I hope you enjoy exploring my blog – topics currently include popular poetry and artwork and, in time, music (esp. my band Hip Operation) and other performances.
For even more information, please visit www.beverleywright.co.uk.
Do let me know what you think of it and what you would like to see here.
Enjoy!
Bev
I am proud to be one of the performers of my own Songs from the Heart & Elsewhere with Tightlaced Theatre on the 25th & 26th September, as part of Doors Open Day 2010 co-ordinated by the Cockburn Association.
Annie’s Bunnet is my piece to present and others, including musicians, will be bringing a selection of poems from Songs to life for visitors making the most of this weekend’s freedoms. Doors Open Day allows people to explore buildings, and parts of buildings – including backstage at theatres – which are normally closed to the public. The buildings involved are all of some historical / architectural interest.
If you are in the Edinburgh area, you may wish to check out the online brochure for Doors Open at www.cockburnassociation.org.uk. The event, at first captured on one sheet and only occurring on one day, has grown amazingly and now covers a full brochure and a whole weekend – definitely a successful and popular venture!
Speaking of which, Tightlaced Theatre is also going strong and not only presents Songs from the Heart and Elsewhere – a selection this weekend, but also Feline Fables: The Dragon’s Tears Workshop for those interested in seeing a children’s play in development. Feline Fables is a delightful series of story-telling plays created by performer/writer Robert Howat – more at www.tightlacedtheatre.org. When visiting the site, do notice the Tightlaced Theatre Lady – she is also an example of my work.
The venue is gallerA1, an art gallery within the Granton Lighthouse Complex and is a building used by arts companies, including a recording and rehearsal studio, The Depot. Who knows – maybe an audio recording of Songs could be next on the list!
Have just had my original artwork for Songs from the Heart & Elsewhere added to my website (www.beverleywright.co.uk) in the new Gallery section.
Hope you find the artwork interesting … I rarely start off with titles, but usually begin somewhere on the page, then keep going and see what happens. The image grows out of the paper and develops as it will. The results give the viewer the opportunity to see what they see in the pictures, thus becoming part of the creation itself. Titles come last and can change according to where I want to go with the image next.
I also found out that I have an Amazon presence online, which seems pretty good going. It would be lovely if anyone spotting Songs out and about would let me know where.
Thank you!
10th June – Tightlaced Performance
Tightlaced Theatre came into its own at the larger space of Augustine’s where the poems selected from my Songs from the Heart & Elsewhere could be fully performed as individual pieces of theatre, with the audience moving from one poem to another guided by a mime in the shape of a little bird (an echo of the bird motif on the pages of the book itself).
This bird was played beautifully by our Director Flavia d’Avila who presented the material with great vision and creativity. The audience were soon in the swing of things and there was plenty of praise for the style of presentation.
All the actors received positive comments and people had different ‘favourite pieces’. A handful of poems proved particularly popular – notably Annie’s Bunnet: a stunning performance by Debbie Cannon, The Coat performed sensitively by Jamie Griffin and Archie’s Prayer performed by Chris Allan who was particularly impressive bearing in mind that he received the script for it much later than any other poems!
Kevin’s Kit (Chris Allan and Hilary Davies, featuring a nice cameo part for Andrew Henry our drummer) also inspired comments, as did Fiona Urquhart’s Nothing to Wear and Andrew Simpson’s sensitive rendering of Jamie’s Valentine. Of course, who could forget Lisa Glen’s great timing on the ‘speed poems’ and on That Question!
Andrew Henry was joined by fellow musician Iain Orr to add another dimension with their original music, and all in all, the evening was a great success: people enjoyed the performances, bought a book – thereby contributing to the Cash for Kids charity – had a nice glass of wine and appreciated a very sociable evening indeed. It also gave Tightlaced a full house to promote the company and its talented actors.
9th June – Blackwell’s Books
We had a very successful initial launch at Blackwell’s Edinburgh largely thanks to Ann Landmann, the events co-ordinator, who was more than just helful and very enthusiastic, not only about the book but also about our installation as well (see next post!). In spite of the space restrictions the actors performed extremely well and we had a small but receptive audience, most of whom purchased a book at the end of the evening.
Blackwell’s proved happy to stock Songs from the Heart & Elsewhere and I believe there are a few still available for anyone quick enough to snap them up!
A month has gone already since my first book of verse was launched and I can hardly believe that this time last year Songs from the Heart & Elsewhere was merely a distant dream.
Thanks to Tightlaced Theatre and an amazing collection of enthusiastic friends and supporters I am now a published writer with some very fine reviews!
If you want to know more, please see www.beverleywright.co.uk.
Bev Howling Blog 