Jake Ryan was one of the first Community Arts applicants who walked through the doors at Blackburn House all those years ago. Unfortunately he won’t be able to attend much of the community arts reunion as he will be performing at Theatre Porto’s annual arts extravaganza ‘Topsy Turvy’ that weekend. This is his character from The Great Porto Horsey Jump-off: a performance he devised with Theatre Porto (ex-Action Transport) where he was employed as their Community Artist; initially for eight months post-pandemic, but it turned into three years. He lives in Wales now and is involved in a variety of projects as an arts educator, community filmmaker and performer, for Arts Council Wales, As Creatives, People First Merseyside and other charities, and is currently working with the Welsh band 9Bach, creating sound responsive animations for their performances and documenting their current tour.
The jump off is essentially a hobby-horse show-jumping course where participants get to make their own horse by adding velcro eyes, manes, ears etc and race them around a little show-jumping course whilst he commentates. They performed it last year and are planning to tour it around events and festivals next year once they’d developed it a bit further: but they’re bringing it back for this years ‘Topsy Turvy’ which you can see here.
Topsy Turvy is Theatre Porto’s annual arts extravaganza where they fill Whitby Park and the new theatre space in Whitby Hall in Ellesmere Port with a variety of work from young-people’s theatre companies and other community arts activities/events: here’s last year’s trailer. It’s a 45 minute train from Liverpool and a 15 min walk from the station – so will be worth a visit if you get the time!
Caroline Murphy AKA Virginia Haze is a Singer Songstress Home grown in Liverpool. She has been a prominent Singer/Musician in the City for the past 30 years, working with many bands as well as teaching young people to sing, write songs and play instruments. In 2004 she launched her solo career under the name Virginia Haze, releasing her debut album “Genuine“in 2005.
Her Journey into Community Arts has always been interlaced within her own musical career. At aged 19 she took a job as a music worker in Gateacre Youth Centre and continued on the path to becoming a qualified Youth and Community worker. She spent 20 years as a full time Community Music Worker for the Liverpool City Council as well as doing freelance work for LIPA,MZONE, Schools , Youth Centres, teaching in Europe and many other organisations. She focussed supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds , using music as a tool to improve their confidence and mental health and also create opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential.
You can listen to her song, Whats Goin On here:
How we met…
Before LIPA had become the august colossus it now is, complete with a footprint which straddles the Mount, Hope and Duke Street triangle, the brains and brawn behind the operation occupied several portacabins, parked precariously on the building site from which the LIPA we know and love slowly metamorphosed.
In those days, there was much concern about how LIPA would engage with its local communities and several myths grew up alongside the newly unfolding building, many of which were to do with access to the organisation’s courses and activities. It was an “elite school for foreign students” ran one meme; a “FAME school” ran another and not far behind in that meme race was the notion that it didn’t give a proverbial fuck about its local communities across the wider city region. One of the first things the brains and brawn did in the early days to counteract these memes was to set up the Community Liaison Team. This pan-organisation body soon became known by its acronym, CLT: but this was soon dropped when it became apparent that it had a rather unfortunate pronunciation (if you were squeamish about that sort of thing).
These memes all ran their course over time, and truth finally outed as it tends to do. Before too long though, LIPA had recruited a healthy percentage of local students’; it contributed significantly to the local economy and cultural ecosystem; and its work in the wider communities across the region was recognised and appreciated, although perhaps not as visibly or audibly as some of us would have liked.
One way we did that was by running several years of ‘Pathways’ projects in local schools and communities in which local artists would be engaged in schools, often working with the most disengaged young people, in order to bring some inspiration and opportunities to their lives. One of those projects was run by the musician, Caroline Murphy, who we engaged to work with young people in Brookfields Comprehensive in Kirkby. Caroline worked in the school over several years and over time developed life lasting relationships with the young people she tutored. But it wasn’t all plain sailing:
“Before my first music session, the teacher said there are music instruments in the room . It was a box of percussion! The kids had already opened it and started banging the hell out of it. I said OK let’s start now, but they kept on. I thought what can I do? So I got a book and pulled a chair out and started reading it. Eventually after quite a while someone said, ” What you doing Hippy?” so I said I was reading my book. I’m getting paid to teach you music, but at the moment I’m getting paid to read my book . They started asking me questions like “do you live in a caravan?” and in the end, I ended up having a great time with those kids. They had all never played an instrument before but after working with them, they played at the St George’s Hall. One of the girls, Marie was so nervous she ran out the hall barefoot and down the steps before their slot. I had to go after her and persuade her to come back.”
Whilst the work was initiated under the Pathways scheme, it was so successful that the school also kept her on after it finished for a couple of years in order to help address the behavioural challenges the school faced. In many ways, this work was a precursor to the work of Creative Partnerships in the region in the years to come, although we didn’t know it then. But it was yet another testament to the power of arts and culture for young people; and the song below that Caroline saved from those years back, tells you a little of their lives, challenges and ambitions.
It’s always great to hear new work from old friends and this week’s no exception with Patrick Dineen’s launch of his new album, We Never Close.
Patrick has had a rich and varied career to date, beginning with when he was vocalist and songwriter for the band Kan Kan known for its theatricality. He then began writing scores for fringe theatre eventually becoming Composer-in-Residence at The Liverpool Playhouse. His songs and scores led to him being invited to join Stephen Sondheim’s Master Class In Music-Theatre at Oxford University University, an experience which has never left him.
This was followed by writing many scores for theatre productions both in the UK and Internationally. His work as a composer also includes many scores for radio and TV, contemporary dance aerial theatre and independent film. He has also toured original music-led productions combining elements of cabaret, fairy tale and political fable
We Never Close is his latest solo album and bears his signature love of dark humour, passion, theatricality and songs that tell a story. It also bears his signature arrangements, combining the quirky with the heartfelt and a nod to the era of Weimar Cabaret,
We Never Close is on sale on bandcamp, here. If you like the album, please become a follower for future updates and bonus music through his website.
Theatre and Performance
Dineen’s contributions to theatre are notable for their emotional depth and innovative integration of music. His work on When the Birds Sang, a dance-theatre collaboration with Theatre Hullabaloo, showcased his ability to translate natural movements into musical motifs. By observing the behaviors of birds, he crafted a score that mirrored their elegance and unpredictability, using instruments like clarinet and xylophone to represent different aspects of the characters’ journeys.
In Pinocchio at Hull Truck Theatre, Dineen’s compositions contributed to a vibrant and engaging production that resonated with audiences of all ages, blending traditional storytelling with contemporary musical elements .
Discography Highlights
Dineen’s discography reflects his theatrical roots and storytelling prowess. Notable works include:
Rumpelstiltskin (2023): A musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale, featuring a blend of dark cabaret and electronic elements that bring the story to life.
My Clockwork Heart (2018): An album that combines emotive melodies with intricate arrangements, showcasing Dineen’s versatility as a composer.
Music for Stories, Vol. One (2018): A collection of compositions designed to accompany storytelling, highlighting his skill in creating atmospheric soundscapes.
Love in Vain (2010): A track that exemplifies Dineen’s ability to convey deep emotion through minimalist musical expression .
Artistic Style and Influence
Dineen’s work is characterised by its fusion of theatricality and musical innovation. He often draws inspiration from folklore and fairy tales, infusing them with modern sensibilities and dark humor. His compositions are known for their emotional resonance, often employing a mix of classical instrumentation and contemporary sounds to create immersive experiences. Beyond his compositions, Dineen has been involved in various community projects, producing sound pieces that engage participants in the creative process. His commitment to storytelling and community engagement underscores his belief in the transformative power of music and theatre.
Going Way Back When…
Patrick and I worked together on several productions way back when. The most memorable was probably our adaption of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, produced in 1993 in partnership with VisionFest and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, in the dying days of one of the many iterations of The Liverpool Everyman Theatre.
Suitably enough, we set the adaptation around the dying days of an old man who was reimaginging his life which added a certain piquancy to the proceedings. As the theatre moved into liquidation, its chairman fought back: “Some people want a theatre for social engineering. They want a theatre for the unemployed, one specialising in dealing with various cultural entities. That runs contrary to the purpose of this theatre. Community Theatre is the new jargon word for amateur. We want to run exciting theatre for theatre’s sake.” Well, our adaptation was neither just amateur nor community nor professional but thrilling it certainly was. The only disappointment in hindsight was that we didn’t collect the range of quality of digital assets we would have been able to do these days: but perhaps the fact that the show still lingers in our memories is good enough.
Has the debate about community theatre vs ‘professional theatre’ moved? We thought it might have done by now but recent comments in the press make us wonder whether there is another backlash waiting in the wings.
I had the dubious pleasure of attending a school reunion last year when my old high school announced it was marking its 70th Birthday with a shindig one Saturday in June. It promised so much (reviving old friendships, rekindling old memories and fondly reimagining what we actually did at school) but when was all said and done, and the event had taken place, it delivered very little in those terms.
I realised that much like ‘Facebook Friends’ who aren’t actual friends at all but just people you share a bit of cyberspace with for a fraction of the time you spend on the internet, many of those old school ‘friendships’ fell by the wayside for a very good reason: those ‘friends’ weren’t friends at all but just acquaintances I had to share my physical day with by virtue of the fact that we were born in the same academic year and happened to live in roughly the same geographic region at that point in history. Just when I thought I had all my memories safely packed away in a box labelled ‘Treasures’, the reunion caused that box to relabel itself ‘Pandoras’ and my relationship with that institution has never been the same since.
So, the false friendships, the alarming memories and the potential combination of over promising and under delivering are all good reasons not to attend any school reunion ever again.
But.
With all that baggage gathering in our homes as we prepare for an imminent LIPA reunion, we might answer the question of why here, why now by accepting that the imminent Community Arts LIPA reunion in August 2025 isn’t merely a matter of rekindling old memories that died out for very good reason: it also gives all of us the opportunity to reassess together what that work meant to us back then and perhaps more importantly to consider what it might mean for us and our wider society and its futures.
A Community Arts infused reunion will be more than just about sharing food and gossip and participating in the occasional brawl over the weekend; it will also be about making new friends from the company of strangers; it will be about seeing people in the flesh for the very first time in many years rather than through the shiny electronic veneer the social media platforms dress us up in; and it will give us an opportunity to take stock – privately and collaboratively – about what that time in our lives meant to us.
It will also be about re-minding and re-membering how arts and culture need to continue to play a role in improving all our lives, all the time, everywhere. Whitewashed memories are one thing: helping construct whole new futures for those who follow in our footsteps is quite another and something worth regathering for.
Another way of reviewing our pasts and envisioning our futures is to join in with our Community Arts Writing 2025 Award! You can find details here:
We’re delighted to confirm that Maddi Nicholson, freelance Artist and founder director of Art Gene, a visual art charity and Arts Council NPO in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria is joining our panel of judges for our Community Arts Award 2025.
Art Gene’s research remit extends across a program of environmentally aware placemaking, socially engaged art projects, residencies, exhibitions, and education work focusing on the role and engagement of artists and communities in the revisioning of their social, natural and built environment.
As an Artist Maddi produces challenging work for varied and diverse situations nationwide, video, cast iron and stitched works to huge paintings, signage and inflated and recycled plastic sculptures.
Works range from an inflated replica of a Barrow terraced house due for demolition, in ‘Going home from here’ which toured beauty spots in Cumbria, to a set of cast iron enamelled terraced house models, commenting on the lives of 18th and 19th Century working class women in Spinningfields Manchester in ‘a place lived’.
Her Art Gene art works include the Roker Pods for Sunderland City Council: spherical mobile eco off grid pods on the beach and the prom, as café, education and events facilities. The Peoples Museum on Piel Island, for Barrow Borough Council; including a cabinet of curiosities, repurposed engraved tables, beer maps and the islands of Barrow Map. Seldom Seen Maps and Mobile Apps walking tours for coastal areas of Cumbria and Lancashire. Razzle Dazzle bird hides as education resources with interior artwork interpretation for Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Walney Island Nature reserve, mobile App walking tour and non civic war memorial gate and sculpture for Natural England’s North Walney Island national nature reserve.
