The Week in Light & Sound
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Jon Morgan, director of Theatres Trust said: "The wide array of projects funded this round show the many challenges that theatres continue to face. We are pleased to be able to help these theatres with projects that protect future use, remove barriers to participation and attendance, and make them more welcoming spaces."
The funding will allow the York Theatre Royal to buy equipment to capture immersive recordings of live performances and will deliver them using virtual reality technology. South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, Malvern Cube Community and Arts Centre and the Space on the Isle of Dogs have all been awarded funding to improve front-of-house accessibility for audiences, with the Y Theatre in Leicester using the funding to address accessibility issues for performers and crew backstage.
Fringe Matters - Producers and venues have warned of the increasing barriers international artists are facing at Edinburgh Fringe, with some reporting a significant decline in overseas work at the 2022 festival. There has been a particular decline in work from countries where Covid restrictions are still in place, including China, with an additional warning that much of the international work in this year’s programme has been held over from 2019.
Those reporting drops in international work include venue Summerhall, which faces a 41% decrease in international work, and producer Joanna Dong. Dong said 80% of her company’s previous touring business, which includes taking shows from China to Edinburgh, had been terminated due to continuing issues around Covid and rising costs related to the festival itself.
However, the picture across the festival is mixed and, on average, the decline is less steep, with the Fringe Society reporting 739 international shows currently registered for the 2022 Fringe. This represents a drop of 7.5% on the total number of international shows registered by the end of the fringe in 2019.
Prime Cut - A one-off re-recording of Bob Dylan singing his 1963 classic Blowin' In The Wind has sold at auction for almost £1.5m. The release is the first new studio recording of the song since Dylan wrote it in 1962 and was sold by Christie's in London. Bidding lasted just four minutes - coincidentally the same as the running time of the song itself. The name of the bidder has yet to be revealed. The disc is made of aluminium, treated with a layer of nitrocellulose then coated with a sapphire and quartz gradient, but is playable on any regular turntable.
Game On - Sir Elton John, who played two homecoming shows at Watford Football Club, told fans he wanted to "get his hands dirty again" with the club. The 75-year-old singer spoke to fans about his wishes at the Championship club's Vicarage Road stadium where he’s finishing the European leg of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. He became chairman of the club in 1976 and is now honorary life president. He said he had spoken to the current chairman about getting more involved.
Farewell - Monty Norman, the prolific composer and lyricist whose works include the famous James Bond theme tune, has died at the age of 94. The child of Latvian immigrants, Norman grew up in the East End of London, where his mother bought him his first guitar at the age of 16. He went on to compose for West End shows like Expresso Bongo and Irma La Douce, before moving into film. His Bond theme, commissioned for 1962's Dr No, was used throughout the series.
(Jim Evans)
12 July 2022
