The past month has been frenetic at OSP. Schools are always interested in bringing in artists at the end of term and so we have been Storytelling at St Benedicts and Woodlands Infant Schools, both in Birmingham as well as supporting teachers, lunchtime supervisors and parents in their creative skills.

July has also seen the Premiere of the Wolfhamcote double bill. Both the ‘All of History is Here” and “The making of…” were shown to the local audience and are being trialled in schools in September.

I am fortunate to be part of a team of people supporting the setting up of a new initiative to bring a range to people to the new Library  which is currently under construction.  As part of this I had the opportunity to see the site as it currently is and the 4D computerised transformation that will take place over the next 6 months.  Exciting times – the Library will provide great opportunities for Birmingham to reach out to its communities and celebrate all the various facets of the city and surrounding areas.

Unfortunately we heard this week that we didn’t get the City of Culture – a bitter blow for the team and us for the artists who would have benefited  by the investment.  I am only hoping the phrase ‘ keep calm and carry on’ applies to all the ideas and collaborations which have already started to develop.

The past couple of weeks have been busy at OSP with development meetings here there and everywhere.  I am working in collaboration with The Play House over the next three weeks at Shirelands Academy in Smethwick, Birmingham. They are a forward thinking school who are using their Creative Partnerships funding to develop their Year 7 teaching  and learning and enrich the curriculum, through a thematic approach. We are leading creative project  around the title of ‘What IF….?”  More information to follow as the project is delivered.

The work the company has been doing with CRE8US  practitioners and Woodlands Infant school has been getting very positive feedback both from staff and from the CCE who paid an impromptu visit recently. We have been asked to continue the relationship into the next academic year, which will be a pleasure.

My colleague Gareth was able to support Sarah at Aston Uni  last week, in a presentation about the work we have been doing at the audiology unit; which will hopefully bring about more funding for role play.

Zak and Art are both in the final stages of  editing for the Wolfhamcote Films; the premiere is booked for the 10th July at the church in the village – so watch this space.

I chaired the latest Equity meeting for the area last night, it was a small turn out but this gave us all a chance to mix a little more afterwards and get to know each others field as there were new faces to all of us.  Any performer, back stage, designer , dancer,  director or stunt person wanting to know more about meetings please get in touch.

For almost half a century the Midlands Arts Centre in Cannon Hill Park has been a significant hub for Birmingham’s local communities.  For the past two years it has been shut  for renovations and development but this month it opened to the public and I was there. I was delighted to see how many people turned up to see  how it turned out.

The space has much to recommend it however some of the finishing leaves a lot to be desired (perhaps the opening arrived too early for the final touches) and the infrastructure wasn’t quite up for the numbers who turned up and wanted to try out the food and drink.

My main criticism of the space (as far as I have experienced it so far – I have not been to see a show yet) is that the bar is very clinical and uninviting and that the central space which should be somewhere relaxing, is not condusive to sitting and chatting. The settees are very hard backed and feel like they are there for perching for a few minutes  before seeing a show or film rather than settling in for a night of  conversation.

What impressed me?  The two art galleries – one which had a Sampad retrospective and the other which had birmingham inspired artifacts and images.  The new theatre rehearsal space looked interesting also (I will be able to report more when I get to actually go inside – it was locked on the open day.)

Tuesday was a fascinating day for me as I was again asked to be part of a panel on Radio 4’s Today programme.  I travelled down to White City  and met with both the Birmingham panelists and the four people who had been part of a panel in Manchester.  We were shown round the offices of the BBC and then to a room where we met with John Humphry’s who spoke with us for about half an hour. Despite being nervous, the longer chat helped me to focus on responding to the questions asked. I wanted to speak about how none of the parties mentioned the Arts and Cultural industry in the debates but was spoken over by a ‘gentleman’ who wanted to ‘answer the question’ so by the time I got to speak the question had changed.

The debate was really interesting and there were a good range of views. Peter, who was also from Birmingham shared similar views to me and after the edit (down to 15 mins) we both got a fair airing  I’m pleased to say.

Anyone wishing to listen to it can follow the following link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8661000/8661534.stm

The company is busy planning  its forthcoming projects for 2010.  January includes outreach work for Birmingham Hippodrome and Role Play for Aston University’s Audiology Department.  If your school or company are interested in our skills please get in touch on 0121 777 9086