With striking resonances to the contemporary political landscape, Alice’s story of activism in a country at war, paranoid against a fearful sinister foe, sounds eerily familiar. Find out what happens when an ordinary person dares to stand her ground. The establishment can wreak a terrible retribution.

Alice, written by Angela Truby, produced by Sustained Magic will be performed at the University or Derby’s Derby Theatre Studio between the 12th and 16th of April.

Tickets are on sale now from £7. Please head to the Box Office, call 01332 2557800 or click here to book your tickets.

‘No one is sane; it’s all about degrees’

Release will be on at the Derby Theatre Studio at 8pm from the 11^th to the 15^th of January.

Chelsea is a disturbed young woman with something to prove, Angela has a violent husband, Sarah never meant to hurt her bullying stepmother and Elizabeth’s love knows no bounds. They’re bought together in prison drama therapy and we hear their stories of lives torn apart by violence, some systematic, some arbitrary. They must decide what happens next and if what we do today does have to shape the rest of our lives or is redemption just around the corner?

Part of a First Destination project for new graduates.

For more information please see the Sustained Magic website.

Tickets cost

Adult                – £10

Concession      – £8

Student            – £7

Call 01332 255800 or visit the Derby Live Online Box Office

Girl in the Window eFlyer

Just a heads up to all who may be in Derby City Centre this friday that I will be performing with Sustained Magic Theatre Company in our Girl In the Wondow Project which is part of the Theatre Store.

Performances are on the 17th of September at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30, last for 10 minutes and are 100% FREE.

We will be reviving an old local legend from the Girl in the Window performances in Ilkeston at the old La Senza shop on St Peters Street in Derby and experimenting with different ways of creating atmosFEAR. Come and talk to us between the shows about the process and to feedback your thoughts.

Did I mention that the event is free of charge?

There you will find more information about the Theatre Company i an a director of and what it is we do.

There will be more to come and updated info regarding our upcoming projects.

There are also links to the Sustained magic twitter feed and our facebook group. Check it out!

Speed Facebooking

The power of friend recommendations and a nation addicted to Social Networking

This morning I had two friends on my new Ed Kennedy Facebook Page and after an hour of sitting down and sending friend requests and looking through automatically generated recommendations from Facebook I had sent out a good few requests.
My inbox on my Macbook is now full of messages saying people have accepted. As of right now I have got 86 friends. This morning I had 2. And one of them was my other profile! (when i started writing this post I had 83 friends)

I cant help but wonder, does everyone work such random days and hours as me and therefore has time to sit on facebook? Is it maybe the rise of the iPhone, the netbook, the Nexus One that means people are more connected these days? Or are we a nation of Social Networking Whores who love nothing more than to tag, tweet and post?

(Latest friend count: 92)

I suppose this must be how Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown must feel watching the followers log in. Maybe I should run in the Election. God knows who i would stand for. Maybe the Independent Theatre Party? God knows.

Anyway, for all thouse who would like to see how high my Friend Count can get to or to help out and Friend me yourself please see http://www.facebook.com/edkennedy.uk.

(Latest friend count: 93…come on 7 more!)

That was todays random thought, brought to you by Ed Kennedy.

Well I have posted off my Voting Registration form now for my new house and so need to start thinking about who to actually vote for. Being a creative artist, I of cause want to make sure I don’t vote for someone who will be moving to close all the theatres and cut funding to Doctor Who. This basically means not the Tories. We all know that but what I didn’t know what that currently only seven pence of every one hundred pounds of current government goes to The Arts. Shocking! See this video on the Guardian site for a Lib Dem quote about it. (You cant help but agree with the Lib Dem’s that it would be shocking to think that cutting Arts funding further would solve the country’s woes.)

When I come across something in the webiverse that helps me make up my mind I shall be posting it on my twitter feed which is just to the right if you see?

For now, here are the relevant sections of the three main parties Manifesto’s.
(Count how many times the word “Theatre” is actually used.)

Labour Party Manifesto

Arts, culture and museums

We have made unprecedented investment in Britain’s cultural life, widening access by introducing free admission to museums and galleries. Every child and young person should be entitled to five hours of art, music and culture per week, through learning to play a musical instrument, visiting local museums and joining film clubs, or taking part in local theatre. Through Creative Partnerships we are ensuring that young people in the most deprived parts of the country are able to fulfil their artistic talents by working with local arts and cultural organisations.

We have provided the first nationwide programme of free theatre to young people; now we will build on the success

of the National Theatre’s £10 Season to work with theatres and sponsors to provide reduced-rate tickets for theatrical productions around Britain. Our national cultural life and creative industries can prosper only by developing young artistic talent. Creative Bursaries will support the most

7:3 The Labour Party Manifesto 2010

Communities and creative Britain

artistically gifted young people in their early professional careers.

So that our cultural facilities remain world-class, charities, businesses and cultural organisations must collaborate more closely in the future. We will review how incentives for philanthropic support can

be strengthened. Our major museums and galleries should be operationally independent of government, so we will legislate to ensure their managerial and financial autonomy.

We will maintain our commitment to free admissions, encouraging people of all ages and a wide range of backgrounds to visit. Every child will have lifetime library membership from birth. Britain is enriched by its unique historical heritage. We will review the structures that oversee English Heritage, putting mutual principles at the heart of its governance so that people can have a direct say over the protection and maintenance of Britain’s built historical legacy.

We will give public institutions new rights to borrow works of art from the national collection, so that more people can benefit from access to our national artistic heritage.

National Lottery funding is more in tune with people’s priorities than ever. We will promote greater public involvement in the way that National Lottery proceeds are spent on good causes. A proportion of Lottery funding is going to the Olympics. After 2012, this proportion will return to culture, heritage and sport.

Conservative Party Manifesto

Culture, Media and Sport

Culture, media and sport are all vital for our quality of life, as well as being huge generators of wealth and prosperity for our economy: tourism is the UK’s fifth biggest industry and the creative industries account for 7.3 per cent of GDP.

When John Major established the National Lottery he started a revolution in the funding of the arts, sport and heritage, and provided these vital sectors with a secure financial footing.

But Labour have continually raided Lottery funds for other government projects. We would return the Lottery to its original purpose. Our reforms would put an end to any further government interference and ensure a greater share of Lottery funding goes to the arts, sport and heritage, allowing them to prosper and thrive.

With the London 2012 Olympic Games approaching, we have a wonderful opportunity to showcase these sectors and highlight the best sporting and cultural activities that Britain has to offer, promoting this country as the attractive tourist destination it undoubtedly is.

We must make sure that the Olympics leave us with a lasting legacy focused on inspiring young people to take part in sport. The national Olympic-style school sport competition we will introduce is one of a range of measures designed to ensure the legacy that Labour have failed to plan for.

We will also work to rebuild our broken economy by making Britain a European hub for hi-tech, digital and creative industries. We will:

• Amend local media ownership rules;
• Create a system of commercially viable local television stations;
• Deliver nationwide superfast broadband by 2017;
• Scrap Labour’s ‘Phone Tax’;
• Require BT and other infrastructure providers to allow the use of their assets, to deliver broadband across the country; and
• Promote and protect a strong and independent BBC by ensuring that it is properly audited by the National Audit Office.

The Conservative Party is committed to fostering an environment in which sport, the arts, and the creative industries can flourish, and in which people can take control of the most enjoyable aspects of their lives.

Liberal Democrat Party Manifesto

access to culture and sport

Liberal Democrats believe that the arts are a central part of civic and community life. They contribute to innovation, education, diversity, and social inclusion, and the creative industries are one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. Britain’s culture and heritage play a vital role in attracting visitors to the UK and boosting the very important tourism industry. We will foster an environment in which all forms of creativity are able to flourish.

We are proud that Britain is hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, and we support bids for other high-profile events such as the 2018 World Cup – but we believe that grassroots sport is just as important. We

will give people from all backgrounds and generations the opportunity to participate in sports.

Liberal Democrats will:

• Require hospitals to be open about mistakes, and always tell patients if something has gone wrong.

• Make it illegal for a Local Health Board to allow a doctor to work in the UK without passing robust language and competence tests.

• Clamp down on anyone who is aggressive or abusive to staff in accident and emergency departments. We would encourage better working relationships between hospitals and the local police to provide an increased police presence at times of high risk, and increase prosecutions. At the same time, we will ensure that problem drinkers or substance abusers are referred for appropriate treatment.

• Maintain free entry to national museums and galleries and open up the Government Art Collection for greater public use.

• Set up a ‘Creative Enterprise Fund’ offering training, mentoring and small grants or loans to help creative businesses get off the ground.

Liberal Democrat Manifesto 2010• Cut red tape for putting on live music. We will reintroduce the rule allowing two performers of unamplified music in any licensed premises without the need for an entertainment licence, allow licensed venues for up to 200 people to host live music without the need for an entertainment licence, and remove the requirement for schools and hospitals to apply for a licence.

• Reform the National Lottery. We will change the way the National Lottery is taxed from a ticket tax to a gross profits tax, which is forecast to deliver more for good causes and the Exchequer.

• Use cash in dormant betting accounts to set up a capital fund for improving local sports facilities and supporting sports clubs.

• Close loopholes that allow playing fields to be sold or built upon without going through the normal planning procedures.

A strong and diverse media, free from government interference and pressure is essential to a free and democratic society. We will:

• Ensure that the BBC remains strong, free from interference and securely funded, not least to provide impartial news, independent of political and commercial pressures. We will also ensure that the BBC does not undermine the viability of other media providers through unfair competition based on its public funding and dominant position.

• Support a diverse regional and local media. We will help to maintain independent local sources of news and information by enabling partnerships between TV, radio and newspaper companies to reduce costs, and by limiting publicly-subsidised competition for paid advertising from local council free-sheets.

Hmmm…
As I implied near the top of this post, these seems to be quite a lack of the word “Theatre” in these manifesto’s. A bit worrying but hopefully the politicians were going for concise. The Lib Dems do seem enthusiastic at least and willing to try new things. We still have time to make our minds up though – does anyone know how to submit questions to these live TV debates?

An iPad I don't own.

Well I have yet again been forced to delete and loose a blog. But i dont look at it as one site being hacked to death, i look at it as a chance to use WordPress to make a much prettyer site.

Its only taken about an evening.

I cant help but feel the whole thing would have felt much more sci fi if I had been using an iPad but my MacBook Pro and its glowing apple will have to do.

So what to expect? Other than lots of comments about my distinct lack of an iPad.

Who knows. Im going to try and blog more and tweet less (well, stop relying on twitter to fill in the time between blog entries). Which would be easier to do if i had an iPad with the iPad version of the WordPress app installed. I have even set up a new facebook page that people can visit and befriend. The facebook app for the iPad will just have to live without me for a while.

There is also the Sustained Magic site which relates to the Theatre Company I am a director of so you might want to check that out as well.

The Sustained Magic site is undergoing its own facelift at the moment however so do keep checking back from time to time.

Well as far as evenings go this one has been quite productive, deleted one site, built another and posted a blog to prove it. Id say thats about enough for now – bed time!