The Alchemist Foundation 'Flashmob' at the Comedy Store in Manchester Image ByRoger Moody
Click on the Headline for news:
Othello’s Revenge
The Alchemist Foundation Flashmob
Light Night 2010
PCI Lecturer talks about Alan Bennett on BBC Radio Leeds
The Elaborate Polish szopki
'Double Portraits' Ripon
Bagshaw Museum Refurbishment
Poetry School
Othello’s Revenge directed by Dr George Rodosthenous
Othello’s Revenge was an EKT (Enterprise & Knowledge Transfer) project directed by Dr George Rodosthenous and presented in Munich and Münster in April 2011. This was the second commissioned performance by the Cyprus Embassy in Berlin (Georgea Solomontos).following the success of The fall of Icarus in 2009.
Othello’s Revenge is a new physical adaptation of Shakespeare’s original play Othello (1622) and deals with jealousy, rivalry between men and the presence/absence of a female in their army barracks. What happens when promotion is given to our rival? What happens when love turns to jealousy? And what are the destructive forces of dark rage?
The cast included current BA Theatre & Performance student Richard Collins and Luke Osborne and Chloe Scott were employed as technical and stage managers.
The piece received excellent reviews across Europe “Rarely has Othello been staged in such a dynamic, barbaric and at the same time human way” (Münstersche Zeitung, 19.04.2011)
Dr Rodosthenous and Theatre Historian Dr Eleni Pilla are currently co-authoring an article: 'Love is a con. A construction. And I am an engineer': De-constructing love and rejection in Rodosthenous' Othello's Revenge (2011)'.
The Alchemist Foundation-Flashmob
Students from the School of Performance and Cultural Industries recently performed at the Manchester Comedy Store as part of a national touring event under the banner of 'The Alchemist Foundation: Inspiring Stories told by Inspiring People.' More details about this initiative set up by the Chairman of Yorkshire Forward, Terry Hodgkins can be found online at, http://thealchemistsfoundation.com The flashmob was choreographed by Fabia Ward, an independent dance practitioner based in Leeds and performed by dance students from the Dance Programme. The event at the Manchester Comedy Store, 21st October, 2010 was the first in a series that will include Sheffield, Hull Truck, Birmingham, and Leeds West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Light Night 2010
Light Night 2010 peformances included; 'Personal Trainers the Musical (2010)', 'Narcissus (2010)', Ghost Stories, The Blackboard Dances and VOID. Click on the link below to see the images from the 'Blackboard Dances' a walkie-talkie expedition gathering ideas and inspirations for imagined dances that later were recreated as 'The Blackboard Dances' in the Leeds Musuem Cafe. Also 'VOID' which took place in stageone in the stage@leeds building, a 20 minute multi-speaker sound installation exploring fleeting moments of emptiness, longing and solitude. You can view more images of 'VOID' at www.davidshearing.com
View the Light Night Gallery here
PCI Lecturer talks about Alan Bennett on BBC Radio Leeds
PCI Lecturer Dr Kara McKechnie, whose book on Alan Bennett
was published in 2007, was a studio guest for a feature on Alan
Bennett for BBC Radio Leeds on Friday 4 December.
The interview, which also involved the director of a new
documentary, Being Alan Bennett, is accessible on iplayer
until Friday 11 Dec, 2 hrs 39 mins into the programme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p005bmyt/Graham_Liver_04_12_2009/
Workshops & Exhibitions
Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing, Adam Strickson, has a number of up and coming projects and workshops details of which are given below
The Elaborate Polish szopki
The elaborate Polish szopki (crib) based on the architecture of Krakow and Huddersfield, which Adam made with the Polish community in Huddersfield, is on display again for Christmas with anaccompanying exhibition, 'Szopki in the Snow', telling the story of crib making and Polish Christmas traditions:
Thornhill Parish Church, Church Lane, Thornhill, Dewsbury, WF12 0JZ.
2 December 2009 - 10 January 2010
Open: Weds 10.30 - 12.30 Sundays 2.00 - 4.00pm
12th - 14th December, 10 - 4 for the Christmas Tree Festival.
'Double Portraits' Ripon
Ripon Cathedral 13 January - 20 Febraury 2010
The 6 million+ installation to commemorate the Holocaust and more recentgenocides with Adam's accompanying film about meetings between Holocaust Survivors and Refugees, 'Double Portraits', isat Ripon Cathedral, Minster Road, Ripon, HG4 1 QT from 13 January - 20 February, 2010. Open 10am - 4pm daily. (There are now nearly 7 million buttons included within the installation).
Adam will be reading some of his poetry as part of an Interfaith Reflection for Holocaust Memorial Day at Ripon Cathedral at 6.00pm on Wednesday January 27th2010.
The Bagshaw Museum, Wilton Road, Batley, WF17 OAS,
reopened after its splendid refurbishment on the 25th October. The new 'Spirit of South Asia Gallery' includes a new selection of Adam's photographs of Bangladesh and India, originally taken in 2002 for Kirklees Museums and Galleries. Opening times, 11 - 5 Monday to Friday, and 12 - 5 Saturday and Sunday.
Poetry School
Advance warning that Adam is leading a course for the prestigious POETRY SCHOOL at Manchester Cathedral Visitor Centre on the 15th May 2010. The course is called 'Dear Friends, Dear Ghosts' and will explore the act of writing about people close to us, living or dead, through close reading of the work of Tess Gallagher and Raymond Carver.
Performances
Triathalon (2009) - Read More
'The Fall of Icarus' - Read More