Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Students get ready to Stand and Be Counted at Latitude
Ten students on the BA (Hons) Performance, BA (Hons) Dance and MA Performance courses, along with three MA Performance graduates, have worked with the Yorkshire-based Stand and Be Counted (SBC) Theatre company, to create a 30-minute, original performance of the same name.
The performance will be enacted seven times throughout this year’s Latitude Festival, which takes place from Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 July at Henham Park in Suffolk.
Dan Craddock, Lecturer in Performance at Leeds Beckett, said: “The theme of this year’s Latitude Festival is ‘revolution’ so we asked everyone to come up with a one-minute audition responding to this theme. What we now present with Stand and Be Counted is a manifesto of what matters to the students: what they are angry, passionate or worried about.”
Rosie Macpherson, Artistic Director at SBC Theatre, said: “Young people can feel locked out of conversations and, with this performance, we are saying ‘there is no such thing as a stupid question’, ‘own what you care about’, and ‘this is your revolution’.”
Stand and Be Counted encompasses protest, live music, dance, motivational speech, spoken word, musical theatre, political opinion and audience interaction.
Rosie commented: “Dan and I have been the co-directors but really we have been more like facilitators. Everything has grown from the students’ ideas and what they care about.”
Dan added: “We have helped them to find the best way to convey their messages and encouraged them to be unapologetic, providing a safe and open space to ask questions that are never asked. We are excited to be going to Latitude with a really provocative, engaging, and cool show. This is down to everyone involved.”
You can see Stand and Be Counted in the Faraway Forest at Latitude, on the Thursday at 7pm, Friday at 11am and 1pm, Saturday at 1pm and 4.30pm, and Sunday at 12.30pm and 2.30pm. The full list of students performing is: Edenamiuki Aiguobasinmwin, Alice Boulton-Breeze, Lois-Jayne Clossick, Anyanna Dewar, Jessica Ivison, Joanne Kearney, Virginia Kennard, Melanie McCabe, Bethany Milner, and Emily Snow.
Hannah Butterfield, Lecturer in Performing Arts at Leeds Becket and Co-Director of SBC Theatre, said: “We are delighted to be presenting Stand and Be Counted at Latitude 2017. This will be the second year running that SBC Theatre have collaborated with Leeds Beckett Performing Arts students to make exciting new work for the professional, festival context. It offers students a range of opportunities to work with creative industry professionals. Presenting work at such a high-profile festival is a real privilege for all involved.”
In 2016, SBC Theatre became the first Theatre Company of Sanctuary (joining the West Yorkshire Playhouse and The Young Vic as Theatres of Sanctuary). This award was presented to the company in recognition of their work with, for, and about, asylum seekers, and the embedding of a culture of ‘welcome’ within in their work. For more information about SBC Theatre, please click here.
we're featured on the same page as some pretty big names! Eek 😸 @BeckettPerfArts @SBC_Theatre pic.twitter.com/Z6AkSkhaNq
— emily (@_emsnow) July 9, 2017
On the #Latitude17 app, get us starred. Stage times here:@BeckettPerfArts @LatitudeFest pic.twitter.com/QeGujRutg9
— SBC Theatre (@SBC_Theatre) July 12, 2017
In reharsals for @LatitudeFest with @johnjtomlinson @RosieMacPherson @_emsnow @SBC_Theatre @BeckettPerfArts pic.twitter.com/a0l0oUf3a4
— Edenamiuki (@Namiuki_) July 3, 2017
Great to have a sneak peak of the @BeckettPerfArts students preparing for their performance at latitude festival this afternoon pic.twitter.com/Myn6fYgtY1
— Helen Perkins (@Marketing_Helen) July 10, 2017
This sums up our show. Come and see it. @LatitudeFest pic.twitter.com/fUG04ytchm
— emily (@_emsnow) July 6, 2017