Being a Small Part of Summer - Working with Quarantine at this year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival

Introduction
One thing that you learn as you get older is that time is limited, and life should not be taken for granted. As a friend once advised me, 'Live every day as if it is your last, because one day it will be'.

As anyone who has lost a partner will know, their passing can act as a watershed moment in terms of what you decide to do with the rest of your own life. Personally, I just kept working to pay the bills, and for seven years adopted the role of single parent, just long enough to see my two children complete their education and leave home. And then, finally, came the chance for a bit of me-time. I was off!

I walked out of my job, a good ten years before any sniff of a pension was due, fortunate in having a modest nest-egg tucked away - enough to eke out a frugal existence, and decided to spend the rest of my days only doing things that I really love. More important to live life now, I thought, than to worry about the future.

And I guess that was one of the salient messages that came out of Quarantine Theatre Company's epic quartet 'Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring', the seven-hour performance piece that dominated the opening weekend of this year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival programme. Quarantine are based in Manchester, and specialise in creating works that explore the here and now. 'Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring' does that. But it also seizes the chance to check back as well as look forward.

Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring - A Quartet Performance by Quarantine Theatre Company
'Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring' is inspired by the story of Mandy. Mandy was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and in the moving film 'Winter' Mandy is asked a variety of questions about her day. She talks more about the importance of the present than about time she has left, but in so doing reveals concerns about her dogs and her children, and the state of her back garden, rather than about herself. It is an unselfishness brought into focus by the realisation and acceptance that she might not be around next summer, or the summer after that.  As, albeit in a more unpredictable and indeterminate manner, neither might any one of us.

So, let me now take you back two seasons, and also a couple of months, to April of this year, my first introduction to 'Summer'.

Becoming involved in 'Summer'

I have been a part of the volunteer team at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival for the last four years now. It was one of the first activities that I signed up for after walking out of that treadmill job at the end of 2013 - it was an attempt to engage myself with the local arts scene, make the acquaintance of like-minded souls, and also stretch out my savings by perhaps getting to see performances for nothing.

Back in March of this year an e-mail went out to last year's volunteers inviting us to apply be a part of 'Summer', the opening section of Quarantine's performance for this year's Festival. 'No previous experience required', read the message, 'You merely need to follow instructions, and be yourselves. We are looking for a complete cross-section of ages and backgrounds'.

I registered my interest, and soon after received a telephone call from Quarantine's Artistic Director, Richard Gregory, who explains a little more about the show, and asks a few details about my own back story. Next, a meeting is arranged for the second weekend in April to give members of the company a chance to meet the newly assembled volunteer cast of 'Summer' for the very first time.

Ironically, this falls on the anniversary of my own wife's death in 2007, and my children had already suggested that the family gather on the pier at Cromer where, ten years previously, we had sprinkled La Maman's ashes into the sea. I therefore do not get a chance to make everybody's acquaintance until the first rehearsal proper, on April 22nd, exactly three weeks before our first scheduled performance.

Rehearsals for 'Summer'

Rehearsals are held in a large empty retail unit on the first floor of Castle Mall Shopping Centre in Norwich. To fit around those who work full-time, or are at school or college, these are arranged for weekday evenings or weekends, and generally last around three hours. They generally start with a shared meal, either a hot vegan lunch or dinner, or a delicious range of cereals, fruit and pastries for the mornings. It gives us all a chance to sit down together, chat informally and share stories prompted from questions written on cards and distributed across the tables.

The serious work always starts with a gentle work-out led by our choreographer Jane. We are coached in the art of 'exploring the space', 'feeling the presence' and 'sharing the moment'. She also gets our blood circulating with some more energetic dance moves, during which we do our best to keep up, with varying (not always age-determined) degrees of success.

'Summer' rehearsals - photo by Sharon Hulbert 

Over the next couple of weeks this motley crew of 30 gradually bonds, becoming a cohesive band of friends as well as performers, whilst we are coached in the techniques of standing alone in front of an audience, being comfortable and relaxed when using a microphone, and in performing and moving together as a group within the space.

There are questions thrown at us, often with recurring themes, the significance of which gradually become clearer to us as we approach the final performances. We are asked to bring in a book, or a piece of writing, that has changed our lives, and to assemble a box of objects, items that, to us, hold personal relevance and significance. We have to nominate a song that reminds us of Summer. I choose 'Light My Fire', by The Doors.

As the week of the performances approaches we transfer to The Space, a large event and function suite to the north of the city. Tuesday's rehearsal is the 'technical set-up and rehearsal'. It is all about getting the sound and lighting levels adjusted, timing the music, synchronising the projected instructions, and sorting out our entrances and exits.

Oh, and for us to become 'comfortable within the space'. It is much larger than where we had been rehearsing, and the bank of tiered seating at the rear or the room brings home to us that this is for real, and in four days time those seats will be filled with a real live audience. Thanks to Jane's patience and hard work we seem to have become quite adept at walking and running around the floor area as a group, without colliding or tripping over each other.

Wednesday is our final gathering before the show proper. We still have not experienced any of the other three 'seasons', although by now we have been given a good idea of what to expect. Tonight is the full 'dress rehearsal' of  'Summer', a chance for us to perform in front of friends, family, festival staff and volunteers, and to really savour the experience of standing in front of a real audience for the first time. I think it is fair to say that we all loved it. There is something indescribably exhilarating that occurs when the release of adrenaline courses through the blood and, throwing caution to the wind, we submit ourselves to the mercy of a live audience. Call it thrill-seeking, the challenging of personal demons of self-consciousness or fear, or simple straightforward exhibitionism, nothing else replicates that excitement of stepping out on stage. Bring on Saturday!

Performing 'Summer'

One thing that we have learnt from our time with Richard and the Quarantine company is that, in the same way that every performance of 'Summer' is intentionally unique, no two rehearsals would ever be the same either. He was constantly changing the instructions, switching the order in which we make our entrances, swapping who is made to dance to their 'summer song', and mixing up who answers the questions thrown at us by Sonia and Leentje. There was no reason to doubt that our 'real' performances would again hold a few more surprises.

Performing 'Summer' in Norwich (photo by Quarantine)

Some elements of 'Summer' remain constant. The opening music - 'Mr Blue Sky' by the Electric Light Orchestra. The huge bank of lights that rises from behind a giant wall. The instruction to stand and look at the audience looking at us. A sequence that sees us pacing haphazardly yet purposefully around the floor before morphing into a cyclic swirl of running bodies to the accompaniment of Lucy Rose's 'Bikes'. An extended stage-fighting class taught by Leentje, in which the techniques of striking, kicking and hair-pulling are practiced, before assuming a darker more sinister significance as the strains of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas take over from our own conversations and vocal effects. The sequence in which we all carefully unpack and arrange our own personal 'box of objects', only to have them re-categorised and re-assembled elsewhere by fellow cast members. The 'closed eyes dancing', in which we all find ourselves a personal space in which to block out the light, lose ourselves and move to pop music in our own safe and secure way.

In between these set-pieces comes the 'on the spot' unpredictability of those interview questions, and a 'chaos' sequence during which we attempt to follow the projected instructions - silently arranging ourselves into rows or groups based on age, or height, or place of birth; lying on the floor; dancing inside a cardboard box; letting off a confetti cannon. Whilst much of 'Summer' might appear random and unconnected, subtle nuances in these ideas cognitively re-appear in later parts of the performance.

Engaging in 'Autumn'

'Autumn' is probably best described as a two hour interval, during which the audience is offered the chance to engage in one or more of ten activities set out amidst the performance space. As members of  'Summer' we are encouraged to mingle and interact with the audience as, together, we choose between listening to a history of the world, joining in a discussion on 'identity', boogieing to a 'silent disco', helping prepare and eat Vietnamese pancake rolls under the supervision of Jaki from Papaya Verte, or trying out any or all of another five activities. At 'The Library' table we attempted to make a list of every book that we had ever read, as well as discussing the individual texts that we, the members of 'Summer', had been asked to bring in. I contributed a volume of circular walks around Norfolk, many of which La Maman and I had taken great pleasure in completing, along with the children, during the years when they were  growing up at home. I guess that, in the same way that 'Summer' focused on the immediate and the 'now', 'Autumn' provided an interlude during which to reflect on, and to appraise, our own lives so far.

Watching and Listening to 'Winter'

The audience is back in their seats, and we are ready for 'Winter'. A giant screen is wheeled out from the wings and the lights are dimmed. Over the next 35 minutes we are in the company of Mandy in a candid and deeply moving insight into a woman who knows that she is going to die from her lung cancer. From my personal memories of around the time when La Maman was diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer, I know that the first thing that a lot of the audience will be thinking is that Mandy does not look like she is about to die.

La Maman was diagnosed in July, shortly before we were about to go on a summer holiday to Bulgaria. She was tanned and, ironically, had lost a bit of weight (the pressure of the tumour on her stomach had, in effect, been having the same effect as a gastric band, unknowingly reducing her appetite by making her feel 'full' much quicker). She was told that, with chemotherapy, she could be lucky and get a life extension of anything up to two years. As with Mandy in the film, this immediately changed her entire perspective on what had always been a fairly nebulous concept - 'The Future'. Suddenly plans became obsolescent, and energies were very much transferred to 'The Present'. She assumed an appreciation of the minutiae of life, and any worries became focused on making sure that the children and I would be OK. In the same way that Mandy is shown being concerned about tidying up the back garden, Jan became obsessed about getting our hall decorated - what we now refer to as the Memorial Hall.

Mandy was the favourite aunt of Lisa, one of the co-devisers of  'Summer.Autumn.Winter.Spring'. Staring at the screen during the opening and closing sequences, with us looking into Mandy's face as she stares back at us, provides one of the most moving and poignant moments of this work, as moments from 'Summer' and 'Autumn' silently fall into place. Questions asked in 'Summer' suddenly take on a new relevance, and choices offered in 'Autumn' demand a new focus and sense of purpose.

Singing with the babies in 'Spring'
A respectful one hour interval separates the closure of 'Winter' and the opening of 'Spring'. I take myself out for a walk in the late Sunday afternoon sunshine, a stroll that takes me to the deserted car parks of a nearby retail park. The deserted spaces, and those stark empty temples of soft furnishings, bedroom furniture, fitted kitchens and bathrooms, seem to silent smirk at our collective failure to appreciate the transience of life and the inconsequentiality of material goods.

'Spring', by contrast, establishes a joyous, almost party-like atmosphere. A glitzy backdrop, and karaoke-style lyrics appear on the overhead screen. The familiar strains from Salt'n'Pepa's 'Push It' deliver a wholly appropriate introduction to this, the final season, celebrating the delivery of new life. A group of mothers and their babies, and mums-to-be, take it in turns to step up to the microphones and take us through a selection of familiar songs from Britney Spears' 'Hit Me Baby (One More Time)', to Nirvana's 'Never Mind'. And in between the songs come those interview questions from Sonia and Leentje, reminding us again that, even as new life begins, the circle of life is still peppered with memories and experiences.

The babies are, of course, absolute scene stealers, melting our hearts as they explore the stage, grabbing at balloons and microphone stands with screams of laughter and interactive abandon. And as we enjoy the music, the singing, and the babies, we are being primed for a final bombastic stream of projected questions about our own role and attitudes towards parenthood, our children, and how we will bring them up and look out for them. A mixture of the vital and the trivial, the serious and the comedic, happy and sad, personal and comparative, all relevant and pertinent to any parent, or parent-to-be.

And finally, just as we think 'Spring' is over, Leentje begins to explain how Greg from the production team is about to rig up a confetti barrel that will spill its contents over the stage floor, and describes what will happen after the last piece of confetti has touched the floor. What we will be doing one minute later, in five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, one hour, two hours, twelve hours, next day, next week, next month and next year.

Greg primes the barrel and throws the switch. A fan engages and the barrel spins, spewing out a prolonged golden shower of metalised foil pieces. And as the foil pieces spin towards the ground we are reminded of the closing scene in 'Winter' where, as the credits roll, a sequence depicting white confetti gently falling against a black background concludes when the final piece has passed out of shot, leaving the screen in complete darkness.

We watch as the final piece of golden foil touches the ground, and we know that the cycle is complete.

Afterwards
The response of the audience to 'Summer. Autumn.Winter.Spring' is quite extraordinary. People come up and say how beautiful it was. How brave we were to take part in it. How we had presented ourselves so openly, exposing ourselves to the scrutiny of an audience of complete strangers? The credit for this, though, is all down to Richard and the Quarantine team for the way in which we were taken through the rehearsal process. The relationship that developed between performer and producer was achieved through trust - we knew that he would never to anything to embarrass us or make us uncomfortable on stage, and it also allowed a close bond to grow within the group. We opened up to each other in a way that rarely happens during such brief encounters. There was a mutual comfort and honesty that would have taken much longer to acquire in different circumstances. Some of us will almost certainly cross paths again in and around Norwich, others may only stay in touch via social media, and others may simply melt away. But we will never forget the time we spent together this Summer with Quarantine.

Thank you, Quarantine. From the cast of 'Summer' 2017

Review of 'Summer' at Norfolk and Norwich Festival from the Eastern Daily Press

http://www.nnfestival.org.uk/

Quarantine Theatre Company website

Quarantine Theatre Company Facebook page

Getting a Taste of Open Studios - The Forum Becomes a Showcase for Local Artists

Anyone passing through The Forum in Norwich this week cannot have helped noticing the art exhibition running in the main atrium. Not that there is anything particularly unusual about that. The Forum hosts several art exhibitions over the course of the year. But what marks out this one as a little bit special is that it is a Taster Exhibition, a introductory showcase intended to stimulate interest in the annual Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios programme, which runs this year from 27th May to 11th June. Along with five other 'taster' exhibitions being staged throughout the county, the exhibition in The Forum acts as an easily accessible appetiser to the main programme which opens at the end of next month.

As well as having a look around the exhibition, I spent a few hours there as a volunteer invigilator on Tuesday, got to speak to a number of artists, and even bought a painting.

The first thing that strikes you as you walk around the exhibition is the wonderful diversity of the works on display. As well as the usual paintings, photographs and ceramics there are textiles, sculptures and items of jewellery and bespoke lighting, and a huge variety of materials and subjects used. Almost every item on show is for sale, and although some of the pieces would set you back several thousands of pounds there are many items available for considerably less. The painting that I selected cost little more than a framed print from a high street store, yet I now own a unique piece of art.

Over the course of my afternoon I met photographer Howard, whose archive of digital and film prints of famous musicians is now being raided to produce a collection of limited prints. His image of blues legend B.B.King, taken in 2009, captures the essence of the guitarist during a live performance in London.

Ceramicist Michelle is exhibiting a beautiful stoneware vase inspired by the images sent back from the International Space Station during British astronaut Tim Peake's mission last year. She sees Open Studios not only as an opportunity to display her work via the Taster Exhibition in Norwich, but also to attract visitors to her studio in Oby, near Great Yarmouth.

Everyone will have their own favourite pieces, and I have to admit that mine is a large seascape, 'Fresh Sea Breeze', by North Norfolk artist Tracey Ross. Perhaps too expensive for my limited budget, but her work always seems to perfectly capture the light and colours of the Norfolk coastline.

So, what next? Well, hang on to your Open Studios brochure and set aside some time in late May or early June to plan a trip to some of your favourite artists' studios. Do not feel intimidated or pressured into purchasing at each and every stop. The artists are not expecting to make a sale from every single visitor, although many will have a range of affordable items and cards or prints that you may well be tempted by. And if you do feel inclined to spend some hard-earned cash on a painting or vase, then you can feel satisfied in purchasing a unique piece of art, and also by supporting a local artist. Pick up a selection of the special 'Art Trail' flyers - where a group of studios exist in close proximity a special route has been devised to enable you visit several within a short distance of each other. Throw in some nice weather, possibly a pub lunch, and you have all the ingredients for a lovely day out.

Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios Central Taster Exhibition runs until Sunday April 30th at The Forum in Millenium Plain, Norwich.

Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios, in association with Wex Photographic, runs from Saturday May 27th until Sunday June 11th. Check the main programme brochure for individual studios' opening times.

www.nnopenstudios.org.uk

Getting Down with Anthony Gormley - Another Time at the UEA

Art made a few headlines in Norwich last week when three figures from Anthony Gormley's 'Another Time' series were unveiled on the campus of the University of East Anglia in Norwich. The renowned artist was there in person on Saturday, but a controversy was already stirring about the siting of two of the three figures. One stares out towards the lake from the roof of the Biology building, overlooking the UEA's distinctive ziggurat halls of residence. Another can be seen six floors up on the roof of the library building, a lone figure silhouetted against the skyline. Meanwhile, 'Another Time IV' stands in its naked glory at the top of the stairwell to the library, still visible to some of those studying at their desks and computer terminals.

Gormley was forced to defend the siting of the first two figures from accusations of insensitivity raised by organisations associated with mental health who felt that the sight of lone figures on roof tops could be distressing or create disturbing association with suicidal thought. Perhaps his comments at the unveiling that they may help to open up debate on the pressures facing students inadvertently poured more fuel onto an already festering fire, and causing even the Bishop of Norwich to contribute to the discussion.

So, rather than come to a conclusion based solely on media coverage, I decided to visit the campus yesterday, and see the statues for myself. I have been a fan of Gormley's work for some time, ever since first stopping off on a journey to Newcastle to get an up close and personal communion with the Angel of The North, at the side of the A1 near Gateshead. Admittedly, I sometimes find the nude castings taken from his own body in 1995, then recreated in cast iron in 2007, as rather narcissistic, potentially bordering on exhibitionism by proxy. However, when placed in situ they are tranformed into a statement of purpose that is often quite beautiful. And this, having seen the three figures at the UEA, was genuinely the artist's desire.

I approached the main campus from the path that runs alongside the lake, and the first figure that you see is 'Another Time VII', spotted atop the junction of two of the four blocks that form the zig-zagging backbone of the main campus buildings. It appears to be staring out, away from the concrete concentrate of intellectual pursuit towards the wide open spaces of the world beyond. Even when approaching along the elevated walkway to get a closer view there is little that suggests of pressure or desperation in the figure.

Similarly with 'Another Time IV', much more accessible and approachable on the library walkway, yet inherently close to the seat of learning that is the library. Life size, and unashamedly imposing in its nakedness, one does wonder just how many drunken 'dicks-out-for-a-selfie' this particular Gormley is liable to inspire over the course of an academic year. But it still has a statement to make, and this is unmistakably about removing oneself from the intensity of pressure and being able to look towards the bigger picture.

Which is why I have my reservations about 'Another Time II'. I have never had to deal with a 'jumper', or been in a position where I could have intervened in a potential suicide situation, but even so I have to say that, looking up from the library to see a solitary figure positioned perilously close to the edge of the roof is always going to be somewhat unsettling. In contrast to the figure on the Biology building which looks out with optimism for the world and life, this one appears pensive, and in stark relief to the angular lines of the structure on which it stands. It is silent and introspective, thinking of what?

I believe Gormley knew exactly what he was doing in selecting these three sites. Like many artists, he feels he has a mission to communicate with his audience, and wanted the three figures to represent a narrative theme, just as he did when he placed his figures for 'Another Place' in the path of the tide on Crosby beach, or 'Stay' in the Avon River in the centre of Christchurch. He chose the UEA as a location because he was impressed with Sir Denys Lasdun's iconic architecture, and in so doing perhaps failed to consider the sensitivities of a population of young and impressionable students. Provoking a debate, which is what he is now trying to claim to be doing, is an honourable sentiment, but it does tend to come across as a knee-jerk reaction to the students' concerns rather than a planned and pre-meditated intent.

We will all have an opinion, but it is the students that will have to constantly pass these figures on their way to and from the library over the course of three years (the statues are on a 'long loan' from the artist to the Sainsbury Centre). As those who have completed an undergraduate degree course will testify, those three years can be an emotional roller-coaster of a ride. Let us hope that 'Another Time' will be seen by them as a providential opportunity to share their feelings rather than propagate dark thoughts in the recesses of their still impressionable minds.

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts website - www.scva.ac.uk/

www.facebook.com/sainsburycentre

www.antonygormley.com/

Getting Ready for Summer, with Quarantine and Norfolk and Norwich Festival

Quarantine present 'Summer. Spring. Autumn. Winter.' at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival - May 13th and May 14th, The Space, Roundtree Way, Norwich.

I have always loved May. And not just because when I was working full-time it meant two Bank Holiday Mondays. In fact, as anyone who works in pharmacy will tell you, we end up doing exactly the same amount of work in those weeks, but in one day less and with twice the stress. No, the reason I love May is that it truly acknowledges that Summer is on its way. The days are longer, the air is warmer and life somehow just seems more wholesome and special.

Four years ago I walked out on my job as manager of a community pharmacy, and for the first three or four months I simply concentrated on getting my head together. Then, at a friend's suggestion, I decided to volunteer to become a part of the 120 strong stewarding team that assembles each year to assist the smooth running of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival (NNF). It is an annual arts extravaganza that can trace its beginnings way back to 1772 when it was suggested as a fund-raiser for the original Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. It is now one of the largest annual arts festivals in the country.

During that first year, what I thought would be a standard stewarding and signposting duty turned into an almost life-changing experience. Not only did I throw myself enthusiastically into every shift that I was initially offered, but I ended up doing extra shifts, and attending as many of the shows and performances as possible. It sowed the seeds not only for my return in future years, but for other festival duties, and led to my becoming an all-year-round member of the volunteer front-of-house team at Norwich Arts Centre, and also a writer for Outline, the local listing and review publication. How I ever found time to hold down a full-time job is now a mystery to me.

Whilst many of the volunteer team at NNF are happy to work behind the scenes as driver or runners, or to watch the performances from the sidelines whilst doubling up as stewards, I am always on the look out for opportunities to become more involved with the shows and projects themselves. In my first year, back in 2014, I helped out with the construction of a giant model of St Peter Mancroft church tower made entirely out of cardboard boxes. 'The People's Tower', designed by French artist Olivier Grossetete, was finally assembled underneath the canopy of The Forum in Millenium Plain, before being ceremoniously demolished in front of a huge audience.

2014 - The People's Tower

In 2015 I became a 'firefighter' in theatre company Periplum's outdoor interpretation of the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451, a spectacular show complete with music and pyrotechnics and performed by the river on a redevelopment site behind St James Court.  I also helped create chaos on the streets of Norwich as part of French company X-TNT's 'De-Driving Code', a slightly anarchic interpretation of our own Highway Code as well as an antidote to rules in general.

2015 - Fahrenheit 451

2015 - 'The De-Driving Code'

Last year, 2016, did not throw any opportunities in my direction to participate in productions, so I threw myself instead into seeing as many shows as possible, in between my stewarding duties. The highlight was undoubtedly festival director William Galinsky's production of William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', performed in the historic Hippodrome Circus at Great Yarmouth, a show which I was able to see not once, but twice, having been charged with escorting audiences in coaches on the trip from Norwich.

2016 - The Tempest

And so to 2017. The volunteer rotas have been released, and I am really excited about being programmed to steward a selection of events, including Theatre Fragile's 'We Meet In Paradise'; IOU's 'Rear View', a moving (literally) show which is part-viewed from the back of a specially-converted double decker bus; and the jazz concert at St Andrews Hall from the Brad Mehldau Trio. I will also be present for both days of the free 'Garden Party' entertainment which is once again taking place in Chapelfield Gardens. 

And I have made sure of my place at the unique chance to see musical legends Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson on stage together at the Theatre Royal. Yes, I have actually bought a ticket for that one! Wild horses were not going to drag me away from the chance of seeing two of my all-time musical heroes perform live in Norwich.

And then there was the small matter of  'Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring.' This is an epic 7-hour production from acclaimed Manchester theatre group Quarantine. Performed as a quartet of four seasons, it looks in turn at Life in the now, reflections on Life, preparation for Death itself, and finally the potential of New Life. The call-out for 50 volunteers to come forward and participate in 'Summer' was accompanied by a search for 15 willing women in the various stages of pregnancy prepared to be involved in 'Spring'. Obviously I was ruled out of the latter, but being on stage with a whole bunch of strangers for an hour and a half during 'Summer', without any idea of what to expect, kind of appealed to me, so I threw my name into the hat.

We had our first proper rehearsal on Saturday morning. Just as the shops in Castle Mall were beginning to buzz with customers, the volunteer cast members for 'Summer' were assembling in an empty shop unit within the mall. A couple of people I recognised from previous NNF campaigns, but the rest were, to me, completely new faces. Not that I needed to worry. Richard Gregory and Renny O'Shea, Quarantine's two artistic directors, together with Sonia and Kate from the company, and Tanner and Becky from the festival team, made us all feel very welcome and, once the formal introductions were completed, we all began the important process of the rest of us getting to know one another.

And that seems to be an important factor in being part of the cast for 'Summer'. For the production to work successfully we will, over the next couple of weeks, need to learn about each other in a way that will allow us to function as a cohesive unit, yet leave us with the freedom to behave and perform as individuals. Part of this familiarisation process involves us just chatting informally, including over food - each rehearsal provides the chance for us all to eat together. Richard then leads us in a series of basic non-verbal floor routines that begin to get us accustomed to behaving as a team - one in particular reminded me of the manner in which a murmuration of starlings will form, and change leader, direction, and shape as they amass and swarm in the evening sky.

We have another three rehearsals this week, and then another three in Castle Mall before heading over to The Space, in Roundtree Way for final preparations and then performances on May 10th, 13th and 14th. I do believe that, as I write this, it may still not be too late to apply to join the cast of either 'Spring' or 'Summer'. Anybody interested should get in contact 'asap' with rose@nnfestival.org.uk. Otherwise, put the dates in your diary and buy a ticket to come and see what will surely be an extraordinary piece of work about living, dying and our relationship with time.

To buy tickets go to http://www.nnfestival.org.uk/festival/performance/summer.-autumn.-winter.-spring , or telephone the box office on 01603 766400.

'Summer' - photo from The Stage

Goldfrapp Warm Up The Cambridge Junction

OK. It is hard to be objective when reviewing one of your all-time favourite bands. You desperately want so much for the gig / new album to be everything and more that you have hoped for. The anticipation builds, until the fear of disappointment and anti-climax begins to gnaw away at your soul. It's a bit like that huge pile of Christmas presents from your childhood that looked so inviting wrapped in the seasonal paper, ribbons and bows, but that somehow felt much less exciting once fully revealed and neatly piled up in your corner of the lounge. Hell, that makes me sound so ungrateful - like a spoiled brat from a comfortable home, with doting parents that obviously doted on me. But I'm just being honest.

When I last saw Goldfrapp it was an epic gig at the Royal Albert Hall in November 2014, the final live show following the release of the intensely monochromatic and emotional 'Tales of Us' album. Backed by the London Contemporary Orchestra, and featuring a guest appearance from John Grant, this was an elegant evening of beautiful songs, but lacked the fast-tempo synth-heavy electro hits capable of shaking a sedentary audience out of their comfortable seats and get them wanting to dance. At the end, Alison Goldfrapp announced that this was the last gig 'for a very long time'. Was this a coded message that, after six albums and a fifteen year partnership, she and synthesiser maestro Will Gregory were calling it a day?

Late last year teaser posts on the band's Facebook page hinted that new material was on the way. Images of the volcanic landscapes of Fuerteventura appeared, and finally in February the video for new song Anymore was dropped. It heralded a partial return to the days of Supernature and Black Cherry, but with throbbing synth beats and a fresh elemental sound that brought the formula bang up to date.

The new album, Silver Eye, is not released until March 31st, so for the capacity crowd at Cambridge Junction tonight would be the first chance to hear this new material live or otherwise. It is the second of three of warm-up gigs that kicked off the previous night in Oxford and then moves on to Sheffield ahead of a full show at London Roundhouse on March 27th.

There is no support act tonight, so this is a warm-up performance without a warm-up. Last minute adjustments to the drum kit seem to go on for ages, and even the tour manager begins to show signs of concern. But, after a delay of only about five minutes, the band take up their places followed a few seconds later by Alison Goldfrapp herself. As if to underline the metamorphosis inherent as a running theme in Silver Eye the set starts off with the two showstoppers that are often saved for much later - the operatic and breathtaking Utopia and Lovely Head from the debut album Felt Mountain. These are swiftly followed by the familiar driving beat of Black Cherry's Train before being introduced to Anymore, the first of seven tracks featured tonight off the new album.

The stage is mostly backlit, often with rich shades of red that augment Alison's choice of red cape and PVC trousers. It creates a scene that suggests volcanic fire, Faustian imagery and yet a touch of Red Riding Hood. The pre-show announcement requesting no flash photography, and the almost continuous shadowing of Alison Goldfrapp's face by the lights suggests that she may not yet be quite ready to fully reveal the transformation from blonde femme-fatale to raven-haired siren, though the view from the front row reveals a classic metamorphosis akin to the Gallic beauty of Isabelle Huppert.

But it is the music that we should really be commenting on, and in between the indulgence of faves like Dreaming, Number One and Slide In, we concentrate on new tracks like Ocean, Moon In Your Mouth and Ocean. The live performances may not yet be perfect, and the give-away glances of affirmation between band members during and between songs remind that this is a road test for them almost as much as it is for us, but Goldfrapp fans really are in for a treat when the new album drops at the end of the month. Think Supernature, but update it, apply contemporary relevances and a primeval appreciation of elemental forces, and you come close to describing Silver Eye. Gone is the pastoral and literal beauty of Tales Of Us, and in its place comes the return of the synth-driven melodic impressionists.

Ride A White Horse provides a suitably climactic finale before a stomping encore that teasingly saves Ooh La La and Strict Machine for after Black Cherry and the mid-tempo disco beat of Shiny and Warm. And warmed up we certainly are.

Still a shame that Will Gregory chooses to stay at home these days rather than play on the live dates. I had hoped that after his appearance at the Royal Albert Hall he might re-consider his stance on touring, but it appears not to be the case. He is busy on other projects, which include his Moog Ensemble, and recently curated work on musical modernism for Radio 3 and Hull's City of Culture programme.

Goldfrapp now have a busy year ahead promoting Silver Eye and playing festivals around the world - one of which is our own Latitude at Henham Park on July 13th. I'll see you there.

www.goldfrapp.com

www.facebook.com/Goldfrapp

www.junction.co.uk

www.facebook.com/cambjunction

http://www.latitudefestival.com/

www.facebook.com/LatitudeFestival

The Lesser Bohemians in London Street - Eimear McBride Book Launch at The Book Hive

Just over two years ago I decided that, as there must be more to reading than scientific journals and periodicals (my staple literary diet since becoming a pharmacist way back in 1980), I would read a novel. Recently freed from the shackles of the dispensary bench, and with a new-found freedom and time on my hands, I had volunteered at the 2014 Norfolk and Norwich Festival. Everyone was talking about a book by the wife of the Festival's artistic director William Galinsky, a work that had been rejected by almost every publisher in the nine years since it had been written, but had been picked up and given wings by a Norwich-based publisher Galley Beggar Press. That book, which went on to win several awards including the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, was Eimear McBride's 'A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing'

When, fired up with enthusiasm after my experience with the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, I found myself volunteering to help at the Voewood Festival near Holt in Norfolk, I decided to start by reading some works by authors who would be appearing at Voewood. One of those authors would be Eimear McBride, so it seemed obvious that 'A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing' should be my re-introduction into the world of contemporary fiction, and probably the first novel that I had read since my GCSE English list of set books.

Now, anyone who has read 'A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing' will tell you, this stream-of-consciousness account of the first twenty years in the life of a young woman and her relationship with her brother suffering from a brain tumour is a challenging read. Six pages in, and I did wonder whether I would be able to finish it. But continue I did, and suddenly McBride's half-strung sentences and atypical punctuation all seeming to drop into perfect sense, and I was reading without questioning. I had completely tuned into the protagonist's thought processes, and I was hooked. I think I read the whole novel in the space of twenty four hours, and although I found the whole experience emotionally exhausting, it was so,so satisfying. I was once again hooked on reading, and have continued so to be since that day.

Henry Layte, whose Galley Beggar Press first published 'A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing' back in 2013, also owns The Book Hive, a bookshop in Norwich's London Street, a wonderfully eccentric store over three floors which draws you in from the pedestrianised hurly-burly outside, but immediately offers comfort, sanctuary, and a wonderful array of titles. This is no 'Black Books' and, thank God, neither is it a pretentious preserve of the literary cognoscenti. I always feel comfortable, and whilst I never feel under pressure to buy, I almost always do.

It is therefore only right and proper to find that Eimear McBride's follow-up work, 'The Lesser Bohemians', is being launched at The Book Hive, and one hour after most of the other shops in London Street have extinguished their lights and locked their doors, a stream of book-lovers are entering the store. It is cramped inside with so many people jostling for somewhere to sit or stand, it is one of the balmiest evenings of the year, and one could almost describe the conditions as 'uncomfortably warm'. However, such is the excitement over McBride's new work that nearly everybody seems to be clutching a copy, and is waiting patiently for the chance to have it signed. Eimear is relaxed and chatty, and husband William watches proudly from behind the store's counter.

Henry Layte welcomes us and introduces Eimear before hosting a brief interview-styled question and answer session, during which we learn that work on a third novel has already started, and that an audiobook recording of 'The Lesser Bohemians' has already been completed and is scheduled for a November release. Eimear then reads a short section from the book. A planned opportunity for questions from the floor is adjourned purely due to the warmth and lack of ventilation, but Eimear remains to chat individually to all that wish to quiz her further.

I leave with my own signed copy, once again grateful to Eimear McBride for being so instrumental in helping me re-discover the pleasures of reading contemporary fiction, and looking forward to getting started on 'The Lesser Bohemians'.

And Now, My Friends, The End Is Near... (The Final Weekend of This Year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival)

I can't believe it's almost over. We are approaching the final weekend of events of this year's Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and already the question with which volunteers are greeting each other has typically become "Have you got any more shifts left?".

I spent Thursday night wearing my Norwich Arts Centre lanyard as I held fort on the box office for another two sold-out Festival shows, this time organised by the Norwich Writers Centre. Whilst I was not able to see or hear either event, the venue was buzzing with anticipation as the auditorium filled up for the annual Harriet Martineau Lecture, to be delivered by the world's number one Dub Poet and former Black Panther, Mr Linton Kwesi Johnson. Johnson cuts a dapper figure as he enters the venue, putting me and my t-shirt and denims to shame, but it is his reflections on the theme of black emancipation as championed by Martineau in the nineteenth century, contrasted with his own more recent observations, that makes his appearance so powerful.

There is a large VIP guestlist for both Johnson's lecture and the debut performance of Martin Figura's 'Doctor Zeeman's Catastrophe Machine' that follows it. Add to that some confusion over ticket collection, and with even more people hoping to buy tickets on the door, it is a challenging shift. By the end I am too late to make it to the Spiegeltent to see hot jazz and ragtime band, the FB Pocket Orchestra, so instead head home.

Friday finds me re-energised and refreshed, and upon checking my NNF programme I discover that the 1.00pm performance at The Spiegeltent, Big Bad Wolf, is not in fact a children's show but a concert by four students from the Royal Academy of Music. Their side project is a contemporary jazz band featuring an unconventional line-up of trombone, electric bass, guitar and percussion. The concert is the last in a series of five from the Royal Academy's students, and looks like one not to miss so I get my skates on.

Big Bad Wolf

This is a complete contrast from the two Octagon Chapel concerts that I attended earlier, but is a jazz-lovers' delight, and the Spiegeltent once again provides a very special venue that impresses artists and audience alike. Thanks to Owen Dawson (great to see a trombone player taking centre stage), Michael DeSouza (sublime six-string bass playing and solos), Rob Luft (guitar and vocals) and Jay Davies (drums) for sharing the fruit of their collaborative composition and playing with us this lunchtime.

My 'proper' Friday event involves being Coach Assistant for passengers being transported from Norwich to the Billy Bragg concert at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome. This will be my third visit to the famous indoor circus building, having already stewarded at two performances of William Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' (directed by our festival director William Galinsky), and Bragg has such a legendary status that I am desperate to see him perform. It is another sold-out show, and I really hope that, as Coach Assistant, I will not be left outside.

I am lucky. Fellow volunteer James and I are allowed into the venue, and are able to watch the show from the uppermost tier, right by the bar. It is the expected mixture of music, comedy and politics, and in between Braggs' views on such topical matters as Brexit and the French employment law disputes, we are treated to lighter discourses on matters as urbane as DIY and Morrissey's shorts. The songs are culled from a glittering back-catalogue and culminate in a ring-side massed sing-along to the classic 'A New England', with the last verse touchingly dedicated to Kirsty MacColl.

Billy Bragg

The show has over-run, and in spite of an earlier plea to our passengers to make a swift return to the coach we still have to wait whilst visits to the toilet are queued for, and one lady returns to retrieve her spectacles. There is no sign of any of our outgoing no-shows (we had thought that they might have made their own way to Great Yarmouth earlier in the day, and would be expecting transport back), and our driver is desperate to get going. I do hope we didn't leave anyone stranded in Great Yarmouth. If we did, I am sincerely sorry.

Saturday finally provides me with a chance to attend a performance of 'Wild Life' at the Norwich Playhouse. This is a show that has been over two years in development, and features ten young singer-songwriters from the area, and has been co-commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and Belgian arts centre, CAMPO. Over the course of 70 minutes the cast take us on a journey through their hopes, fears and observations of modern life. It is a spectacular sonic and visual collage during which each cast member explores a different theme through their own personal performances, which are drawn from a mixture of personal experience, dramatic creation, and individual expectation. The show is brutal, shocking, and honest, but at the same time funny, joyous and entertaining. Director Pol Heyvaert has crafted these ten young individuals into a cohesive force that becomes a mouthpiece for the younger generation and a revelation to those before.

'Wild Life' was, for me, my personal highlight of the entire festival. Every performer showed a remarkable maturity and talent, and every song was a crafted masterpiece. I do hope that every one of them can take this experience and find success in future projects.

The cast of Wild Life (NNF photo) 

My very last Norfolk and Norwich Festival volunteer shift for 2016 is a last-minute shout-out for a Spiegeltent box office assistant prior to the show from the exciting Columbian ex-pat band now based in Belgium, La Chiva Gantiva. It is yet another sold-out Saturday show, so most of the shift is spent fielding requests for returned tickets. A couple of un-required complimentaries are handed back to me with permission to use or re-sell, and I delight a previously disappointed customer, making another thirty quid for the festival coffers, but shooting myself in the foot in the process. "Use or re-sell", the gentleman had said. I could so easily have stuck one of those in my pocket, thereby guaranteeing my own admission to the show.

As it is I have to hang around the entrance to the Spiegeltent hoping for a chance to get inside. Even the volunteer lanyard fails to cast its usual magic, and my thoughts return to that ticket I could have had. Finally, the Spiegelhosts are allowed to admit me, and I enter a sweaty, heaving mass of people dancing joyously to the most divine fusion of funk, rock, and South American rhythms that you have ever heard in Chapelfield Gardens on a Saturday night. This is the perfect end to my Norfolk and Norwich Festival as I join in with the packed out crowd and jump, clap, wave and boogie my way through the last hour of their generous 90 minute set. My tired old legs are going to hate me in the morning, but for now I just don't give a damn. If I'm going to go, I'm going to go down dancing and enjoying myself!

There are still a handful of events occurring on the final Sunday, including another 'Walk With Me' out at Felbrigg Hall, and final performances of 'Wild Life' and 'White Nights' in Norwich, but for most of us in the 'Vollie Team', it is now the time to reflect and refresh. The Spiegeltent Garden becomes an afternoon focus for those of us wanting to celebrate and rejoice in our experiences of the last two and a half weeks. Old friendships have been renewed, new friendships forged, and some great memories and experiences shared.

There is nothing quite like the Norfolk and Norwich Festival fortnight, and I loves it.