For Immediate Release
BOLD FESTIVAL
New arts festival to celebrate creativity and older people
A new national arts festival is set to launch in September, which will celebrate the creativity
of older people and their rich variety of experience, as well as challenge and stimulate
debate about growing older in Britain.
BOLD is a festival of performances, events and workshops made with, by and for older
people, as well as audiences and participants across the generations. The festival, which will
take place in Bradford, Deptford and Stockton on Tees, will put older people centre stage to inform the thinking of policy makers, the public and participants, and to confront and
overcome our fears and assumptions about growing old.
The aim of BOLD is to look beyond the label of ‘old age’; a label that encompasses 10 million
people in the UK over 65, to explore individual human stories and explode some of the
stereotypes of age.
From unpicking the politics of the care system to storytelling and singing workshops, BOLD
includes new work, collaborations and international projects that present a new way of
looking at old age. Woven into the Festival will be the energies and imaginations of older
people from the communities of Bradford, Stockton on Tees and Deptford.
The centre-piece of the Festival will be Home Sweet Home, a new immersive theatre
production that explores the experience of growing older and the ageing process in
contemporary Britain. Other festival events and performances will be programmed in local
libraries, churches and cafes, residential homes, and sheltered housing communities.
BOLD festival highlights include:
BRADFORD
Pensioner Warehouse – an installation performance in a shop window
Pensioner Warehouse takes place in a shop window and models itself as a shop selling older
people. A security guard keeps ‘the merchandise’ in their flock-wallpapered pens, but Doris
and Maude have other plans. This playful piece from director Tom Wright and designer
Hannah Sibai is inspired by biomedical research into how our bodies and minds age and
demolishes many misconceptions about the ageing process.
Unravelled
Armchairs will appear in Venue foyers and in public spaces such as libraries or museums
featuring older people telling stories. Passing audiences will have one on one access to
intimate stories and experiences.
Pop-Up Opera
Pop-Up opera in shopping centres and public places by older artists. Each event presents
the unsuspecting audience with a stereotype and then subverts it. An older couple shuffle
along in a shopping centre then suddenly throw aside their beige coats and break into an
operatic aria.
THE ALBANY, DEPTFORD
Thursday 25 & Friday 26 September, 7.45pm & Saturday 27 September, 5pm
Ira Brand presents
A Cure for Ageing
A Cure for Ageing is a piece about being young and foolish, and becoming old and wise. Or
about being young and wise, and becoming old and foolish. It asks how we can talk more
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honestly about ageing, drawing together true personal accounts and shameless speculation
in a celebration of life and an attempt to fall in love with our own decline.
Wednesday 17 & Friday 19 September, Pop-up around the Albany, Deptford Lounge and
Deptford Market from 11am
Entelechy Arts presents
Bed
Travelling installation: an older woman, a bed, and stories that come back to haunt.
Maybe all families have hidden secrets. In the space between waking and sleep, moments
from the past come back to haunt an older woman. Bed is a nomadic street event
performed by a seventy-year old in an around the streets of Deptford. Devised by members
of Entelechy’s elders company.
Tuesday 23 September, 7.30pm
Dirty Market presents
Mrs Horton’s Finger
Is the fear of getting old irrational? How do we gauge our worth? Though our bodies may fail
us, isn’t our inner experience as vital as it ever was?
Surrealist artist and writer Leonora Carrington thought so, and Dirty Market are devising a new
work-in-progress piece inspired by her brilliant, funny, mystical work; embarking on an
anarchic journey, immersing us in the life of a 92-year-old woman. We experience the
mundane reality of life in the institution, and then tumble together into her inner world full of
uncanny discoveries, communal rebellion and eventual initiation into true wisdom.
ARC, Stockton Arts Centre
Silver Creative Arts Exhibition – ARC, First Floor Gallery space – Sep 22 – 4 October, all day
every day
ARC’s Silver Creative Arts participants will be showcasing their creations for exhibit and public
purchase throughout the BOLD festival. These exhibitors have started out as beginners and
through weekly creative sessions have built up their skill and flair to produce fantastic work in
their preferred mediums; this exhibition will celebrate the diversity and talent of these artists.
Family Ukulele Egglescliffe Library, Tuesday 30 Sep, 10.30 – 12pm.
If you have ever fancied learning Ukulele or simply fancy trying it out with some friends or
family members, this session will teach you the basics of how to tune, hold the instrument and
play simple chords. By the end of the session you will be playing whole tunes. The session is
being held at a regular parent and toddler group and we encourage you to bring
grandparents along to try this musical instrument out as a whole famiy
If you do not have a Ukulele to bring to this session we have a small number of instruments
available to use. Led by Lol Crallan. All Ages. Families welcome.
BOLD: Performers
A group of 8 older people in Stockton on Tees will be working with Director Ree Collins over
three days in September to create a short piece of theatre that will tour to local venues on
Mon 22 September and Monday 29 September during the BOLD festival.
Freedom Studios’ Creative Producer Deborah Dickinson said about the new festival -"The
BOLD Festival brings together older people from three cities across England in an exciting
celebration of creativity. In Stockton, Bradford and Deptford older emerging artists are
warming up their vocal chords, strumming their ukuleles and getting ready to entertain
audiences across all generations. There are cross-over performances across the cities with
live Skype events and a shared experience. We hope this is just the start of something that
will become an annual national event."
BOLD will be taking place in Bradford, The Albany, Deptford and The Arc, Stockton Arts
Centre between 16 Sep-4 Oct and will run alongside the forthcoming new play HOME SWEET
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HOME.
For further Information on the BOLD festival please visit:
www.freedomstudios.co.uk
www.thealbany.org.uk
www.thearconline.co.uk
Ends
For further information, images, or for interview / press review ticket requests, please
contact DuncanClarke PR on 01904 345247/ 07880893750
or email duncanclarkepr@live.co.uk
Notes to Editor
BOLD Festival 2014 line-up
BRADFORD – 16-20 September
Photography Exhibition by Christopher Nunn
Exhibition of photographs of members of the cast and chorus from the production Home Sweet Home
by Christopher Nunn. The exhibition will be mounted at Forster’s Deli and Bistro in Centenary Square at
the heart of the city.
Pensioner Warehouse – an installation performance in a shop window
Pensioner Warehouse takes place in a shop window and models itself as a shop selling older people. A
security guard keeps ‘the merchandise’ in their flock-wallpapered pens, but Doris and Maude have
other plans. This playful piece from director Tom Wright and designer Hannah Sibai is inspired by
biomedical research into how our bodies and minds age and demolishes many misconceptions about
the ageing process.
Unravelled
Performed by Freedom Studios over 65s group, the Thursday Thespians.
With just a few objects, the threads of a tale and more than a little magic, five risqué retirees will unravel
and resolve a story of love, adventure and mystery – all in under 10 minutes!
Pop-Up Opera
Pop-Up opera in shopping centres and public places by older artists. Each event presents the
unsuspecting audience with a stereotype and then subverts it. An older couple shuffle along in a
shopping centre then suddenly throw aside their beige coats and break into an operatic aria.
Ukulele Band
A 35 strong Silver Ukulele band from Stockton-on-Tees will perform a lunchtime concert at a venue in
Bradford followed by workshops and mini-performances in residential homes and community centres.
Performing Arts Workshops
Workshops will be offered in different venues in the city delivered by professional artists including
singing, dancing and drama.
THE ALBANY, Deptford - 16 – Saturday 27 September
Tuesday 16 – Saturday 27 September
‘I thought I’d finished’ - Roswitha Chesher Photography Exhibition
For the last eight years film maker, video artist and photographer, Roswitha Chesher has been
documenting the creative and artistic work of older Londoners. She has worked alongside Entelechy
participants and artists documenting the sense of purpose, exhilaration and joy that comes with
making art in later life. The photographs capture moments in a range of places and spaces ranging
from large art house stages to hospital wards and people’s front rooms.
FREE, All ages
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Tuesday 16 – Saturday 27 September at Deptford Lounge
Christopher Nunn Portraits Exhibition
Christopher Nunn is a Yorkshire based photographer who is currently working on personal projects
throughout the UK and Europe. Chris has exhibited work throughout England and internationally and his
photographs have been featured on CNN Photos, It’s Nice That, Financial Times Weekend Magazine
and The Wire.
FREE, All ages
Wednesday 17 & Friday 19 September, Pop-up around the Albany, Deptford Lounge and Deptford
Market from 11am
Entelechy Arts presents
Bed
Travelling installation: an older woman, a bed, and stories that come back to haunt.
Maybe all families have hidden secrets. In the space between waking and sleep, moments from the
past come back to haunt an older woman. Bed is a nomadic street event performed by a seventyyear old in an around the streets of Deptford. Devised by members of Entelechy’s elders company.
FREE, All ages
Tuesday 23 September, 7.30pm
Dirty Market presents
Mrs Horton’s Finger
Is the fear of getting old irrational? How do we gauge our worth? Though our bodies may fail us, isn’t
our inner experience as vital as it ever was?
Surrealist artist and writer Leonora Carrington thought so, and Dirty Market are devising a new work-inprogress piece inspired by her brilliant, funny, mystical work; embarking on an anarchic journey,
immersing us in the life of a 92-year-old woman. We experience the mundane reality of life in the
institution, and then tumble together into her inner world full of uncanny discoveries, communal
rebellion and eventual initiation into true wisdom.
“My whole life has been a preparation for being old.”
Pay-What-You-Can, Ages 12+
Wednesday 24 September, 5.30pm
Entelechy Arts and the Albany present
Couplets and Cuppers
Live streamed poetry jam linking older artists from London, Bradford and Stockton-On-Tees.
Poet Simon Mole curates a late afternoon mix tea and words from the pens of emerging older poets
from Bradford, Stockton-On-Tees and London. Voices will simultaneously resonate in spaces across
three English cities as people come together through the magic of Skype. Couplets and Cuppers is for
anyone who wants to drop by for a slice of cake and a new take on things.
FREE, All ages
Thursday 25 September, 5.30pm
verd de gris presents
Soul Journey
Soul Journey is a creative collaboration between arts company verd de gris, photographer Geoff
Brokate and writer Paul Sutherland. The main inspiration for the film is Jack, who has spent a lifetime
walking the hills of the Upper Calder Valley. Now with dementia, Jack retraces his footsteps and
reawakens the poetic and musical memories of his journeying through this extraordinary landscape.
Free, All Ages
Friday 26 September, 3.30pm
Casas das Fases presents
Miranda
Live streamed theatre performance from Brazil’s premier older people’s company Casa das Fases.
Older actor Carmen Mattos in live-streamed performance of one woman show from Brazil’s premier
older people’s theatre company Casa das Fases.
‘There was once a mad old woman who lived with her loneliness. She enjoyed the circus and popcorn,
now she longs for everything, even for herself.’
Free, All Ages
Every Tuesday, 10.30am – 2.30pm
Meet Me at the Albany
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‘The kind of stereotype-smashing thing that sticks two knitting needles up at anyone who dares assume
day care for older people is about flower arranging and endless cups of tea.’ – Saba Salman, The
Social Issue
Pop in for some lunch and try your hand at a range of things to do from singing to sewing, circus to
photography. Join in, enjoy the company or simply sit back and soak up the atmosphere. For an
informal chat about the day and how to book your place contact Sally at 020 8692 0231.
Tuesday 16 September, as part of Meet Me at the Albany
Thursday 25 September, at Brymore House Care Home
Entelechy Arts and the Albany present
Little Boxes
Little Boxes is a multi-sensory story telling programme using touch, smell, sound and visual stimuli to share
the life stories of older Londoners.
LOVE IN LONDON: Love in London tells the story of Flo, living in Brixton, south London in 1957. Flo is
scrubbing her front steps. She decides to go out with her boyfriend to the cinema. As they walk home
on Shakespeare Road, he picks some hollyhocks from a front garden and proposes to her. She says yes!
Love in London is about transformation. It shares fragmentary experiences from the life of a young
woman in the mid 1950s.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES: This is a story of migration. Winston grew up in Barbados. In the early 1960s
he came to London to work on the buses. One of his earliest memories was arriving in London during
‘The Big Freeze’ of 1963. It was so cold that he didn’t want to get off the boat. (please note that this
event is not bookable)
Thursday 25 & Friday 26 September, 7.45pm & Saturday 27 September, 5pm
Ira Brand presents
A Cure for Ageing
A Cure for Ageing is a piece about being young and foolish, and becoming old and wise. Or about
being young and wise, and becoming old and foolish. It asks how we can talk more honestly about
ageing, drawing together true personal accounts and shameless speculation in a celebration of life
and an attempt to fall in love with our own decline.
Fringe Review - Highly Recommended Show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
£10, £5 Concs, Ages 14+
THE ARC – Stockton-on-Tees -22 Sept – 4 Oct
Silver Creative Arts Exhibition – ARC, First Floor Gallery space – Sep 22 – 4 October, all day every day
ARC’s Silver Creative Arts participants will be showcasing their creations for exhibit and public purchase
throughout the BOLD festival. These exhibitors have started out as beginners and through weekly
creative sessions have built up their skill and flair to produce fantastic work in their preferred mediums;
this exhibition will celebrate the diversity and talent of these artists.
Photograph Me exhibition – ARC, Top Floor Gallery Space - Sep 22 – 4 October, all day every day
Photograph Me offers an opportunity for 12 older people (aged 50+) to have their portrait taken
professionally for display during the BOLD festival. If you have ever fancied having your photograph
taken by a professional photographer then this is your chance. Photograph Me is designed to
showcase your personality through image so whether you want to be photographed in your own
home, or on stage, in costume or in the garden this is a chance for you to showcase all your
creativity. Photography from Nebula Photography
Family Ukulele, Wed 1 Oct, 6.30 – 8pm, ARC
If you have ever fancied learning Ukulele or simply fancy trying it out with some friends or family
members, this session will teach you the basics of how to tune, hold the instrument and play simple
chords. By the end of the session you will be playing whole tunes. Come along to learn some new tips
and chords if you already know the basics.
If you do not have a Ukulele to bring to this session we have a small number of instruments available to
use. Led by Lol Crallan. All Ages. Families welcome.
Family Creative Arts Sat 4 Oct, 10 – 11.30am, ARC
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Have fun and express your inner artist! In this BOLD workshop, participants will be taught different
techniques to be able to create something of your own and experiment – even if you have never held
a paintbrush!
No preparation is necessary and if you do not have time to finish your painting during the session you
may take it home. Led by Mary Lou Springstead. All Ages. Families welcome.
Family Singers Date & time Tue 23 Sep, 6.30 – 8.00pm, ARC
This BOLD session offers a fun and informal family singing workshop for anyone who likes to sing. No
previous experience is necessary and you do not need to be able to read music. Led by Apollo Arts, All
Ages, Families welcome
Family Ukulele Egglescliffe Library, Tuesday 30 Sep, 10.30 – 12pm.
If you have ever fancied learning Ukulele or simply fancy trying it out with some friends or family
members, this session will teach you the basics of how to tune, hold the instrument and play simple
chords. By the end of the session you will be playing whole tunes. Come along to learn some new tips
and chords if you already know the basics.
If you do not have a Ukulele to bring to this session we have a small number of instruments available to
use. Led by Lol Crallan. All Ages. Families welcome.
Family Creative Arts, Ingleby Barwick Library, Sat 27 Sep, 2-3.30pm.
Have fun and express your inner artist! In this BOLD workshop, participants will be taught different
techniques to be able to create something of your own and experiment – even if you have never held
a paintbrush!
No preparation is necessary and if you do not have time to finish your painting during the session you
may take it home. Led by Mary Lou Springstead. All Ages. Families welcome.
BOLD: Performers
A group of 8 older people in Stockton on Tees will be working with Director Ree Collins over three days
in September to create a short piece of theatre that will tour to local venues on Mon 22 September and
Monday 29 September during the BOLD festival. If you fancy this short piece of theatre coming to your
business or home get in contact with rachael.ankers@arconline.co.uk
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