Mini Mag Alchemy of Change issue

alt.Cardiff

WINTER ISSUE 2020//THE ALCHEMY OF CHANGE

FEAT: TIN SHED THEATRE. LONE WORLDS. MILK. COMMON WEALTH.

On.The.Pulse.

Arts and culture news

An immersive event series in Newport Tin Shed Theatre Company in Newport is producing a trilogy of events called Happenus, which launched in midNovember and will continue into the new year.

The series includes Twinning (a search for twin addresses), a built installation in the city and a secret project running from Friars Walk Shopping Centre.

The company says the series exists to challenge how we experience and connect with our city centres.

Twinning started in mid-November and encourages the public to go

online, find out if someone shares the exact same address as you and then write to them (sharing the results on Twitter and Instagram).

Twinning came to life when Georgina put her address in google maps and it popped up with a location in Staffordshire. She thought sharing an address with a stranger was curious and became intrigued to push with the concept further.

“It’s almost like an experiment really,” she said.

This event series sees the company go full circle and

return to their early origins, taking space in public buildings to bring culture right to the heart of Newport.

Part two will be released in early December and involves a structure they are building in Newport centre.

The only clues surrounding part three are that it will involve their space in the Friars Walk Shopping Centre and an urban myth of the city.

Artists escape black hole left by Covid-19 restrictions A collective of artists will present Lone Worlds next month, a mixed media exhibition ensuring their work gets face time with the public despite cancelled university shows.

Lone Worlds kicks off at The Sustainable Studio with a ticketed live art day on November 20, followed by walk-ins between 23 and 27. Arts universities have been in a difficult position, as graduate shows are the key moment for students to present their work to the public and wider arts community. Many universities moved their shows online due to COVID, but others were cancelled completely with students asked to submit detailed proposals instead.

“We have all been subjected to isolation from our communities, the common ground for sharing what we create,” said the project co-ordinator Benjamin Ivy. “We want to rediscover that common ground.”

Lone Worlds is an example of how to operate in the current landscape, using booked time slots and limited capacity in small galleries to create restricted but functional space. The show will host 12 artists, with a blend of physical performance and visual art. The physical performers will be showing video content to meet safety guidelines.

Relishing the strange connections.

Credit: Tin Shed Theatre

An introspective stare from a Lone Worlds artist. Credit: Roisin Phelan

According to one artist, this show acted as key practice for them as young creatives, who may have to get used to organising everything themselves in future.

The project co-ordinator agreed there are positives to be taken from this pivot in approach. He said “As artists we have been afforded time for introspection.”

Stories from Grant Jones on Womanby Street, Milk & The Indie Superstore lockdown

Donning a roller neck, flares and backwards leather cap, this man has something to say to the world and couldn’t care less how you take it. Today he seems calm and considered as he briefly explains his involvement in the music scene, his personality paradox and launching a business in a pandemic.

Howling at The Moon Grant says he cut his teeth through his time on Womanby Street, where he was a raucous good-times instigator.

These moments lure a smirk to the surface, as he regales playing gigs in the band Howl, the origins of the current band Milk and running The Moon bar.

“It was the freak show,” he proudly declares. “The most welcoming, free, freakshow in the fucking world.”

This precious time in Womanby Street eventually led to the formation of Milk.

The three-piece band are a celebration of psychedelic rock and roll. Their manifesto is to promote joy, disgust, and a pungent sense of chaos, says the front man.

“Milk is all about hard sweaty good times,” he says with a mischievous smirk.

There are two sides to this man, something he is acutely aware of and calls the “Personality paradox.”

could do to keep people going during a difficult time,” says Grant.

It is important to pursue The biggest problem, he says, was a lack the extremes within, he explains, as they of government confirmation on what enable you to pinpoint your core values was and wasn’t deemed essential. and use them as a grounding point.

“One moment you might be 100% in for grass roots venues, another for the degradation of society,” he says. “But without this exploration you are just wandering around a field without coordinates.”

Market life and Covid-19 This pursuit of extremes has slowed down and made way for a man looking to leave a different kind of mark on the city.

Degradation, it seems, is not on the cards right now and Grant teamed up with Steve Bines to launch The Indie Superstore at the start of the Covid-19 saga.

Gathering local food trucks, craft makers, vintage garments and craft beer, the open air market based at Corporation Yard in Canton has been a roaring success.

“Lockdown was a bit of a blessing for us. We knew this was something we

A taste of the eccentricity.

Credit: John Day

Always time for alittle reflection.

Credit: Mark Orchard Photography

G

rant Jones, the 29-year old front man from Milk, has taken his skills as a music promoter and channeled them into becoming a market man extraordinaire.

“A candle is essential if your electricity goes, gin is essential if you’ve had a rough day and it’s winter, so socks are definitely essential right?” Grant cheekily suggests with a raised brow.

In the end things have lined up nicely and the market has not only thrived in Canton, but also opened in Lakeside at the end of November.

Having now ridden the “Wave of emotions” and the worrying periods of uncertainty, The Indie Superstore has established itself as a locals favourite in Canton.

“If I was going to put a level on it and say whether things have been good or bad, I would say all positive – more lockdown please,” he says half joking.

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This Is More Than A

Headcount How Welsh theatre found a formula to tackle representation issues Words by Jack Courtney Fittes

A lack of representation will not be solved solely by recruitment, but by stepping back and asking the right questions. Though it might sound radical, the recent calls to de-fund the police are backed by such questions.

How can this community be better served? Where does money need to go to prevent crime in the first place? It is easier for a police force to hire more black people than it is to completely review and change the way they engage with the black community. This problem replicates itself on every platform, from the police to the arts. We must ask the questions or find the people that have them. This is more than a headcount. Change is not a quick fix.

Any suggestion that there is a one size fits all approach to something as nuanced as representation would be ignorant. That being said, something is about to happen in Welsh theatre that could act as tactical inspiration for change in the arts and beyond.

Common Wealth has teamed up with National Theatre Wales (NTW) to offer an associate director training position to someone from a working-class background. The scheme is funded by Jerwood Arts, who pay to train under-represented people in senior positions of control. Whilst this top-down approach to change in the arts is decisive, this new allegiance of hosts is where the story holds power.

Changing the record

Class - the elephant in the room. Credit: Jon Poutney

“It’s the same people, having the same conversations,� says Rhiannon White, co-director of Common Wealth.

She is referring to the two most recent reports looking at theatre directors, their career challenges and inclusivity issues. What did their parents do? Did they get a degree? What about a masters? Did they act as a child?

These questions are so busy trying to locate the closing curtains of lost opportunity that they miss the point entirely. The working class is not a problem to be solved. Theatre is about stories, shared experience and overcoming problems both mighty and small. If there is a lack of representation, Rhiannon says, the more pressing issue is why does theatre not care about these communities? The lad from the estate is not missing out on your wonderful cultural pursuit, you are just completely disregarding the idea that his story holds worth.

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“It’s the same people, having the same conversations”

C

W

the arts in these two organisations is powerful,” confirms Rhiannon.

T

he director of the Jerwood Fellowship, Kate Danielson, believes that “Community theatre will come out of the shadows.” She says that although Jerwood has trainees at giants like the Royal Shakespeare Company, challenging systems may be best learnt in smaller contemporary environments.

This is a healthy dose of both worlds.

Change is not a quick fix. This is more than a head count. But it can’t be ignored that this meeting of minds is set to craft a radical, confident, tunedin individual to make great theatre.

This is a potent cocktail that should be watched, could be replicated and may have implications for a stage much larger than intended.

Leading the way. Credit: Demitris Legakis

They will warm themselves by the anti-system fire that crackles at the heart of Common Wealth. They will know that, like Rhiannon, they don’t need the nod of But it was the shock of a return home to approval from anywhere or the council estates of St Mellons (East anyone. They just need to tell Cardiff), that cemented a commitment the stories and tell them well. to telling working class stories.

After six months of training “It blew my mind, like, how close Saint under this fierce, inspiring was to a capital city and how impossible company - they will train things felt,” said Rhiannon. “How things with the powerhouse that is weren’t working out for people like me.” NTW. They will learn how to produce theatre at the most The company has since stamped prestigious company in the their mark as country. How a powerful the mechanics work, force in British where the funding Theatre. They goes - as much as they are split between can soak up is there Cardiff East for the taking. and Bradford, nurturing safe For Dylan Huw, environments to creative development unearth stories assistant at NTW, the and producing two companies have the raw progressive performance to do “Deep roots.” Both have a commitment them justice. to supporting the stories and heritage of Welsh communities and the right team hen someone is chosen for this to bring them to life. It is also important programme, they will learn the to step back from this community ropes through a balance of considered lens, Dylan says, and to appreciate the understanding and political grit. fact that Common Wealth are putting out some of the most exciting work They will learn that the duty of care, in Wales full stop. It’s safe to say this as Rhiannon says, is vital to good opportunity is quite the catch. work. It’s not just about putting people in positions of influence, it’s about “[Training] someone to make big approaching people and subjects with decisions and big choices and to believe the necessary balance of care. they can be somebody who works in

Rhiannon the smiling assassin. Credit: Jon Poutney

ommon Wealth launched in Bristol in 2008, taking over abandoned spaces, putting on performance, circus and, “Making a playground for people to explore,” says Rhiannon.