Add a Comment

Comment by Natalie Stone on September 12, 2011 at 1:55

A quick message to say that all the spaces for the upcoming Word4Word are now full. 

 

Looking forward to the event this Thursday 15th September at Cardiff Arts Institute on Park Place (opposite the museum)

 

See you there at 8pm!

 

Natalie

Comment by Natalie Stone on August 23, 2011 at 11:26

Word4Word Takeover: 15th September

 

Hi everyone! We are so excited about the amount of interest in Word4Word! Organisation is now being taken over by National Theatre Wales’ TEAM programme and me and Anna Poole will be taking over the organisation with Mark Blayney Stuart for the next event.

 

We’ve been reading your comments and think that a theme is a great idea!

 

To kick off the next event and get the creative juices flowing the first theme will be Flight. So the sky won’t be too much of a limit…! We encourage you to interpret the theme in whatever way you like.

 

The people below are the list we have so far. There are five spaces left. If you would like to get involved please email word4word@nationaltheatrewales.org This will be our point of contact from now on – and the sole way to register interest to avoid confusions. If you are on the list please could you email us to confirm your attendance so that we can add you to the mailing list. We appreciate your cooperation as the organisation changes over.

 

Will Ford

Fritz O’Skennick

Emily

Mark Blayney

Steven Kenward

Jack Pascoe

Carmen Medway Stevens

Kit Lambert

Frank Thomas

Thea Lodwick

 

We would like to add that we are opening up this event to include all type of words and create a diverse platform for spoken creativity – and would welcome all poetry, performance poetry, spoken word, lyrics, micro-fiction, chunks of fiction, monologues, dialogues – anything you would like to present in five minutes. We’re open to your interpretation so get in touch!

 

If you have written something you would prefer someone else to read - for example a monologue – then we encourage you to use the community to link up with an actor and we can provide a space for you to meet and run through before the event on the 15th. If you need any more help with this process or a second pair of eyes we will be available. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

There will be a prize pot for first, second and third place and a chance to headline at the next event for the winner. We have scrapped the entrance fee as well so no excuse not to get involved or come along! Headlines to be announced – so keep your ears to the ground.

 

There will be photography and filming on the night for the National Theatre Wales community and your participation is taken as agreement to being filmed and your image used for NTW community publicity. If you are unhappy about this, please discuss with us in advance of the night.

 

So spread the word – far and wide – and hope to see you all there!

Anna, Nat and Mark

xx

Comment by Frank Thomas on August 17, 2011 at 23:42

sorry ive been away for a bit just to check the next one is on the 15th of september? and is there any slots available if so could i steel 1. also well up for themed nights but might be helpful to establish the group first.

Comment by Polly on August 17, 2011 at 13:29

oops, sorry to message everyone,  thought I was posting to wall,  having a 'moment' then,  obviously

Comment by Will Ford on August 12, 2011 at 23:02

With enough notice, why not? Anyway, among the good things about being supplied with a theme are:

It can make the writer apply their skills/imagination to a subject they might never otherwise have considered writing about (some writers have 'pet' subjects they keep returning to, or a particular social issue that drives their creativity, so being asked to write for a theme they don't select themselves can be a good challenge to the skills and imagination of anyone who goes around referring to themselves as 'creative').

 

Also, if writers have a particular thing/issue/experience/inspiration that is so key to how they express themselves that they cannot write without it, such a writer should, in theory, be able to imagine a way to bend/shape a set theme to suit them, if they don't wish to bend themselves to suit it.  

 

Either approach represents a different kind of challenge, but assuming that writers/performers may at times wish to surprise and challenge an audience, it's only fair I feel that there should be a willingness for writers/performers to challenge, and maybe even surprise themselves. There must have been a time when they weren't writers/performers and had to challenge themselves in the beginning, so if people are up for trying to write to a theme, and the audience is expected to be willing to be open to whatever they might see, it can only be good for the 'edge' of these events if the participants are testing new ideas and new ground.

Comment by Will Ford on August 12, 2011 at 22:16

How about 50-60% of the prize to the 'winner' and the rest divvied up between the others? Agree, and have previously suggested that setting themes would make regular performers not rely on 'old standards' (as might a rule that regular performers shouldn't do this anyway, and should bring material they haven't read at a NTW night before whether there's a specific theme or not).

 

Agreed, the competitive element doesn't have to be the only driver of the shows, but would differentiate between this sort of thing and X-Factor for at least these reasons: people wont be showing up to show how good (or terrible) they are at doing other people's stuff, the creators of the material will be taking a chance to deliver their self-created material to an audience that is(hopefully) open to the potentially random nature of the mood between one performer/reader and the next, and there wont be any egotistical judges there to humiliate anyone for the amusement of the kind of people who like to see others humiliated.

 

Whatever plans, dreams and schemes can be generated for the NTW events, they'll all be rather dependent on the establishing the regularity and consistency of the holding of the events, and then, naturally, having featured performers doing sets in addition to the 'new material/voices' element of the shows can be a developmental stage in the ongoing/evolving/now and again risk taking nature of the event. And who knows, as well as attracting people who already read material, maybe some who have never been in front of a crowd before may go on to become future featured performers, since any regularly scheduled open mic event has the capacity to attract the talent that is already out there, to discover/shape talent that has yet to be discovered, and even potentially inspire some who had never thought of doing such things to discover talents even they were previously unaware of.  

Comment by Leona Jones on August 12, 2011 at 21:16

I think these ideas of Kit's as to how to keep new work and people involved are good.  And might even prove a way to nibble at that dry biscuit of middle ground between new starters and people who've become established after negotiating quite a few years.

I'm not convinced that everything has to have a formal competition element to it - OD'd on X-Factor style programmes.  Maybe there are other ways of doing things?  Perhaps the entrance money from a few non-competition evenings with less rigid rules could  raise a fee for a headline act every few months which could attract a new audience too, but go as a prize pot during more controlled slam events.

It's great to see so much interest in a spoken word evening, and this means there's a huge variety of ideas and artists out there.   

Comment by Kit Lambert on August 12, 2011 at 0:45

Hi Abdul and all,

Would love to be involved in the September event.  Just a quick thought about the open mic / slam element.  I think it is important to encourage poets to be generating new work and not just relying on well-rehearsed old favourites.  On that basis, maybe any competitions could be themed?  Have poems as responses to particular challenges?  Or ask for topical poems responding to that week's news content?  Without this, I would worry that you would end up seeing the same poets doing the same poems and over time any sense of innovation will be lost.  I thought I would put this out there - feel free to disagree!

Offering a showcase / feature slot to successful poets is also a good idea, to allow people to build on their skills and put together a set of poems that work well together.

Hopefully see you all in September.

Kx

Comment by Merel Prescott on August 11, 2011 at 22:58

Looking forward to the September event! Also wanted to remind anybody whomight be interested that it"s open mic at the Riverfront in Newport tonight. Usually a very nice evening and only £1 admission. Emily will reading her latest and best poem, one which brought tears to my eyes...

Comment by Jack Pascoe on August 9, 2011 at 8:19

Hi all, just like to put my name down to read on thursday. I guess you'll post on this wall when the places are full up. See you there, peace and love. Jack P

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• Next ›
• Page