Blimey! I can't quite believe it's been almost four months since we last updated the blog. It won't happen again, I can promise that. Because right now we're 'all stations go'. Unfortunately we have been forced to postpone 'Beowulf' to another year, but we're not letting that stop us. Instead, we have two projects planned for the remainder of 2008:
The first is our ongoing 'Invisibilitie' work, which has evolved from our 'Everyday Fairytales' performances. A series of 'invisible theatre' events across Cambridge City Centre designed to make people smile as they go about their business. The first of these is THE GREAT BIG RED PICNIC on Sunday 25th May at midday. We're hoping it will be the biggest picnic Cambridge has ever seen, so we're going to need hundreds of people to attend. So if you fancy taking your lunch in the (hopefully) glorious sunshine, eating good food and meeting new people do come along. All you need is to bring some food to share and wear an item of red clothing. It should be great fun and we hope to see you there!
The second is our promenade production of ROMEO AND JULIET set in 1940s London during the Blitz. With some of the beautiful, melancholy music of that period combined with an energetic ensemble of 8 performing all the roles, it should be a really original production of the play. We're going to be casting in a few weeks' time so sign up to the mailing list or keep checking the website if you'd lie to be kept updated about auditions.
More soon, and hope to see you at the picnic!
Friday 9 May 2008
Friday 18 January 2008
Progress
With six or so projects going on at once, it's been a bit tricky finding time to update the Mutabilitie website. I've had a burst of website creativity over the past few days, though: not only am I writing this now, I've also managed to add a gallery to the main website - http://www.mutabilitie.com/gallery.html. You can see the best photos from 'Everyday Fairytales' all in one place.
I really wanted to use this time to make a belated comment on the proposed Arts Council cuts that have caused such a furore in the theatre world recently. I must say that I'm not against the funding cuts per se; I do think that the Arts Council has to be more transparent in its decisions and include the industry in its process. However, I've read all the articles and arguments, and signed all the petitions, but over this time I have been coming to two conclusions.
The first is that theatre has and continues to rely too heavily on funding bodies as its primary (and sometimes only) source of income. There have got to be other ways of gaining upfront money, whether from companies or individuals. I know that it's almost more difficult to gain any decent amount of sponsorship from companies, but individual support of theatre through donations is, statistics show, the fastest growing source of income for theatre companies, if only we would harness it more. As such, if anyone reading this is feeling in an affluent and generous mood, please remember that Mutabilitie could do with some cash...
The second conclusion is that we have to make people - and by people I mean non-traditional audiences - aware of the worthwhile nature of the arts. I've read a lot over the past few weeks from people questioning the validity of theatre, wondering why it should be funded out of taxpayers money. And it's true that any company supported by the ACE has a duty to the taxpayer to put on something 'good', whatever that awful word may really mean. But it's about more than that - it's about changing people's minds about theatre and the arts (with the possible exception of film) in general. We have to remind them that theatre is part of what makes us human - what separates us from animals. It is a ritual. It is a time and a place when a multitude of unrelated people come together to enjoy and share an experience. Theatrical traditions stretch backs thousands of years and are woven so thoroughly into our everyday interactions that we don't even notice them anymore. We have to remind people that theatre is not just for the privileged, the educated and the wealthy. 'Every savage can dance' - that's something to celebrate. We have to get the public - theatre-goers and non alike - behind us if we want the arts to survive unscathed.
The next question, I suppose, it how are we supposed to garner this public support? The answer is, I don't know. What I do think is that it has to first come from us. We have to stop bickering about which is better - new writing or new work (and really they're the same, surely?) - and which deserves funding more; we have to stop writing and saying derogatory things about each other in public forums (mentioning no names). On the other hand, seeing my fellow young directors protesting in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday (see http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/19556/hundreds-gather-in-the-west-end-to-protest) was magnificent, and I wish I had not been too ill to be there with them. That's the sort of teamwork that theatre is all about, and it's the sort of teamwork that will help us most when it comes to getting the public on our side.
Reading this post back I realise it sounds terribly naive. But perhaps that's a good thing - you have to believe something can change in order to change it, and if that means being naive, then so be it.
I really wanted to use this time to make a belated comment on the proposed Arts Council cuts that have caused such a furore in the theatre world recently. I must say that I'm not against the funding cuts per se; I do think that the Arts Council has to be more transparent in its decisions and include the industry in its process. However, I've read all the articles and arguments, and signed all the petitions, but over this time I have been coming to two conclusions.
The first is that theatre has and continues to rely too heavily on funding bodies as its primary (and sometimes only) source of income. There have got to be other ways of gaining upfront money, whether from companies or individuals. I know that it's almost more difficult to gain any decent amount of sponsorship from companies, but individual support of theatre through donations is, statistics show, the fastest growing source of income for theatre companies, if only we would harness it more. As such, if anyone reading this is feeling in an affluent and generous mood, please remember that Mutabilitie could do with some cash...
The second conclusion is that we have to make people - and by people I mean non-traditional audiences - aware of the worthwhile nature of the arts. I've read a lot over the past few weeks from people questioning the validity of theatre, wondering why it should be funded out of taxpayers money. And it's true that any company supported by the ACE has a duty to the taxpayer to put on something 'good', whatever that awful word may really mean. But it's about more than that - it's about changing people's minds about theatre and the arts (with the possible exception of film) in general. We have to remind them that theatre is part of what makes us human - what separates us from animals. It is a ritual. It is a time and a place when a multitude of unrelated people come together to enjoy and share an experience. Theatrical traditions stretch backs thousands of years and are woven so thoroughly into our everyday interactions that we don't even notice them anymore. We have to remind people that theatre is not just for the privileged, the educated and the wealthy. 'Every savage can dance' - that's something to celebrate. We have to get the public - theatre-goers and non alike - behind us if we want the arts to survive unscathed.
The next question, I suppose, it how are we supposed to garner this public support? The answer is, I don't know. What I do think is that it has to first come from us. We have to stop bickering about which is better - new writing or new work (and really they're the same, surely?) - and which deserves funding more; we have to stop writing and saying derogatory things about each other in public forums (mentioning no names). On the other hand, seeing my fellow young directors protesting in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday (see http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/19556/hundreds-gather-in-the-west-end-to-protest) was magnificent, and I wish I had not been too ill to be there with them. That's the sort of teamwork that theatre is all about, and it's the sort of teamwork that will help us most when it comes to getting the public on our side.
Reading this post back I realise it sounds terribly naive. But perhaps that's a good thing - you have to believe something can change in order to change it, and if that means being naive, then so be it.
Thursday 3 January 2008
What Holly does when she procrastinates:
The writing reads:
-What are you doing?
-Oh the usual - funding applications... job applications... venue applications... grant reports...
- ARGH! I didn't sign up to write stuff like in a proper job! I just wanna be in a rehearsal room!
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