Firebird Theatre Newsletter, January 2014



From The Breadhorse, March 2013: "And we ran the stars"

 

Happy New Year to all our friends and supporters and thank you for your support during 2013; it is much appreciated and valued by everyone in Firebird Theatre.

During this New Year we are going to try to send more regular updates and newsletters to let you know what we are doing.

Please feel free to contact us if you want to know more and we will do our best to answer your questions and give you the information you need.

News in brief

Two new Trustees

Firebird Trustees: l to r: Jo, Jane, Gary, Antigoni and Judy

We voted two new Trustees onto Firebird at our Annual General Meeting on November 30^th 2013. We are proud to welcome Antigoni Messaritaki and Jane Edwards Reynolds to the Firebird team and look very forward to working with them both.

The Stephen Knight Memorial Workshop Fund
 

Kathryn Hunter and Steve during The Baby in the Hat workshop

We have received £964.25 so far in donations towards an overall total of £1750 to run one workshop a year for 5 years in memory of Steve. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this Fund. We will start planning the first workshop soon and hope that our patron Kathryn Hunter can be our first workshop leader – she had a very special respect for Steve’s work as a performer and they were good friends. 



Steve and Kathryn working together in the workshop

 

Funding and donations

Many thanks also to Trusts, Foundations, Friends and Supporters, and others who have donated money or made grants to Firebird over the last few months. We have no other sources of funding and Firebird depends on these to keep us going.

Most recently we have received a grant of £1000 from the Odin Trust, who has said it will give us the same amount for the next 3 years, which is great news.

Also, we have received a cheque for £250 from the Burges Salmon Charitable Trust.

Our new trustee, Antigoni Messaritaki, has initiated a collection at her place of work and they have raised £181.80 for Firebird.

John Sallis and Joe Wylie raised £344.65 for Firebird by getting sponsors for taking part in the Boxing Day Run in Clevedon.



Joe, number 390,  running for Firebird




John, number 388, running for Firebird

We are currently working with Theatre Bristol to complete our 3 year Business Plan, when this is done we will be making applications to Arts Council England and other Trusts and Foundations to help us fund the work we want to do over the next 3 years.

Please feel free to help Firebird by encouraging people to join our Friends and Supporters Scheme; small regular donations can make all the difference to Firebird and help us plan our finances in a better way. People can find more information about joining the Scheme, or supporting Firebird with a ‘one-off’ donation by going onto our website: http://www.firebird-theatre.co.uk/supportus.pdf. Alternatively contact us by post or telephone, see contact details below

What we want to do over the next 3 years

We would like to perform The Breadhorse again in a venue outside Bristol. We would like to show more people our work and it would also help us to get better known with audiences outside Bristol as well. If we do this, it would mean us working with a different choir and making new links.

We would also like to plan and design short performances for young disabled people and children. We would like to invite audiences of disabled children and young people into our rehearsal space at Bristol Old Vic once a week for no longer than an hour, over a period of 3 - 4 weeks. We would like these performances to be about introducing audiences to every aspect of the theatre from coming into a space to seeing a performance; we would also like the audience to get involved in the performance through story telling, roles, costume, sound, music, voice, props, and lighting and planned activities that could be taken back into school during the week.
 

Presenting an idea for new work at Firebird's Annual General Meeting, November 2013

We are planning new work for 2015 to celebrate our 25^th anniversary. We would like the new work to be around our own stories, who we are and how we feel; what is important and meaningful to us. At the same time, we would like our new work to celebrate the theatre as a place where we have been able to tell stories. In 1990, Firebird – then known as the Portway Players - performed Yellow Sun, Red Moon at Bristol Old Vic as a lunchtime performance.
 

Presenting  ideas for new work at the Annual General Meeting, November 30th 2013
 

Coming up!

We will be rehearsing and practising for a performance and presentation we are doing as part of a Conference for medical professionals at Bristol Royal Infirmary on February 24^th.

We will also be planning a workshop day for people who have expressed an interest in becoming a member of Firebird Theatre. We will follow-up this day with auditions, dates to be confirmed.

We met with members of Made in Bristol (M in B) at the Bristol Old Vic before Christmas. We did some sharing of work and had mince pies and coffee and tea. We will be meeting again on 31^st January. We are hoping to meet every so often, do some sharing and see what comes out of our time together.

Getting together: Made in Bristol and Firebird at Bristol Old Vic on Friday 6th December

Derby-based Theatre Company, Hubbub Theatre, have asked if members of Firebird would run a workshop for them in August. 

 

We will be in touch again soon and, until then, best wishes from us all in Firebird Theatre

 

 

 

Stephen Knight Memorial Workshop Fund

Steve, photograph by David Gilliland

 

Dear Friends and Supporters, 

Most of you will have heard by now about the very sad passing of Steve Knight, our dear friend and colleague.

Steve died suddenly and unexpectedly on 17^th August. Everyone will have seen Steve’s incredibly beautiful work on stage – he brought something very special to all Firebird performances. We have received many tributes to Steve and his work; we have posted them all with Steve's biographical details and in the News section of the website.

There are many things we would like to do to remember Steve, to help us move on and take our memories of him into the future: we are still discussing our ideas and talking about how we will make them happen.

For now, however, we would like to introduce the Steve Knight Memorial Workshop Fund. This will be used to fund a day’s workshop every year for all members of Firebird Theatre. We think Steve would have very much approved of this idea.

The plan is to run the Steve Knight Memorial Workshop Fund for 5 years and then review what should happen next.

To enable us to do this we would need to raise £350 every year for 5 years to pay for the workshop. This amount would cover the cost of paying someone workshop fees and expenses. Any monies saved would automatically be carried over to the next year; any monies raised would be dedicated to this scheme only.

We have already been given a generous donation of £100 towards the first workshop and would like to open this up to others who feel they would like to donate to this fund.

Members of Firebird have said that they want to give to the fund in lieu of flowers for Steve. We know that many of you already donate through the Friends and Supporters Scheme so please do not feel obliged to give more – we are hoping that small donations will quickly add up to the amount we are looking for to get us started. We will ask our trustees to look at other ways of raising the target amount for next year and subsequent years.

Although this has yet to be confirmed, we are very much hoping that Olivier award winner, Kathryn Hunter, who worked with us on Faustus and has run other workshops for us, will lead the first Steve Knight Memorial Workshop for us next year. We will let you know as soon as this has been confirmed.

Please contact us if you would like more information. If you want to make a donation, please make cheques payable to Firebird Theatre; cash donations also welcomed.

 

Many thanks from us all in Firebird Theatre.

Steve Knight: tributes and obituary

 

Stephen Knight, 14/2/1966 – 17/8/2013

 

Photograph by Paul Blakemore
 

Most fans of Firebird have a single moment they can remember which encapsulates the company’s unique spirit and skill.  For me, this moment is Steve Knight’s dance solo in The Nine Lessons of Caliban, shown at Bristol Old Vic in 2012.  The company’s approach to the piece was simple and devastatingly powerful.  They read Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, paying particular attention to the things people said to Caliban and the things he says about himself, and exploring the connections these things had with their own lives.  How does it really feel to be named and treated as a monster?  These are questions which very few artists dare to ask and which even fewer have the insight to answer.  But Firebird found experiences in their own lives which brought Shakespeare’s words thrillingly to life.  In the middle of the show, Steve created a dance of breath-taking beauty and precision.  It was a transcendent moment because Steve was in such command of it, and the command so clearly gave him a thrill of joy, which spread unstoppably through the hearts of his audience.  It was an exquisite moment of theatre which embodied the spirit of Firebird.  Their ownership and joy in the craft is the thing that is most inspiring.  As Steve himself said “Being an actor has made me strong, if someone ever tried to stop me from acting, I wouldn't let them!”  He will be sorely missed, but his inspiration will live long in the memories of those who saw him play. Tom Morris, Artistic Director at Bristol Old Vic (BOV)

Photograph by Graham Burke

 

·       He was bright and intelligent and amazingly sensitive to people, to language, to stories and the human condition. He had a brilliant wicked sense of humour! He was brave and fearless and had an expressiveness of soul that emanated from his eyes and his fingers and his body. Kathryn Hunter, Patron of Firebird and Olivier Award winner

·       Steve will be a great loss to the company, especially all his many accomplishments. My thoughts go to his family. Jude McGreevy, trustee of Firebird

·       I did not know Steve but I remember him most vividly in the Firebird productions – he was a real leader and completely unafraid.

I realise that you will miss him and the extremely positive impact that he brought to the company.

It must be such a shock – I wish you and the group and his family well. He was a fine performer and will be greatly missed. John Retallack, Associate Director, Bristol Old Vic

·       So sad to hear about Steve, he was a kind and lovely man with a wonderful soul he was a huge part of Firebird and all that it stands for, His performances have always been beautiful and he will be sorely missed. My condolences go out to his family and friends at this difficult time but his memory will live on with us and in all that Firebird does. J Costello-Roberts, BOV Senior Technician (Studios)

·       I got to know Steve through my connection with Firebird Theatre. Steve was an incredibly thoughtful performer and was magnetic to watch on stage. I shall also remember Steve as a man with a delightful and mischievous sense of humour as well as someone who showed great support, patience and tenderness towards others. John Nicholson, actor, writer, Peepolykus

Photograph by Graham Burke

 ·       He was a rare talent indeed and such a sweet, sweet man. Tristan Sturrock, Theatre Damfino, Kneehigh

     ·       I feel honoured and privileged to have worked with Steve over the years
          and thinking of him and his sense of humour instantly brings a smile to
          my face. His dedication and natural ability as an immensely strong actor
          brought so much to everything he set out to do. I will miss him greatly
          and a large void will certainly be left. My love and thoughts go out to
          everyone at such a difficult time. Jo Cuthbert, trustee of Firebird Theatre
 
    ·       What can we say? This is such terribly sad news and our love & thoughts
         are with all of you and everyone who knew, loved and took inspiration
         from Steve as indeed we did (and will continue to do so).
        It’s difficult to convey enough tenderness and respect by email, so we’ll
        keep this short for now.
        The important thing is for you to all know that we’re thinking of you in what
         must be a really difficult time. If you can take some comfort in the
         knowledge that in his life he experienced the most wonderful friendship
         and support from his firebirds, then please do. Kate and Matthew, MAYK 

·       Steve was such a gentle man, with a burning passion for theatre. When I first met Steve at Blackhorse day centre in 1998, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. There was no question. He wanted to perform – professionally. I am so pleased that with Firebird Theatre he did get that opportunity and that he did it so well!  

Steve was a performer with humour and wit, sensitivity and strength – he could make an audience laugh or cry. He knew how to illustrate difficult feelings and emotions with beautiful movements and carefully crafted sequences. He was not afraid to put himself out there. He will be missed, by so many people. Laura Jerram, ex trustee for Firebird Theatre 
 

Photograph by Graham Burke

·       I will have such strong memories of Steve from first meeting him, his naughty laugh, his passion for theatre, his amazing Faustus, his movement skills especially with Caliban – a huge loss as a talent and as a person. Kevin Brice, Firebird Trustee 

·       Steve will live on strongly in the memory of anyone who saw him perform, for the haunting quality of his voice and the beauty of his movement in his interpretations through dance.  Chris & Bill Urwin, Firebird supporters and audience members 

·       So very sad to hear about Stephen’s death. His dance in Caliban remains one of the most moving pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen and I’ve spoken to so many people about it. Please pass on my condolences to his family. Jan Burke, supporter and audience member

Half price tickets and news

We are writing to remind you that you can book half price tickets for The Breadhorse up until the end of February, which is a very good deal and one we hope you can take advantage of.

Please book tickets from Bristol Old Vic, King Street, Bristol BS1 4ED

Box Office telephone 0117 987 7877 or online at bristololdvic.org.uk

News update: We have been working with Tristan Sturrock (Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Mayday Mayday) to get the show ready for the March performances.

Tristan working with the Company in Rehearsal Room 1 at Bristol Old Vic

 

Sarah Moody and Mark Lawrence have been working with students from Briarwood and Kingsweston Schools and St Brendan’s Sixth Form College to make The Breadhorse Choir and musicians.

On Wednesday 30^th January we performed the 12minute introduction to The Breadhorse, which was written by Firebird members working with Bristol poet and writer, Claire Williamson. The performance was part of Ferment Fortnight at Bristol Old Vic; we had a fantastic audience who gave us great feedback, see below. 

 “What stands out is the ensemble work - beautiful to see a company come together and work effortlessly together on stage.”

 

“…it’s mysterious and exciting.” Feedback from audience members, Ferment

We hope you will be able to join us at one of the performances of The Breadhorse. There will be a post performance discussion when you can talk to the Company after Thursday’s 2pm performance and Friday’s 8pm performance.

 

Working with Tristan Sturrock on The Breadhorse

Here are the comments we received from the Ferment Fortnight audience; each audience who come to see a peformance at Ferment are asked the same questions.

 

1.      A friend asks you to briefly describe what you have just seen. What would you say?
Something that makes us want to come again in March.
Something that makes you think.
On the surface you think you know what you are getting, but it’s mysterious and exciting.
It is really lyrical through the repetition.
Timeless with Romany gypsy feel of it.
Really exciting and made me want to re-live my childhood.
Takes you by surprise.
Rhymes brought back lots of memories.

2.      Can you tell us 3 thee things that particularly stand out/that you find particularly engaging?

The ensemble work - beautiful to see a company come together and work effortlessly together on stage. Amazing - focused.
The curtain call - you see a lot of companies of actors who just do curtain call as part of the thing, I have never
seen a curtain call with such enthusiasm which is really inspiring.
I like the pictures.
Performers really enjoying themselves.
The music really supported the work, makes you go on a journey which is really exciting.
I really loved it when all the playground rhymes where being repeated and layered.
Some of you were saying the same thing and you get a sense that things come together in the differences in the voices. That gives a sense of drama in the message.
It seems universal to accept anyone and everybody.
It’s a beautiful message.
Huge amount of feeling for 12 min.
it felt really timeless, really impressive for 12 mins.

3.      Where do you see the piece going next?
The idea of working with young people and stuff is really great.
A really solid piece of work to take into the community.
Exploring how it can become different things with engagement of community.

4.      -

5.      Any other comments?
The singer was very good; I want to know what the words are.
The words are from a Romany chant that is used to calm a horse.
Thank you to Firebird and congratulations and I am looking forward to March.  

 

The Breadhorse Choir and Musicians



Mark working with the Choir; behind Mark,
 Ann Pugh filming the work

Mark Lawrence and Sarah Moody have been working with young people from Bristol schools to form a Choir that will sing the Kosko Gry! chant for the performances of The Breadhorse story in March in Bristol Old Vic's Studio.

The Choir are students and teachers from Briarwood School: Adam Maximan, Stuart Moss, Sandra Neale, Hazel Staddon and Stacey Young.

Kingsweston School: Deneshae Ayton, Reuben Loader, Curtis Poole and Nicky Tiley.

St. Brendan's Sixth Form College: Ella Bakker, Fiona Munro and Jess Murray.

From Bristol Old Vic's Made in Bristol: Jack Drewry and Tameka Mortimer.

Firebird volunteers: Jude McGreevy and Fiona Spence.




 from left to right: Sarah, Curtis, Reuben, Deneshae and Nicky 



From left to right: Jude, Tameka, Jack,Ella and Jess.

Sarah has composed music for the Choir and also for a group of musicians who will support the Choir and the performance of The Breadhorse. Mark is leading the Choir.

Sarah has also been working with Stephen Canby and Ed Goater from Firebird Theatre, and students Benji Cooper, Alex Preddy, Tom Taylor and James Wilkins from St Brendan's Sixth Form College to form a band of musicians to support the Choir and the performance of The Breadhorse.                                            



Alex, James and Steve working together



Ed in foreground, Benji and James
on accordian and percussion      



Benji, Tom and Sarah working together

 



 



Firebird Newsletter, December 2012

This is our last newsletter of 2012 and we would like to thank you all for your interest, support and help over the last 12 months. 

As you know, we are now in the throes of making The Breadhorse, which is a very exciting piece of new theatre, and since our last newsletter we have now confirmed some of our collaborators.

The Breadhorse news

We are honoured to be working with Sarah Moody and Mark Lawrence on this project; Sarah will lead on the musical composition and with a small group of Firebird musicians and young people will play live during the performances. Alongside Sarah, Mark our choirmaster will rehearse a choir of young people formed especially for the project and made up of students from Briarwood and Kingsweston Schools and St Brendan’s Sixth Form College. We are delighted that the project can bring together young people in this way to be part of making important theatre for audiences from across Bristol.

 

 

The Choir, students and teachers from Briarwood and Kingsweston Schools and St Brendan's Sixth Form College

Tameka and Jack from Bristol Old Vic’s Made in Bristol project have also been working with us and we are hoping that they will also join the Choir and bring their experiences of performing in theatre to other members of the group.

 

The students have already met members of Firebird and participated in an exciting introductory workshop with Sarah and Mark; rehearsals start properly in the New Year.

Meanwhile Firebird has finished the first stage of devising for The Breadhorse and will begin intensive rehearsals in January. We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Tristan Sturrock in our rehearsals from January, which will build on the relationship we started with him on The Nine Lessons of Caliban.

Firebird’s visual artist, Carol Chilcott, has had 3 sessions with the Company, drawing people as they have been working on The Breadhorse. Many people have commented on Carol’s beautiful painting of Breadhorse, which is currently being used to publicise the production, and we will tell you more about Carol’s work with us in our next newsletter along with further announcements on new members of the creative team.

On a more personal note, we are finding that The Breadhorse story means more and more to us the deeper we go into it. Company member, Sharlie Yea, describes The Breadhorse as being about a journey of acceptance and understanding, with a desire to pass on your knowledge and not keep it for yourself. The story has many layers and is making us ask questions about its meaning; like all really important stories we know not all of those questions will be answered and it will keep us thinking long after we have performed it.

Other news

When the Queen visited Bristol on 22^nd November, one of the visits she made was to Bristol Old Vic to open the Royal Box. As associates of the Old Vic, two representatives of Firebird Theatre were invited to attend and were presented to the Queen. Although we were disappointed that only two people could attend, we were very proud and honoured to be included in this once-in- a- lifetime event. The Queen asked us questions about Firebird and showed a lot of interest in the Company. A great visit for everyone in Bristol and we felt very lucky to be part of that; we thank Bristol Old Vic for giving us the opportunity, as well as ALL the other support, help and opportunities we receive from them.

The Disability History Month event is taking place in January at the M Shed and other venues in Bristol. Firebird is performing its introduction to The Breadhorse as part of this event for Ferment in the Studio at BOV on January 30^th. Our sister organization, Artists First, will be showing artwork at the M Shed on 19^th January.

Ferment

Firebird has written poetry inspired by Alan Garner’s The Breadhorse, which works as an introduction to the story. This introduction is 10 – 15 minutes in length and Firebird is sharing the stage with others on 30^th January to perform it for the first time at 6.30pm. We are hoping that it will give audiences a taster for the full version of The Breadhorse, which will be performed in March.   

Dates for your diary:

Saturday 19^th January 11am – 5pm at the M Shed, Disability History Month Event 

Wednesday 30^th January 6.30pm Ferment: introduction to The Breadhorse, for more information please contact Bristol Old Vic, www.bristololdvic.org.uk

Thursday 14^th until Saturday 16^th March: performances of The Breadhorse – half price tickets before the end of February, please contact Bristol Old Vic for more information, www.bristololdvic.org.uk

Last but not least, we want to say thank you to you all for your support and help during 2012; we send Christmas Greetings and our very best wishes for a healthy, peaceful and happy New Year from us all in Firebird Theatre

We would like to thank those who have funded us during 2012: 

The Breadhorse is made possible by the generous support of Arts Council England through Grants for the Arts, Triangle Trust, Lark Trust, RTR Foundation, David Solomons Charitable Trust and Bristol Old Vic Ferment.  

The Breadhorse is produced by MAYK. www.mayk.org.uk