Open
Clasp celebrates 20 years of changing the world one play at a time
An Open Clasp and Live Theatre co-production, commissioned by Queen’s
Hall Arts:
don’t forget the birds
Tour dates include:
20-24 November, Live Theatre, Newcastle
28 Nov-1 Dec, Battersea Arts Centre, London
Written by Catrina McHugh MBE
Directed by Laura Lindow
Multi-award winning North East theatre company Open Clasp
celebrate their 20 year anniversary this week.
Described by Lyn Gardner in the Guardian as “a remarkable company
working with disempowered women”, over the
last two decades Open Clasp’s productions have reached over 100,000 people, and
the company has worked with more than 100 community groups, universities,
schools and theatre companies.
Driven by a passionate belief that great theatre can bring
about social change, Catrina McHugh cofounded the company in 1998. Originally
from Liverpool but now based in the West End of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, last year Catrina
was awarded an MBE for outstanding services to disadvantaged women through
theatre. Open Clasp collaborate with women on the margins of society to create
exciting theatre for personal, social and political change.
Erica Whyman, Open Clasp Patron and Deputy Artistic
Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, said, “Open Clasp are a remarkable
company, making small miracles happen which have wide and lasting impact. Their
sensitive, impassioned commitment to telling the stories of the most vulnerable women in our society and doing
it with real theatrical skill and invention has meant that voices which are
otherwise ignored are not only heard but remembered and valued. I am very proud to be involved and sincerely
hope they continue to change the world for the next 20 years.”
Their critically-acclaimed prison drama Key Change was
created with women serving at HMP Low Newton in County Durham. It explored the
experiences of women in prison and originally toured to male prisons. Open
Clasp then took it to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015 as part of the Northern
Stage at Summerhall programme where it won the prestigious Carol Tambor Best of
Edinburgh Award, which led to an off-Broadway run in New York and a New York
Times Critics’ Pick before returning to the UK for a sell out tour in
2016. It was also performed for key decision- and policy-makers at the
Houses of Parliament in partnership with the National Alliance for Arts in
Criminal Justice, CLiNKS and the
Prison Reform Trust, and was screened globally to mark the UN campaign to
end violence against women and girls in 2017.
Rattle Snake was created by Open Clasp and funded by Durham
PCC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), to train 398 frontline
officers in better responding to sexual and domestic violence – coinciding with the
change of law making coercive control in relationships a crime in 2015. The
project was based on research identifying gaps in police understanding of
coercive control by Professor Nicole Westmarland and Kate Butterworth (Durham
University) and the impact of arts-based research interventions by Professor Maggie
O’Neill (University College Cork).
This week, the company return home to Live Theatre in
Newcastle with the follow up to Key Change. don’t forget the birds is
the true story of what happened next for one of the women after release, told
by real-life mother and daughter, Cheryl and Abigail Byron. Written by Catrina
McHugh and directed by Laura Lindow, it opened at Queens
Hall Hexham (13-14 November) before a national tour including Live
Theatre Newcastle (20-24 November), Theatre Deli Sheffield (15 November), Middlesbrough Library (16 November)
and Battersea Arts Centre (27 Nov - 1 Dec), as well as performances at
community venues and schools.
Catrina McHugh MBE said, “Our work holds the voices of
thousands of women and girls who are heroes in their own stories of survival.
The majority have experienced discrimination, disadvantage, and are often
marginalised. We’re celebrating two decades of creating theatre that changes
lives, and I’m incredibly proud that in our 20th year our work is reaching
audiences regionally, nationally
and internationally and is also being used to train and educate. Together,
we’re making change happen.”
Creative Team
Writer Catrina McHugh MBE
Director Laura Lindow
Set & Costume Designer Verity Quinn
Lighting Designer Ali Hunter
Sound Designer Mariam Rezaei
Movement Director Mona McCarthy
Cast
Cheryl Byron
Abigail Byron
Photos: Keith Pattison
Tickets:
It opens at Queens Hall Hexham (13-14 November) https://www.queenshall.co.uk/events/don%E2%80%99t-forget-birds
before a national tour including Live Theatre Newcastle (20-24
November) https://www.live.org.uk/whats-on/dont-forget-birds,
and Battersea Arts Centre (28 Nov – 1 Dec) https://www.bac.org.uk/content/45071/whats_on/whats_on/shows/dont_forget_the_birds.
For more information or to book tickets visit www.openclasp.org.uk.
Recommended age: 13+
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