Get the Chance to be a Theatre Critic with Taking Flight Theatre Company
Are you aged 16-100?
Interested in theatre, dance, visual art, gigs, poetry, film and more?
Want to access a free workshop which will give you an insight into the role of a critic?
Then, this is for you! The workshop will be BSL supported. It will be suitable for D/deaf, hard-of-hearing and visually impaired participants.
All participants will be able to access the workshop for FREE and see Taking Flight Theatres new production for FREE
You’ve Got Dragons
“A delightful tale of one child’s journey to come to terms with their inner dragons. ”
A fully accessible intergenerational show featuring creative captioning, BSL and audio description
Audio flyer below
http://www.chapter.org/youve-got-dragons
What’s involved?
You will take part in a 90 minute workshop with Guy O’Donnell Director of social enterprise and online magazine website Get the Chance getthechance.wales
During the workshop you will be given an insight into the role of the arts critic. You will be given instruction on how to create a review and upload your response online. Participants will look at blogging, video, social media and much more! All workshop participants will get the opportunity for their reviews to feature on the Get the Chance website.
If you have one please bring a laptop, tablet and/or smartphone.
The workshop is limited to 10 places. All participants will be expected to review the production
The workshops is on Thursday the 13th of April at Chapter Arts Centre, 40 Market Rd, Cardiff CF5 1QE
http://www.chapter.org/your-visit
Schedule
4:30- 6pm Workshop
6pm break
6:30-8pm Performance of You’ve Got Dragons
Post show talk
To book please email
getthechance1@gmail.com
All posts by Guy O'Donnell
Review Lakmé, Swansea City Opera, Sherman Theatre by Barbara Michaels
(3 / 5)
The opera Lakmé is possibly best known for the popular Flower Duet, composed by Delibes as a showcase for sopranos and performed in Act I by Lakmé and her maidservant Mallika. Lakmé is the daughter of Nilakantha a Brahmin Priest, and the story, set in British-governed India in the 19th century, centre around the love story of Lakmé and a British officer, Gerald. Nilakantha has been forbidden to practice his religion by the British and, full of hatred for the occupying force combined with an obsessive patriarchal love, vows revenge. When he discovers Lakmé has become attracted to Gérald, Nilakantha sets a trap for the soldier and knifes him. Lakmé hides Gérald in the forest and nurses him back to health, but his officer friend Frederic appears to remind him that he has been posted elsewhere. Duty calls – with tragic consequences.
All photographic credits Guy Harrop
The atmosphere of British India comes to the fore in the picnic scene in Act I with the two Army officers, their English girlfriends and governess, with a neat cameo role by New Zealand mezzo-soprano Rhonda Browne as the governess Mistress Bentson, permanently clutching her black Gladstone bag as if it were her saviour.
Romanian born soprano Madalina Barbu’s delicacy of appearance are ideal for the role of Lakmé. Barbu has performed in a number of demanding operatic roles,but does not cope well with all the high notes in the Act II aria Bell Song – a long-time favourite with coloratura sopranos – which is a pity given the high standard of other solo arias and in particular her duets with Gérald (Luke Sinclair). However, Barbu’s diction is not always clear, especially in Act I. Sung in English, it should not be a problem but surtitles would have helped.
As Gérald, Sinclair’s rounded tenor is first class, outstandingly so in his solo arias and duets with Barbu. His interaction with Mark Saberton’s Frederic is also good. As the Mr Nasty of the piece Nilakantha, Håkan Vramsmo bestrides the stage with lofty disdain and a powerful bass, while in the role of Nilakantha’s slave Hadji, Bo Wang gives a neat and well timed performance.
As both director, artistic director and set designer Brendan Wheatley has his work cut out. With the exception of the colourful market scene in Act II, Wheatley’s minimal set is just that, resulting in much of this opera’s Oriental ambience and emphasis on the natural beauty of flowers and trees being lost. There is not a tree or flower to be seen, unless you count the solitary lily thrown on stage in the final act. Surely, Mr Wheatley, you could have run to a token miniature tree or so, and maybe a flowering bush? A local garden centre might be pleased to offer them gratis in return for a programme mention. For greenery, Wheatley relies heavily on the lighting to engender atmosphere, and full credit to lighting director James Thomas for doing his utmost to comply.
With its melodic score and passionate themes of love and persecution, this is opera to tug at your heart strings and this production by Swansea City Opera does that on all fronts. Considering the restrictions of opera on a shoestring – the company was rescued by funding from the Arts Council after Swansea withdrew their support – all credit to them for staging a most enjoyable performance. However, despite manful efforts, the small orchestra struggles to cope with the richness and delicate orchestration of Delibes score.
Lakmé, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff
Music: Léo Delibes
Libretto: Edmond Gondinet and Philippe Gille
New English Translation: Bridget Gill
Director: Brendan Wheatley
Reviewer: Barbara Michaels
An Interview with Lynwen Haf Roberts
The Director of Get the Chance, Guy O’Donnell recently got the chance to chat to Lynwen Haf Roberts. We discussed her career to date, professional development opportunities in Wales and Memory Jar / Jar Atgofion at the Sherman Theatre on Thursday, March 16. An event to showcase new writing in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.
Hi Lynwen great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?
Lynwen with the cast of Deffro’r Gwanwyn/Spring Awakening by Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
After graduating from Trinity University College, Carmarthen in 2010, I started my career as an actress in Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s touring production of “Deffro’r Gwanwyn” (the Welsh translation of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s musical “Spring Awakening”) and haven’t looked back since. I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked with some of Wales’ top theatre companies, including Theatr Na N’Og, Fran Wen, Arad Goch, and more recently with The Other Room at their “Young Artists Festival”. I was also a series regular on Welsh soap opera “Rownd a Rownd” for 2 ½ years.
So what got you interested in the arts?
The arts have always been a part of my life – I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t performing or taking an active interest in the arts! In the area where I was brought up in Montgomeryshire there was a great interest in Welsh culture and the arts, and so the local Eisteddfodau became my stomping ground, and gave me the opportunity to perform and practice my craft. It also helps that I’m a massive show off – there are stories of me re-enacting scenes from Disney films in the living room!
You are producing an event called Memory Jar / Jar Atgofion at the Sherman Theatre on Thursday, March 16 at 7:30 PM – 11 PM. Can you tell us more about this event?
Memory Jar/Jar Atgofion is a bilingual script evening that will be held in Sherman Theatre foyer. Four stellar playwrights – Chris Harris, Susan Kingman, Carys Jones and Matthew Bulgo – have submitted four brand new 10 minute pieces for the event, which will be directed by Chelsey Gillard and Izzy Rabey, and performed, script in hand, by a handful of local actors. It’ll be a relaxed and intimate evening of new writing, that’ll also serve as a fundraiser for a charity that’s very close to my heart, the Alzheimer’s Society.
Why did you choose Memory as a theme?
This event is part of a wider fundraising campaign for the Alzheimer’s Society – in October of this year, I will be partaking in a charity trek for the Society along the Great Wall of China and have a target amount that I need to raise prior to that trek. In order to tie the event into my fundraising efforts, it made sense for me to choose Memory as a theme. It also intrigued me how the playwrights would deal with said theme – although the event is a fundraiser for a very specific charity, I didn’t want the pieces to all be an analysis of Alzheimer’s and Dementia; I wanted a variety of plays to be presented, and the theme of Memory offers a wide scope, I think!
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Lynwen-Haf-Roberts
How can we buy tickets?
Tickets are available on the door, so there’s no need to pre-order, however, should anybody want to show an interest in attending, I encourage them to visit the Facebook event page :
https://www.facebook.com/events/1301902726522457/
If you were able to fund an area of the arts in Wales what would this be and why?
Without a doubt, I think that we need more support for new and emerging talent, both on stage and off. In particular, I feel that there’s very little encouragement for people to pursue careers as producers, artistic directors and casting directors; people who understand what’s going on locally, and who could really sound the trumpet for local, undiscovered talent. More money could, for example, be utilised to set up training/shadowing schemes in the above fields, which could, potentially, give enthusiastic young artists the chance to be paired up with established names and learn their craft from people within the industry.
What excites you about the arts in Wales?
I feel that, especially over the last two years, many grass roots projects are being set up and filling gaps in the industry that have been over looked of late. For example, having The Other Room as a sort of “home” for fringe theatre has inspired many smaller companies to follow suit and start producing new, cutting edge work, while projects like Leeway Productions’ “10 Minute Musicals” and Dan Fulham’s “Hello Cabaret” evenings are creating a platform for musical theatre performers and composers that has been non-existent until now. And that’s even before we start mentioning the national and international connections that are being forged by theatres such as Sherman Theatre and Theatr Clwyd, which means that Welsh work is being presented to audience over Offa’s Dyke and beyond. Nowadays, it’s not necessarily the case that you HAVE to be in London to see or be a part of great theatre – we in Wales are more than capable of producing top quality work, both on the fringe scene and the main stream circuit, and that, to me, is truly exciting.
What was the last really great thing that you experienced that you would like to share with our readers?
I think it’s difficult to think of a piece that both delighted me and horrified me in equal measure as much as “Looking Through Glass” did last December at The Other Room. It was manic; it was sadistic; and it was deliciously dark. I loved it!
Thanks for your time Lynwen.
An Interview with Rachel Williams Development Producer, BBC Writers room – Wales
The Director of Get the Chance, Guy O’Donnell recently got the chance to chat to Rachel Williams, Development Producer, BBC Writers room – Wales. We discussed Rachel’s career to date, opportunities for Welsh and Wales based writers and the exciting new plans for BBC Writersroom Wales.
Hi Rachel great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?
Hi , I grew up in Church Village and went to primary school in Treforest, Pontypridd. I did a degree in English at Birmingham University and started out working as a music writer and journalist, and music radio producer before moving into factual television and directing on documentary and Arts series such as The Culture Show and Channel 4’s Cutting Edge. When I had my first child I came back to Wales and moved into TV development – I was Head of development for BBC documentaries where amongst other things I developed Factual drama including Jack Thorne’s ‘Don’t Take My Baby’ for BBC3. Telling fictional stories appeals to me for many reasons but mostly because you can go deep into the story and structure. I feel very privileged to be able to read scripts and work with writers as part of my day job – and also to have licence to watch drama box sets guilt free!
So what got you interested in the arts?
I think my primary school St Michaels in Treforest first sparked a love for the Arts – I still remember my inspirational English teacher Mrs. White and the inventive way she taught creative writing and poetry. I think the Eisteddfod was another huge influence – I was billeted with a family in North Wales to perform at the national Eisteddfod – which was an amazing experience and my first exposure to the Welsh language. I think it’s great that Wales has such a strong culture of valuing and supporting the arts.
You are coordinating the BBC Writersroom Wales, what are the plans for this new initiative?
Writersroom Wales has been set up with the aim of developing new and established writing talent in Wales, to find tangible opportunities for writers across the genres and to help develop more diverse stories about contemporary Wales on network drama and comedy. I started in the role just before Christmas and we are also looking to appoint a freelance script editor/ producer who can work across Welsh language submissions. One of my first jobs is to set up the first BBC Welsh Writers Festival – an event that will bring together the Welsh writing community and launch the Writersroom in Wales. We are also planning an inventive launch event and writers workshop in North Wales in the summer in partnership with Radio Cymru and other partners. We hope to have regular one off writing events, writers residentials for writing commissions. We are going to set up a Writers development programme and work closely with Arts organisations from National Theatre Wales to Fio to It’s My Shout to support and develop writing talent.
You have organised a Writers Festival on Friday the 24th of March at Chapter Arts Centre, I wonder if you can tell us more about this event?
This is the first BBC Welsh Writers Festival and is modelled on the annual BBC TV Drama Writers festival. We wanted to gather the Welsh writing community together and give them some inspiration, ideas and information about opportunities and also to announce that the Writersroom has landed in Wales. We are putting on a mixture of craft and Q&A sessions giving writers an introduction to everything from Children to Comedy, Radio drama and TV drama. Andrew Davies will chair the day with a Q&A on his writing career followed by a craft session on adaptation, talking about War and Peace. We will also have a Q&A from the brilliant Lucy Gannon who will talk about her writing career across TV and radio. We have sessions on everything from Dr Who to Casualty and Welsh language drama like Hinterland. I’m really excited about the sessions on Comedy Drama and Representing Wales at the end of the day which will be a vital chance to hear from writers and programme makers about the current landscape and hopefully provoke some lively discussion.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities/wales-writers-festival
Get the Chance works to support a diverse range of members of the public to access cultural provision Are you aware of any barriers to equality and diversity for either Welsh or Wales based artists or specifically writers?
I’m not aware of barriers, although arguably there is always a class barrier to becoming ‘a writer’ in the first place. I know there are people in Wales doing brilliant work with under represented communities. The Iris Prize in particular is a fantastic success story that has an international reputation. But I do think there’s a sense that English language drama about Wales has not always reflected the diversity of contemporary Wales. It would be great to see some more diverse stories of Wales on screen – whether that’s about the Somali community in Bute Town or the Italian Welsh community in the Valleys – from a wider range of perspectives. The Writersroom have just produced a second series of the Break for BAME writers – and the next series is coming out of Scotland. It would be great if it could come to Wales the following year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/the-break
http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/successes/the-break
There are range of organisations currently supporting Welsh and Wales based writers, have you met with any of them? How do you see BBC Writersroom Wales working with the current support network for writers?
In the first few months of the job I’ve tried to meet as many dramatic writing related organisations as I can from Ffilm Cymru to theatrical institutions such as Theatr Clwyd and National Theatre Wales. There are already people doing brilliant work in terms of writer support and development such as the Sherman Theatre who run a well respected writer development programme – we don’t want to step on any toes and duplicate work that is already being done. The question for me is how can we work and support existing structures and is there a need for something else that is not currently being addressed? Identifying that need is the sweet spot for the Writersroom – we are here to help fill that gap. But the key thing for us is that any initiative we set up has to have a tangible outcome for the writers at the end of it – whether that it is a slot on radio, TV or online.
Director General of the BBC Tony Hall
The deficit of English Language drama produced by the BBC reflecting the diversity of the citizens of Wales is a cause for concern. Is this something you will be tackling in your new role?
This is an issue that has been identified by Tony Hall and this is partly why BBC Writersroom has been set up in Wales – to nurture and develop the next generation of story tellers writing about Wales. The recent announcement of an additional £8.5m funding for programming in Wales – as well as a new £2m development fund for comedy, drama and factual in the Nations – should be a real boost and help generate new drama and comedy coming from Wales.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/bbc-announces-50-increase-investment-12636991
If you were able to fund an area of the arts in Wales what would this be and why?
We already have brilliant writers here working in theatre and radio – what would be great is if there was a vehicle for talented new writers to develop and hone their writing. So much of good writing is about craft – understanding story telling and the beats that make good drama – and this is definitely something that can be refined. Russell T Davies talked about learning to write on daytime drama The Grand – for the first time writing a scene entirely in subtext. I know these sort of long running drama strands are expensive but perhaps we could experiment with form – do it online or in a drama podcast?
What excites you about the arts in Wales? What was the last really great thing that you experienced that you would like to share with our readers?
I love the vibrant theatre scene in Wales, which is full of talented actors and writers. I recently saw Lucy Rivers’ Sinners Club at the Other Room – visceral, immersive ‘gig theatre’ that told a factual story in a clever and layered way. She wrote and performed it – and for what was essentially a monologue the pace never lagged. It’s going to be showing at Theatr Clwyd next. Watching theatre at the Other Room always feels like a treat, as it’s such a small intimate venue.
https://www.theatrclwyd.com/en/whats-on/sinners-club/
Thanks for your time Rachel.
Top Tunes with Mari Lowe
Portrait photographs by Jon Pountney
Top Tunes is a new feature for Get the Chance in collaboration with Outpost Coffee and Vinyl http://www.outpostrecords.co.uk
The Director of Get the Chance, Guy O’Donnell recently got the chance to chat to Mari Lowe.
Hi Mari great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?
Hello. I’m from Bridgend and I work in heritage. Working in heritage basically means that I get paid to work on projects which explore the past, present and future of everyday people. Often this involves working with a museum or other cultural organisation.
I went to a school called Archbishop McGrath in Bridgend which has since moved to a bigger (and better!) site. It was a small, modest secondary school with teachers who were very caring. Thanks to their encouragement I applied and got into the University of Oxford to study Archaeology and Anthropology. Archaeology is all about the people and societies of the past and anthropology is all about the people and societies of the present. Before I went to University I didn’t know much about Anthropology but I had watched a lot of episodes of Time Team so I felt well-qualified to study Archaeology.
Going away to University was such an important time for me. I really enjoyed the course and I also met people who lived or worked in other countries. I have been lucky enough to visit Sarawak, Spain, Mexico, Singapore, Kenya and South Africa, all because of people I met at University.
After that I did my masters in Museum Studies at Manchester University and I’ve worked in various jobs in museums and heritage. It hasn’t been simple. I’ve done everything from dressing up as a Victorian lady to making films with a refugee charity. Like many careers in arts and culture, it’s not that easy to pursue.
For the last 8 years I’ve lived in Cardiff and I’m pretty happy here. I’ve worked for The Cardiff Story museum and Oasis Cardiff among other things. I’m currently working for Sherman Theatre on a project called Love, Cardiff: City Road Stories. My job is to find people with connections to City Road and record interviews with them. Those recordings will be used to create a performance and an exhibition. It’s quite an ambitious project – we want to reach out to a lot of people and we’re doing it in a relatively short space of time.
http://www.shermantheatre.co.uk/performance/theatre/love-cardiff/
This chat is specifically about music and the role it has played in your personal and professional life. Firstly to start off what are you currently listening to?
Rag ‘n’ Bone Man. I met him a couple of years ago and interviewed him. I can see why he has made it. His voice is very cool and he also comes across as a really genuine person. His first studio album is just about to be released but some of his tracks already exist on single and EP. Life in Her Yet is a beautiful song about his Gran.
Other than that the soundtrack to my life these days is actually BBC World Service. Obviously it’s the BBC so it’s very PC and from a British perspective but it helps to remind me each day that my country is not the centre of the Universe!
We are interviewing a range of people about their own musical inspiration, so we want to ask you to list 5 records/albums which have personal resonance to you and why.
1) Different Light by The Bangles – this was the first record I singled out from my dad’s vinyl collection. I must have been very young but for some reason I liked it and would ask him to put it on the record player. It may have been because of the song September Girls – I was born in September. Looking back I was really lucky to live in a house with a real record collection. I grew up in a quiet, very ordinary home but there were always books, records and art materials around. I realise now what a positive influence that has had on me. When I got older, old enough to actually put the records on myself, I chose things like Paranoid by Black Sabbath, or Led Zeppelin II and another favourite was Eat to the Beat by Blondie – that one’s in my collection now.
2) Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins – I never bought a copy of this. I started listening to the Smashing Pumpkins because of my older brother. Anyone who has older brothers will know what a strong influence they have on you. We’re talking about 20 years ago – a new release would be up to £20 on CD. He would diligently save his pocket money or wait for Christmas to get the records he wanted. I started doing the same. The first album I chose and bought myself was 1977 by Ash. There was five years between me and my brother – I must have been so annoying trying to copy him and hang out with him. Sadly he passed away but I know that being an annoying little sister will always be part of who I am!
3) Cowboys from Hell – Pantera – this record is pretty silly but I still love it. In my mid-teens I got into metal. It was the era of bands like Deftones and System of a Down. Once I got into metal I started going to local gigs. Around that time there was a really fun and accessible music scene in Bridgend. I met a few people back then that have become friends for life. Actually, I hope they know this but they were the extended family I needed at a really hard time in my life. Listening to Pantera might not be everyone’s idea of sanctuary but it was for me.
4) Make Believe – self-titled EP– someone very special copied this EP onto a cassette tape for me along with some other related bands. That got me listening to the more thoughtful side of rock music and to honest I drifted away from the big noisy bands. I think that brand of American indie is also interesting because some of them had something to say about American life and the promise of the ‘American dream’. I travelled to the States on my own when I finished my degree at Oxford and I was surprised by how foreign it felt. I thought all the films I’d watched would be enough to make it feel familiar but it didn’t. It’s such a huge place you can go from one state top another and it feels like a different country – different landscape, different people, different values. And the inequality is so obvious. Just take the Greyhound.
5) Oh No Not My Baby – Maxine Brown – this is one of my favourite recordings from the ‘60s soul/Mowtown era. Her voice isn’t as big as some of the other soul divas but it has a kind of sweetness to it. I could listen to records from this era all day. Fantastic voices, but also I think the old-fashioned romance appeals to me too. My record collection in my teens and twenties was very male-dominated but since then I’ve made a conscious effort to listen to more female musicians and vocalists. It must have been tough for women going into the music industry back then. Now there are so many talented female musicians making it, but also promoters and producers. I hope that continues.
Just to put you on the spot could you choose one track from the five listed above and tell us why you have chosen this?
I’d have to choose Siamese Dream, maybe the track Cherub Rock. It’s got a great 90s rock sound and I think without seeing the physical cassette tape and appreciating that as an album maybe I wouldn’t have gone out and bought my own records.
Many thanks for your time Mari.
Review A Cure for Wellness by Jonathan Evans
(4 / 5)
This movie, if nothing else, succeeds in creating atmosphere. While you are watching the scenes unfolds you absolutely have a sense of how it feels to be there. What temperature the rooms are, how the objects feel and how much dread you should be feeling. A Cure for Wellness is a Gothic tale that put’s before us the human condition of comfort over accomplishment and accomplishment over being fulfilled. Along for the ride are some truly disturbing images, suspenseful buildups and intricately designed visuals.
Our tale starts at night, where a man is working high in a building in New York, typing code into a computer, he receives a letter with a mysterious emblem on it, then suffers a fatal heart attack. Because of this a young ladder-climber named Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) takes over his position. The letter is read, it is from a man named Roland Pembroke that is an important CEO to the company, in the letter he writes about the sick nature of the human condition he found himself in and now that he has found peace in his wellness center, he will not return. The members of the board all concur that he’s gone loony but they need him for a merger, so it falls on Lockhart to bring him back.
It becomes obvious very quickly that Lockhart (we never learn his first name), is a dedicated and hardworking individual but is not happy, he has none to create a personal life with and is direct and to the point always.
When he gets there the staff are a little to good at their job and proficient to be natural, all the clients are blissful elderly people from all over the world. The center itself has a very interesting history that is told in-part to him by his driver and the rest is revealed later. He is past visiting hours so he must come back tomorrow. On his way back a deer runs in-front of the car, causing a crash. He then wakes in the center, a cast now on his leg.
Like Verbinski’s last movie there is the use of water as a key theme. In that movie it was the desired substance of life, here it’s in bountiful supply, only there’s a questioning of how healthy it really is.
In order for a movie location to be memorable or even become a character in the film it needs to be distinctive and have personality. This is one of those locations, the wellness center is a place that is too damn clean, in some places and others is a shaking, metallic organism and in others a ancient Gothic tomb. All these different themes of the same building feed into the many goals of it and both serves the plot and express the mood of the scene.
I like this movie for the same reason I like Dark City. Because it simultaneously has a mystery plot that peels itself back one layer at a time until we finally get to the truth and stands as visual nourishment. This is a movie with themes that feed into what is onscreen and shows us things that will move you on the images alone. We have become too complacent with seeing things onscreen, we need to feel things when we see them in a movie. These images will accomplish this.
Like any well constructed movie the sound is intricately designed. Every object and action has a sound and it is captured in razor sharp detail. Everything from the pipes moaning, the drip, drip, dripping of a tap or the creak of crutches when weight is applied to them.
Then adding life to the rest of the mood is Benjamine Wallfisch with the score. At times, it a is dancing fairy-tale, while others are filled with movements of low frequencies that will unsettle you in your seat and others where it becomes a teeth-shattering and panic inducing.
This movie has an 18 certificate and it is earned. This is a dark tale with more than disturbing images on-screen as well as leaving other moments to the imagination. Along with all of that there is the mystery of the building and its true intentions which you will need a strong stomach for. Plus all of these things are wrapped together with the theme of reflecting on human nature, of being complacent and ignorant or reliant and unfulfilled.
There are moments that don’t add up, others that can be cut out and sometimes when it embellishes itself on the gore and/or the more obvious scary elements it goes past the line and becomes too much. But like Argento’s Suspiria, as an experience of movie watching, as something that has images that move and sounds that resonate within you, it is undeniably effective.
BSL Video, Why not join Get the Chance? with Steph Back
This video features Get the Chance member Steph Back inviting you to join our team. The BSL transcript is below.
Hi my name is Steph Back.
I am a member of Get the Chance. Get the Chance support members of the public to access sport and cultural events such as gigs, the theatre and performances. The members then review the activity they have attended. All of the reviews are posted on the Get the Chance website getthechance.wales
Get the Chance wants to support new deaf/hearing impaired critics. Get the Chance can run free workshops teaching you about how to be a critic.
If you are interested in getting involved you need to contact Guy O’Donnell, The Director of Get the Chance.
You can email him at odonnell.guy@gmail.com or text him on 07703 729079. Get the Chance also has a Facebook group and you can get in touch there as well.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GettheChance/
Thank You.
BSL Review (F.E.A.R) A Mr & Mrs Clark production at Chapter Arts Centre by Stephanie Back
Please find below a transcript of the BSL review of (F.E.A.R.) performed by Gareth Clark at Chapter Arts Centre.
Hello my name is Steph. I’m a member of Get The Chance and I am now going to review a performance called (F.E.A.R.) This was performed by an actor called Gareth Clark, focusing on his fears, in society and the differences in this growing up from child to adult.
I arrived at Chapter Arts Centre where the performance was happening. I had been here before so knew what it was like and where I was going so it felt quite relaxed. I went to the desk and asked to pick up my ticket; there was a bit of a communication break down because the lady did not understand me but I wrote it down and it was all okay.
I then went to find the performance space. It looked interesting with big red letters at the back spelling out the word fear. There was a man sat next to this in a crocodile mask, looked good and a bit scary!
I noticed from the start that Alastair,Sill who was audio describing the piece was sat in the audience a couple of seats across from me. I know from previous performances the AD has been hidden in a box behind the scenes and the blind or VIP audience members can access this though headsets. I appreciated that the audio describing was not hidden away and that (apart from the Deaf obviously!) all the audience had access to this.
At the start of the piece Tony Evans who was the BSL interpreter let us know he would be moving. I have been to many performances before where the interpreter is placed to the side of the stage and you have to look back and forth in order to access this. I thought this will be interesting to see how this works. It was really clear. And really easy to follow. It was clear it had been well planned and thought out. There was even a moment where Tony put his hand over Gareth’s mouth and it was nice to see this interaction between the character and the interpreter. This relationship worked really well and benefitted the performance. I felt more part and more included in the performance because of this.
The match between the interpreter and performer also worked really well. The age was similar, look was similar and the portrayal of emotion matched up much better. Because they grew up around the same time this similar experience they had added to the performance. If for example it had been a young woman interpreter the story would have come across much differently.
Seeing both the actor and interpreter on stage also highlighted that (F.E.A.R.) although experienced differently for each person, is the same as a concept overall. Added a sense of uniting it for all.
At the start, I found I didn’t believe the character portrayal of a child as much as I did the different ages shown throughout the rest of the performance. I am not sure why but it was perhaps because I couldn’t emphasise with the facial expressions or they seemed a little fake in reaction to the fear with the over put on smile.. Having said this from teenage upwards I felt like I could well and truly emphasise with this character. It was like there was this barrier that was destroyed in front of us. There was a sudden onslaught of his experiences and an honest, open dialogue that could make him seem vulnerable to the audience. He said that society told him that it was bad to have sex because he will get a person pregnant at 16 and life will be ruined. And then he asked; what do I do then about this aching in his balls with the natural urge to have sex. That felt so honest and open. And being told that by society is something that I was told too. From there I trusted him so much more because it felt like there were no secrets in that room. The fear was exposed.
After the performance I talked to the Interpreter and audio describer about the performance and they mentioned how access had not been an afterthought. It had been planned and budgeted into the performance. This is really rare. A lot of the time they are brought in last minute and told GO! But it was so clear that access had been thought about and it so much more a better performance because of this.
One thought to improve is that it was unclear at the start as to why the scene remained exactly the same with nobody moving for about two minutes. I understood afterwards from asking that this was due to allow time for the AD to set the scene. It would have been good to let the Deaf audience know beforehand that this would happen so it is not so confusing when nothing is happening for a while. I feel there could have also been more audience interaction, I know there was some but a bit more to encourage the audience to think more about their own fears perhaps.
To conclude. I really enjoyed the performance and really appreciate how much the access was thought about. I felt I could connect so much more to the piece because of this.
Thanks you for watching.
http://www.chapter.org/fear
Criw Celf A2:Connect working with artes mundi, Bedwyr Williams and Gareth Clark
Earlier this year our director Guy O’Donnell met with Tom Goddard, Project Producer at Criw Celf, A2:Connect to discuss their work. Criw Celf is is a visual arts project for ‘More Able & Talented’ young artists at secondary school. Tom discussed the current Criw Celf project which is linked to artes mundi. Tom had invited Welsh Artist Bedwyr Williams to work with the young people and they were also able to take a tour of Artes Mundi as well as taking part in workshops to produce art work of their own. This article gives us an update of their progress. The original article can be found at the link below.
getthechance.wales/2016/12/22/interview-tom-goddard-project-producer-criw-celf-a2connect/
“Hi Tom, would it be possible to give our readers some information on what happened during the recent workshop at NMW?”
“Yes, it went really well thanks! Each of the group have now embarked on their own self initiated project. Through working and getting to know Bedwyr each of them began to consider a position or a problem that they wanted to tackle, investigate or even solve through the creative process. It all sounds a bit over the top when put like that when really it’s about refocussing on them as individuals instead of being given a theme that’s been thrown at groups of young people for over 20 years.”
“What came out of this process was questions, questions about why things are the way they are as well as what they are passionate about; whether those things are absurd, annoying or interesting.”
Criw Celf members feedback
“The workshop opened my eyes to the many different ideas of art, the January workshop I thoroughly enjoyed although it was slightly less independent than the February one. This is why this time I preferred it because it was a more hands on experience, as we developed our ideas and played on what we thought they could be presented as we each decided and are going to show them in an exhibition.”
Amber
“It was good fun, met some new people, look forward to carrying on with future activities, interesting people in the class.”
Llyr
“I thoroughly enjoyed the workshops this week as we experimented with a range of different materials and techniques. I tried pinhole photography for the first time which was interesting and an experience.”
Rubi
“In February they’ll be working with two artists with questioning at the heart of their practices, Tiffany Oben and Lisa Saunders. The workshops at Llanover Hall will continue to focus on creating a studio environment where the self led work is supported through the sharing and discussion of context, specific artists, influences and relevant thoughts, people and theory.
During the three February half term workshops they will complete their tour of Artes Mundi seeing the work of Nastio Mosquito and Lamia Joreige at Chapter and they’ll all be learning how to make, take and develop pinhole photographs inspired by Lamia Joreige’s work. On the final day we’ll be going to a workshop led by Mr & Mrs Clark in Chapter’s Theatre then seeing a performance of their one man show F.E.A.R. I saw it last year at Experimentica and was struck by its honesty and power after meeting and getting to know the group I felt it would be exciting for them to see something this bold.”
Criw Celf participating in a workshop with Gareth Clark from Mr & Mrs Clark at Chapter Arts Centre.
“What plans are there for the development of the project.”
“In March once the project work is nearing completion and even while some of it is still very much in progress!, Criw Celf will be working with a curator and a technician to design, build and curate their own exhibition in the centre of town. The idea is that Criw Celf will learn how to do it themselves, the groups average age is 15 so I think it’s really important to demystify all this stuff early on, to get hands on and to have a go yourself. All of these adults might work really hard but none of them do something these young people couldn’t do, if they put their minds to it and I’d like to think that Criw Celf would probably do it better too. I’ve been lucky enough to have the support of Cardiff Council and that’s meant I have been able to secure a building to house the exhibition for the whole of the month of March so if you’re in town do pop in and check out the exhibition.”
Criw Celf Exhibition opening – 2.30pm on Sat 4 March
Venue: 11 High Street, Cardiff City Centre
Exhibition open
Thurs, Fri & Sat throughout March 12 – 4pm
9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 March
Top Tunes with Kully Thiarai Artistic Director, National Theatre Wales
Portrait photographs by Jon Pountney
Top Tunes is a new feature for Get the Chance in collaboration with Outpost Coffee and Vinyl http://www.outpostrecords.co.uk
The Director of Get the Chance, Guy O’Donnell recently got the chance to chat to Kully Thiarai, Artistic Director, National Theatre Wales.
Hi Kully great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?
“Hi I’m currently Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales and based in Cardiff. I grew up in Smethwick, near Birmingham and got into theatre quite by accident. I have over the years worked independently as a Theatre Director and also run organisations large and small –some with theatre buildings and others like National Theatre Wales whose work can happen anywhere.”
This chat is specifically about music and the role it has played in your personal and professional life. Firstly to start off what are you currently listening to?
“I’ve not listened to much recently. I’ve just bought the new XX album and looking forward to seeing them in Cardiff very soon. I’ve mostly been listening to Bowie recently– his greatest hits and Black Star. I was lucky enough to see Lazarus in London– the new work he made before he died and it made me want to listen to some of his older music as well as Black Star.”
Have you had the chance to catch up with any Welsh or Wales based singers or bands?
“I’ve always enjoyed Super Furry Animals and Catatonia and would obsessively play the Manics albums but I have a lot to catch up on the more recent Welsh scene. Swn Festival is of course a great event and it certainly helped me hook into some Welsh musical talent that I wasn’t aware of.”
We are interviewing a range of people about their own musical inspiration, so we want to ask you to list 5 records/albums which have personal resonance to you and why.
“I’m struggling to list only 5 – but here are few that come to mind for very different reasons.”
“U2 – lots of albums that I love but ‘War’ which featured ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ was my introduction to the band and I still think it’s a wonderful anthem and rebel song. There are loads of other U2 songs that I play a lot but I could be here for hours naming them.”
“I can’t name one single album as such but I loved the Jam and then The Style Council and now all things Paul Weller. ‘A Town called Malice’ is one of my favourite songs – it somehow captured the times I grew up in. ‘Brand New Start’ is heartbreaking but I always hear it as a song to help pick yourself up when your down and ‘Why Walk When You Can Run’ just celebrates the joy of being young and full of life.”
“Tina Turner because I had to include a great woman singer who was feisty, extraordinary and such an entertainer, but I can’t name an album – she’s simply the best!”
“Parallel Lines Blondie – I remember one of my Maths teacher at school being completely obsessed with Blondie and he used to try and sing her songs. She was such an iconic figure and the music felt so different from other things I was hearing at the time.”
“Monsoon Wedding soundtrack – I really enjoyed the film and the diversity of music from classical Indian tunes to contemporary compositions was really fun. It has a joyful quality and hooks into my Indian culture I suppose.”
Just to put you on the spot could you choose one track from the five listed above and tell us why you have chosen this?
“It’s really difficult to choose one but…..There is a beautiful song on the Monsoon Wedding Soundtrack called Aaj Mausam Bada Beimann Hai (Today the Weather Plays Tricks on Me) by Mohammed Rafi which always makes me smile. It’s playing as a young wedding planner is creating a heart of marigolds on the lawn as the rain is falling to show the maid of the house his feelings for her.”
https://youtu.be/dc7ibTnz2Bg?list=PLi5oMRLsRSi4uqydEHqa_UPEq9LojSkZg