An amazing weekend / Now we need your help

Wow, what an amazing weekend that was (obviously ignoring the football result!). I hope you had as much fun as I did. The weather was glorious and I took my very first trip to Anglesey to meet up with Hugh Hughes and see his homeland.

Before I talk more about the weekend, I should first explain that now Marieke has left us, I (as in Simon, Hoipolloi's Producer) will be the main voice on here for the next few weeks whilst I await the arrival of Marieke's replacements.

Anyway, back to my travels...

It's strange that since I first joined Hoipolloi in 2005, I've spent most of that time talking about Anglesey and yet I had never actually once visited the place. But this weekend that all changed and I had a special guided tour of all the places that had previously only existed in my imagination.

I crossed the now fully reconstructed Menai Bridge (after it's collapse in Floating), I went to Llangefni and saw the house that Hugh grew up in and the church where Hugh's father died (as described in Story of a Rabbit). Perhaps most excitingly, particularly for 360 fans, I also saw the river where Hugh and Gareth built their dams (as pictured here).

It was a delight to see these places and have them leap into reality, suddenly become vividly alive in my mind. It's deepened my connection to the shows and brought the world of Hugh even closer.

And now we need your help to discover our audience's experiences of the work of Hugh Hughes.

This weekend has been just one of many exciting experiences of Hugh Hughes over the past five years. And now we'd like to understand more about your experiences of Hugh.

We're currently conducting some research into our audiences and are looking for some volunteers who might be willing to offer us up to about 30mins of time to chat about what they think of Hugh Hughes and their experiences of seeing his work.

You'll need to be:

• It's last minute but you'll need to be available for a 30min conversation (probably by phone) at some point between today and this Thursday (1 July).
  
• Have seen at least one (but preferably more) of Hugh Hughes' shows - Floating, Story of a Rabbit, 360 (or indeed in development projects such as Invisible Town or In Rehearsal).

If you're interested in helping us out, please email your contact details, including a phone number, to me via this address simonb@hoipolloi.org.uk.

As I'm looking for a real cross-section of people, it would be great if you could include your age (or I'll also accept a rough age bracket if you'd prefer!).

Not quite sure how the response to this request will go but I promise I'll respond to everyone who emails in to let them know whether we'll need to talk to them or not.

I look forward to hopefully talking to some of you very soon!

Posted by Simon Bedford (Producer, Hoipolloi)

Two Maps Are Better Than One

I have been spending some time today working with maps.

I have been focussing on my hometown of Llangefni.I thought I'd share these two versions with you. It's obvious which one is hand-drawn. That’s the one I made.

In Rehearsal is an event in which I include an audience in the process of making my next show. My next show is called Invisible Town and it's about my childhood. The way I see it at the moment is that I will act as a guide showing people around the map of my childhood

Hugh Hughes

Hugh Hughes talks about In Rehearsal

There are some things you do in rehearsal that an audience never gets to see.
Sometimes there's good reason why they don't, but sometimes it's a real shame that they are not there. Sometimes the most exciting things happen in rehearsal that for some reason you can’t replicate in performance. Some people who make theatre will tell you that the rehearsals are their favourite part of the process. Some will argue that the rehearsal room is the most creative part of the theatre-making process – the part when you are really working hard to discover things, wrestling with ideas and charged with spontaneity.

I thought it’d be really interesting to try to share the rehearsal room with an audience in case an audience might also enjoy the rehearsal room experience more than the performance experience. Sioned says she loves going to restaurants where you can see the chefs preparing the food in the kitchen. She says that sometimes watching them make the food is more pleasurable than eating it.

The truth is that this is all a bit of an experiment. But one that’s got to be worth trying. I used to love watching the blacksmith at work. I’m not a blacksmith, but I will be at work.

Really looking forward to seeing you.

Hugh Hughes tells us about In Rehearsal

I bumped into a friend the other day who had seen In Rehearsal advertised in The Junction's brochure.

She said, "Hello Hugh, I see that you have an exciting new project going. I saw The Junction's brochure. It sounds a bit scary!" I asked why she thought it sounded scary and she said, "I’m scared that if I come I’ll be asked to participate and do some acting or I’ll be expected to come up with ideas." So, I thought I’d try to clarify what might happen if you come along:

I might ask you if you’d like to participate or not.
I might, if you’ve agreed that you’d like to, ask you to participate. I might not.
I might tell you some stories. I might ask if you’d like to discuss them.
I might show you some maps and tell you about the places on them.
I might try out some ideas for presenting a story.
I might try out ideas for how to begin a possible show.
I might do one long improvisation.
I might ask you to make suggestions to me what to do next.
I might show you some slides.
I might show you some films.
I might read you some poetry that I’ve written.

What I will do is share with you a process.

And, to be very honest with you, having thought about it some more, we should have called it In Development, not In Rehearsal.

Lastly, and most importantly, I would be thrilled to see you there. I’m really excited by the idea of developing my next show with you. I’m opening the doors when normally they would be shut.

Anything might happen. Come along.

My friend ended up saying she would, I hope you do too.

Posted by Hugh Hughes

Important numbers, coordinated accessories and free range eggs

In case you have been hiding in a remote hut in outer Mongolia for the past while, you may have noticed that there is this little general election thing coming up really rather soon (here in the UK).

In fact in exactly two weeks I will be donning my voting attire (this is actually the first general election I can vote in so I haven't got the outfit sussed yet, but I will be carefully planning something appropriate in which to visit the ballot box) and trotting over to the polling station.

Personally I think the whole thing is really rather exciting. Especially since the last thing I had a chance to vote for was whether my college should start using free range eggs in the canteen. As I'm sure you can imagine it was hardly a torturous choice. This time round the stakes are pretty high (not that I'm denying the importance of free range eggs however).

Obviously politics has a huge impact on all areas of our lives, but something I'll be looking out for is what all those men and women in suits and especially colour coordinated ties/other accessories are planning to do about the arts.

Now that it is a bit late for me to train as a doctor or become an astronaut or do something possibly requiring a science-y A level or two, I am now sort of stuck with career choices pretty much only involving options to do something vaguely artsy.

Despite being not terribly competent when it comes to numbers I stumbled across some figures which even my brain can munch on and ponder.

So, if between now and May 6th you spend a bit of time pondering over which party you might back, do spare a thought for what the parties policies on the arts are, bearing in mind the following*...

- Two thirds of the adult population enjoy the arts and go to theatres, cinemas, galleries, museums, historic sites. In fact more people visit theatre every year than football stadia.

- Two million people are employed in the cultural and creative industries.

- These industres grew by an average of 5% a year between 1997 and 2007, compared to 3% for the economy as a whole.

- The sector contributes £60billion (7.3%) a year to the British economy.

- The annual exports in British cultural goods amount to £11.6billion.

- Total cultural spending represents 1% of the NHS budget.

As you may or may not know, Hoipolloi receives regular funding from Arts Council England which enables us to produce the work that we do and tour it to audiences across the UK. Over the last few years we've also been lucky enough to take this work around the world, helping to highlight the wealth of creative talent this country has.

Just something to remember as you tick the box on 6 May!

Posted by Marieke Audsley (Marketing & Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi)

* We gathered this date from Cultural Capital: A Manifesto for the Future

Thanks to krystleblair for the photo

Things to see...

For those of you not stranded somewhere far away, (and I hope most of you have not got stuck because of the ash), we have some exciting things for you to see at The Junction in Cambridge.

First up is Kursk. Kursk was created by our friends Sound&Fury. The Telegraph said "…the most brilliantly immersive piece of theatre I’ve seen all year… An unforgettable homage to the men of the Kursk, and all their kind." *****

If that hasn't sold it to you yet then...

August 2000. A British hunter-killer submarine is on patrol in the Arctic.
The crew drill, sleep, eat, long for word from home, and silently shadow their target.
Their lives are at once extraordinary and mundane – until a tragic event occurs that makes them question everything they are doing. As the tension mounts, the pressure they live under starts to take its toll.

Inspired by the Russian submarine disaster of August 2000, acclaimed theatre company Sound&Fury (The Watery Part of the World and Ether Frolics) join Bryony Lavery (Stockholm) to invoke the life of submariners, fathoms below the icy seas on the fraying front line of the Cold War.

Plus, if you call the box office on 01223 511 511 and quote 'Fuel' you can get tickets for a bargain-tastic £6 for tomorrow night's performance.

Also, don't forget that Hugh will be at The Junction on the 21st and 22nd May with In Rehearsal. You can get your tickets by ringing 01223 511 511 or to book online, click here.

Hugh Hughes In Rehearsal

Yes, at last, a joyful moment akin to the delights of the first signs of spring/a mouthful of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream/waking up and realising it is Saturday: here it is, the announcement that... Hugh is coming to a venue near you soon.

That is, it will be near if you live somewhere with a postcode beginning with a C and a B. Hugh is going to be at The Junction, Cambridge in May. So whatever you have planned on May 21st and/or 22nd, then rearrange and book tickets to see Hugh Hughes in Rehearsal.

Hugh Hughes in Rehearsal
The Junction, Cambridge
Friday 21 May: 6.30pm, 7.45pm and 9pm
Saturday 22 May: 3.30pm, 4.45pm and 6pm

Many of you will have seen Hugh's previous productions so you'll sort of know what to expect when you go to see a Hugh Hughes show. But here is where we throw a figurative spanner into the works.

There is no show.

This is Hugh Hughes in rehearsal, and it will do exactly what it says on the proverbial tin. Hugh hasn't made a new show for you. Instead, he would like to invite you into his rehearsal room to help uncover stories, people and places from his past.

Who knows where the adventure will end up...?

Come and be part of a major theatrical happening. Rarely, if ever, do audiences get to see inside the mysterious 'rehearsal room', but now's your chance.

Tickets cost just £5 for each individual session lasting an hour, or if you're really dedicated, you can pay £12 to stay for all three sessions on either day.

Tickets can be booked through The Junction's box office on 01223 511 511 or online via their website.

See you there!