listen up north!

listenupnorth.com - Video - 55 seconds

listenupnorth.com - Video - 55 seconds. A beautifully crafted short doc film by friend and mentor Jan Cawood about Saltburn Cliff Lift last Summer.

listenupnorth.com - Poetry

listenupnorth.com - Poetry.
Listen to some great new poems from NE poets Degna Stone & Cicely Chetwood
Free to listen online or download/
Dolly's House - a supernatural thriller by Rachel Cochrane coming soon

Serendipity

Sometimes a chance conversation or meeting can yield far more than the most time consuming strategic planning.  So it was with Couple, the very first audiodrama that I recorded as a pilot for my spoken word website listenupnorth.com.  The drama is a conversation based around the two figures in Couple by Sean Henry, a sculpture which is to be found on the breakwater off the coast of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland. 

 

It’s a piece of art that’s held a fascination for me since it was lowered into place in August 2007 and in 2009, the  audiodrama was recorded and edited at Core Music with The Stocksfield Players and appeared initially on this blog site in spoken word form.

 

Because of the static nature of the subjects, I decided on a little experiment. I thought I would take some photos and, using the skills of Teen2, make Couple into an photodrama. 

 

And so Wonderhubby and I found ourselves in Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on a gloriously sunny day, walking along the headland and promenade, snapping the coastline and such things as the Alcan factory, St Bartholemew’s Church and the fishing cobles which are referred to, and of course both the on and offshore versions of the Couple sculpture.

 

 

Problem was, without a zoom lens, there was difficulty in getting close-ups of Couple out to sea.  We headed for the Heritage Centre to learn something more about the area only to find volunteers emptying out the ‘hut’ as it was closing to make way for a brand new centre.   Deliberating, I decided to mention to volunteer, Sheila, about my project and I’m so glad she did as she showed great interest in what I was doing and took my e-mail address. 

 

A few days later, thanks to Richard Martin, some amazing shots of Couple arrived to use in my photodrama.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is the result: Couple - a short film in the form of a photodrama: http://www.listenupnorth.com/drama-page/195

And consequently I feel very honoured to have been contacted by the Trustees of the Newbiggin Maritime Centre and asked if Couple could be performed in front of an audience at one of it’s opening events in a few months time.