Comments Off on New Band Showcase x Independent Venue Week
Spotlighting the best emerging talent from Exeter’s music scene
Our New Band Showcase series is back for 2022, with not just one but TWO incredible line-ups coming up, bringing you the very best of the local music scene.
Taking place on Tue 1 and Wed 2 of Feb as part of Independent Music Week 2022, our showcase nights are here to champion up and coming music from the South West.
Exeter Phoenix is so much more than a live music venue. We celebrate the culture of live music, develop new talent, and give artists the tools to experiment, take risks and realise their best ideas.
For many budding artists, these gig nights give some new musicians their very first taste of playing in front of a live audience and invite the community to discover new music, support local arts and give audiences the chance to say they saw them here first!
So whether you’re here to support the local music scene, discover brand new music (or both!), we can’t wait to welcome you to our New Band Showcase gigs this February.
Keep reading to find out more about who we’ve selected to play at this month’s New Band Showcase gigs.
James Sebastian | Tue 1 Feb
Headlining our first New Band Showcase on Tue 1 Feb is James Sebastian, who may only be 20 years old but has already pledged to bring the ‘sunny groove’ of the 70s back into the world. With hair down to his shoulders and a hearty number of flowery shirts, he lives the music he loves, taking inspiration from some of the greats, including Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John and the Beatles.
Die Twice | Tue 1 Feb
New generation Indie band Die Twice are ready to bring their electric energy to the Exeter Phoenix auditorium. They recently recorded a 4 song EP with the Two-Tone legendary Grammy awarded, Coventry-based producer Roger Lomas.
The Post | Tue 1 Feb
Fresh faced four-piece The Post are ready to bring their music into the world at their debut gig on 2 Feb.
Originally from Devon, alt-pop duo Dust in the Sunlight bring their effortless vocals and dream-like melodies to their headline spot at our New Band Showcase on Wed 2 Feb. They’ve already signed a record deal with West-London based label, Project Melody and their self-titled debut EP has garnered support from BBC Introducing, CLASH and Radio X.
Bleach Sequence | Wed 2 Feb
Down tempo/ electronic artist Beach Sequence draws inspiration from the likes of Boards of Canada, Tycho, Rival Consoles & Bonobo.
Inspired by indie kingpins such as Radiohead, Grizzly Bear and Elbow, Isolated corners bring their blend of indie rock with driven groove to Exeter Phoenix.
Today we are thrilled to launch BLOOM 2022 – A free community festival for mental health awareness week!
After hosting online festivals in 2020 and 2021, we are delighted to announce we will be running the festival in person this year, as well as offering the chance to get involved online.
From photography to yoga, poetry to panel discussions – we can’t wait to tell you what we’ve got planned! Pop this date in your diary and keep an eye on our pages to make sure you’re involved.
Because Bloom is for everyone, we’re offering you the opportunity to let us know your thoughts on what mental wellbeing means to you and what you would like to see at this year’s festival. You can join us for a think-in (and a coffee) on Wednesday 2nd February, details here.
This year we are generously supported by Iron Mill College and The Exeter.
“Iron Mill College, Exeter, is delighted to be sponsoring such a fantastic event that will raise the awareness of mental health and wellbeing in our city. With our 40-year history of delivering activities and workshops on mental health, our low-cost counselling service, and training courses to professionally qualify counsellors and psychotherapist, it is a focus of great significance and concern to us. We support the Bloom Festival wholeheartedly and are looking forward to seeing everyone there. Do come and say hello!” –Principal – Dr. Jo Trelfa.
In May, Bloom 2022 will return to Exeter Phoenix as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.
The Bloom festival celebrates mental wellbeing, encourages openness around mental health, and showcases the arts as a powerful tool for wellness. After a few years of online only events we’re really excited to be planning to see you in person! Whilst continuing to still make some of our programme accessible to our online community.
Bloom is a community festival, and so we would like to take this opportunity to invite your input. We would love to hear from you about:
What does mental wellbeing mean to you?
What would like to see from Bloom in 2022?
How can we ensure we reach, engage and impact as many people as possible with our festival programme?
The think-ins will take place in the Workshop, on the ground floor of Exeter Phoenix, with members of the Bloom planning team. These will be friendly, open and welcoming sessions for discussion. Everyone is welcome, whether you want to contribute or listen. No booking is required.
Join us:
Wednesday 2nd February, 10:00am – 11:15am OR 5:30pm – 6:45pm
Tea and coffee will be provided. Each session will last a maximum of 75 minutes.
If you’re unable to attend our scheduled date but would like to pass on your thoughts, please send an email to amber.goodwinfiges@exeterphoenix.org.uk, or call Amber on 01392 667065.
Studio 74 at Exeter Phoenix is the home of independent cinema. It’s the home of cinematic explorers and collaborators. It’s the cinema you want and the one you need. It is a place where brave films meet brave audiences. It’s where your voice makes Studio 74 your cinema.
In partnership with Exeter Phoenix Young Audience Panel and regionally based creatives Studio 74 is ready to amplify its mission to champion the best British and independent cinemas and make it available to all.
We asked six local creatives to redesign their version of our Studio 74 logo. Keep reading to find out all about each of the artists and their inspiration behind their design!
ABI BAYLISS
“My intention was to capture what I love about cinema: the artist direction behind films, black filmmakers and old Hollywood. It was great to have this individual freedom on the project.”
Abbi is a digital illustrator and visual artist currently in residence with MAYK. Abbi has experience working within Bristol Arts sectors such as Arnolfini and RWA, alongside being a Rising Arts Agency creative and the youngest member of the Visual Arts South West Steering Group. Her regional exhibition tour of her Black Portraits Project has been exhibited across the South West to Carnaby street Soho. Abbi is also a published illustrator of the children's books ‘Where is Summer’s Fluffy Cat?’ and this year's sequel ‘Why is my hair curly?’. Working for organisations such as the BBC, writing a podcast for the National Trust and illustrating the Big Give campaign for Arts and Health South West, Abbi earned her title by Rife Magazine as one of Bristol’s most influential people under 30.
Freefall is a collective of young creatives who meet each week at Exeter Phoenix. Their projects often respond to the work taking place in the spaces at Exeter Phoenix. They used a range of materials and techniques to approach the Studio 74 logo rebrand including screen printing and collage.
“It was really exciting to experiment and play with lots of different techniques. I liked being able to think about the branding and it was particularly exciting to have the opportunity to see our work on screen!” Freefall Member
ARSALAN MOTAVALI
“For me it was just an extension of playing with my dual-nationality. I hope the colours give that sense of open-ness and communicate the inclusivity to those underrepresented, but also show Studio 74’s ability to adapt into different culture and be welcoming to all. I chose to do everything by (digital) pencil also, because I think the homemade feel of it creates something more nostalgic and welcoming.
The language is Farsi, and it’s just a translation of ‘Studio 74’ written in quite traditional calligraphy. Iran also has a really unique independent cinema community, with loads of distinguishable filmmakers – Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi etc.”
Arsalan is a member of Exeter Phoenix’ Young Audience Panel and is currently finishing his MA in International Film Business at Exeter / London Film School.
He is excited to play a small role in drawing more diverse audiences to Phoenix, to more closely align with the increasingly diverse filmmaking talents and subject matters that are being represented on the big screen.
DARREN SHADDICK
Darren Shaddick is a Freelance Illustrator and Graphic Designer based in The Sticks of North Devon, UK.
"I went into this logo rebrand with no prior intentions apart from the fact that I wanted to spontaneously explore hand drawn type, textures and patterns.
I divided the logo into sections that have their own distinct visuals, this represents the variety of film that Studio 74 puts on.
To me, each segment of the logo rebrand looks cinematic with visual cues inspired by art deco cinemas and the flatness of vintage movie posters."
“I'm all about drawing wordsthese days - which is great considering I was never given my "pen license" in primary school. When I'm not writing on chalkboards for people, I'm creating art with anything I can get my hands on (like broken plates!). The best part of making art is the surrendering to the process of it, and how you navigate your way to an unknown end point of your choice.”
Open seven days a week and with tickets starting at £5 Studio 74 is ready to welcome you all. Click the button below to take a look at our full film programme!
Comments Off on The World Turned Upside Down: A play, an experience, an insight.
As part of our Spring 2022 Theatre Programme, we are delighted to welcome Forum Theatre performance ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ to Exeter Phoenix on Thu, 13 Jan.
Conceived and directed by Paul Jepson, the performance is part of Ideal Project, an initiative led by the University of Exeter which improves the experience of dementia.
Ideal Project have written a blog for us, which tells us all about what to expect from the Forum Theatre piece and how the shows unique theatre style has portrayed what it’s like to live with dementia.
Written by Tess Walsh: Exeter College film English and Politics Student
Memory cafés. Diagnosis. Allotments. Mindfulness. Care homes. Seated yoga. Anger. Is this Dementia? Personally my knowledge of dementia in my short 16 years of life has been reduced to my own grandmothers experience and a few misleading representations of Alzheimer’s in the media. Which I believe is similar to most people’s scarce experience too.
However, ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ wishes to portray a more truthful expression of what it really is to live with dementia, developing those ideas, which evolved from the research Linda Clare and her team have been conducting throughout lockdown, with all different types of people affected by this condition. Throughout there are as expected incredibly moving and solemn moments, much as dementia is often painted by the media.
However, there are also moments of joyful vivacity and energy, as well as a constant thread of delightful comedy. The truthful experience the whole team has managed to encapsulate is, I believe, is the source of this plays raw appeal as Keats coined it “beauty is truth, truth beauty”.
However, I said ‘play’ and actor Steve Bennett quickly corrected me that this term was in fact “misleading,” for this piece is more what is technically known as ‘forum theatre’. The influential South American practitioner Augustus Boal, who was driven by the injustices within Brazil and wider South America, to create a social justice performance, established this niche, yet powerful style of theatre. These were not to preach a hypocritical messages, but encouraged audiences to interact, ‘stop the action’ and contribute, far beyond the ‘he’s behind you’ of British pantomime, but exploring different options for dealing with a social justice problem or issue. There could not be a more suitable performance style for an issue like dementia, one we still know little about and even less about how to deal with, so who best to direct this portrayal of the condition than those with experience of the condition in the audience dealing with it every day?
Though it maybe artistically suitable, there is no doubt forum theatre is an incredible challenge for the performers. Gill Cree, Steve Bennett and Sally Geake portray people with dementia, and carers, family members and friends around them through the situations they offer the audience. In conversation with Steve about concerns he might possibly have, concerns I would certainly have If I had to improvise on audience suggestions throughout the performance, he in fact said he liked how it “keeps you on your toes” admitting that truly “acting is only reacting”. Though Gill and Steve, both actors who will be portraying people with dementia, did admit to anxiously learning as much as they possibly could about living with dementia by having conversations with people with dementia to understand more about the condition and living with it every day. This was necessary, knowing when it comes down to improvisation with an audience they have no script blocking or even director Paul’s instructions to rely on, but solely their acting ability and personal knowledge of the condition, which is even more crucial considering the theatre style centres around portrayal of truthful issues. Neither actor admitted to having any personal experience with dementia in their lives, when asked about how they were to portray their character realistically, especially in such testing environment they came up with an interesting sentiment. When acting, Instead of putting themselves in someone’s shoes they take what they know to be true within themselves and search for a similar emotion/feeling/experience e.t.c within their character to deliver an authentic performance.
I enjoyed this concept because I believe it speaks beyond the performing arts and in fact about a method we could all use in our everyday lives especially when dealing with societal issues such as dementia in a greatly more empathetic way. Not once in this blog have I yet referred to dementia or Alzheimer’s as a ‘disease’ because though it is many things I do not think it is at all that – however I don’t believe most of the public share my thoughts. This could possibly be a core reason why dementia in some way has become (or maybe it always was) a taboo, leading to (as portrayed in the ‘play) difficulties those caring for and with dementia. Because to the world, especially most young around me, it is a disease. It’s something to cure. And if you can’t cure it then why bother? Why bother with the memory café’s, mindfulness classes and trips Weston super-mare? Because, as the world has forgotten, these people are people!
I used to imagine that my grandmother’s dementia was less of a handicap and more a superpower. Near the end yes, she heartbreakingly couldn’t remember the names her children, yet simultaneously she could crack out (to me) ancient Irish folk songs she learnt when she was much younger then myself. Word for word songs which had long been lost to the rest of my family and probably generations of others, she brought back to life with a vivacity her wonderful voice did with any melody.
So, what is dementia to you?
Come along to ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ and you may just find out!
Aliens! Riots! Running! It can only mean one thing… Introducing our Spring 2022 Performance Season!
From stories that put women centre stage, to perilous expeditions on the hunt for the legendary Snow Beast, we’re so excited to share a brand new season of theatre shows and dance performances, coming your way over the next few months.
A lot of things happened in 2020-2021 that led to many useless brochures, posters, flyers and other bits of paper going in the bin. In 2019 Exeter Phoenix made the decision to try and reduce our impact on the environment by producing fewer printed materials as part of a wider strategy to make the arts more sustainable.
Now, we are giving you the choice! You can print your own brochure, print the shows you don’t want to miss to stick on the fridge, or browse digitally. If you do choose to print, please remember to recycle! Thank you for supporting us in our move to be a more sustainable organisation.
Exeter Phoenix are proud to host this extraordinary series of artworks on the façade of our building that function both as alternative Christmas lights and as urgent reminders of the steps we all need to take in tackling the climate crisis.
LOVE IS THE HIGHEST ECONOMY is a series of low voltage LED, illuminated text sculptures, originally installed by Still/Moving at different locations around Glasgow for the duration of the recent COP26 conference. The works were made with various community groups around the country during 2021, as well as indigenous representatives and leaders, and with delegates at COP itself.
Here, they are presented together for the first time as a message of hope and caution at a time of year when ideas of peace, goodwill and love come into tension with conspicuous consumption and excess.
ABOUT STILL MOVING
Still/Moving is composed of three artists, Laura Hopes, Martin Hampton and Léonie Hampton, who met when they were 13. Living in Devon, UK, their collective practice aims to create social and ecological change through questioning established modes of thinking and behaviour. Projects are developed through a process of collaborative and participatory dialogue and activity among each other and with partner communities. Inspired by the artist Louise Bourgeois who said ‘It is not about the medium, it is about what you are trying to say’, their work emerges in diverse forms, including sculpture, film, photography, performance, installation, the spoken and printed word.
Léonie has an internationally acclaimed fine art practice. She studied Art history, specialising in contemporary European and American art, and is a part time MA Photography tutor at LCC London. Martin is an award-winning filmmaker who co-founded Squint/Opera with architect Will Alsop. He studied Architecture at The Bartlett, UCL, specialising in speculative designs for extreme locations such as the moon and intertidal zones. Laura is an artist and AHRC funded PhD candidate, whose research project focuses upon the relationship between climate change and colonisation.
THE PHRASES
LOVE IS THE HIGEST ECONOMY comes from the powerful and moving words written and performed by the author Ben Okri with his partner Charlotte Jarvis on the penultimate day of COP26 in Glasgow.
You can read Ben Okri’s performance speech in full here.
IT’S STARTED
Green meadows, Nottingham
IT’S STARTED resonates with the Green Meadows values as we recognise there is strength in every individual to make change happen. ‘IT’S STARTED’ also expresses the sense of urgency towards the rising temperatures and how we need to act now.
“Tackling climate change can feel an impossible task as an individual and many of the community members we engage with are waiting for changes to start on a national scale. The Green Meadows project aims to empower Meadows residents to take immediate, local action, and tackle climate change together.”
–Heather Hodkinson, Community Engagement Officer, Green Meadows
Ripple Effect is a phrase that was coined by the fantastic School Champions in Chorlton; a group who have brought together an entire community of parents, guardians, teachers and local residents, having turned an initial conversation into tangible climate action.
“With a focus on improving our streets outside of our schools, the School Champions Network have pushed for safer, healthier and greener journeys for families when dropping off and picking up their kids from school. Change starts on our doorsteps and in our communities, and the Our Streets Chorlton’s School Champions have proven that with purpose and a desire to make change, one idea can turn into activity across an entire area.
Our Streets Chorlton is a community-led climate action project in the heart of south Manchester. We are here to start a conversation, one centred on how local people can help to reduce carbon emissions by enabling Chorlton people to reduce local and short car journeys.”
“Remote, peripheral and perched on the North Atlantic shore, Bude is exposed to the force of thousands of miles of steadily rising ocean and increasingly fierce winter storms hitting its shoreline, putting it very much ON THE EDGE – physically and metaphorically – of the sharpest impacts of climate change.
As the most sensitive location in the UK to sea-level rise, our challenge as a community is to find ways to protect our town, our way of life and our cherished coastline, parts of which are currently retreating at a rate of a metre a year, while also reducing our own impacts on the climate crisis.”
Bude Climate Partnership has united community and environmental groups in working together to make positive changes that will ensure our town, its surrounding communities and landscapes have a long and safe future ON THE EDGE of Cornwall, Britain and the sharpest impacts of the climate crisis.’
“Article 8 of the Paris Agreement outlines the responsibilities of countries to take action on loss and damage. Addressing loss and damage stands alongside mitigation and adaptation as a fundamental pillar of climate action. But despite signing on to the Agreement, the wealthy countries who contributed the most to causing loss and damage are still unwilling to provide the finance and support needed to address it.”
During this COP Scotland become the first rich country to publicly contribute to Loss and Damage by giving 1 million. Over the following days at COP other countries are also finally rising to this responsibility and paving the way for reparations.
TO BE HEARD
“Originally conceived in a pilot project with #LetterstotheEarth and #WeGlimpse aimed to link the G7 meeting in Carbis Bay to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Through conversations on the street and workshops, we wanted to find out what local people felt needed to be said. People expressed there need TO BE HEARD. In COP 26 partnering with LTTE (Listening to the Land Pilgrimage) Still/Moving showed this work at to Kelburn Castle on Sunday the 7th November where many Indigenous elders and Delegates from Vulnerable countries are hosted along with the pilgrims.”
JUSTICE RESET
This seminal phrase is key to the work of environmental lawyer Farhana Yamin: “Justice Reset” is a unifying demand to COP26. It gathers all constituencies whose call for climate justice and just transition recognises the need for a complete overhaul of the existing system by shifting resources and political power to those with less.
Comments Off on Re-discover Christmas at Exeter Phoenix
After a Christmas that nearly never was, we’re thrilled to welcome our visitors to savour the festive season to its fullest this year and get you feeling warm and fuzzy in the season of good will!
Choose from a rich choice of atmospheric music, cabaret and storytelling events, shows, workshops and opportunities for outright rambunctious celebrations await anyone who cares to swerve the high street to see what is going on under Exeter Phoenix’s roof – and beyond.
Re-discover the fun and variety the Christmas season has to offer, here at Exeter Phoenix!
Quirk Theatre’s heart-warmingly hilarious show Rhia & The Tree Of Lights invites the whole family to enjoy a fantastical adventure around our amazing Jurassic Coast. From a Deep-Time Disco to a boogie with a flamboyant sea slug, with vibrant, original music & traditional Indian stories, Rhia & The Tree of Lights is a festive show for the whole family – a meaningful alternative to the panto that takes you to the heart of what the season is all about.
The regular and much beloved SPORK! Poetry event returns this December with a Christmas special, promising a world class comedy rap jazz duo, powerful spoken word artists and the Exeter Railway Band serving another helping of carols for good measure.
For those seeking quirky glam and hearty alternative jollitude this month, the annual Steampunk Yule Ball event offers just the ticket: a ‘Carnivale’ themed spectacular, heaving with bands, DJs, performers and sideshows. Attendants are invited to dress and feel their best in the spirit of this unique night.
Jim Causley will be returning to present A Causley Christmas, a night of West Country carols performed with great musical skill and passion combined with the poetry of his famous relative Charles Causley whilst Carolling & Crumpets with John Kirkpatrick promises folk and folklore combined into an evening of exploration around pagan origins of seasonal themes and rituals.
Jim Causley: A Causley Christmas
John Kirkpatrick: Carolling & Crumpets
Festive films on offer for the season at Studio 74 will include the magical Italian Pinocchio (2019). Wildly unlike the Disney version, Matteo Garrone’s dark adaptation is packed with fantasy, adventure and beauty. Sometimes the old ones are the best and you can also sit back and savour It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) on the Studio 74 screen this Christmas.
Don’t forget to pop into the Exeter Phoenix-supported Maker Mart on Gandy Street, the perfect opportunity to pick up unusual, locally crafted gifts. At Exeter Phoenix and the Exeter Phoenix-supported Positive Light Projects on Sidwell Street, you could also consider making your own by joining the seasonal crafts and printmaking sessions on offer. Classes and workshops also make a lovely gift, if you’re not sure what your recipient will most enjoy you can contact the box office to arrange a Gift Voucher.
The Phoenix Café-Bar will as always offer the opportunity to relax with a warming beverage, or pop by for lunch. Our Festive Drinks menu is now available.
After your fill of Christmas, Exeter Phoenix are planning to see the year out with a bang: NYE Party: Show Must Go On! will be the perfect place to shake out the old and bring in the new with an exuberant circus vibe, bubbles and glitter. Bands, DJs and walkaround performers will be taking over the Exeter Phoenix. Fairground games, a quiz, darkly glamourous drag karaoke and a silent disco will see people into a hopefully very happy, healthy and brilliant new year.
Comments Off on A Window to the Future at Exeter Phoenix
This is our beautiful historic building. As well as being home to culture and creativity in Exeter, it is a rare survivor of the 1942 Blitz which decimated other areas of our city.
As you can see, it has a lot of windows; 106 in total. These fill our galleries, studios and workshops with light, but they are all single-glazed and metal framed, meaning they lose A LOT of heat. What a pane!
But that needn’t be the case – installing secondary glazing on our windows would preserve the look and feel of these special spaces, while eliminating draughts, retaining heat and reducing our energy consumption.
With so many windows to tackle, this is a costly job. But we now have the opportunity to double your donations and make this dream a reality thanks to M&S Energy’s Community Fund, who have chosen our project to receive up to £5,000 in match funding.
Materials for each window will cost £200, so if we are successful in achieving our £10,000 target then we will be able to reduce the amount of heat lost through our 50 most wasteful windows!
What’s more, Exeter Phoenix has pledged to cover the cost of installing the windows, making your donations go even further and have even greater impact.
If we can raise £1,000 by 30 or more donors by Fri 17 Dec, the M&S Energy Community Fund could grant the venue the additional funds needed to install the secondary glazing needed to make our venue greener. You can show your support to a greener future by donating here.
REWARDS
We’re offering a myriad of unique rewards as part of this fundraising campaign that will only be available to our fantastic donors, including a limited edition postcard, a laser-cut wooden Exeter Phoenix Christmas decoration and a private cinema screening!
Find out all about the wonderful rewards we’re offering as a thank you for your support here.
THANK YOU!
A huge thank you to you, our wonderful supporters. We very literally couldn’t be doing this without you.
We are over the moon to be bringing back our Sunday Roast Club from Sunday 21st November.
Choose either Roast Beef or a seasonal Nut Roast, served with roast potatoes, caramelized parsnips, cauliflower and broccoli cheese, spiced butternut squash puree, braised cabbage, carrots, Yorkshire puddings and buckets of gravy all for £11.50.
Add a delicious dessert for £3 too!
We will be serving each Sunday from 12pm until we are sold out, so book to avoid disappointment. Tables will be available either in the café bar, on the terrace or in our new heated marquee space. Just let us know any dietary restrictions and we will take care of the rest.
To book just contact us on cafébar@exeterphoenix.org.uk.
This Halloween Studio 74 has handed the keys over to our Young Audience panel who have curated a weekend of cannibals, wicked conventions and unexpected consequences.
While exploring ideas for the programme the Young Audience Panel began to pick apart our relationship with Halloween and horror. Here, the panel and Studio 74 Collaborators share their thoughts.
The Witches (1990)
Raw
ELLA MOORHOUSE – Young Audience panel
“This year, I’m going to bite the bullet and finally watch Takashi Miike’s Audition followed by vintage classic Cat People and hopefully make it out alive”.
Every Halloween, I tuck myself in for the night, dim the lights and watch a double-bill of some of the scariest, weirdest, funniest and beautiful horrors out there.
When I first decided on this mini scare fest, the year was 2017, I was home, alone, in a dark creaky Victorian cottage; naturally the perfect setting. It was the year I got obsessed with anything David Lynch breathed or touched, so of course the perfect line-up would be Eraserhead (1977) with a Lost Highway (1997) chaser.
Lynch’s first feature film, Eraserhead is a melancholy, confusing, dark and sorrowful meditation on fatherhood, identity, loneliness and aspirations; a classic ‘midnight movie’ in indie cinemas when it was first released. As baffling as Eraserhead is, it was Lost Highway that truly left me with chills. With a mysterious stalkerish man that lives in a wooden hut out in the desert, mistrustful identical twins, wrongful incarceration and crazed jazz solos, it’s an uncomfortably intimate look into the seedy underbelly of 90s America.
Last year, armed with a couple of San Miguels, and in the true height of lockdown extraness, a sourdough baked into the shape of a pumpkin, I revisited Italian giallo classic, Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977), the sumptuously shot cautionary tale of the prestigious dance school with many secrets to hide. Released in the same year, I ended the night with the weird and wacky cult favourite Hausu (1977), complete with evil cats, girl gangs and slightly dodgy green screens.
This year, I’m going to bite the bullet and finally watch Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999) followed by vintage classic Cat People (1942) and hopefully make it out alive.
“One thing that terrifies me to the core of my soul is Triplets, the now greenlit sequel to Twins”
In terms of films, one thing that terrifies me to the core of my soul is Triplets, the now greenlit sequel to Twins, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito and Tracy Morgan. I mean, just who is going to watch that? I generally have a fear of sequels coming out decades after the first, relatively well received film. That and films with Ryan Reynolds in them. Outside of film, I would say it’s the undefined fear of something stopping me doing what I love.
I think films that give me goosebumps aren’t normally blood and gore for me, but those that are steeped in some kind of reality. I felt a real sense of unease after watching Prisoners, for example.
Halloween isn’t really a thing in our house, so we don’t celebrate it. Our kids do love the Goosebumps books and films, though.
I’ll settle for watching something like Scream 2, which I believe is the high water mark for the franchise. The first Nightmare on Elm Street is incredible (I remember being way too young to watch it with my friends at the time – we watched it in the middle of the afternoon so we didn’t get too scared!), Dawn of the Dead is great too. Anything by Sam Raimi – Drag Me To Hell is actually amazing, talking goat and all. Also Audition by Takashi Miike, which I’ve seen just once in 2000 but has stayed with me for well over twenty years!
My wife hates Horror, so for ages I stopped watching them, but after stumbling on a few titles over the last couple of years, I forgot how much I appreciate the thematic tropes.
“The skins between worlds do indeed grow thin on Halloween.”
It seems funny to me now looking back, that a season that has become synonymous with me, my art, my everything, was once a season that I feared. Of course, back in the 1970’s and early 80’s in Britain Halloween was not celebrated to the extent that it is today. The occasional children’s party might pop up once in a while but I don’t remember ever dressing up, ever being visited by trick-or-treaters or even carving a pumpkin. No, it was something altogether different back then. Halloween was a night when the things that you feared every other night had the opportunity to edge just that little bit closer. It was the night of vintage Horror double bills on BBC2. It was a night when the skin between the worlds grew thin and night falling was not a time for celebration. Especially for a child that suffered from night terrors.
Although I’d always loved monsters, I was terrified of ghosts, having grown up in a family that never spoke of them lightly. The dead were close. The supernatural was not something to mock. So, it seems funny that I should ever dare to read Usborne’s Supernatural Guides after dark. Although their first ‘All about Ghosts’ had its fair share of chilling stories, illustrations and unexplained photographs, it was this illustration from the later ‘Haunted Houses Ghosts & Spectres’ that would scare me witless. Indeed, eventually I had to make sure I skipped that page to ward off visions of that blue floating face dripping blood hovering at the end of my own bed.
Things are different now. In time to ward off night terrors I came to embrace horror in all its guises, learn of the craft, of the authors and the anatomies of all those things that go bump in the night and make a friend of them. Halloween now is a time of celebration. It’s a time that my daughter Lily Wednesday (Lily as in Munster, Wednesday as in Addams of course) starts to eagerly plan for the moment October arrives and the night itself is full of games, spooky movies and all the confectionary you could possibly stomach.
But once the children are sleeping and the doorbell stops ringing, the house settles and slowly the old feelings often return. But with a slight difference. The skins between worlds do indeed grow thin on Halloween. Now, it’s the night wherein your world gets a glimpse of mine.
BORLEY RECTORY, directed by Ashley Thorpe is currently available on Netflix.
I grew up in Germany where Halloween was not really recognised and Trick or Treat was not a thing. However, that didn’t stop me and my brother doing our best to score sweets from our neighbours. Members of our community would not know what to make of two small boys standing on their door steps dressed in make shift ‘scary’ outfits demanding sweets.
LUKE HAGAN – Digital Coordinator
“I am not afraid to admit that the show got right under my skin.”
Cartoon Network released a mini-series a few year’s ago called OVER THE GARDEN WALL. It is for children but I am not afraid to admit that the show got right under my skin. It is animated with great music and it has a spooky 1920 feel to it. There is a cosy and sweet facade with a sense that something is deeply worrying and everyone of going to die. It has talking animals in. Naturally, watching it has become a bit of a Halloween tradition.
If I was scared of something even the word would set me off and I would insist that my parents only use the first letter. So I would say, “Don’t say witch! Say ‘W!”
Witches used to scare me the most and I swear to this day that looking out of my bedroom window I saw a witch flying. I still can’t find a reasonable explanation for what I saw.
CLAIRE HORROCKS – Film programmer
CLAIRE HORROCKS | Film programmer
I love horror and have always enjoyed the sensation of being scared or frightened. I have two older brothers, one of which delighted in sharing his video nasty collection, ghost stories and general obsessions with the unworldly. It takes a lot for films to frighten me but he and I used to flick through his book; A DICTIONARY OF GHOSTS. The pages were littered with old Victorian photos with ghostly children in the background and tales of the unexplained. Terrifying.
I have just finished reading The Witches to my seven-year-old so this Halloween I will be brining her to Studio 74 to watch THE WITCHES. She is just like me and doesn’t scare easy but I can’t help thinking Nicolas Roeg’s twisted interpretation of the Grand High Witch might have some effect.
JIN LEE | YOUNG AUDIENCE PANELLIST
“Are people interested in tangible, “this could happen to me” scenarios where there’s an implicit level of relatability with the film’s circumstances?”
On approaching the Halloween season at the cinema…
The aptly-titled, John Carpenter-birthed “Halloween” franchise might be a good guide as to what moviegoers seek in the Halloween season. It certainly ticks a lot of boxes: jump scares, violence, and some quasi-human, near-supernatural antagonist. But is that exactly what defines a “Halloween” film? Are people interested in tangible, “this could happen to me” scenarios where there’s an implicit level of relatability with the film’s circumstances? Or perhaps totally farfetched stories of an unknown and unpredictable threat are what hooks viewers in?
Then comes the consideration of if fear is even what’s sought after. Lots of “Halloween”-adjacent films, namely th
e animated films of Tim Burton and/or Henry Selick, tread light with horror tropes and instead lean on imagery traditionally associated with Halloween: ghosts, the undead, skeletons and whatnot. Maybe the focus should be on the dressing-up part of Halloween, emphasising an event that’s largely an entertainment source for most people?
This isn’t to say that one way or another of interpreting the cinematic definition of “Halloween” is better or worse than another. The intention here is to merely provide the lightest of food for thought before perusing any collection of films labelled suitable for “Halloween”; there certainly seems to be more nuance to what’s desired of cinemas during the Halloween period than at first glance.
With October half term looming, we’ve got some some fun family friendly performances, films, workshops and activities coming up, suitable for a variety of interests and ages!
World record-breaking beatboxer SK Shlomo makes mad music with his mouth. Become one of this sonic superhero’s sidekicks in a world of funny sounds, brilliant noises and cool music, whether you’re aged 1 or 101!
Flying with Strings is a new collaboration between Devon-based puppeteer Sarah Vigars and musician Louis Bingham. Inspired by the avian world of Britain, Europe and Africa, this interactive show and workshop features intricate string puppetry and live music.
Come along to see the puppets in action and learn about the world of birds, including the graceful swallow, the charismatic hoopoe and the colourful bee-eater. There will also be some puppets to have a play with too! Suitable for all ages.
Ariel was always here. Caliban was born here. And Stephano has just arrived. They all claim ‘this island’s mine’. But do any of them have that right? And what happens if they can’t agree?
Set in the extraordinary world of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Roustabout (creators of Luna & One Small Step ★★★★★) present a playful and daring exploration of the place we choose to call home.
Filled with magic, music and mayhem, this show encourages young people to ask: Where do I belong? Where is my home? Is it truly mine?
Sophia’s imaginary friend is called Mr. Whatsit. No matter where Sophia finds herself living, he’s always there with a new joke to tell and a new game to play.
But when Sophia moves into her new foster home, Mr Whatsit finds himself unimagined! Now Sophia has a new imaginary friend – the glamourous, grown up Margo.
Can Mr. Whatsit’s childish playfulness keep him from being unimagined for good? And with her imaginary friends competing against each other, will Sophia manage to find her forever home?
PaddleBoat Theatre Company present an interactive make-believe tale where the real and imaginary collide, and friends are never far away.
In this two day hands-on workshop you will use stop motion animation techniques to design, plan and shoot a short film using your favourite Lego from home.
Under the supervision of our professional animation and filmmaking tutors you will create a set for your very own story and bring your characters to life using visual and sound effects. The final films will be uploaded to our Youtube account after the workshop for you to share with your family and friends!
Nicholas Roeg’s beastly adaptation of Roald Dahl’s scariest book brings to life the account of one boy, his grandma and a whole lot of mice.
When Luke is orphaned he is sent to live with his Norwegian Grandmother, who shares tales of a grotesque breed who have claws, no toes and who disguise themselves as lovely ladies in a bid to catch children.
It is not long before Luke understands his grandmother’s yarns are true and her wise words are designed to protect him from the world of THE WITCHES.
Roeg’s signature creepy style brings Roald Dahl’s most terrifying characters to life and will leave any child thinking twice before they accept chocolate from a lovely lady again.
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