sustained theatre

Want to find out what Sustained Theatre East Midlands (STEM) have been up to in the past? Click on the link below to download a .pdf

Sustained Theatre East Midlands (STEM) is a voluntary collective of theatre/performing arts practitioners defined as a regional hub, part of a network of 8 hubs that feed into Sustained. STEM’s steering group is made up of a range of theatre and performing arts professionals who have a track record in producing, business management, marketing and fund-raising.

Based on the outcomes of the STEM launch, a festival to celebrate, develop to raise the profile of STEM artists is scheduled to take place across the East Midlands over 10 days in mid-late 2011. It will include some commissions and a showcase of work that exists within Sustained Theatre’s archive. It will build on the activity and strengths of STEM to date thus taking into direct account all of the Sustained Theatre objectives (networking, international work, leadership, archiving, spaces and the website).

The strategic planning and delivery of the national agenda for Sustained Theatre is still progressing and STEM continues to feed into this process. This is not intrinsically linked to STEM’s plan to be a legally functioning group within the next 12-18 months.

The STEM steering group:

Bea Udeh (Chair)

Donna Briscoe-Greene

Micheala Waldrom Jones

Rosie Fyffe - Reach Higher Academy

Samir Bhamra - Phizzical

Serenah Cole - Writer/Poet
 

For more information about STEM, please contact projectsEM@sustainedtheatre.org.uk

Artist Salon is a STEM initiative, a unique social and networking event providing artists and creative practitioners’ with a relaxing environment to meet, network, socialise with other Sustained Theatre members, make new acquaintances and catch up with existing colleagues. The Artist Salon takes place alongside (before or after) a specific regional event or performance and includes the opportunity to meet the featured artists and special guests.

Next Artist Salon takes place at Guildhall Theatre Derby, Friday 25 March 2011 after the performance of Katori Hall’s The Mountain Top, the award-winning play about the last hours in the life of Martin Luther King. Come along and meet the cast and crew of this critically acclaimed play.

For more information on Artist Salon contact Bea at projectsEM@sustainedtheatre.org.uk
 

Sâmir Bhamra has been awarded kick start research and development funding from British Council for a new collaboration with the South African theatre company, Hearts and Eyes.

Sâmir travelled to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in 2009 as one of fifteen ambassadors of Sustained Theatre. During the trip, he was introduced to Peter Hayes, director of Hearts and Eyes who was presenting Ncamisa: The Women, a piece that dealt with the corrective rape and murders of black lesbians in townships. Peter invited Sâmir to participate in a workshop in Cape Town where they shared their practices. Over the course of the workshop, it emerged that there was a possibility of a collaboration to create a personal narrative piece.

In May 2010, Sâmir supported the tour of Ncamisa: The Women to the Dublin Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival. During this visit, both practitioners had an opportunity to review their original idea. They felt that the idea needed to be developed further to examine the growing discourse in immigration, crime and internationalism. In October 2010, Peter took part in the AfroVibes Festival which took place in the UK for the first time. During the festival, both Peter and Sâmir were given space at The Drum to interrogate the proposed idea and the first outline of a story was shaped.

The yet to be titled piece is about the journey of a shady character from the arid region of the Savannah Grasslands to an arctic land full of perceived opportunity. It explores deep human conditions that shape a man’s nomadic lifestyle. Always on the run, never looking back, always forward looking until a crucial moment when time catches up and the man has to reflect upon his choices and be accountable for his deeds. Not for too long, because he still has the last card up his sleeve.

Sâmir, director of Phizzical commented, “I am delighted to hear about the financial support from British Council towards the research and development of a new dramatic text. This important collaboration with South Africa will enable us to write a visceral production to première at the National Arts Festival and Edinburgh Festival in 2012. This would not have been possible had it not been for Arts Council England and Sustained Theatre.”
 

For more information or to support the production, please email: samir@phizzical.com or telephone: 07958 484858.

Anticipation and excitment for  the launch of the East Midlands Cultural Olympaid