Fenland Archives | Page 3 of 4

Escape from Fort Lagoon R&D

Posted on July 2021March 2024 by Alice Cramer

Read our Young Producer Jodie’s experience of the day here.

Escape from Fort Lagoon is an immersive ‘theatre game’ created by Wake the Beast (Adam McGuigan) and Submersion Productions (Jude Jagger). We have been an active partner in their Research & Development work since 2019. We’ve been lucky to have a group of local community members who have formed a ‘Creative Collective’ that has provided a springboard for feedback on ideas and the concept of the theatre production.

Escape from Fort Lagoon is set in the future where water is a precious commodity and is controlled by an oppressive government who restrict access to the water to the elite (a theme that surely resonates with many right now in the rollout of the pandemic).

Once the Covid19 conditions allowed, Adam and Jude invited the Collective to do some location scouting in their home towns and further afield. Towns with a nearby body of water being the main practical consideration for this piece.

The Collective members came up with different locations and devised their own maps, highlighting interesting features of their area. With local knowledge they fed ideas into many of the creative elements that will end up in the final show.

These included news reports, set design, crowd interactions and environmental issues that are highlighted within the theatre piece.

The Fort Lagoon team visited the region to gain an understanding of our area and the challenges that exist in putting on a large scale theatre event. During the few days spent in Chatteris, March, Brandon and Mildenhall, the team got to test out the mobile phone app that will act as a device for audience members to navigate the game.

They also went for a spot of wild swimming and tested the new choral parts with the Cant Sing Choir in March. Having that time to test out elements of the show was extremely valuable and having the time to explore the spaces meant that the piece can be influenced by the landscape and the people in those areas.

The team got a lot of inspiration from the décor at Johnsons of Old Hurst Tropical House near Chatteris, (marred only slightly by Jude dropping her phone into the crocodile enclosure). Residents of Mildenhall were calling out supportive comments as the gang tested swimming in their local river and Brandon’s Market Square was buzzing with activity. Many people chatting in the square wanted to know more about the project and how they could get involved.

Submersion Productions now plan to secure funding to present the piece in summer 2023 in the area and all our fingers are crossed and watch this space!

Read our Young Producer Jodie’s experience of the day here.

Take a look at the Flickr gallery of the location visits here.

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A Rainbow Isolation…

Posted on June 2021April 2022 by Colin Stevens

In the Autumn of 2020 photographer, Mercedes Rollason, had an idea.

To present a positive, colourful and flamboyant portrait of the LGBTQ community living in Fenland and Cambridgeshire.

However, at the end of 2020, it became obvious that this concept was not going to happen quite as planned. Why? Mercedes discovered an LGBTQ+ community feeling disheartened, isolated and not enthusiastic about living in Fenland.

Mercedes discussed the project with Creative Agent Colin and together they explored how it might continue. People were not feeling positive enough to show themselves publicly in photographic portraits. What if Mercedes could interview them and combine their words with a visual portrait of the landscape around them?

Mercedes pushed forward and the result is a stunning and moving collection of quotes and photographs that the reveal the lives of individuals living in Fenland.

For February 2022 the photographs were displayed in March Library (Ely also requested a display and presented it at their main doors). Mercedes did see a big shift in the attitude and spirit of those she interviewed in December and January 2021. She said at the time:

“Coming out of lockdown really does seem to have put some positivity back in people’s lives. Isolation can be an overwhelming situation. The LGBTQ community was already feeling isolated so the pandemic just reinforced that feeling. Something changed around April. Colour seemed to return”.

If confidence can grow we would love people to contact us about photography and other artforms that might explore and reflect the realities of living in the Fenland LGBTQ+ community.

If you would like to take part in the next stage of the project please contact colin@cppmarketplace.co.uk

Click the logo to visit Mercedes’ website

Creative Chat ‘n’ Blog – Belona Greenwood

Posted on June 2021June 2021 by Alice Cramer

Listen to Bel’s podcast episode here.

The Challenge

It was a shock. I lost all my arts in education work and income overnight. At first, I pretty much panicked in that I applied for any work, anywhere with a sense of dread that I would end up having to leave behind a creative life I had spent so many years trying to put together. At the same time, suddenly there was a space which I couldn’t negotiate productively. I would have loved to have used the time that opened up before me creatively, but I was too anxious about money. And then I benefitted from an emergency grant from the Arts Council. I was so grateful and promised to use my time well, even as I disinfected everything in sight, even as I limited going out to an early morning gallop with the dog, even as I stressed about my keyworker daughter exposed to the public.

Developing Ideas

Gradually, my heartbeat slowed, and I began to think and write again – in that gloriously beautiful weather in the first year. I sealed off the world and zoomed. It has made me think of hybrid theatre forms and I have discovered the potential for intimacy, as well as theatre’s wider online reach, but still, a year on the yearning for the energy of live performance is very strong.

I count myself lucky. I was commissioned to write a play with funding put in place before the pandemic. It was a stop start experience for the theatre company – even as auditions, and script read throughs were held and rehearsals began, they were postponed, the project settling into a waiting time as theatres closed and new variants emerged and made being together impossible. I think we learnt patience this year.

There are limitations to not being in the same room. Part of my working life is spent in a writers’ room with two other scriptwriters where we develop television and radio drama. It is a crucible where we hammer out a series, it is so much harder to interrupt each other passionately, the creative energy is missing in action. We adapt but it is not evolution.

_{Belona Greenwood’s book The Flying Shop of Imagination, is full of inspiring ideas to get children writing and inventing.}

Final Thoughts

It is a year since I have spent time in a school with real, 3D children. Delivering an arts project to six-year-olds for a day in maverick weather this week was brilliant. A real return. But I cannot forget. We all carry a sorrow for the suffering of then and now. I cannot but believe that as artists we are in a fragile peace, we live in uncertainty and with that there is a challenge. Out of chaos comes creation.

Written by Belona Greenwood.

Listen to Bel’s podcast episode here.

Read about Bel’s Writing the Landscape project here.

Creative Chat ‘n’ Blog – Kaitlin Ferguson

Posted on June 2021June 2021 by Alice Cramer

Listen to Kaitlin’s podcast episode here.

I am an environmental artist based in Norwich, my artistic practice crosses between many disciplines, but my particular focus is on sculpture, drawing and printmaking.

As an extension of this I also create participatory projects which involve working with people, connecting them with nature through artistic activities. Before lockdown, this involved traveling across the country, working with audiences of all ages.

At the start of lockdown, all of the projects I had been working on got cancelled or postponed, within the matter of a few days, this was a scary state to be in as a freelancer!

Then, with more time on my hands, I had a chance to pause and reflect. I decided to use this time as a chance to teach myself some new skills; video recording and editing. I also taught myself how to use a series of digital design packages.

One of the first projects I was able to use these digital skills on was a commission from MarketPlace as part of their ‘Creative Conversations in Isolation’ programme. I created a four-part video series entitled ‘Art and the Fens’ exploring different environment aspects of the Fens and shared ideas for how to make different creative responses.

Activities included making a recording card for documenting a walk, how to make a pocket sketchbook to draw in, a video on anthotype printing using food and spices, and finally a video about using textiles to explore Fenland geology.

It was important to me that the videos felt relaxed and like a conversation between me and the viewer. I also decided I wanted to create a handy guide to each video for people or download or print, hopefully making the project even more accessible.

Working in lockdown has really made me miss connecting with the people, and even though I know the videos can’t replace the joy of being in the same room, they are an important way for people to connect with others in isolation and use creativity for its therapeutic and relaxing benefits.

Since the project, I have been incorporating my newfound video and digital design skills into all of the other projects I am working on. I’ve found that, even though it can take a little while to get the hang of, using videos can be a really helpful way to share your ideas and artwork with others.

Written by artist Kaitlin Ferguson.

Listen to Kaitlin’s podcast episode here.

Read about Kaitlin’s Art and the Fens project here.

Crossing the Bridge of One Hair

Posted on May 2021May 2021 by Colin Stevens

Making interactive stories online

Marion Leeper reflects on her experience as a storyteller during the period of lockdown, and how she adapted the interactive fun and learning of storytelling in a playgroup setting and transferring it to online, as part of MarketPlace’s commissions programme.

Read about Marion’s project The Molly Whuppie Troubles here.

The Challenge

The folktale heroine Molly Whuppie succeeds in her quest because she is small: she can hide in the giant’s castle without him noticing, and she can get away from him because she is light enough to cross the Bridge of One Hair. As I embarked on the lockdown journey of bringing stories to a virtual audience, I had to take a leaf out of Mollie Whuppie’s book, and make a virtue of a small screen.

The Bridge of One Hair that I’ve had to cross, with help from MarketPlace as part of their Creative Conversations in Isolation commissions, was the big move to telling stories online: how to develop appropriate work that young children can engage with through a screen: finding out what was possible for a technically limited storyteller to offer as an online experience.

_{A photo of Marion in a glittering tent telling a story to a group of children.}

Live storytelling in the early years is a conversation. Young children respond to stories with their whole bodies: not just joining in with actions and rhymes, but pointing, laughing, moving the props around, deciding how the characters are feeling and what they had for breakfast.

If I wanted to offer young children a valuable storytelling experience, I needed to design a story that gets children moving, away from the screen. Perhaps they could be more independent, more active, than in a live session.

A photo of Marion engaging with and telling a story to small children on a colourful mat at a playgroup. — _{(Left) A photo of Marion engaging with and telling a story to a group of children on a colourful mat at a playgroup.
(Right) A photo of Marion’s makeshift set at home using household objects.}

_{(Left) A photo of Marion engaging with and telling a story to a group of children on a colourful mat at a playgroup.
(Right) A photo of Marion’s makeshift set at home using household objects.}

Developing An Idea

I planned a story in short episodes, with a challenge or adventure to explore between each session. For instance, Molly Whuppie runs away from the giant’s castle through trees, over rocks and across a bridge. I invited the children to make their own obstacle course through, under and across. The volunteer families who tried it out found that the game kept them busy outdoors all day.

I also wanted to offer children chances to play independently – to give locked-down children and adults a break from each other. I asked the children to find treasures and put them in a ‘treasure box’ for a guessing game: some of them carried on making their own collections for days.

Getting Started

I worked with the Oasis nursery in Wisbech to try out the show using a live video call. I was pleased that the children joined in with the story and enjoyed the guessing game with the ‘treasures’ they’d brought. One child who joined from home loved seeing her nursery friends.

A screenshot image of Marion Leeper in her adventure series "Molly Whuppie and the Bridge of One Hair." — _{A screenshot image of Marion Leeper in her adventure series “Molly Whuppie and the Bridge of One Hair.”}

But it was harder work keeping the children engaged and looking at a screen than live storytelling has ever been. It was also hard for families to watch live from home at a fixed time, so I set about making another change – filming a video of the story.

This was harder than it seemed. The production values that were fine for live sessions were not good enough for recorded film. Young children, used to incredibly talented film-making, from Sarah and Duck to Disney’s Frozen have such great visual literacy now, the language of close-up and long shot, soundtrack and image: they aren’t impressed by a talking head on a screen.

I struggled to learn so many skills – lighting, set-building, framing. Then my film-buddy and mentor, Inés Alvarez Villa, came on the scene. Working remotely, she patiently taught me how to focus a shot, how to film close-up sequences of props and many other skills

She edited the story, which we are launching into the world for families once more in lockdown. Perhaps it will offer them, like Molly Whuppie, a chance for a while to escape their Covid castle.

Final Thoughts

I’ve been developing my early years practice in storytelling for half a lifetime. Learning ways of telling stories online has been particularly hard for me because it felt like starting again from the beginning. But it has been a worthwhile journey. I know that online work is here to stay, I can do more things online, and they don’t take me so long, I know the limits of what I can and can’t do on my own. I’ve had to forge new ways of working with children and their parents too: what will be realistic for parents to do at home? What will make their time with their children easier and more fun, without making too much work for them?

Mollie Whuppie has gone out to many nurseries in the Fenland area, and children all over the place have been busy filling treasure boxes and building obstacle courses. One educator said: ‘The story was amazing, perfectly paced and the interactive parts just made it all the more special – so much learning available in each one!’

I feel like I’ve got safely across the bridge with my box of treasure. Now, like Molly Whuppie, I need to put on my adventure shoes and set off on the next part of the story.

Written by storyteller, Marion Leeper.

Read about Marion’s project The Molly Whuppie Troubles here.

Evaluation Case Study: Writing the Landscape

Posted on April 2021 by Alice Cramer

This case study is part of our project evaluation for 2019/2020

Writer Bel Greenwood was commissioned as part of our Creative Conversations in Isolation programme to bring together a group who were interested in creative writing with a landscape and environmental theme. Everyone had to get used to being on Zoom rather than meeting in person, but the group enjoyed getting to know each other and experimenting with their writing guided by Bel. People were finding new connections to their local environment and nature through lockdown, this group were no different, giving them lots to write about. They produced a blog to share their work and have continued to meet and write.

Read the Writing Inspired by the Landscape blog here.

Download the full Writing the Landscape case study here.

Read the full 2019/20 evaluation report here.

An excerpt from the case study:

Recognising an increase in people’s connections to their local environment, this commission was a way to develop interest and community audiences connected to this theme.

Images reads "It's about generating a sense of imaginative connection with the landscape - they have a very strong relationship with the landscape and I want them to generate a successful collection of work. I hope I'm building confidence in people in their own stories and starting them off on an adventure." - Bel Greenwood, writer. — _{Images reads “It’s about generating a sense of imaginative connection with the landscape – they have a very strong relationship with the landscape and I want them to generate a successful collection of work. I hope I’m building confidence in people in their own stories and starting them off on an adventure.” – Bel Greenwood, writer.}

The group had mixed previous writing experience from academic papers and books to one creative writer. Their passion for the natural environment unified the group.

Each workshop consisted of a combination of surprising writing challenges and the opportunity to collaborate and share. As well as the experience of having a professional writer critique and support edits in work produced.

Key outcomes for the group were to improve their skills in writing creatively through their connection to the landscape. Also to support them to increase their confidence in sharing their work publicly.

Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. Facebook: 1191, Participants: 9, Twitter: 4417 — Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. **Facebook:** 1191, **Participants:** 9, **Twitter:** 4417

Pictured: A photo of a robin singing. Text on the image reads: "Dear Robin. If I'd only sat up and taken the time to smell the damp earth and appreciated the beauty of my garden instead of considering my work a trial to endure, things could have been different. By Jaqui Fairfax". — **_Picture**_{d: A photo of a robin singing. Text on the image reads: “Dear Robin. If I’d only sat up and taken the time to smell the damp earth and appreciated the beauty of my garden instead of considering my work a trial to endure, things could have been different. By Jaqui Fairfax”.}

Download the full Writing the Landscape case study here.

Read more about the Writing the Landscape project with Bel Greenwood here.

#SeeYouSoon!

Posted on April 2021April 2022 by Colin Stevens

Developed with support from public funding by Department of Culture, Media and Sport. We spent March, April and May 2021 exploring creative ways to address loneliness and social isolation resulting from the impact of Covid-19.

We threw the obvious title “The Loneliness Project” out the window. After a year of near-constant lockdown we felt it was important to offer people a more positive outlook. How could we help people break out of their ‘bubbles’ in a fun, colourful and positive manner?

After not been able to see or touch their families and friends for a year people needed a sense of real connection. What better way to make meaningful contact than with the simple forgotten Art of Writing? In a world of mobile phones, email, text and WhatsApp, how many of us take the time to put a pen to paper?

The #See You Soon pack of postcards was designed to encourage people to send creative messages and ideas to family members, friends and neighbours.

We took time to have our now familiar “creative conversations” with a diverse range of contacts who are working with families, seniors, young people and people who are experiencing isolation across Fenland and West Suffolk. We worked with community leaders and creative practitioners who understood how their localities and neighbourhoods had been affected by the pandemic.

Connecting is what #See You Soon was all about – making a move to do something positive. Smile, Reach Out & Say Hello! Our new See You Soon section of the website is coming soon!

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Evaluation Case Study: Art in the Fens

Posted on April 2021April 2021 by Alice Cramer

This case study is part of our project evaluation for 2019/2020.

Art in the Fens with artist Kaitlin Ferguson was one of the first Creative Conversations in Isolation commissions. With Kaitlin, we trialled new ways to use digital creative activity to encourage connection with the green spaces on our doorsteps.

We’ve worked with Kaitlin before on the Brandon Tales and Trails event so this was an opportunity to respond to the changes we all faced in the pandemic through different creative activity. People were finding connections or reconnecting with nature on their daily walks during lockdown and Kaitlin’s project showed simple art projects and interesting techniques to make a creative response to the Fenland landscape.

Download the full Art in the Fens case study here.

Read the full 2019/20 evaluation report here.

An excerpt from the case study:

Kaitlin was commissioned to deliver four online ‘make along’ tutorials to be shared through IGTV on Instagram and promoted through new environmental partner networks that align with current strategic activity in Fenland.

Graphic showing participation and audience numbers. Facebook: 1016, Youtube: 158, Twitter: 2502, Instagram: 231. — Graphic showing participation and audience numbers.
**Facebook:** 1016, **Youtube:** 158, **Twitter:** 2502, **Instagram:** 231.

The videos were shared through our social media channels over four weeks. The launch of the project coincided with ‘Celebrate the Fens‘ Day on 20th June 2020, which was hosted by @FascinatingFens.

Pictured above: Two screenshots of Kaitlin’s video workshops – On the left, drawing plant materials from observation, and on the right using felt to create a textural representation of the soft strata of the Fenland landscape.

Download the full Art in the Fens case study here.

A Spell for Understanding by Fenland Young Carers

Posted on March 2021July 2021 by Alice Cramer

_{Watch the Spell for Understanding video presented by Centre 33.}

A SPELL FOR STANDING IN ANOTHER’S SHOES

Stir with a spoon and drink in the first light of dawn.

Take the sight of an owl on a long-distance flight

The sound of Gorillas, chest-beating at night

The companionship of one hundred dogs

The patience of badgers who cross roads in the fog

Inside this spell is the shape of our days

All that we are, not all that we say,

This spell must include all that is true,

So stir in a unicorn’s miracle horn,

the noble heart of a lion, the smile of a snake

A giraffe’s dream of the stars

And make no mistake,

Most important of all, hidden away,

a spider’s web, broken, and mended again.

Drink our potion, hear our spell, look us in the eye

Put on our shoes and walk by our side.

_{These screenshots from the video show the young carers taking part in art activities during these Zoom sessions with the artists.}

We commissioned artist Hilary Cox Condron to collaborate with a group of young carers and Centre 33, Cambridgeshire charity supporting young people. Together they did creative activities and tried different artforms with guest artists Bel Greenwood, Dan Donovan and MarketPlace Creative Agent Colin Stevens. Their responses became a poem, expressive paintings and a short film that was shared as part of Young Carers Action Day on 16 March 2021.

Amanda at Centre 33 said about the project:

“The art project has been amazing and having the opportunity to work with some amazing talented people has been really inspiring for the Young Carers. We can’t thank Hilary, Colin, Bel and Dan enough for their great work in putting together the film clip for Young Carers Action Day. The reaction to the clip from parents and the Young Carers was “wonderful”. The clip has also been shown in school by some Young Carers Champions. Thank you to everyone involved.

The Young Carers wanted their voices heard about what it is like for them, what their life is like and what qualities they have which they carry forward into their day to day work.

The Young Carers produced some wonderful art work, drawing and painting. They got to look at animation, putting clips together with sound effects as well as working with a writer to put together a spell/poem to get their voices heard. Hilary, Colin, Bel and Dan were so good with the Young People, they engaged them, gave them confidence and really inspired them to continue with Art in its different forms. I am feeling so proud with what they have achieved, that they worked so hard and we’re really pleased with the end results – their engagement has been brilliant.

We have Young Carers that have grown in confidence thanks to everyone. Young Carers that at first wouldn’t have their cameras on as they were shy and then they completed sessions with the camera on and enjoyed showing their art pieces. We had a Young Carer that was so quiet she didn’t speak to them by the end of the sessions she was chatting most of the time in the session and putting across her views more in speech.

Excellent Project, amazing people I look forward to the next one.”

Thanks to Emily, Erin, Pheobe, Lennon, Paige, Kezia, Amber and Sophie

Supported by Centre 33 Amanda Cawthorne and Richard Cross

Creative Producer: Hilary Cox Condron

Film maker: Colin Stevens – Theatricx

Guest artists: Dan Donovan and Bel Greenwood

The Challenge

Developing Ideas

Final Thoughts

Written by Belona Greenwood.

Written by artist Kaitlin Ferguson.

Making interactive stories online

The Challenge

Developing An Idea

Getting Started

Final Thoughts

Written by storyteller, Marion Leeper.

An excerpt from the case study:

Amanda at Centre 33 said about the project:

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