Yarns

I have just completed a fortnight working on the Kendal Yarns festival of new writing. I loved it – and am in complete awe of the ambitious, inclusive, original vision and the way it was carried out by a brilliant organising team (huge congratulations to any of them who read this). Arranging for 58 new 15 minute plays – written by a wide, wide range of writers: some school children; some written by groups; some experienced writers; some adults writing for the first time – to be performed by approximately 80 community actors of all ages and experience levels in a range of outdoor and indoor venues is no mean feat… I was one of the directors of Team 6 and it was an absolute privilege to be a part of it all. My team – writers, actors, co-director, stage manager – were fantastic and made the work a pleasure – thank you to any reading this. I came away more certain than ever of the vital importance and value – for all – of real, inclusive, community theatre (arts) and can’t wait to do (initiate…) more. Here are a selection of my favourite pics from the festival week.

 

Long live Kendal Community Theatre and all community arts. We need them!

elaru xxx

Tomorrow…

I’ve been in rather a state of shock since yesterday morning – and I know I’m joined in that by people from every part of the political spectrum. What a strange new world we are living in.

This afternoon, I had the chance to escape into Fairyland for a few hours as I rehearsed A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the final time before our first performance tomorrow. I relished it. It was wonderful – helpful – to be in Shakespeare’s Athenian wood, where all kinds meet, share experience, change. It reminded me, again, of the power of theatre; the power of community; the power of laughter; the power of possibility. And I emerged more hopeful and peaceful. We are a complicated, flawed life-form (no-one knew that better than Shakespeare), but I believe we will find a way forward from this divisive time and, though there are certainly many, many challenges ahead I am no longer (quite as) fearful of all our tomorrows…

 

elaru xx

Dream Team

One of the great joys of putting on a play is working with a group of great people. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is proving no exception. Here are ELART’s Dream Team in rehearsal.

The Fairies

 

The Lovers

 

 

The Mechanicals

 

The Court

Shows: June 26th St John’s Hospice 2pm  and Lancaster Library July 1st 7.30pm.

Hope to see you there!

elaru xx

Dreaming

Life is busy and complicated. Again. So, trying to put even a short production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream together is a challenge to say the least. Having said that, it’s a challenge I’m very pleased to be undertaking, not least because one of our two forthcoming performances is a charity performance for St John’s Hospice (2pm Sunday June 26th) and the other is at one of my favourite community spaces – Lancaster Library (7.30pm Friday July 1st).

I’ve got a talented and committed cast. They’re hard-working and lovely to create with – willing to trust me and each other and try almost anything, which is vital in a process of this nature. I’m expecting a lot of them, I know; rehearsal time is at a premium, so I need them to work out of rehearsal, individually,  in a really professional way, learning lines, thinking about and developing character, finding characterisation and then bringing all that work to rehearsal to play and refine further. They’re coping, pulling together – and there are some lovely things happening already. With an intensive week ahead, I think we’re going to be ready. Just!

We really hope you’re going to join us.

Tickets are –

£7.50 (lower for children) for St John’s Hospice, available from http://www.sjhospice.org.uk/event/a-midsummer-nights-dream/

£5 for Lancaster Library, availailable from Lancaster Library or by emailing emma@elartproductions.co.uk

Or just turn up on the door!

To whet your appetite, here are a few rehearsal pics from a fun rehearsal last night:

Sweet Dreams.

elaru xx

 

 

What Did You Do Today? #FunPalaces

 

I’ve just arrived home after a day at Lancaster Fun Palace.

Today I have:

• made music using a hardback book (rhythmically slamming it was particularly therapeutic!)
• listened to jazz, show tunes and more
• watched people making lanterns, jelly prints, craftwork and maths structures
• played with words
• staggered through a few steps of a dance routine (it wasn’t pretty!)
• clapped along to a samba drum band
• witnessed babies and toddlers singing and playing with toys, puppets and bubbles
• learned that a radio image of a mouse’s tumour looks very similar to a distant galaxy
• sung harmony to a pop song with a  scratch choir
• met a local author and listened to him read extracts from his books

Yesterday, I did a lot of the above, plus I:

• taught several people to juggle (or at least gave them the basics to practise at home)
• became absorbed in a graffiti artist at work
• met the Mayor (and posed for a picture with him and a skeleton…)
• saw a schoolfriend and her family for the first time in years and years
• watched some people drawing comic panels and learning Bollywood dancing (I wasn’t brave enough- I will be next year!)
• tapped my feet to a ukulele orchestra alongside my mum, husband and mother-in-law
• listened to a winning Write Science poem
• played theatre games with a father and daughter
• worked with friends to make a 15 minute show in just under 2 hours and performed it to an appreciative (small and select!) audience

 

And there was lots more I could have done, but I ran out of time…

Throughout it all, I:

• made some new friends and caught up with people I don’t see often enough
• marvelled at the friendliness and flexibility of Lancaster Library
• had FUN!

Can’t wait for next year! Long Live Fun Palaces!

elaru xx

At the Helm (Mr Gross)

Leading on from my last blog post, another major idea explored wittily in Memorandum is leadership and management. What is good leadership? Who makes a good boss? Is it a person with ideas s/he is willing to drive through at any price, or one with emotional intelligence and an empathy with his/her employees? Linked to this, should the leader carry the weight of responsibility for everything that happens in his/her organisation – even the things of which s/he is unaware? (Should s/he be unaware of anything – or is that a weakness…?) Mr Gross, the Managing Director – as he often announces – has to grapple with these questions and more during the events of the play. He certainly has a busy few days!

Power Play (Mr Ballas)

It’s been a good weekend of rehearsals – two lengthy ones – all afternoon of both Saturday and Sunday – and it feels as if things are starting to come together. Lots and lots of photos have been taken, and today we also had a little filming done – not of the play, but of a few rehearsal moments and some interviews with the cast. I was interviewed too, and asked about why the play Memorandum resonates with me. There were lots and lots of answers I could have given, but I found myself talking about power and power shifts and people who don’t “play straight” and don’t reveal the games they are playing in order to achieve power. I’ve met a few people like that – haven’t we all…? In Memorandum, the character who most exemplifies all this is Mr Jan Ballas, the Deputy Manager of the company – at the start, at least. You’ll have to come along to see how his power playing works out for him… Here are a few pictures of him in action in rehearsal this weekend.

#ArtsPolicy50

Today is February 25th, 2015. It is the 50th anniversary of Jennie Lee’s White Paper for the Arts.

In 1965, this White Paper stated (my bold emphasis throughout blog post): “In any civilised community the arts and associated amenities, serious or comic, light or demanding, must occupy a central place. Their enjoyment should not be regarded as something remote from everyday life.” and “if a high level of artistic achievement is to be sustained and the best in the arts made more widely available, more generous and discriminating help is urgently needed, locally, regionally and nationally.”

As a freelance theatre practitioner based in the north of England, it saddens me that 50 years on, we are still a long, long way from achieving this ambition. In my own practice, I have worked with children and adults of all ages – including young offenders, adults with learning difficulties, those disaffected by education – and I have personally seen how enriching an experience arts can be for ALL.

The results of the recent Warwick Commission, along with such initiatives as Fun Palaces (http://funpalaces.co.uk/), 64 Million Artists (http://64millionartists.co.uk/), the launch of BBC Get Creative etc etc etc all seem, I hope, to demonstrate that many, many people are currently restless and hungry for greater support and access to arts for all. I am one of them – and I do feel part of a community, a movement – online and off.

This, by the way, is not about asking for more investment in buildings or simply in already established, high profile companies and institutions. (As Jennie Lee’s White Paper states: “Nor must Government support be given only to established institutions. New ideas, new values, the involvement of large sections of the community hitherto given little or no opportunity to appreciate the arts, all have their place.”) It is about acknowledging that all people, of all ages and backgrounds, in all areas of the country, have the right to the benefits that the arts can offer. It is about ensuring that resources are equitably shared and are not always London-centric. (In Rebalancing Our Cultural Capital (2014) it states “2012/13 found that Londoners benefited from £69 a year spending per head, compared with just £4.50 in the rest of England.”)

In the run-up to the next election, I wonder how seriously the various political parties are taking such issues. I only hope they do not underestimate the importance the arts can – and should play – in the future health and happiness of all.

Once again, Jennie Lee’s 1965 White Paper is highly relevant here: “If one side of life is highly mechanised, another side must provide for diversity, adventure, opportunities both to appreciate and to participate in a wide range of individual pursuits. An enlightened government has a duty to respond to these needs.” and “A new social  as well as artistic climate is essential.”

Let’s hope for – and work for – progress in the next 50 years.

elaru xx

Iphigenia Pics

The last three weeks have involved: rehearsals; a Rose Company mini-tour (Lancaster Castle, Homerton College, UCL); a feature on Woman’s Hour (here if you missed it – about 16 mins from end –http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03jfk1v); and the booking of new mini-north-west tour for January – King’s Arms, Salford, January 12; The Continental, Preston, January 16; Lancaster Castle, January 17; The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool, January 18. It’s been busy (and I haven’t thought about Christmas shopping yet…).

Here are a few pictures of the story so far…

 

Dress Rehearsal

The Chorus

Menelaus and Senex

Clytemnesta and the Chorus

Agamemnon and Iphigenia

Lancaster Castle

Achilles and Iphigenia being recorded for radio

Whole cast being recorded for radio

The green room!

The whole cast.

Homerton College

Warming up.

Clytemnestra and Orestes

The touring cast.

Clytemnestra, Nuntio (and me in background!)

Iphigenia and fans – lovely audience members who wanted a photo with the hero!

UCL

Iphigenia, Orestes and Chorus

Agamemnon and Senex

Chorus and Orestes

Really hope to see you at one of our January shows!

elaru xx

Shameless Plugs

I’m tired. I’ve spent almost the whole day publicising Lady Jane Lumley’s Iphigenia, a Rose Company production and this blog is the final thing on my to do list.

I’ve contacted: two radio stations;  two local newspapers and (very scarily) one national paper; several schools and other educational establishments; some theatres; an online local website; as well as family, friends and any and every person I can think of who might conceivably be interested.

Word of mouth comes next – and I will be talking incessantly about Iphigenia between now and the show in a month’s time. (If you meet me over the next few weeks, you have been warned!)

I started by saying I was tired, though: I am; I don’t find publicising shows easy. Not easy at all – and I never have. Publicity has to be done early in the rehearsal process in order to give an audience time to organise diaries and buy tickets, but as it is early, it always feels strange to me because the show has yet to really take shape, so I generally don’t feel absolutely certain what it is I’m publicising and I don’t want to give mis-information or to under-sell. This time is a little easier because November’s Iphigenia is a revival of July’s show, so I have much, much more idea than I sometimes do!

I also find the self-promotion aspect of publicity difficult – and I know I’m a long way from being alone in this. Many performance artists/makers are essentially private, even shy, people, but in order to gain the audiences they need/crave, they have to confidently promote themselves and their work. As a director, I try to look at it as largely  advertising the talent and work of my team, which I find much easier to do than focusing on myself. To help with this, I aim only to work with people whose talent and commitment I rate and on projects/productions in which I really believe.  The Rose Company’s Iphigenia is no exception to this and I’m already excited about – and proud of – its cast and designer.

So, onto the shameless plug of the title – you knew it was coming! Please make time to see The Rose Company, Lancaster’s new all-female company, perform Lady Jane Lumley’s Iphigenia this November.

Lancaster Castle – November 19, 20, 21 – 7.30pm

Homerton College, Cambridge – November 23 – 4pm

UCL, London – November 24 – 3pm

 

Running time is approximately 70 minutes and tickets are £5 for all venues. They can be reserved by contacting The Rose Company on rosecompanytheatre@gmail.com and payment should be made in cash on the door of the production.

Don’t miss the chance to see this extremely rarely performed gem – the first piece of dramatic literature by a woman in English and the first known translation of Euripides into English.

Hope to see you at one of the shows – and please tell your friends!

Thank you.

elaru xx