I have just come back from a Sunday night at Dragon Hall in King Street. The invitation was to The Story Machine, an invention by Writers' Centre Norwich's programmer Sam Ruddock.

The idea is to take a beautiful and historic building (Dragon Hall was a merchant's house dating back to 1452 or thereabouts) and fill every atmospheric corner with stories and storytellers, a bar and food.

So, in 30 minute 'chapters' I was able to explore the building and listen to stories being read - some better, some worse as you might expect - I especially liked a trilogy called Electrification down in the basement cells of the building, lit only by candle-light and pointing out that shedding light on things is not always desirable, and the reading by Kevin Duffy entitled Cruelty. His soft Irish voice and, dare I say, appearance reminiscent of a leprechaun (or was it just the way he read the story) was very evocative of the great Irish traditions of storytelling, which he did so well.

There was  no room for me in Fly which had limited spaces and Jon MacGregor who was telling stories in a little car so for the rest of the time I was in the Great Hall, which is lovely though I have to say, I did prefer the settings of the smaller more intimate and unusual spaces. We all came together in the Great Hall  for the last story, Still, which was beautifully told by Anna Metcalfe and about a widowed man and his son who tok a photo each year as the last leaf fell from their plum tree. A touching coming of age story.

Overall, it was an interesting evening. I found the format a bit complicated as there was a lot of information to absorb whilst making choices. Had I have realised, I would have turned up half an hour earlier to give myself time to absorb how it all worked. It was hard to make choices, get a drink (the cocktails were nice but a bit slow), get to the next place and all before things were already full and I found it annoying and distracting to start with but after a while I decided just to turn up at whatever was nearest and available. It worked but I would have preferred to have felt more in control of choices than just taking the nearest on offer. And a bell or whistle warning of the start of the next session might have worked well and injected a sense of 'shift work' - it was a machine after all and sported its very own, slightly greasy mechanic. But these are all things that can be tweaked about the format and overall it was a great use of the building - the HQ of the Writers' Centre in Norwich.

Tonight, go and see Penny Arcade in the Speigeltent if there are tickets left. Well worth it.
She is a sharp, clever, ascerbic, typical New Yorker and yet the show was not typical. Apparently cabaret, apparently stand up comedy in presentation but oh so much more serious in the actual content. One gets the impression that she could be a Uni lecturer in philosophy/sociology/psychology but with the wit to convey ideas with great delivery. Sounds a bit dry? Well that's what is clever.

She wants to make the audience think, she challenges them to do so. At 65 (she doesn't look it) she is no spring chicken - she grew up in the 60s as a rebel, in with the crowd in New York that included Andy Warhol, Quentin Crisp and many other badly behaved people - she doesn't mourn her youth but she challenges the youngest generation to wake themselves out of a sleep of saccharin security. She says that they have been submerged into a world of branding, logos, franchises, marketed lifestyles where history is irrelevant and vintage is cool.
Of course, she puts this all so much better than me, accompanied by bizarre little dance routines, lighting and musical interventions. She remembers to mention everyone that has helped top produce the show and invites the audience to contact her personally, giving out her email address. She is touching and human and reminds us about how we can be responsible for  ourselves.

There is one more opportunity to see her in the Speigeltent tonight at 10pm. The show lasts just over an hour - you can still be in bed by 11.30 - or maybe after listening to her, you will go out and shake up the town!

Before that I was at Live Art Club at Norwich Arts Centre with Made in China and their show Tonight I am Gonna be the New Me. It was a couple thing, but very different. Somewhat bizarre. Female performer in an open box stage, wind fan, red light, minimal props, strange epileptic dance moves, conversation addressing the audience and non-cooperative partner Tim in the audience back row. Tragedy at the end. Not going to pretend I really understood it but then it probably wasn't anymore clever than it seemed. It was a different form of story-telling and was well executed. That's what live art gives us, a new way of looking at things. There is more at Norwich Arts Centre this week so explore the programme and go and see something different. It is Luke Wright's show tonight which is most likely sold out. This programme is very popular so try something different while you have this chance. www.norwichartscentre.co.uk

BTW here's a link to Penny Arcade's website ​pennyarcade.tv/biography

Hello again

You are going to hear quite a lot from me in the next couple of weeks as there is lots to catch up on and lots happening during the weeks of the Festival. If it is too much contact for you, just press the delete button until it settles down again (I won't be able to keep it up!). On the other hand, keep reading and some of what I have to say might just hit the mark!

Tonight at Theatre Royal was  Sans Objet, a contemporary choreography with a robot arm and two acrobat/dancers as main cast. Was tremendous. Visually  dramatic and maybe a sign of things to come in the future as man and machine mixed, moved, interacted with each other on a stage set like a car assembly line. A large robotic assembly arm was animated by a puppeteers, given it an expressive and quasi human persona . There was great use of light and dark, extra-terrestrial and prehistoric with the huffing puffing sighs and whirrs of hydraulics being the only voice on stage. It was well-produced and choreographed and further proof to me that it is not always the events that jump out of the Festival brochure that are the most exciting, and it is worth digging deeper into the pages and trying some of the lesser known works. I hope that the enthusiastic applause made the journey to Norwich worthwhile for the performers. It was very clever.

Tomorrow (19 May) I am going to see Max Richter also at Theatre Royal - also looking forward to that. Hailed as the most influential composer of his generation, British electro-acoustic artist Max Richter is inspired equally by Bach, punk rock and ambient electronica. Richter’s sonic world blends a formal classical training with modern technology, with work including scores for the award-winning film Waltz with Bashir and Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island. I really like this kind of classical/contemporary/ambient style of music so it is right up my street.

Friday night for me is Wild Life, a show which involves a number of talented teenage singer-songwriters from the Norfolk area who took part in a pilot show last year and have developed this performance with Belgian director Pol Heyvaert for this year's Festival. Shown at Norwich Playhouse it has been developed into a show that is funny, beautiful, angry and honest. Wild Life explores the lives of young people and the universal experience of how music makes you feel. I have a feeing that this is another of those shows that is worth taking a chance on and there are several opportunities to catch a performance as it is on for several nights

On Saturday 21st , Lisa Fischer (supported by Grand Baton) is performing at Theatre Royal - although maybe her appearance is overshadowed by the clash with the Mahler's 8th, Symphony for 1000 mega-performance at the Norfolk Showground, if you are not a great fan of classical choral/orchestral music then maybe Lisa Fischer would be a good option - she certainly has a lovely face and a matching voice - made famous by being the star of the Oscar-winning Twenty Feet From Stardom. Lisa is best-known as the woman who sings her heart out with the Rolling Stones – the YouTube of her 'Gimme Shelter' duet with Mick Jagger has had millions of hits. And she is here in Norwich.


Over the whole weekend is Vocal Invention, a weekend of workshops and concerts run by our very own music ground-breakers Sian Croose and Jon Baker and the rest of the Voice Project team - they are amazing and each year, they show that Norwich-based talent is every bit as amazing as talent from elsewhere. Not sure if it is all booked up yet but if voice is your thing then you should check it out for sure in case there are places.


There are still opportunities to see The Tempest at Great Yarmouth Hippodrome. I went last Saturday night and although it is a long show (3 hours), the time flew by. The Hippodrome gave the play a very 'otherworldly' feel which was great, although the venue's acoustics lost some of the more complex speeches at times. There were also times when I thought that the adage 'less is more' could have been applied but overall it was a very enjoyable and innovative production. Fish and chips and an early evening drive through Halvergate Marshes in a Citroen DS really completed a lovely evening out. So go and see The Tempest while you can - think it runs to Saturday - in fact, if you haven't been to the Hippodrome yet, you really should see this show directed by William Galinsky


And don't forget the Live Art Club at Norwich Arts Centre with delights such as the Egg Festival Café, everyday 9am-12pm you can have breakfast with a smile and some slapstick action plus late night gems that you won't encounter elsewhere next up is:

[LIVE] ART CLUB - CHRIS THORPE AND JON SPOONER: AM I DEAD YET?
Chris Thorpe and Jon Spooner
Thursday 19 May 8pm at Norwich Arts Centre​
It comes highly recommended and Chris Thorpe has had several successes at Edinburgh Fringe 



​Over the weekend 21/22 is the Garden Party in Chapelfield Gardens, the glorious Spiegeltent and also lots of other bits and pieces running through the Festival such as ​the City of Literature Festival (lots of writerly events and readings), The Dennis Design Centre, the Public Jukebox. Walk with Me at Felbrigg Hall, It's Happening In Norwich - film by Jan Turkowski - loads more - I can't really tell you all - that's what the www.nnfestival.org.uk website is for
​
What Next? and Norfolk & Norwich Festival panel discussion
The next What Next?​event hosted over the Norfolk & Norwich Festival will be on Friday 27 May. Please see further details below and information about how to sign up (RSVP required please).

Live Panel Discussion Friday 27 May, 11.30am-2pm
​At ​Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedict's Street, Norwich​

PERFORMING ARTS PRACTICE IN THE NETHERLANDS  
Panel includes Lotte van den Berg, Tin Men and the Telephone, Strijbos & Van Rijswijk and
​ ​
William Galinsky, Artistic Director of Norfolk & Norwich Festival

​The discussion is ​followed by a networking lunch at 1pm with the opportunity to meet our artists from the Netherlands, other festival artists and visiting programmers and arts professionals

​It is free but ​please email [email protected] if you would like to attend



​In other areas than the Festival
Aude Gotto presents The Bach Players at The Octagon Chapel
​'The Food of Love' celebrating Shakespeare's 400th anniversary​

Thursday 2 June 2016, 7.30pm
Tickets are on sale​ from www.ticketsource.co.uk/bachplayers, from Prelude Records and on the door


From Norwich Puppet Theatre
We're taking a trip to the beautiful Bishop’s Garden on 5 June, with performances of Pied Piper, puppet making workshops and more! This is always a popular day out and a chance to see the garden and buy plants too

We're delighted to be taking part in the Norfolk and Norwich Festival again this year. You can find us at the Garden Party in Chapelfield Gardens, and be sure to catch Mary English at the theatre. A show which incorporates puppetry, visual theatre and an original sound score.


Summer puppet workshops
Summer at the Puppet Theatre is packed full of workshops for children and families. The ever-popular MagiMation returns, along with Summer Puppet Club. And for the little tots, we have Puppet People and Creepy Crawlies puppet making workshops. Book now.


Murder in the Library
The Library Restaurant has a new venture - Murder and a Meal. For £35 a head (not a chopped off one!) you get a pre-dinner drink, nibbles, a main meal and a dessert plus you get to solve a murder, What's not to like ? 26 June and you need to call the restaurant to book on 01603 616606

And an appeal for survey for market research for a new writing company
'Grown out of East Anglia's thirst for greater support for writers/directors/performers and crew in theatre/film/television/radio, NR4 is East Anglia’s newest Performing Arts Company. Dedicated to working with local talent, we raise the profile of writing and connect with other local, national and international networks so that the stories of East Anglia are heard.

But, we need your help to know what it is YOU need from NR4! We want to know what support you need for your artistic practice, what you want to see change in the region, and what you want to achieve. By filling out this survey, you will be part of a changing East Anglian landscape that celebrates performing arts, our voices and our stories!
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/BN35Z2N

Dates for the diary
Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios
28 May-12 June

Art Car Boot at Redwell Brewery site Sunday 19 June
This annual event has become an firm fixture in the Norwich calendar, don't miss it - more soon


Urban Art Fair (3rd July) and Lord Mayor's Celebrations (2/3 July)
Organised by our indefatigable Norwich City Council events team in the centre of Norwich - free events - see www.norwich.gov.uk


Saturday 25 June Original Projects presents 1 Wow of a time - an artist guided trip to Great Yarmouth - details are in the Art in Norwich booklet and www.artinorwich.org.uk


Maddermarket Theatre new production Return to the Forbidden Planet
22 july-29 July - predicted to be a sell-out so book early
The last show to be directed by Norwich's best-loved theatre director Peter Beck before he sets off on an ambitious plan to produce his own shows, Return to the Forbidden Planet always promises fun and reverse polarity or is it hilarity, I never know. In any case, Peter beck and Stash Kirkbride have had a noticeable transformative effect in the two years that they have had a joint artistic director role but Stash is now concentrating on the Hostry Festival and Total Ensemble whilst Peter is looking to make his mark as a regional and national director based in Norwich - great idea!


New places to eat and drink
North which used to be the King of Hearts Cafe, now taken over by Frank's Bar
Eaton Park Pavilion Cafe  - now run by the Bicycle Shop
Brick - a woodfired pizza place just next to the Sir Garnet pub by the market


There's lots on here and lots more to come so I will be back soon with more 'culture' for you, hope that you get to some of these


The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift, Digital Shift
Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Culture Shift Network is a free communication resource for the arts and cultural community of Norwich. If you would rather not receive email updates please email back asking to unsubscribe. Please feel free to forward on to other networks and contacts, and if you would like to be added to the list for your own copy, please email me at [email protected] or visit www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk. Thank you

Last night I went to the launch of Fierce Light, an exhibition at the East GalleryNUA (at the junction of Bridewell Alley and St Andrew's) which is a collaboration of the Festival, NUA and the Writers' Centre Norwich. It is a combination of images, films and poetry related to the First World War and specially commissioned as the first event of this years' City of Literature Festival and part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. It is a sensitive and moving exhibition and last night I was lucky enough to go to an event at The Playhouse with two of the poets and one of the film-makers to take about their experiences in tackling the commission. Simon Armitage has overlaid poems on top of aerial images of the terrain of the Somme - the photographs being the starting point for the words. I especially liked Prof Suzie Hanna's animation which illustrate a poem by Bill Manhire, fragments of lines reported back from the trenches which create little glimpses of the feelings of people sent out to their deaths - over 1 million young men from countries all over the world including China and New Zealand Maoris. The event was as much a  salutary history lesson as a poetry reading and I recommend the exhibition which runs throughout the Festival till 4 June.

Curator of East Gallery Caroline Fisher says 'From 10 May to 4 June we will be hosting Fierce Light, an exhibition of new poetry and film commissions commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, one of the defining moments of mechanised, trench warfare of World War I. The works on show have been commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Writers’ Centre Norwich and 14-18 NOW, the body responsible for commissions such as Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red at the Tower of London in 2014 and its subsequent tour. NUA has also played a key role in supporting and facilitating the exhibition.

Fierce Light will feature new works by five poets and five film makers who have been asked to respond to the Battle of the Somme using narrative forms in their broadest sense. We anticipate that this will be a poignant and moving installation where the film makers have responded to the content of the poems, but will have also brought their own unique vision to the works. The films are currently under post-production here at NUA and we are delighted to have played a major part in their production and be presenting them at East GalleryNUA.

Alongside the film work will be new visual work by Simon Armitage - a set of photographic pieces overlaid with Armitage’s new poems, version of excerpts from Virgil’s work The Georgics, originally written in around 29BC.

During this exhibition our opening hours have been extended the Gallery will be open 12noon to 7pm Tuesday to Saturday - the perfect opportunity to take in the exhibition after work and before going to one of the Festival’s many evening entertainments!
We are also delighted that Sam Ruddock of Writers’ Centre Norwich will give a brief lunchtime introduction to the exhibition on Friday 3 June at 1.30pm. Admission is free - just turn up.

​At 10pm at The Forum I watched an interesting aerial performance called Flat ​. A single performer (Rodrigo Pardo), suspended on an aerial harness in front of the Forum building, lived out a day and night in his life, on a blank white backgroup with block shapes which were transformed into features of his home (table, sink, cooker, loo) and a bed by video projections. In particular a dream sequence made it easy to forget that he was moving around a vertical surface in a 30 minute show which messes with your sense of reality. It is on again at 10pm tonight and is free. So pack a jacket and go. If you get there early, there are deckchairs. i found it easy to get a good view

​Details of all Festival events www.nnfestival.org.uk​
​

Art exhibition openings
​Just launched in the Undercroft t​here ​is ​a new exhibition of artists' collective Stray​ from Cambridge with a show  called 'Beneath The Surface' curated by Norwi​ch artist Gena Ivanov - varied work​ with some interesting pieces. I especially liked the neon art by Susie Olczak and Sue Shepherd. 

And the Fairhurst Gallery in Bedford Street also launched their new show with Holly Scholfield ​on Thursday 
- in fact if you pick up an Art in Norwich booklet you will see that there are a number of shows opening this week including Mandells  Gallery in Elm Hill with Garry Raymond Periera, Greenhouse Gallery Inundation and Norwich Arts Centre with
​ an exhibition by​ Lone T​win Gary Winters - you can get a hard copy of the booklet in the TIC or Theatre Royal and all round town
​or download a pdf from the websitewww.artinnorwich.org.uk​

Tonight I am going to see The Tempest at The Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth - the Hippodrome is one of the only circus venues in Europe which can still be filled with water, yes, real water and the play has been directed by NNFestival Director William Galinsky . There are lots of performances of this so I will let you know what I think but I strongly recommend that you get a ticket and go - it will be an experience without a doubt.

On Sunday is the Story Machine, ​a very special, event, which I am really looking forward to. I did want to go and see the James Plays which is a full day in three parts about the Kings of Scotland, all day and evening either on Saturday or Sunday, which I think would be fascinating but I couldn't fit everything in -  if you like historical/political plays then I think the experience will be well worthwhile so instead I am going to:

Step into The Story Machine …
Produced by Writers’ Centre Norwich, for Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2016​

Sunday 15 May
Tickets £15 (under 25s £7.50)
12.30 - 15.30 * almost sold out and ​19.30 - 22.30

This Sunday embark on a journey through the garden, cellars, halls and hideaways of 15th century Dragon Hall, as eighteen stories unfold around you. Pick and choose your pathway through live-performances, video installations and soundscapes, making time for a literary themed cocktail or two. Literature meets immersive theatre in an unforgettable three-hour adventure.
Jump in a Honda Jazz with Jon McGregor (‘One of the top ten writers to see live’ - The Guardian) as he tells tales to those huddled in the back seat, be inspired by Claudia Rankine’s video essays illuminating the medieval walls and listen to the voice of Etgar Keret whisper in the Saxon cellars. These and many more stories will stimulate your senses - even the delicious street food comes with your choice of origami story. 

So pick up a Red Lotus cocktail - lychee liqueur, vodka, cranberry and fresh lime - and let yourself be carried away by stories at every turn. 

Book your tickets: www.nnfestival.org.uk/festival/city_of_literature/the-story-machine
Booking hotline: 01603 766400

Lots more coming along and I will let you know what is good to pick up on as we go through the Festival​
​ www.nnfestival.org.uk​