What the Sea Saw – call out for volunteers

‘What the Sea Saw’ celebrates the heritage of fishing along the North Yorkshire coast, particularly in communities in Scarborough and Staithes, and captures the memories of the fishing community from the 1950s to the present day. The project is being produced in partnership with the Staithes Museum and Heritage Trust and Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre. It will reflect fishing heritage in a series of activities and events in Scarborough and Staithes including a new short film about Staithes fishing families, an audio trail for Scarborough inspired by oral histories, workshops in local schools, and a final performance event, combining stories and sea shanties sung by local choirs, accompanied by fish and chips for the audience and participants.

Image courtesy of Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre

The project is being produced by Digital Drama and is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Digital Drama are doing a call-out for volunteers to get involved in the following:

– Receive online or in-person training in the curation and repurposing of oral histories to create new media, especially heritage trails in new year 2024

– Research existing oral history recordings to find appropriate material based on the lives of the fishing communities and customs in Scarborough to be used in an audio trail and performance event

– Possible volunteering in the commemorative event in Scarborough in November/December 2024 in research or performing or both!

Volunteer time:

– Commitment of total of 10 hours to include 2-hour training session

How to express interest:

Email:info@digitaldrama.org

By Kate Valentine|2024-01-24T11:54:24+00:0015 January 2024|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Little Manhattan Guided Walks and a Reminiscence Session

As part of the Little Manhattan Project, currently exhibiting at the Museum of Croydon, and supported by the This is Croydon programme, the following events will be running in the new year:

‘Postwar Architecture of Croydon’- Local Heritage Walk

This free architecture heritage walk, to be guided by local expert Lindsay Ould, will explore Croydon’s urban history and its iconic modernist buildings.

When:

Friday 19th January 2.00pm – 4.00pm

Wednesday 31st January 11.00am -1.00pm

Wednesday 14th February 11.00am -1.00pm

Book free tickets for one of the dates:https://bit.ly/croydonwalk

or sign up at the Research Room Reception desk

Meet: Outside the Research Room, Museum of Croydon, Katharine Street CR9 1ET

Reminiscence Workshop

The Little Manhattan Project reflects on the rebuilding of Croydon that took place between 1950-1975. Come and join us for a reminiscence workshop with refreshments at the Museum of Croydon Activity Space to explore photographs and objects of the time and share your memories of growing up in Croydon.

When: 2.30-4.00pm, Wednesday, 31st January 2024

Where: Museum of Croydon Activities Space

Book your place: email info@digitaldrama.org or sign up at the Research Room Reception desk.

London Borough of Culture is a Mayor of London initiative, with support from Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage Fund. The This is Croydon programme is being delivered through a unique collaboration between the cultural organisations and people of the borough in partnership with Croydon Council.

By Kate Valentine|2023-12-19T15:14:26+00:0019 December 2023|Uncategorized|0 Comments

History Misbehaves

Call out for volunteers…

Do you live in Tang Hall, York?

Are you interested in the history and stories of Tang Hall?

Do you like acting and would you like to make an audio drama at Tang Hall Explore?

Interested?

Then read on…

History Misbehaves is an audio drama project where you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with professional director Kate Valentine and local playwright Paul Birch to create a community radio play inspired by the history and stories of Tang Hall.

No previous experience is necessary – just come along to the two drama workshops…

When:

14 November 6.00pm – 8.00pm

28 November 6.00pm – 8.00pm

Where:

Tang Hall Explore, The Centre@ Burnholme, Mossdale Avenue, York YO31 0HA

To book your place:

email: arts@exploreyork.org.uk or at Tang Hall Explore. Tel 01904 552655

Everyone is welcome!

By Kate Valentine|2023-11-01T09:36:44+00:0018 October 2023|Drama, Multi-media, Podcast, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Little Manhattan Launches at Open House Festival

Digital Drama’s latest project Little Manhattan launches at South Norwood Library as part of the Open House Festival 2023. Ideally suited to the Brutalist architecture of this iconic building in South London, the Little Manhattan project explores Croydon’s urban landscape from the 1950s-1970s, capturing memories of people recalling the rise of the Croydon skyline that gave it the nickname ‘Little Manhattan’.

Join us on Saturday 16th of September in the morning for a family craft workshop, run by local artist Becci Kenning of Art in Transit or come to our talk about post-war architecture in the afternoon, led by local expert John Grindrod.

Click below to book your place for either event at South Norwood Library:

Family Craft Workshop – Saturday 16th September – 10.30-11.30am

Post-War Architecture of Croydon talk – Saturday 16th September – 2.00-2.45pm

Little Manhattan Web Image Square final with logos

We will be launching the Little Manhattan Audio Trail exploring the urban environment of Croydon that was built between the 1950s-1970s as part of a pop-up exhibition which will be at South Norwood Library in September. The pop-up will then tour Coulsdon Library in October and Ashburton Library in November before our major exhibition at the Museum of Croydon starting in December and running until February 2024.

Little Manhattan is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

With thanks to the National Lottery players.

South Norwood Square Little Manhattan Family Craft Workshops Flyer (1500 × 1500 px)

By Kate Valentine|2023-09-04T11:18:44+00:004 September 2023|Uncategorized|0 Comments

All the Fun of the Fair Audio Trail

Based on the history of Mitcham Fair and memories of local people, All the Fun of the Fair Audio Trail will be launched at Mitcham Heritage Day on September 11th 2021 at Canons House & Grounds.

Created by young people in Mitcham, the short audio trail is a celebration of Mitcham Fair through a blend of devised drama and interviews with people in Mitcham remembering their experiences of one of the oldest fairs in the country.

The story of the audio trail spans 400 years; from Elizabethan revelry in the dancing tent, to the drama of the Victorian boxing booth, to the heady days of Teddy Boys ruling over the dodgems. Follow the fortunes of the characters over the centuries, submerged in the evocative sounds and energy of this cherished event in London’s heritage.

One of the young people involved in making the audio trail commented,

“For the Mitcham Fair project, we had discussed the various sounds that would take place during the fair and had re-created a few sounds ourselves to get a better understanding of what you would hear if you were to be in the fair. We also went out to record people who have been to the fair or have had experience with being at other fairs to tell us about their experiences and what they think about the fair. After that we got some recordings, we each worked on editing the recording of the different people we had interviewed.”

The audio trail is a community project produced by Digital Drama and is part of a larger project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund exploring the heritage of Mitcham Fair. Mitcham Fair is regarded as one of the oldest in England, having been granted a Royal Charter by Elizabeth I, and is held in fond memory by people of all ages. The overall multimedia heritage project will look at the role of fairgrounds in society, the variety of entertainments on offer over the years.

It will bring together the memories of both the showmen and the local fair-goers to create an audio trail, film and animations by local young people to be enjoyed for future generations.