Dr Tom Payne's Blog (158)

Day 134 - The Persians Day 1 - Chapter Arts Centre

Chapter Arts Centre was full to overflowing with theatre types this morning. Not all had anything to do with NTW, but quite a few did. It was a little overwhelming when I first entered the rehearsal space and saw all of the faces. Mike Pearson led us through the plans for the production, a speech which he must now be very well rehearsed in, having had a number of months of interrogation directed at him on the subject.


I am here to document the process... I am armed…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on July 12, 2010 at 8:00 — No Comments

Day 133 - Tynllidiart Arms - Capel Bangor

Excellent service... shame about the vegetarian lasagne...


If you are vegetarian, which I am not, it can be very difficult to find a place that serves a vegetarian Sunday lunch. In and around Aberystwyth that is. Which for the vegetarians out there I imagine is a little bit annoying and indicates a lack of empathy on the part of the establishment that you are eating in. As far as I can tell, vegetarians have to choose variously between vegetarian lasagne, mushroom…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on July 11, 2010 at 4:30 — No Comments

Day 132 - More Camping - Furnace

I have had quite enough of camping following my trip to Barmouth, so I am sure that you can imagine that Poppy's request to dig the tent out again so quickly is falling on somewhat deliberately deaf ears. It is my friends birthday and he is having a party in Furnace. Which, while not as far as Barmouth, currently feels like it is a very long, long way away. However, she did get an outstanding school report yesterday and she did go to karate for the second time, this morning, even though… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on July 10, 2010 at 6:00 — No Comments

Day 131 - Back to Aberystwyth by Train - Five minutes from Barmouth

When I arrived in Barmouth a number of people asked whether I would be walking back to Aberystwyth. 'Of course not' I thought, and said. It's not that I couldn't see the logic in this proposition, it was more that the thought of retracing my steps filled me with dread. That same journey that had been filled with so much adventure because of the motivation provided by the destination and the Barmouth show were gone. Places of concrete experience had been created, and that was of course… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on July 9, 2010 at 11:30 — No Comments

Day 124 - On the Road with Pearson and Yang - The Hugh Owen Library, Aberystwyth

A middle aged man with steel rimmed glasses stands facing away from me in the far corner, clattering the photocopier lid repeatedly, his repetitive action encouraging the hulking grey machine to cast an ominous green light across his blue Marks and Spencer's shirt at regular intervals. The young girl behind me is playing her music through headphones at the special volume normally reserved for members of Spinal Tap and ignorant train passengers. I am half expecting a…

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Added by Dr Tom Payne on July 2, 2010 at 1:30 — No Comments

Day 121 - Murder on the streets of London - on the floor of my office, Aberystwyth

With his gothic descriptions of London in the grip of fog, locations dis-connected, a haze, a dreamlike sense of place, Robert Louis Stevenson may have been the first psychogeographer. A year after the publication of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Jack the ripper may have been the first 'psycho' geographer. I wonder whether my new reading position on the floor of my office might be a cause for concern for anyone that were to pass by and peer through the window to see… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 29, 2010 at 12:16 — No Comments

Day 120 - The abandoned farm - Esgair Fraith

Trust the map in your mind. Trust it when it tells you to turn right even when the OS map said to turn left. Trust the map in your mind when it says that somewhere on the left you will find a parking place, and that after that it will only be a short walk to your destination. Trust the map in your mind... unless of course you didn't trust yourself on the first… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 28, 2010 at 12:30 — No Comments

Day 119 - The Speckled Ridge - Somewhere near Tregaron

Esgair Fraith, a ruined farm in west Wales, was the site for a series of deep mapping projects between Mike Pearson and Michael Shanks. This included the large scale site-specific work Tri Bywyd. More info on the project and deep maps can be found at http://documents.stanford.edu/michaelshanks/95.


This morning Sam and I are going to try and find the farm so that I can practice a few different mapping…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 27, 2010 at 20:35 — No Comments

Day 118 - destructive british media - Bloemfontein, South Africa

Regardless of how much I was paid I am not sure that I would cope with the enormous pressure that was placed upon English players during this world cup. A 1-1 draw with the USA was apparently a disaster, the beginning of the end for Capello's men, and a 1-0 win over Slovenia was apparently a sign that we were now ready to go on and win the cup. Neither of these assumptions were correct. It seems that the English fear of taking penalties has now seeped into their football playing at a national… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 27, 2010 at 10:30 — No Comments

Day 101 - Ianto Jones Shrine - The Bay, Cardiff

There is always something strangely compelling about road side shrines. Something deeply personal passes between the mourners and the departed when they leave floral tributes and cards at the scene of an accident, and yet there is something overtly public about the act. An open demonstration of grief and emotion that is rare in british society, or at least in my own experience. The flowers and gifts stand in for an action that cannot be witnessed by the uniformed passer by and can only… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 10, 2010 at 6:30 — No Comments

Day 100 - Mappa Mundi - The Coal Exchange, Cardiff

The Coal Exchange, in Cardiff, is the location for NTW's 10th Show. Tonight it was the home or Mappa Mundi's version of Dangerous Liasons. I went with John, Catherine and Kully, NTW:10's Director. It's an amazing building and the company had done a great job of lighting the cavernous space. They had managed to develop a strangely intimate experience despite the majority of the several hundred seats being unoccupied behind us. The first half was a little slow, the second half was… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 9, 2010 at 12:30 — No Comments

Day 99 - Visiting the Castle - John's House, Cardiff

I had the choice between the 5am train and the 7am train. I opted for the latter, 5am can be punishing if you find that the day doesn't end until some time around midnight. This was the case today.


I am in Cardiff spending a few days following John around and getting an idea of how things work at the Castle Arcade, home to NTW. Devinda gave me a few strategic documents to look at and I listened in on the plans for the Beach. The negotiations between the different…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 8, 2010 at 12:30 — No Comments

Day 98 - Back at the paddling pool - Aberystwyth prom

When we returned to the paddling pool we were well prepared. Swimming costume, books and sun lotion as well as a towel. I watched Poppy as she ran back and forth along the length of the pool and bravely threw herself face first into the shallow water. Holiday makers made their way to and fro, walking where the sun and breeze took them. No purpose, no attempt to understand the place just a desire to be.


We inhabit places in different ways and different levels of…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 7, 2010 at 12:30 — No Comments

Day 98 - words worsd owrsd sdrow - over the keyboard, Aberystwyth

6389 words this week... not blog words either. It's got to be a personal best. Need to get up early to catch the train. still need to pack a bag.…


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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 6, 2010 at 11:48 — No Comments

Day 97 - The paddling pool, Aberystwyth sea front

I collected Poppy late on in the day and agreed to take her to the paddling pool on the prom. Having not really thought it through I imagined that paddling in a paddling pool meant getting your feet wet. It took about 10 minutes for her clothes to become soaked through and the painful negotiations to commence. There could be two outcomes; one, she paddled wearing just a pair of pants and two, we squeezed the water out of her clothes as best we could and went home to get a swimming… Continue

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 4, 2010 at 9:00 — No Comments

Day 96 - New Office - The Law Library, Hugh Owen Library, Aberystwyth

I have an office space to work from! Only 96 days in... its brilliant! A little brown booth in the law library. Two walls for sticking pins into and one with more space for blu tack than a person could hope for. A huge window to the right of the built in desk looks out on thick foliage and beyond that the university drama department.


I have networked my computer and can now print from it. My walls are already covered in notes on genetic criticism. The first case…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 3, 2010 at 3:00 — No Comments

Day 95 - Helgard and Stefan Interviews (Rimini Protokoll), Aberystwyth Seafront

I caught them at the end of the day and we sat on the seafront by the bandstand discussing the locations that they had looked at over the last 48 hours and the different potentials for performance. Things will look very different when they return in January.

Audio Interview to follow shortly. (post to be updated)

Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 2, 2010 at 10:30 — No Comments

Day 94.1 - Daniel Wetzel Interview (Rimini Protokoll) - By the Bandstand, Aberystwyth



Follow link if you have any difficulties playing the podcast…
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Added by Dr Tom Payne on June 1, 2010 at 12:00 — No Comments

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