Posts Tagged ‘apples and snakes’
GUEST POST – Maria Tang: a photographic journal of performance day
Posted in activities, tagged apples and snakes, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, new writing north, performance day, photos, poetry, simon mole, spoken word on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »
What the audience thought…
Posted in activities, food, poems, tagged apples and snakes, audience engagement, family dinner, family gatherings, indiana jones and the extra chair, juice festival, live theatre, newcastle, newcastle and gateshead, peader kirk, poetry, simon mole on November 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Above, a sample of the plates filled in by our glorious audiences on the last Saturday of Juice Festival. Below, a poetic selection from their family gathering ‘top fives’…
Underlying tension and sibling rivalry. Chaos. Too much food.
Nibbles, alcohol, a controversial granny.
One child under a table. Chaos.
Cracker jokes. Drunken parents. Love train/conga
Chaos. Too much food. Arguments over
whether we should read through the rules of the game
before we start (which takes ages!)
or just start and learn as we go along.
Chaos. Not enough chairs. Karaoke.
Christmas presents. Batteries not included.
Grandparents: war tales and medical updates
At least one embarrassing incident
Good company ,Silly games, chaos
Too much food…
Final preparations – required reading!
Posted in Heroes, tagged apples and snakes, indiana jones and the extra chair, indiana jones annual, juice festival, live theatre, new writing north, simon mole on November 2, 2012| 1 Comment »
Massively looking forwards to the performance events at Live Theatre tomorrow, which are the culmination of our project up here in Newcastle. Rehearsals have been going well, but there is one thing remaining to do – read the Indiana Jones annual from 1990! I’ve included the cover and the first couple of pages below to help you get in the mood too… Hopefully see you tomorrow!
GUEST POST: Reece David Connolly – “my hero”
Posted in Heroes, tagged apples and snakes, heroes, indiana jones and the extra chair, james bond, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, new writing north, newcastle, newcastle adn gateshead, simon mole, skyfall on October 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »
“My hero is Bond, James Bond. I just need to hear that opening blast of brass and I see the gun-barrel, the suited-and-booted siloheutte, the spin and that single, fatal shot of that Walther PPK. This man has being single-handedly saving the world from golden-gunned, claw-handed, cat-stroking wrong-uns since 1962 (helped, only occassionally, from the odd hyper-magnetised-laser-equipped-chainsaw-Omega-wristwatch). And I’ve watched transfixed, every time – a million times. Be it Uncle Sean, George, Roger, Tim, Pierce or Dan, I don’t care, because they’re all Bond. My Bond.
I have the films, the books, the comics, posters, collectibles and postage-stamps. Even the aftershave. How to even put into words my love, respect and awe for 007 of Universal Exports, London. Licensed to Kill and Wisecrack. An ageless legend that has been a constant, and always there for me, martini in one hand (shaken, not stirred) and an exotic girl with an unlikely name on his arm, while the Aston purrs in the background.
I can’t wait to introduce my own children to my hero, and let them dive into his world. Meet men that have metal-mouths, cars that spit out goons, where every pool has a complimentary shark and every elevator a triggered trapdoor.
I have many heroes, but Bond has been, and will always be, the best. Because, of course, nobody does it better.”
Introducing #5: Steven Blackshaw
Posted in introducing, poems, tagged apples and snakes, indiana jones and the extra chair, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, new writing north, newcastle, poetry, simon mole, spiderman, spoken word, sunday roast on October 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Hi Steven, thanks for joining us for this final blog-post in our mini-series introducing the local writers we’re collaborating with for the project up here in the North East. I’m hugely looking forward to performing in Newcastle for the first time this week, have you got any performance experiences in the area that particularly stand out?
One of my best performance experiences was when I performed as part of a student festival in my mid teens. The experience was fantastic because I performed on the Theatre Royal stage in Newcastle, which is something (growing up in Newcastle) that is amazing to actually do when you see real productions on there yourself. With it being part of the festival too, there was a great audience of excited participants, families etc., so the buzz of excitement was brilliant and I had a lot of fun performing.
Great stuff, can’t wait to see you do your thing at the events for this project on Saturday! Our plan with the blog is give people a little taster of what they might expect from you at the performance events, so maybe you could tell us the tagline for your piece, and even treat us to a little extract?
Ok, so the tagline is: “It all starts with the opening of the packet, and winning has never tasted so satisfying.”
and here’s a little quote from the piece:
“The day started like no other. The cool, brightness of the early morning sun washes the room with a haze of bright light. The soft, fluffy, dark green carpet nestled between my toes as I walk towards the phone.”
Intriguing! Sounds like a domestic setting then – maybe the family home? On that note, another thing we’re asking you guys is what’s the speciality dish when your family get together?
It would probably be a meat based dish of delight. Usually pork chops, with Sunday roast inspired vegetables and Yorkshire pudding. Perfect any day of the year.
Ha ha, nice one – a popular choice! Final question then, who was (or is) your childhood hero?
I was just like many young kids when it came to action heroes. With things like Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles particular favourites (and to which I’m sure is true with regard to teenage mutant ninja turtles!). But, my hero as a kid has to have been Spiderman. He was just fantastic, what he stood for, how he flew around the city but ultimately just because he is so cool.
Quality, thanks man – consider yourself introduced!
Introducing #3: Maria
Posted in food, introducing, tagged apples and snakes, arts council, community projects, ee cummings, gateshead, juice festival, maria, new writing north, newcastle, peader kirk, poetry, simon mole, spoken word, spoken word theatre on October 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Hi Maria, loving the photo – you always have great hats! Really excited to have you involved with the project – as with Ryan lets start at the start – what made you want to write initially?
I assume I started writing due to the realisation that real life is nothing compared to worlds where exciting things happen all the time, and it’s even better when YOU get to pick and choose ANYTHING that can happen. Maybe I was just power-hungry at a young age…
Any writers, poets or otherwise, that you particularly admire?
My favourite poet might be E. E. Cummings, though my opinion fluctuates between his work being quite profound and stimulating, to simply ridiculous so that it is just comical.
There’s definitely a liberal helping of comedy in your piece for the show, what’s the tagline?
“Grandma’s Soup: Where do the boundaries of politeness lie?”
Ha ha, nice! Finally, but perhaps most importantly, what is your family’s speciality dish/meal when it’s time for a get together?
My Mum’s classic Miscellaneous Cheese Bake will keep you on your feet with the endless surprises in store, if you dare to venture beneath the cheese…
Brilliant, thanks for that!
To find out more about the event that Maria, Ryan and the other local collaborators will be performing at, head to this page on the Live Theatre site:
http://www.live.org.uk/whats-book/indiana-jones-extra-chair
Introducing #2: Ryan Watson
Posted in introducing, tagged apples and snakes, batman, don draper, indiana jones and the extra chair, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, newcastle, poetry, Ryan Watson, simon mole, spoken word, spoken word theatre on October 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Welcome to our mini-series introducing the brilliant local writers we’re collaborating with on the project. First up, Ryan Watson…
Hi Ryan, first up, and crucially of course, what would you say is the ‘speciality dish’ for you family gatherings?
My Nan’s dinners. They usually involve Gravy and chicken/beef, the best mash potato EVER and Yorkshire puddings. Pickled Onions on the side too. Celery sometimes makes an appearance.
After our first workshops at the weekend it’s clear you’ve got a real talent for writing, what got you started?
I’ve always been really into my TV shows, since Thomas the Tank Engine and Power Rangers and I’ve always been half in my own little bubble world. Then I discovered Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and a writer called Neil Gaiman and they inspired me to try and write my bubble world down and see if anyone likes it.
Nice one, what elements of this ‘bubble world’ will you be shedding light on in your piece for this project? Actually don’t give too much away, just the title and the tagline you came up with in the session will do!
Well it’s called ‘The Wedding Present’ and the tagline is:
‘The family’s here. Mum’s getting Married. Growing up’s never smelt so bad.’
Good stuff – does what a tagline should, I want to know more! Maybe just a little excerpt?!
Here goes…
‘I’m the cool guy in the suit, I’m Don Draper.
It’s up to me to save the day.
I take off my jacket. I roll up my sleeves
just to show it I mean business, just to show it who’s boss.
And I walk in there. A peg on my nose and a bucket of water
are my only weapons, my only defence in this great battle.’
Great man, thanks, hopefully that will have whetted a few appetites to the point they want to hear the full piece at the event!Finally, then who’s your hero?
My Hero has to be Batman. Any Batman. Except George Clooney.
If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones – one poet’s quest for the ultimate tag-line
Posted in activities, tagged apples and snakes, community, education, family, family gatherings, indiana jones and the extra chair, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, movie taglines, newcastle, poetry, simon mole, spoken word, spoken word theatre on October 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
As part of our re-drafting session on the Sunday, we used the idea of movie ‘tag-lines’ as a route in to understanding the core of our pieces more clearly. A tag-line is essentially a shorthand method of expressing the central theme or appeal of the film – coming up with a tag-line for a poem you are writing means you have to think about what the most important elements of it are; and also about your aims for the piece, both in terms of content and style…
Also, it was a good excuse to read through a few classic movie tag-lines , some of which are below – can you match the tagline to the movie?
TAGLINES:
“In space no one can hear you scream.”
“Houston, we have a problem.”
“They’re back.”
“We are not alone.”
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water.”
“Who ya gonna call?”
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”
“Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
“One dream. Four Jamaicans. Twenty below zero.”
“The list is life.”
“Earth. It was fun while it lasted.”
“Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.”
MOVIES:
Cool Runnings (1993)
Alien (1979)
Apollo 13 (1995)
Poltergeist II (1986)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Star Wars (1977)
The Fly (1986)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Armageddon (1998)
Shawshank Redemption (1994
Have we missed any other classic taglines? Add your favourites as a comment if you’ve got a minute…
The classic ingredients!
Posted in activities, poems, tagged apples and snakes, community, family, family gatherings, juice festival, live theatre, new writing north, newcastle, poetry, simon mole, site specific theatre, spoken word, spoken word theatre on October 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
In our first session, our writers put their heads together to compile a poetic list of what they feel are some of the key ingredients for a family gathering. If you think we’ve missed any out then feel free to add your own suggestions in a comment!
Cooking for hours and eating in minutes.
Cross-generational wii tennis tournaments. Photos. Photos.
All possible combinations of everyone present for photos.
Then looking at photos. The ones you’ve just taken.
A 6 week monopoly game. Cards, scrabble,arguments, cards.
Overstayed welcomes. A very intense game of trivial pursuit.
The traditional Christmas pizza.
Chaos in the kitchen. Naps. Awkward silences,
or everyone talking at once.
Buffet banquets. Obligatory charades.
Way too much food. The huge tin of sweets
that only comes out when everyone’s full.
And gets wolfed down in seconds.
Underlying tension diffused by bad jokes.
And a grandma with total, absolute control of the tv remote.
Introducing #1: the blog!
Posted in introducing, poems, tagged apples and snakes, arts education, big family gathering, community, gateshead, juice festival, learning and participation, live theatre, new writing north, newcastle, poems and food, poetry, simon mole, spoken word poetry, spoken word theatre on October 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Hiya, Simon here…
The idea for the blog is to introduce you to the brilliant local writers involved in the project (who I met for the first time at the weekend) and give you a taster of the type of stuff they’re working on with me. We’ll also be documenting our creative process more generally as we move towards the performance events – hopefully offering out some interesting insights and opportunities to get involved along the way…
As for me, you can find out plenty more than the average person would need to at my website, but as a starter I used this poem as part of my introduction to the group at the weekend, mainly because the incident it describes is one of the proudest moments in my life!
You can check out a video of me performing the scratch to the show on the ABOUT page, but most importantly keep tuned to this blog to watch the project develop!
Indiana Jones and the extra chair 