John Kilby

Welcome - bien venu

John — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:37:00 +0200

Hello,
!!!!

a new website for BUCHINGER'S BOOT MARIONETTES

A news update:

Buchinger's Boot Marionettes presented their new show "The Armature of the Absolute" on the 1st November 2007 at the Theatre Antic, Barcelona.

"The Armature of the Absolute" will be performed

Festival d'Aurillac, Auvergne, France 20th to 23rd August

If you would like to know more about any of the activities of the people/groups featured here, please feel free to call or mail me

Mob: +33 (0)6 3112 5968
johnkilby03@yahoo.fr

Buchinger's Boot Marionettes

John — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:50:00 +0000

Show: THE ARMATURE OF THE ABSOLUTE

Premiere 1st November (centenary of Alfred Jarry's death) at the Theatre Antic, Barcelona

"Told through and around the mask of Alfred Jarry, and in a new ergative-accusative language developed and scored for this specific piece, this show will be an examination of the algorithmic relationships between the tripartite - genius, creation and interpretation - in this life and in the next."

Critic from the show in Bastia

corse-matin

November 1, 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Alfred Jarry. On this day, Buchinger’s Boot Marionettes will premier their latest work, The Armature of the Absolute at the Teatre Antic , Barcelona.

The international theatre troupe will be gathering artists and ‘pataphysicians (‘pataphysics= the science of sciences) from all over the world to celebrate this monumental moment. The participants will come from diverse disciplines of arts and sciences and will unite under the common enthusiasm for Alfred Jarry and his work.

Artists

Patrick Sims - Writer, director, music, puppet construction, puppeteer
buchingersboot@hotmail.com

Mafalda da Camara - Scenic design/construction, costumes, puppeteer
buchingersbootmarionettes@hotmail.com

Richard Penny - Stage design and construction, props, machines, puppeteer
richard-alien@hotmail.com.

Josephine Biereye - costumes, puppet construction, puppeteer

Philippe Hauer - Actor

Julian Weare - Lighting designer and technician
julian_lights@yahoo.uk

Oriol Viladomiu Sound technican

Ata Ekbhetar Music

See more at the buchingers website

Rather than being a piece solely about Jarry or his work, this performance will be choreographed according to a fusion of themes from both the artist's life and his creations, as well as the reactions, interpretations, and inspirations or detestations they have elicited in the past 100 years. We will be taking into account the fact that Jarry died on all Saints Day, that his last request was for a toothpick, that he could not savour his own work until he died.

Backed up with an eruditious study of the diverse biographies of Jarry, a firm grasp of his oeuvre, and a general understanding of ‘pataphysics, the college of ‘pataphysics, its publications and its underground followings - in cyberspace, eternity, or nowhere - Buchinger’s Boot Marionettes will create a unique performance that guarantees to make everyone redefine their personal definition of ‘pataphysics and the saint who put it in its place.

The Armature of the Absolute

by Patrick Sims

SYNOPSIS

“…it is acceptable only after the poet’s death- maybe a hundred years later- when the astringent explosives of the poets heart have had time to calm down. For as long as he is alive, they are too powerful…” Antonin Artaud

The Armature of the Absolute is a depiction of the triumph of a single individual consciousness over a “trespassing orgy of the collective unconscious.” It is a work about the attempt to preserve oneself from sickened everyday life through the proliferation of imagined universes, masks and invented postures. From his youth onward, Alfred Jarry was occupied with the documenting and mapping of his own ontogenesis, which is the study of an organism from its most embryonic to its most evolved of forms. Throughout his writings and manifestations, Jarry illustrated and modified his unrelenting process as a series of spiraling recursive stages, that generated at all levels, a literature and drama that highlight a tension between the opposing barely-stable, assumed realities and willfully-created, supplementary universes. His non-stop expansion between himself and the herd, this yardstick which constituted personal freedom, was a perpetual individuation- that is, life itself- which allowed for him a transformation of the everyday into a veritable theatre of metamorphosis.

The Armature of the Absolute proposes a hypothetical charting of Jarry’s ontogenesis that commences after his death. The fertilized egg from which we begin this study is the entire legendary domain of Jarry folklore- literary, dramatic, biographical, critical and pataphysical. The embryo that will be traced throughout various stages of development is a personality and its creations that have literally survived mundane death. It is a tale of a man that has avoided expiration by associating himself so strongly with his creations, yet all the while informing the milieu, or what it is not, but from what it has emerged.

Act 1 introduces the coprophilic, autochtonous murderer, Ubu- the golem who stared Jarry in the eye everyday after giving his master fame and had vampirically taken over Jarry’s public life. He returns in the classic Ubic tradition in a battle between clean and unclean forces, this time constipated and stooping even lower. He is accompanied by his three henchmen and a mummified Artaud. Ubu reveals his mastery of the material world and explains the reasons for his 100 years of constipation.

Act 2 In Jarry’s private life, it is the character Dr. Faustroll, the other face of the Jarry-Janus, who through telepathic postcards provides an account of companionship and comraderie in moments of hermitage and time travel. Accompanied by his baboon and writ-carrying bailiff, Faustroll travels to the ends of Eternity in order to send his last Postcard to Jarry.

Act 3 The Fixed-Pin Passion, depicts a marriage of Jarry with his bicycle and of a primordially infinite series of falls that he overcomes by replacing the fantasy with even more fantasy. Told through arcane bicycle culture terminology, it is a tale about something flying off and completing the cycle.

Buchinger’s Boot Marionettes was founded in 2004. Their first work, Shellachrymellaecum (2005), was an electronic opera about the inaudible and the unspeakable that won two prizes (best dramatical content and best plastic art) at the Lleida International Puppet Festival. They went on to tour at the Prague International Festival of Puppet Art, Dresden’s Societasteater, in Marseille at the L’Embobineuse and Gardennes School of Circus Arts, and Footsbarn Travelling Theatre’s 35th anniversary celebration.
The next work was The Vestibular Folds, a tale about the engraving and destruction of a metaphysical gramophone record, which was created in 2006 and premiered at the Festival Neo, Institute de Teatre of Catalunia, then at the Institute of Contemporary Art for the London Mime Festival, and finally at Festival Printemps des Comediens in Montpellier.

The universe created by Buchinger’s Boot is like a chamber of wonders- where one extraordinary object or being replaces another, each time more singular than before. This transient world contains all significant things and rarities created by both nature and man, where nothing human is alien. Particularly present are marionettes and sets made from bones, woods, metals, plants, insects, bacteria, animals and their artificial copies (stuffed, preserved, anthropomorphisized, mechanized)…tools, foreign instruments, all that enlighten, please and horrify the eye. Such a collection points to a terror of classification where possibilities and combinations spiral into chaos, and the idea of enclosing nature in a closet becomes a parable for fragile interpretations, being and its foetuses.

Buchinger’s Boot unique blend of puppetry techniques along with their organic, circuit-bending soundtracks and beautifully disturbing images, have resonated in its audiences throughout Europe, often leaving them moved, shocked, bewildered and enthralled.

THE VESTIBULAR FOLDS - 2006

Episode I. Tetema

Takes place in the schizophrenic zone called Tetema, a Mars-like ferruginous landscape inhabited by rhizomatic beings unaware of the disasters that ensue or of the larval vampires and quacks that feed on the blood of the body outstretched in its slumber. Tetema is a zone that has existed ever since man first scratched his head, not to squash a flea, but to release the itch of reflective thought. Our tragic hero is a boxing sweet potato named Juba Greencorn who ploughs his share under the wrong stars.

Episode II. Hilum

Hilum, takes place inside a derelict nursery at the threshold of becoming. Hilum implies the scar of the seed from where it attaches to the funicular, ie. A bellybutton (umbilical cord), is also the point from which things come and go; a trifle. The terror of Prima Materia, the residues from which we were hurled, and unrealized potentiality paint this portrait of “Women’s work and child’s play,” as described in the Alchemical Opus, where there is nothing to do at this stage of the process but to pass the time.

Episode III. West Orange

The Lightning Autopsy takes place in West Orange in 1889 inside the laboratory of Thomas Alva Edison (inventor of the incandescent lamp, phonograph and electric chair). Present is Eleanor Fletcher Bishop, the mourning mother of a famous magician, mind reader, and anti-spiritist who was murdered by Edison. In that year, Edison had been busying himself trying to discredit AC current by electrocuting all of the neighbourhood pets, including her cataleptic son (a rabbit). The bereaved mother uses all of Edison’s inventions to call up all the forces of hell to seek revenge on “that hillbilly inventor!”

CAST

Tetema

Wolf of the Metals
Juba Greencorn- A boxing sweet potato
Xipe Totec- The last turnip in Tetema
Sir Isaac Newton- Inventor of Gravity and other advancements in optics and light theory and so on, in this case, a tapped tree of man’s will
The milkmaid
Her cow
Reverend Ezekiel Elijah Giles- Moonshiner
Dr. Leo Mermex- An ant-lion, Flea Circus Ringmaster
Ms. Atkinson- Pig-faced lady, dental patient
Knuckleluck- a leprechaun

Hilum

Abraham-an ancient of ancients
Tad-a twin
Poppy-a twin
Oedipus- a fish
Jupiter-angelic fisherman
Eeko-a sick bat
Ceph- a hydrocephalic kid (when too much water enters your head and makes your skull expand)
Early- “birdboy”

West Orange

Hannah- my great, great-grandmother
Mr. Punch
Lacrissa- a crocodile
Filamenti- the filament from Thomas Edison’s first incandescent lamp
Eleanor Fletcher Bishop- ex-opera star, spiritist, psychic medium, bereaved mother of Washington Irving Bishop.
Harley Muzzy- a monkey
Clementine Genesiouillepasfoux- a diagnosed schizophrenic
Lucifero
Maldoror- fisherman who sought to see which is the deeper, the human heart or the depths of the sea
A Jellyfish
Washington Irving Bishop- famous anti-spiritist, magician, and mind-reader. A rival of Houdini and allegedly murdered by Thomas Alva Edison.

London performances 26-28th January – Institute of Contemporary Arts

Inside the ICA, the show we saw had the exquisite specific cruelty and beauty of what some extremely imaginative Edwardian children might dream up in a puppet theatre they got for Christmas. The gigantic, headless presences of the puppeteers lumbered carefully about the stage, all in formal, black Victorian children's clothes, manipulating tiny, exquisitely grotesque insectoid or skeletoid marionettes in three tiny acts. These embraced such strange visionary flights as blighted deserts heaving with rhizomes and circus performers, a fearful nursery where every newborn is a freak (shades of great-great-grandmother Hannah's barrenness), and a scientist's lab where newly invented electricity hums and flickers, and ancient records play, cracked in half.

Two worlds collided in the implied narrative: the peculiar miniature fantasy land and the uncomfortable purposefulness of the massive puppeteer-children playing God in their specific, disturbed way.

Brilliant, lingering image-making.

Daily Telegraph 31/01/2007 – Ismene Brown

Abhinaya Theatre - Kerala

John — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 16:39:00 +0100

Abhinaya Theatre from Trivandrum, Kerala, Southern India

Abhinaya will place the first stone (of many) of their THEATRE VILLAGE. on February 10th 2008, wishing them all good luck with their visionary project

Their next creation will be "MACBETH" W. Shakespeare for 2008

See critic from La Marseillaise

"SIDHARTHA" as seen in July 2007 at the festival Villeneuve-en-Scene, Villeneuve-les-Avignon, France

voir video reportage 5 juillet

"Une interprétation magique et colorée dans un univers harmonieux liant vie et nature, chants, danses, couleurs et baigné de musique... Une vingtaine d'artists indiens nous fait toucher du doigt leur culture et leur art par une gestuelle toute en délicatesse" J-M Gautier La Marseilleise 12.07/2007

ABHINAYA WEBSITE

Le théâtre d'Abhinaya vient du bout méridional de l'Inde, de Trivandrum, au Kerala. L’équipe présentera "Sidharta", d’après Hermann Hesse - à noter cette première européenne à l’occasion du festival Villeneuve-en-Scène du 6 au 22 juillet 2007 - 20 artistes indiens qui font le déplacement pour partager avec nous, et nous faire toucher du doigt leur culture, leur art…

Le théâtre d'Abhinaya a été formé en 1994 par D. Reghoothaman, acteur et directeur de la compagnie. Reghoothaman a passé deux ans avec le Footsbarn Travelling Theatre de 1996 à 1998, pour "l'Odyssée" d’Homère. La première de cette pièce était programmée alors au festival officiel d'Avignon 96.

À plusieurs occasions, Abhinaya, a accueilli le Footsbarn à Trivandrum, en collaboration avec le Prithvi Theatre de Mumbai.

Son travail est tourné vers un public local, cependant, "Sidharta" a déjà voyagé nationalement en Inde, notamment à Mumbai, New Dehli, Bangalore.....

Abhinaya utilise l’essentiel du théâtre traditionnel pour basculer vers le théâtre contemporain et pour explorer de ce fait plutôt un théâtre expérimental. L’équipe s’est battue pour être un centre indépendant de formation, pratiquant la recherche sans imposer de philosophie, le temps prouvera l'existence et la pertinence de toute philosophie.

En théâtre responsable, le groupe intervient pour une politique culturelle liée au social. Abhinaya propose d'établir un village de théâtre à Plathara, dans la banlieue de Trivandrum : avec une école de théâtre, des petites maisons, des ateliers de recherches, une bibliothèque, des studios pour sculptures /arts plastiques/musiciens. Le village ainsi défini reflèterait toute l'approche entourant Abhinaya pour le théâtre liant Vie et Nature - une harmonie rare pour la communauté, en marche. Le groupe pense que le développement social passe par un développement culturel, et acte.

"Sidharta" a été représenté pour la première fois en 2003, et mis en scène par M G Jyothish. D. Reghoothaman joue le rôle principal de Sidharta.

La pièce est un regard contemporain sur l'histoire des techniques de découvertes spirituelles mais en utilisant les formes théâtrales indiennes traditionnelles. Le tout est une interprétation spectaculaire et colorée de ce roman bien connu.

Note de mis en scène – Jyothish M.G.

Dès leur naissance, les hommes sont aigris. Leurs idéologies, leurs mots, leurs espoirs et leurs angoisses voilent et teintent la manière dont ils se perçoivent, la manière dont ils perçoivent le monde qui les engloutit et dans lequel ils se démènent. La tradition veut que seuls les êtres naturels et respectables soient dignes de Sainteté.

La Vérité telle qu’elle est, nous est imposée et doit être inéluctablement acceptée.

Certains d’entre nous ont sûrement en eux une véhémence contre toutes formes d’exploitations. Mais un simple regard à l’intérieur de soi suffit à prouver que nos traditionnelles habitudes de préjugés et de croyances déterminent notre structure d’esprit, elles nous rendent esclaves et soumis au fonctionnement des structures exploitantes dominantes.

Peut-être sommes-nous hautement respectables et parfaits! Mais hélas, un homme parfait, droit, respectable ne pourra jamais s’approcher un tant soi peu de la Vérité.

Simplement parce que la Vérité est impraticable.

La beauté de la Vérité réside dans cette impraticabilité. La Vérité n’est autre que la Vie. La Vie elle-même est Vérité. Elle ne peut être expliquée par des idéologies, des nuances de mots ou à travers les teintes d’espoirs et d’angoisses.

Synopsis

Quand la pièce commence, le vieux Sidhartha est couché sur les berges d'une rivière, près du bac. Vasudevan, le passeur, le prend dans son bateau. Sidhartha évoque les souvenirs de sa vie. Il rêve qu’elle ne puisse jamais s’écouler en arrière comme à regret. Vasudevan lui répond que si la rivière devait couler en arrière et retourner les pierres, le sable et les feuilles tombées, ils ne seraient plus pareils de toute façon.

Sidhartha voit sa mère, son père, Kamala, Govindan et Bouddha passer devant lui comme dans une illusion.

Le jeune Sidhartha est alors en quête d’étancher sa soif, par une recherche de vérité ultime. L'apprentissage de Veda et Upanishad devient vite trop simple exercice pour lui. Il veut être un Shramana Sanyasin et informe de sa décision de voyage et découvertes, son père, qui s’y oppose. Malgré cela, Sidhartha maintient sa position. Sa mère lui offre un larmoyant adieu.

Govindan, l’ami de cœur de Sidhartha, le suit comme une ombre. Quand Sidhartha se lance à devenir un Shramana Sanyasin, Govindan le rejoint aussitôt. Ils traversent ensemble les épreuves de mortification et autres rites similaires, à la recherche de la vérité. Mais à un moment, Sidhartha sent qu'il n’obtient que monotonie et que s’ils continuent cette route, ils ne seront pas capables d’accomplissement. Govindan suggère d’aller à Bouddha et Sidhartha consent. Ils le rencontrent et écoutent son prêche. Govindan choisit de tenter la voie d’un Bouddha Sanyasin. Mais Sidhartha continue son voyage seul. Il informe Bouddha qu'il n’est pas à la recherche d'une meilleure philosophie ou d’un meilleur enseignement. Mais qu’il veut atteindre la vérité par son propre chemin, unique.

Govindan manque à Sidhartha mais cette sensation diminue peu à peu. Son chaos intérieur grandit et un tourbillon de confusion s’empare de lui. Il finit sur les berges d’une rivière, près du bac. Vasudevan, l’homme du bac, le trouve et le fait passer de l’autre côté.

Une nouvelle idée le saisit, et il décide de ne plus se faire de mal afin d'atteindre la vérité. Il sera dès lors son propre Gourou.

Il atteint une ville et à l'entrée d'un jardin, rencontre une belle femme, Kamala, une courtisane. Et soudain il se rend compte qu'il est en train de tomber amoureux. Il lui déclare sa flamme. Mais elle lui rétorque qu’il doit être suffisamment riche pour lui présenter des cadeaux luxueux... Elle le dirige vers Kamasamy, un commerçant de son choix, tout en lui donnant un baiser en réponse à un poème qu’il a improvisé en son honneur.

Il rencontre Kamasamy et lui dit qu'il peut penser et attendre, qu’il est étudiant rapide. Kamasamy lui explique alors les façons tordues de commercer qu’il a adoptées. Cependant Sidhartha décide de devenir partenaire de son commerce.

Le Sidhartha ascétique devient un homme d'affaires riche et gagne Kamala. Mais souvent Sidhartha a tendance à dévoiler son envie profonde de vérité. Kamala dit qu'il est resté un Sanyasin dans son fort intérieur et qu’il n'aime pas vraiment n'importe qui. Son détachement la rend triste.

Kamasamy réprimande Sidhartha pour son style peu orthodoxe d'homme d’affaires. Sidhartha lui répond qu'il ne veut pas finir par devenir un méchant commerçant. Kamasamy clame que c'est grâce à lui que Sidhartha est devenu riche. Sidhartha veut faire entendre qu'il pourrait avoir appris le prix d'un panier plein de poissons, ou le taux d'intérêt d'argent qu'il prête, autrement. Et qu’il avait appris à penser bien avant de le rencontrer lui, Kamasamy.

Sidhartha paraît en repli. Il remet en cause son rôle de commerçant. Il se met à boire beaucoup et se justifie ainsi sauvagement de ses mauvaises manières. Kamala vient le rencontrer et lui demande quel âge il a... Elle le console et lui apporte réconfort. Mais le détachement éternel que Sidhartha montre parvient à son zénith. Kamala lui dit que la chaîne des relations toujours se trouve brisée, cependant que nous résistons, la solitude est le fait central et inévitable de l’existence humaine.

Sidhartha se bagarre avec lui même. Il combat les multiples reflets contradictoires de ses différentes facettes pour évoluer. Kamasamy le défie en un jeu dans le jeu. En premier Sidhartha gagne et puis vient le tour de Kamasamy de gagner, et en une ultime partie, Sidhartha gagne et rafle à Kamasamy toutes ses richesses. Mais Sidhartha dégoûté, rend le tout à Kamasamy. La crise intérieure de Sidhartha est profonde, et il se demande comment il a pu vouloir devenir commerçant comme Kamasamy. Il lui arrive alors de rencontrer à nouveau Bouddha. Bouddha lui dit qu’il est futile de résister aux contradictions des mots sur le terrain sauvage des opinions et lui demande de faire attention.

Sidhartha se retrouve encore sur les berges de la rivière, vers le bac. Vasudevan, l’homme du bac qui est délicieusement ignorant, le prend dans son bateau. Il enseigne à Sidhartha à écouter la rivière, la rivière coulant de vie. Sidhartha s’épanouit dans un nouvel éveil. Vasudevan demande à Sidhartha de reprendre le rôle d’homme du bac, le rôle de passeur, et il s’en va. Sidhartha peut alors commencer à couler et flotter, vivre.

Fiche technique "Sidharta"

Adaptation, mise en scène et lumières : Jyothish M G

Avec:

D Reghoothaman (Sidhartha)

Gopalan (Kamasamy)

Sreenivas V K (Vasudevan) (Boat Man) Shajahan (Buddha)

Baiju S (Govindan)

Kani K (Kamala)

et avec :

Jayamon C, Manu V R, Sreekantan S S, Shibi Jose, Bilas Nair, Kannanunni A, Sam George Murukanbabu, Sudheer C K, Pratheesh

Musique : Biju K

Avec le soutien de:

Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Govt. of India, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala

Special Thanks to: Sanjna Kapoor, Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai

Contact:

France: John Kilby johnkilby03@yahoo.fr Tél: 06 3112 5968 http://blog/johnkilby.com

Inde: D. Reghoothaman – directeur abhinayatheatre@yahoo.in

Bhandu Prasad – administration www.abhinayatheatrevillage.org

Nola Rae

John — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:40:00 +0100

Nola is the most bestest mime in the World.........

Shows in repertoire "EXIT NAPOLEON....followed by rabbits" - "ELIZABETH'S LAST STAND" - "MOZART""

check Nola's website:
Nola Rae

Eric Butler

John — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:35:00 +0100

Eric Butler's a young singer/songwriter that I met in Galway in September 2006.

Listen to Eric's new album at www.ericbutler.org There's no distribution deal yet, but you can hear the whole album or if you want you can pay for a download

We went on the tare one night and he stopped off to sing in a basement bar, the band was in full swing and Eric took the stage and belted out some classic rhythm 'n blues, brilliant! I bought one of his CD's "EB" thinking that I'd play it once! But No! it's been on my playlist ever since...... for me the best songs are the self penned ones.... there are covers of Dylan, Cohen, The Soggy Bottom Boys, Leadbelly, Hank Williams and Coldplay!

Eric on MYSPACE

Eric writes of himself:

I'm an Irish born singer/songwriter and started playing music at the age of nine when I first started studying the piano and button accordion. Sometimes described as chalk and cheese I was introduced to two different types of music at a much earlier age, classical by my father, also a pianist, and the traditional music of Ireland by my mother, a singer.

Some years after that I came across a song by the name of Bohemian Rhapsody wherein lay the spark that would ignite my love for Rock 'n' Roll. This was about the same time I first picked up an old battered acoustic guitar that had been laying around the house since before I was born and with three strings on this wooden box I was set. I taught myself to play by listening to tapes of 'NIRVANA' and Cd's of 'Oasis' while of course picking up little tricks from other musicians along the way.

Over the next few years I formed different bands with various musicians, traditional Irish bands, rock bands with the longest lasting being a heavy metal band named 'PHOBIA' where I first found my taste for recording.

Over the course of these years I was also writing sporadically whenever I felt the need to get something off my chest. My earlier songs were of teen aged angst where the later ones are usually about things I see at home and abroad that affect me in some way. The result being some songs are on a personal level and others fall into the 'something to say' category. I've recorded one album so far entitled 'EB', a live recording with just me and my guitar. Some of my own songs are on this album along with some cover songs.

I'm currently working with a producer in a studio on a second album of all my own songs. It will include other instruments and I'm confidant it will be ready for release sometime in 2008.

There are three of Eric's songs, taken from his debut CD titled "EB" a joy, to listen to as attachments..... enjoy

Eric's fanclub on myspace

Ton und Kirschen

John — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:37:00 +0100

Ton und Kirschen based in Glindow (30 k's west of Berlin) David Johnston and Margaret Biereye started their group in 1992 after nearly 20 years with Footsbarn and perform worldwide.

Ton und Kirschen is an International Wandertheater and since it's inception has created a diverse repertoire, in 2007 they are touring "The Bluebird" by Maurice Maeterlink. A wonderful piece of outdoor theatre.

The group is capable of performing in German, French and English!

The Sons of the Desert

John — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:23:00 +0100

The Sons of the Desert website

Ewan and Tracey Shiels are now living in Vieure, Allier where they have recently bought a bar, concerts are organised on an adhoc basis. More news can be found on their website.

And a new video of The Shiels "Born to Die" on MYSPACE

Jargon

John — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:49:00 +0100

Jargon - Maurice Horsthuis

Jargon is the name of a collective run by the composer and viola player Maurice Horsthuis who is also responsible for much of Footsbarn's music.

Jazz and Contemporary music, Jargon has several formats from a touring group of 9 people to weekly concerts in a bath house in Amsterdam often featuring 60 first class musicians.

Their website is JARGON

The Cookie Girl

John — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 22:51:00 +0100

This is for those who are close to Portobello the COOKIE GIRL

Chris Thomas

John — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:40:00 +0100

Chris Thomas from Trevalga, Cornwall

Chris and his wife Rosalind (also an artist of quality) have been friends for many years, after struggling as all artists do to get recognition, Chris has finally broken into the mainstream art market check his website here

http://www.christhomas.info/

René Halkett 1900 - 1983

John — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:34:00 +0100

Rene Halkett (1900 - 1983)

I had the good fortune to have met René Halkett in 1976, when I moved to North Cornwall with Footsbarn. René accepted to be on the management committee of the group. He was a true source of inspiration and information for me, spending many an evening with him in his musty cottage in Camelford., discussing his life and times. It was an Aladins Cave of memories and where he stored most of his paintings (I had the privelege to see them all), sitting in the front room in front of a mirror that he never cleaned and delving back through his history was a pleasure. René always came to see rehearsals of the Footsbarn shows and from the time we were there 1976 to 1981 he was ever present for the dress rehearsals. One of his passions was theatre, and he often referred to theatre in his weekly "Letter from Cornwall" recorded in Plymouth for the BBC World Service (Germany). It was with a heavy heart when I heard that he had died, and true to his attention to detail and friendship he left me a violin in his will.

RENE HALKETT was born on the 5th of February 1900 in Weimar, Germany. His real name was ALBRECHT GEORG(E) FRIEDRICH FRIEHERR von FRISCH..

He came to England in 1936 and became a British subject in 1946. It is believed that it was at that time when he changed his name to Halkett

Rene was widely known as a painter, writer, lecturer and BBC broadcaster. He lived and worked in several countries. Early in 1923 Halkett joined the Stagecroft Workshop of the original "Staatlichas Bauhaus Weimar" where he also came under the influence of Klee, Felniger, Kandinsky and Moholy-Nagy.

Rene was a prolific artist. Four (4) of his paintings can bee seen on Baecker Art Gallery's Web site - Contemporary European Paintings - Galerie Inge Baecker - http://www.artnet.com/ibaecker.html

- Frau in rotem Garten

- Frauenkopf an eisernem Haken

- Gandhi-Buste

- Hand mit Frau, Farbhandtucher

Forty (40) of Rene’s drawings are portrayed his book “Rene Halkett Drawings.” The book was printed by Ben Maile Art Pint Products and published by Peter Edwards for the North Cornwall Museum and Gallery in 1981. It can be purchased from Amazon.com.

He was also a noted poet. The words of Rene Halkett's haunting poem “Nothing”, spoken in his own voice with David Jay's accompaniment, was recorded on a portable cassette recorder in the backroom of Rene's cottage on the 28th of July 1980. It, along with another poem titled "Amour", was released in 1981

Both poems are provided below.

"NOTHING"

I know

As if I could not remember it I know -

Nothing is left

Nothing exists

Not even past to be remembered.

If no one can remember no one can tell

If no one

Can remember -

No one

Can tell.

As if I could remember it

I'd tell -

There was that light.

That blinding light which turned all matter

to unseen light

Not darkness.

Darkness cannot exist where light can not

be known.

Nothing is left

No matter

And no more light

And no more dark

And nothing.

As if I could remember it I know

I have

A hand

Unseen in my weightless hand restlessly lies

on nothing

For it needs to write.

To write what matters when no matter

is left to write upon.

My hand now writes on nothing

It writes.

Know then that nothing lasts forever

And nothing will remain when I

have written.

These words on nothing will remain

For nothing lasts for ever.

It will remain

Remain

Waiting for new creation.

”ARMOUR”

I am distressed

Cold

Cold.

How. Did the burning wood disintegrate?

at last?

I am undressed

Between the iron and my naked skin

Nothing is left

No more protection against my armour

I dare not move

Cold iron cuts

My naked flesh

Cold pain. Sharp pain

Disarming pain

Armour protects

But now my arm

Can not wiled arms

Frozen, in pain.

Slowly, in hope or fear, my arm

Spreads out the gaudy surcoat -

challenge or disguise

The tatters fly away

My armour is undressed

Steal, beg or borrow other guise, and play!

Play.

Play the fool, the hero.

Play the lover, the monk, the peasant.

Play one an all!

Play them

And let them play

Let Hero play the Fool

And Fool the Hero

Let Peasant play the Monk

And Monk the Peasant

All play the Lover

Lover play them all.

Play, guiser, endless permutations

of disguise

Armour protects you still

And while play in pain

Protecting iron

Will scrape away your skin,

Your naked flesh

And in the end

will leave your bones undressed

Your secret core disclosed

And rest you truly, gentlemen.

friends with film projects

John — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 20:32:00 +0100

This page is dedicated to friends with filming projects....

Alexandra Grau de Sola is a young up and coming film director, visit her website:

Alexandra Grau de Sola

Her latest project is "Le Saut de Deux Fous" filming took place in Lortet in the haute pyrenées in February 2008, and even got to play one of the deux fous. Release date end of 2008

Pascal Reneric - Director and actor

"The White Crocodile" (le crocodile blanc) filmed in the Auvergne August 2003, is a french spaghetti western (western/manouche) set in itinerant theatreland and follows the story of Terry Poorest (played by Guillaume Méziat) and how he came to have a hole in the head. The sheriff (played by Pierre Samuel) is forced to find the elusive white crocodile, but beware all is not as it seems! God (played by Christian Dumont) has his part to play. The film was made just after the Avignon Festival in 1993 at Footsbarn's base La Chaussée. It was filmed just after the strike by "intermittants de spectacle" (actors and techniciens) cancelled the festival, a hot summer indeed and the story of the intermittants was woven into the storyline during the shooting of the film. The White Crocodile was the first artistic reaction to the problem, that still exists today in 2008. I played the part of the mystery tramp and wrote the song "Shooting Stars" for the credit roll. 52 mins.

"Invisible" filmed at the Footsbarn 35th anniversary in August 2006. The film centres on the children of the artists during the celebration, but more than this Pascal was inspired by finding his milk teeth in a matchbox! 30 mins.

Pascal made the video clip for The Shiels "Born to Die" see it on Myspace

Both the Crocodile Blanc and Invisible are available on DVD, for copies please write to johnkilby03@yahoo.fr

La Galerie Pomié

John — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:50:00 +0100

Here is a link to Keith and Miranda Payne's gallery in the Lot region of France, it's beautiful situation and well worth a visit of you're passing through.

http://www.galeriepomie.com/