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Puppet Animation Scotland announces MANIPULATE Festival’s 15th anniversary programme for 2022

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28 January – 5 February 2022
Tickets on sale at 6pm, Thursday 4 November 2021

Today, Puppet Animation Scotland is excited to announce the programme for MANIPULATE Festival 2022 – a year that marks its 15th anniversary, and sees Scotland’s international festival of visual theatre, animated film and puppetry return with its first live series of events in two years.

Presenting a dynamic programme of live performance, film, installation, workshops and events, and additional content online, the 15th edition of the award-winning MANIPULATE Festival will run from Friday 28 January until Saturday 5 February 2022 across Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and Summerhall; bringing together leading Scottish and international artists from 15 countries including Canada, China, Brazil, England, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain and the USA.

Acclaimed for presenting outstanding visually-led work that engages and challenges audiences, the 2022 edition of the festival will centre its artists and audiences with a curated programme from around the world. The programme will see MANIPULATE favourite artists return, alongside brand-new artists who will present live performances, work in progress, film, immersive installations and industry-focused workshops and events. 

MANIPULATE will mark its anniversary year by looking at the current and future landscape, with a programme of cutting-edge and boundary-pushing work that surrounds timely themes including feminism, gender, identity, queer culture and sexuality, alongside relevant issues including the environment, faith, mental health, power and war. Together, the programme explores the relationship between the individual and society, asking of its artists and audiences, how do you build back better as we move forward as one?

Programming her first live festival since taking up the helm as Puppet Animation Scotland’s Director in 2020, and talking about MANIPULATE Festival, Dawn Taylor said:
“We are so thrilled to bring live work back to Scottish audiences in 2022 and also to continue developing the digital programme initiated in 2020. As we progress through to this next phase of the global pandemic, it’s clear that artists are interested in questioning the status quo and asking big questions about the society we are part of and each of our place within it. Questions of identity, climate, global unrest and the contract between individual and collective resonate through the work and in our conversations around it. 

MANIPULATE 2022 is a moment for audiences, artists and industry to come back together for moments of escapism and joy as well as provocation and challenge. We’ll share spaces, both live and virtual, and engage in dialogue, learn from one another and explore questions about our shared future. That’s why for the first time this year we invite our audiences to connect in new ways, whether walking together or sharing a meal, and we’ll host more open spaces than ever to demystify the work of MANIPULATE and create points of access for emerging artists. We can’t wait to welcome you back.”

The 2022 Programme includes: 

Live performances throughout the festival comment on economic, political and social issues. The festival will open with Edinburgh born artist and performer Sadiq Ali who presents his first-full length show The Chosen Haram,  dealing with themes of addiction, connection, faith and sexuality. The Chosen Haram tells the story of two queer men and their chance meeting through a dating app, portraying the highs and lows of their relationship and the barriers they face, both social and cultural, in seeking happiness and personal fulfillment.

Each weekend, the festival will see a special new strand Dinner with… which invites audiences to a two course meal in Summerhall’s gallery bar, hosted by some of our favourite Scottish performance artists. Audiences are invited to Dinner with LARDS, an ensemble of Scottish theatre artists with specialisms in clown, bouffon and character work who celebrate liveness, risk and joy in their work. The following weekend, join MANIPULATE for Dinner with Plutot La Vie, a mesmerising evening of intimate performance, an evening of illusion where everything may not be what it seems.

Jean Daniel Broussé (JD) explores themes of family, queer culture and sexuality in his performance (Le) Pain – a show about breadmaking, physical heroics, growing up queer in a boulangerie in the south of France, endings and new beginnings. It includes circus, dance, storytelling, Béarnaise folklore video, karaoke and laughter.

From sexuality and queer culture, to celebrities and drag culture, award-winning Rambert-trained British dance theatre company Thick & Tight take influence from a wide range of historical, political, literary and artistic subjects, with a focus on promoting queer culture and accessibility within dance. Created by Eleanor Perry and Daniel Hay-Gordon, the company present Short & Sweet; a modern variety show that mixes dance, drag, lip-syncing and satire, bringing together a host of famous and infamous characters to life including Sid Vicious, Twiggy, Grace Jones, Rasputin, Edith Sitwell and everyone’s favourite avant-garde duo, John Cage & Elaine Paige.

From icons to idols, Scottish-based dance artist Suzi Cunningham presents double-bill Rules to Live By // EIDOS that veers between anarchy, punk music, heroism and how idolatry and loss can shape a life. The idea for Rules to Live By came in 2018 after the death of one of Suzi’s teenage idols, Mark E. Smith of the band The Fall, whose collaboration with Michael Clark led her to train as a dancer. It is a requiem for heroism, hedonism, rebirth and dark disturbing humour.  EIDOS is a tribute to Suzi’s grandmother, who was a punk in-her-own-right. She is the hero, the stalwart, Suzi’s personal Vivienne Westwood, the treasure hunter and the curio-with-a-cause. 

Scottish female-led theatre collective Snap-Elastic is led by Alice Mary Cooper, Eszter Marsalko, Isy Sharman and Claire Eliza Willoughby, and together they create bold physical performance work. Exploring themes of predatory behaviour, EAT ME is a luscious, incendiary theatre show about unconventional love, chaos, control and the shifting complexities of power.

Also exploring themes of power and control are festival favourites Ljubljana Puppet Theatre / Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana who return to MANIPULATE two years after their visit with the extraordinary Open The Owl. An intimate puppet-object miniature exploring power, weakness and control, Moč / The Power draws the audience into a strange, distorted world, asking the question: ‘Who is manipulating who in this work, which plays with varying notions of power and weakness, as well as of public and private?’

Looking at the impact of war and displacement is the world premiere performance of The Yellow Canary that opens following its work-in-progress presentation as part of the MANIPULATE digital festival in 2021, and animated documentary My Favourite War (MANS MĪĻĀKAIS KARŠ).

Presented by performance maker Tashi Gore, with visual theatre expert Ross MacKay and playwright Will Gore, The Yellow Canary will be presented in a hybrid format of live performance and digital animation. It is both an epic true story and a leap into the imagination of a young child desperate to escape the horrors of war, exploring love, loss and what it means to flee your home.

From stage to screen, Ilze Burkovska Jacobsen’s My Favourite War (MANS MĪĻĀKAIS KARŠ) – tells the personal story of its director, Ilze, about growing up in the Cold-War USSR. Winner of awards including Annecy Contrechamp Competition, French Critics Prize and Latvian National Film Prize- Animator Of The Year, it is an exciting coming-of-age story about finding one’s own identity, truth and loyalty.

The theme of displacement is also pertinent to the work of theatre company Agrupación Señor Serrano, Spanish masters of micro-cinema Señor Serrano who blend live feed video, scale models, text, performance, sound and objects, and return to MANIPULATE following their critically acclaimed performance of A House in Asia in 2017. Presenting the Scottish premiere of their theatre work Birdie, the multimedia performance highlights the plight of refugees through the lens of migrating birds, and includes live video, objects, Hitchcock’s The Birds revisited, scale models, 2000 mini animals, wars, smugglers, a massive migration and three performers handling this messy world with wit, criticism and commitment with humankind.

In another performance which asks searching questions about the relationship between the individual and society, physical theatre artist Lewis Sherlock and performance writer Ali Maloney present After Metamorphosis; a dramatic reworking of Kafka’s classic which puts toxic workplace culture and its effect on the individual under the lens. The piece weaponizes the surrealism of the original text into a wild rumpus, unveiling a satire of identity and conformity. Scuttling around between micro-cinema, physical theatre, and spoken word burlesques, it explores imposter syndrome, individuality in the corporate hive mind, and our relationship with the insect ecosystem.

From physical to aerial theatre, Ill Lit is a powerful performance that uses the Japanese art of shibari (rope bondage) exploring mental health, cycles of repetition and the struggle to break out. Performed by Kasia Zawadzka, one of the pioneers of world self-suspension rope performance who has worked with some of the world’s leading rope practitioners including Kinoko Hajime, Saki Kamijoo, Garth Knight and Esinem.

For the second year running, the festival will platform and celebrate the work of womxn and non-binary animators from around the world. First initiated in 2020 to champion the work of women (cisgender, transgender, non-binary, genderqueer or intersex), with the aim of improving visibility for women in the film sector and addressing the current gender imbalance in animated film, the programme features work employing a wide range of techniques, textures and styles and includes some of the most decorated shorts in this year’s festival season.

Looking to legends of the animation world, Animated Women: Aaronimation will include a compilation of seven short experimental animated films by legendary American artist and animator Jane Aaron (1948-2015). Aaron’s experimental animations, compiled in the half-hour Aaronimation, are quintessentially cinematic. One frame at a time filmed with her Bolex camera, the films explore qualities unique to pre-digital movie-making augmented by Jane’s own handmade production tools and techniques. The works capture an era of 16mm filmmaking that is now frozen in history by obsolescence of the film medium.

With a dizzying array of animation styles and a packed programme of untold stories and exciting talent, MANIPULATE once again partners with Edinburgh Short Film Festival to bring audiences award-winning short animated films from around the globe. Featuring new work fresh onto the festival circuit, the programme offers something for everyone whether new to animated film or an avid fan.

All animations in the programme will be available for audiences to watch online as well, keeping the programme accessible to those outside of Scotland, or who cannot attend in person.

From film to installations, French artists Adrien M & Claire B present two immersive digital experiences that use interactive augmented reality in Acqua Alta – The Crossing of the Mirror and FAUNA. Acqua Alta is an interactive virtual reality installation that invites audiences to look through a tablet or a smartphone to discover the story of a woman, a man and a house. It traces the odyssey of those involved, facing the rising waters, among storms, ink seas, breaking waves and jellyfish. 

Visual artist and scenographer Claire Bardainne and computer scientist and juggler Adrien Mondot also showcase their creativity and skill in second installation FAUNA, which allows people to go on a treasure hunt to find and explore the imaginative worlds hidden behind the graphic prints. Fauna is a series of ten large-format posters with a custom-built Augmented Reality application that can be discovered via your smartphone, and presents animals roaming in beautiful landscapes and subtle soundscapes hiding behind city walls. 

Continuing  the programme of installations, audiences can discover Forest VIDEOLAB in the Meadows adjacent to Summerhall. Led by Mettje Hunneman, a Scottish-based videographer/editor and video artist hailing from Amsterdam’s dynamic art and VJ scene, the installation is a series of unique, site-specific, public artworks using immersive video projections with original soundscapes to highlight and transform public green spaces and question our place in nature.

Celebrating and supporting artists who play with form and challenge perceptions is central to the work of Puppet Animation Scotland, and this year’s MANIPULATE will see 3 programmed work-in-progress performances, working once again in partnership with SURGE and their bursary programme.

Firstly is Between Earth and Moon by Noah Thomson – a Surge bursary award recipient who will present this Scottish-Argentinian work-in-progress collaboration, performed live between the two countries using livestream technology. The piece is inspired by Italo Calvino’s short story ‘The Distance of the Moon’ and will explore relationships across distance.

Secondly is Sand, presented by multi-skilled artists Petre Dobre & Daniel Livingstone which tells of a very old mythical being – the Sandman. Sand is a highly visual work-in-progress performance that blends theatrical styles to bring the Sandman’s world to life through movement, object manipulation and shadow puppetry. Through this lens, they’ll explore dreams and face nightmares. 

Next up is MANIPULATE’s SNAPSHOTS that gives audiences a first look at exciting new visual theatre works from five Scottish artists, presented in the early stages of their development. Featuring puppetry, object theatre, physical theatre and dance, the lineup promises insight into the process of a diverse group of artists working with a wide range of techniques. Presenting work at this early stage is an invaluable opportunity for artists to share their work with an audience and receive feedback which can play a key role in shaping the work as it evolves. 

From work-in-progress to professional development opportunities, MANIPULATE Festival has 2 workshops from leading practitioners Al Seed and Green Ginger.

Al Seed presents What Makes a Good Idea for a Show? This is a question that can be deceptively difficult to answer at any stage in one’s career, but more so when there is the agenda of creating a show that is visually / physically driven. In this workshop Al will work with participants to explore approaches to identifying, developing and pitching concepts for future shows with presenting partners, audiences and collaborators in mind.

Green Ginger presents TRASH-HACK Puppetry Workshop, a full day workshop for both experienced and emerging puppeteers with the inimitable Chris Pirie of leading UK puppetry company Green Ginger. Trash-Hack is a masterclass in re-purposing domestic and industrial junk to create and animate instant puppet creatures.

And finally, in a series of events programmed to help artists, practitioners and producers connect with other puppeteers and enthusiasts, MANIPULATE Festival presents Netwalk (puppetry) – a practical way to connect with other professionals by walking and talking around Edinburgh’s iconic Meadows. Proven to increase creative thinking, as well as to encourage honest and productive conversations, one member of the Puppet Animation Scotland team will join each walk with ticket holders entitled to a free hot chocolate to keep them cosy as they stroll.

Tickets for the 2022 festival go on sale at 6pm, Thursday 4 November and can be booked by visiting MANIPULATEfestival.org.

ENDS.

STORM will meet Little Amal during COP26

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On Wednesday 10 November, 10 metre tall Goddess of the sea STORM will meet Little Amal – a 3.5 metre tall, 10 year-old Syrian refugee puppet 

STORM and Little Amal will be greeted by school and community groups from Govan as they share their hopes for a brighter future

Image credit: Murdo Macleod

Storm will meet Little Amal after she rises from the wild Scottish waters to walk in Glasgow during the United Nations Climate Change Conference – COP26 – on Wednesday 10 November 2021. Created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company, Vision Mechanics, Storm is a 10 metre tall goddess of the sea, who has walked on land all across Scotland, carrying a message of the oceans in crisis. 

Developed in celebration of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21, Storm’s tour throughout Scotland has received funding support from Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund, established by EventScotland in conjunction with funding from Scottish Government, as well as support from Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. The Scottish Government is supporting Storm’s appearance at COP26. 

Little Amal is a 3.5 metre tall 10 year-old Syrian refugee puppet, who has recently completed The Walk, a 4 month-long travelling festival of art and hope over 8000 kilometres from the Syrian border to Manchester created by Good Chance Theatre and Handspring Puppet Company. 

The two puppets will meet near the old Govan Graving Docks at 13:30 pm. Together they will gaze at the words NO NEW WORLDS floating on the river – an installation from Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative and artist collective, Still Moving – before embarking together on a journey of discovery, inspiration and hope. 

Storm and Little Amal will travel through Govan to the former site of ‘Moot Hill’ on Water Row, where debate, democracy and monarchs of the ancient kingdom of Strathclyde give birth to a long history of strong women and activism; where historic giants like Mary Barbour and Isabella Elder were champions of social justice. 

A community response to the two puppets, and the powerful messages they carry, has been made possible by two present day women activists and key cultural players in Govan: Helen Kyle from Stage Scotland and Liz Gardiner of Fablevision. Storm and Little Amal will meet children from local Govan primary schools, hear rhymes and music from local rap artists and witness dancers perform. 

Storm will rise in Govan at 12:30pm on Wednesday 10 November. In the hour before she meets Little Amal, she will walk Water Row; watch and listen to the Soundhouse Choir, Karine Polwart and artist-led social enterprise Oi Musica perform; witness dancers; and will be joined by the ‘Stitches for Survival’ scarf which has followed her throughout her journey across Scotland – growing longer in each destination as it was prepared for COP26. 

Symon Macintyre, Vision Mechanics Artistic Director, said: “We created Storm to walk through the towns and cities of Scotland, to remind us of our commitment to making the changes necessary to tackle the climate crisis. Her journey has been a celebration of our communities, the joy of reconnection with our friends and neighbours and the awesome impact of a 10m tall sea goddess. Meeting Little Amal is a powerful extension of that celebration. This is a project that changed our attitudes to how we will work in the future and has shown me how powerful the arts can be.”

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “Storm delivers a powerful environmental message about the sea and how we can all play a part in protecting our coastal waters. I am delighted that the Scottish Government and our public bodies have been able  to support both Storm’s creation from recyclable materials to celebrate the Year of Coasts and Waters as well as this appearance at COP26. STORM will be an impressive sight as she strides through Govan with the local community arts and music groups supporting her in this compelling interactive event.”Storm is the latest production from Edinburgh-based visual theatre makers Vision Mechanics. Previously they toured the giant puppet Big Man Walking across Scotland, transformed Drummohr House into the world of Oz, and installed Giants in the Forest across the UK. Their work invites people to celebrate and participate in creating memorable and interactive productions on huge scales. Storm is their most ambitious, challenging, and politically resonant project yet. 

To offset the carbon footprint that Storm creates through her travels, Vision Mechanics has created a STORM Grove in the rewilding of the Ancient Caledonian led by Trees for Life. These trees hold our promises to tackle climate change and re-wild Scotland. The trees in this grove will create homes for wildlife and forests for the future. Planting trees and watching them grow into a beautiful forest is a hope of a better future for our children. The grove can be added to over time, and anyone who wishes to donate further trees can do so here: https://treesforlife.org.uk/groves/357869/. 

Thanks to Storm’s Funders:

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Alfie Ordinary’s Living Legends

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Alfie Ordinary speaks with the Drag Artists who have defined, innovated, inspired and led the British Queer scenes’ activism and artistry in

Living Legends

A weekly YouTube series launching 15 November 2021

Brighton-based Drag Prince Alfie Ordinary announces Living Legends. Launching 15 November 2021, a series of interviews with pioneers of the British drag scene will be released weekly on YouTube.

The series of one-to-one interviews will feature drag artists of iconic status David Hoyle, Le Gateau Chocolat, Adam All, Dave Lynn, Lola Lasagne, Holestar and Son of a Tutu. Alfie will address their individual successes, from TV and Film work, community work, career longevity, taking their place on huge international stages, the activism on which Drag is built and of course, the absolute campery of it all. These interviews are about those who have innovated drag over decades; changing and developing the art form and Queer protest through their work.

As more and more people welcome drag into their homes (UK Drag Race racked up 12 million views for season one, even more for season two and the third season  currently under way) Alfie will use the first series of Living Legends to begin to tell Britain’s rich herstory of Drag with seven of the art form’s pioneers. With RuPaul’s Drag Race failing to cast a truly diverse range of drag in terms of age, race, gender and drag style, Living Legends hopes to highlight the some of the pioneers of British Drag, with each guest bringing their own unique and inspiring story to the table.  

Alfie showcases the huge variety found within the British drag scene that makes it such an exciting and vital queer space, inviting audiences in to the full spectrum of wonderful campery in the artform. Fun, fabulous and 100% drag – think Parkinson meets Ru Paul’s Drag Race. 

Drag Prince Alfie Ordinary, Son-of-a-Drag-Queen, has toured the UK and further afield with many of the UK and USA’s best known drag performers. His debut solo show Help! I Think I Might Be Fabulous won multiple awards at Adelaide Fringe, San Diego Fringe, and Brighton Fringe.

Alfie commented: “I’m so excited for this show! The guests I’m interviewing have all achieved a great level of success in their drag careers, and an incredible longevity.  Some of the artists I’m talking to have been doing drag longer than I have been alive! And they are all STILL working drag artists! I can’t wait to sit down and talk with these incredible people about the ever-changing landscape of drag, from television and film appearances, to Section 28, gay marriage and RuPaul’s Drag Race.” 

Filming took place at Brighton Pride’s new state of the art Ironworks Studios, with seven of the UK’s most respected and treasured acts sharing their incredible drag stories. Audiences will hear about the way one queen uses their platform for powerful activism, having spearheaded the biggest vigil for the Pulse Orlando shootings in Soho, and organising a viral video campaign during the Black Lives Matter movement last summer. One artist speaks about drag and spirituality, while another talks about how their time in the army and their work as a dominatrix plays a part in their drag. 

We hear about the importance of inclusivity within the LGBTQ+ scene from a leading Drag King and we hear about how the portrayal of queer people in the media has changed in the last 40 years and what that has done to and for our community.  We learn how one queen started drag in the mid 70s, just 10 years after the Sexual Offenses Act in 1967 and how they have witnessed 45 years of social change and developments in our human rights over their career. 

The interviews are candid, friendly and informative, telling a diverse and fascinating story about the rich history of UK drag through the words of Living Legends themselves.  

  • Le Gateau Chocolat, a British-Nigerian Brighton based queen, is known for work spanning drag, cabaret, opera, musical theatre, children’s theatre and live art. They run a hugely successful Arts Council England funded theatre company and have toured internationally, winning awards the world over. 
     
  • David Hoyle, born and based in Blackpool, is an avant-garde performance artist, film-maker, drag artist, comedian and singer who has repeatedly spoken out about ‘mainstream’ gay culture and the absent  tolerance for homophobia in society and leadership. Under his stage persona he became a household name in the 90s for his Channel 4 arts show The Divine David Presents. 
     
  • Son of a Tutu is a Drag Queen and Activist of British Nigerian heritage, they perform as a Nigerian Drag Queen – a statement to the dangerous homophobic ideology of Nigerian leadership and culture. Notably, they were instrumental in organising the Pulse Nightclub Vigil in Soho London in May 2016. 
     
  • Adam All has over a decade of experience on the Drag scene, hosting a residency at SHE in Soho. Adam is a singer and leading voice on the Drag King scene.  
     
  • Lola Lasagne is a British Queen with three decades of performance, they are an activist and performer with huge awareness of the progressive nature of a really buoyant queer scene. 
     
  • Film and TV star Dave Lynn is well known for their appearance in the iconic 00s series ‘Faking It’ in which he mentored Spence Bowdler, an ex-naval officer, in their transformation to Drag Queen. Lynn has four decades of drag and stage experience to speak to.
     
  • Cabaret doyenne Holestar is an award-winning artist, belting vocalist, DJ and more who uses music and performance to blur the boundaries between gender; the avant-garde and mass entertainment; and pop culture and the underground. 

Living Legends hopes to entertain and inspire drag fans, and document and treasure some of the rich and fruitful history of UK drag. Drag is a political statement, it is both armour and rage rooted in a community which has seen so much hatred and hurt – yet survives and thrives – and always with a nod to the mad, the silly and to anarchy in queer culture. As Queer culture of the last 40 – 50 years storms the ‘mainstream’, from Rebel Dykes, to the huge global audience for Drag Race and Channel 4’s prime-time positioning of It’s A Sin, these conversations will speak directly with the performers, the people behind them, and those perfomers who haven’t yet been given the mainstream spotlight, who have shaped British Drag and Queer British expression. What is the full story? Let’s Drag It Out. 

Alfie Ordinary’s Living Legends will launch its first episode on 15 November. Each episode will be uploaded weekly onto the Living Legends YouTube channel. For more information, visit https://www.alfieordinary.com.

Living Legends is supported by Arts Council England with thanks also to Brighton Pride.

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Vision Mechanics 10 metre tall puppet STORM will walk in Glasgow for COP26, 10 November 2021

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Fresh from her tour of Scotland, STORM comes to Glasgow to share her 
message of the oceans in crisis during COP26

STORM will walk in Govan, greeted by community and arts groups
along the way who will  amplify her message

Image credit: Murdo Macleod

Created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, Storm will once again rise from the oceans to walk on land. Returning to Glasgow for the first time since her first steps were taken as part of Celtic Connections 2020, Storm will walk through Govan on Wednesday 10 November 2021, as COP26 – the United Nations Climate Change Conference – takes place across the city.

Developed in celebration of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21, this free, outdoor theatre spectacle has received funding support from Scotland’s Events and Recovery Fund, established by EventScotland, in conjunction with funding from Scottish Government, as well as support from Creative Scotland’s Open Fund. The Scottish Government is also supporting Storm‘s appearance at COP26 with £15,000.

Storm is a legend come to life, emerging from Scottish seas to tell us that the oceans are in crisis. She has travelled to 10 towns across Scotland since August 2021, sharing her message with  audiences along the way, and will make her final Scottish walk of 2021 in the city she first stepped foot in. Storm asks those she meets, what can be done to alter the course of the climate crisis? She has learned of COP26, and has risen once more to add her powerful voice to the many who are calling for change across Glasgow. 

She is accompanied wherever she travels by a beautiful soundscape. The Storm music score is written by composer and singer Mairi Campbell and Dave Gray. Mairi’s voice is the chorus of the waves, urging us to care for our oceans. Storm’s eyes are the colour of oyster shells, her hair thick strands of kelp, her voice the chorus of the waves. Made from entirely recycled and natural resources Storm is ten metres tall and weighs around 500 kilos.

Symon Macintyre, Vision Mechanics Artistic Director, said:“Storm is returning to Glasgow for COP26. Her message that we need to care for this amazing small blue planet is more vital than ever. In towns and cities across Scotland thousands have come to greet her,  online thousands more. Storm rises in Glasgow to ask us all to make good on our promises to take action. Storm is a warning and a clarion call to ensure the future for our children and grandchildren.”

Culture Minister Jenny Gilruth said:“Storm delivers a powerful environmental message about the sea and how we can all play a part in protecting our coastal waters. Made from recyclable materials, Storm will be an impressive sight as she strides through Govan with the local community arts and music groups supporting her in this compelling interactive event.”

As Storm walks through Glasgow, she will meet and engage with community groups and arts organisations who will share in her message, including Karine Polwart singing alongside Soundhouse Choir and artist-led social enterprise Oi Musica, who will perform their collaborative composition ‘Enough is Enough’. Storm will also witness Govan schools and community artists perform, co-ordinated by Helen Kyle from Stage Scotland. Further detail on Storm’s route, community involvement and who else she will meet on 10 November will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Laura Mackenzie-Stuart, Head of Theatre at Creative Scotland said: “We look forward to Storm’s return to Glasgow as part of COP26. Art and creativity have a key role to play in helping to address the climate emergency and contributing to a more environmentally sustainable Scotland. This important work, while inspired by the rich heritage and diverse culture of Scotland’s coasts and waters, also carries a vital message about the need to take care of our planet for future generations.”

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events for VisitScotland, said: “We have been delighted to support Storm through Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund, established by EventScotland in conjunction with funding from the Scottish Government. This majestic goddess of the sea has inspired communities across Scotland with her message centred on the environmental impact on our oceans. Having taken her first steps alongside the River Clyde in January 2020, her return to Glasgow for an appearance at COP26 is a fitting next stop on her journey.”

Storm is the latest production from Edinburgh-based visual theatre makers Vision Mechanics. Previously they toured the giant puppet Big Man Walking across Scotland, transformed Drummohr House into the world of Oz, and installed Giants in the Forest across the UK. Their work invites people to celebrate and participate in creating memorable and interactive productions on huge scales. Storm is their most ambitious, challenging, and politically resonant project yet. 

To offset the carbon footprint that Storm creates through her travels, Vision Mechanics has created a STORM Grove in the rewilding of the Ancient Caledonian led by Trees for Life. These trees hold our promises to tackle climate change and re-wild Scotland. The trees in this grove will create homes for wildlife and forests for the future. Planting trees and watching them grow into a beautiful forest is a hope of a better future for our children. The grove can be added to over time, and anyone who wishes to donate further trees can do so here: https://treesforlife.org.uk/groves/357869/. 

Thanks to Storm’s Funders:

Sonic theatre podcast Soundworlds returns with a season of brand-new immersive audio experiences

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Sonic theatre makers Soundworlds have today announced a new season of their podcast offering listeners an immersive audio experience combining theatre, poetry and music. Far more than radio plays with music, Soundworlds projects are created by musicians, writers, theatre makers and artists who blend together music and storytelling, sound design, documentary and fiction to give listeners a true escape from the everyday.

From November 2021 to April 2022, Soundworlds will release a new episode fortnightly, on the first and third Thursday of each month. Each episode is its own, unique world: a piece of theatre for your ears, that can be enjoyed anywhere, any time. The eclectic mix of episodes has been created in collaboration with acclaimed international artists, each with their own story to tell, in extraordinary ways. 

Join us for a Christmas party like no other, share some classic children’s books in new ways, and explore issues of our time from sex work to universal childcare, all without leaving your house, or staring at a screen.

Artists featured this season include: Canadian theatre group Quote Unquote Collective; Erased Tapes’ Douglas Dare; award-winning librettist and playwright Stephanie Fleischmann and Pulitzer Prize finalist composer Christopher Cerrone; French electronic musician Aho Ssan aka Désiré Niamké, collaborating with Emptyset member James Ginzburg; acclaimed theatre maker Joana Nastari; adaptations of children’s books Town is by the Sea and Birdsong; as well as new commissions from artists Aminita Francis (BAC Beatbox Academy’s Frankenstein), Travis Alabanza (Burgerz) — who will both be matched up with musicians — and Verity Standen, who will each create new, immersive audio pieces, directed by Soundworlds’ own Patrick Eakin Young.

Patrick Eakin Young, director of Soundworlds, said: “Podcasts have become one of this century’s quintessential new forms of media, yet the creative and expressive potential of the form is still being tested. I think of Soundworlds as a sonic stage on which to present some of the boldest innovations in audio storytelling: a space for musicians, theatre-makers, writers and sound designers to explore, experiment with, and expand upon the familiar podcast formula.”

Soundworlds is directed by Patrick Eakin Young and produced by Eleanor Turney and George Warren. Artwork for Season Two is provided by illustrator Sydney Smith. All episodes are free to listen to on Spotify, iTunes and other podcast platforms, or on the Soundworlds website.

Season Two will open this November with two episodes that reimagine existing albums as narrative pieces, Liminal Highway and Simulacrum. On Thursday 4 November, librettist and playwright Stephanie Fleischmann adapts Christopher Cerrone and Tim Munro’s Liminal Highway, an album for solo flute, inspired by John K. Samson’s poem of the same name. Fleischmann’s overlaid narrative tells the story of a woman chasing down a mysterious double through an urban dreamscape. Later that month, Simulacrum, from French Ghanaian musician Aho Ssan, is reimagined by James Ginzburg as the story of a boy trapped in his own apartment in a near-future society, stratified into a very strict class system, cut off from music and the outside world. It blurs the lines of reality, asking what and who is real? 

One very special episode in December sees us invited to Douglas Dare’s Christmas Party. Listeners will be sonically guided through the festive party you wish you were invited to, eavesdropping on conversations between artists and radical queers, drag queens and East London scenesters, soundtracked by Dare’s rearranged carols.

The New Year will see a series of episodes working with and inspired by incredible Canadian artists. On Thursday 6 January, feminist powerhouses and multi-disciplinary performance company Quote Unquote Collective look at universal childcare as Canada comes out with one of the most comprehensive childcare laws in the world following the pandemic. Based on verbatim interviews with parents about childcare. 

From January 20 our mini-series of Canadian children’s novels will begin, with an audio adaptation of Birdsong. Written by Cree-Métis author and illustrator Julie Flett, it is a subtle, sensitive story of intergenerational friendship, growth and loss. It is soundtracked by K.K. Rose-El (aka Kris Harper) of Polaris Prize-nominated nȇhiyawak, which translates to Cree People, People of the Plains or Free People. Releasing on Thursday 3 February is an adaptation of Town is by the Sea, written by Joanne Schwartz and illustrated by Sydney Smith. It follows a young boy throughout his day spent by the sea, all the while thinking of his father digging for coal deep underground, creating beautiful contrast between the two worlds. Soundworlds uses its immersive audio experience to perfectly capture in sound the beautiful visuals found in each story. 

From Thursday 17 February, Joana Nastari’s award-winning debut play Fuck You Pay Me will be turned into a soundworld. A love letter to strippers, the episode will feature special guests from the community and a live score of Brazilian music. It is a play by strippers, for strippers and about strippers, a celebration that will be captured in Soundworlds’ impeccable audio.

Season 2 will wrap up with another mini-series which sees three new sonic theatre commissions created by Black, female, and nonbinary theatre artists, released throughout March and April. Bristol’s Verity Standen taps into the power of ASMR. Emerging artist Aminita Francis, a break-out member of Battersea Arts Centre’s Beatbox Academy, creates a Bo Burnham-like piece about the isolation of lockdown using only her voice and a looper. And British performance artist, writer and theatre maker Travis Alabanza teams up with Canadian (Polaris Prize-nominated) musicians Bonjay, to create a dancehall inflected fantasy as four trans friends head out into the streets of London together. 

You can also listen back to Season One shows, including adaptations of four Raymond Carver short stories from What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, and a piece based on Courtney Angela Brkic’s The Stone Fields, her memoir of joining a UN forensics team helping to excavate the mass graves at Srebrenica in Bosnia. 

ENDS