2017

Ok work done in - 2017 - a well late post! It was a busy year full of collaborations, v fulfilling, and at the end of the year pushed me on towards a new solo. There is a new show in the works this year, but more about that anon - this post is about last year, and there were some terrific projects.

The Tubthumpers choir has been ongoing since January, and we’ve had a number of concerts, including showing with The Wild Company storytelling show at the Wellcome Trust, curated by Alys Torrence. A great evening, inspired by Wilder Mann’s photos of mythical creatures.

Photo: Paul Blakemore

Beastie was back in the world at last year’s Bristol’s In Between Time Festival, and a few other festivals as well, and in August this year the Beast will go to Latvia.

Also in February last year I also had my first small role in a film - The Current War. It was the first time on a set for me, and watching the director improvise an extra shot around me was inspiring. Alfonso had the camera moving, zooming past and moving around all over. I acted a little like a fanboy when meeting Michael Shannon, told him that I’d heard him on Marc Maron’s WTF. Embarrassing. But he was v sweet. The scene wasn’t integral to the plot, so let’s see if it makes it to the final cut…

March was the film and music for Natasha’s show 50 Rooms with performances at Rich Mix, Colcheter & Tate Modern. Here’s an excerpt from the soundtrack.

In the beginning of April I hosted the Testosterone Games at the Wellcome Trust, collaborating with Sarah Punshon of Ten Times Human. We used Dr Michael Naef’s research on testosterone & games designer Mink Ette refashioned his experiments into public games. Dr Naef‘s findings were quite counter-intuitive: the group of people who responded with the most honesty, were less willing to take risks and the least aggressive were those with the highest levels of testosterone. One possible interpretation is that the hormone is related more to dominance, which in the animal world translates into aggression, but in the human world is far more complicated. To dominate you need high status - if you’re caught in a lie, or if the risk you take fails, you lose face and reduce your status.

Later in the month I worked with Lorna Rees (collaborator in “Bob & Lorna’s Christmas Show”) again in Gobbledegook’s Ear Trumpet. What a gem of a show: harvesting sounds from deep in the geological core, as Professor Dr Wolfgang Lovejoy, N.I.S.G., I consult with and record the public’s opinions and discoveries on the possible causes and of the sonic emanations. A rich, delightful outdoor experience.

In May 2017 I started working with Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company, filming their workshops, performances and tutorials for their online presence. Moving Memory are a company of women over 50, run by Sian Stevenson at the University of Kent. Beautiful, intelligent, challenging, real older people using multimedia, telling stories from life. A great fit for my work, and they’ve invited me to become an associate artist with their company. I went to the Chicago Physical Festival in June with Frank Wurzinger’s show Confetti Maker - performing in my home town for the first time.

In July Gary Winters from Lone Twin and I worked at the National Theatre, directing their Space to Create young person’s show, the same week as Little Bulb. It was a wonderful full-on week with 20 young theatre makers age 16-21, from Rowan, our Welsh A-level student, to the drama school graduates-with-agents-professionals, making a show from scratch based on the provocation: maps and borders. We used the whole of the outdoor Watch This Space and all three levels of the National for the show. Working with Gary late into the night, moving little pieces of people around, controlling the chaos as best as possible. ‘What is Theatre, but Organised Madness?’

August saw the start of work with Frank Wurzinger on his new show, Me! Me! Me! doing the music and filming it. What a wild, funny, exuberant show: A narcissist making a show about Narcissus and Echo, “Ovid’s myth - only better”, and John Wright said he wanted it to be like Harpo Marx let loose on Olympus…

September brought the start of Bolder Voices Choir’s latest project at Riverview Care Home, singing to residents, chatting to them and then both their leader Clair Chapwell and I writing a song based on the conversations. I so enjoy these projects – working with the folks in the choir, the residents in the home, and the challenge of writing new songs.

In October we performed a work in progress of Natasha’s new show T-shirts at the Arc Stockton. Here’s a track from that show, when the participants were in a washing machine throwing mixing their shirts, their lives, themselves…

November saw a return of Streatham Common, with Julian Fox, at Clerkenwell ArtsLab. Julian is a true original, and his songs are wonderful. The end of the year brought another Steampunk Bob residency with People United. This was in Cliftonville, just outside of Margate, and was the students were wonderful. Afterwards, People U. invited me to be an Artist Associate. Lovely.