The Tech is done...now onto the Welsh Dress(er..)

Hey Everyone,

Before I go to bed and dream of strangers and lights and suitcases and a huge wardrobe and masks and fog horns and Mr Sillar's HUMUNGOUS white rocker hairstyle, and cardboard recycled tubes and whistles and all my other favourite things, like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, I would like to post a short note.

I am incredibly excited about our project and our performances at the weekend.

The young people in Wales have given up (pretty much!) their entire half term holiday to dedicate their time, energy, enthusiasm and creative talents and to continue building up a truely magnificent youth theatre company with professionalism to be applauded.



This week is only halfway through but we have already achieved sooooo much.

The set and costumes are beautiful and practical and absolutely perfect to assist us in telling our magnificent stories from around the world. The miming in Brynaman film is AMAZING!!!! Sub real are our favourite film crew in the world and do excellent interviews as well as encouraging an appropriate amount of fun and games during break times including frisbee throwing in the park and bendy sword fighting - BUT NOT ON THE STAGE!!!!!!! The characters are growing larger than life by the minute and voices are getting louder as the days progress...thank heavens!!!!! And most of all, we have an incredibly beautiful and important story to tell that we created ourselves from 6 months of extremely hard work and a passion to pass it on to others.

Peri's grey hair is only growing at is normal rate, Natasha is building up her sound and lighting crew every day, Alex R is keeping the crew calm with coffee and the cast calm with a loud voice ;) We have discovered a saviour in Rhian, and Carrie's commitment and support is absolutley amazingly fabulous and we long to have them on board with all future productions!!!

The youth crew has dwindled slightly but India and Louisa are wicked and pulling the final seams together, literally.

This is a huge big massive shout out to all the strangers across the world - NZers break legs in 7 hours time! We in Wales will join you through the webcam at 8.45am here whilst we have our breakfast at the community centre and long to find out how your opening night goes....

Slough, now that this blog is easily accessible to all, please think of us whilst you bask in your wonderous extra 2 weeks!!!! We're only a teensy bit envious but soooo much more excited and we just can't wait to see Lizzie and Mikey and Dan on Friday and show them our version of your Slough Stories too.

Anyway, I really should probably go to sleep now as I need to get up bright and early for the NZ post show skype and then go great guns on the morning rehearsals pre Wales Dress.

NZers, we're all thinking of you as we go to sleep tonight and REALLY REALLY REALLY looking forward to talking to you after your show.


BREAK LEGS!!!!

Lots of Love from Peri xxx

Wales CAST the net

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to announce that Criw Cymru (the Wales Crew) has now been cast into our wonderful bank of international Strangers characters.

Last night in our regular rehearsal space at the pensioners' hall, we read through the scripts, discussed ideas for linking common themes and characters and by the end of the evening all performers were cast into their roles for the performance.

WOW! Things are moving sooo quickly now. Next week we shall start work on some ensemble and a handful of key scenes, amalgamation ideas and planning before breaking up (no tears now!) for a two week Christmas Hol.

When we return we shall be meeting so often that no one will ever tear us apart again!

Anyway, last night was also very exciting because we were "observed" by Gemma from Cyfanfyd (whaich means "whole world" in Welsh) It is a Global Youth Work Organisation and Gemma is very interested in using our very own Strangers Project as a Case Study for their handbook...WOOOOAAAAH - how cool are we?!?!?

I received an email from Gemma today telling me how much she enjoyed being part of our rehearsal and to congratulate us on the amazingness of our project across the world...watch this space... ;)

We also have the opportunity to spread the word of Strangers in a community Christmas Experience next week on the 20th in our local rugby club, and Peter has already started work on a powerful and poigniant power point presentation. Well done Pete!

Right, just looked back at this very long post and hope you're as excited as I am when you read about all the amazing things that are happening because of all you amazing young people around the world.

If anyone in Slough or NZ is able to post up a few photos of your work on the blog or email them to me at messupthemess@hotmail.co.uk before Tuesday we can fit them into the presentation... and that would be SOOO cool....

Get in touch if you need help with that...

Merry, Merry Christmas and holidays to you all!!! (and that's surely not the last time you'll hear those words on this blog!)

Peri ;)

SLANG GRAFITTI WALL

HEY STRANGERS

Lets do that thing we discussed about having a slang off!!! Wales Criw, Slough Posse and NZers - use the comments box to express your favourite slang (not swear!) words and if we don't know what they mean we have to ask or guess in the comments box!!!

Lets do it!

Click on the comments box where I'll start the ball rolling...

PERI ;D

Strangers Slough Lizzie Checking in!

Hi all,

Lizzie here! The Slough Sarah and Peri.

With tears in me oyes and a song in me harrt (cheesy) as I scroll through the amazing images, words and sentiments shared by you all on the project.

It's wonderful to hear so many stories from everyone that are not just the creative ideas but about how Strangers is making friends of us all. I have met some great people doing this and can't wait to SKYPE again. Sorry it's taken so long to get on here. (Head hanging in shame but its a long and complicated story that will be boring on here).

I'm totally inspired by what you have achieved creatively in Wales and NZ and am so full of admiration for the Slough Strangers group too, of course. We'll be blogging much more from now on. Won't we guys?!

Your songs, rehearsed improvs, your stories and monologues are all ticking away in our heads and hearts and helping to shape what we're creating in Slough.

We have a suitcase! An obsessive donut eater; a 347 yr old scrapyard guardian who talks in riddles; love, loss, betrayal and hope. And a couple of cantankerous old people you don't know whether to love or loathe. Our story is simple. Set in a scrapyard (Slough, part finished, part not, a real mixed bag of cultures, languages, crazy architecture, a bit ugly in places with a reputation for being depressing but with a villagey community feel mixed with London suburb shabbiness thrown in for good measure.) All who enter trhe Scrapyard must at some point cross paths with Mr Scillar the ancient yardy. He will help or hinder (he reps the Heart of Slough). All characters are running from or looking for something. Our main Character, John, is looking for his lost identity, he will find this through finding his family. We follow him on his twisting and turning journey, meeting lots of colourful characters along the way, some with suitcases and some without, sometimes in the cinema and sometimes on the high street. Essentially telling the story of Slough through these characters.

We've got rehearsal later on today and I'd love to weave in some of the ideas such as the neighbours bickering, the sounds of the langauge through the game:fruit/country, the reggae beats popular in NZ (in Slough the group tends to be a bit RnB and hiphop or Lemon Jelly hippy tunes when under duress from me), the stylised movement sequences that NZ did for the arts festival.

I've included here a short scene by Inderjit that I think is lovely and poignant.

Mr Scillar may be portrayed by a huge shadow puppet with prerecorded big voice and then he'll have a normal size and a miniature representation as well. (perhaps?? was our last thinking wasn't it Adrian, designer?)Some background to Scillar: he cannot leave his job as guardian until someone else volunteers to take over. Rosalina has arrived from Poland but is down on her luck and wishes to find a way home. Through the story she eventually comes to realise that home is where the heart is and that Slough can give her what she needs.


Script Idea by Indy
Rosalina and Mr Silla

(Mr Silla enters stage left, is walking his dog and at the same time Rosalina, enters stage right, is dragging her suitcase along and crying. They crash into each other)

Mr Silla :( Shouting) WATCH OUT!!!
Rosalina: (crying) So sorry!
Mr Silla: Oh dear, I’m sorry! Why were you in such a rush, anyway, it’s not safe at this time of night for a young lady to be running along the streets alone!
Rosalina: I’m fine (Sits down on bench)
Mr Silla :( sits next to her) It’s alright! Has someone hurt you?
(Rosalina sighs, then nods)
Rosalina :( Sings softly in polish)
Mr Silla: Such a pretty voice! (Sighs) Now are you ok?
Rosalina: (looks up and nods)
Mr Silla: Whenever I feel bad I look at my dog! (Points at his dog)
Rosalina: (looks at the dog, she starts to smile)
Mr Silla: As long has he’s smilin, I’m smilin! I‘ve been here so many years! He’s the one thing that’s kept me going, that and knowin that whatever I need is right here! My home.
Rosalina: (stares at him) you no feel like you no at home, sometimes?
Mr Silla: I do sometimes, but dreams take their time as do most good things

(Rosalina considers this and then stands up, Mr Silla gets up with her and they walk off the stage)

More later,

Peace and Love

Introducing Krissie....Enthusiastic Slough Blogger

Hi guys!

Well, I'm Krissie. I work at Slough Young People's Centre which is one of the organisations involved in the Strangers project. We're doing an Afterhours Arts Academy course called Strangers Drama run by the lovely Lizzie - which I'm sure some of you might even be going to at the moment. I've heard great things about the work which is being done and I'm sure I'll come down from the office upstairs one night and see some awesome performances.





Here's a bit about me. I love Drama and studied it at University and these days I prefer acting to directing though it changes quite often! I love the theme of Strangers for the project as I come from a very diverse family: my parents are Finnish and German, my brothers are American and I am the first English person in my family for four generations. I think we stretch back as far as France six generations ago as well so I'm pretty international and I love that. I really enjoy looking back at my family's roots and seeing how it makes me into the person I am today.





Anyway, loving the photos and blogs that have gone up so far and looking forward to meeting everyone via Skype at some point!