About Unfinished Histories
Unfinished Histories records British Alternative Theatre 1968-88, through interviews and collecting archives -women's, Black, Disabled, experimental etc
Unfinished Histories Description
Interviews: We have recorded 38 extensive interviews on audio or video to date, of around 3 to 8 hours in length and are fundraising to record at least 50 more.
Archive material: We collect and preserve archival material relating to the field, clearing copyright and digitising selected items to make them available on our web site and liaising with appropriate museums and libraries to ensure its long-term preservation . We have lodged material with the Victoria & Albert Museum, Rose Bruford College of Drama and Special Collections at the University of Bristol and University of Sheffield to date, with the proviso that they are accessible to the public.
AV material:
• UH locates and organises the preservation copying of audio and video material from work of the period, including unique footage. This is lodged it with the Sound Archive at the British Library where, again, it is accessible as part of the public record. Material includes interviews and audio and video show recordings.
• UH is working to ensure the preservation and publication of numerous unpublished scripts, many of which have never been submitted to the national collection at the British Library and are therefore in danger of being lost to posterity, as well as other important written documents relating to the movement.
Research Support: UH commissions and conducts research and creates freely available online digital resources to encourage research, study and new creative work in response to this history. These include educational resources mapping contemporary publications in the field. We are just completing an online index of 8 key journals on alternative theatre in the 1960s-80.
Personal Histories: UH is developing a new project to encourage those who were involved in the movement to record the individual histories of the 700 + companies set up within this time frame, Heritage Lottery Funding is being sought to collect together both information about their output and the personal accounts of those involved in creating the work and their audiences. It also plans to document the key venues and organisations that supported the work.
UH has so far received funding from Unity Theatre Trust, Awards for All, Lipman-Miliband Foundation, Palatine (in conjunction with University of Sheffield), Rose Bruford College and others as well as individual donations.
Reviews
Remembering Noel Greig Past Present and Future. Noel at the Brighton Combination where their second show in 1968 was The Rasputin Show by Michael Almaz: "Wherever you look today – Paris, Czechoslovakia, Grosvenor Square, Memphis – ruling elites are being overturned, people of peace killed and violence in the name of liberation erupting. You saw it in Russia in 1916: the peacemonger assassinated, the oppressed masses crying “Freedom!”, the mighty plucked from their seats and made to clean toilets." Your chance to see this legendary show newly rediscovered by an anarchic cast is on Monday 10th Dec. Don't miss it!
We're offering discounted tickets to The Rasputin Show for our FB followers. Only £10 with FRIEND discount code bit.ly/rasputinshow
We’re are staging a reading of The Rasputin Show, on 10th Dec at Southwark Playhouse. It’s an off the wall historical romp, from ‘68. Please come and enjoy the show and support our much needed archiving work. Tickets: bit.ly/rasputinshow #theatre
Not long now to The Rasputin Show! Come have fun and support our work. bit.ly/rasputinshow
We are gathering headscarfs, fur coats and hats for The Rasputin Show.
The Rasputin Show is being cast today! https://www.facebook.com/events/510560596 085623/
A staged reading of an experimental piece from 1968, written by Michael Almaz and originally created with the Brighton Combination arts lab.
The original production was compared in its presentation to jazz and comic strips and loved or loathed for its chaotic creativity; an exploratory piece with a physical and visual language.
"The play is not about Russia, not about Rasputin, but about the nature of government. Political power should be shown to be, by its very nature, corr...upt, ruthless, vicious and above all - stupid" Michael Almaz
This version will be directed by Georgina Sowerby and Richard Williams, with newly composed music by Rebecca Thorn, an inter-generational cast including veterans of the alternative theatre movement and young performers, encountering a new style of work.
"I thought the Rasputin Show was tremendous and it helped to cement my resolve to act. I dropped out of University not long afterwards and joined the Combination on a full time basis." Jim Carter (Downton Abbey)
The performance is a benefit to raise funds for Unfinished Histories, a charity that records the history of the alternative theatre movement, and pays tribute to Michael Almaz and all members of the Brighton Combination, including Noel Greig, Jenny Harris, and the late Elyse Dodgson.
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The Pushing the Boundaries event about Theatre for Young Audiences now has confirmed contributors: Roy Williams OBE - Playwright Vicky Ireland MBE - Association of Children's Arts Daryl Beeton - Theatre-maker Ava Hunt - Theatre-maker/academic... Raidene Carter/Natalie Wilson - Theatre Centre Danny Braverman - Theatre-maker/academic Caleb Lee - Theatre-maker/academic
Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pushing-th e-boundaries-ticke…
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Alternative Theatre in Westminster: a Virtual Tour Tuesday 30th Oct 6pm - 8pm Westminster Reference Library, St Martin's Lane, WC2
Alternative Theatre in Westminster: a Virtual Tour allows participants via Google maps, to see some of the key sites and venues in the borough and discover why it became such a vital centre of innovative theatre.
... Copiously illustrated with slides of flyers and photos of companies and shows from the period, the talk, by Susan Croft, ably supported by Jessica Higgs with Lucie Regan and Darrel Bailey includes extracts from plays and oral history interviews and original video.
The event is Free but bookable via Eventbrite, where you can find more information.
It marks the 100th anniversary of Westminster Reference Library. Including Inter-Action's Almost Free Theatre seasons, events by the Father Xmas Union, lunchtime theatre at the Soho Poly, the ICA's Socialist Theatre Season, Cockpit Theatre-in-Education and loads more. Don't miss it!
Audience feedback from earlier Alternative Theatre virtual tours of Camden: ‘Brilliant! Wonderful. Important achievement. Thank you for so much for continuing to tell this largely unrecorded and unsung story’ 'Really inspiring, thought-provoking, important and relevant. Well done and thank you’ ‘To a huge range educational – highlighting politics, issues and achievements of the theatre movement. This I have found inspiring.’ https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/alternativ e-theatre-in-westm…
Further feedback and information on booking your own Virtual Tour available on request.
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Lost Gems Play Readings: Lost Gems DON'T MISS IT! 12.30-1.30: ' Lost Gems'. Professional actors read rarely-performed work by Pam Gems - one of the most important feminist playwrights of the 1970s and 80s - in the historic Soho Poly basement where they were all first produced between January and October 1976. Cast members Mandy Fenton, Sasha Frost, David Lee-Jones and Kathryn O’Reilly perform Arthur and Guinevere, My Name is Rosa Luxemburg and The Project with direction by ...
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Today we are celebrating 100 years of Votes for Women!
And launching a new campaign to raise funds for an exhibition in Camden, focusing on the suffrage movement, feminism and the Actresses Franchise League.
Here's the link to our first crowdfunder: https://www.youcaring.com/unfinishedhisto ries-1090383
... For more info, or to volunteer: suffragearts@gmail.com
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So very sorry to hear of the death of David Johnston, founder member of TIE/community theatre Perspectives in the 70s before taking over the artistic directorship of Theatre Centre from Brian Way in 1976, staying in the role for 10 and a half highly influential years in which the company opened up to become much more inclusive of women's, Black and Disabled voices and to extend and develop its work in many new directions. He went on to become director of Nottingham Roundabout company and to set up Tangere Arts in 2002. We interviewed him in 2013: http://www.unfinishedhistories.com/…/in terv…/david-johnston/ and he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Unfinished Histories project. He will be sorely missed
Found Theatre: Disrupting the Everyday Matt Morrison and Guy Osborn have organised a mini lunchtime festival in the basement of the old Soho Poly theatre this week (20-24 Nov) as part of the fantastic Being Human 'Lost and Found’ festival. The hope is that people might quite like the idea of downing tools and doing something a bit unexpected in the middle of their working day. So they’ve got some poets reading from their work, (courtesy of Mike Garry and Live Canon), an audi...o/theatre ‘installation' by Hannah Bruce and Company (the first brand new commission for this space in 37 years!), and an exhibition of rare photographs of the theatre in its heyday by the wonderful photographer Nobby Clark (for those of you who don’t already know, the Soho Poly went on to become Soho Theatre, now based on Dean Street). All events start at 1pm on the dot (finish time 2.15) - meeting point 4-12 Little Tichfield Street. The link below take you to the first of the booking pages (booking is essential) and you should find the other ones easily from there: https://beinghumanfestival.org/…/found- theatre-poetry-disr…/ , and also to some more details about the different days on their sohopolyfestival blog: https://sohopolyfestival.blogspot.co.uk . Do email Matt with any questions M.Morrison1@westminster.ac.uk (Oh, and if you book and need to cancel, please let them know so they can release tix!) Unfinished Histories had hoped to do some Unrehearsed Readings of Pam Gems in the space as part of the event but this should now happen next year. Watch Facebook and the UH newsletters for details!
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Please book now for GFTU Liberating Arts Festival and tell your friends!! TICKETS ARE ONLY ON SALE UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY 1st OCTOBER www.gftu.liberatingarts.org.uk Discounts are available to trade unionists.