Graham Marshall uses this weeks ‘Mind Labs’ to tell us a heartbreaking true story about his life. One that until now; only a handful of people ever knew about. But today, on the airwaves of Sheffield Live! we can finally hear the remarkable tale of friendship, hope, courage, pencilcases, and soup. Oh, so much soup…
Wireless Times is the on-stage riotous retro radio recreation that has the audience rolling in the aisles, coming from a time when a DJ was a dinner jacket and a big Mac was a large overcoat. Reeling from one disaster to another, the cast often need the help of the audience to create the sound effects for the various ‘spots’ being broadcast. Playing anything from a football crowd to the cavalry in the Charge of the Light Brigade (involving an unfeasibly large number of coconut shells), the audience unfailingly rescue the broadcasting crew from impending doom, and probably dismissal.
On the 25th of June, the River Don over topped its banks causing widespread flooding in the Don Valley area of our city. During this time a 14-year-old boy was swept away by the swollen River Sheaf and a 68 year old man died after attempting to cross a flooded road in Sheffield city centre. The Meadowhall shopping centre also had close due to flooding and the Sheffield Wednesday football ground, Hillsborough was under 6 feet of water.
To mark the event, we present a reworking of the Sheffield Floods documentary we made in 2008. This is a collaborative work; featuring contributions from Fabian Beckett, Alan Fransman Joe Fowler, Kit Lawrenson, Graham Marshall, Hannah Patnick, Kevin Resley and Dave Williams. Special thanks go to the residents of Chapel Town, Sheffield City Council, Sheffield University and Sheffield Wednesday football club.
Well, we did it! On Saturday the 30th of October, as part of the ‘Off the Shelf’ festival, the ‘Cornucopia Radio Show’ was broadcast live from the Sheffield Winter Gardens, for 6 hours between 11am and 5pm.
The day featured poets, storytellers, comedians, performers, actors, musicians, singers and local amateur dramatic groups. Yes, it was a little chaotic (let there be no doubt about that!) but it was also pretty amazing, because amazing is the thing we do best!
Sophie cannot finish her dinner, she says she’s eaten enough. Sophie’s trying to make herself thinner. Says she’s eating too much and her brother says, “You’re joking,” and her mother’s heart is broken. Sophie has a hard time coping and besides; Sophie’s hoping… She can be like all the other girls…
Bones is a new play written by Renate Reynolds and tells the story of a young girl suffering through the inner turmoil and hurt that ‘Anorexia Nervosa’ has brought to her soul.
The gods think they can do what they want with us. They make shit for us and we’re supposed to deal with it. But you forget, we’ve also been given free will to express what we want and when we want it. We say this because we do not accept your court, we do not accept your laws, and we do not accept you! All we do is mirror the chaos around us. The Sad Tale of Sisyphus by Gill Buttery is new our adult retelling of the classical Greek myth of sisysphus, with new modern political undertones.
‘Fractured Lives’ explores how the First World War literally fractured lives. The war’s many casualties were not just amongst the dead. There were the men maimed and disabled with scars that would blight the rest of their lives. The play also has resonance for the present day, as wars and international conflicts continue to fracture lives, leaving scars and injuries that can last a lifetime. Today men still return from war’s ‘theatre’ to play out new roles that they have not chosen.