Tuesday 28 August 2012

Inspire 52 - Week 35. A Black and White Colourfest

Well the summer continues and from one 'first' show to another, this week I performed the first stage version of the album Adventures Into The Monochronium, with Timo Peach form Momo:tempo.

It seems like a 'Golden Age' away since the creation of One Momo In Time and the beginning of our collaboration, Inspire 52 - Week 13. One Momo In Time , but Timo and Momo:tempo have become a core part of The Monochronium adventure. So I we did it ... our first 'Mono' show at a festival,
COLOURFEST

It was great doing the black and white work at Colourfest - I almost felt like starting a children's revelation 'Down with colour!' maybe next time! I was indeed a quirky and surreal injection into the festival and it was great to see so many smiley faces.

I find working with Timo, such an inspiration, we have a lot of synergy in our crazy imaginative and energetic approach to our work. Rehearsals have been a complete laugh, and we often find ourselves on the edge of insanity in fits of laughter - they best way to work right?!  Click on the images to enlarge

Adventures Into The Monochronium
A performance of poetry, spoken word and song
with Hazel Evans and Timo Peach



We invite you to step over the travelling line into The Kingdom of The Monochronium to experience a beautiful black and white world made up of inky lines, dots and marks. Get a ticket to your own imagination and hear poetic tales of the Paper Forest, Ink Mountains and take a trip down the river … where will it lead you?
Quirky poetry for all the family, tunes of busy bees for the children and morals to the stories for adults.
 


 




Kids and adults alike loved the show and we had an audience of about 70 people, of all ages. Parents bought the album for their children, but I think it was also secretly for them!



 

The wardrobe was a bit tricky in this festival environment ... I think I will only take her to galleries from now on!



Photographs, by Sean Gardiner, Jo Coole, Duncan Stewart

Sunday 26 August 2012

Inspire 52 - Week 34. Shoes Glorious Shoes!


Furthering my role as Festival Co-ordinator for Sting In The Tale, a festival of stories, I have been very inspired by working with storytellers and, as you can probably tell, it has already infused into my current art practice.

The art of oral storytelling, an ancient tradition of verbally passing on information and stories from generation to generation.

I met Michele O'Brien, an award winning storyteller in 2011 and we thought 'Hey let's collaborate', and this is indeed what we have done. Since the beginning of 2012 we have been working on the creation of a new fairy tale. Our pilot performance was this week as part of Sting In The Tale and we decided to have it as a site specific piece with Upton Country House as the backdrop. From here, our new storytelling theatre company has been born, Valise Noire.

 
Michele O’Brien and Hazel Evans present Valise Noire, an emerging contemporary storytelling theatre company. Introducing a new fairytale combining storytelling, visual art and the French language, performances for adults and children, exploring the fantastical and delicious darker side. Everyone loves shoes…. But what paths do they lead us down? Click on the images to enlarge



La Fille et les Chaussures (The Girl and The Shoes),

This new enchanting children’s' fairytale, transports the audience from the rural countryside of France to vibrant Paris in a world of glamour and beautiful shoes and story of love, courage and understanding. This piece draws on the timeless classics of The Red Shoes, The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella.

A contemporary piece of storytelling for children combined with the visual arts make this a unique show that will capture imaginations by exploring what happens when you put on magical shoes.
 

 

 


 




 
In May we won an award to work with The Priest's House Museum, and work with the public making shoe stories, this informed the development of the visual aspect of the show. The museum would like us to come back and work with them again and also to perform the show for them.
 
 
 

The fairytale is now being developed into a two part show which will be launched at Lighthouse Poole on November 17th in the Studio Theatre. There will be one show for children and one for adults - you will see that we are greatly inspired by Grimm Fairy Tales... come and see for yourself!
 
The children's show draws on the timeless classics: The Red Shoes, Cinderella and The Wizard of Oz. It will engage the audience by using and hearing the French language and immersing them in French culture as well as interactive participation.
The adult show will draw from the current trend in erotic fiction of delving into the delicious dark side of the fairytale and exploring tensions between lust and entrapment. Through this technique one can find the tools to be strong enough to be oneself leaving the audience to debate when is pleasure, pain and pain, pleasure.
 
To - BOOK NOW - click on the links
 
 
 
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To see the photographers album, Sam Cooke, click here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/east_dorset_dc/sets/72157631319692024/

Sting in the Tale facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/stinginthetale
website
http://stinginthetale.org.uk/

Michele O'Brien website
http://www.micheleobrien.co.uk/

Black and white styled pictures of Hazel and Michele by Danika Westwood
http://danikaimages.com/
Performance pictures by Sam Cooke

Sunday 19 August 2012

Inspire 52 - Week 33. Edinburgh Festival, Fairy Tales and Windows

Lots has been changing last week marked the end of something and this week marks the beginning of something new, and it started with a trip to The Edinburgh Festival. I was invited by House of Fairy Tales, and thought 'Hey, why not', so I popped on a plane and went.

A lot is going on at the moment I can hardly keep up with myself, so do excuse me for lack of attention I have been paying to the blogs recently ... yep last week you only got pictures! Lots of exciting stuff is going on and I am doing so much creatively it is hard to know which thing to choose each week for the Inspire 52 project. I think I can safely say that doing this project has initiated a whole wave of intense creativity into my life which is amazing. I feel so lucky to be living my dream quite frankly, and indeed the journey is far from over!

So without further a do this blog will be in 2 parts.
Part 1. A few pictures to describe what happened in a snap shot with my visit to the Edinburgh Festival and with House of Fairy Tales
Part 2. My inspiration.

Part 1. Inking it up at the Hoft Examiner - Edinburgh Festival 2012




 








 



Thanks to everyone at House of Fairy Tales for welcoming me ... I had a great time and it was great to work with you guys and the kids.

Article to be published soon in the 2nd edition of The HoFT Examiner playper - Prof. Ink's trip to Edinburgh.


Part 2. So what inspired me in Edinburgh?
The city was amazing and indeed an inspiring place. What jumped out visually at me was the windows. I have only done one illustration so far, but I have a feeling these will be appearing again somewhere along the line.


Windows

Looking through the glass as the winds divide,
A spectacle below, a burning fire inside.
As dancers adorn the streets of cobble stone steps
The waiters are inside, waiting on bets.
But who will win the ticketed affair?
Who will pass by without a care?
Who will stop and glance up to view,
The window up there with the reflection of you?

by Hazel Evans August 2012




 




I think I will be going back to Scotland, this was a first time for me and will not be the last ... I quite fancy getting the Highland fling on and getting on up into the mountains for a good old hike.