Our Monstrous Bastard Child

Our Monstrous Bastard Child is a two-week workshop in the art of performance, collaboration and intervention, led by celebrated theatre maker Mark Storor and Friction Arts, here at the Edge in central Birmingham.  Week one will be led by Mark, focusing on creating a landscape for our  internal lives , while week two will be led by Lee Griffiths and Sandra Hall of Friction Arts, taking the work further into the world. There will be a public sharing of work created during the workshops, during the final weekend.

Mark Storor has been making heart-breakingly deep performances and projects with a range of people, from examining male sexuality in prison, performed with ex-prisoners deep below Smithfield Market, to working with children in renal units to create a performance celebrating their, often too short, lives.  Described by Lynn Gardner as:  ‘a genuinely visionary performance maker’ Mark makes incredibly moving, sensitive work in contexts that others see as ‘no-go’ areas.

Similarly, Friction Arts (artists Sandra Hall and Lee Griffiths) have made projects at home and abroad, from South Africa to Brazil, working with groups from allotment gardeners to young people on ‘tag’.  Friction work collaboratively and contextually – always responding to the ‘who, what and where’, listening, reflecting and responding, to create appropriate and effective interventions in the public realm.  Their work is often described as ‘life-changing’ and bridges the gap between art and activism in an attempt to create a world in which we would all wish to live.  Friction have collaborated with a vast number of people in their 20 year history, some of which can be seen on this website.

This intensive ‘Autumn School’ is suitable for anyone wishing to develop new ways of looking at themselves, their practice, methods of collaborative working and making work that defies the normal boundaries of what may be considered traditional contemporary approaches.  You do not need to be a performer to attend, but you need to have a will to experiment, to explore and to stretch your own boundaries.

Dates: 17-21^st September 2012  and 24th-29^th September

These are full-day workshops, and will start promptly at 10am each morning, and finishing at 6pm – there may be requirements to work later.

There will be  public sharings of work made during the workshops on the evening of Friday 28th of September and the afternoon of Saturday 29th.

Cost: Total cost for the two weeks of workshops is £420

There will be two bursary places available for full-time students or people on benefits at a greatly reduced cost, get in touch for details on how to apply for these if you qualify.  Places are limited to 12 in total.

For more information please get in touch with us via tim@frictionarts.com or call us on 0121 772 6160

Workshop leaders

Sandra Hall and Lee Griffiths

 Sandra began her career in traditional theatre, TV and film.  Desiring to experiment and to have more control over her practice, she went on a journey of development, taking her from Paris to Java, training with the likes of Philippe Gaulier, Prapto Suryama, Augusto Boal and Guillermo Gomez-Pena.  !n 1992, she set up her own company, Friction Arts, alongside artist Lee Griffiths and has made hundreds of projects, locally and Internationally, from Birmingham to Brazil.

Lee Griffiths set up Friction with Sandra in 1992 and has been co-instigator of their very many projects and programmes of work.  Coming from a background of Communist agitators and Travellers, Lee has an idiosyncratic approach to his work, which enables him to go to places that others fear to tread.  Lee is a director, performer, technician, researcher, builder, writer, artist, and sometimes stand-up comedian, with an almost spooky ability to retain useless knowledge.

Mark Storor  

Mark Storor is an award winning artist, working in the space between live art and theatre.  His work is devised, often site- specific and always collaborative.  Recent works include ‘A Tender Subject’ and ‘For the Best’ .

Links to recent work by the workshop leaders:

Mark Storor

For the Best – http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/nov/15/for-the-best-mark-storor-interview

A Tender Subject – http://www.artangel.org.uk/projects/2012/a_tender_subject/about_the_project/a_tender_subject

Friction Arts

‘Casa Catraia’ – http://www.frictionarts.com/the-full-story

Methodology – http://www.frictionarts.com/about/approach-and-methodology/