Creative Midlands West |
- Next Mid*Point Meeting: 31 May @ 11am
- BE FESTIVAL 2-6 July 2013
- Over 200 Local Young People Take To The Stage For A Summer Festival of Theatre
- “Invisible” by Liz John and Julia Wright
- ACTORS AND DANCERS REQUIRED
- Improv Workshop
- “Cuddles” nominated for two Off-Westend Awards
- Foghorn Improv – “We’ll Meet Again” – 30th May
- Women at the Edge
- Is Culture Valuable?
- Masters Degree in Drama at Worcester University
- What Next
- MRes Playwrights Workshop
| Next Mid*Point Meeting: 31 May @ 11am Posted: 24 May 2013 02:24 AM PDT The next Mid*Point meeting is scheduled for next Friday 31st May at 11am. It will be hosted / chaired by Alison Gagen (Theatre Relationship Manager, ACE), and will be held at the CBSO Centre on Berkeley Street, B1 2LF (just round the corner from ACE), in the Ratcliffe room, which is booked in Alison's name. It would be great to have a really strong turnout, so we can begin to think about the way forward for Mid*Point, reflecting on recent activity in the region. | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 02:22 AM PDT "there is plenty to savour at the boundary-smashing BE FESTIVAL… a terrific line-up" The Guardian BE FESTIVAL is a week-long celebration of European culture, featuring the best live performance from across the continent. From 2-6 July 2013, Birmingham will host 23 theatre, dance, circus and live art performances from 12 different countries, when BE FESTIVAL returns with its most exciting programme so far. You can see 4 or 5 shows a night (each one around 30 mins) with a sit-down dinner in the middle, and during the day there are free workshops and discussions for ticket-holders. The festival takes place in the AE Harris Factory in the Jewellery Quarter – a few minutes walk from the city centre. Tickets are £12 a day or £50 for a five day festival pass. Dinner is £8 a night. For more information about the festival and to purchase tickets online see our website http://befestival.org/ BEcome a festival host Would you like to offer visiting performers a warm Birmingham welcome and share in their festival adventure? We're looking for generous people to provide a visiting artist with a room in their home from 2-7 July. They won't need feeding or transporting, just a bed and a friendly chat. You'll get a free festival ticket and dinner pass for the night your guest is performing, and you'll be an invaluable member of the BE family. Plus you and your guest will have a more communal, interactive and rewarding experience of the festival. To view the BE 2013 trailer, an indispensible guide to welcoming a foreigner to your home, go to: http://vimeo.com/66310273 If you're interested in becoming a BE Host please email helena@befestival.org. | ||||||||||||||
| Over 200 Local Young People Take To The Stage For A Summer Festival of Theatre Posted: 24 May 2013 02:19 AM PDT For two weeks this July, over 200 young people from across Birmingham and the West Midlands will take to the stage for a Summer Festival of Theatre. Members of Birmingham Repertory Theatre's youth theatre company, The Young REP will present 10 different plays at the Old Rep Theatre from 1 to 13 July. The programme for the youthful and vibrant festival includes a broad range of plays from the classic A Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni to the world premiere of a new play, Girls Like That by Evan Placey. And, as The REP celebrates its centenary year the Young REP will present a fresh take on one of Shakespeare's greatest comedies, Twelfth Night – the play which opened the theatre 100 years ago on the very same stage. Jess Farmer, Director of Learning and Participation at The REP says of the festival: "The mini-festival is inspired by The REP's centenary and it's an exploration, and at times a rediscovery, of literature from brand new plays to classic stories. It feels fitting that we also present a fresh take on Twelfth Night – the very play which our founder Sir Barry Jackson staged for the opening of The REP 100 years ago. To reflect his championing of new work and talent we're also thrilled to be presenting the world premiere of a new play by Evan Placey." Award-winning writer Evan Placey's thrilling and dynamic new play, Girls Like That has been specially commissioned by Birmingham Repertory Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theatre Royal Plymouth with youth companies at all three theatres performing the play this July. Girls Like That explores the perilous consequences that can happen when teenagers and technology join forces. Written for and performed by young people Evan involved members of the Young REP in the writing process and the finished piece is a genuine reflection of their interests, lives and characters as Evan explains: "Working with young people in Birmingham, Leeds and Plymouth to inspire the play has been an invaluable opportunity to find common themes and stories between British teenagers across the country. Asking a group of 14-16 year old girls what feminism means, and whether it was relevant to them, the responses were a combination of no's, indifference, and confusion as to the meaning of the word. "During the initial workshops, a girl in Canada made headlines when she killed herself after months of bullying when a topless photo of her was circulated at school. But while the media fixated on the circumstances in which a man coerced her into showing her breasts and then blackmailed her with the photos before putting them online, few asked questions about her classmates who then went on to torment her, the girls who daily called her a slut, a whore. And so the play took root: a play about feminism, about sluts and prudes and the categories and language we use to define and oppress female sexuality and bodies. "At the end of my last workshop in each city, I asked the room of teenagers if a classmate's naked photo had ever been circulated at their school – every single hand went up." The Young REP works with young people between aged between nine and twenty-five across Birmingham and the West Midlands. It is an inclusive producing youth theatre which aims to create a lifelong passion for theatre in its members. Each year the company, led by professional staff from The REP, creates and produces a broad range of high quality theatre experiences. Listings Information The Young REP Summer Festival of Theatre Monday 1 July, 7pm Dina is tired, hungry and is sick of her boss. So when a new boss comes to town she decides to work for him instead. Can she handle the demands of working for two masters or will it confuse her too much? Presented by Young REP Small Heath. NEW SCHOOLS OLD LESSONS Young REP Shenley takes a look into the past for inspiration for a series of new short plays. Written and devised by the group these pieces seek to find the links between a distant past and our present, and asks, are we really any different from people of old? Wednesday 3 July, 7pm The Young REP Intermediate Company bring to life the touching story of Pascal and the colour brought into his troubled life through his friendship with a magical red balloon. A previous hit for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre this play brings magic and balloons to life! Thursday 4 July, 7pm Milo is going to eat curry and ice cream – ON THE SAME SPOON! But surely that kills you? Burning and freezing your insides all at once? Scrag says it, so it must be true! Can his class mates stop Milo from certain either certain death or, a very nasty taste in the back of his mouth? The Young REP Junior Company present this comic and gruesome play by leading children's playwright Christopher William Hill. Saturday 6 July, 2pm and 7pm Twins go on a cruise in 2013. After a shipwreck they find themselves on a strange island full of even stranger characters who seem to be living their lives in the past. This fresh take on one of Shakespeare's greatest comedies is presented by the Young REP 18 – 25s Company to celebrate The REP's 100th birthday with the same play it opened with on the very same stage in 1913. Tuesday 9 July and Wednesday 10 July, 7pm Four teenage girls are going to be famous! But how? Do they have talent? No! They're just going to dump their boyfriends and marry celebrities. Simple. But their jilted ex-boyfriends have other plans. Inspired by Les Précieuses Ridicules by Molière and presented by the Young REP Seniors Company. IPHIGENIA AT AULIS Euripides' play about the sacrifice of youthful innocence in war is given a time hopping twist in this adaptation. Modern teenagers peer through the mists of time, two-and-a-half thousand years, to witness one of the most savage and disturbing chapters of the Trojan War where a man must choose between his honour and his daughter's life. Presented by the Young REP Seniors Company. Friday 12 July, 7pm and Saturday 13 July, 2pm and 7pm Phones come to life with the buzz of a new message, a new email, a Facebook update. A single photo… This time-shifting play explores young characters today and in the past, the sexual labels they give and judge each other with and the complex and contradictory choices they make in expressing themselves. The play has been written as part of a unique partnership between Birmingham Repertory Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Theatre Royal Plymouth. Young people from each of the three theatres have worked with the award-winning writer Evan Placey to develop ideas for the play and each young company will produce the play in summer 2013. Presented by the Young REP Seniors Company. Contains strong language and mature themes. 12 & 13 July at 7pm only Amazing tales leap off the page and come to life before the audience's eyes, taking everyone, young and old, back to those magical places we explored in our favourite stories from childhood. A performance devised by members of the Young REP Senior Company which explores some of the greatest pieces of children's literature of the last 100 years. 13 July at 2pm only One hundred years is a very long time, and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre has stood for all of it. After every performance the audiences flock to the bar, keen to discuss the performance they had just seen. How has Birmingham changed in the last hundred years? And have the people changed too? Eclectic pieces of new writing by the Young REP Playwrights, a group of aspiring writers from Birmingham. Tickets: £5, concessions £3 | ||||||||||||||
| “Invisible” by Liz John and Julia Wright Posted: 24 May 2013 02:17 AM PDT Just to let you know the tour dates of our new comedy Invisible, written by Liz John and Julia Wright, and directed by Janice Connolly AKA Barbara Nice, starring Caroline Nash, Ali Belbin and Robert Harper. We start at Tanworth in Arden on June 15th, Blue Orange Birmingham June 20 & 21st, Studley on July 5th, Artrix July 6th and Market Harborough is the final show on July 13th. | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 02:13 AM PDT MIDLAND ACTORS THEATRE (MAT) ACTORS AND DANCERS REQUIRED We are looking for actors and dancers to work with the writer/director Cindy Claes, to develop the script and choreography for a new play, School fi Wifey (based on School for Wives by Moliere) – using 'Dancehall' movement and music! Cindy Claes is a choreographer who tells stories through dance. She has led dance-theatre projects with artists in the UK and in Jamaica. She is also a Dancehall lover and a passionate Hip-Hop Theatre practitioner. We are casting the following roles: - Stacey and Norrisha, two servants (female) Age: 18 – 30 - Kerry-Ann (young woman in love) Age: 17 - Romain (young man in love) Age: 18 – 30 - Andre. Age: 35 – 45 - Notary (and other ensemble roles) Age: 35 – 45 Auditions are open to both actors and dancers. For the younger characters especially, we need performers with strong movement / dance skills. (This could include Dancehall, Hip-Hop and African Dance performers, etc.) The ability to speak Jamaican patois will be an advantage. There will be a week of rehearsals in July, and a second week in September, leading to a public sharing of 'work in progress.' Fee: Equity rates. Midlands base an advantage. We are hoping to stage a full production and tour of 'School fi Wifey' in the future. Auditions will be held in June. Please send a CV and photo to: Email: news@midlandactorstheatre.co.uk Or: MAT, 25 Merrishaw Road, Northfield, Birmingham B31 3SL For further details, contact David on 0121 608 7144 | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 02:11 AM PDT A series of 4 workshops introducing the main elements of improv. All of this will be done in a fun, supportive and non-judgmental environment. We will play a lot of games and energizing activities. No previous experience necessary. Cost: £4 per workshop. The workshops will take place in Zoodio space (see above) above the ORT cafe. We will clear away the stuff from the middle and put carpets on the floor to have room to move around. Check out Zoodio at: About the instructor: | ||||||||||||||
| “Cuddles” nominated for two Off-Westend Awards Posted: 24 May 2013 02:03 AM PDT In May 2012, in partnership with mac, Capital Theatre Festival showcased three new plays by emerging writers: Cuddles by Joseph Wilde Cuddles is currently running in London, produced by Ovalhouse and Arch 468 and has just been nominated for two off-West End awards. It runs until 1 June.
| ||||||||||||||
| Foghorn Improv – “We’ll Meet Again” – 30th May Posted: 24 May 2013 01:49 AM PDT Foghorn's Newest Show – let's all go back to the 1950s Where: Old Joint Stock Theatre   | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 01:48 AM PDT Reshape While Damp Productions presents their two women show 'Women at the Edge' with Jenny Stokes [as Dolly Grip] and Naomi Paul at The Space @ The Rose and Crown, Sheep StStratford-upon-Avon CV37 6EF, May 25 – June 1. 7.45 – 9pm Tickets £8[5] on door and at www.stratforduponavonartsfestival.co.uk
  | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 01:47 AM PDT Warwick Creative Exchange invites you to a seminar, 'Is Culture Valuable?', to be held on Thursday 27th June, 6-8pm, in the Studio Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre. Contributors are: playwright and cultural commentator, David Edgar; Dr Eleonora Belfiore, the #culturalvalue Initiative, Centre for Cultural Policy Studies University of Warwick; Chris Cooper, Artistic Director of Big Brum Theatre in Education; Dr Will Davies, Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies University of Warwick; and Deirdre Figueiredo, Director of Craftspace. Articulating cultural value is a key and ongoing issue for cultural organisations as well as for academics working across a wide range of disciplines. At this moment in particular, there is pressure and temptation to frame the value of arts and culture in ways that draw heavily from economics and to justify public spending in this field primarily in terms of jobs, economic development, and tourism. This seminar aims to tackle these issues from a wider set of concerns and approaches, in order to contribute to the growing debate on why and how the arts and culture are valued by both the people who create it and those who participate in it. Warwick Creative Exchange is a network of West Midlands cultural organisations and University of Warwick academics, established to develop research collaborations and dialogue on common themes of interest. This is the first in a planned series of seminars over the next two years. We look forward to seeing you at the seminar. If you wish to attend, please RSVP to Laura Edwards:Laura.Edwards@wbs.ac.uk by 20th June.   | ||||||||||||||
| Masters Degree in Drama at Worcester University Posted: 24 May 2013 01:42 AM PDT Are you interested in boosting your career and getting a post graduate Drama qualification? Worcester University's Drama MA, which offers specialisms in either Theatre and Young People or Contemporary Theatre Practices, is currently inviting applications from theatre practitioners to join the course in September 2013. Launched last year, the course offers the opportunity to combine practical theatre work with complementary critical and theoretical study through a dynamic course of creative learning. PLUS MA students get the opportunity to take part in regular professional projects and paid drama work alongside their course. Current students have been offered professional commissions and full time jobs as a result of taking the course. The University of Worcester Drama MA is one of the best value courses in the UK. The course tuition fee is £4,600 and it can be paid on a module by module basis. The Drama MA can be studied either full or part time and students can use their own professional practice towards their qualification. For further info contact see http://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/drama-performance-ma.html or email Course Leader Liz Swift e.swift@worc.ac.uk
  | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 01:41 AM PDT A message from What Next? Thanks very much to everyone who came to the regional What Next? meeting on 9 May in Stratford hosted by Catherine Mallyon from the RSC and Joanna Reid from the Belgrade Theatre. We had a really good discussion and a a note of the meeting is attached. We agreed we should meet again and you'd be very welcome to attend the next meeting from 4.30pm to 6pm Thursday 4 July 2013 in Coventry, venue tbc nearer the time, but do rsvp to lucy.billiard@rsc.org.uk.
  | ||||||||||||||
| Posted: 24 May 2013 01:36 AM PDT Rehearsed reading of extracts May 31st 10am – 6pm, University of Birmingham, Additional date added: June 1st at the Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham Follow us on Twitter: @MResplaywrights   |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Creative Midlands West To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.