March's Creative Conversation yesterday was our most well attended yet. I'd like to attribute this to the strong coffee and mouth-watering pastries but suspect that our guest 'conversationalist' might have had something to do with it. Neil Murray, Executive Producer at National Theatre Scotland came down from Glasgow to talk about the history, the future, the good times (and the bad) at NTS.
The Conversation began with a general discussion on what 'theatre without walls' could and should be, ranging from the love-it-or-hate-it outdoor spectacular of La Machine's Spider to the intimacy of Janet Cardiff's audio walks. A range of performance preferences were shared but people came back together to agree that 'theatre without walls' means more than outdoor spectacle. Conversation became even more animated as we started talking about breaking through barriers, challenging preconceptions of what theatre can be and the effect it can have.
A good cue for Neil to come in with a fascinating insight into how NTS was set up, enthusaistically talking us through the many highlights of the company's existence, having created a staggering 59 productions in the first two years! Neil was refreshingly candid and I know that everyone present really welcomed hearing about what didn't work so well, and the lessons NTS had learned as a result. I know I'm not alone in prefering to learn from other people's mistakes more than my own!
As ever, the conversation could have gone on well into the afternoon, but we had to stop before 'brunch' turned into 'afternoon tea'. Til next time then... when we have Sabrina Smith Nobel, Arts Officer from Visiting Arts who will come and give us a perspective on working internationally (Tuesday 7th April greenroom, Manchester).
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Our First Creative Conversation
Last year we at PANDA piloted a series of 'brunches' aimed at more established performing arts practitioners in the North West and giving them the opportunity to get together, share views and experiences on various topics and be inspired by our range of illuminating guests. This worked so well that we have now launched Creative Conversations which have an open application process.
Our first Creative Conversation was on 3rd February, featuring guest Marcus Romer, Artistic Director of Pilot Theatre who came to join the conversation about blogs, podcasts and wikis (seductively titled 'weapons of mass collaboration'). This was most appropriate for me, as anyone who knows me will know I am a very reluctant social networker, preferring to do my communication face-to-face. However, I have been toying with the idea of joining the blogging brigade because (again, as anyone who knows me will verify) I do quite enjoy giving vent to any performing arts related topics that spur me to get my soapbox out. Blogs seem to me like a 21st Century soapbox, and as my bolser wood crate has certainly seen better days in the last century, here I am. And what makes it even better is that you can join in too. I can't wait to start getting comments from you lovely readers - Creative Conversations go 'virtual'.
So you can see why self-confessed enthusiastic amateur Marcus Romer was the perfect guest for February's Creative Conversation. With that much knowledge and enthusiasm for all things social media, how could I help but be inspired. We skyped, we blogged, we twittered, we wiki'd, we created websites at the touch of a buttton, we even toured Pilot Theatre's Second Life venue; all from the comfort of the greenroom bar! Perhaps the great coffee also played it's part in creating a vibrant couple of hours of conversation, sharings of ideas and some fantastic new ways of thinking (especially from Ben Mellor who provided a case study with his show Voices of Dissent which he created and powered by bicycle!). Whatever the reason, everyone was so fired up that people didn't have time to finish off the immensely tasty croissants and Danish pastries that we'd laid on. Never mind, Rachel and I can always give any left-overs a good home back at PANDA HQ!
Our first Creative Conversation was on 3rd February, featuring guest Marcus Romer, Artistic Director of Pilot Theatre who came to join the conversation about blogs, podcasts and wikis (seductively titled 'weapons of mass collaboration'). This was most appropriate for me, as anyone who knows me will know I am a very reluctant social networker, preferring to do my communication face-to-face. However, I have been toying with the idea of joining the blogging brigade because (again, as anyone who knows me will verify) I do quite enjoy giving vent to any performing arts related topics that spur me to get my soapbox out. Blogs seem to me like a 21st Century soapbox, and as my bolser wood crate has certainly seen better days in the last century, here I am. And what makes it even better is that you can join in too. I can't wait to start getting comments from you lovely readers - Creative Conversations go 'virtual'.
So you can see why self-confessed enthusiastic amateur Marcus Romer was the perfect guest for February's Creative Conversation. With that much knowledge and enthusiasm for all things social media, how could I help but be inspired. We skyped, we blogged, we twittered, we wiki'd, we created websites at the touch of a buttton, we even toured Pilot Theatre's Second Life venue; all from the comfort of the greenroom bar! Perhaps the great coffee also played it's part in creating a vibrant couple of hours of conversation, sharings of ideas and some fantastic new ways of thinking (especially from Ben Mellor who provided a case study with his show Voices of Dissent which he created and powered by bicycle!). Whatever the reason, everyone was so fired up that people didn't have time to finish off the immensely tasty croissants and Danish pastries that we'd laid on. Never mind, Rachel and I can always give any left-overs a good home back at PANDA HQ!
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Welcome to PANDA's New Blog!
Hello friends and welcome to our exciting new blog.
I'm Liz O'Neill, Director of PANDA, the Performing Arts Network and Development Agency for the North West.
I'll be using this new blog to post updates and reviews of PANDA's work, seek feedback from our members and to spark discussions about the performing arts in general.
Let me know if there are any topics or burning issues that you think need raising and we'll blog it out!
And don't forget to keep an eye on the main PANDA website at www.panda-arts.org.uk, for all the latest performing arts news, events and opportunities from the region.
Liz
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