An Update from Inside the Industry

Hello it's been while, but to make it up to you, here's some footage from my most recent shows! Enjoy!

"Bitten" - A Short Play by Broken Rose Performing Arts
Raven's always felt drawn to people. But not necessarily for their personal qualities. Strangely, she still agrees that "it's what's inside that counts." Join Broken Rose Performing Arts in this short piece of theatre which explores the story of a young girl who finds herself with a rather unorthodox craving... and then dedicates her life to finding out why.

Starring Francesca Smith.
Written and Directed by Gemma Connell.



Gemma Connell's Spoken Word
In November 2011, I made my spoken word debut, performing some of my poetry at Light In the Dark Entertainment's "TEN" in Sandbar, Manchester. It was a thrilling experience, and certainly one I aim to relive again and again.



"Flow!" - 2011
Flow! took place on 14th Oct 2011 at Contact, Manchester, as part of the Manchester Literature Festival. An extremely succesful first event, Broken Rose are currently evaluating this first incarnation, and moving forward with plans for further events.

Produced by Contact and Broken Rose Performing Arts, Flow! is a revolutionary open stage event that will see dancers in close conversation with poets. From its roots in the USA, slam poetry has become a cultural phenomenon, touching the hearts and minds of those involved in the hip hop genre, as well as that of modern literature. Over the years, the lines between this form of performance and other arts have begun to blur. Flow! takes this a step further, allowing the spoken word to entwine itself with the human body. This event sees a succession of freestyle duets, teaming up poets and dancers to showcase their art forms collaboratively. Each pair locks, pops, spits and rhymes their way through a spontaneous set.

A Reading Matter...

I never actually acknowledged how useful my English Degree was going to be. I figured that I was there to perform, and prove that my brain hadn't completely gone to mush, but I didn't realise that in researching source material for a play of my own, I'd need to know everything the University of Warwick had taught me.

Some reference to "The Epic of Gilgamesh" being a source of vampirism in Ancient Babylonia got my brain ticking over and I realised that I had the text itself on my bookshelf from when I'd studied the epic tradition. It's weird how things seem to fit together like that. And also really weird how apparently there's some kind of monster/vampire that came from Leamington Spa, which just happens to be where I lived whilst at uni. Hmmm... creepy.

Speaking of reading material, a tweet from the lovely bubzbeauty reminded me how huge a stack of manga is collecting dust on that very bookshelf. I used to love manga... and now I can't remember what I've read and what I haven't.

Meh.

CC.

A short time for Burning...

I didn't realise I was going to hate this quite as much as I do now. I decided that it would be best to live with my parents before moving to California - the rent was MUCH cheaper than anywhere else in Manchester, by far, meaning I'd save the money to cross the pond much quicker. However, once you've lived on your own for 3 years, it's remarkably difficult to adjust to the house rules I now have imposed on me. Old fashion parents just can't seem to grasp the fact that a house is for living in - it's not a show home. But what I would do to cross the atlantic quicker...? It must be endured.

Speaking of the US, it has just been suggested to me on YouTube that I should get some Broken Rose stuff on at the Burning Man festival once I get over there. Now that sounds like a fantastic idea. I'd heard about the festival before, but for some reason I'd never considered it in the context of Broken Rose. It's deffinitely on the "To Do" list.

With my feet firmly on UK soil at the mo, I've started writing another play before I've even finished "Cobwebs". "Cobwebs" is looking good though - taking the time to make it a full length play now, whereas I think this new one will be a one act show. It's called "Bitten", and yes, the previous post about vampire research was referring to this particular baby. It's really quite interesting to write.

More info on both plays as and when :)

CC.

Got a bit of an obsession going on...

Okay, so I've been doing some research for a new play. I've been on a bit of a vampire kick myself lately, just dabbling in some old (and new) popular culture that I haven't looked at in a while, and I realised just how much the myth, or rather myths, of the vampire have penetrated society.

We all knew that the world was in a state of infatuation with blood-sucking Romeos at the moment, what with the Twilight Saga being so sucessful, and the new "Dark Romance" section in Waterstones, but it appears to go much further than that. The idea of a vampire has become so alluring and all-consuming as a real vampire would.

For some reason, I would like to say that the British Isles (where I am currently residing) has a wide array of legends on this subject, but once again we seem to fall short in this area of folklore. Most vampire stories come from Eastern Europe, but some, to my geeky ancient historian delight, come from Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Mayans.

Vampires were once used as an explanation for the plague, and are now a huge part of teenage popular culture, seemingly resembling the lives of modern teenagers... Hmm... teenagers and the plague - I wonder if there is a connection there? :P

Anyways, I just had the urge to share that with the world. I have many obsessions that tend to rear their heads from time to time and this is just one of them. Prepare for more world, prepare for more!

CC.