We are excited to announce that WANDERLUST
will be touring rural venues in Feb/March 2017 supported by Arts Council England. “A heart warming, quirky production” (Public Reviews)
Wanderlust is a story about stories, of ordinary and extraordinary tales and the journey, made by three women, to collect them. Setting off into rural Britain in the pursuit of the most exciting tale, they each found more than they were expecting. Wanderlust uses original live music and playful storytelling to tell an uplifting story about living in the moment.
★★★★ “Wanderlust is a lovely piece of theatre that has memory, love and above all life as its subject matter” (Downstage Centre)
We are very excited to announce we have received Grants for the Arts funding from Arts Council England to take our production Wanderlust on a second tour, this time to rural venues across the country and into Wales. Wanderlust was commissioned by Creative Arts East and supported by Curve Theatre and was developed using stories collected in rural areas.
Date , Venue , Box Office
11th February 7.30pm , Torpenhow Village Hall, Cumbria , 01697371514
12th February 7.30pm , Ullock Village Hall, Cumbria, 01946862300
15th February 7.30pm, Nazareth Community Centre, Wales, abervalleyarts@aol.com
17th February 7.30pm, Victoria Hall, Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, 01591610487
18th February 7.30pm, Neuadd Dyfi, Penrhos, Aberdyfi, Wales, 07977943249
19th February 7.00pm, Gwaenysgor Village Hall, Wales, 01745852918
25th February 7.30pm, Freckenham Village Hall, Suffolk, 07542198933
26th February 7.30pm, Sedgeford Village Hall, Norfolk, 01485570097
2nd March 7.30pm, Uffington Village Hall, Lincs, 01780239463
3rd March 7.30pm, West Deeping Village Hall, Lincs, 01778380197
4th March 7.30pm, Ingham & Cammeringham Village Hall, Lincs, 01522731816
5th March 7.30pm, Belton Village Hall, Loughborough, 01530222897
Reviews
★★★★ 1/2 “A heart warming, quirky production that is truly refreshing” (Public Reviews)
“This show will bring a smile to your lips, a tear to your eye and leave you pondering what life stories you may have to tell” (Arts Beat)
★★★★“This is all told with imagination, inventiveness, energy, emotion and sensitivity; making for an excellent evening at the theatre” (The Good review)
Audience comments
“You have really brought those stories to life and created a fantastic multi-layered show. It has really inspired me! I also loved the idea of collecting stories on the way and thought that you have embedded yourselves very well into this”
“Many thanks – Excellent show – very sensitive use of reminiscence and touching / amusing”
“Fresh, lively, original – generous and enchanting”
“A most enjoyable experience performed in an excellent medium, the music, the stories, the performance – great!”
“Beautiful, moving & engaging. Just 3 of the many words I could use to describe Wanderlust by The Gramophones tonight” (Chris Kirkwood, Chief Exec, Lincoln Drill Hall)
“Touching and funny it even enticed a few tears out of my sentimental old self” (Giles Croft, Artistic Director Nottingham Playhouse)
Join the Gramophones Theatre Company on a theatrical detour. Travel through history and meet inspiring characters who have passed through the town: some who you might know and others who will surprise you. Take a moment with people you might never have crossed paths with, and join us on a journey that asks ‘what do we leave behind?’
“This show will bring a smile to your lips, a tear to your eye and leave you pondering what life stories you may have to tell” (Arts Beat on previous show Wanderlust)
The show is free but please book to avoid disappointment. Just message us at gramophonestheatre@googlemail.com to reserve a place.
This show is a walking tour that will last approximately 1 hour 15 and in Bolsover does include stairs. Any questions about access or mobility please contact First Art. Maximum 10 audience per show.
Are you wondering what’s happening with all the stories that we’ve been collecting recently? Well, come and witness three unusual caretakers bring Mansfield museum to life with the stories and memories collected in the area.
August 3rd and 4th at 7pm and the 6th at 2pm. Contact the Mansfield museum for tickets on 01623 463088.
We hope to see you there. It’s free. And there will be cake!
I spent two days out in Mansfield grabbing people. Not literally, just sort of springing on them asking them to talk to me. This is, believe it or not, an art. I have no idea how sales people do it, how they actually get people to talk to them. It was hard enough when I wasn’t selling anything to persuade people to talk to me. Although I did hone a pretty good technique by the end. I started by saying ‘Excuse me, have you got a few minutes?’ which absolutely did not work (mostly) as people immediately think ‘charity mugger’ or ‘Sky deal saleswomen’ so I found the key was to get the words ‘Hello, I’m collecting memories about Mansfield’ in as quickly, clearly and as positive a way as I could. Smiling, trying not to look like a salesperson, indicating my tea and chat ten with ‘Free cups of tea’ and actually…it worked pretty well!
The first day I was at the bus station, which came with its own issues which I probably should have anticipated such as ‘I’m just about to get my bus’ or ‘I’ve just got off the bus and now I want to go home’. However this meant I had time to chat to Ivan Roland who works at the bus station and told me many gems including his memory of watching elephants from the circus walking through the streets of Mansfield (not the tigers though). It’s funny how people are more likely to open up to you when you’re just having a relaxed conversation rather than asking specific things. Because people were in a rush it meant I got nice snapshots of peoples lives. I met a wonderful 91½ year old who told me the secret of old age
“I’m 91 and a half. I have 10 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and 3 great, great grandchildren I have tons of friends, I go to bingo every Tuesday at the Apollo. The secret to a long life. Don’t worry just keep working and enjoy going to work. When I was 80 I went roller-skating. I got around…at Great Yarmouth. I’ve got all my own teeth”
The four seasons was a challenge. I wrote this in a hiatus…
People walk, fast, head down, not looking.
Their shop, the one they want, new dress, new shoes, scrubbing brush, toothpaste for holidays.
What we miss when we’re on a mission.
What we don’t see when we see only our destination.
Missing the views.
Missing that moment with that person that will never be.
People look, then look away when I smile…just incase a smile commits a monetary exchange.
I’m the same. I get in my own little world and I stay there, needing something to jolt me out.
“Do you have a few…”-cut off before completion, before I get to tell you about my wonderful present, celebrating Mansfield, beautiful moments of love, existence, what makes life great in Mansfield.
They are already a hundred meters down the shopping centre and I’m still talking into oblivion.
‘You know what Mansfield needs? It needs to think about the future’ (someone chatting to me)
Then out of the head down, walking crowd come head tall, smile, interested…
‘Yes’ people.
‘Yes I’ll sit down. Yes I’d love a cup of tea. Yes I’ll tell you my life story’
If I get a smile I’m halfway there, to getting you in the chair, to getting you talking. It’s hard to get people talking but once you do it’s like the universe opening up.
But then there are the jewels that come to you.
Not what you’d expect.
A blue haired girl called Rhi, at 23 cares for her mum, volunteers at a charity shop and is a pagan.
She drinks her tea black with two sugars and wants to help.
It makes my day of sticking my neck out, smiling at strangers, getting odd looks, and confused glances.
Worth it.
I spoke to some really wonderful people in the Four Seasons as the day progressed. I found that older people were much more likely to speak to me. I wondered if this is simply a time thing. A lot of people are on their lunch breaks or only have a few hours to get what they need, whereas older, retired people have more time. Also I wonder if when you get to certain age, there’s a kind of confidence that comes with it, a confidence of experience, ‘yes I’ve had a life’, ‘yes I have something to say’. A lot of people really don’t feel as though they have a story to tell but when you get older maybe that begins to change. I had a wonderful chat with Susanne who told me very personal moments from her life. How her husband made himself known by joining her and her mum at the pub without asking, how she thought he was a ‘cheeky sod’. She told me how her best friend, who she hadn’t spoken to for years phoned her up one day and she thought it was wonderful, but that when she stopped calling she didn’t know her friend had died of lung cancer. She told me hilarious stories of what she and her granddaughter get up to and the hilarious phrases she’s copied from Susanne like ‘My Nora Batty’s are falling down’. When Susanne sat down I thought she seemed reluctant, unsure of me but by the end we were laughing together like old friends.
The Walking Tour (working title)
The Gramophones Theatre Company are a Nottingham based all-female Company who have been making and touring work nationally for six years. We often use our own personal experiences in our work. This show has been commissioned by First Art and 10 days research and development has taken place so far including story collecting in both Mansfield and Bolsover.
Rehearsal dates: Weeks beginning 29th August and 5th September, performances on the Saturdays. Paid at ITC Rates- £440 per week.
We are looking for three female performers with an East Midlands Base. The show is an interactive walking tour where female characters from the town’s history will be represented by performers who will take on these characters, but also play themselves. The audience will be moved from location to location by the performers with the help of volunteers: Bolsover on the 3rd of September and Mansfield on the 10th. Performers must be confident with audience interaction and improvisation as well as site-specific work and devising.
We are aiming to put together a diverse cast and would like to meet a range of different women for this project.
Auditions will take place on the 23rd of July.
Please write to us with a CV, headshot and covering letter as to why you’d like to be involved in this project to Hannah Stone gramophonestheatre@googlemail.com
We are very excited to announce that Tarzanna is coming with Arts Council support. Yeeeehhhhhhaaaa! It will be premiering at Derby Feste on the 24th of September. Keep your eyes peeled as there will be lots more info and news on the show’s development coming your way during the next couple of months.
