Hello, I’m Sheila and I’m going to be taking over The Place’s blog for a while. Some of you may have had a brief introduction to me either through a post on Instagram (hopefully you have been enjoying some of my posts) or out and about in the community and at the theatre.
To give you a bit more information about myself I recently joined The Place as a marketing and programming assistant on a 6 month KICKSTART scheme. During that time I’m going to be taking over The Place’s blog and detailing about my time here and what I get up to. I will also give you my take on the different events I see and participate in at the place.
During my first week of the kick-start scheme I sat in on one of the Storytime sessions put on by The Place. This is a free event put on for children where parents can relax and have a tea or coffee whilst their children are kept entertained by having a story read to them. The children get to pick the stories told to them or if they prefer, bring their own stories to be read. After the Storytime is done the children get to go on a treasure hunt whilst their mums can relax and chat away.
If you have been looking for something for your child to do I would highly recommend bringing them along to the Storytime sessions as it’s a great way for you to get out of the house and something your child will definitely enjoy.
On my second day of the job we spray-painted stencils provided to us by the Creative Days youth group on to The Place’s fencing. The fumes were strong and the spray paint went everywhere but luckily we were prepared and had protective gear on, although I do think we definitely needed heavy duty masks to deal with the fumes as they were intense. This experience did give me a whole new outlook on graffiti artists and a newfound respect for them. Don’t get me wrong my favourite part of my train journeys to London is admiring the elaborate art they create in hard to reach places but after we struggled to hold a simple stencil flat on a stationary fence and almost required a lung transplant from inhaling the spray paint fumes. I definitely gained a whole new level of respect for them!
There was also a sustainable futures event put on by The Place that I attended. This event was put on to discuss ways to implement eco-friendly changes we could make to The Place. The event turned out to be a success with great ideas being suggested by the attendees that hopefully will get implemented soon.
There was also an art installation event I attended called Cloudscapes. The concept of this event was to lay down and gaze at the clouds while we listened to an audio story of the host detailing stories of her relationship with her farther. The installation was based in the town centre and we did get quite a few peculiar looks of interest which was expected. The couple that put on the event were lovely and provided us with blankets that kept us warm whilst we participated in the installation.
I also got the luxury of watching Farewell Leicester Square, a play about the first black bus driver, Joe Clough, and his story when he arrived from Jamaica to the UK. The play was put on by the Townsend Theatre Productions and acted by Philip Olagoke. The play was a one man play and I must admit the impressions of his wife were spot on and quite entertaining. They had a beautiful set up of a circus tent and a lovely snack stall which looks like it was converted from a portable horse carrier.
I also had the pleasure of watching Tess of the D’Ubervilles put on by Hotbuckle Productions Theatre Company. The play was a take on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel and I was engrossed by it. Some of my favourite parts were the singing as the actress who played the character Tess (Beth Organ) had a lovely singing voice.
Last but not least, thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my blog. Hopefully you enjoyed this blog post and many more to come.