invaluable) and all kinds of work skills and confidences arising out of them. It's been a ride. And perhaps most of all, I've had some very kind praise from subscribers and donations from those willing to dig into their pockets to support something they considered worthwhile - a zine which I created. And that has been very moving. I just wish I could have (as it's a remote-working job done almost all via e-mail) met more of those lovely folks in person. Well, I guess Spoken/Written says 'Thanks for the fish' guys. Take care and good night. </span></div></div>bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-65604637387108878582011-11-02T19:38:00.000+00:002011-11-02T19:38:32.282+00:00Exeter's Duckaroo ClubLast night's Duckaroo Club at the Bike Shed Theatre in Exeter was an intimate affair. (Its predecessor was the Exeter Catweazle Club and was held at the Speakeasy upstairs at Oddfellows, but for some reason many of the branches of the Club were closed by the organizers of the original Club, and so the Exeter branch metamorphosized into the Duckaroo Club, and is now held at the Bike Shed Theatre.) It's on after the show in the auditorium every Thursday night, and actually the format really works! Far from starting too late, it has a 'from 8.30pm' informal get-together in the stylish yet comfy bar of the Bike Shed, and once everyone's had time to relax and have a drink or something to eat, and actually catch up with each other (which one so often doesn't! having so many folks to say hello to at such events) properly, and then roll in at 9.30 to the stage and actual theatre. To my amazement, the set from the play was still there - well, thinking about it, during a run, of course it would be. But it meant that the thoughtful and theatrical designer backdrop was all ours for the evening, not to mention the lighting. I've been to cabarets and slams in the same theatre with bold lighting that was just functional - but this was warm, atmospheric and elegant. And, as performers, it seemed to me that all of us responded to having a proper 'stage environment' to perform in, by pulling out an extra stop. Despite clashing with two other popular events (the Blue Walnut in Torquay's Performance Poetry night and Uncut Poets at the Exeter Phoenix, which would always be the case with a weekly format) and so there not being many of us there, there was definitely the 'pin drop' ambiance for which the original Catweazle was famous. The host, gifted musician and singer Kimwei Westbury started the evening with a 'Symphony for Happiness' on guitar (which she plays as percussive as well) and started with a bang! A beautiful piece, hypnotic, absorbing, and like much of her work, neither rock/pop nor contemporary/classical but a wonderful and engaging mixture of the two. Arty, modernist, yet also accessible, harmonious and brilliantly danceable, it, like Bjork's music (the only comparison I could think of) is seriously intelligent acoustic pop, (I wouldn't describe it as folk) and doing something different and genuinely experimental whilst being really melodic. We then had the treat of the classically trained Stephen Yates on guitar, which was just spellbinding. He gave a wonderful mini-lecture on Paganini and the history/beginnings of the rock star cult/ure, in whose legacy we live, and it was so enthralling, I felt as if I was re-living the kind of experience which I had at the marvellous Medieval Music course I once went to at the WEA. He plays technically challenging and virtuoso pieces with terrific skilful dexterity and it was a real pleasure to listen to him, especially as he had chosen something wonderfully creepy and off-kilter in honour of it being close to Hallowe'en. During David Heathfield's story (a Katherine Brigg's tale of the Moon falling into the snares of the marsh creatures), both musicians extemporized which was magical, and after Katie Moudry telling a tale with her poetic turn of phrase and well-toned voice, Kimwei and Stephen finished the evening off with a joint improvisation! Which was, with two such gifted musicians, and improvisation-chemistry added, really something not to be missed. An evening stuffed with treats in other words.<br />
We (Widsith and Deor) did a section during the proceedings, of our 'Carnival of Monsters', giving the full introduction to the invocation, summoning of and speech by the Diabolo figure. We thought it went very well, and it was great to have a chance to do the whole thing, as of course at noisy drunken festival venues, you move swiftly on to the next monster to keep the pace of the evening. (But during festivals and cabarets it's best to perform it as cabaret, and not as the full theatre-experience which we are developing the full Monster Carnival as.) It was nice to shoot it past such an appreciative audience. <br />
Big thanks to Kimwei for organizing it! It was, as said, 'pin drop' magical.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-70245290121966465072011-09-22T17:39:00.002+01:002011-09-22T17:43:24.422+01:00PowWow Litfest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Z3R4plPoC2s402tM9fQjbcg5yA2zV6Vwx6-YPPkj-C-tl_L_K4cJuNtymqmBvIG3VfK4x_FF6CzZJIfNT3sJudM1Shijj9agmbxoaKSoYBpmu3C-dF1Pk098XeYzA2rug0U5ZGMeak0/s1600/powwow+logo+wb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Z3R4plPoC2s402tM9fQjbcg5yA2zV6Vwx6-YPPkj-C-tl_L_K4cJuNtymqmBvIG3VfK4x_FF6CzZJIfNT3sJudM1Shijj9agmbxoaKSoYBpmu3C-dF1Pk098XeYzA2rug0U5ZGMeak0/s1600/powwow+logo+wb.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This weekend it was off to Birmingham to support Deor as Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher. We arrived in the morning to catch up with good friend Robin (an artist/musician and mental nurse), and then set off for the venue. We parked nearby the capacious pub with its varied areas. The Prince of Wales in Moseley has an old world feel with leather settles with brass studs, bits of stained glass, is quite dark but in a Victorian railway kind of way, has moose head over one of the mantles and generally has the tobacco stained look on dark polished wood. However the function room is more cosy with jacquard cushions, and the larger garden another world! Under a roof, there are many antique-style tables and chairs including a very large octagonal table with classic motifs, colourfully upholstered on carved wooden dining chairs, with icicle fairylights. Then there is a kitchen (the only food?) only staffed at suppertime by folks who come in to cook vegetarian Indian 'street food' which looked authentic, a little shed that was a winecellar (!) seeling only wines, and advising on bottles looking French with bit of raffia attached and a little cart, and then a dodgy-looking pink lit lounge and then a large marquee with a tropical themed cocktail bar! Complete with bamboo, shells, cocktail bartenders in flowery shirts with loads of cocktail shaking going on, huge colourful drinks with endless straws and parasols, and the occasional flambe of said drinks, some of which looked like they were about to set the bamboo on fire! Plus a mixture of benches, ancient upholstered settle in a corner, red leather Chesterfield sofas (a feature at lit fests it seems! Velvet or leather, red or green!) and classy stools and modern solid pine benches, picnic tables and 'proper' tables, rectangular or bistro circles...all in all an extraordinary mixture of a pub!<br />
The Litfest was held in the garden, and the speakers and performers in the tropical area. There was a well stocked book stall, amusing comperes, representatives from both agents and publishers, plus a publishing debate, and creative work from authors including the organizer, novelist Andy Killeen, plus music and all in all a really buzzy atmosphere. The slam was a very interesting one, involving composing short pieces of fiction during intervals with the three heats spread out over the evening! Which explained the earnest-looking folks surrounded by sheets of paper in the corners. Much of the day and evening and the venue was packed, needing the steward and hand-stamp system employed for order and entry.<br />
Matthew Hammond the Stand Up Philosopher was at 9pm, and I went on to introduce him and the idea of 'stand up philosophy', also to mention the books and website (as that can really break frame when performing! when does one mention them?) and he then did four pieces, all of them brilliant - a thought provoking Foucault, still with the power to make one start with revelation, a timely, telling and funny rendition of Moore's fabulous fantastical satire 'Utopia', the searingly scintillating '3 Minute Marx', and to finish, Nietzsche's barbed but side-splitting critique of Kant, done as storytelling. Books were sold, hands were shaken, and folks said some lovely things. 'That was brilliant!' 'Highly entertaining' and 'really unusual' being some of them.<br />
All in all, it was a great weekend, with as as well the buzzy LitFest and storming set, a lovely afternoon wandering round parks and city streets with old friend Robin, stopping at the MAC arts centre for coffees, dodging the heavy showers by some miracle, and going round beautiful historic Worcester on the way up and hearing the organ thundering as the keyboardist was practicing at the stunning Gloucester Cathedral on the way back...with the Saxon ruins of the original building all picturesque just nearby...So ends the summer season of festivals - big thanks to Andy for making it end with a bang!<br />
And affectionate thanks to Robin and Clare for making it so extra special.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-6454471834271141942011-09-11T22:04:00.002+01:002011-09-11T22:07:32.586+01:00Then the Bunkfest!<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The following weekend, it was the Bunkfest, billed as music, dance, steam and beer! With storytelling, as last year in the lovely courtyard of the George Hotel and with Tim o'the Oak (from the Forest of Dean), and Tina Blibe (former secretary to the Society of Storytelling). And they were both charming to perform with! The Saturday and we did 2-6pm, taking it in turns, three sets and then a ten to fifteen minute break throughout the day, with a storyteller's corner where we all sat together to watch or to talk and drink companionably in the intervals. We heard some thoughtful tales, some hilarious, and some pretty wacky anecdotes too! And delivered tales and riddles ourselves, which went down well - the audiences we had, as Tim observed, were lovely! And built until folks were standing at the back with nowhere to sit, having come specially. The latter was very kind after a rendition of 'Tippingee' - 'I wish someone had been filming that, it was magic!' We used fabric to drape over the audience at various points, and it seem to work pretty well. Shucks.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Lastly, that night, at the aptly names 'Late Night Club' event held in the sports centre (it doesn't start until 11pm!), we did - after a very long day wandering round the stalls and attractions, watching dark Morris dancers, and missing things as usual as we were either on at the same time or getting ready to go on! - our Carnival of Monsters (a short version for a late night and very drunken audience). After carting in all the monsters earlier and storing them under a large pool table, as directed, we then had to arrive and fish them all out again, plus signs, liaise with the host, and when I found out we were going to be on last! before the open sessions, I promptly went back to the van to go to sleep! asking Deor to wake me twenty minutes before we were on... In a way of course, it's a compliment to be the culmination or finale or whathaveyou of the evening... On the other hand, late nights are not my thing, as I tend to like to get up earlier in the mornings than that time pattern would permit.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> However at quarter to one in the morning, I was woken up, and in a terrible temper which I strove - and I venture to say managed - to master, I got up, got into costume, assembled the props, and then waited near the stage, until we were introduced, and I walked on, taking the microphone and announcing 'Welcome to Widsith and Deor Storytelling Theatre's one and only Carnival of Monsters!' or words to that effect. They were a rowdy crowd, of course, some there for the late bar and all mainly for music and dance, but they listened, shouted, and when the Diablo came forward, when I (as Il Vappo the Ringmaster from Old Venice) had summoned up the Devil, the place went silent, just for a few moments, and then booing and hissing as folks recognized 'who it was', and then joining in the banishing incantation at the end... It was a success! Rowdy, noisy, a bar and music environment, wholly unexpected as we were, we caught their attention, engaged their senses, and evoked their responses...afterward there was much praise, folks stopping Deor and requesting to take pictures of him as various monsters, and a lovely comment from the host 'Absolutely wonderful - I've never seen anything like it before.' That's what we like to hear!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> In the middle of the night in the alcoholic haze, I wondered (as we took the monsters back to their table to await being picked up at 8.15am on Sunday morning, and went back to the van to change and get some much needed sleep) how many would look back and wonder if it was a dream...it certainly seemed like one to me!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Big thanks to Dave of the Bunkfest for having us again, and to Tim and Tina for being such good comrades in tale telling!</div>bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-64243547185860190032011-09-11T19:48:00.005+01:002011-09-18T19:10:46.098+01:00Poetry UnpluggedThree days after returning from the Beautiful Days, it was time to be off again - to catch up with friends and family in Oxford/Oxfordshire and London/Surrey, and Poetry Unplugged at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden and then the Bunkfest in Wallingford.<br />
Niall Sullivan hosted with his usual aplomb and humour, and there were many quality acts, many newcomers having learnt their pieces and reciting/performing them with remarkable confidence and verbal dexterity. One performer even making the comic but time worn subject of essay deadlines (he was a student) more than engaging - moving, meaningful and rather original as well as involving the expected laughs! No mean feat. Another had a poem about the big cosmic stuff of the origins and size of the universe, mixing science, awe and some emotive/evocative strands about our place in it and what we should make of it. Most performed well, but those were the two (I haven't had time to write this blog as swiftly after events as I would have liked) at this distance that I recall most clearly. Matthew Hammond as the Stand Up Philosopher was scintillating as ever, and I think my set (I got it over with first as then I could relax, and no one else was volunteering to kick off proceedings!) went well. Folks certainly seemed to be listening, and fully engaged/interested as I handed them tiny presents with words in as part of the piece/set.<br />
Thanks to Niall for having us again and being so accommodating, and to our friend Nathan for coming along to support us again, and for a lovely day in Soho cafes and at the British Museum!bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-1240747114171814442011-09-11T19:04:00.001+01:002011-09-22T16:59:39.881+01:00Beautiful Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenpGpBdXZnSQ55i7FYJTiD1fKxUJGW6xVOIyfiFyI1ijNAQMuaOPQRhRsa1Znp8z4njipxd9nnP2v_Ya3ka9for90nMlDaFVSFiN5-AnsyfAurWO52H7ZSQVuIq3CJfCRVk4Xu6zxwZo/s1600/B.Days+logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjenpGpBdXZnSQ55i7FYJTiD1fKxUJGW6xVOIyfiFyI1ijNAQMuaOPQRhRsa1Znp8z4njipxd9nnP2v_Ya3ka9for90nMlDaFVSFiN5-AnsyfAurWO52H7ZSQVuIq3CJfCRVk4Xu6zxwZo/s1600/B.Days+logo.jpeg" /></a></div><br />
After the Big Chill, had a few days to get our breath back, and pack up a less monster-filled and more craft based pack, and then it was time to be off for the Beautiful Days! This time there was storytelling gear to take as we were booked for storytelling and then the whole group (us and Andy and Mandy etc. of the Collective) for craft workshops; a couple of monsters, smaller ones generally for storytelling, a giant unicorn head (for the parade) and a heap of willow and fabric and leather for the workshops. Plus of course signs including our lovely new hand-painted ones (thanks Steve!) and book stock. It was really nice not to have to pitch a marquee, and we managed to negotiate space in Crew Camping at the top of the hill so that we were parked right by Andi and Mandy's big truck and they had space to put up their big awning as a chill out zone for all of us, which was good. The weather on Friday? morning was terrible - the rain poured down and found every tiny hole in the tarpaulins or joins, and every channel in the floor to make streams in! But with a mixture of desperation and ingenuity, they found ways of securing it to keep us all dry. And thankfully, that was pretty much all it did! So like the Big Chill, while it did rain, it soon dried up and I didn't even have to wear wellies, as it drained so well... The moon rises and sunset were (like the Big Chill) beautiful as the site is Escot Park, and like Eastnor Deer Park, it's rolling countryside with views across the bowl of the main site in the vale below, echoing Glastonbury.<br />
The storytelling part (6-9pm daily) went down well, thanks to Ruth for hosting the sessions! We built audiences and some people (to my amazement) came to every single session!! And we got lots of applause and some lovely comments including 'Your badinage is wonderful.' Deor was part of the Majical Youth parade to open the attractions as the giant unicorn, accompanied by an old friend dressed and masked as Mr. Punch (one of the 'monsters' from our Monster Carnival). And the craft workshops were rammed most of the time, Andy and Mandy's lovely driftwood mobiles and dreamcatchers going down brilliantly, Deor overwhelmed with folks wanting wristbands, headbands, hair plaits and a host of other things that can be made with leather, and to my faint surprise and relief, I remembered what Andy had taught me the night before and showed folks how to make willow dreamcatchers! As well as willow and fabric mobiles and headdresses. Ages ago Sonia (of the original Collective) taught me how to make dreamcatchers, but I had totally forgotten how! - Only retaining the all-important knowledge that I knew I could do it. Always vital.<br />
The festival was (oddly, as the bands last year were more to my taste!) better this year, I felt, with more visuals etc.. But perhaps it was partly because we were properly booked for performing first and not craft, and knew what to expect... However, it is a danger with festivals (as with anything) - although I remember when I first spoke to folks who worked habitually at 'the festivals' it was so, and could hardly believe them! - that one gets jaded as there are definitely similarities, not least as in a summer many of the same acts or attractions tour, like oneself. So what was amazing the first time, novel the second time, can become 'oh it's those again' the third time. (I recollect last year thinking that if I saw those red lotus street lamps one more time...!) But actually they've all been great, and all different. So to still be fun (with us working four hours each day not including lugging, set up and take down time), after the larger festivals we'd been to, all I can say is, it must have been good!<br />
Thanks to Andi, Mandy, Sam and Alex for being such a great team! And to Majical Youth for booking us yet again.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-20821963755405129502011-09-06T13:31:00.001+01:002011-09-11T18:24:58.038+01:00The Big Chill 2: The Art TrailThe Art Trail itself (an established feature at the Big Chill) was stunning, and it was a truly lush setting for the Illuminated Tipi (or rather, Haunted Tipi in this context). Our fellow Trail attractions were mainly exquisite light sculptures by Saatchi artists including some wonderful green lightning in the form of a static shape of rope light (?) stretched in angles over wire under a tree, florescent neon tubes in beautiful colours hanging from trees in a glade, in purple, red, blue, etc., and a fantastic tall sculpture made completely from found objects/recycled materials intricately put together as a tower and then lit with a circle of solar lights, and with threads tied all around it to form a sort of cone - which all looked amazing when lit up at night. We were opposite a yurt with a delicate shimmering projection of images sensitive to movement inside, and along the trail were two video projections, although we only caught one set of films - of flocking birds and old piers, atmospheric and eye catching. There were some funky love seats, big wooden benches with heart shapes and spray painted in striking colours and designs. The performance acts were some performance art of the durational/endurance variety involving what looked like space suits, some corde lisse aerial movement from a tree, and occasional music under the neon tubes in the glade - the first of which we missed sadly, as we were of course all on while the Art Trail was open from 9pm till 2am! - And ourselves in the Haunted Tipi.<br />
Whilst the area (behind the Enchanted Garden) was ambitious to put anything in - brambles, ant hills, nettles, thorn trees, and tucked away in the wood as well as hard to light even with powerful architectural lighting on some of the trees and installations (including the recycled sculpture and ourselves) and small spotlights studding the path, it was very beautiful and crazily atmospheric. To our surprise, hordes of folks trekked up the path and found us all, so whoever decided to locate it there was right about intrepid the festival-goers were likely to be! So while the space was somewhat of a challenge - the big pvc floor tarpaulin did save us the thorny ground, but it also was a fun surface for rugs and cushions to slide about on when folks came in to sit down and a few of the unwary went flying over an ant hill on a surface not entirely unlike a frozen windswept sea! And of course lugging everything there and back from a nearby field, and then finding things in the dark, as oddly, green and coloured lighting aren't nearly so easy to find objects in as daylight-colour light.<br />
However, despite all that, the setting was so striking and so picturesque that we fully understood why it had been set there, and the tipi all lit up at night on the hill, seen from below and from the path itself above, behind it a wonderful panorama of the sea of lights that was the rest of the festival site, looked so amazing that it made up for the bother.<br />
We just wished on Monday that we (all those on the Art Trail) had made an effort to have a drink or something together afterward! As we had all faced the same challenges and delights, and there was such a great deal of talent on the Trail. Thanks to Katie and Liam of the sculpture tower (artist Katie Surridge), for being such lovely company and to Lizzie Jordan of the yurt opposite for sharing our travails! Also to the love seat folks, and the green lightning and neon tube artists for making such lovely things to look at, ensuring that we didn't miss everything as some of the best stuff lay on the path to work! Also to Kelly of Festival Republic for booking us! It was a big success and a fabulous festival.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-91509249342447637952011-08-23T20:37:00.002+01:002011-09-22T17:03:42.376+01:00The Big Chill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrnuaMUFi4bml6yDU9MBvlLMToNP_kJhpL7jt7WcM87y1BunWUWOTjYa_etoPjmxWr3JYeIXXqOMcc2Dr4ziNyNrHIqM4WOe1gO4n3NXvLMKjO46nHFsqdniiaK5zgJEZEB1kdF3LRt0/s1600/S1690035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrnuaMUFi4bml6yDU9MBvlLMToNP_kJhpL7jt7WcM87y1BunWUWOTjYa_etoPjmxWr3JYeIXXqOMcc2Dr4ziNyNrHIqM4WOe1gO4n3NXvLMKjO46nHFsqdniiaK5zgJEZEB1kdF3LRt0/s400/S1690035.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
After the Big Chill it was just one long pack for the Beautiful Days! So this is a slightly less fresh impression than it might have been. I/we hadn't been to/performed at the Big Chill before, and I must say I was pleasantly impressed.<br />
But not before we'd turned up on the Tuesday and been shown whereabouts to pitch the tipi...up a hill that might be thought a trifle steep for drunken revellers especially in the dark, then into a wooded track, very pretty but full of very large anthills to negotiate, and finally we came to spaces where glades had been hacked out of bracken on the one side (the poor folks pitching the yurt said there were ticks when they'd done the festival before! as the site is a Deer Park) and a bramble hedge on the other...ours was the bramble bush. We were speechless and at first just looked at each other in disbelief. Deor was the first to come to his senses, and he said he'd give it our best shot. When I quizzed him as we carried the 14ft poles up hill and down dale through the anthills, he said he thought we should at least try and see it was possible...hours later, and to the left of the place initially indicated, and on the slope without the usual circular clearance space, to my amazement we had pitched it! The site had been changed twice already by whoever decided these things (not the curator who had commissioned us!).<br />
We were commissioned to perform ghostly and supernatural tales in the Haunted Tipi, illuminated with our theatre and outdoor lights on the Art Trail, with shows on the hour at 10pm, 11pm, 12am and 1am. Which meant that we (being once the public were let on site camped/parked a mile and a half away) were there pretty much from 8.30 or 8.45pm until 2am, as of course there was set up/opening up time, changing into costume, and afterward shut up time/pack up time. Being on as the one interactive attraction on the Art Trail was both rewarding - we got hordes of audience, almost every show was completely packed, and we were 'one of the lit up things happening in the middle of the night' that people (or at least I do) go to festivals to catch; And also exhausting - as the flip side was screwing up one's sleep pattern, trying to get up later (which took getting used to) and then rocking round again once the festival was over. It also meant that pretty much everything that was happening that looked good, from the Electric Hotel to the Chemical Brothers was on the same time as we were, so we didn't get to see much in the way of acts. And finally, we found out why areas like Shangri La in Glastonbury are full of bouncers! It was a big compliment that folks wanted to come in and just soak up the visuals between shows, as they really liked the way the tipi was illuminated and decorated. It was also nice that we had big audiences, that they often didn't want to leave, and that they applauded often riotously and were so put out when they had missed a show or were willing to come back (being quite a trek in the dark, despite the path being lit up - there were still dark patches, and still nettles, brambles and very lumpy anthills to negotiate!). What was also nice was how charmed they were when we allowed them to sit in the venue (not while we were changing!) when swapping props, or performed ancient Anglo-Saxon riddles for them when they came at the wrong times, (Deor was especially heroic, hating to leave anyone disappointed unless they were really roaring drunk/with no manners at all), and also to try on the masks supervised - which many people also loved to do.<br />
What wasn't so positive was when they bayed like hounds and packed the place out so that one had to start half and hour early! - or put on in total 4 extra shows! Or when they crowded both venue and tarpaulins outside, blocked entrances, wanted to try on masks and bodymasks when they had been left unattended for a few moments, liked stuff so much that they made off with two small masks, a giant blue hand, a big straw hat and a balaclava (how anyone could even see that in the dark, I can't imagine!). And finally, how - despite our tales and especially The Monster Carnival at 1am being scary, on Thursday night it was we who found the crowd a bit scary! People were of course, drunk, off their faces, up for fun, and shall we say some were determined to get every penny of their money's worth, and in their relentless pursuit of entertainment, did not quite manage to maintain the manners one might expect in the normal course of things.<br />
One nice thing however at having done Glastonbury a few times etc., was that while we would have loved some security folks up there or stewards with more experience than the ones we had, on the other hand, we were able to deal with the crowds well enough that we made the artist opposite us more comfortable. She had a beautiful installation in the yurt over the way, which involved expensive equipment, and had trouble getting people to go in one at a time/in sensible numbers for sensible time slots, and encountered careless and reckless people whom she soon started to deflect and close her venue to. We agreed that it was bedlam from time to time up there, and about the more 'out of it' members of the festival goers. She had said a few well chosen words to someone who thought it funny to 'mooney' at her and others on the Trail, and had sent him away with a flea in his ear! But very nicely, she said it was good to have some more experienced folks on hand across the way (meaning ourselves) as it made her feel more secure! So glad to be of use.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-20155041811031482872011-07-18T20:20:00.000+01:002011-07-18T20:20:08.834+01:00Creative Collective and the 'Life of Art'When the Crew left the country for the Continent in May, they were off to travel...and of course being the Crew, what should they do but find - completely by chance, Patrick Dougherty the renowned Land Artist, in Brittany engaged in one of his European projects? He was looking for people to work on the project - another of his architectural willow constructions - and so the Crew (i.e. Melina and Wayne of the Collective) got involved. Apparently he said that a ball on top of a pillar was the hardest thing to do...and then was so impressed with their ability that he just let them get on with it! It being the centrepiece of the work. He also ended up giving them a free signed copy of his expensive new art book, writing in it that he couldn't have done it without them, and promising them a corking reference should they ever need it... So in addition to studying with Serena de la Hey of M5 Willow Man giant Millennium sculpture and many others fame, they have now worked on a large project in France with Patrick Dougherty. Time surely that Melina Hubbard Design Associates (as 'Whistling Willow' used to be called) was requested to embark on another major project! In fact, just having returned from Cornwall, and having gone to see her project at Longrock again, and seeing the living willow of the tunnels and dens was growing well, I was struck again by how gifted she and they are. The whole structure is like a maze, but one you won't get lost in and really does that have that 'element of surprise and delight so essential to art' to paraphrase Michael Alexander.<br />
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Also in Cornwall, last Saturday was Lafrowda Festival day in St. Just, the most westerly town in Britain, and Liz Tyrrell (of 'MerryMaker') another member of the Cartwheels Collective, was accompanying one of her giant carnival floats in the big parade. The town was packed, a field on the outskirts commandeered as a car park, stewards and closed roads, the whole centre pedestrianized with stalls, food, music and acrobats, and an amazingly colourful carnival parade! Including a red warrior with turning head and menacing sword, lovely peacock (put together by a local school), elephant highly decorated and ejecting water and confetti, and of course Liz's tall dancing figure, like a Brazilian carnival puppet. Deor donned the Widsith and Deor top hat, complete with roses, and helped animate the figure by taking the pole for one of its arms, and off they went, me taking video and trying to do justice to its sheer size and clever dancing movement. Liz has done some amazing things including a beautiful dual carnival float of two playing card queens in 3D, a huge Spanish style flamenco dancer, and was working on the Lafrowda float (plus community workshops) inbetween her work for the Golowan Festival involving record-breaking numbers of folks dressed up as pirates! and making giant pirates, and soon she'll be off to Cardiff, decorating festivities for the Cardiff Carnival.<br />
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The Collective might not always work in the same place at the same time or even on the same projects, but we keep in touch and up to speed with what the others are doing, and it's delightful that they're always so impressive!<br />
Closer to home, on returning to HQ, there are two artists/musicians living upstairs, and (while not members of the Collective - folks usually join if they're going to after they've left/cemented things) the drummer and toymaker/wood and ceramicist asked us storytellers to dinner! Along with the painter/keyboard player/guitarist also upstairs. And a merry meal was had by all. The former we hadn't talked with a great deal, as he works opposite hours and so we often don't see him. So it was news to me when he said he'd made a huge dog figure with moveable nose and ears for the Phoenix for a Quirk Theatre production! As well as, (in his native Slovakia) having sold his wonderful toys in markets until the ridiculous hike in stall space rental drove him out of business there. Interested in the carnival float footage, we discussed moveable and mechanical art for theatre and carnivals/festivals, and he was even more gifted than we had thought! (As well as gratifyingly appreciative of Wayne's welding and other skills.) But, like the painter, what he really needed was affordable workshop/studio space... It made me very sad, when I think of the many things Liz has made and had to destroy because there's nowhere to keep them, and that the same thing happened to the giant puppet made for Quirk Theatre! And that really talented people are being hamstrung and having to work in low paid jobs not as stop gaps or top-ups (if the employer is honourable and the work decently paid, stacking shelves or cleaning are not beneath folks' dignity) but as a replacement to the arts and skills they should be doing and being paid for! And that IS a crime. Likewise the Crew talking of fruit picking work - after what they've just done? I wish I could wave a magic wand give the amazing artists I know studio and workshop space, and contacts with the those whom I KNOW must be out there who want to commission their fabulous skills! 'A life of art'? to use Burne-Jones and Morris's phrase. It's easier when you've got Kelmscott Manor at your back... Thank God for HQ, but even with it and masks and props everywhere, and earlier in the year Wayne welding in the shed and Mel weaving willow in the garden, and the many folks who have made and mixed music and sound and painted and made things here, there's still only so much it can do... An idea for a website called 'Undiscovered Genius' should perhaps be built on - where one nominates amazing folks in various disciplines who haven't had the recognition they yet deserve? Well, it's an idea anyway...<br />
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Patrick Dougherty's artist website;<br />
<a href="http://www.stickwork.net/">http://www.stickwork.net/</a>bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-84717609428238982152011-07-03T19:21:00.000+01:002011-07-03T19:21:42.402+01:00'Disabled Art'Had a conversation recently with a visual artist who doesn't have much time for what he considers 'minorities' and their 'preferential' treatment from time to time. We were talking about disability arts, or the practice and idea of an organization such as Kaleido (which by the way, recently lost all its funding in the Arts Council cuts) putting on an exhibition in association with a mainstream gallery, including visual arts created by disabled/differently-abled artists. All different art mediums and all different challenges, eg; wheelchair users with varying mobility, MS sufferers, deaf people, blind people, etc.. He took issue with the the idea that just because the artists were disabled and created art, that didn't mean that their work should necessarily be shown in galleries because what gives you the right to exhibit is 'being any good'. So I tried to make some distinctions. There is the art that under 'normal circumstances' might not be considered all that great, but what's so impressive in the context, is that say, it was painted by someone who couldn't see. A friend used to send me cards printed from paintings by folks who could only use their mouths or feet to paint with. What struck me first was the fabulous use of colour and the wonderful striking images and bold style. It was only when I read the backs of the cards that I realized also what an achievement they were as well. But they were undoubtedly very fine paintings whoever had done them.<br />
However, I have been to exhibitions and sometimes seen work that I didn't think was up to much. (But then I could say exactly the same of non-disability arts exhibitions!). It was the idea that no extra effort should be made to accommodate folks with extra obstacles in their way that I wanted to explore with him. So then a gifted artist I used to know sprang to mind. And I said - well, there was this truly wonderful artist who created amazing paintings of trees, and collages of moss in book form, and hundreds of tiny object-based collages, and who, as far as I know, usually exhibited in disability art exhibitions and forums, although they were easily gifted enough to be shown anywhere and everywhere. In that case, he replied, they should get themselves a better agent! Ah but, I pointed out, what can you do when someone gets a commission and then honestly can't be doing with making another huge artwork just then because their doctors have insisted they go in for another three operations in a row? How can you give the time and effort to insisting you should be entered for this or that competition when every day involves wall bars, drugs to take, the sheer grind of getting into your specially adapted vehicle and out again, the making sure you've got someone around to carry the pictures, the... He got my drift. Gifted as they and others like them are, you won't see their art in 'ordinary' exhibitions any time soon. Should it never see the light of day? Aren't we all poorer for it if those works don't get out there? Should we cut all extra provision for disabled artists that makes it possible that the gifted aren't just wasted? Or should we get off our backsides and go to their exhibitions and plays and suchlike to check out the amazing stuff such artists have been doing, and make sure we don't miss out!<br />
Like every other sector of society and art, 'disability arts' has some chaff...but plenty of wheat in it too.bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3250792844297384477.post-83597654527354139222011-07-02T12:28:00.006+01:002011-09-11T18:32:01.446+01:00Nice to be wantedStrange to think of the events we can't do or have had to turn down this season... the Leamington Peace Festival wanted us to perform, as did Strawberry Fayre in Cambridge (my first ever festival as a student!) and the Acoustic Festival of Great Britain. Exmouth Festival hosted the wondrous Edge of Chaos improvisational/experimental event that I love so much in May, but I couldn't go... the Dumnonni Chronicle's Outlore big LARP Dark Age bash and battle in early May in Okehampton...and typically enough they had the marvellous Daughters of Elvin playing! Groans all round to miss that! And had an army issuing out a tunnel no less...sounded amazing. (Although on the other side of the coin, we were offered the Buddhafield Festival again this year, but after last year sort of swore never again!)<br />
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Every season has it's clashes, as the Exeter Respect Festival on the Saturday meant we had to leave the Hay-on-Wye philosophy festival just after the Friday evening gig! And Glastonbury was so hot on the heels of the N.Devon Festival's Summer Science Day, we nearly didn't make the latter... And we've just had confirmations of the Nozstock and Big Chill Festivals...one after the other, and also the Beautiful Days (which always clashes with the Sunrise OffGrid). But this season it's crazy. We were accepted for the Exeter Fringe, but then couldn't do it because it was right over Glastonbury! Argh! For the first time since doing it, we can't make National Play Day at Playplus in Dorchester because it's between Nozstock and the Big Chill, and we'll be in Herefordshire all week... What is going on?<br />
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The only way in the end to choose, is to pick the ones that you can make or move things for, that offers the best commissions and/or for the most money. But still you have to turn down some well paid gigs or gigs on which your heart hangs, and with folks with whom you have built up a mutual loyalty...hard choices. But summer is only three or four months long, and every weekend there are dozens (nationwide hundreds) of events clashing with each other. I guess the only good thing is that more people seem to want us at their event. And more wanting us for performing and not (much as it's wonderful to have and transfer practical skills) craft workshops. So perhaps (despite the being drawn between the pillar and the post, and the heartache of missing things you'd like or disappointing nice organizers - though thank goodness for being part of a Collective which means you can find replacement workshop hosts at least!) we're kind of going in the right direction...?bulletin editorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213407337268140035noreply@blogger.com0