the basement oct - dec 2008 programme

Argus Lofts

24 Kensington Street

Brighton BN1 4AJ

Telephone: 01273 699 733

Email: [email protected]

www.thebasement.uk.com PROGRAMME OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2008

Charity No: 1116008

Designed and produced by M

INT

(01273) 261166 ww

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intcreative.com

THE BASEMENTThe Basement is the leading organisation for the development of Live Art in the South East. Through an annual programme of activity, we are committed to working with dynamic non-mainstream artists across the boundaries of Live Art, experimental theatre and performance. We have a proven track record of nurturing artists to develop new work and cultivate innovative links with like-minded organisations.

The Basement was re-launched in October 2007 after the completion of a redevelopment period, creating four unique spaces under one roof. The Basement spaces (The Space, Pit, Study and Foyer) can be hired exclusively or together. The Basement has a capacity limit for up to 250 people and is available for hire 7 days per week. The venue is ideally located in the centre of the North Laine area, only a short walking distance from the train station and the seafront. For venue hire fees please contact [email protected] or call 01273 699733.

Supported by:

“The Basement is a wonderful, engaging, supportive and creative environment, and a friendly place in which to test the waters and push the performance envelope.”

Liz Aggiss and Charlotte Vincent

“All I want to be saying is, thank you, because you have been wonderful, so I’ll say that now, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Daniel Kitson

“Just wanted to say how FANTASTIC it has been working in your spaces the last couple of weeks. Everyone had a really great time and we all felt that we were really looked after.”

Charlie Morrisey

“Rehearsing at the Basement was a great experience. Not only were the facilities of a very high standard but the staff were fantastically accommodating and helpful.”

Lone Twin

“Thanks again for all the support for the team when they were going through the dark days of rehearsal, and for all of the work in the last two weeks, and especially for getting those good audiences in!”

Station House Opera

The Space 7m by 25m, the main body of The Basement. Ideal for devising, rehearsing, production or exhibitions.

The Pit 7m by 6m, an intimate space with a sprung floor and tiered seating for 60. Ideal for presentations, performances and screenings.

The Foyer A café style area with a capacity of 40, ideal for breakfast and lunchtime meetings or networking events.

Roger Bamber

As part of our dedication to innovative and experimental live art practice, we have put together a programme that explores new ideas, formats and methods of presentation, to create a dazzling line up of the most interesting work nationally and internationally.

Our showcase event of new work, 4MOST, will be a season of evening events of the world’s leading artists, presenting live art, experimental/performance theatre and site specific installations, hosted and curated by The Basement. This season we will be welcoming the renowned Lone Twin, Marcia Farquhar and Noble & Silver.

Our Supported Artists – a group of emergent, Brighton-based artists, supported by The Basement through an administrative base, venue resources and mentoring support – will take regular ownership of the building and its artistic use to bring you a series of experimental nights known as ‘Supper Club’, designed to showcase new work by charismatic emergent Live Artists.

Our supported artists are: Katie Etheridge, Augusto Corrieri, Bryony Henderson, Victoria Melody, Eva Weaver, Orion Maxted, leonard, The Two Wrongies and Ragroof Theatre.

I would like to thank the many volunteers and our board members (past and present), as well as our funders and supporters, who have helped me create one of the most exciting new venues in the South East. I could not have done this without their encouragement and support.

So we invite you to come down to The Basement to see some of the most valued new work in the country and to have the chance to be part of the development of one of the most inspirational new venues in the South East.

I look forward to seeing you!

Helen Medland Artistic Director

PS We have a fully Licensed Bar serving speciality regional beers, wine and cider. Spirits will be sourced due to their independence, origin and ethics. Our tasteful locally sourced Tapas style menu will be available at every event. All food and drink will be sympathetically priced!!

welcomeYou won’t believe what an incredible and exciting journey this has been for me, to be able

to bring you our first ever Live Art programme. It is with much pleasure and anticipation

that I’m finally able to introduce to you the best of what’s to come at The Basement.

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Brighton Pier

The Royal Pavilion

TRAFALGAR STREET

Brighton Station

DIRECTIONS

By Foot: The Basement is a 10minute walk from Brighton train station. After exiting the station, walk through the under path (Trafalgar Street) until you reach Sydney Street, turn right. Sydney Street then meets Kensington Street, you will find us half way down on the left-hand side.

By Bus: Closest bus stop is Kensington Gardens, services No: 21 | 37B | 49E | 78 | 79. For more information please see Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company: www.buses.co.uk

By Train: Direct train services from Gatwick Airport, London Street. Pancras International (Eurostar), London Victoria station, Luton Airport and London Bridge. For more train information please see National Rail enquiries: www.nationalrail.co.uk or telephone 08457 484950.

By Eurostar: Eurostar offer a high speed St Pancras service, with 8 daily services from Paris (2 hrs,15 mins) and 6 from Brussels (also 2 hrs,15 mins. For more train information please see: www.eurostar.com.

By Air: Brighton is only 30 minutes by road or rail from London Gatwick International Airport and just 90 minutes by road from London Heathrow International Airport. Fast coach links are available between Heathrow, Gatwick and Brighton.

By Coach: Express coaches from London to Brighton take about 2 hours. Regular National Express services also depart from London Heathrow and Gatwick airports. For more information please see National Express: www.nationalexpress.com.

By Car: Brighton is only 45 minutes from the M25 London orbital motorway. From the M25, take the M23/A23 to Brighton & Hove. The coastal route A27 links the city east and west.

Parking: North Laine has three car parks. NCP Trafalgar Street is the cheapest, this is accessed from Whitecross Street or Blackman Street, which are off the North side of Trafalgar Street. There are two other NCP car parks in North Road and Church Street. For more information please see: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk or www.northlaine.co.uk or telephone 01273 292298.

Map by [email protected]

THE TWILIGHT CLUB Date: Sat 4th OctoberDoors: 7.30pm Entry Fee: £7 (£5 concessions)

A night of mischievious challenges, fun and complicitous entertainment, hosted by Dr David Bramwell (Catalyst Club/Cheeky Guide) and Lady Rachel Blackman (Maydays/Voodoo Vaudeville).

Step off the street into a secluded candlelit basement bar for parlour games, alcohol and sing-songs round the piano. As the night progresses further extraordinary adventures await as maverick performers and adventurers of the mind will school, delight and provoke you. Learn how to hypnotise, form a new band, participate in a live musical surgery with the Sawchestra, unleash your fool with Jonathan Kay and discover arcane secrets of comedy with Ken Campbell’s ‘School of Night’.

Tonight’s special guests are Sawchestra, a hugely talented London to Brighton trio who mix saws and theremins with musical surgical instruments to create mysterious and beautiful soundscapes. They will be performing a musical surgery in the Pit to a select audience who will be invited to participate.

Suitable for those of an adventurous spirit!

SUPPER CLUB Date: Sat 11th OctoberDoors: 6pm till late… Knock three times!Entry Fee: £5

This is an invitation to Brighton’s new secret Supper Club, an Art event deep underground. Every month a group of The Basement’s Supported Artists plot, devise and curate a Saturday night for you and your friends. But you won’t know what’s on the menu until it’s served…

International performance, intriguing art and music; expect to be wined and dined, expect to pay a small membership fee – expect it all and possibly expect nothing at all.

Our Supported Artists are a group of emergent, Brighton based artists, supported by The Basement through an administrative base, venue resources and mentoring support.

OCTOBER LIVE LUNCH Date: Thurs 16th OctoberDoors: 1pm (Lunchtime!)Entry Fee: £5 with lunchbox + drink or FREE without

A series of monthly lunchtime events curated by Movement 12 and co-produced with The Basement. A series of happenings and events, a short performance, a talk or a discussion whilst eating our delicious freshly prepared packed lunches, and witness something that will intrigue and inspire.

www.movement12.org

Movement 12 is a group of independent dance artists based around Brighton, curating an international programme of artist-led professional development opportunities for dance artists including movement classes and summer schools with internationally respected performance makers and teachers; space to try out ideas and show work in progress; and opportunities to meet, discuss and explore. Movement 12 aims to facilitate an environment in which the focus is on process, exploration and discovery rather than on product.

4MOST presents Lone Twin Theatre DANIEL HIT BY A TRAINDate: Sat 18th OctoberDoors: 8pmTickets: £10 (concession £8)

Inspired by a Victorian collection of 53 true stories about people losing their lives trying to save the life of another, Daniel Hit By A Train tells each tragedy in turn, in all their heart-wrenching, comedic, vaudevillian glory. Sincere, but unafraid to raise a smile to these most selfless of souls, Daniel Hit By A Train stands as a testimony to the human spirit and our abiding need to help each other.

Daniel Hit By A Train is the company’s second ensemble work continuing the biographical project that began with the internationally celebrated Alice Bell.

‘A wonderful body of work’ The Guardian, UK

Matthew Andrews

Supper Club

As part of White Night, The Basement presents HOME SWEET HOME Date: Thurs 23rd – Sat 25th October Doors: 6pm – Late (Thurs 23rd & Fri 24th), 6pm – 6am (Sat 25th Free entry after 1am)Tickets: £5

Home Sweet Home Estates proudly present its newest development, inviting you to descend into The Basement and become a resident of Brighton’s smallest suburb, a cardboard community of neat streets and magnolia houses just waiting for you to turn them into homes.

On arrival, Residents select a flat packed property and plot with which they are free to do as they please. The development boasts a number of services to help settle you in – a notice board, a postal service and even a local radio station. Meet your neighbours, explore the city, and get to know the world around you. Whilst building your dream home you will be entertained by guest Dj’s and can also enjoy delicious Tapas or a cheeky cocktail or two!

“What separates Home Sweet Home from virtual worlds such as Second Life is the fact that it is all about live interaction. You are physically there, as a piece of art is built around you that is also - for the fleeting period it exists – a genuine community” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

Digiville CYBERSONICA AV LABDate: Wed 5th NovemberDoors: 7.30pm Entry Fee: FREE

Digiville is Lighthouse’s monthly digital and moving image art event. Each event incorporates a diverse cross-section of the digital arts community, from installation artists to animators and VJs, and involves an initial presentation of work, either by individual artists or artist groups, followed by a Q&A/discussion session. The artists invited to present their work or perform are a careful mix of well-known names and less established artists.

For this Digiville special, team members from the Cybersonica AV lab including artists Ray Lee and Steve Symons, special guests such as 80s pop icon Martyn Ware and selected participants will present and answer questions about their work.

http://avlab.cybersonica.orghttp://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/digiville.htm

NOVEMBERCybersonica AV Lab WORK IN PROGRESSDate: Sat 8th NovemberDoors: 8pm Entry Fee: FREE

This ‘Work In Progress’ Showcase of live, audiovisual performance explores cross-disciplinary collaboration and the use of new technologies. This is an amalgamation of a week long Cybersonica AV Lab and demonstrates how participants were encouraged to share their work, realise new technological possibilities, be inspired, challenged in a collaborative environment. The music, sound art and technology festival Cybersonica is co-produced with Future of Sound and Lighthouse, supported by The Basement and SCAN.

http://avlab.cybersonica.orgLIVE LUNCH Date: Thurs 13th NovemberDoors: 1pm (Lunchtime!)Entry Fee: £5 with lunchbox + drink or FREE without


www.movement12.org


Matthew Andrews

THE TWILIGHT CLUB Date: Fri 14th NovemberDoors: 7.30pm Entry Fee: £7 (£5 concessions)



Tonight’s special guest is Jonathan Kay, a modern-day trickster and founder of the Nomadic Academy of Fools. Not only a unique and hilarious entertainer, Jonathan is also skilled in the art of liberation. Be prepared to make a fool of yourself!


SUPPER CLUB Date: Sat 15th NovemberDoors: 6pm till late… Knock three times!Entry Fee: £5




4MOST presents Marcia Farquhar ACTS OF CLOTHING Date: Fri 28th November Doors: 8pmTickets: £10 (concession £8)

Marcia Farquhar lines up a hectic, colourful past for us in the guise of a clothes-rail dangling with talismanic frocks of varied vintage. As she zips through them, Faquhar sustains a giddy commentary on the ‘why, when, where and who else was there’ of each outfit. It’s a comedic tour de force, fuelled by (seemingly uncensored) personal anecdote and by Farquhar’s apparently artless penchant for spilling the beans on her own life. It builds into a perceptive essay on the way we harbour memories – holding on to them, physically, through souvenirs – and how our clothes condition how we ‘perform’ in our daily lives.

‘An extraordinary performance – with the timing of a stand-up comic Farquhar turned her often hilarious anecdotes into unexpected revelations of vulnerability’ ART MONTHLY, UK

AGITATORSDate: Wed 3rd DecemberDoors: 7pmEntry Fee: £4 (this includes a glass of wine or a beer)

The Agitators are Professor Liz Aggiss (University of Brighton), Ju Row Farr (Blast Theory), Gregg Whelan (Lone Twin) and Silvia Mercuriali (Rotozaza). They are some of the UK’s most challenging, stimulating and provocative artists, based in the South East. Join The Agitators with an audience to debate, question and quibble over Live Art practice within the regional and national context.

Guest speaker Lois Keiden (Live Art Development Agency, London) will be presenting ‘Live Art: The Parameters and Possibilities of a Practise’.

DECEMBER

Supper Club

4MOST presents Noble & Silver OH, CHRISTDate: Sat 6th December Doors: 8pmTickets: £10 (£8 concessions)

oh, christ. (nobleandsilver) multi media comedy performance artists will be doing something or other, and a mate saw them ages ago and said they where quite good... but he moved away so i cant contact him at the moment to ask him more...

(nobleandsilver) is a multimedia collaboration between Kim Noble, Stuart Silver and assorted others. A shared interest in deconstructive, site-specific, multimedia events continues to pull them towards unfamiliar audiences and a regular relocation of their practice.

“A rare chance to see the greatest and the only avant garde theatre/comedy/visual art act in the business” The Guardian

“Their show is damn near indescribable, a radical and sublime achievement. I was crying with laughter. All I can say is if traditional comedy bores you, go and see this. It’s wonderful.” The Observer *****

LIVE LUNCH Date: Thurs 11th DecemberDoors: 1pm (Lunchtime!)Entry Fee: £5 with lunchbox + drink or FREE without


www.movement12.org


Matthew Andrews THE TWILIGHT CLUB Date: Fri 12th DecemberDoors: 7.30pm Entry Fee: £7 (£5 concessions)



Tonight’s special guest is Ken Campbell’s School of Night, a secret gathering which devotes itself to spontaneous and extraordinary performances. Like their late, great teacher, they are here to entertain, astonish and provoke. TBC


SUPPER CLUB Date: Sat 13th DecemberDoors: 6pm till late… Knock three times!Entry Fee: £5




Supper Club

JUBILEE SQUAREJubilee Street, Brighton, BN1 1GE

The Basement is pleased to announce they have taken over event management of Jubilee Square, Brighton’s newest and most exciting outdoor venue. The space is ideal for a diverse range of cultural activities including Live Art showcases, street theatre, exhibitions, community events, outdoor screenings and music events.

After sitting derelict for half a century, the area has now grown into a vibrant space for contemporary urban living, thanks to being part of a private finance initiative, organised by Brighton and Hove Council.

On one side is Jubilee Library influenced by the 19th century Paris libraries of Henri Labrouste and tiled in thousands of dark blue and green hand glazed ceramic tiles, suggesting the ‘mathematical’ tiles on many historic Brighton buildings. The building then stretches round the corner to become Pizza Express.

Built to complement the Library, myhotel Brighton was finished in June 2008. The Architects, RHWL, were keen to create a more solid facade to the square than the glazed library and restaurant. It is a white-rendered box with regular bays at first and second floor levels, a reference to the local Georgian vernacular. The culmination of these buildings is the creation of a natural amphitheatre with astounding acoustics.

Now it is The Basement’s turn to help build this unique area into a hub of cultural activity. Bringing its unique style to a unique space, The Basement started programming Jubilee Square at the beginning of 2008. So far we have brought you Blast Theory and BoSI (in partnership with Brighton Festival) along with supporting Festival Fringe events, plus Tea Dances, Urban Playground, Choral Singers and an Astro Turf garden with deckchairs, to name just a few of the happenings. The Basement’s vision for the Square is to bring established and emergent artists to the heart of the City, making it one of the most exciting and innovative Public Spaces.

Situated in the North Laine, Brighton’s Cultural Quarter, Jubilee Square is only a short walk from the train station, the Royal Pavilion, Brighton Dome, Theatre Royal and the seafront.

The Square is 19m x 23m with a footfall of 20-22,000 per day. Jubilee Square is available for hire 7 days per week, license permits activity until 11pm.

For more information on The Basement and Jubilee Square visit the website www.thebasement.uk.com

To utilise Jubilee Square please contact us on [email protected] or call 01273 699733

the basement oct - dec 2008 programme

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