Simon Persighetti and Phil Smith invite you to join them for a ‘Tour of Sardine Street’

Since late 2007 Simon Persighetti (poet, playwright and performer) and Phil Smith (author of ‘Mythogeography’) have been regularly walking, researching, exploring and performing on one street: Queen Street in Exeter. Now, after a number of ‘test runs’ with other walkers, they have prepared a ‘mis-guided tour’ of the street and would like to invite interested members of the public to join them for a tour.
Phil Smith (The Crab Man) said: “Allowing ourselves more than two years to prepare, we have built up an awareness not only of many of the unseen or ignored details of Queen Street, but we have also seen how it can change radically in short spaces of time – it has a life cycle and a heart beat!”

The tours all begin at the Dinosaur Café at the northern end of Queen Street (at its junction with the New North Road), next to the Miles Clock Tower.
These tours will last between 90 minutes to 2 hours, but walkers are requested to be free for 3 hours (occasionally the guides have been spontaneously invited to visit certain closed areas of the street and would like to be free to respond to any similar invitations).

The times of the tours are as follows:
9th July (Friday) 10am – 1pm

9th July (Friday) 2pm – 5pm

10th July (Saturday) 10am – 1pm

15th July (Thursday) 10am – 1pm

15th July (Thursday) 2pm – 5pm

16th July (Friday) 10am – 1pm

Numbers are very limited (a maximum of seven people for each walk) – those interested should make a booking by email to perform.smith AT ukgateway.net

Exeter Summer Festival: The Fringe at the Bike Shed

Ladies and gentlemen, Particular Theatre Company Supporters, Bike Shed Theatre afficionados,


THE FRINGE IS IN

65 Performances, 21 Companies, 11 Days, 1 Venue

Following the most eventful six months in our (fairly) young lives, The Bike Shed Theatre is closing this season with 11 days of back to back performances. From dance to theatre, comedy and musicals companies from across the UK will be delighting our stage with entertainment for all.

The Fringe Festival will kick off at 2pm today with An Arrangement of Shoes, a touching one woman show about family life in an Indian Railway colony. This is an award winning new play which will give you an idea of the wonders we have lined up over the next couple of weeks.

Also on my personal list of "must sees" are Up The Gary; a musical performance about the rise and fall of a Gary Glitter Tribute artist which promises to have the audience in stitches, and Stuck in the Throat a play of stories which follows three people who are unsure what should be shared and what should remain a secret. These are topped off by our first stand up comedy at The Bike Shed Theatre, Shazia Mirza and Susan Murray are both national calibre comedians who will be previewing their Edinburgh shows on the Bike Shed Stage. You can find more details of these shows and many more on our website www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/fringe/ where you will also be able to buy your tickets for the shows.
The festival is bringing companies from far and wide into Exeter, please support these performers, lets show them that this city is still craving for quality entertainment.

This will mark the end of our season at The Bike Shed Theatre, following the festival we will be closing our doors for refurbishments and preparing to come back in the autumn with a whole new program of entertainment. We hope to see you walk through our doors over the course of the next 11 days.
Enjoy the Fringe!
David, Fin and Debs

The Bike Shed Theatre

Art: Theo Jansen at Exeter Summer Festival

Theo Jansen: Artist's Talk

Friday 2 July, 7pm at Exeter Central Library (Music Room), £6/£4 concessions.

An illustrated talk by Theo Jansen providing an insight into his work over the years with details of the new strandbeest, Ventosa Siamesis.

To book a place please contact Spacex:
t: 01392 431788, e: info@spacex.org.uk.Booking essential.

Theo Jansen: Public Demonstration


Friday 25 - Sunday 27 June, between 11am - 5pm on Exmouth beach, (Carlton Slipway east of the Pavilion), free.

Exclusive live demonstrations of Theo Jansen's new strandbeest, Ventosa Siamesis. This is the first unveiling of this new work. The strandbeest will be in operation on the beach between 11am - 5pm and Jansen will be present from 3 - 5pm (except Friday, when his assistant will be present).

A smaller strandbeest (four metres long) will be available for audiences to interact with and learn how the beach creatures walk.

Theo Jansen: Public Demonstration

Friday 2 - Sunday 4 July, between 11am - 5pm in Exeter city centre, free.

Following the live demonstrations of Theo Jansen's new strandbeest on Exmouth beach, the beach creature will appear in Exeter city centre in Princesshay Square. The strandbeest will be in operation between 11am - 5pm and Jansen will be present from 3 - 5pm.

A smaller strandbeest (four metres long) will be available for audiences to interact with and learn how the beach creatures walk.

Exhibition at The Spacex Gallery, Exeter

15 May - 3 July 2010


Internationally renowned Dutch artist and engineer Theo Jansen has been developing mechanical, skeletal like sculptures for the last 20 years. Jansen has named these creations strandbeests, which translates as beach animals. The strandbeests are self-propelling engineered creatures which are powered by the wind.

Spacex has co-produced this project for which the artist is creating a major new work, a Siamese twin version of his last work, named Ventosa Siamesis. Each of the twins will be approximately 10 metres long and, under the guidance of the artist, this enormous creature will explore Exmouth beach from 25–27 June, before arriving in Exeter city centre, to coincide with Exeter Summer Festival from 2–4 July.

In addition Spacex is showcasing the first UK exhibition of the artist’s work at the gallery from 15 May–3 July 2010.

http://www.spacex.co.uk/

Poetry: Excite June Newsletter

Firstly, welcome to all new stanza members, and a sunny morning one and all,


Details of poetry events in June follow below, with flyers attached, so please forward to interested parties.

Open mic night at Exeter Cathedral, 4th June, 8.30pm -10.30pm, a fundraiser for a charity which provides emergency accommodation for young people with nowhere else to go. Open mic spots available, contact Katie Moudry at katiemoudry AT hotmail.com

Otto Retro open mic, Exeter, 10th June, 7.30pm, £4/£3 concs on the door - Another night of funky junk with generous helpings of wine and nibbles and yes, poetry. Give me a call or drop me an email to book a slot.

Carrie Etter @ The Paragon Gallery, Exeter, 17th June, 7.30pm, £5 /£3 on the door. We're very lucky to have Carrie come down and visit us. Carrie is a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. She has been widely published both in the US and UK, (Poetry Review, The New Republic, Stand, TLS, to hardly name a few). She'll be reading from both her pamphlet, The Son, from Oystercatcher Press and her first collection, The Tethers, from Seren, which the TLS hailed as 'one of the most ambitious and accomplished first collections in recent years.'
Not to be missed.

Open mic spaces available, but I warn thee now, they will go quickly...
Other interesting bits of news
Word of Mouth, A wee bit further out, but on the 5th June if you are in the Barnstable area there is a free afternoon of spoken word, poetry, performance and live music at Boston Tea Party, 1pm - 5pm.
The Poetry Society Stanza Competition is open now, the theme is 'Elsewhere', full rules below. If you are on the ExCite Poetry mailing list, i.e. received this email from stanza@rachelmccarthy.com you are eligible to enter.

http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/membership/stanzas/competition/2010rules/
I've been wittering in public about various things lately, which are now archived on the website (www.rachelmccarthy.com).
A look back over Carol Ann Duffy's first year as laureate:
http://www.rachelmccarthy.com/rachelmccarthy.com/One_going,_going,_gone.html
My Interview in Poetry News about what we do:
http://www.rachelmccarthy.com/rachelmccarthy.com/Poetry_News_Article.html
That's all for now folks, best
Rachel
--

Rachel McCarthy,

Poetry Society Representative for East Dev
email: stanza AT rachelmccarthy.com
website: http://www.rachelmccarthy.com/
 
Uncut Poets
 
The June event features guest poets
James Bell & Steve Spence
Please join us to say farewell to James who is retiring from his slot as co-host of Uncut, and also has a new collection to promote: Fishing for Beginners, published by Tall Lighthouse. Steve will read from his recently-published first collection, A Curious Shipwreck.

The event takes place on
Thursday 24 June, 7:30 pm, at
The Black Box
Media Centre
Exeter Phoenix
Gandy Street
Exeter
Box Office: 01392-667080

Tickets: £5 / £3 (concessions & open-mic readers)

Anyone wishing to book an open-mic slot may do so by calling James Bell on 07879-888319.

If you can't get hold of James, try me (Tony Frazer) on 07789-430485.

The next Uncut session will be on Thursday 29 July, our last session before the summer break, and will feature Lee Harwood as guest poet. Guests for the rest of the year are Kelvin Corcoran (September), Alice Kavounas (October) and Lawrence Sail (November).
Another date for your diaries: on 1 July, Uncut regulars Damian Furniss and Alasdair Paterson launch their new collections at the Devon and Exeter Institution, 7 The Close [i.e. on the Cathedral Green], Exeter EX1 1EZ. 7:30 for 8pm. Admission free.
 
The Language Club
 
Poetry in performance


7.30 – 10pm

Tickets £5 (£3 concessions)

Saturday 5 June

With guest poet Damian Furniss.Damian will be reading from his forthcoming book Chocolate Che. The poems in Chocolate Che were written in Cuba in the fiftieth year of the revolution; in India working with dying destitutes and recovering from tuberculosis; travelling up and down the spine of the Americas and into the heart of Europe on the trail of soldiers, artists and monks.

 
Shearsman Readings
 
Swedenborg Hall, Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. The entrance is through the portico on the right of the building shown above. There is no admission fee. Unless stated otherwise, all readings are hosted by Tony Frazer, publisher of Shearsman Books.
The next reading is as follows:

All events start at 7:30 pm.
Tuesday 7 June 2010

Damian Furniss & Martin Anderson


Exeter Poetry Festival

On Sunday 10 October, 3:00pm, Elisabeth Bletsoe, Damian Furniss and Jaime Robles read in a special Shearsman event at the first Exeter Poetry Festival, Exeter Central Library. Further details tbc, but, apart from the Shearsman reading, Jen Hadfield, Julia Copus and Greta Stoddart are all scheduled to read at the Festival. Follow news about the Festival here

Particular Theatre: June Newsletter

June 2010 – Newsletter 7
Dear Particular Friend,
It’s the 1st of June, the 25th anniversary of the battle of the beanfield and the opening night of Beanfield, Particular Theatre Company’s new play written to commemorate this event.

Also coming up in June is our two week theatrical extravaganza; the Exeter Fringe festival which will bring to the Bike Shed Theatre 20 different performances to keep you busy for two weeks straight.
We hope to see you all at The Bike Shed Theatre enjoying the treats we have lined up for this most exciting of Junes…
David, Fin and Debs

BEANFIELD
Our cast and crew are ready for the lights to go up on our brand new production of Shaun McCarthy’s Beanfield. Opening tonight the show will be on at The Bike Shed Theatre until the 19th of June.
The battle of the beanfield took place 25 years ago to the day and saw a group of travellers being kept away from Stonehenge through police brutality. Beanfield tells the story of the event through the means of a beautifully scripted love story.

Veterans of the battle have been involved in this production from the start; from the writing of the play to the rehearsal room. This will give you a real and true story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Tickets for Beanfield are £10 (£5 Monday and concessions) and can be bought online http://www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/2010/6/#diary.

EXETER FRINGE FESTIVAL

The first ever Exeter Fringe Festival will take place at The Bike Shed Theatre from the 23rd of June to the 3rd of July 2010.
Everyday from midday to midnight The Bike Shed Theatre will be hosting six consecutive shows for a total of 20 shows over the course of the two weeks. It’s going to be busy.
We have dance, we have theatre, musicals and stand up, whatever you fancy there will be something for everyone.
Tickets for all performances are £5 except for stand up which are £10. For further details on each show and performance times visit www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk.