To the brochure please

‘culture is the way you think, act and interact’
Oct
The Retold Ramayana
Year 2
nd growing!
a
6 October 1.15pm to 3.15pm
A poetry show with Daljit Nagra (Suitable for ages 11+, KS3, KS4, KS5)
Durham Johnston’s annual Festival of Culture is
made possible through the existence of multiple,
informal social enterprise contracts. Via these
contracts, the school is able to trade marketing,
venue, logistics and front of house expertise
for events with festival partners. No money
exchanges hands and there is no cost to the
school budget. The brochure and other costs are
covered by our festival sponsors to whom we are
extremely grateful.
Festival of Culture 2014 promises to be even
bigger and better than last year’s festival with
two days of Durham Book Festival for Schools
events and a sculpture park which builds upon
the success of last year’s temporary installation.
The programme has something for Young People
of all ages from KS1 / early years to older teens;
Q & A’s with award winning authors; cutting
edge, experimental theatre and unique literary
events. Please see our Festival Partner websites
for ticketing details.
We look forward to welcoming you to
Durham Johnston School.
Michael Wardle, Headteacher
Dalgit Nagra
The Retold Ramayana
6th October
Mick Manning &
Brita Granstrom
7th October
Helen Stephens
7th October
Meg Rosoff
7th October
Angel byTheatre
Hullabaloo
(10yrs+)
21st October
Gatecrash by
Zest Theatre
(14yrs+)
23-24th October
Sculpture Park
All October
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
When poet Daljit Nagra was a little boy in the 1970’s, his grannies told him
stories of Rama’s quest to rescue his wife Sita from her abduction by Raavana,
Lord of the Underworld.
Versions of these stories – The Ramayana – have enchanted readers and
audiences across the Eastern World for 1000s of years. Daljit’s new adaptation
(first published by Faber) is retold for a modern multi-cultural, multi-faith
audience.
Wild words, a Bollywood pantomime fizz and cartoons shone through space.
Tender technicolour love scenes and wild battles are brought to life by one
man and his voice. At the height of the tale, a monkey army goes to war. One
man on stage can’t represent a million monkeys . . .so you, the audience, will
be drafted in to help!
Jaybird Live Literature devises and tours high production value live literature
shows. Poets perform, read and recite their own work in a theatrical context,
using sets, lighting, sound, recording and direction to enhance the moods and
messages of their writing.
Daljit Nagra was born and raised in west London by
his Punjabi parents. He was awarded the Forward
Poetry Prize for best single poem in 2004 and his
debut collection, Look We Have Coming to Dover!
was published in 2006 to great acclaim.
6 October 5.00pm– 6.30pm Teacher’s Twilight Session with Daljit Nagra (£15/session)
An exclusive workshop on writing poetry for English teachers (Key Stages 3-5) focusing
on ways into writing poetry and exploring creative writing skills.
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
Mick Manning & Brita
Granström: Charlie’s War
Illustrated: Remembering
World War One
7 October 9.45am -10.30am
(Suitable for ages 8-12, KS2, KS3)
Mick Manning and Brita Granström
have been collaborating together,
sharing both illustration and text, for
twenty years.
Their critically acclaimed books,
published internationally and in many
languages, mix words and images in all
sorts of inventive and delightful ways.
The session will bring to life, through
words and images, the experiences
of Mick’s grandfather, Charlie, during
World War One. Charlie’s War
Illustrated movingly recounts the
‘war to end all wars’, from the trenches
and guns to the friendships and songs
soldiers shared.
Helen Stephens:
How to Hide a Lion
from Grandma
7 October 11.00am—11.45am
(suitable for Early Years / 5+ / KS1)
Join author and illustrator Helen Stephens
for storytelling and live drawing, as she
introduces her latest picture book, How to
Hide a Lion from Grandma.
Helen has created many popular children’s
titles. She is the winner of multiple
awards, particularly for the much-loved
Fleabag and How to Hide a Lion, which
was shortlisted for the prestigious Red
House Children’s Book Award.
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
Meg Rosoff: Picture Me Gone
7 October
1.30pm to 2.30pm - Public Event (Suitable for ages 13+, KS3, KS4, KS5 including book signing)
3.30pm to 4.30pm - Interview / Q & A Session for DJ pupils
4.30pm to 5.00pm - RECEPTION FOR DJ PUPILS / MEG ROSOFF
We’re delighted to welcome Carnegie Medal-winning
author Meg Rosoff, as she introduces her hugely
anticipated sixth novel, Picture Me Gone. Mila has a
gift: she can read a room, a person, a situation, and tell
if you are happy, or pregnant, or having an affair, and
now Mila is on a mission: a mission to find her father’s
best friend, Matthew, who has gone missing.
Meg was born in 1956 in Boston, America but has been
living in the UK since 1989. She began to write seriously
soon after her sister Debby died of breast cancer at a
young age and Meg realised that life was too short to
put off writing the novel she’d always been meaning to
write. She took leave from her advertising job at J Walter
Thompson and set about writing How I Live Now. A few
months later Meg found herself at the heart of a bidding
war between several of the UK’s leading publishers. How I
Live Now is dedicated to her late sister Debby.
How I Live Now won the Guardian and Branford Boase
Awards and was short-listed for the Orange Prize for New
Fiction as well as the Whitbread.
Up until securing her much publicised publishing deal,
Meg worked for most of her life in advertising. She has
also worked as a journalist, was New York State deputy
press secretary for the democrats in the 1988 presidential
election, and had a job writing movie titles and movie
posters for Tristar pictures which she loved.
Undaunted by the success of her sensational debut,
Meg followed up How I Live Now with four more criticallyacclaimed novels: Just in Case, which won the coveted and
most prestigious children’s book prize, the Carnegie Medal
in 2007; What I Was, set in Suffolk where Meg has a second
home; The Bride’s Farewell for which Meg was shortlisted for
yet another Carnegie Medal; and her critically acclaimed novel
There Is No Dog.
THE AUTHOR OF HOW I LIVE NOW – THE MAJOR
MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY KEVIN MACDONALD
AND STARRING SAOIRSE RONAN
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
SCULPTURE
PARK
Following last year’s highly successful temporary
installation of Ray Lonsdale’s 15ft-tall weathered
steel sculpture; The Last Cigarette of Michael
Duffy, we are delighted once again to provide a
temporary home for a range of installations by
contemporary sculptors.
The Festival of Culture sculpture park area will feature
works by Tom Maley, Graeme Hopper and William
Harling among others.
Each piece will be fully described through information
boards to be enjoyed, free of charge, by the general
public and visitors to our Festival of Culture including
pupils from partner primary schools and local
secondary schools.
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
Theatre Hullabaloo - Angel
21 October Shows for Schools (10.30am / 1.45pm)
(10 yrs+, KS2, KS3)
Angel is presented in partnership with Age UK and is accompanied by a comprehensive on-line
resource package to help young people understand more about ageing, particularly about the
effects of dementia on older people and their families.
Dementia affects more than 570,000 in England alone and this figure is expected to double in the
next decade. The play and surrounding project work seeks to demystify the condition for young
people and provide a stimulus for further discussion in the classroom or in a family context.
Curriculum Links: PSHE, Citizenship, Personal Wellbeing, Speaking & Listening
Shortlisted for The Writer’s Guild of Great Britain, Best Play for Young
Audiences 2012 and The Brian Way Award 2013.
The old woman has two times in her head, then and now. She lives alone with
a make-believe dog called Satan and she keeps her watch in the fridge.
The girl in the red jumper is not happy at home.
The girl in the red jumper follows the old woman home, to a house full of
paper, where nothing has been thrown away for 50 years. Together they steal
the old man from the place that smells of vegetables and escape to the top of
the hill where the air is clean and the sky is the colour of his eyes. Up there the
girl will help them finish the race they started when they were young.
“A play about the relationship between young and old,
dealing with dementia and memory loss... Angel is an
unqualified success... This is children’s theatre at its best!”
British Theatre Guide, 2012
But will the woman remember the girl tomorrow?
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
Gatecrash - (14 yrs +, KS3, KS4) Running Time 70 mins
23 October Public Show (7pm)
24 October Shows for Schools (10am / 1.30pm)
Curriculum Links: PSHE, Literacy, Citizenship, Speaking & Listening, Creativity & Critical Understanding
With the parents on
holiday Sam’s having
a house party. Nothing
big, just a few close
friends…at least that
was the plan until you
knocked on the door.
Zest Theatre’s exciting,
Interactive production
puts you right in the
centre of the action and
gives you control of the
conversations you listen
to through Silent Disco
technology.
Put on your wireless
headphones, step
through Sam’s front
door and experience
the party unfold
all around you
as you Gatecrash
the party.
Young audiences will
enter the fictional world
of a teenage house
party. Gatecrash will do
away with traditional
theatre seating,
instead, the audience
and cast will share the
same enclosed 9m x
10m set designed to
look and feel like the
downstairs of a house.
The audience will
take on the role of
the Gatecrashers and
will be free to move
wherever they like
within the space just
like a real party.
The show deals with
some big themes
of alcohol
misuse, sex and
relationships.
Just like a real party there is lots going on. Throughout the performance there
are always 2 scenes taking place simultaneously. The audience’s Silent Disco
headphones enable them to choose the conversations they listen to at the
press of a button. This means that every member of the audience will have a
completely different experience!
The production explores key themes and dynamics between 5 different
characters. The chosen themes are of the uppermost importance in the lives of
young people. Comic and tragic elements combine with intertwining plot lines
that converge at the end as the alcohol fuelled night reaches its peak.
Quite simply the show was absolutely incredible! It’s hard to imagine an event or
experience (it was so much more than just a ‘show’) that could have been more
exciting, relevant and ground-breaking for young people than Gatecrash. The concept
of the interactive party, the silent disco technology (and its seamless operation), the
attention to detail, the amazing set and the sheer professionalism of the cast & crew,
were all exemplary.
Simon Hollingworth - Creative Director – Lincoln Drill Hall
Gatecrash is ‘game-changing’ theatre! The performance built the kind of buzz I
would expect to accompany a music concert rather than a theatre production.
Darren Grice - Director – The Garage, Norwich
It was a sign of the success of the format that by the end of the show everyone
was “at the party” and dancing away!
Sally Harrison - General Manager – South Holland Centre, Spalding
About Zest Theatre
Since 2007 Zest has been creating exciting theatre for, by and with young people. Zest are passionate about
making theatre accessible through their exciting productions and participation projects inspired by the needs,
lives and imaginations of those under 25.
Each year Zest Theatre produces a range of dynamic productions suitable for theatres, schools, and community
venues. Every single show they produce is written in consultation with young people, making their work unique,
accessible and relevant.
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
In Conjuction with
With Sincere Thanks To Our Sponsors
For further information, please contact Helen Charlton, Business Manager, Durham
Johnston School on 0191 3843887 / h.charlton@durhamjohnston.org.uk
Literary Events
For further information & tickets: www.durhambookfestival.com/schools
Theatrical Events
For further information & tickets: www.takeofffestival.org.uk or call Festival
Manager Lucy on 01325 352004 / email: lucy@theatrehullabaloo.org.uk