http://petersgrandtour.blog.com Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:13:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Contacting the World was the month's highlight. A festival of quality theatre (with only one or two exceptions) produced by emerging artists. The festival is special in so many ways and thanks and credit are due to Noel Grieg, who conceived it, and John McGrath and Julia Turpin, whose passion, ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/07/31/liverpool-july-2008/ Funding is becoming increasingly difficult to secure. The impending 'credit crunch', increased competition for funding, mainstreaming of activities, plus the increasing significance and power of the larger organisations in the city (LARC - Liverpool Arts Regeneration Consortium - aka the Big Eight) is starting to impact on the smaller organisations. ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/06/30/liverpool-june-2008/ Streets Ahead provided three days of street theatre and spectacle. It was like being in Manchester a few years ago. Streets Ahead was transposed from there to here. Three days and now what? Will it leave a legacy? Perhaps if someone had had the foresight a few years ago to ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/05/28/liverpool-may-2008/ Dream Think Speak (www.dreamthinkspeak.com) at the Anglican Cathedral was exciting, inventive and one of the highlights of the 2008 programme. The installation/performance, conceived and directed by Tristan Sharps made use of pretty much every nook and cranny of the Anglican Cathedral. The project integrated local performers, worked collaboratively with local ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/04/25/liverpool-april-2008/ Liverpool: Centre of the Creative Universe... At the very last minute, and because another arts organisation decided to withdraw from the project, Hope Street was commissioned to produce a short play and workshop to accompany Mark Hill's Orrery sculpture. The aim of the project is to raise awareness of school ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/03/30/liverpool-march-2008/ Arts Council England's recent spending review - perhaps the biggest shake up since the Arts Council was launched - made its impact in the North West with a number of organisations being cut (including double Edinburgh Fringe First Winners, Rejects Revenge, a company to emerge from Hope Street in 1990 ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/02/28/liverpool-february-2008/ People's Opening: Fireworks, the Wombats, people seemingly carried by a crane in a cargo container, Ringo Starr and endless lines of children carrying lanterns celebrated the launch of Liverpool's year as Capital of Culture. The crowds gathered (desperate for a sing-a-long, and disappointed they didn't get one) but the buzz ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/01/30/liverpool-january-2008/ So, after a five-year build up, it's here... Liverpool is the Cultural Capital of Europe 2008 (proudly sharing the title with Stavanger, Norway). On New Years' Eve it suddenly hit me that tomorrow, Liverpool would be the Cultural Capital of Europe. So much expectation, so much build up and so many ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2008/01/06/liverpool-european-capital-of-culture-2008/ Mamma Mia! It was chilly in Stockholm. Clad in thermal vest, scarf and gloves, I spent three days here, one evening with Josette Bushell-Mingo (long time collaborator of Hope Street and Unity), and husband Stefan Karsberg and their two gorgeous boys Rueben and Joshua. One evening we had a 12 ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2007/11/04/28-stockholm-sweden/ Gdansk is one of the 6 Cities on the Edge cities (along with Bremen, Istanbul, Napoli, Marseille and Liverpool). It is also bidding to be Cultural Capital of Europe in 2016. My visit to the city was to meet with arts organisations and artists interested in developing links with Hope Street ... http://petersgrandtour.blog.com/2007/10/25/27-gdansk-poland/