Thursday June 11th 2009 - Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, Cumbria

Lit Up 1 : Producing

The first in the series of three Lit Up Showcase & Conference events was attended by more than 100 representatives from the live literature sector - venue programmers, artists, producers and funders. Click the play button below to watch a short film of the day:

Full programme

Registration and coffee

Keynote: Helen Marriage of Artichoke

Showcase 1
Mind the Gap

Climb aboard the 19.10 to Your Ideal Life, calling at Boden Children, Cath Kidston’s Kitchen, Jimmy Choo Sex Life and terminating at Nigella’s Christmas. But be careful to Mind The Gap between expectation and reality. Beth Broomby, Kirstie Pelling and Zosia Wand bring you love from Hallmark in knickers from Primark through a darkly comic mix of stories, poetry, drama and the occasional song. Sex And The City - without the sex or the city. Kirstie, Zosia and Beth are Lit Up Associate Artists working in partnership with The Brewery.

Showcase 2
Woods Beyond a Cornfield
Poems by Stanley Cook, Performed by John Flitcroft

Woods Beyond a Cornfield presents a sequence of poems by the northern poet Stanley Cook. In his day, Stanley Cook wrote beautiful, sharp, beguiling poems. He shunned literary fashion and always lived in Yorkshire. He wrote about a world enriched by nature, but he was also obsessed with the impact of modern life, with the bloodshed of history and with his own place in the world.

This performance releases Stanley Cook’s poetry to new audiences. The poetry is powerful and needs little to make it work other than a good, strong voice and a belief in the power of language. So, there are no introductions or anecdotes, no audience participation or costume changes; just one space, one performer, one writer’s work and twelve minutes of speaking and listening.

Seminars
(attend one seminar of your choice from the following two – choose on the day)

Seminar 1
The Creative Process: Holding the Vision.

Chaired by David Micklem, Joint Artistic Director at BAC,
with Beverley Crew, an independent creative producer and Polar Bear, a spoken word artist.

OR

Seminar 2
What the Venue wants from the Producer and What the Producer wants from the Venue.

Chaired by Annabel Turpin, Co-chair of the Live Literature Consortium and Chief Executive of ARC in Stockton, with Julia Bird, poet and independent literature producer, and Jonathan Davidson, independent producer and programmer.

Lunch
with facilitated networking (gentle and optional)

Showcase 3
Lebo Mashile presents Flying Above the Sky

An award winning poet, performer, actress, presenter and producer, Lebogang Mashile is one of South Africa’s most popular contemporary artists.  In this rare visit to the UK, Lebo will be performing a selection of poems from her latest collection, Flying Above The Sky, poems which dissect contemporary masculinity, express hope for our creative vision and celebrate personal rebirth.

Showcase 4
Fuel presents Inua Ellams’ The 14th Tale

“I'm from a long line of trouble makers, of ash skinned Africans, born with clenched fists and a natural thirst for battle, only quenched by breast milk.”

The 14th Tale is a free flowing mellifluous narrative that tells the hilarious exploits of a natural born mischief growing from the clay streets of Nigeria to roof tops in Dublin, and finally to London. Inua vividly recreates the characters that punctuate his upbringing in deft and beautiful poetry, while challenging the audience’s expectations of what it is to be a young, black male in London today. The extract you will see today comes from the beginning of the show, in which Inua tells of his upbringing in Nigeria and of his descent from a ‘long line of troublemakers’.

Seminars
(attend one seminar of your choice from the following two – choose on the day)

Seminar 3
Making Live Literature: Independent producers

Independent producer and the live literature promoter responsible for the London Word Festival and Found in Translation, Tom Chivers joins BAC’s joint artistic director David Micklem and poet and independent creative producer Julia Bird to discuss making live literature shows and tours as an independent producer.

OR

Seminar 4
Making Live Literature: Venue based producing.

This seminar will be led by Amanda Roberts Executive Producer at Contact, Manchester and Sarah Ellis, Programme Manager at Apples and Snakes National. With them you can explore how venue based producing works, hear from some of the people who do it and look at pitfalls, partnerships with artists, other venues and producers.

Showcase 5
Kate Fox presents The Rules of Engagement

A comedic and poetic exploration of one woman's journey from singledom to nearly- wed, from postmodern apathist to political satirist and from slightly Aspergic person whose most prized possession was a signed Dr Who photo, to someone who is now higher on the paint colour spectrum than the autistic spectrum. The Radio Four Saturday Live Poet in Residence, who also been commissioned to produce pieces for BBC2's Daily Politics and the Chelsea Flower Show coverage, unveils a 15 minute excerpt of what will be a full length show. Kate Fox is a Lit Up Associate Artist working in partnership with ARC.

Showcase 6
Polar Bear presents Return.

When Noah comes back home after four years away he has to confront everything and everyone he left behind. A spoken screenplay about a man's battle with where he is from, this new performance story is written and performed by Polarbear, one of the most exciting spoken word poets in the UK. Polar Bear is a Lit Up Associate Artist, working in partnership with The Albany. Polar Bear is working with Yael Shavit on this piece. We’ll be following the progress of Return through each of our three events. Here at Lit Up I, we’ll get to see it as work in progress.

Break

The Big Show
Say Hi to the Rivers and the Mountains with the High Llamas

A new show written by best-selling novelist Jonathan Coe and indie-pop innovators The High Llamas.

Set on a brutal 1960s council estate, the story touches upon themes of community, adolescent love, growing old and above all the inexorable rise of consumerism. Led by Sean O’Hagan, The High Llamas will play live on stage, providing a continuous soundtrack as the story unfolds.

Jonathan Coe is the author of several novels including What a Carve Up! (1994) and The Rotters' Club (2001) which was successfully adapted for BBC television. The High Llamas formed in the 90s and released a number of highly acclaimed albums featuring marimbas, nylon-string guitars and distinctive vintage synthesizer effects.
Produced by Annabel Turpin at ARC in association with Kate Tull and Norden Farm.

Drinks Reception

If you’re still with us, a chance to witness a Poetry Slam with hosts Marcus Moore and Sara Jane Arbury. A choice selection of poets, including some of the showcase artists, compete to win the title of Lit Up Slam Champion.
The audience will judge.