Friends2Friends

I had a lovely time meeting the Friends2Friends group at Cruck House in Lichfield this morning.

Some of my new friends gather for a photo

We spent an hour chatting over coffee, discussing what type of drama production they would like to do and when to do it. There were lots of ideas from pantomimes to local history stories but eventually the group decided it would be good to devise a piece about Friends2Friends and some of the things they have done since their formation. They decided to aim for a performance as part of their 2nd birthday celebrations in May 2014. They are keen to include some music, comedy and possibly dancing, and there were lots of suggestions as to what Friends2Friends landmarks could be included - they are such an active group there will be no shortage of material!
As a next step, they are going to sketch out a few ideas for scenes which would illustrate what Friends2Friends is all about. As well as using this to celebrate their birthday they also talked about being able to use it as information about the group and maybe performing it elsewhere in Lichfield to raise their profile in the City.
What a lovely bunch of enthusiastic people - I'm really looking forward to visiting them again soon!

Simon and Mal: Part 2

Another lovely chat with Simon and Mal. Since we last met they have had a think and come up with some fabulous ideas for a theatre/poetry event around the theme of  'Temptation'. The more we chatted the more possibilities sprang to mind including forum theatre and film. The idea is to use a mix of participants; inviting some previous Lichfield Mysteries participants to work alongside people from Tamworth involved in their recent production of Quadrophenia (who would be new to the Mysteries), and people who are completely new to performing; aiming for an intergenerational, multi-cultural performance.
We also discussed performance spaces and the possibility of performing in both Lichfield and Tamworth in around 12 months time.
It all sounds very exciting!!
Congratulations to Simon and Mal on their recent Quadrophenia production. Read about it here.

South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Arts for Health

This morning I went to visit the Arts for Health team at  St George's Hospital Stafford.  St George's Hospital, part of the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Care Trust, is actually a combination of two historical hospitals—the Kingsmead Hospital (previously an elderly care facility) and the St George's psychiatric hospital. It provides mental health services, including an intensive care unit, secure units, an eating disorder unit, an EMI unit for the elderly and mentally frail, drug and alcohol addiction services and open wards. The Arts for health Team, Eleanor, Jessica and Helen work with both in-patients and a variety of out-patient groups both at St. George's and further afield across South Staffordshire and Shropshire. Having done a lot of visual arts, music and creative writing they felt that drama would be an area that they would like to extend their work in. We also discussed dance as they have not done very much work there either.
Armed with a few ideas, they are going to have a chat with potential groups and we can then start to make some plans.
Thank you Eleanor and Jessica for making the time to see me, making me so welcome and giving me an opportunity to explain what this project is all about.
I'm looking forward to hearing from them soon.

Shoebox Theatre

Katie Morag Stories

I have had a lovely chat with Margaret from Shoebox Theatre in Tamworth, a not-for-profit community interest company run by community volunteer directors. They work with people of all ages and abilities to develop ideas and practices both in community settings and local schools. they are currently doing an interesting intergenerational project after doing research on local World War I stories.The group is largely made up of vulnerable people and the work is being developed through improvised sketches.  

Billeting the evacuees

Against the wind

Shoebox are keen to keep this group going so we are looking at the possibility of researching and doing a Mummers play with them, for outdoor performance. The group would then be well placed to take on one of our Mystery plays in 2015.

Community Arts in Cannock Chase District

Today I went to Chase Leisure Centre to meet Lisa Shephard and Kerrie Jones, of the Arts, Health and Well Being team. which is managed by Wigan Leisure Culture Trust. Two enthusiastic ladies who are passionate about using the arts to increase the health and well being of the people of the Cannock Chase District.

Communities within Cannock are still very much based around the traditional but now defunct mining areas. Each had their own pit, their brass band and their identity and people are still reluctant to travel from one area of Cannock to another. New manufacturing industries have not replaced the pits; traditional manual work is in short supply with new industries being based in the service sector. We discussed the possibility of doing an arts and well-being project in the Blake area of Cannock to help build capacity within this community. This is an area Cannock with a lack of literacy skills and academic aspiration and a high incidence of alcohol and substance misuse. Work has been done here previously by the Cannock team; it has been thoroughly consulted and connections are in place which would enable Lichfield Mysteries to do projects in this area. They are currently compiling a Reaching Communities funding bid for a three year programme of work in Blake and other areas of Cannock Chase District.

It was lovely to meet such committed and enthusiastic people who care so much for the communities in which they live and work. I am looking forward to further discussions and planning some exciting community arts projects with them.

Every little helps

What a smart green car...

I've just got back from meeting with Laurence Shenker, Lichfield Tesco's Community Champion. Tesco employ 300-400 people at this store, making it one of Lichfield's largest employers. They operate on a variety of shift patterns so large numbers of the workforce are unknown to each other. Part of Laurence's remit is to encourage staff activities and the social committee have organised several competitions - Easter egg decorating, poster making etc. These have not been overwhelmingly supported and Laurence has concerns about whether we could motivate people to take part in an arts activity. I think this sets us a challenge!
Laurence is going to sound out the staff and see if there is any response and I am going away to think of arts activities which might appeal and projects which individuals could perhaps contribute to over a period of time creating a collaborative piece.
I will also contact other Tesco branches in the target areas - we might be able to do a project all together.

Hmmmm...thinking caps on....

Simon and Mal

I've just got back from afternoon tea in the Lichfield Garrick Green Room with Simon Quinn and Mal Dewhirst, two lovely gentlemen who areas  passionate about community arts as me. Brilliant!
Simon is Director of Fired up Theatre, devising and delivering performance projects with people who do not usually access the arts. They do lots of intergenerational work breaking down social barriers and challenging perceptions and are very keen on partnership working. Amongst many other projects, together with Mal Dewhirst, Simon was responsible for The Wall, Tamworth's largest community production to date based on Pink Floyd's album and they are now both working on Quadrophenia as a community piece for performance in May 2013.
Mal is a poet, writer and film maker and is Staffordshire's first Poet Laureate. Mal's ideas for poetry in Staffordshire are really innovative and accessible.
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Together they make a great and multi-talented team.We had a lovely chat about multi-disciplinary art works; they have used projections, sound installations and textile work in previous projects, all of which would be an exciting new adventure for Lichfield Mysteries. Being well established in Tamworth they have made lots of contacts with all kinds of people and are thinking about potential participants and work which we could do in partnership to extend community engagement with Lichfield Mysteries in the Tamworth area.

I like nothing better than a cup of tea and a good conversation about community arts!