Creative Director , Joni Brown became a volunteer director of the Touring Network in January 2021.
Joni Brown is currently studying for a Masters in Arts and Social Practice from University of Highlands and Islands, studying modules in Art and the Environment and Art in Collaboration.
The Argyll Arts Collective are so grateful to be supported by Awards For All from the National Lottery for the project ‘Cultivating Creativity in Cowal’.
This will enable us to provide a fun year packed full of exciting events and art projects delivered to the doorstep of communities living within the Cowal peninsula.
We will work alongside our communities with local and non-local artists and companies to deliver arts based-workshops, promote events and produce projects that our local communities can participate in and enjoy creating an environment which is rich in culture, diverse in choice and sustainable in outlook.
DELIVERANCE
Produced by Vanishing Point
Made by Brite Theater
Concept and text Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir
Hello
Have you looked in the mirror lately?
Go on
Do it now
Look
Keep looking
Strike a pose
Look again
Who are you these days?
You ordered a performance, we’re here to deliver. A set of instructions straight to your door. You’re a natural performer, after all. You’re performing all the time. Don’t worry, no one is looking. No one is looking but you. The buzzer is for you, the performance is by you, about you. We made it especially. A treat. We hope it sets you free.
GDPR STATEMENT / DATA PROTECTION
When you book a ticket for Deliverance, Brite Theater & Vanishing Point* will receive your Name, Address, Telephone Number, Email Address and any other information related specifically to your delivery - this is crucial in order for your performance to happen. Your information will be stored securely and deleted no later than a week after your performance.
*Vanishing Point has a Privacy Policy which can be viewed on our website. If you have any questions or concerns relating to the handling of your personal data you can contact us at hello@vanishing-point.org
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR AUDIENCE MEMBERS
Please provide your audience with the following information at the point of booking:
● The show is LIVE and happens on the day of your booking within a 3 hour timeslot - a more specific time will be emailed to you on the day. It takes about 1.5-2 hrs and should start as soon as you receive your delivery. In other words your booking is a ticket for a specific show at a specific time. Please be ready to receive the delivery at the time we give.
● The show is made for you to enjoy in your home, by yourself - please consider that you will want privacy and time to enjoy the show and inform other people in your household if necessary.
● You need access to several things within your home, such as your bathroom and your wardrobe during the show. You will need your phone at one point (and that sweet spot that gets the signal).
● We invite you to enjoy this event in comfort so you might want a beverage to hand and your reading glasses, just like when you go to the theatre.
● The element of surprise is important to us so that we ask that you keep the details of your experience to yourself and the contents of your delivery are not to be sent on to another person. To do so is an infringement on copyright.
● Because we need to get everything ready for your delivery, sales for each performance will end at noon on the day. For postal performances sales will end midday 3 days before.
PRESS
★★★★ The Guardian - “I went from computer-weary to radiant. At the end, I felt taller.” https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/nov/16/deliverance-review-edinburgh-glasgow-brite-theater-lockdown-me-time
★★★★ The Stage - “Every ’performance’ of Deliverance will be different – different protagonists, in different homes, listening to different songs, thinking different thoughts. But at its heart, it is an imaginative exercise in self-knowledge and self-love.” https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/deliverance
The Scotsman - “The format is superb and even transformative, a brilliant way of changing your perspective on yourself and the familiar spaces you inhabit for a couple of hours, or forever. [...] a hugely interesting experiment, featuring a completely original form of live performance.” https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/theatre-reviews-daniel-kitsons-dotdotdot-signal-fires-deliverance-petrichor-3024097
The Herald - “a role-playing meditation on the relationship between the public, private and secret self, and the performative nature of each.” https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18840313.theatre-review-deliverance-brite-theater-house-three-stars/
AUDIENCE REACTIONS
“if tonight proved anything it was the importance of theatre/art/creating. It really does heal the soul.”
“I put on lipstick for the first time in 7 months, and stayed up really late after, dancing.”
“Deliverance was a moment, a distraction, a break, a therapy for me to take time for self care and for that I thank you for making it possible for me to take part. It’s a very special thing you created.”
“I had a fantastic evening participating in Deliverance”
AGE RECOMMENDATION / SUITABILITY
Parental Guidance Recommended / Suitable 16 +
Newsletter
Merry Christmas one and all! I hope this email finds you all ok and bearing up considering the circumstances.
CHarts, Argyll and Isles Place Makers Project
Firstly, I would like to share a little film project that was funded by Charts;Argyll and Isles for the Place Makers project. We had fun making this film with the help from Sure Shot Films based in Dunoon. Watch the film below or follow the link to watch on Vimeo
'The 8 Reindeer Monologues'
And you don't have to be alone over the festive period! Please join us for a one of it's kind Christmas Show ' The Eight Reindeer Monologues', a play written by Jeff Goode and performed by DRc Productions.
DRc Productions performed 'Love Letters' by AR Gurney last year for the Argyll Arts Collective.It was an extremely heart warming and wonderful performance that was hugely popular.
Well this year, we've teamed up again and they will be performing ' The Eight Reindeer Monologues' live online via Zoom. The actors will be performing from their very own homes in Glasgow straight into the comfort of yours!
This is the perfect antidote to that twee Christmas show, a dark comedy for the over 14's.
The performance will be on Friday 18th December at 7:30pm.
All you have to do is grab a glass of wine or a cup of tea and log into ZOOM with the code you will receive via EventBrite when you purchase a ticket.
You can purchase tickets for £8
Get In touch
Please write to us and tell us how you are getting on, We'd love to know if you have continued watching performances and concerts online, and what and who you'd like us here at the Arts Collective to bring to yours shores / and or screens in the future. And don't forget to catch up with all of our latest news on Facebook @ArgyllArtsCollective.
Until then, thanks for your support and take care.
Joni
Keep Rural Touring Live: The Spotlight Sessions
Thursday 20th and 27th August @ 7 30 pm.
Venue: Argyll Arts Collective Facebook Page
What an unusual time it has been!? With the unfortunate arise of Covid we have seen devastation for the arts and live performance. This sector has been one of the hardest hit, with actors and musicians completely out of work almost overnight to the closing down of well-established arts venues across the country.
The Argyll Arts Collective unfortunately has had to cancel three live events over the last few months but has used this time to establish a new way forward post Covid.
There are no live events right now... but we’re planning ahead and delighted to announce we have teamed up with the Touring Network and we’ll be hosting a specially curated night of professional performers showcasing their work for us online! If we like what we see, we can book them for our hall! Come and join in!
The Spotlight Sessions are a series of showcase performances (3 performers per night). Each performer will perform a short excerpt or snippet from their full show. It will give us a flavour of the piece and help our local promoter decide if they'd like to book the performer when they hit the road next year. We will be watching these sessions alongside other creative communities across the region! Come take part!
The Lineup includes:
Men With Coconuts
Makeup - NoLogo Productions
The Sea and Me -Nicolette McLeod Suffering from Scottishness -Kevin P. Gilday Grandmothers Grimm -Some Kind of Theatre Horse
Compered by ALAN BISSETT
For more information on The Spotlight Sessions and the performers, head here:
https://www.thetouringnetwork.com/keep-rural-arts-live-spotlight-sessions/
These online events have been curated and funded by The Touring Network for the following communities/venues: An Cridhe Isle of Coll | Argyll Arts Collective Lochgoilhead | Eden Court Inverness | Lochan Arts Network Lochan | Oban Communities Trust Oban | SEALL Isle of Skye | Strathearn Arts Crieff | The Muir Hub Muir of Ord
These events are FREE!!
You will find us on Zoom at 7 30 pm for pre-performance drinks each night, please join us for a chat on Zoom and use the Meeting ID and Passcode below.
Meeting ID: 718 5025 2640
Passcode: s1qHEa
We will then join Alan Bisset and performers online at Argyll Arts Collective Facebook Page at 8 pm.
It would be great to see you for our first online performance!
Please do get in touch if you need any more information and/or you want to reserve a place.
Thanks again for your continual support.
"____is where the heart is' is coming to Lochgoilhead on Saturday 20th July.
Performances will be at 4pm and 7pm in Lochgoilhead Village Hall. See info below.
The Touring Network exhibition 'Epic Stage Story will be in Lochgoilhead Village Hall for July and August.
See the poster below or our events page.
“____ is where the heart is”
written and directed by Heather Marshall
produced by Birds of Paradise and Creative Electric
in association with Argyll Arts Collective and The Touring Network commissioned as part of the BRAW initiative
My city and me.
I want change.
A place with real people. Who stop and smile and say hello. Who know me.
Really know me.
I saw it on tv. Amish teenagers, when they turn 18, go on a right of passage to the city. They go for a year and try all the things they don’t have at home – clubs, going to the cinema, shopping centres, trains... And if they like it they stay and if they don’t then they go back to their families and are baptised into the Amish faith.
I feel like that’s what I need. I love it here, its beautiful, but how can I know who I am and how I want to live until I’ve experienced other ways of life? It’s a case of unrequited love.
Starring: Nicholas Alban and Conrad Williamson ‘_____ is where the heart is’ is a tale of displacement and identity that weaves stories from local audiences into its narrative to create a play that resonates with each community it visits.
Participants will be invited to the ‘_ ____ is where the heart is’ pop up recording studio to record stories and memories of their home: the people who make it special, the local folklore and the moments that have gone down in local history.
These stories will then be incorporated into the performance – each community will have a performance that is entirely unique to them.
‘_____ is where the heart is’ is part of The Touring Network's BRAW initiative, a two year project which examines artistic vibrancy, relevance and impact by deepening the relationships between three devising performers and three rural communities.
All performances include partial pre-recorded BSL by Deaf performer Jamie Rea, captions and verbal description
Speaking about this commission Heather said: “I went into this residency with the aim of exploring the impact of environment on a person’s mental health. I definitely had romantic notions that rural living would be great for my mental health. I find water calming and so I thought that being based in Lochgoilhead would be really good for me.
It’s been a really interesting process, one where I went from looking at the impact of environment on my own mental health to the importance of community, how communities support one another to what it means to be 'other' in a traditional or binary community and the impact that has on an individuals mental health.
I've met some great people throughout this residency in Lochgoilhead who have informed the play and told me some brilliant stories along the way. They've invited me to ceilidhs, Burn's Suppers and into their homes. Its given me a very honest idea of village life.
The city element of the work is informed by my own experiences and from participants in my residency with Glasgow Life. I'm delighted to be opening “____ is where the heart is” in Hillhead and sharing the work with my ward.”
Creative Electric is led by Heather Marshall who has over 15 years experience of creating work with professional performers, community groups and non-performers.
Speaking about My Left / Right Foot - The Musical following it’s six CATS Awards nominations, Joyce McMillan of The Scotsman said “...this great show demonstrates how Birds of Paradise have become a vital part of Scotland’s theatre scene over the last 25 years, creating award-winning work in which artists with disability and without can work together to produce world-class, thought-provoking entertainment, for audiences everywhere. Not only did Robert Softley Gale’s take on the controversial Oscar-winning film My Left Foot stand up for disabled people’s right to be heard, but it did it in a brilliantly humorous and theatrical way, in one of the finest productions of the year."
LISTINGS:
Creative Electric Hub, 806 Garscube Road, Glasgow 27th & 28th June at 7pm
Brae Public Hall, Shetland 3rd July at 4pm & 7pm
North Edinburgh Arts
10th July at times 1pm & 4pm
Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit 18th July at 4pm & 7pm
Lochgoilhead Village Hall 20th July at 4pm & 7pm
Caithness House, Wick 23rd July at 2.30pm & 6pm
Birds of Paradise Theatre Company : BOP’s artistic vision is of a culture where disabled artists are recognised for the excellence of their work, celebrated for the stories that they
bring to the stage and are a vital part of the artistic landscape of Scotland. Producing entertaining popular theatre which uses and celebrates creative access inbuilt to all of its work. Theiruniquevisionpresentsdisabilityasanopportunitytoexploreuntoldstories.They are producers of the award winning My Left / Right Foot - The Musical ‘Irreverent and entertaining’ (The Stage) and acclaimed Wendy Hoose ‘Rude, ribald, hilariously off colour’(The Guardian). BOP is led by artistic director Robert Softley Gale.
Creative Electric : Creative Electric are a multi award winning company who create socio-political theatre and live art for people who may not regularly attend arts events. They aim to create work that is financially, physically and socially accessible. These have included:
Shoplifter<>Shapeshifter: body positive body sculptures & physical theatre created by people with lived experience of shoplifting.
Sinking Horses: a performative space, in which to explore, create and discuss what mental health is to an individual.
Glittershit: an audio installation for public toilets that explores the effects of MDMA on a young person over a 3 day period.
Wonder: an immersive playground for 16-25 year olds.
Treat: a durational performance work exploring the importance of self-care.
Hey, I’m Alive! a durational performance that explored the isolation of life shortening conditions by placing performers inside giant zorbs.
Fragility: a performance with & for young men that explores the pressures of sex.re:place: a continuous art project that provides a creative outlet and basic living essentials for people living on the streets of Edinburgh.
W : boptheatre.co.uk | F : birdsofparadisetheatre | T : @BOPTheatre
Recommended age 14+
W : creative-electric.co.uk | F : CreativeElectric | T : @Creativeelectric
Press Contact
For further information, interviews and images, contact Michelle Rolfe via michelle@boptheatre.co.uk
The Argyll Arts Collective and the community of Lochgoilhead have been chosen by the Touring Network to collaborate on a two year project called ‘Braw’ organised by The Touring Network and Experience Business.
The project is an opportunity for an artist to spend time in a rural place with a rural community, to inspire and motivate them, resulting in a finished performance which will then be performed in the location it was made and will tour within other rural communities.
The project started in late 2017 with the final performance to be finished by early 2019. We will be hosting the Artist Heather Marshall from Creative Electric.
https://www.creative-electric.org
Heather is a contemporary theatre maker and director. Her company has won various awards, she likes to make work about people, documenting people’s real lived experiences to create her final performances. Recently performing at the Hidden Door Festival in Edinburgh with a piece she’d made called ‘Leith is where the Heart is….’.
http://hiddendoorblog.org/contents/leith-is-where-the-heart-is/
This performance was set up as an afternoon tea party where guests were asked to choose an option from a menu of stories and memories from Leith, which were then performed by actors.
Heather likes to work with young performers, so has set up the Electric Young Company which looks at creating work by young people for young people, she runs affordable weekly theatre workshops to inspire and motivate young people into creating theatre. Currently Heather is working on the ‘Happiness Project ‘ with the National Theatre Scotland which was performed at the Biscuit Factory in a Edinburgh on the 26th July.
Heather will be joining us here in Lochgoilhead for plenty of frolics and fun over the next few months! So please do say hello if you see her. If you have any stories to tell past or present then please do get in touch.
Call Joni on 07765 016 543 or email argyllartscollective@gmail.com.
For more info on the project then please visit
www.thetouringnetwork.com/braw/
or indeed follow any of the above on twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Thanks again!