And So It Goes…So and So On…

Posted on October 30, 2014 by blackchickmedia

Our dear friends with the So and So Arts Club, together with Roma Fringe, are putting on a brilliant theatre festival in just a few days. See below for the official press release.

PRESS RELEASE

International theatre festival comes to the heart of the City.

November 3-9^th 2014 A pop up venue in the heart of the historic City of London, will host 14 shows from five different countries for a week-long international theatre festival of one act plays.

The So and So On Festival, in association with Italy’s Roma Fringe, will showcase some of the best new writing and performances from Britain, with guest performers from Canada, Italy, Australia and the USA.

Shows include an award-winning monologue from a confused Canadian lesbian, a hallucinatory dystopia based on Kafka’s “The Trial”, the story of a transsexual dad from Arkansas, and from Italy, an absurd and poetic re-imagining of Frederico Fellini’s classic film, La Strada.

Producer Sarah Berger says, “The idea behind the festival is to bring new theatrical experiences from across the world to the diverse London audience…which has always been an amazing melting pot. The festival has also tried hard to get so many artists from so far afield into one basement because that’s how great future collaborations come about. And the great thing about a festival of one-act plays is that it proves you can have an amazing experience in under an hour.”

The Festival will run at 6 Frederick’s Place, City of London, London, UK EC2R 8AB from November 3^rd – 9^th 2015. Tickets are available here http://thesoandsoartsclub.ticketsource.co.uk/ or from the box office at 0207 923 9518.

The So and So Arts club, established by Sarah Berger in 2012, helps artists of all ages from across every discipline by encouraging them to network and collaborate. To date, the club has 1200 members in nine different countries, and has produced three festivals and eight productions.

The fourteen shows on offer are:

Pussy by Claire Rice

Pussy, a witty one woman show which follows the tangled heartaches of a confused Canadian lesbian, her wild British girlfriend, their Russian landlady and a highly opinionated cat. Maura Halloran won best actress at the United Solo Theatre festival for her performance.

Macbeth: Gore and Grief. Acclaimed actor David Keller and poet writer Simon Rae present this gripping one-man adaptation of Macbeth.

Karren Winchester in DIVA

Diva: Australians Tiffany Barton, writer, and Helen Doig, director, bring their award winning one woman show about a washed up opera diva with British actress Karren Winchester who has appeared at the National and extensively in theatre and TV.

Walking: A new three hander winner of the Kenneth Branagh award by Tina Jay directed by Keith Myers.

Shurl: A delightful one-woman show nominated for the outstanding performance award at the Prague fringe festival. Written and performed by Sue Schilperoot.

The Orpheus Project: A new piece of writing by Jonathan Young and David Hermann, inspired by both the mythology of Orpheus and Kafka’s ‘The Trial’. Using original soundscapes, music, movement and multimedia, Nomanstime Automatics creates a dystopian future described by Public reviews as “a frightening, fragmentary experience for its residents and an exceptionally engaging piece of theatre for its audience”.

Double Bill:

Steve Hay
What I Do

What I do by Daniel Davies whose last play “Is Anything Broken” transferred from Radio to the Camden Fringe, a wry commentary on homelessness starring Steve Hay.

Full Dress by Bronwen Denton Davis.
Two sisters meet for the first time in years at a memorial service. American director Paula D’Allessandris is flying over from New York to direct this vignette with two British actresses.

Out There!

Out There Unsettling and surreal, evoking Hitchcock and psychological thrillers like Don’t Look Now & Barton Fink – “Out There!” is a new play, weaving together classic gothic horror stories, Le Horla by Maupassant & The Yellow Wallpaper by C.P. Gilman. With Jill Crawford and Jeremie Korta.

The Drifts Live The novel on stage by Thom Vernon.
A trans-dad, a housewife, her husband, his lover and a calf fight their sex in a mean Arkansas blizzard.

The Bench written by and starring Tom Gutteridge and Liam Mansfield. Peter is stuck in a rut. He already feels his youth has passed him by, with no idea where he’s going or why he’s going there. In a desperate moment he finds himself embroiled in a conversation with a homeless man.

Stand By Your Man written and performed by Jenni Douglas.
Evil is real, evil walks this Earth like a natural man. And he’s found love. With songs and original music Jenni tells the story of four women who fell in love with serial killers.

Dare devised and performed by Claudia Errico with the collaboration of visual performer Riccardo Attanasio Matlakas. Told with a physical and sensual journey through improvised happenings, ecstatic dances and Visual Art; Dare inspires us to share that repressed feeling, and journey beyond boundaries to live a life made of Individual choices.

The White Room

THE WHITE ROOM by Caterina Gramaglia The performance brings on stage interaction of live acts and multi-media material – videos, pictures, words, songs of these characters are played by the only artist on stage – an interaction between the absurd and poetic making the way to Fellini’s world La Strada powerfully incarnated by his muse and lead actress Giulietta Masina as the powerful Gelsomina. Winner of the Roma Fringe festival.

Each show has three performances across the week.

We are happy to arrange interviews with any of the casts or creative teams.

The producers are Davide Ambrogi, founder of the Rome Fringe festival, and Sarah Berger an actress, director and producer, and founder of The So and So Arts Club.

Link to The So and So On festival: www.thesoandsoartsclub.net

Link to the So and So Arts Club: www.thesoandsoartsclub.com

For further information or comps, please contact the festival organizers.

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There’s Something about The Best Pies in London

Posted on October 1, 2014 by blackchickmedia

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The Best Pies in London
by Abi Zakarian

Meet Tam Tribune. She runs the best pie shop in east London. She runs it with a fierce pride, an iron fist and a sharp tongue. But the street is changing and old times are giving way to the new; a long standing family dispute threatens Tam’s world so she responds with a Shakespearean force. Revenge, as she is often fond of saying, is a dish best served hot.

Exploring themes of family traditions, community and the rise of urban gentrification and staged in a real pie & mash shop on Hoxton Street, Abi’s new play is inspired by the character of Tamora, Queen of the Goths from Shakespeare’s early play Titus Andronicus.

See the play as part of the ‘Hoxton Path’ series of plays during the Shakespeare in Shoreditch festival.
October 1st – 12th.
7.30pm.
www.newdiorama.com/whats-on/shakespeare-in-shoreditch

Experiencing Edinburgh Fringe

Posted on September 4, 2014 by chelsearweaver

The Edinburgh Fringe is truly something that someone has to experience to fully understand. It is thousands of shows from people who believe in them with all their hearts. Most of the shows were created for the Fringe and all of them have the devotion of their creators who are more than likely also their performers, directors or producers. It is a place where someone’s crazy idea gets one month of stage time and can become something wonderful or flop, and it’s entirely on the performance to capture the attention of the audience.

I think the nature of this festival to include anyone and almost everyone with an idea leads to some pretty incredible performances and draws performers of all types. While I was there I saw the Neo-Futurists do thirty plays in sixty minutes and an immersive zombie experience and participated in a traditional Scottish Ceilidh (Kay-Lee).

And in this incredible festival of inclusion and ideas, there were an astonishing amount of female performers. One women comedy shows, all-female sketch groups and female performers were all over the flyers plastered on every wall and fence at the Fringe.

It was no surprise that these females existed in the world of performing arts. They are ever present and always available. But I felt that it was the first time that I didn’t have to look for them. I felt that it was the first time that a female stand-up wasn’t going to be introduced by the MC with “our first girl of the night” or any other distancing remark about her sexuality. It’s unfortunate that I was surprised by this, but amazing that it exists somewhere in the world even if it’s just for one month.

But more than just the pervasiveness of female performers, there wasn’t a palpable distance between any of the performers based on experience level. In my experience, experienced performers distance themselves from rising performers. The absence of this may be that all of these acts are relatively unknown. However, those who received acclaim during the festival were still grounded individuals that would happily to have a conversation about their work with anyone.

The success of your show at the Fringe is not guaranteed. It makes you throw off your securities and be open to any performance. Each show must prove itself every time it comes back to the Fringe.

If you don’t go to the Fringe because it is basically a summer camp for adults and you don’t go for the amazing theater (which you should). Go for the experience of feeling like one person pursuing an incredible dream with thousands of others and all being equal for one month.

Find out how to get involved next year here.

chelsea weaver.

Beyoncé: Fierce & Flawless. Bow Down.

Posted on August 26, 2014 by thefakesamjoseph

-photo credit via usmagazine.com

Hello Black Chick Media followers! It’s Sam Joseph aka @fakesamjoseph here with my first post. Naturally, it would be about a woman I, as well as many others have admired for over 16 years: the one and only Beyoncé. Its hard to believe in only 9 days she will be turning 33. That’s right 33. With a net worth estimated at over 450 million dollars, 75 million records sold as a solo artist worldwide (and an additional 60 million records sold as a member of Destiny’s Child), few entertainers over the years have achieved the level of success and instant name recognition that this remarkable woman has: TIME Magazines Most Influential Person of 2014, The Most Powerful Celebrity in the World of 2014 according to Forbes, 9 American Music Awards, 16 BET Awards, 18 Billboard Music Awards (including the Billboard Millennium Award), 17 Grammy awards (amongst 46 nominations, thus making her one of the most nominated artists in history and the third most honored woman in Grammy history), and now 18 Video Music Awards including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, which she received Sunday night in an emotionally charged acceptance speech which concluded with a loving embrace with husband Jay Z and two year old daughter Blue Ivy.

In a much hyped performance, Beyoncé sang a medley of her critically acclaimed, multi-platinum self-titled fifth album BEYONCÉ for an unforgettable 16 minutes that had many a celebrities up and out of their seats singing and dancing. Clad in nothing but a bejeweled Tom Ford bodysuit, (a custom made version of a bejeweled tunic sent down Ford’s Spring 2014 fashion show), booties, a microphone and her signature golden locks, she proved to us all once again why she is ~~arguably~~ the greatest entertainer alive.

2014 MTV Video Music Awards-photo credit via MTV

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles) was born on September 4, 1981 in Houston, Texas to Matthew Knowles and Celestine “Tina” Beyincé. (Beyoncé’s name is a tribute to her mother’s maiden name).

Beyoncé was educated at St. Mary’s Elementary School in Fredericksburg, Texas, where she enrolled in dance classes. Her singing talent was discovered when dance instructor Darlette Johnson began humming a song and she finished it, hitting the high-pitched notes. Beyoncé’s interest in music and performing continued after winning a school talent show at age seven, singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” to beat 15 and 16-year-olds. In the fall of 1990, Beyoncé enrolled in Parker Elementary School, a music magnet school in Houston, where she would perform in the school choir. She also attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Artsand later Alief Elsik High School. Beyoncé was also a member of the choir at St. John’s United Methodist Church as a soloist for two years.

Aged eight, Beyoncé and childhood friend and cousin Kelly Rowland met LaTavia Roberson while in an audition for an all-girl entertainment group. They were placed into a group with three other girls as Girl’s Tyme, and rapped and danced on numerous talent shows in Houston. After seeing the group, R&B producer Arne Frager brought them to his Northern California studio and placed them in Star Search, the largest talent show on national TV at the time. Unfortunately Girl’s Tyme failed to win. (Beyoncé later said the song they performed wasn’t good.) The girls auditioned before record labels and were finally signed to Elektra Records, moving to Atlanta Records briefly to work on their first recording, only to be dropped by the company. On October 5, 1995, Dwayne Wiggins’s Grass Roots Entertainment signed the group. In 1996, the girls began recording their debut album under an agreement with Sony Music, and shortly after, the group secured a contract with Columbia Records. The group changed their name to Destiny’s Child, based upon a passage in the Book of Isaiah in the Bible, and within a matter of years, the group churned out the recognizable international hits: “No, No, No”, “Bills, Bills, Bills”, “Say My Name”, “Jumpin’, Jumpin'”, “Independent Women Part 1” (Their longest running Billboard number one single clocking in at 11 consecutive weeks atop the chart), “Survivor”, “Bootylicious”, “Lose My Breath”, “Cater 2 U” and “Soldier”.

It was after the success of Destiny’s Child that Beyoncé took her career even further, establishing herself as a high profile brand and solo artist. 2003’s Dangerously in Love debuted atop the Billboard 200 (and to date remains the entertainer’s top selling album with 11 million copies sold worldwide), and spawned the international hits “Crazy in Love” (featuring her then-boyfriend Jay Z), “Baby Boy”, “Me, Myself and I” and “Naughty Girl”. “Crazy in Love” was critically lauded and is currently listed at 118 on Rolling Stone’s 2010 list of the 500 Greatest songs of all time.

-photo credit via flickr.com

Before the release of her second studio album B’day (With the instantly recognizable hit “Irreplaceable”, which to date, remains her longest running solo number one with 10 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100), that was recorded in only three weeks and released to coincide with her 25th birthday, she starred in a Golden Globe-nominated leading role in Dreamgirls opposite Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy playing a singer based on one of her major influences, Diana Ross.

On April 4, 2008, Beyoncé married Jay Z in secret and revealed their marriage to the press in a video montage at a listening party for her third solo effort I am…Sasha Fierce one month before its release on November 18, 2008. The album, her third consecutive number one solo album on the Billboard Hot 200, was comprised of the Billboard Hot 100 number one and feminist anthem “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. This song was an instant hit because of its highly choreographed and iconic music video that featured her, and two backup dancers in nothing but black leotards and stiletto heels. The album also featured the top ten hits “If I Were A Boy”, “Halo”, and “Sweet Dreams” giving Beyoncé the record of having more top ten singles than any other woman during the 2000s. On January 20, 2009, Beyoncé was given the honor of performing a rendition of Etta James’ “At Last” at President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama’s first inaugural dance.

After a short break from her career, during which she traveled the world, she headlined the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, becoming the first solo female artist in twenty years to do so. Her set list comprised of songs from her fourth studio album 4, including “Run the World (Girls)”, and “End of Time”. “Love on Top” the fourth and most successful single from the album was performed at the 2011 Video Music Awards and at the end of this performance, she revealed that she and Jay Z were expecting their first child by dropping the mic and opening up her blazer to show off her growing baby bump. Her appearance helped the 2011 Video Music Awards become the most watched broadcast in MTV’s entire history with 12.4 million viewers. Her child, named Blue Ivy Carter, was born on January 7, 2012. Only a year later, Beyoncé sang the American national anthem at President Obama’s second inauguration. The following month she performed at the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show to critical acclaim. Later in the month she released her HBO documentary Life Is But a Dream, which along with being directed and produced herself, revealed footage from her childhood, her roles as mother and a businesswoman, as well as recording music, rehearsing for live performances, and her return to the spotlight after her daughter’s birth. Later in the year she embarked on her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which went onto become not only her highest grossing tour but also the highest grossing female and solo tour of 2013 as well as one of the highest grossing world tours of all time.

It was the unexpected December release of her self titled fifth studio album that took the music and entertainment industry by storm with the lack of any prior promotion. The album debuted at number one and made Beyoncé the only woman to have her first five albums debut at number one. The single, “Drunk In Love” which features husband Jay Z, was a commercial success as well, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. After the conclusion of The Mrs. Carter Show, she and Jay Z embarked on their joint On the Run Tour, their first co-headlining stadium tour together.

Despite all of these accomplishments, it is the heart, passion, and humility Beyoncé possesses that sets her apart from her contemporaries and can be attributed to her success today. She reminds us all that we are all capable of great things if we put our hearts and souls into what we are doing. I will always be a fan of this amazing woman and look forward to the many albums, tours, and performances of hers to come.