rLooping the Loop is committed to supporting and promoting Thanet-based artists. We’re please to hand over our blog-space to one of our associate artists Megan Garrett-Jones to tell you all about ‘Things With Words’ – a spoken word performance event and occasional radio show that is about to have a particularly spooky outing for Halloween.
Megan: Yes. Things With Words is getting freaky for Halloween at the Ravensgate Arms in Ramsgate. Things With Words basically does what it says on the tin. It’s an open platform event giving people the opportunity to present any manner of things with words. This will be the 5th event and so far we have incorporated short stories, poetry from the page as well as slam-style poetry, song lyrics, character monologues, re-readings (for example, last event Gertrude Stein was recited whilst audience members all ate jelly). I tend to round up local creatives and ask them to present something, but it is also an open mic and we are forever welcoming new people to the floor. Three events ago I decided to make a radio show to coincide with each event, which is hosted on the Ramsgate Music Hall Radio website. This was a chance to further explore a theme for each event. Songs are chosen for the lyrics and how the words do something in particular in each song. They are all available online, so please check them out if you are interested. The producer I work with in Ramsgate, Nick De Carlo, and I had a lot of fun on the Halloween radio show as we negotiated the fine line between wanting to revel in all of Halloween’s awful tacky fun and wanting to present something meaningful and dig a bit deeper into the significance of the festival. It will probably be a similar vibe at the Ravensgate Arms on Halloween. With such an array of people presenting, it’s certainly going to be multi-dimensional. I connected with Looping the Loop as a volunteer when I moved to Thanet two years ago and I have enjoyed support from the festival as an artist, well as getting to see some genuinely transformative theatre and live art. This is another element to doing ‘Things With Words’ for me. I believe in the power of performance in exploring new ways to do things with words and actions. This is very much a community event and I strongly encourage people to come and get involved and discover what we can do together. Things With Words Spoken Word Open Mic Tuesday 31st October, 7:30 pm onward, free Ravensgate Arms, Ramsgate Open mic signup or inquiries megan.garrett.jones@gmail.com
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TNT. An explosive. Dynamite. Invented by Alfred Nobel. So he invented a prize. So that he’d be remembered for peace and not death. Smart plan. It worked. We’ve used a similar thought process in forming ‘Theatre Network Thanet’ (TNT). Actually we haven’t created a weapon of mass destruction. But don’t write us off just yet.
But to get down to brass tacks, TNT is a group that we (writer and performer Tom Adams and writer/actor Chris MacDonald) have set up in collaboration with Looping the Loop. TNT’s aims are simple. We want to get anyone who works in or is interested in live performance in Thanet together for a chat and a glass of something every month. We had our guinea pig run at the Harbour Arm in Margate and followed it up at the beginning of October with our first official meet-up at Archive in Ramsgate. Our aims are simple. Meet, chat, put faces to names and maybe exchange numbers and a desire to help each other out. We’re not attempting to form a hugely committed professional theatre company to rival the RSC in Thanet, we merely want to create a space where people can come together and talk. At future meets we’re going to have a little bit of live performance to get things going and we will encourage our people to volunteer themselves for this as we go along. Both meetings so far have been a lovely way to spend a Thursday evening. I entreat you to come along or tell everyone you know about us. It can be a tough business at times and being able to talk to others in the same boat is incredibly nourishing. Perhaps the Nobel committee will one day give us the ‘Peace Prize’ for services to neurotic thespian souls. Let’s hope that one day, that’s all the world has to worry about. Chris MacDonald thechrismacdonald.com The next TNT will form part of Looping the Loop Festival's launch event on November 12th at Tom Thumb Theatre. For more details of this event check HERE As we continue our mission to present more and more live performance across Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs (and beyond!) we have recently adopted an elderly caravan & future ‘mobile arts space’ to help us on that journey. Arty folk of Thanet - we need your help! Looping the Loop is offering a commission to an artist or group of artists, to beautify our 1970/80s caravan as it prepares to embark on its new life in the arts. We invite interested artists to apply. The brief is: To create a design concept for the exterior of our caravan and to suggest any particular carry-through aspects into the interior space. To carry out the transformation of the exterior, for our first outing, which will be on Saturday 11th November 2017. We have an existing Looping the Loop logo which needs to be incorporated and we use red as our key colour in promotion of the festival. The commission is for £500 plus materials (to be agreed in advance with Looping the Loop). Please apply with a short outline of how you would approach the design, and include three images of previous work. Submissions should include your name and contact details and come to loopingthanet@gmail.com by Monday 16 October. |
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News and interviews from and for artists working with Looping the Loop Archives
November 2018
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