January 27, 2012 by katie
Bandstand is a new project by The Other Way Works.
The Other Way Works is a Birmingham, UK based theatre company formed in 2001. We create highly interactive performance experiences, frequently for an audience of one at a time. Our theatre is playful and draws the audience into the very heart of the experience.
We create our work in a deeply collaborative style, and constantly push these collaborations in new ways. Our work often responds to ’site’, and we find it stimulating and rewarding to create and perform our work in non-traditional spaces.
Our previous productions include the acclaimed Black Tonic, a hotel-based interactive thriller that was performed in hotels in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and London; and I am waiting for the opportunity to save someone’s life, a performance and installation in the Mailbox Shopping Centre, Birmingham.
The Other Way Works is made up of a group of talented artists (performers, composer, film-maker, writer, scenographer) brought together under the artistic direction of Katie Day, who directs all of the company’s productions. The company was largely dormant throughout 2010 while Katie took up an invaluable Cultural Leadership Programme Peach Placement secondment to iShed/Watershed in Bristol, where she produced the pioneering Theatre Sandbox (http://theatresandbox.co.uk) scheme in collaboration with six national venues.
The Other Way Works returned to producing new work in Spring and Summer of 2011 with the successful creation and premiere of Avon Calling.
by katie
We are currently making two new Bandstand Audio Experiences for the bandstand in West Park, Wolverhampton. We are working with our commissioning partners Black Country Touring to develop and promote these new works.
I’m Katherine Maxwell-Cook, and I’ll be writing the story and the text for the experiences. One will be for a solo listener/participant/audience member, and one will be written for a pair to experience together.
I’ve been looking at old black and white photographs of the bandstand in West Park and trying to imagine what it was like to be there in a bygone era. The Black Country website (http://blackcountryhistory.org/) is an amazing resource of historical pictures, pamphlets and articles from the region. It looks like the actual layout of the park hasn’t changed much since it was originally landscaped in the 1880s.
But a photo of the bandstand from 1994 looks rather miserable and decrepit in comparison to the restored glory in which it now stands, with its red and white striped pillars like old Victorian sweets along with the refurbished roof and floor. How it looked and was used in 1948 when part of our story is set, still remains somewhat of a mystery.
Questions I am asking…
What was it like in the park after World War II when much of it had been turned into allotments for the war effort? Were bands playing on the bandstand during this time?
How will the male and female sides of the story differ?
What effect did the war have on the relationship between the man and the woman?
What is it about the bandstand that is so alluring, even today?
I enjoyed reading this description of the Black Country from the mid nineteenth century, ‘The appearance of the country around Wolverhampton and Bilston is strange in the extreme. For miles and miles the eye ranges over wide-spreading masses of black rubbish, hills on hills of shale, and mashed and muddled coal dust, extracted from beneath and masking, as it were, the whole face of nature.” (http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/Parks/Parks.htm)
It reminded me of the importance of public parks in the industrial heartlands; even in the last century they were weekend sanctuaries; an opportunity to stroll on the green grass, go boating or picnic under the sheltering trees. Somehow I’ll try to weave this sense of escape into the stories I’m writing.
Katherine Maxwell-Cook
November 28, 2011 by katie
The Other Way Works is currently recruiting Non-Executive (voluntary) Directors to join its Board of Directors.
This is a great opportunity for your skills and experience to make a real difference to the development of an energetic and distinctive not-for-profit arts organisation. We’re looking for people with a passion for theatre, the arts, and innovation, who will help steer, support and advocate for the company.
November 2, 2011 by katie
Katie will be popping up at a couple of different events in the next few weeks.
We’ve been selected to present our Bandstand project as part of the Ideas Summit at the ISAN Biennial Conference in Glasgow on 16th November. Its a chance to let national outdoor programmers know about our plans for the project, and opportunities for them to get involved in co-commissioning new content for the platform.
She’ll also be at the Hello Culture Conference in Birmingham on 17th November on the Mobile, Location and Games panel. The one day event will explore how the cultural sector can exploit digital technology.
September 30, 2011 by katie
We’re pleased to be part of Hatch:Fresh in Leicester, which has a great line up of companies performing over an evening.
We’ll be performing Complimentary, which takes place at the bar.
September 14, 2011 by katie
We’ve been selected to perform Complimentary at Hatch:Fresh in Leicester on Sunday 16th October 2011. Its a 15 minute piece for one audience member at a time that takes place standing at the bar. The Hatch:Fresh event looks to have a great line up, and tickets are free, so do come along if you’re in the area. For more info and ticket booking click here.
September 9, 2011 by katie
We’ve been lucky enough to be selected to appear at 2011’s First Bite event at mac. The event is produced by China Plate in collaboration with mac and WAC. Its on Saturday 24th September.
We’ll be sharing a tiny nibble of our new project ‘Bandstand’, a locative audio theatre experience.
For more info see the flyer below.
(more…)
July 26, 2011 by katie
If you’ll be up in Edinburgh for the festival this August, you’ll have another chance to catch our current show Avon Calling.
We’ll be performing just 3 times on 23rd, 24th & 25th August at 7pm. With just 10 places for each show do book tickets early to avoid disappointment.
June 20, 2011 by katie
Seeking ‘Audience Members’ for film of Avon Calling
Then we’d love it if you could join us as we film Avon Calling, in the starring role of one of six ‘audience members’.
We’ve just finished a successful run of Avon Calling in association with mac Birmingham. Our next job is to create a film of the piece that we will use to promote the show to encourage future bookings.
As you may know, Avon Calling is a show performed in audience members’ own homes, in their lounge, and takes the form of an Avon Party. Its very participatory.
In order to properly reflect this, we need an ‘audience’ of six people to appear in our film of the piece – and this is where you come in. We have found from past experience that when it comes to filming, our audience members need to have the ability to act – you’ll need to act surprised, or amused etc even on the third or fourth take!
It would be great if you were able to spend the afternoon with us on Sunday 26th June to be in the film. You’d also get to see most of the show, as it gets filmed. And we’ll all go out for a curry (on us) afterwards to say thanks.
Details:
Sunday 26 June (this Sunday)
12pm – 6pm
House on Stirchley/Kings Heath border, Birmingham
Wear what you’d wear to go to a friends house for an night with friends
If you would like to take part, please email info@theotherwayworks.co.uk ASAP.
Many thanks in advance.
Katie Day, Artistic Director, The Other Way Works
www.theotherwayworks.co.uk
June 16, 2011 by katie
We were pleased to receive a 4 Star review for Avon Calling in today’s Birmingham Mail.
“A thought – provoking performance and a lovely evening with friends in the comfort of my own home.”
What more could you ask for, eh?!
We are also really pleased to have SOLD OUT the entire run in collaboration with mac.
