Comments Off on Exeter Phoenix turns 25 in 2024. Help us celebrate!
In 1999 Exeter Phoenix landed: A multi-arts venue dedicated to bringing the best cultural experiences to the people of Exeter and the South-West.For 25 years we have championed the weird and the wonderful, the visionaries and the risk-takers, offering a safe space for our community to be who they want to be.
During these 25 years we have grown and spread our wings, allowing us to platform thousands of bands, artists and performers. The support from our communities saw us expand our auditorium, build a solar-powered cinema (Studio 74) and make new spaces to create from store cupboards and empty walls. Not content to restrict creativity and growth to our own four walls, we have also reached out across the city, enabling and driving the creation of new cultural spaces, platforms and opportunities.
Innumerable numbers of creative careers have launched here, their visions released out into the world to fly!
Throughout 2024, look out for a fantastic range of special events, stories and opportunities marking this milestone. We want to celebrate with all of you - because we wouldn’t be where we are today without you!
Together, let’s look forward to the years ahead, what would YOU like to see from us next?
How can you get involved?
There will be opportunities throughout the year ahead to share your stories and memories and we can’t wait to hear from you!
This month…
Tell us about a theatre or dance show that matters to you on our social media via Instagram or Facebook.
Send us a birthday message. If Exeter Phoenix means something to you, perhaps you would like to share something with us?
Your birthday message can be:
- Recorded as a video (portrait please)
- Captured as a voice message
- Or written words...
All birthday wishes can be emailed here or you can submit a message via our form, here.
Inspiration:
Not sure what to say? Take inspiration from these ideas.
“Happy Birthday Exeter Phoenix. Here’s to another great 25 years.”
“Happy Birthday Exeter Phoenix, the place I enjoyed…/ learned to…/ met my…”
We will share your messages on the Exeter Phoenix social channels, on our website and newsletters and on the big screen in Studio 74.
You can also celebrate with us at any one of our events! Keep your eyes peeled for some special ones, dates to be announced soon!
Finally, you can help keep Exeter Phoenix flying in 2024 and beyond by giving us a birthday gift!
Comments Off on The Red Shoes: Beyond the Mirror, Behind the Scenes
Limited tickets are available to catch The Red Shoes at Exeter Cathedral this Tuesday 28 November
The more ballet TV shows and films one watches, the more red pointe shoes one is likely to see. I thought painting ballet shoes red was a good ole dramatic device used to represent the classics: anger, passion, temptation, rebellion etc. That, however, changed when I watched Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948). Seeing Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) battle between her love for a young composer, Julian, and her passion for dance opened the catalogue of dance films that had been locked away in the back of my mind for years. Suddenly, one of the best scenes in one of my favourite ballet movies, Centre Stage (2000), started to come to life. Torn between two desires, Jody (Amanda Schull) performs a passionate routine in none other than bright red pointe shoes— a now obvious homage to The Red Shoes.
I cannot do a cabriole or grand jeté, but I love films about ballet because they are always about the pains and preciousness of dance, yes, but so much more too. Watching this classic film that inspired so many was nothing less than a treat, yet walking through an exhibition that transported you into the very world of The Red Shoes was something else entirely.
I was given the opportunity by the Exeter Phoenix and Film Hub Southwest to attend the BFI’s opening reception and private view of their new exhibition The Red Shoes: Beyond the Mirror. The exhibition was an unforgettable experience to say the least. I entered the BFI building alone, unafraid but unsure. To tell the truth, I considered the films of the 60s and 70s I watched to be old. Sure, I had studied a few early-mid 20th century films, but I was not a ‘Classic movies’ aficionado. As I stood in the long queue to get my wristband (which was red, of course), I marvelled at the woman in front me, who I later learned was costume buyer Dorothy Sarafoglou. She caught my attention because she was donned in a floor-length 150-year-old red Ottoman coat. We got to chatting and she soon, rather fittingly, became my red-coat guide who walked through The Red Shoes exhibition with me.
Much like The Red Shoes, the exhibition was a balance between fantasy and reality. At one point, I sat down at a recreation of protagonist Victoria Page’s dressing table from the film, decorated with period perfume bottles, hairbrushes and bouquets of red, hot pink and fuchsia flowers. I felt as if Julian and Lermontov themselves were about to pop out from behind a wall and make me decide between love or dance.
As I continued to walk through the exhibition, it was as if the film had ended, the credits had rolled, and I was being let into to the life of The Red Shoes beyond the screen. I read letters from Michael Powell, glanced at pictures of Moira Shearer as Victoria preparing for the ‘Coppelia’ sequences in the film, gazed at velvet ballet costumes, and manoeuvred through real-life ballet dancers stretching in their crimson leg warmers.
Though enjoying the experience, I had many questions about this crazy ballet film world I had just whirlwind-ed my way through. In a brilliant turn of events, I had the opportunity to have my questions answered when I spoke with the set designer of the exhibition, renowned art director and designer Simon Costin:
Chloé: What from The Red Shoes inspired you the most when designing the exhibition?
Simon: I can’t say there was one particular thing, it was more the overall tone of the film. I wanted visitors to leave their world behind them the moment they reached the top of the stairs to the mezzanine and stepped through the entrance into the draped hallway.
Chloé: What was your favourite section of the exhibition to design and why?
Simon: That’s impossible to say because the exhibition was designed as a whole experience. Some of my favourite elements would be the newspaper figure, glimpsed behind the two-way mirror in the rehearsal room and the Pepper’s Ghost effect which reveals the shoes momentarily before clips of the film obscure them. It’s an old theatrical device which seemed to make sense to use, given the otherworldly mood that the film has.
Chloé: Which item was your favourite and why?
Simon: I think the Newspaper Man. Phoebe McEllhatton, who painted him, made such a beautiful job. There are several moments within the exhibition where we have endeavoured to recreate settings from the film, such as Victoria Page’s dressing table. The sequence in the film with the Newspaper Man was one that I found so enchanting the first time I ever saw the film.
Chloé: Why do you think the legacy of The Red Shoes has endured after so much time?
Simon: I think the Archers films were so unique then and now. As pioneers of English Magical Realism, they have never been surpassed. The ballet sequence is also one of the most breathtakingly magical ever made of a dance piece on film.
Chloé: And finally, how do you hope the exhibition impacts audiences, both long-time fans of The Red Shoes and first-time viewers?
Simon: I hope that the environment that we created helps to add several layers of make-believe to what is already a fantastical film, and to give the dozens of archival paintings and drawings a suitable backdrop for visitors to immerse themselves in.
Immersive, fantastical, playful; the team behind ‘The Red Shoes: Beyond the Mirror’ definitely delivered.
After weaving my way through rich blue curtains and multicoloured lights, and passed through the room of red walls, red flowers… I wondered: where is it?
Then… almost catching you by the surprise, the star of the exhibition appeared before my eyes: the sinister red shoes sat contained in glass box. Though paling with age, they still had their famous red pigment and stood erect as if Victoria’s feet were still stuck inside of them.
Victoria Page’s exit from The Red Shoes was traumatic to put it lightly. The good news for me was, when the blue curtains, bright lights and red walls came to an end, I safely descended the metal stairs, and my hot pink heels obediently led me back towards reality.
Comments Off on The Creative Influences of Powell and Pressburger
To celebrate our Powell and Pressburger season here at Exeter Phoenix, we asked some of the fantastic people involved about their experiences, memories and inspirations taken from the films.
The videos below share how their films have influenced the creative practices of artists, researchers and film critics alike.
Michelle Williams Gamaker
Michelle Williams Gamaker is an artist working in moving image. She interrogates cinematic artifice, deploying characters as fictional activists to critique the imperialist storytelling in 20th-century British/Hollywood studio films. She is joint-winner of Film London’s Jarman Award 2020 and is the recipient of FLAMIN’s Production Award for Thieves (2023), her first film in Fictional Revenge, premieres at her exhibition Our Mountains Are Painted on Glass at South London Gallery.
Michelle will be introducing Black Narcissus on Thursday 23 Nov. Her work ‘House of Women’ will be screened before the film.
Pamela Hutchinson
Pamela Hutchinson is a freelance critic, curator and film historian. She is the author of BFI Film Classics on The Red Shoes and Pandora’s Box. Her curation projects include seasons on Marlene Dietrich and Asta Nielsen for BFI Southbank. She edits the Weekly Film Bulletin and she is a columnist for Sight and Sound, writes for The Guardian and her website, SilentLondon.co.uk, is devoted to silent cinema.
Pamela will be hosting the introduction for our screening of The Red Shoes hosted at Exeter Cathedral.
Phil Wickham
Dr Phil Wickham is the curator of The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. He acquires artefacts, oversees the operations of the museum, and works with students and academic staff to highlight the stories the collections can tell us about moving images and the people that made and viewed them. Phil also co-teaches the 3rd year module ‘British Screens’, which looks at the history of moving images in Britain through the holdings of the museum and includes an assessed exhibition.
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum will be hosting the pre-feature talk in Exeter Cathedral's Lady Chapel as part of our The Red Shoes Premier Package.
We love having you around. We want to see more of you.
We are ready to take a big step in our relationship and make our home, your home.
Here is your key to Exeter's home of independent cinema...
Studio 74 Membership!
Exeter Phoenix is excited to bring a new development to our growing cinema community. Our Studio 74 Membership scheme gives audiences the opportunity to join our club, access discounts on every film we screen and receive exclusive offers at our café bar and with our partners.
Studio 74 is Exeter’s home of independent cinema. It’s the cinema you want and the cinema you need.
Please note: The first membership options titled ‘Friends Scheme’ are not Studio74 Memberships.
Choose which film you’d like to see and book your ticket in your usual way; online, over the phone or via the Box Office. Any eligible discounts will be applied at checkout. Please note, only one ticket per screening will be discounted as part of your membership offer. If you are coming with another member holder, they will need to book separately. Studio 74 has unreserved seating, so you will still be able to sit with one another.
How many tickets can I book?
There is no limit to how often you can use your membership and you can book for more than one film at a time. Studio 74 screens films 7 days a week, up to 4 times a day and we are ready to welcome you however often you choose to join us.
How do I pay for membership online?
Head to the Studio 74 Membership page on our website.
Scroll down until you see a box with the yellow heading ‘Memberships’.
In that box, scroll to the bottom to see the Studio 74 Membership options (Joint/Individual/Student). Please note: The first membership options titled ‘Friends Scheme’ are not Studio74 Memberships.
Add your chosen membership to your basket and follow the pages through to the checkout.
You will need to login to your Exeter Phoenix account or register for one.
Full terms and conditions apply to all membership. Details can be found below:
Theatre in the Park is back for 2023! Welcome to another sizzling season of outdoor theatre and performance. This year we'll be heading to both Rougemont and Northernhay Gardens.
Join us for an epic seaside tale gig-theatre show, Shakespeare aplenty, a Spork! Summer Special and an interactive promenade with dance, movement and a giant puppet.
Make the most of being outdoors this summer and head to the Gardens for some al fresco fun!
SUN & MOON THEATRE
ROMEO & JULIET
THU 27 - SAT 29 JUL
Sun & Moon Theatre are delighted to be returning to Rougemont Gardens with a vibrant open-air production of Shakespeare’s most popular drama of star-crossed lovers and warring families.
HERO & LEANDER, OR, I LOVE YOU, BUT EVERYTHING'S UNDER WATER
THU 10 AUG
Sing, dance and cry with us in this bittersweet outdoor gig theatre show. Six multi-instrumentalists tell an epic seaside tale through songs encompassing folk, indie, sea shanties and choral music.
Whack the factor 50 on and join Spork! for a glorious Summer Special in Northernhay Gardens for a sun-drenched hour of sumptuous spoken-word, poetry, comedy & live music.
Autin Dance Theatre’s sensational outdoor show is an interactive promenade and a physical theatre duet which transports its audiences into another world, to tell a story about our own.
Comments Off on Have a very ‘Mary’ Christmas with Quirk Theatre!
This December, South West based Quirk Theatre brings to life the astonishing true local story of Mary The Pigeon Who Never Gave Up, in partnership with Exeter Phoenix and The Plough Arts Centre, Torrington. A magical alternative to panto and a festive treat for the whole family!
For two decades, Quirk Theatre's beloved and memorable shows have given children their first experience of live theatre. Exeter Phoenix are delighted to welcome them back to produce what will be their 19th unforgettable, hilarious and heartwarming Christmas show with the venue - and this one is set to be their best yet!
Did you know that pigeons are actually… superheroes?
Set in Exeter during WW2, Mary The Pigeon Who Never Gave Up, follows the thrilling true story of one very special local pigeon, who flew top secret messages home from France during World War 2.
Mary’s owner, Cecil (known as Charlie) Brewer, was a bootmaker and pigeon racer. Charlie lived at 6 West Street, Exeter, where he had his bootmaking workshop, photography darkroom and his pigeon loft in the attic. When war broke out, Charlie signed Mary up to serve in the National Pigeon Service. She was injured three times in duty but never gave up, earning her the Dickin Medal for Gallantry when the war ended.
Visually beautiful, heartfelt and uproariously funny, join Mary, the madcap members of the National Pigeon Service, a lost flamingo and a Polish Eagle Owl from Squadron 307 as they all try to find their way home.
This year, Quirk are also publishing a brand new picture book of this special story illustrated by collage artist, Rosie Race, and the people of Exeter! All summer long, Quirk have been running painting and collage workshops for schools and community groups in Exeter, creating beautiful collage illustrations for the book. In partnership with Exeter City of Literature, Exeter Library and BookBag Exeter the professionally produced community book will be published in time for World Book Day in March 2023.
Naomi Jackson, a teacher at Stoke Hill Primary, said: “The children were incredibly excited to be involved in work that will be printed and in which so many different groups of people have been involved. They loved watching their pigeons take on individual personalities. Every child felt their success.”
And the good news is that when you book for the show at Exeter Phoenix, you can get 10% discount on pre-orders for the book!
Pay it Forward - and give someone else a ‘Mary Christmas’ too!
Exeter Phoenix and Quirk have teamed up with Refugee Support Devon to run a Pay It Forward Scheme for the second year. So when you buy your tickets, you can add a little (or a lottle) to ensure another family gets the gift of live theatre this Christmas. Last year 11 refugee families were able to attend the show thanks to generous donations. Arif & Wesel brought their family to see Rhia & The Tree of Lights, saying: “Thank you for drawing a smile on our children's faces.”
Plough Arts Centre, Torrington: 30th November- 3rd December
Comments Off on THIRTEEN ARTISTS ANNOUNCED FOR EXETER CONTEMPORARY OPEN 2022
This September, Exeter Contemporary Open returns as we present a significant showcase of emerging and established contemporary visual artists from across the UK. Established in 2006, Exeter Contemporary Open has come to be recognised as one of the UK’s most prominent contemporary arts competitions.
This year’s exhibition includes a shortlist of thirteen artists, selected from hundreds of submissions by a panel of industry specialists – internationally regarded artists Jonathan Baldock and Anne Ryan as well as Exeter Phoenix Gallery Curator, Matt Burrows.
Each of the artists selected for the exhibition will be eligible for one of several cash prizes: The £1000 Overall Award, £500 Additional Award and £200 Audience Choice Award – as voted for by visitors over the course of the exhibition.
Keep reading to find out more about each of the selected artists.
ALEX CROCKER
Alex Crocker’s paintings are drawn from daily walks, domestic routines and family life and are recorded in simple drawn images of birds, bricks, worms, cars, bikes, trees, flowers, cats, people, clouds and windows.
He uses his surroundings to generate imagery that allows him to prod the edges of visual experience and consciousness. This stuff of the world is transcribed into paintings dealing with inner and outer spaces and the feedback loop created when exteriorising a thought into an image.
Interested in the intersections between the graphic and figurative, and the compression of light and composition into surface, he aims to explore the tension that rises between the agency of paint and the making of an image.
BEN SANDERSON
Ben Sanderson works in painting, drawing and textiles, often returning to his existing pieces and transforming them: monotype prints on paper are developed and echoed in printed elements that appear on canvas, old canvas is sewn and patched back together or mulched to become rag paper, which in turn becomes a ground for new painting.
His works often develop slowly, attuned to the seasons, embracing cyclical processes of growth and decay and Sanderson investigates processes of capturing human and non-human experiences of time, cycles of production and reproduction.
GEORGIA GENDALL
Georgia Gendall is an artist and facilitator living and working in Helston, Cornwall. Her practice takes on many forms; ranging from ludicrously impractical human powered contraptions and snappy ‘epic fail’ videos to curious ceramic sculptures, animal collaborations, cyclical sculptures, enduring sound works and public events.
Her wry eye and attention to life’s smaller details underpins her work and she adapts everyday objects to redirect, interject, mimic and rethink how we interact with familiar places, people and local ecologies.
Georgia’s commitment to consistently undermining purpose attempts to operate as a respite from the highly functional global landscape and celebrates what happens when we inevitably fall short.
JACKSON SPRAGUE
Plymouth-based Jackson Sprague’s work commonly reflects on the intimate drama of living with objects, demanding the attentions of real or fictitious characters, for example to water and replace flowers in vases.
Works may also pull the viewer into a physical and emotional proximity with the specific use of scale and text, as well as inferred bodily or autobiographical symbolism. Recent works aim to put more pressure on the objects themselves - utilising pointedly seductive colour and formal arrangement to play-up tensions between aesthetic and functional, sculptural and pictorial, lasting and ephemeral.
These ambiguities are characteristic of relationships, physical and psychical, that this work tenderly exposes.
LOTTIE STODDART Lottie Stoddart’s interdisciplinary practice explores varied forms of enchantment. The works are enclosed realms; illusionistic, contained spaces where a residual story, memory, atmosphere plays out under its own internal laws.
Her use and depiction of humble materials in a reduced economy of form, plays with registers of familiarity and ubiquity. The rendering and use of different materials in their collaged, shallow spaces hints at the unconscious and weird; from monstrous and mutating to celebratory and sensual, in a language that is playfully remembered, imagined, warped, reduced.
MADI ACHARYA-BASKERVILLE
Madi Acharya-Baskerville is an Asian born diaspora artist, living and working in the UK who is heavily influenced by an early childhood in India. Exploring themes that range from environmental concerns, migration and exile through to gender identity, the core of Madi Acharya-Baskerville's work exists in the found element, matter that already exists around us, an enduring reflection of the human condition.
Her practice involves a variety of processes and techniques including collecting, painting, sewing, beadwork, modelling and casting, bringing together elements that have usually had a past life, collected from locations such as the coastline, woodlands and vintage markets.
MELANIE STIDOLPH Melanie Stidolph works with video, film, and photography, and is frequently drawn to rock pools & mis-using photographic equipment. She recently re-appraised a body of images taken over the last 10 years, bringing them together afresh, along with several short essays, into a new artist’s book.
Made during the years she was unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant these images were taken with automatic camera triggers that fire the shutter in response to changes in movement, sound or light; giving control over to the equipment and the subject.
Latterly recognising an unexpected layer of synchronicity between the images she was making and her lived experiences, she has repositioned them to chart a journey in which an optimism in nature gives way to random attempts, fueled by hope and grief.
PHIL ROOT Phil Root is a visual artist based in Bristol working primarily in the medium of ceramics. His work examines how ceramics can act as a tool to tell vital, often overlooked stories of place, to engage audiences with the often- complex history of their surroundings.
Recent sculpture explores modern and traditional relationships to dwelling and our relationship to the earth. By examining the materiality of our cities’ infrastructure, buildings, roads and pavements the work brings into focus the asphalt and brick surfaces that dominate our visual landscape everyday yet due to its ubiquitous nature is mainly ignored or overlooked.
REBECCA JONES Cardiff-based Rebecca Jones uses ideas around memory as a departure point for researching non-linear narratives, such as leaky dreams, unreliable memories and déjà vu. She addresses the structure of these forms of narrative using repetition, replication and iterations of time, often incorporating traditional sculptural methods such as bronze casting.
She is interested in the in-between spaces, and the expansive possibility that comes with something being unfixed, exploring this tension through shifting aspects of her work between context and container, fiction and reality, print and painting. She aims for her work to be ambiguous, excerpts of a wider story, leaving space that the viewer can use for their own interpretation.
SARAH RYDER
Sarah Ryder’s practice values time for experimentation and freedom to play without knowing the end result. Testing out concepts of expanded painting, often making 2D works that transform into 3D, underpinned by notions of imperfection, temporality, the structure of systems, and the balance of chaos and control.
Often painting on the slippery and malleable surface of industrial foil, she creates works that hover between sculpture and painting, that may gently collapse over time or else resist a consistent, fixed form on each new presentation. Her intention is for the painting to resist a fixed, perfect viewpoint. They may pause briefly for an exhibition but even then, will change as the viewer moves around, their body bringing shadows, reflections, distortions, disruptions.
SEUNGJO JEONG
South Korean, London-based artist Seungjo Jeong creates pared back, almost abstract paintings that speak to his background in software engineering. He recreates the mundane objects that we may encounter in every-day life with unique functions that we may fail to see or recognise.
Jeong is interested in the spatial relationship between objects, the components of an object, and an object and its users. He thinks about his paintings as interfaces, ones where both the intuitiveness of graphical user interfaces in computing and the poetry of artwork come together.
SHERIE SITAUZE Sherie Sitauze’s practice is an ever-evolving exploration of oral storytelling as a vehicle for the cultivation and merging of narratives, as well as the sharing of knowledge, and proposing this in current time. She simultaneously critically considers the metaphysics around past, present, possible futures, particularly in relation to theories of knowledge and narratives of non-western communities.
For me, it begins around 1270AD: the Mapungubwe Kingdom and VhaVenda of southern Africa. I am in a constant cycle of coming to terms with my ancestral past while simultaneously seeking it in order to mobilise it within the present day. All the while being a long-term resident on this very foreign, western, and British soil.
WILL ROBERTS
Will Roberts’ paintings are highly narrative, layering references to historical methods of painting and contemporary culture. Rendering his paintings without using any direct source material, the paintings are not copies. Roberts calls them ‘False Objects’.
They occupy a parallel space, replicas of an original that has never existed. He is interested in craftsmanship, the amateur, memory and the expression of our personalities through the display of domestic art objects that we have in our homes. Making the real artificial and the artificial real, Roberts reimagines these wall-hung treasures as theatre props to objectify and to portray nostalgic value.
Exeter Contemporary Open is kindly sponsored by Haines Watts Chartered Accountants and Hotel Indigo.
The exhibition will run from Fri 16 Sep – Sun 6 Nov.
Entry to Exeter Phoenix’s gallery spaces is free! Find our more about the exhibition by visiting www.exetercontemporaryopen.com.
Comments Off on Introducing our Autumn Performance Programme for 2022!
Welcome to a brand new season of Theatre & Performance at Exeter Phoenix!
Our autumn programme of Theatre is full to the brim with cutting-edge dance, poetry and family fun from award-winning directors, writers and theatre companies. There really is something for everyone in our theatre programme and we can’t wait for you to come and join us for another season at Exeter Phoenix.
There’ll be metamorphic soundscapes, explorations of the knife-edge of hoarding witchcraft that’s helping to dismantle the patriarchy and even dancing dinosaurs fuelled by rock’n’roll.
We’ve got scratch nights and work-in progress performances to come too, a chance for you to test your ideas and help to shape the future of theatre in Exeter!
Keep reading to discover what’s on in our Autumn performance programme.
THE LESSON | TUE 27 SEP
Icarus’ blistering, magical and award-winning production of Eugene Ionesco’s classic dark comedy returns to the stage.
SAME ROOM SAME TIME | THU 29 SEP
A new collaboration between Jane Mason and Grace Surman who have made work for 25 years in contemporary performance, but have only just met.
BREATHLESS | SUN 2 OCT
Breathless is a funny, honest and stylish exploration of the knife-edge of hoarding, from the joy to the addiction and suffocating shame.
Set against a backdrop of a nation that continues to bask in the light of its colonial legacy, hooked on profits despite the costs, White Sun collides with the past in the here and now of a human nervous system.
TEATER DICTAT | FRI 7 OCT
Johan Svensson and Magdi Saleh, theatre practitioners from Sweden, map their own queer histories as they talk about Teater Dictat, working in the Swedish theatre industry, retelling the British canon abroad and exporting the Swedish canon internationally.
One small step for man, one giant pile of rubbish left behind! Man’s dream to reach the stars leaves the world in ruins and disturbs the sleeping dinosaurs. Will they wake up and save planet Earth?
DROWNTOWN | TUE 8 NOV
Gritty dance theatre, with autobiographical testimonials and text, this timely performance gives voice to the vulnerable and unheard. With tenderness and honesty, DROWNTOWN holds up a mirror to a society at tipping point.
DAYTIME DEEWANE | THU 1 DEC
Daytime Deewane, by Azan Ahmed, is the latest production from Half Moon, the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company, winner of two Off West End Theatre awards for Best Production for Young People Age 13+ (Crowded and What Once Was Ours).
Comments Off on Introducing Die Twice: The New Generation of the Exeter Music Scene
They’ve only been a band for 9 months, but the hype that indie/rock 5 piece Die Twice have already amassed proves that they’ll be going places. We’re just glad that we’re front row for it!
Ahead of their headline show with us on Fri 22 July, we caught up with frontman Olly Bayton to find out a little bit more about Die Twice, what it means to be an up and coming musician and their thoughts on how independent venues can help leverage careers in music.
Tell us a bit about Die Twice?
Before our recent member Fig joined the band, we we’re originally called Nebula, then while creating more music we went by a few more names before settling with Die Twice. It’s genuinely hard to describe us as a certain genre as we love all types of music and try to make our music as versatile as it can be. But genres we are most inspired by are Blues, Jazz, Latin, Funk, Reggae, Rock and Hip Hop. We’ve been a band for about 8-9 months and been gigging for 7 and the support we’ve had in so little time is mind blowing.
Who are the band members and who plays what?
Die Twice is Olly Bayton (Vocals,Songwriter) Zee (Rhythm Guitar, Vocals, Songwriter) Blue (Bass) Remi (Lead Guitar) and Fig (Drummer).
How did you guys meet?
We all mainly met in first year college as four members took a Music Performance Course at Exeter College and Olly met Fig through mutual friends at a forest. Fig and Olly would spend hours jamming drums and guitar in Figs garage in the early days of the band. As soon as there was an opening for him to join the band he got right in.
Has any music inspired you lately?
Honestly it can change every week, but recently we’ve been experimenting with gypsy jazz tunes inspired by Django Rienhart and Adrien Moignard but we’ve been previously inspired by The Doors, Arctic Monkeys, Koop, King Krule, Jimi Hendrix, The Police, Tommy Petty, Fela Kuti and many many more…
Do you think independent venues such as Exeter Phoenix are vital for an early career musician or band? If so, how?
Most definitely. Playing at independent venues feels a lot more exciting, personal and substantial for our band. It makes us feel like we are part of something important and we really feel the support from everyone involved. It’s definitely vital as it gives us comfortability on stage and in the venue in general.
Do you think Exeter Phoenix have helped Die Twice to move forward? Has it led to any exciting opportunities?
So so so so much! Exeter Phoenix has given us so much support and countless opportunities. We had our first ever gig there in November last year, and since then we can’t get enough of it. Our Phoenix gigs are milestones in our early career as a band. Every gig we have done there has been exciting, busy, so much fun and has boosted our name so high. Exeter Phoenix gave us our voice.
Is there any new music from Die Twice that we should listen out for?
Yes yes yes! We are constantly developing our sound and writing new songs. There may be a little bit of recording going on in the next few weeks with a pretty big name as well…
We have loads of gigs lined up for this summer and planning on making a little tour out of it called ‘Tour De Twice’ with gigs all over Devon and up and down the country! We’ve been laying low for a while due to work, holidays and all that bollocks, but when we’re back, you’ll know x
How can we listen to your music?
You can listen to our tunes on all the major streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music etc) and we also have a YouTube channel (Die Twice) with a music video and a live set of our third gig at the Phoenix, which is definitely worth the watch. We also have an Instagram (Dietwice__) which shows all our gigs, songs and some beautiful pictures of our band members!
Catch Die Twice at Exeter Phoenix on Fri 22 July, along with indie 4 piece Colour TV, Idol Giants who are fresh from playing Ocean Fest in North Devon, and solo artists Wes Chamberlain.
Toby Strong is a multi-Emmy and Bafta winning wildlife cameraman, who has worked on many of the BBC’s landmark series throughout his career. Over the last 25 years Toby has travelled across every continent, from crossing the Sahara with camels to sailing to the Galapagos, from the Himalayas to the ice caves on the peak of mount Erebus in Antarctica.
As someone who has seen the beauty of this world but also its demise, Toby cares very deeply and his talk is full of passion, extraordinary tales, humour, and heart. Read on to find out about Toby's greatest inspirations and what you can expect from his upcoming talk, Through a Wild Lens.
Tell us a bit about your background – have you always been interested in wildlife photography and the environment?
I grew up in the Dorset countryside searching for adders, badgers and fossils.
My love of the natural world and wild places stems from my gran who was a gardener and great naturalist, and my gamekeeping father. After getting a very bad degree in engineering I developed an early passion for exploration and a love of beauty.
I spent a year in the south of France doing an apprenticeship with a wonderfully creative and forward-thinking Danish film maker. We made films on insects, snakes, and lizards. He was both a great naturalist and great naturist, the days were long and eventful!
In the last 25 odd years I’ve had the privilege to film on every continent and in most environments. I’ve been lucky enough to work on a lot of the big wildlife series over the last couple of decades (Planet earth 2 and 3, frozen planet 2, One strange Rock, Human planet, blue planet 2, etc).
For nearly half a year, I followed the mountain gorillas of Uganda and Rwanda and a season walking with the black bears up on the Canadian border. I've been lucky enough to film and share amazingly intimate time with hugely emblematic species, nearly two decades filming the Elephants of East Africa. Worked with the cheetahs of the Masai mara on big cat for four series.
I love working in different genres and bringing skills and techniques from documentaries, music and drama into my filming.
What inspired you to get into wildlife cinematography?
Initially I led expeditions, before heading to Africa on a one-way ticket, where I wanted to live as a game warden and to show people the magic of our natural world.
Then I was introduced to photography and through my love of this newfound passion I realised I could reach so many more people and my path shifted to the one I’ve been lucky enough to be on for the last quarter of a century.
You have been to some incredible places over the course of your career, are there any experiences which have stood out for you?
It’s so very hard to pick favorites ... East Africa never releases its hold on me, and any dawn spent waking by a fire with the distant roar of lions is a good day! Also, Antarctica for its sheer magnitude and brutal splendor has got to be a favourite. On my last trip for welcome to Earth, I got to spend time in the ice caves on top of mount Erebus which was utterly unique.
Throughout your career, you have witnessed firsthand the environmental challenges facing our planet, are there any causes that are particularly close to your heart, and have you made any changes in your day-to-day life to try and address them?
I find this a hard question; I have seen much of the world that is in crisis and a lot that is now too late.
It is hard for individuals to know how to make a difference. But it is through the individual that change is happening. Through our buying choices it is dictating the food on our shelves, packaging, and choice. If we choose not to buy food in plastic... food will not be sold in plastic, it’s that simple. If we only buy free range eggs, only free-range eggs will be farmed. Through our buying choices, those in power see what us the individuals, the people, the voters consider important, and this is what will then be acted on.
Also, something that is very close to my heart is our school we have built in Madagascar. Over the last couple of years, we have gone from no school to one with over 200 students and three full time teachers. It’s a really good news story and something I’m very proud of.
What can audiences expect from your talk?
I hope everyone who comes will have an evening of tales from the wilderness. Stories of wonderous animals and people. A heartfelt talk I can guarantee, humour I can aim for but with less certainty of delivering!
I am no expert in any field, but I have been blessed to see much of this world and I look forward immensely to sharing tales from the last 25 years.
Raising awareness about environmental issues is clearly something you are very passionate about, is there a take home message that you would like audiences to come away with?
Yes, I would echo my answer from earlier that people’s buying choices hold immense power when viewed as a collective whole.
This tiny planet of ours is so very precious and our time on it is but a beat of a mosquito’s wings. Let’s smile and hug those we love and take more joy in this remarkable place we call home.
Comments Off on Behind the Scenes: the making of Constellations
On Sun 29 May, interdisciplinary performance maker and practice-based researcher Sian Goldby brings Constellations to Exeter Phoenix, an intimate performance exploring landscapes of memory and humanity’s relationship with the earth. Through a re-imagining of the performance space in miniature, it investigates themes of nostalgia and memory in relation to the multiple scales of environmental crisis.
In this blog piece, Sian talks about the making of Constellations and how her personal experiences and memories have formed the foundations for the performance.
"Constellations is designed to bring about the sensation that history is repeating itself. The work is a constant manipulation, extraction and destruction of world, earth and planet, and asks – how do we construct our worlds?" - Sian Goldby, Writer
When I was a child, I used to go with my parents on trips to Bekonscot Model Village every year. It was my absolute favourite place to go. I remember having an overwhelming urge to get into the tiny scenes; not just to climb inside and touch the tiny houses and trains and market stalls with my hands, but to somehow embody how it felt to live in these tiny spaces. I wanted to be immersed in this world, not just stand by at a distance all giant and ungainly in my wrongscale body. I wanted to shrink myself down, get closer to it all.
Constellations is a performance which aims to capture this curious visceral sensation by inviting audiences to immerse themselves into a micro-world of the performance and experience a different sensation of scale. The piece taps into childhood nostalgia and explores the concept of memory as a kind of ever-shifting landscape, and remembering as a form of drawing and re-drawing of mental maps.
I made the work in 2019, the year that I turned 30. My birthday is at the end of August and I had planned a celebration in a pub in my hometown of Bristol with the hope that we might be able to use the lovely suntrap of a roof terrace. This was before I remembered that it always rained on my birthday now, and has done since I turned 18.
I remember every birthday until the day I turned 18 being in beautiful sunshine; picnics, garden parties, outdoor swimming, were always on the list of activities for birthday parties during my childhood without the need to be too optimistic about the weather. A hot, sunny, summer birthday was a good payoff for being the youngest out of my peers and being teased about having to ‘wait’ to be ‘finally’ the next age.
How could it be that the UK seasons have changed so much within such a short time-frame? How can it be that just 30 years out of billions is all it has taken to shift the weather? Was it really sunny on every birthday or did I just imagine it?
As I reached this milestone, I began to reflect on other changes to the climate that I have noticed within my short time on this earth. I also found out that 30 years is the time period which is used as a reference point by the World Meteorological Organisation to calculate climate normals, and therefore fluctuations. I started to build the piece using my stories and memories, and I wanted to invite audiences to reflect on their own timescales too.
Constellations is designed to bring about the sensation that history is repeating itself. The work is a constant manipulation, extraction and destruction of world, earth and planet, and asks – how do we construct our worlds?
CONSTELLATIONS comes to Exeter Phoenix on Sun 29 May. The performance is designed for small audiences of up to 6 people. For tickets and timings, tap here >>
Bloom Festival 2022, our free community festival for mental health awareness week is right around the corner and we can't wait to welcome you all for an incredible line up of music, art & crafts workshops, poetry, storytelling, panel discussions, yoga and so much more.
We've put together a handy Festival programme and map to help you plan your day and make sure that you don't miss out on any events or activities! Pick up a paper copy from our box office as you arrive on Sunday, or tap below to download to your device.
Comments Off on Join us for inspiring events to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022
Here at Exeter Phoenix, we are proud to offer a programme filled with events that celebrate and champion women creatives, artists and industry leaders, creating a platform that enables expression for women in the arts.
From female-led theatre performances and exhibitions curated by female artists to a night celebrating pioneering women in music, discover the local, national and global female talent that we’ve got coming up, and join us to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022 – and beyond.
Comments Off on Two Short Nights Collaborations: Gavin Spoors on The Balance of Power
This year, Two Short Nights Film Festival has had the privilege of working with a number of creative collaborators, including freelance critic and writer Gavin Spoors, who has given us his insights on Short #3: The Balance of Power
Gavin is a freelance critic and writer whose work has featured Filmhounds Magazine, JumpCut Online and Flip Screen. He has covered festivals such as London Film Festival, BFI Flare, and Norwich Film Festival which champions short films from the UK and across the globe.
Salt Water Town
Rising sea levels aren’t the only worries for the father and son at the centre of this well-crafted drama. Set in a failing caravan park on the Welsh coast, Liam (Tom Glynn-Carney) clashes with his father Glenn (Game of Thrones alumni Owen Teale) after they receive news that in time their park will succumb to the coastal damage caused by the climate crisis. Liam wants to leave, Glenn wants to stay. But there’s more bubbling underneath: Liam doesn’t seem t belong anywhere in this soggy, poverty-stricken town and Glenn is stuck on his old ways even though he knows it’s only a matter of time before things get seriously dire. The miserably cold, wet location is beautifully captured on screen but it’s the stunning performances that reel you in and sticks in your mind.
Greed
At the centre of Greed is a terrific monologue and a ‘What if?’ scenario aimed at those who have benefitted from women’s inequality. Presented in one location set at a banquet for one, the focus is very much on the narrator delivering a message for women to become greedy and take what they want, just like how the patriarchy has done for thousands of years. With the monologue as the driving force, the direction and camera work don’t make much of an impact but thankfully the performance and pacing of the overall film does.
Two Options
Two Options is a tense ride mostly set within the confines of a van. A Polish immigrant drives around a menacing accomplice who hides a mysterious motive from the audience as well as the driver. The simplistic cinematography creates a claustrophobic atmosphere as a good portion of the film is shot from one angle within the van. Adding to that tension are the stellar performances. The “Polak” is a fish out of water with both the situation and the language barrier, and “Le Tare” is a dangerously unpredictable firecracker. As the true objective comes to light and the titular two options present themselves, the tension reaches a boiling point even if the ending is slightly predictable. There’s a poignant observation on racism and immigration too underneath the surface of this thrilling short film.
Meat Market
This one minute short has a great idea that isn’t quite executed as well as it could have. A man waiting by a mysterious burger shack follows after a woman in the street but meets a grisly fate. The Giallo inspired lighting and sets are a lot of fun, and the filmmakers know it. There’s a sarcastic tone but having the film literally wink at its audience feels a bit overboard, especially when dealing with a serious topic.
The Pie Shop
Featuring TV actors such as Royce Pierreson (The Witcher,Line of Duty) and Georgina Campbell (Black Mirror, His Dark Materials), the performances are unsurprisingly terrific but thankfully the story is equally as engaging. Set in the titular pie shop, regular customer Mickie (Royce Pierreson) approaches another regular, Kim (Georgina Campbell), and the two get to know each other by reflecting on the past. Throughout subtle direction and acting from the cast, there’s a sense that something isn’t quite right and the true nature of what is happening is brilliantly played. It builds towards a devastating ending that, although slightly overlong, will stick in your mind long after the credits roll.
One Acre
The climate crisis has been at the forefront of many a documentary, including this short film that puts the spotlight on a young first generation farmer. Through voice over she reflects on her experiences so far; from her daily process, to friendships, and of course the climate crisis itself. It’s a fascinating subject but unfortunately the lacklustre direction undos a lot of the narrative weight the dialogue is carrying. The imagery on screen doesn’t necessarily reflect what our narrator is talking about and doesn’t make the most out of the wonderful location on hand.
Al-Sit
Al-Sit is a triumph of a short film. This is very much a Sudanese story about the arranged marriages that still happen to this day, but the film gracefully tackles universal themes of choice, love and tradition vs. modernity. Set in a cotton-farming village, fifteen year old Nafisa (played by first time actor Mihad Murtada) is confronted by her arranged marriage to a young businessman that was arranged by her parents. Nafisa’s grandmother Al-Sit (Rabiha Mohammed Mahmoud), the village matriarch, stands in the way of the marriage but has her own plans for Nafisa. It’s a visually stunning film thanks to gorgeous sun-kissed cinematography and costumes bursting with colour, but the story and performances are exemplary. The meat of the story – Nafisa caught in the crossfire of a conflict between the traditional Al-Sit and the modern groom-to-be – is riveting, thanks to the camera filling the frame with the actors’ faces as they verbally spar. Even with the heavy themes at play, Al-Sit ends with a hopeful glimpse of the future for girls like Nafisa.
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.
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.
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