Wednesday 16 November 2011

'WE'RE OIL IN THIS TOGETHER'

 Last night over 130 people turned out to take part or support an evening of music, drama and stories that launched Emily Johns' exhibition,'What the Oil is Thinking,' at Pontardawe Arts Centre. The Murdon Choir sang, Mess up the Mess, a youth theatre group, performed a physical piece of theatre, inter-spersed with facts about oil spills and the cost to us all. Members of Script Cafe had their five minute plays  performed by professional actors. There was a communal piece,'We're going to see the Albatross,' devised by participants of 'Make a Play in a Day' using as their starting point Emily's print of an albatross hovering over a sea- city of plastic, the size of Texas.
     Then a piece exploring how difficult it is when you're dealing with climate change and green issues, not to preach or lecture. Does making people feel guilty about using their cars or flying long distances work any better? If people know the scientific facts, will that help people change their thirst for oil?  Should we start fining people for not re-cycling?
      This is a really challenging area for those playwrights who want to tackle big issues. The conclusion was that it's the pictures and images that we hold within our mind's eye or stories told to us by others, that make an impact and influence us to change. But is it that simple? My experience working with people with disabilities, trying to challenge attitudes and behaviour made me realise that without legislation and enforcement, effecting change can be half-hearted and take a very long time. So what needs to happen when we know what we should be doing to save our resources but we're lazy or don't entirely believe that the future of the planet lies in our oil-stained hands?
  

Sunday 13 November 2011

THE LAST ALBATROSS, BLAZIN' FIDDLES & A REUNION

Yesterday, November 12th, was Remembrance Day for Lost Species. Three species are lost to eternity every hour.  Feral Theatre's Funeral for Lost Species considers the social significance of extinction and commemorates it as a social tragedy. We were invited to hold an event that remembered and celebrated lost species.
      Over the past few months members of Pontardawe Script Cafe have been working on the theme, 'Conscious oil,' writing short plays in response to a set of dramatic prints created by Emily Johns on the theme of our historical relationship to oil.  Yesterday we held an event,'Make a Play in a Day' where we responded to one of the prints, an endangered albatross with its wings spread, hovering over a city of abandoned plastic bottles. There used to be 21 species of albatross and now there are only three species left. We devised a communal piece that explores the issue. It's very difficult not to be preachy and we had some interesting discussions about how best to put our message across, what motivates people  to change their behaviour and how can we adapt to survive climate change? Our inter-connectness with all species was again highlighted and reinforced. What kind of species will humans become? Will we become as extinct as a Dodo or what kind of mutation might we evolve into?
      We'll be performing our piece on Tuesday 15th of November at 7pm at the Arts Centre. Professional actors, directed by Derek Cobley will be performing the individual short plays, and in addition, Mess up the Mess, a local youth theatre group will be performing, and the Murton Choir from Swansea will be singing.  So now all I've got to do is learn my lines. Eeek!
     On return from Pontardawe, we had a quick fish and chip supper and drove down to the Royal Welsh Theatre of Music and Drama. The building was only finished in June and is already a architectural icon overlooking Bute Park.  'Blazin' Fiddles,' a group of five fiddlers, an electric organ player and a guitarist from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland entertained us wholeheartedly for the evening. In the first half of the programme of jigs, reels, laments and marches, the Cardiff audience sat rather primly and politely. After the interval the mood changed and everyone was clapping, nodding and whooping for more.  But sadly only a few of us responded to the call to get up and dance, led by a black woman groupie from London. We jumped, stamped and clapped to the wild, heart-stomping playing of the sweating Celtic musicians.  Our spirits soar!
        I got back to find an email from a person I'd mentored several years ago and with whom I lost touch when I went to Shetland for a year. He had been in care for most of his life and the future wasn't looking too bright for him. He'd re-found me through Google. I was delighted to read how he'd turned his life  around, was working, had finally got his GCSE's, was in a relationship, and was off alone on a back-packing adventure to Australia. Inspiring!
         What a Day!

Tuesday 1 November 2011

PONTARDAWE STRIKES OIL

There's Oil in Pontardawe!
As the price of oil rises, and as the temperature drops and we gear up for what is predicted to be another harsh winter, residents have struck oil in the Centre of Pontardawe - the Arts Centre. And they are singing about it, telling stories and generally creating a drama!
Just weeks after the ban on free plastic bags, Pontardawe Arts Centre is hosting a lively evening to launch the popular exhibition 'Conscious Oil' by Emily Johns. With stories from local miners, singing from the Murton choir, drama from Mess up the Mess and Pontardawe's own script cafe, this evening is set to get you thinking about where your next bag for life is coming from.
'We're oil in this together,' says Brian Cainen, a Swansea scriptwriter whose sketch sees two polar bears fighting over the last piece of ice in the arctic. 'Drama explores big issues,' he says, 'by bringing them down to a human story - or in my case a polar bear story.'
Energy charity Awel Aman Tawe, and Peacock Vein Scriptshop have joined forces to organise the event with funding from Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Wales and Literature Wales. As Jan Daniel (Chair of Script Cafe) says,
 'We are oil addicts. But we all have to adapt to survive'.
Conscious Oil - an evening of music, theatre, art and stories.
Pontardawe Arts Centre - Tuesday 15th November 7.00 - 9.30

SORRY-THE FINAL OUTCOME


Hi!
Scores of people came through the doors of the Dahl Art Gallery, in the Norwegian Church last week to see the art and poetry exhibition-'Sorry, i don't eat fish'- Janet and Ieuan Rhys Daniel's creative response to climate change and a celebration of the natural world.

Comments in the Visitors Book included:

'Wonderful drawings, thought provoking poetry'
'Funny and moving'
'I laughed out loud'
'Inspiring and stimulating'
'So glad I came'

£1359.88 was raised for two environmental charities-Awel Aman Tawe, a community energy organisation, and The Taffs Well Community Garden, encouraging local families to grow their own food.


A massive THANK YOU to everyone who supported, visited and contributed.

If you weren't able to get to the exhibition, you can still see and order the pictures and prints on-line. Pictures cost £150-200 and digital prints £25.

See    http://ieuanrhysdaniel.tumblr.com

A few of the poems can also be viewed on http://janetdaniel-writer.blogspot.com

The exhibition will be on show again at the Pontardawe Arts Centre from March 28-April 20 2012. There will be a launch on the 28th of March with an open mike poetry session with readings on the theme of nature and climate change.

Please do get in touch if you would like further information