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Between Fact and Fiction: Daniel James in conversation with Graeme Macrae Burnet

Join us as we delve "Between Fact and Fiction" to celebrate the publication of Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet and a new edition of The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas by Daniel James. Hosted by Dr Claire Nally, Associate Professor (Humanities) at Northumbria University, Newcastle, and Deputy Editor of C21 Literature. There will be an opportunity to purchase both books during the event and refreshments will be available. Tickets are FREE via Eventbrite: Between Fact and Fiction

Graeme Macrae Burnet is the author of four novels, The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau (2014), the Man Booker shortlisted His Bloody Project (2015), The Accident on the A35(2017) and Case Study (2021). His Bloody Project has been published in over 20 languages including German, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, Farsi and Estonian. Graeme was named Author of the Year in the Sunday Herald Culture Awards 2017 and he has appeared at festivals and events in Edinburgh, Seoul, Los Angeles, New York, Adelaide, Macau, Estonia, Moscow, Cheltenham, Berlin, Lyon, Paris, Glasgow, London, Ullapool and many other places. He has also written for The Guardian, The Observer and Le Monde.

Daniel James is an author and journalist from Newcastle upon Tyne. His debut novel, The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas, was critically acclaimed on its release and shortlisted for The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize. A journalist for a decade, Daniel was a finalist for the Young UK News Writer of the Year award, before going on to work as a senior reporter on a daily newspaper and feature writer for a number of major arts and culture magazines. His first novel was based on the life of reclusive artist Ezra Maas whose disappearance was considered one of the art world's biggest mysteries. A definitive, special edition of The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas featuring artworks, photographs, and a range of other new material, is set to be published in May 2022 by Valley Press.

Welcome to a House of Mirrors

Dead Ink author Marc Nash has read the opening chapters of The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas by Daniel James and this is his verdict...

"I've had the privilege of reading the first 10,000 words of this novel and I can't wait to read the rest.

"You know that scene in James Bond's "The Man With The Golden Gun" when Bond & Scaramanga hunt one another in a House of Fun full of reflective mirrors and tableaus of gangsters and cowboys, well the refractions upon refractions of that scene gives you an idea of this gorgeous narrative.

"I'd never heard of Ezra Maas previously. An artist and culture-maker who managed to keep his identity hidden and had no exposed public personna beyond his art work. Thomas Pynchon and JD Salinger also managed to pull off this remarkable feat within our celebrity spy-culture, but in the case of the latter, to the detriment of his writing career and he barely wrote anything once adopting the lifestyle of a recluse.

"Here we get lots of different offered up versions of Ezra Maas the boy and man, as we are hungry to try and flesh him out, a hunger the author gives us through his skillful, teasing narrative. Because the character of the author putting together the narrative is genuinely intrigued, his passion for his subject and the task of locating his mystery and pinning it down transfer to us the reader. You get the sense we the reader are discovering the subject when the author does. When the author finds a lead that goes nowhere, I suspect we will feel the same frustration as he, and the same readiness to pitch back into finding the right trail.

"So I am really hungry to read the rest of the book and see how many more twists and fractures the story takes. Not too long to wait now."

- Marc Nash, author of Three Dreams in the Key of G.

If The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas by Daniel James sounds like your kind of book, you can pre-order your copy today at: www.deadinkbooks.com/crowdfund

The deadline for pre-orders is 31 August so if you want to get your hands on the novel before it comes out in shops this week is your last chance.

Thanks very much to Marc for this brilliant and pitch perfect review of the novel's opening chapters. We’re excited to hear what he thinks of the rest of the book. You can find out more out Marc by following him on Twitter @21stCscribe and you can read more about (and order) his own novel at: www.deadinkbooks.com/crowdfund

Breathless, raw and edgy

Richard Alston Dance Company, Northern Stage, Newcastle

Review by Inga Hillens

Richard Alston Dance Company returned to Northern Stage, Newcastle, for the first time in 20 years last night with a triple bill of contemporary dance.

For me, the evening’s clear highlight was Burning, a much-acclaimed piece by the company’s Associate Choreographer Martin Lawrance. Set to Lizst’s Dante Sonata, beautifully accompanied and enriched on stage by live Grand Piano from pianist Jason Ridgway, Burning explores the relationship between composer Franz Liszt – a celebrity and womaniser par excellence in his own time – and the young, married Countess Marie D’Agoult. With its raw immediacy, at times edgy, at times fluid, and Alston’s recurrent style of movement ‘bursting into dance’, Burning culminates in a crescendo of interweaving music and dance that reaches an almost breathless, heart-breaking intensity in the final flight.

The evening began with Brisk Singing, Alston’s response to music from the opera Les Boréades by the Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, and closed with final piece Nomadic, Alston’s collaboration with the young hip hop choreographer Ajani Johnson-Goffe further showcased the company’s versatility. Set to music by Ursari Gypsy band Shukar Collective, it fuses Alston’s fluid dance-movements with trip-hop inspired traditional Romany music. However, Burning was definitely my personal favourite on the night.

This triple bill of modern dance is only being staged in Newcastle for two nights this week, so tonight’s performance – Thursday, 5 May at 7.30pm – is your last chance to see this show. There will also be a pre-show talk with Richard Alston tonight at 6.30pm, which is free for ticket holders.

For more information and to buy tickets for tonight’s performance the Northern Stage Box office on 0191 230 5151 or go to: www.northernstage.co.uk

Tickets: £24, £19.50, £14.50

What’s in the box?

Opening Skinner’s Box, Northern Stage, Newcastle

Review

What’s inside the box? The answer leads only to more questions, but that’s part of the fun. Opening Skinner’s Box is a brilliant, thought-provoking compendium of tales from the world of science brought to life beautifully by innovative theatre-makers, Improbable. If you’ve every been interested in psychology, thought-experiments or popular science, then you’ll love Opening Skinner’s Box. It’s less of a play and more a three-dimensional science book, brought to life by six highly engaging actors in a variety of roles and brilliantly staged by Improbable with a minimal, but incredibly striking set design. It’s dark, sometimes funny, and occasionally bleak, but always interesting and compelling to watch.

A whistle stop tour of the scientific quest to make sense of what we are and who we are, Opening Skinner’s Box explores some of life’s biggest questions such as: Why do we love and when would we kill? How do we learn and why do we believe in the unbelievable? How accurate is our memory? And why do we keep doing things that hurt us? Up until a hundred years ago these were questions for philosophy and religion but then science wanted to join the conversation and according to science, pretty much everything we think about ourselves is wrong.

Based on the book by Lauren Slater, Opening Skinner’s Box features ten great psychological experiments and the ways in which they turned our ideas about ourselves upside down. Thought-provoking, surprising and often shocking, Opening Skinner’s Box is a rollercoaster ride through science’s investigations into the human mind during the 20th Century.

Opening Skinner’s Box is at Northern Stage until Saturday 30 April. To buy tickets go here: https://www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/opening-skinners-box

The fairest of them all...

Snow White by balletLORENT at Northern Stage, Newcastle April 2016

Review

If you think you know the story of Snow White, think again.

We may all be familiar with the story of the girl with skin as white as snow and the wicked queen murderously jealous of her youth and beauty, but this visually striking and sometimes eerie adaptation is quite unlike any version of the story I’ve seen before.The seven dwarves are stunted miners, there’s not a handsome prince in sight and the happy ever after is only ‘mostly’ happy.

Produced by leading North East dance company balletLORENT, Snow White features stunning visuals and bold storytelling in a dark, mystical and poetic reworking for families. It was beautifully staged throughout, with a brilliantly realised set design that was used to bring both the magic mirror and dwarves’ woodland dwelling to life in unique and clever ways.

The company’s professional dancers were joined on stage by a host of talented young North East schoolchildren for a dazzling performance that gripped the audience from start to finish. Snow White works brilliantly as a theatrical, narrative-driven ballet and is a real treat for fans of dance, theatre, fairy tales - or all of the above!

Don’t miss your last chance to see this stunning show today. Snow White will be performed twice (2pm and 7pm) today - Saturday 2 April at Northern Stage, Newcastle, with tickets available here.

Snow White, is the second of the company’s planned trilogy of fairytale productions and returned to Northern Stage this week after making its debt last autumn ahead of a UK tour. Choreographed and directed by balletLORENT’s Artistic Director Liv Lorent (MBE) and retold by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Snow White was co-produced by Northern Stage and commissioned by Sadler’s Wells.

For Snow White, Liv Lorent was reunited with the team of world renowned collaborators who created Rapunzel: Scenario Writer Carol Ann Duffy, Composer Murray Gold, Set Designer Phil Eddolls, Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth and the Royal Northern Sinfonia. They were joined by two new collaborators to the artistic team: acclaimed actress Lindsay Duncan for narration and Costume Designer Libby Everall.

Liv Lorent said: “Snow White is so much about the fear of losing beauty and power as a woman, and the challenging pursuit that so many of us have: to capture a desired reflection of ourselves.

“There is much decadence, dancing and grace in the Queen’s palace. We see how a life full of optimism and expectation goes sour when the Queen gets exactly what she desired – a beautiful daughter.

“We also explore the landscape of the forest where seven strange, funny and eccentric miners live and work. Their underground life of grafting reshapes their strong bodies oddly, and their dancing is unlike anything that Snow White has ever seen.

“We have found so much to love in the story of Snow White. It is full of darkness and light, like the very best fairytales often are.”

Ten of balletLORENT’s professional dancers performed Snow White alongside a cast of 11 children aged 7 - 8 from Newcastle. These children were found through workshops delivered by balletLORENT in primary schools in areas of low arts engagement across Newcastle, supported by the Community Foundation Tyne and Wear through the Newcastle Culture Investment Fund and the Sir James Knott Trust.

This latest run of the show finishes today - Saturday 2 April. To buy tickets for today’s performance of Snow White at Northern Stage, Newcastle, by calling: 0191 230 5151 or by going to: www.northernstage.co.uk/

#theatre dance ballet fairytale

The best new theatre at Live Lab next week

If you love new theatre, then there is only one place to be this February - Live Lab Elevator.

From Tuesday 9 to Saturday 13 February the best new theatre from the North East and beyond will be showcased in an unmissable week-long event at Live Theatre.

Live Lab Elevator has been specially curated to bring you the most exciting voices from the theatre world, with four original productions alongside a host of events including workshops, discussions and the 2016 Live Lab Launch Party.

As Live Theatre’s Creative Producer Graeme Thompson explains: “This new Live Lab event is an opportunity to platform new theatre and engage with artists on a much larger scale then we have before. As part of Elevator we are presenting four outstanding must see productions alongside discussions and workshops hosted by leading UK industry professionals. We hope this will become an annual destination event shining a light on the fantastic work being created within this region and beyond.”

On Wednesday 10 and Friday 12 February a Double Bill of plays will be presented in Live Theatre’s Main Theatre. The Double Bill includes the return of Live Lab’s 2015 sell out show Red is the New Blue created by Live Lab Associate Artists Rowan McCabe, Matt Miller and Matilda Neill.

Set in 2029 Red is the New Blue follows the antics of three ordinary people who are sent to Mars for a reality TV show like no other. Alone and abandoned in space it doesn’t take long before the cracks begin to show as the crew become more isolated than anyone ever has before. This revised version of the show includes new film, music, spoken word and a bold new set created by local set designer Luke W. Robson.

The Double Bill also features a heart-achingly funny one woman show by Jenny Lee about the inescapable role technology plays in our lives called Heartbeats and Algorithms.

This timely show was a hit at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe and explores the seductive and inescapable world of information and the impact computers have on people’s lives. Jenny is also currently a member of Live Theatre’s online playwriting course www.beaplaywright.com. On Thursday 11 February a Work-In-Progress Double Bill of fanSHEN’s new show Lists for the End of the World and Amy Golding’s latest show preggers will be presented in Live Theatre’s Main Theatre. Remade for each location List for the End of the World explores what lives look like when they are broken down into lists. Using material contributed by people who live locally,Lists... is a show in which the ordinary and the extraordinary, the profound and the ridiculous sit playfully side by side. fanSHEN were the winners of the Live Lab and The Empty Space Bursary in 2015. As fanSHEN’s Creative Director Rachel Briscoe explains: “Lists for the End of the World will be a show entirely made up of anonymously sourced lists, offering audiences a sideways perspective on how we choose to live and what’s important. Within it (we hope!) the ordinary and the extraordinary, the profound and the ridiculous will sit playfully side by side. We’re remaking the show for each new location using material contributed by people who live locally… so we’re making a bespoke version for Live Lab Elevator with lists that we’ll source in Newcastle.”

On the same evening as Lists... a work-in-progress of Amy Golding’s latest show preggers will be presented. Written and performed by Amy, and directed by Laura Lindowand Rachel Glover, preggers is about what it means to become a mother now and what it meant for women of previous generations. Playful and political, the show explores the central and universal themes of motherhood and family.

In addition to the double bills there are a whole host of additional events and workshops curated as part of Live Lab Elevator. fanSHEN are kicking things off on Tuesday 9 February at 2pm with a Devised Theatre Workshop in which they will explore the different processes of creating devised theatre with participants. The workshop is free and is suitable for budding theatre makers and professionals (14+).

Also on Tuesday 9 February is a free Playwriting in the North panel discussion, hosted by Live Theatre’s Literary Manager Gez Casey, in the Main Theatre at 7.30pm. Participants will join a panel of industry professional from across the North as they discuss the opportunities for writers in the North and the best way for playwrights to get their work recognised. The panel includes Laura Lomas (who is currently the Channel 4 Playwright in Residence at Clean Break Theatre Company), playwright and Game of Thrones actor Luke Barnes (who wrote Beats North in 2013 for Newcastle based theatre company Curious Monkey), Alex Chisholm (Co-Artistic Director of Freedom Studios in Bradford and former Literary Manager at West Yorkshire Playhouse) and writer, director and dramaturg Janys Chambers (Literary Associate at Bolton Octagon).

From 1pm on Saturday 13 February two of the UK’s leading theatre directors, Rachel O’Riorden (Artistic Director of the Sherman Theatre) and Joe Murphy (who directed Live Theatre’s 2014 production of Incognito and who is the Artistic Director of nabokov), present a Director’s Masterclass for budding theatre directors. In this session participants will explore how a director works with text, forms ideas and translates those concepts onto the stage. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn the secrets of bringing new plays to life. Rachel and Joe will be joined later by Live Theatre’s Artistic Director Max Roberts in a question and answer session about their work processes. To celebrate Live Lab Elevator and the 2016 Live Lab programme the week will culminate with the Live Lab 2016 Launch Party on Saturday 13 February at 7.30pm. The event will include bite-sized performances and the announcement of the next Live Lab Associate Artists. Plus, details about the Live Lab 2016 Bursary will be shared. It will be a chance for writers, theatre makers and audiences to informally share ideas about Live Lab and theatre in the North East. It will be followed by a lively party in Live Theatre’s Atrium Bar and Undercroft. Be the first to see this brand new work and be part of the conversation that shapes its future. Tickets for Live Lab Elevator cost £10 - £8 full price or £10-£6 for concessions. To book tickets and to find out more visit www.live.org.uk or contact Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232.

Error 404 review

Northern Stage, Newcastle

Review by Elliott Thomson, aged 10

Error 404 is quite a remarkable show. Written and performed by Daniel Bye, Error 404 is partially based on his own childhood experiences and life before and after his best friend died. However, it has a very unique twist - the audience controls and influences what happens. And not only that, but the play uses humour to cleverly lure the audience into thinking about philosophical questions such as ‘why are we here?’ and ‘what are emotions?’

Now to get to the plot. I can only tell you so much without spoiling it and also because the audience get to influence what happens. Essentially the story is about a 10-year-old boy whose best friend dies. But it actually begins with a man who the audience is told is a criminal. They get to name him and decide what crime he committed. It seems unconnected to the main story at first, but secretly Daniel Bye is linking everything together. We then get to the main part of the play. The 10-year-old boy and his best friend are playing a computer game together online when suddenly the message ‘Error 404′ comes on the screen and his friend disappears from the game. The boy finds out his friend died in a fire that day, but the following week he discovers a robot in his house who may have a connection to the friend he has lost.

I really enjoyed this clever, dark and unusual play and it was exciting to interact with the story and come up with ideas for the performers. Highly recommended!

Error 404 is at Northern Stage, Newcastle, today at 2pm. To book tickets call 0191 230 5151 or go to www.northernstage.co.uk

A boy and his robot

Error 404 at Northern Stage, Newcastle

Preview by Daniel Thomson

A little play asking some big questions comes to Northern Stage this half-term.

Error 404 by writer and performer Daniel Bye tells the story of a 10-year-old boy whose new best friend may or may not be a robot. This sixty minutes show is filled with laughter, music, games and chances to join in and change the end of the story. Aimed at families and children aged 8+, Error 404 asks you to look again at things you thought you knew.

The plot goes like this: There’s a boy who is about 10 years old. We bet you know someone just like him. He’s lost his best friend and is very sad. This boy’s mum is a scientist and one day she brings home an unusual parcel to try and cheer him up. Things start getting weirder and weirder after that. Could his new best friend be a robot? How would that work?

Describing how he came up with the idea, writer and performer Daniel Bye said: “I spent time at Norton Primary in Stockton-on-Tees and Pelham Primary in Wimbledon, creating short stories to tell the children, and asking them philosophical questions arising from those stories. The results were incredible. With little prompting, the children grasped often very complex philosophical ideas. It was thrilling to witness. The stories that the children found most compelling form the basis of Error 404. It’s been one of the most rewarding writing and creative processes I’ve ever been through.”

With excellent reviews by The Guardian and Mumsnet, Error 404 promises to be a great new play for young and old minds alike.

Error 404 is at Northern Stage, Newcastle, this Thursday and Friday at 11am and 2pm. To book tickets call 0191 230 5151 or go to www.northernstage.co.uk

Girls just want to have fun

Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour by Lee Hall, Live Theatre, Newcastle

Review by Daniel Thomson

Our Ladies is exactly what contemporary theatre should be. Lee Hall’s new play is shocking, blackly funny, thought-provoking, entertaining and brilliantly staged, with stand-out performances from the entire cast. It’s a genuine ensemble piece and every member of the all-female cast gets a chance to shine. Whether it’s working the stage as performers, singing one of the play’s sensational musical numbers, or delivering line after line of brilliantly X-rated dialogue (seriously, it’s pure filth!), the female leads can do it all and put everything into their roles. And one of the most impressive things about the cast is how brilliantly they bring not only their own characters to life, giving each Catholic schoolgirl a personality of their own, but the incredible versatility the young actresses display as they slip in and out of secondary roles as male characters, barmen, bouncers, authoritarian nuns and more. (Karen Fishwick (Kay) and Dawn Sievewright (Fionnula) were particularly brilliant at this).

Based on the novel, The Sopranos, by Alan Warner, the play can be broadly described as a blackly comic coming-of-age drama and centres around a group of Catholic schoolgirls who sneak off from a singing competition to go wild in the big city. It’s a fun premise, ripe with comic potential, and Lee Hall makes the most of this while also finding humour in some of the play’s darkest moments. Our Ladies is genuinely funny throughout with too many laugh-out loud moments to mention, mostly involving explicit sexual references, but it also features some incredibly bleak and disturbing moments (as well as being a generally grim indictment of teenage sexuality) and other scenes that are genuinely thought-provoking and moving. For all its humour, brilliant songs and almost non-stop laughter, for all the entertainment the play provides (and it really does entertain), Our Ladies is also – like the characters themselves – a story with real sadness just under the surface. There are no easy answers either and while the end of the play certainly satisfies there are no clear lessons learned by the girls or the audience. It’s much more complicated and open-ended than that, but then again so is life.

Lee Hall will deservedly receive more high praise for Our Ladies, but credit must also go to director Vicky Featherstone and the wider creative team too. The staging is brilliant, the live musical numbers genuinely add to the experience, and the way the cast use the space, slipping in and out of different characters in their interactions with each other and the audience, is masterfully handled by the director. She gets the very best out of Hall’s words and the brilliantly talented young cast. The live band also do a great job of supporting the actresses, whose voices are all outstanding whether they’re singing Handel, Bach or belting out ELO (with several of Jeff Lynne’s classic tracks making an inspired appearance!). Well done to musical supervisor Martin Lowe and the excellent choreography of Imogen Knight. Speaking of the stars, it’s difficult to pick out any one of the six female leads as they are all brilliant so I won’t - although I was astounded to find out this was Melissa Allan’s professional theatre debut as Orla.

Produced by the National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre, Our Ladies is at Live Theatre, Newcastle, until Saturday 24 October, and comes highly recommended (just watch out for the X-rated sexual language if you’re easily offended!). The play has already been a huge success in Scotland and Newcastle so far and I have a feeling it is going be another national and international hit for Lee Hall and Co.

For tickets and more information go to: www.live.org.uk

O, Brave New World

The Tempest, Northern Stage, Newcastle

Preview by Daniel Thomson

An ‘improbable’ take on Shakespeare's dark and stormy tale of love, revenge and forgiveness comes to Northern Stage next week.

The sparkling new production will be directed by award-winning director Phelim McDermott, of theatre company Improbable, with a creative team including set and costume designer Becs Andrews, original music by Brendan Murphy and lighting design by Colin Grenfell.

Phelim says: “Of all Shakespeare's plays it’s great to return to Northern Stage to direct the first play I was ever in as a teenager! We have a strong ensemble of actors who will work in our unique Improbable style.

“We will be aiming to bring the text alive making a show that will be different every night yet true to the heart of this magical and unusual play - I want to do justice to the text because it’s a fantastic play, but I’d like to feel that we’ll create our own Tempest.”

Tyrone Huggins (RSC, National Theatre, Eastenders) will play Prospero. Huggins wrote and starred in The Honey Man (Birmingham Rep) - the critically acclaimed story of an ageing Caribbean recluse, who tries in vain to save "Miranda" (his colony of bees), drawing parallels with Shakespeare’s magical tale of revenge, love and, ultimately, forgiveness. He was also one of a group of high profile writers announced for Eclipse Theatre Company’s Revolution Mix – a three-year equality initiative to bring Black British stories to regional theatres – which Northern Stage is a partner in, along with the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Liverpool Everyman and Bristol Old Vic among others.

He is joined by Jade Ogugua as Miranda (The Guilty, ITV), Eileen Walsh as Ariel (The Magdalene Sisters), Tony Bell as Stephano (Oh, The Humanity, Northern Stage), Peter Peverley as Caliban (Twelfth Night, Northern Stage, Pete was also a founder member of the Northern Stage ensemble), John Paul Connolly as Alonso (Richard III, Shakespeare's Globe, West End and Broadway), Hannah McPake as Trinculo (The Gamblers, Greyscale), Gary Kitching as Antonio (Oh What a Lovely War, Northern Stage), and Christopher Price as Ferdinand (Catch-22, Northern Stage).

Costume and set designer, Becs Andrews, said: “The set design has lots of options for transformation; the cast will bring it to life during the rehearsal process. Improbable have a unique way of working – it’s very process driven, which is what’s unusual, and what’s interesting to me; it’s very exciting.”

Northern Stage Artistic Director Lorne Campbell said: “Bringing Phelim to Northern Stage to direct The Tempest is part of our ongoing commitment to getting some of the finest directors in the world to direct for the company and to present work here, following on from Rachel Chavkin (Catch-22) and the presentation of the Krymov Ensemble (Opus No.7) in 2014. Improbable’s work manages to combine being very funny, playful and accessible with a sophisticated theatricality and great skill in its use of text.”

The Tempest is at Northern Stage from 25 September until 10 October before transferring to Oxford Playhouse from 14 to 24 October. Tickets are now on sale at www.northernstage.co.uk or call the box office on 0191 230 5151.

Photo 1: Jade Ogugua as Miranda (Photographer: Mark Savage)

Photo 2: Tyrone Huggins as Prospero (Photographer: Mark Savage)

END

· Northern Stage is the North East’s premier producing theatre and regarded as one of the top ten producing theatres in the country. The company has a reputation for breathing new life into classic texts, curating ambitious and sometimes daring contemporary theatre and working with thousands of people every year in a strong participation programme.

· Improbable is a theatre company led by Artistic Directors Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson and formed in 1995. Improbable is arguably one of Britain’s most inventive, original and exciting theatre companies, and its Artistic Director, Phelim McDermott, has an international reputation including productions such as Shockheaded Peter with the Tiger Lillies for Lyric Hammersmith, A Midsummer Night's Dream for Deutsches Schauspielhaus, and many productions for Improbable including Satyagraha and The Perfect American by Philip Glass for English National Opera.

Coming soon #thebleed04

Alphabetti’s Opening Night

Review by Peter Whitfield

Tucked away down the back pocket of Newcastle's old jeans,Alphabetti Theatre's subterranean and entirely un-locatable new venue providesan intimate space for a kaleidoscope of creative genres so diverse that it feels wrong calling it a theatre at all. Having recently acquired the premises after years working out of a nearby pub, the group now boast their own fully furnished stage, bar and enough floor space for an audience of around 60. It's a warm, welcoming, comfortably furnished and incredibly personal atmosphere from the moment you walk through the door – though not in that awkward 'Oh god, people are sticking to me' way that you might expect. The theatre's opening night was a menagerie of emerging acts complimented by tables full of free cupcakes that were so damn tasty they could transform a Neo-Nazi hate rally into a bake-sale-beach-party. Sugary, on-the-house deliciousness is a difficult act to follow, but Alphabetti's creative director, singer, songwriter and actor Wilf Stone seemed to manage it with no more than an acoustic guitar, a microphone that had been duct taped to a chair and a finely tuned voice slurring between accents as erratically as a drunk impressionist. While it wasn't clear whether this was entirely intentional, Wilf put together an impressive performance, particularly in delivering an ‘a cappella’ rendition of And the band played Waltzing Matilda, a harrowing anti-war ballad sung from the perspective of a WW1 Gallipoli survivor. Lush. After a quick thank you from founder Ali Pritchard who sketched out Alphabetti's humble origins in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and its future aspirations within Newcastle's creative scene, Kirsten Luckins took to the stage. An eccentric-to-the-extreme performance poet representing Apples and Snakes, Kirsten's work was animated and tightly written, polished, practised, pronounced and drenched in dry wit. Displaying a certain faux animosity towards the archetypal poet that does everything far too easily, Kirsten's vision of word-buffalo piss-drinkers was a particular pleasure to behold. Mythical Mechanical Monster Masterclass, a puppeteering company running a month long workshop series through the theatre, was possibly the strangest performance of the evening, making me genuinely question the ingredients of those (amazing) cupcakes. Kicking off with a short demo of a fox in a kimono before moving on to an extended slapstick ventriloquist sketch featuring a dinosaur and a... I'm not entirely sure what... it was a surreal, unique and entirely entertaining experience. Finally and most impressively, poncho sporting hippie extraordinaire Martha Wheatley captivated the audience with songs about smoking pot and giving the man the finger. While initially coming across as a cliché in a bag, Martha's passion for travel, family, authenticity and life in general shine through in her Tracey Chapman-esque lyrics which are refreshingly devoid of any distance or aloofness. Mechanical Consumption, available on Soundcloud and written by Martha at age 17, is a testament to the depth and sincerity of Martha's music – overwhelmingly positive songs about living well and finding personal freedom amidst directionless hedonism. Overall, the strength of Alphabetti resides in its charm, its scope as an unrestrictive outlet for creative talent and the brimming enthusiasm of its staff. You can tell that everyone in the venue, bar staff included, are overjoyed to be there, febreezing away even the slightest whiff of cliqueism or pretence that can be so often attributed to small, independent venues. Warm, welcoming and well worth a visit.

For more information about Alphabetti Theatre and to view their full programme go to: http://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/whats-on

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Debut solo exhibition by Helen Taylor Photography

Scenes of unreality and mind-bending perspectives will be on display next month at the first solo exhibition by North East photographer Helen Taylor.

Entitled Stanley2, the exhibition will feature a series of stunning ‘multiple exposures’ - achieved without using Photoshop or digital editing – and taken exclusively on Helen’s 35mm Holga 135BC analogue camera.

Multiple exposures, a technique used to superimpose two or more images into one, hasbeen adopted by Helen to document her hometown of Stanley, County Durham, while presenting a beautifully atmospheric ‘ghost world’ where the lines between what is real and what is not are blurred.

Helen decided to study photography at Newcastle College in 2012 after a lifelong passion with the medium.

She says: “One of my favourite modules at college was working with 35mm film cameras and darkroom processes. After completing my diploma, I continued experimenting with analogue cameras and, in particular, the possibilities of double and multiple exposures. I took the series of photos for this exhibition in my home town of Stanley and in the surrounding area. I wanted to draw peoples’ attention to things that they may otherwise walk past without really noticing.”

In an era of digital photography, Helen is passionate about the unique qualities of film and the effects that it can be used to create.

“What excites me about film photography is the mechanical and chemical processes that have to take place in order to create your image,” Helen says. “We live in a world where photography is available on demand and has become, in a sense, quite a throwaway medium.

“Using a film camera means you don’t have a playback screen to review your images immediately and you have to take the time to compose your shot. Being restricted to 24 shots on a roll makes you more selective in choosing subjects and waiting for a film to develop brings anticipation and surprise back into photography.”

Helen, who owns a collection of more than 50 vintage cameras, both analogue and digital, adds: “I took these photos with a Holga 135BC camera which is a very basic plastic camera (even the lens is plastic). It’s sometimes called a ‘toy camera’. The key feature is that the film advance allows you to take multiple exposures.

“I find the results I get from this camera are dramatically different from anything digital. My technique is to take the first image the right way up and then without winding on the film advance, turn the camera upside down and take it again.

“The resulting photos have a delicate quality and the multiple exposures melt into each other with no distinct edges of where one ends and the other begins. There is no Photoshop or digital editing involved in any of these images, all of the effects are achieved in camera when the photo is taken.”

Helen Taylor’s first solo exhibition of her work – Stanley2 – takes place at Civic Hall Stanley, Front Street, Stanley, County Durham, DH9 0NA, from 14 March to 14 April 2015. Tel – 01207 299110

For more information go to: www.helentaylorphotos.com or www.civichallstanley.co.uk

#photography

More photos from the launch of The Bleed 03 at BALTIC Artists' Book Market 2014. We had a great weekend and met some fantastic artists, bookmakers, comic creators, photographers and more. Thanks to the organisers Theresa Easton and BALTIC+ and to everyone involved for making it such an excellent event. It was our first book market at BALTIC and we would love to come back again next year. For the latest updates from The Bleed magazine keep checking here or follow us on social media @thebleedmag on Twitter and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thebleedmag. To contact the magazine email: [email protected]

The Bleed 03 launch, live from BALTIC Artists' Book Market 2014 at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art #ArtistsBookMarketBaltic

Our stunning new issue, The Bleed 03, will launch at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art this December. We’re very excited to bring The Bleed to BALTIC for a special two-day Artists’ Book Market this winter. Copies of The Bleed 03 will be available for the first time at the event, with previous issues, original artwork and signed limited editions also on display. More news about the launch will be announced soon. Keep checking www.thebleedmag.tumblr.com for updates. Follow us on Twitter @thebleedmag and @thebleededitor. BALTIC Artists’ Book Market takes place on 5-6 December 2014. For more information go to: https://www.balticmill.com/whats-on/artist-events/artists-book-market-at-baltic

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