Category:

Symphony by nabokov : More excellent theatre and new writing come to Norwich

5/9/2014

The Garage Norwich is about to celebrate its 10th birthday and it has changed a lot in that time. It has been known as a venue for young people since the outset, some people saw it as a kind of Fame Academy for kids from North Earlham, Larkman and Marlpit and indeed it was originally funded by NELM as a way of getting young people to come into the bright lights of the city centre to broaden their horizons.

And they did - dance groups proliferated and there were a number of real successes - Passion Productions, a street dance group led by Scott 'Scooby' Atkins started in his aunt's garage and was nurtured by the Garage team. The group is still very busy and productive and are seen everywhere, and Scott has pursued a professional career in dance.

But The Garage is much more than a place for dance workshops. It is a venue and theatre in its own right and each year has season's of programmed shows, specialising in new writing and adventurous theatre which appeals to all audiences, including young people - though it is probably fair to say it is not aimed at those who 'like what they like'. I have been to many shows at The Garage and there have been many surprises in both direction. Normally the shows are about an hour long and it is well worth taking the risk of something that defies easy description - they are normally the most interesting.

Anyway, coming up is a whole new season, kicking off with this show by nabokov who brought BLINK to Norwich last year - a Valentine love story

This year, they have brought Symphony. This time, the cast are members of a rock band who play as they tell stories about life as they see it. Tickets can be booked at
http://www.thegarage.org.uk/symphony-eid533.html

SYMPHONY by Ella Hickson, Nick Payne and Tom Wells
Theatre meets live gig and stand-up comedy as three of the UK's hottest writers collaborate with Fringe First winning new writing company nabokov to present a hilarious and eclectic mix of stories told through raucous live music and spoken word.

Symphony was first commissioned by Lyric Hammersmith, Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, Watford Palace Theatre and Latitude

★★★★★
The New Current
"touchingly beautiful and powerfully frank... an unmissable gem"

★★★★★
The Public Reviews
" treads a blurred line between theatre and gig…one of the highlights of the programme"

“Three plays about growing-up, relationships and romance are belted out by an incredibly versatile five piece that not only act their socks off but sing and accompany each other on a variety of instruments.”

The Stage

"Overflowed with witty heartfelt lyrics and dialogue. A cross between a gig, a musical and a spoken-word event"
The Guardian

"Perfectly pitched, funny and at times strangely emotional, the detail and observational wit is flawless."
Exeunt

0 Comments

Culture Shift update 21 July 2014

21/7/2014

2 Comments

It's been a while since the last update - life has been busy as usual. And while everyone else has been contending with the storms at the East's biggest festival, Latitude, I have been compiling news and updates which I have been asked to tell you about, or I have noticed myself.

Since the last update, we have had news from the Arts Council about which arts organisations they are supporting with core funding, ie contributing to overhead costs of running an organisation (National Portfolio Organisation) rather than just funding project by project. I am pleased to say that all of the four Norwich NPOs retained their funding (Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Norwich Arts Centre, with the British Centre for Literary Translation joining forces with Writers Centre Norwich). In addition, two new organisations Seachange Arts in Great Yarmouth and Creative Arts East, based in Wymondham will be NPOs from April 2015.

Norfolk Museums Service has also retained its status as an MPM, a Major Partner Museum, (you can read about it here) and has also recently absorbed the Norfolk County Council Arts Service under the management of new(ish) director Steve Miller who relocated to Norwich from the Ironbridge Museum in Shropshire.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival has retained management of the Bridge which aims to connect children and young people with culture in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

This is all great news for Norfolk as it helps to secure funding until 2018 and strengthens the arts and culture infrastructure in the county in the face of a drop in funding from local authorities across the UK. Well done to those organisations, especially the new NPOs.

Well done also to those organisations that bid for NPO but didn't get it awarded as they work extremely hard year-on-year to deliver high quality arts, often to groups of people who find it hard to access arts and culture for a variety of reasons in a rather hand-to-mouth way, depending on project funding and frequent applications to Trust and Foundations to keep their work going, which takes a lot of energy and resources. If you have a favourite arts organisation, perhaps now is a time to think about whether or not you could help to support our fantastic arts provision here in Norfolk. We are lucky to have so much choice and a little bit of regular giving really helps most organisations.

More sad news is that well-known artist, stonecutter and musician David Holgate died on 30 June after a short illness. His life was celebrated at a funeral service at Norwich Cathedral last week on 17 July, with a full nave. David was one of Norwich's art treasures as well as one of the nation's best letter-cutters. He will be badly missed in the arts community in Norwich. Our sympathies to his family. You can read more about his life here.

Anyway, onto events and things happening in and around Norwich

The next issue of Art in Norwich is due out soon, which is produced on behalf of the Norwich Visual Arts Forum by Culture Shift. Look out for copies of the handy-sized booklet in the first week of August - all over the city esp Forum, Norwich Cathedral and all arts info racks. There is still an opportunity to be listed in Art In Norwich if you are a visual art group or artist, or a curator running exhibitions, plus a limited amount of advertising space if you would like to support Art in Norwich. If you are interested, please get in touch at [email protected]. If you are an artist or curator and would like to come to the next Visual Art Forum meeting on Thursday 24 July, please get in touch.

There are lots of visual art exhibitions, with new ones opening every week. Picking out a couple I would go and see the exhibition in the Undercroft beneath the Memorial Gardens in front of City Hall, which is part of the European-funded Monument project run by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art. It shows how well the space can be used and is an important exhibition relating to World War One. It is open Tuesday to Saturday 12-5pm.

Another I wouldn't miss is Malca Schotten's drawings entitled Maternity - her work when she was carrying her third child and soon after and signalling a move to her trademark large charcoal and chalk drawings. It is at the Fairhurst gallery in Bedford Street,
City Centre, Norwich NR2 1AG until  9 August Mon - Fri 10-5pm Sat 10-2pm
www.fairhurstgallery.co.uk (A related exhibition which was at STEW is now ended)

Talk at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts 24 July 6-7.30pm
Unique opportunity to hear Paul Moorhouse, Twentieth Century curator at the National Portrait Gallery in London in conversation with John Virtue on Thursday 24 July 6-7:30pm in the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia, Exhibition Gallery Three
Tickets £8, £6 concessions, includes a drink on arrival.
Booking essential, call 01603 593199. www.scva.org.uk

Please follow the Art in Norwich blog for regular updates on art exhibitions or visit www.artinnorwich.org.uk

Same applies to music. Music in Norwich is a publication and website which aims to roundup and showcase all of the music organisations whether professional or amateur who are active in Norwich and surrounding area. The next edition is due out in the first week of September but you can sign up for updates at www.musicinnorwich.org.uk.

if you are interested in listing or advertising in Art in Norwich or Music in Norwich please get in touch via info@theshiftnorwich.org.uk

For music fans this week:
Today there is a free organ recital at Norwich Cathedral at 11am and for opera fans, Theatre Royal Norwich has the Freiburg Opera for three dates of a Wagnerfest (Parsifal Wednesday 23 and Friday 25 plus Tannhauser Sunday 27 July)

Two concerts at Anteros Arts in Fye Bridge Street (start of Magdalen Street)
Thursday 24 July, 1pm
Richard Ove Stokkereit plays classical guitar.

Friday 25 July, 1pm
Lunchtime Concert: Hannah Woolmer & Daniel Roberts
Hannah Woolmer is a highly respected violinist with prolific experience as a recitalist.
She has performed in many of the UK's classical music venues.
Internationally acclaimed Pianist Daniel Roberts performs solo recitals, chamber music performances and concerts with orchestra.
Anteros Arts, Fye Bridge Street, Norwich Telephone 01603 766129
www.anterosarts.co.uk
A ticket for £5 covers admission to one or both concerts

Norfolk Centre for Young Musicians (NCYM) has just finished its first year!
NCYM staff are appointed by the Guildhall in partnership with the Norfolk Music Service and we run a range of activities for students aged 8 - 18.  The emphasis is on encouraging enthusiastic and able musicians to take part in a full morning of musical activities. We are presently running 3 choirs, a range of string/wind ensembles from grade 2 - grade 8+, improvisation sessions, general musicianship classes, classical guitar/percussion groups, theory and a tango band! Individual lessons are also available on some instruments.
Read more about it here.

Sistema in Norwich Orchestra play at Sandringham Flower Show
Wednesday 30 July
There is an annual Royal Flower Show which is really popular and a chance to see the grounds of Sandringham. This year, Sistema Norwich have been invited to play in the Royal Marquee for Prince Charles and Camilla. The Royal Marquee is not open to public but Sistema in Norwich will have a stand in the main garden show and we hope that some funds will be raised. Come and support the orchestra and have a lovely day out . Check the Flower Show website for tickets.

Opportunity for writers
Norwich is UNESCO City of Literature and to celebrate this, and Visit Norwich, Writers' Centre and Norwich BID (Business Improvement District) have launched Norwich City of Stories, a campaign to tell the stories of the city.

Submit your writing to City of Stories & celebrate Norwich City of Literature
The City of Norwich wants to see your writing!
City of Stories is a new campaign which celebrates Norwich, UNESCO City of Literature and the people and places that make this fine city so wonderful. If you’re a writer who loves, lives in, or has some connection to Norwich, Visit Norwich would like you to submit your city themed writing – you could have your work showcased online and in print.

We know that you are the city’s best storytellers, and Visit Norwich would like to give you the chance to share your work across the streets of Norwich. If your submission is successful your work will be published digitally, and appear in the real world on beer mats and posters, giving you valuable exposure.

Details of how and what to submit are here. Deadline for submission is 31 July.
There will be a launch event in August.

Hostry Festival Norwich - call for artists September 1st 2014
En Plein Air Competition
22nd & 23rd October 2014
Paint Out Norwich, a unique outdoor event where up to 20 selected artists will paint En Plein Air at some of Norwich's finest historic landmarks, over two days.

The days set aside for painting are Wednesday 22nd & Thursday 23rd October 2014 and the public will be invited to watch the work in progress. Over the two days selected artists will be stationed at some of Norwich's most iconic and historic sites and streets. The works will be exhibited at the Norwich Cathedral and judged by a panel of experts. Prizes will be awarded following a live auction and gala reception with the People's Choice Award winner revealed at the end of the 2014 Hostry Festival.

Interested artists are invited to submit applications by September 1st 2014.
Prizes to be won:
First Prize - £1,000,
Second Prize - £500 ,
Third Prize - £250
People's Choice Award - art materials hamper (provided by Norwich Arts Supplies)

For more information, submission guidelines, rules and regulations please visit http://www.paintoutnorwich.org/submissions/apply

Norwich Fringe Festival – Call for submissions.
This year's festival is due to take place 11-25 October and submissions are open for another couple of weeks until 15 August. If you would like to take part either as an artist, performer or venue please submit via the form at www.norwichfringefestival.co.uk. Norwich Fringe Festival is a platform for local talent.

Norwich Hackspace/Makerspace
There is a move to build a group of people interested in setting up a hackspace/makerspace in Norwich. Hackspaces are community workshop spaces where people can make things and have access to equipment such as lasercutters, 3D printers and such things. If you are interested in joining a group, please email me [email protected]

Words and Women: One
I have also been asked to tell you about a publication
by women writers based in Norfolk – 'Words and Women: One'.
To buy a copy just email [email protected].
also available for Kindle  for £3.99 and from iBooks.

Unthank Books is also a great resource for people wanting to write or publish their own books have a look at what they do here http://www.unthankschool.com/

Wymondham's Great War - project with schools
World War 1 Commemoration Project with the Wymondham Cluster of schools
- follow news of the project, read local stories and memories and get previews of the young people's work. This is an exciting 12 school Heritage Lottery Funded Project.
Wymondhamsgreatwar.blogspot.co.uk

Norfolk Chapter What Next? meetings continue every Wednesday 12-1pm at either the Writers' Centre or NORCA with a view to bringing people involved in arts and arts development together on a regular basis to help advocate the case for arts and culture. All are welcome to come.

You can read the basics about What Next? as a national movement here and my take on it locally here. If you would like to know more, and/or come to a meeting please email [email protected].

That's all for now folks, I need to get Art in Norwich off to print!

2 Comments

What about What Next? update

30/4/2014

0 Comments

What about What Next?

I have been to two or three meetings in Norwich in recent weeks - they have been happening on a weekly basis, for an hour, since 5 March.

The idea, which started in London a couple of years ago, is to create a space in which discussions can take place about what is next for the arts and cultural sector in the face of government cuts and changes in policy. A lot of leaders of organisations felt that they needed to join forces, resources, contacts, skills and experience to help advocate for arts and culture, and to open up the debate on the value of both to our society, in a bigger picture kind of way, and to try and monitor the effects of changes and cuts.

This sort of discussion has been somewhat closed down in recent years as everyone has been preoccupied with fighting for survival, looking after their own corner and funding streams, and justifying their own existence, leaving little time to advocate for the greater good.

After hearing about the What Next? movement at an Arts Development UK meeting recently, I looked to see what was happening nearer to me as weekly meetings in London at 8.30am were a tad unfeasible.

I discovered that there is a What Next? Chapter in Cambridge but also one had started closer to home in Norwich, jointly with Suffolk, convened by Norfolk & Norwich Festival, meeting weekly on a Wednesday 1-2pm with a monthly meeting with both Norfolk and Suffolk together.

At the Norwich meetings, a lot of the discussion has been about out how What Next? might work in Norfolk and Suffolk. There are a number of Chapters (20?) popping up around the country and they all work slightly differently. So it was really interesting to hear Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp from The Place tell us about the provenance of What Next?, how it started, how it has progressed - and also what the reason for What Next? is. (see notes later)

On their website, there are a couple of videos from the 2013 What Next? conference which explain the roots and ethos of the movement, and they are in the process of updating the rest of their website at the moment - currently there are no employees of What Next? and the aim is to keep it as an informal movement rather than an organisational structure.

The London chapter of What’s Next has been able to meet with ministers, politicians and major influencers, and it has to be an opportunity for all of us to make the case for the arts and culture to our councillors and local leaders and get them onside.

In Norwich, there has been a lot of discussion about timing of meetings, how often, when they are held, where, who should come, how to get more people there, attracting speakers - and also, it has to be said, what is the point? There seem to be two camps, broadly – those who think that there is no point unless the group has a purpose with tangible tasks and outcomes and those who want a space for conversation and to allow ideas and discussions to grow.

There is probably a balance between the two in as much as I really believe that we do need space to think about what we believe and what we want to say about the value of the arts, to hear what others have to say and to learn about what other people know as well as sharing our own knowledge and experience, without being tied down by objectives and purpose.

But I also think that there is a real benefit to be had from being able to come together to bring about collective action - something we have not had for a long time - and there is real potential to act as a consultative body for policy makers and as a lobbying force. It is recognised across What Next? that there is a need for the public to understand how they can benefit from more resources for the arts and greater accessibility. This is an opportunity to formulate and reinforce arguments and evidence of the benefits of arts and creativity to life and human potential.

Kenneth’s watchword is conversation followed by action and big things start in small circles and their website www.whatnextculture.co.uk has plenty of tips for what we can do to positively advocate.

Marion Catlin, Culture Shift Norwich April 2014 www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

Notes from the 2nd joint Norfolk Suffolk meeting Wednesday 23 April

It was the 2nd joint meeting and closely followed the first Suffolk meeting which happened earlier that morning.

The main speaker was Kenneth Olumuyiwa Tharp OBE CEO of The Place, London. He has been involved in the development of What Next? From the early stages

He said:
The movement has evolved. It was not always weekly meetings but as they (the initiators and spokespeople) started to meet with politicians and influencers, it became necessary to meet more frequently.

The meetings started from a point of shared values, not just fighting own corner. Part of a conversation, organic, naturally inclusive about the bigger picture and the value of the arts.

Four main areas of concern/action

Olympics legacy was initial driving force - ie What Next? after the Olympics and 2012? What would happen with momentum and also what would happen to funding without the Olympics in the frame
Political Advocacy. Perceived need to advocate on behalf of arts and culture in the post-Olympic context, and to act swiftly in the wake of 2012. This needs to be joined up and collective
Education - the implications of changes to education system, curriculum and creative education. How can we use our collective knowledge and ability. Particular concern of ROH
Public engagement - how do we convince e unlicensed as well as politicians and policy-makers about the value of the arts? And what they would miss without it. If other areas of life are threatened, the public come up in arms eg woodland when the Forestry Commission was threatened but arts are still often seen as elitist and for the well-off without people realising the reach in terms of well-being and quality of life, and how the arts have a fundamental role in the development of human potential.

There is no What Next? party line but rather personal perspectives and experience in a melting pot. Not even organisational remit.
Consensus may be reached but it is not necessary to do so
Thinking can feed into other things such as local cultural strategies, corporate plans, joint work on audience development, data collection and evaluation
Resources on website to help with advocacy. Everyone should think about who they can convince armed with clear arguments. This is useful for younger or less experienced people who need help with clear advocacy and reasoning.
What Next conference 2013 was one year ago exactly on 29 April 2013. Next one 16 June 2014
Opportunity to have a big conversation and air lots of views.
What Next? generation ie the young people and rising artists and professionals in culture – now meeting on their own

Some of the issues

Time is seen as a luxury to be able to spend it on non core work 'at the coal face'
Frequent meetings too much to manage but infrequent meetings lose momentum
Geography limits attendance and involvement
Perceived as a leadership group, not for 'just anyone' – can be viewed as elitist
If opened out do groups become too big?
If not, are groups too small and depending on a few people?
Split between people who are very outcome-focused and those who want a more soft edged approach and a space for debate and ideas to form organically
It could become a talking shop with ideas not going anywhere
Same old people talking to the same old people

Benefits

Working on the bigger picture for culture positively rather than being in retreat
Sector has a strong and influential voice
Renewed pressure on politicians and policy makers
Potentially more inclusive as anyone interested can come
Proactive not reactive
Loose structure means that it is not owned by anyone
More opportunity for non-leaders to have information and be in the picture
Important for people at all levels to have the arguments to convince public and politicians at grass roots as well as Whitehall
Opportunity for shared best practice eg evaluation and data collection
Consultative group for strategy and joint actions locally

After a few meetings, It seems clear that What Next? is needed in Norwich, and hopefully will grow to include a wider range of people, including individual artists and practitioners. As well as its greater purpose of lobbying and applying pressure on politicians and policy-makers, it has the potential to become a platform for better information for people working in the arts at all levels, and for people to be able to join up for collective action, which has got to be a good thing.

If you are interested in coming to What Next? meetings, please email [email protected] and/or join the Facebook group Facebook.com/What Next? Norfolk

0 Comments

Review of Shame by John Berkavitch at The Garage 7 April 2014

8/4/2014

0 Comments

I have been doing a bit of work lately for The Garage in Norwich helping to build audience for their Curtain Up! series of professional touring theatre coming to Norwich, funded by the Arts Council. The funding is to support The Garage as a theatre venue. This is a bit of an issue because people have got used to thinking of The Garage only as a place where young people learn dance and performance skills, whereas in fact they also have a very well equipped theatre auditorium which is ideal for small-scale new theatre work.

In fact, although it still has its core values of accessibility to the arts for young people, Curtain Up! is programmed to appeal to a wide audience range, not just young people. The style of work is more adult, not too traditional, a bit edgy and different, the kind of work that would turn up at the Edinburgh Fringe.

So, I have been to a lot of Curtain Up shows recently, and with one exception, they have all been good and interesting. And I was looking forward to this one, Shame by John Berkavitch, as the description sounded as though it was quite an original format, incorporating dance, Hip Hop, spoken word, animation and story-telling.

In fact, it was clear from the beginning that this was a very professionally put together show, with dramatic lighting and extensive use of projection, some of the most successful I have seen. Bold swathes of light, colour and graphic motifs transformed the stage, eliminating the need for clunky scene changes and creating moods and spaces to suit the story and the action.

Berkavitch is a dramatic persona himself with a strong face and dark beard, shaved head and top knot, tall and with stage presence. He started by challenging the audience to think about their own shameful acts, keeping just the right side of participation - just. After a few minutes of 1:2:1 with his public, John launched into a string of tales of his childhood and family life, confessing to moments of regret and shame, things he wished he had either done or not done. Been more honourable, more courageous, less led by his d**k, more loyal, less cowardly. All in all, he didn't seem to have done anything truly terrible, but they were obviously things that had played on his conscience for a long time, and, he says, make him into a better person now.

Berkavitch was supported by three men in cream attire, with umbrellas and other props, who were his friends, shadows and alter egos. Their background in break dance was evident and there were a number of well-choreographed sequences showing off this form of street dance. They travelled the routes of regret along with JB and demonstrated their evident skill and experience in street dance. Sometimes this worked beautifully and sometimes it felt a bit shoe-horned in but hey, it is their speciality!

They kept up the pace of the action and also were conscripted as key parts of the set, the three of them playing an entire Gaggia-style coffee machine as John Berkavitch works as a barista, serving the audience with fictitious beverages as he fields a variety of phone calls. Sometimes it was hard to follow the chronology of the story-telling and occasionally I wished the dancers would stop still for a minute (they usually did!) as the whole show moves along at a pace and the script is pretty snappy, but there is never a dull moment.

Overall, it was well put-together and also well worth catching if you can before the show heads off down to Bristol and Nottingham. It's just over an hour long and so is fine for a week-day outing. It is in Great Yarmouth at The Drill Hall on Thursday 10 April. #shamejb

The next Curtain Up! show at The Garage is Bitchboxer on 20 May but there are a number of guest theatre performances by local theatre companies - try Canada Boys on 9/10 April and Romeo and Juliet on 12 April and a show about the Burston Strike School on 17 April called Bricks of Burston.
See www.thegarage.org.uk for more details

0 Comments

Changes to ACE funding

21/11/2013

0 Comments

Changes to NPO Funding in England
Arts Council England is preparing to divide its National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) into two groups from 2015/16 – those that will be funded from Government Grant-in-Aid (GiA) and those that will be paid from Lottery revenues. This new approach to core funding was announced at a briefing meeting for leaders of existing NPOs and major museums at an invitation-only gathering at mac in Birmingham last week. Delegates were told that there will be no need for organisations to consider whether to apply for one category of funding or the other, as the decision as to which type of funding will be awarded will be made by ACE. Deputy Chief Executive Althea Efunshile told the meeting that certain types of “people-focused” organisations are likely to be Lottery-funded in future, and cited circus, participatory arts and festivals as examples. Under the law governing National Lottery distribution, Lottery proceeds must be distributed in response to open applications and the cash must be for time-limited activities which are ‘additional’ to those normally or currently funded from Government sources.

The meeting also heard of ACE’s investment plans for 2015-18. ACE is forecasting a 5% cut in its NPO budget for 2015/16 and standstill from there for the following two years. The amount of Lottery money allocated to NPOs will grow and there will be a small increase in Grants for the Arts. Delegates were told to use 2014/15 figures as the starting point for their next NPO applications but to make their bids ‘scalable’, making clear the implications if they were to be given less than they hope. They were told to expect fewer changes to the composition of the National Portfolio than in the previous funding round, and that very few organisations would see a funding increase: London will also not get more than at present.

NPOs will, however, be eligible to apply for additional Lottery cash from other strategic funding programmes. Full details of these will also be published when the application period for NPO status opens in January, and Efunshile told delegates that this was to enable them to take account of alternative ACE funding sources when preparing their NPO applications. Having said this, the total value of strategic budgets will be reduced by around 20%, and ACE will look to cut these first if there are further cuts to its Government funding.

The Birmingham meeting was one of a series held around the country from 5-7 November. Although the next round of applications for National Portfolio status will be open to all, the briefings were only for current NPOs. For those who were not invited but are considering applying for NPO status, the presentation slides have been made available on the ACE website at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/jobs-and-conferences/conferences/national-portfolio-briefing-events-november-2013/.
(Source: Arts Professional)

0 Comments

Symphony by nabokov : More excellent theatre and new writing come to Norwich

Culture Shift update 21 July 2014

What about What Next? update

Review of Shame by John Berkavitch at The Garage 7 April 2014

Changes to ACE funding

Sign up for blog updates

Author

Categories

Archives