Monday, 11 October 2010
New location
The Riding Lights blog has moved! You can now find us at https://ridinglights.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Barrie's Coast to Coast Update
Barrie has set off to Whitehaven today ready for the start of his three day cycling challenge in the morning. You can listen to Barrie's interview on BBC Radio York by clicking here - he appears about 2 hours 33 minutes in!Each day Barrie will be checking in with the radio show, as well as updating his blog which you can follow at:
http://www.barstep.co.uk/dawn/
Barrie is doing the ride to raise money for two charities, one being Riding Lights, so please do encourage him by sponsoring him on his JustGiving Site here
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Barrie Stephenson is fundraising for Riding Lights - JustGiving
Barrie Stephenson will be cycling from Whitehaven to Sunderland across three days between June 23rd and 25th, on a journey which will take him 140 miles, through The Lake District and over the Pennines. Barrie’s target is £1,000 and it would be great if as many RL members as possible can help him to reach it!
You can donate to Barrie on his JustGiving site at http://www.justgiving.com/C2CforRLTC
Your money will not only help Riding Lights to create new plays for schools, prisons, churches and theatres, it will encourage Barrie up those steep hills and along the muddy tracks!
You can read Barrie’s updates as he trains and goes on the ride, at his blog http://www.barstep.co.uk/dawn/
You can donate to Barrie on his JustGiving site at http://www.justgiving.com/C2CforRLTC
Your money will not only help Riding Lights to create new plays for schools, prisons, churches and theatres, it will encourage Barrie up those steep hills and along the muddy tracks!
You can read Barrie’s updates as he trains and goes on the ride, at his blog http://www.barstep.co.uk/dawn/
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Shoddie Update
A good week in the Peak District for the Shoddies visiting prisons, schools and with a public perfomance in High Peak. Fantastic feedback received. The team stayed with welcoming hosts and even managed to enjoy a game of indoor croquet! Sheffield this week; from green to urban! More great hosts making for a fantastic tour experience.
Friday, 12 March 2010
The Narrow Road - Review from the Church Times 12 March 2010
Liturgical drama takes to the road
Pat Ashworth attends a Lenten experience from Riding Lights
Luke Waldock and Jonathan Race in The Narrow Road
Photo: Andrew Dyer
EMERGING into the night from Riding Lights’ touring production for Lent, I feel a little like T. S Eliot’s Magi, who pondered whether they had witnessed a birth or a death. I can’t decide whether I’ve been to, predominantly, a church service incorporating a Passion drama, or a Passion play punctuated with liturgy. On balance, I think it’s the former.
It’s powerful stuff, though. In the timeless authenticity of travellers on the road to Calvary, and in the Revd Jeremy Fletcher’s clear accompanying liturgy, you can see the influences of its co-commissioners, the Dean and Chapter of York and Lightline Pilgrimages, for whom working with Christian communities in the Holy Land is a priority.
A towering black tent is the backdrop for pilgrims on the hot and dusty journey, retracing the steps of Jesus using a well-thumbed manual that is part book of prophecy, part Bradshaw’s Guide. Tom Peters, Jonathan Race, Luke Waldock, and Rachel Wilcock slip in and out of roles to play out key episodes in the life of Christ, from the child in the Temple to the road to Emmaus.
It is vivid and contemporary, with moments of high drama in the woman possessed by a demon, the Samaritan woman hauling buckets at the well, the brutality of Roman rule, baptism at the Jordan, the sweating agony in Gethsemane. The clamour of Jerusalem, the heat of the desert, and the rich earth of olive groves come to life in the guidebook prose, the sound of cicadas, and the background of traditional Palestinian music.
The crucifixion itself is profoundly shocking. Luke Waldock’s performance knocks the audience for six, accompanied as it is by the detached clinical account of how a man dies in this fashion: the number of breaths per minute, the splitting bones, the dehydration, the tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth.
Between each of six batches of the story comes the opportunity to respond, in a sung form of the ancient Christian prayer, “Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy on us,” and in prayer, confession, and traditional Passion hymns. I appreciated its beauty and intent, but it sometimes felt like an interruption, a break in transmission which lost the momentum of the drama in order to direct a response that will in reality be different for everyone.
The opening night was in the soaring beauty of the Chapter House at Lincoln Cathedral, where the leader of the worship lent his own gravitas to the liturgy. Paul Birch is the writer, and Paul Burbridge directs a moving experience that, I guess, will be different at every venue on the tour, depending on the intimacy of the setting and the style of the leader. Tour details at www.ridinglights.org/thenarrowroad
Pat Ashworth attends a Lenten experience from Riding Lights
Photo: Andrew Dyer
It’s powerful stuff, though. In the timeless authenticity of travellers on the road to Calvary, and in the Revd Jeremy Fletcher’s clear accompanying liturgy, you can see the influences of its co-commissioners, the Dean and Chapter of York and Lightline Pilgrimages, for whom working with Christian communities in the Holy Land is a priority.
A towering black tent is the backdrop for pilgrims on the hot and dusty journey, retracing the steps of Jesus using a well-thumbed manual that is part book of prophecy, part Bradshaw’s Guide. Tom Peters, Jonathan Race, Luke Waldock, and Rachel Wilcock slip in and out of roles to play out key episodes in the life of Christ, from the child in the Temple to the road to Emmaus.
It is vivid and contemporary, with moments of high drama in the woman possessed by a demon, the Samaritan woman hauling buckets at the well, the brutality of Roman rule, baptism at the Jordan, the sweating agony in Gethsemane. The clamour of Jerusalem, the heat of the desert, and the rich earth of olive groves come to life in the guidebook prose, the sound of cicadas, and the background of traditional Palestinian music.
The crucifixion itself is profoundly shocking. Luke Waldock’s performance knocks the audience for six, accompanied as it is by the detached clinical account of how a man dies in this fashion: the number of breaths per minute, the splitting bones, the dehydration, the tongue stuck to the roof of the mouth.
Between each of six batches of the story comes the opportunity to respond, in a sung form of the ancient Christian prayer, “Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy on us,” and in prayer, confession, and traditional Passion hymns. I appreciated its beauty and intent, but it sometimes felt like an interruption, a break in transmission which lost the momentum of the drama in order to direct a response that will in reality be different for everyone.
The opening night was in the soaring beauty of the Chapter House at Lincoln Cathedral, where the leader of the worship lent his own gravitas to the liturgy. Paul Birch is the writer, and Paul Burbridge directs a moving experience that, I guess, will be different at every venue on the tour, depending on the intimacy of the setting and the style of the leader. Tour details at www.ridinglights.org/thenarrowroad
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Roughshod - on the road!
The 2010 Roughshod company have begun their tour with two great school visits. They would like to thank everyone for their hospitality and making them feel so welcome!
Thursday, 25 February 2010
FULL HOUSE
Well things have, as usual, been pretty busy! The building is full to the brim with actors, directors, designers, technicians and wardrobe supervisors. Roughshod are nearing the end of their rehearsal period and have already had various opportunities to hone their workshop skills in schools and prisons. Last night an invited audience saw a full preview of their show, which was a great success, and on Saturday they head off on their tour!
The cast of new Passion Play The Narrow Road arrived on Monday and seem to be doing well. All of them are familiar faces to us so it’s great to have them back. However, we don’t see them much as they appear to be learning lines every minute that they’re not rehearsing…
As well as all of this, on Saturday we had a great Members’ Day, with 40 of our Members here with us. It was a great chance to catch up with what’s going on within the company, what our Members have been doing, and share our hopes for the year ahead. There was some really good food too.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Happy New Year from all at Riding Lights!
In five days we welcome our new Roughshod company, Dipo, Jon, Briony, Edith and Rachel (pictured). They will spend six weeks with us as they rehearse, devise, create workshops and generally prepare to embark on a six month tour of the UK. We're very excited about working with them, and having met them a few times already and had two of them act in On Christmas Night, we're sure this is set to be a great tour!
Monday, 30 November 2009
Crossing the border!
On the road to Scotland Rachel reports more enjoyable times on the Origins tour. Great hospitality and audiences have helped to make it a great tour although the cast are looking forward to shortly returning to see everyone in York!!!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Friday, 6 November 2009
Origins and Lemons on the road.....
A week of good audiences and generous hosts. Illness has once again hit the camp with Rachel and Alan feeling a bit ropey!
Monday, 2 November 2009
THE SKY'S THE LIMIT - SCAFELL PIKE UPDATE!
The final movie is still being edited, but early footage shows some rather diva-like behaviour and a few questionable budget cutting special effects. Here's a taster...
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Another good week......
Rachel reports another good week. The Leatherhead Theatre was a great venue and had a great audience. In Southampton the team stayed in a guest house which made them appreciate the host families even more! Went to above bar church in Southampton which was ace! Had an amazing 3 course dinner before the show last night in Windsor so being looked after very well!
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Another week on the road!
Rachel reports another great week playing to auidences from 30 to 300! The team have eaten lots including an abundance of fruit salad! Oli's foot is better so the team enjoyed a beauitful walk on the moors near Tavistock. The show is continuing to bring joy to people and causing them to think!
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Review of Origins & Lemons from The Baptist Times, 15 October 2009
Origins for all
Why are we here, say the bells of Grasmere?
And where are we bound, say the bells all around?
Mark Woods hears some answers
HAVING spent most of the millennia since their composition as a fount of wise sermons and personal devotion, the first few chapters of Genesis have over the last hundred years or so become a source of often bitter theological strife.
Denominations have been split, friendships broken and accusations of naive fundamentalism and grave heresy have been slung about with abandon.
But can Genesis 1-11 also be fun?
Yes, according to the Riding Lights Theatre Company. Its new production, Origins and Lemons, is a wryly comic take on the opening chapters of the Bible, with a serious point to it.
And it really is fun. The four cast members manage to fill two hours with a virtuoso set of sketches and monologues which are thought provoking without being preachy. The prevailing note is cheerfulness, and it's sustained throughout, even when serious issues are being addressed.
The Riding Lights thesis is that there are appropriate ways of talking about different kinds of truth, and it's important not to get them mixed up.
Dawkinsites do, in what they say about religion, and young-earth creationists do, in what they say about the Bible. One tries to use the language of science to talk about faith, and fails; the other tries to use the language of faith to talk about science, and fails too.
The point's made both explicitly and implicitly. The players - Alan Christopher, Fred Denno, Jamie Higgins and Rachel Wilcock - take to the stage at intervals to address the audience directly.
The question why and the question how, they say, require completely different answers. You can identify the chemical composition of a human being, and work out how much the ingredients are worth - about 87 pence. But 'that's not what you are, it's just what you're made of’.
Understanding the right use of metaphor is vital: 'Once you start speaking of the really vital things, imagery is the only way.'
It shouldn't be thought, though, that this is just an attack, however polite, on creationism. It does not fall into the trap of implying that because the stories in Genesis are not true in a literal and scientific sense, they are not true in a deeper way, and it unpacks some of those meanings too.
And just as clearly, Riding Lights has the sort of atheistic scientists so beloved of the media in its sights (how on earth these people manage to generate so much publicity is beyond understanding).
'If religion is useless and harmful, as Darwinians believe, why hasn't evolution got rid of it?' ask the players - a telling point, it seems to me. There's a scene set in a school which is a quick-fire disposal of some of the common objections to religion.
And they take on the big questions of pain and suffering, and why the world is as it is. We create, and we're made in the image of God; why not assume that God enjoys creating too, and that he's bringing his world to an as yet unseen perfection?
The staging is minimalist, appropriate for a production which is touring churches and can't rely on the usual stage machinery. The characters include Noah as a salty sea-dog, Adam and Eve - their nudity tastefully indicated by appropriately designed kitchen aprons - Cain, represented by a ventriloquist's doll and voicing a moving poem; and a peculiar giant, one of the Nephilim, who appears in order to be ordered off because the writers can't think of what to do with him. Indeed, the story of the sons of God taking wives from among the daughters of men is almost invariably airbrushed out of our preaching schedules...
This is popular apologetics at its best; think C S Lewis on a skateboard. If you go and take a non-Christian friend with you, you won't be embarrassed by it and there'll be lots to talk about afterwards.
Why are we here, say the bells of Grasmere?
And where are we bound, say the bells all around?
Mark Woods hears some answers
HAVING spent most of the millennia since their composition as a fount of wise sermons and personal devotion, the first few chapters of Genesis have over the last hundred years or so become a source of often bitter theological strife.
Denominations have been split, friendships broken and accusations of naive fundamentalism and grave heresy have been slung about with abandon.
But can Genesis 1-11 also be fun?
Yes, according to the Riding Lights Theatre Company. Its new production, Origins and Lemons, is a wryly comic take on the opening chapters of the Bible, with a serious point to it.
And it really is fun. The four cast members manage to fill two hours with a virtuoso set of sketches and monologues which are thought provoking without being preachy. The prevailing note is cheerfulness, and it's sustained throughout, even when serious issues are being addressed.
The Riding Lights thesis is that there are appropriate ways of talking about different kinds of truth, and it's important not to get them mixed up.
Dawkinsites do, in what they say about religion, and young-earth creationists do, in what they say about the Bible. One tries to use the language of science to talk about faith, and fails; the other tries to use the language of faith to talk about science, and fails too.
The point's made both explicitly and implicitly. The players - Alan Christopher, Fred Denno, Jamie Higgins and Rachel Wilcock - take to the stage at intervals to address the audience directly.
The question why and the question how, they say, require completely different answers. You can identify the chemical composition of a human being, and work out how much the ingredients are worth - about 87 pence. But 'that's not what you are, it's just what you're made of’.
Understanding the right use of metaphor is vital: 'Once you start speaking of the really vital things, imagery is the only way.'
It shouldn't be thought, though, that this is just an attack, however polite, on creationism. It does not fall into the trap of implying that because the stories in Genesis are not true in a literal and scientific sense, they are not true in a deeper way, and it unpacks some of those meanings too.
And just as clearly, Riding Lights has the sort of atheistic scientists so beloved of the media in its sights (how on earth these people manage to generate so much publicity is beyond understanding).
'If religion is useless and harmful, as Darwinians believe, why hasn't evolution got rid of it?' ask the players - a telling point, it seems to me. There's a scene set in a school which is a quick-fire disposal of some of the common objections to religion.
And they take on the big questions of pain and suffering, and why the world is as it is. We create, and we're made in the image of God; why not assume that God enjoys creating too, and that he's bringing his world to an as yet unseen perfection?
The staging is minimalist, appropriate for a production which is touring churches and can't rely on the usual stage machinery. The characters include Noah as a salty sea-dog, Adam and Eve - their nudity tastefully indicated by appropriately designed kitchen aprons - Cain, represented by a ventriloquist's doll and voicing a moving poem; and a peculiar giant, one of the Nephilim, who appears in order to be ordered off because the writers can't think of what to do with him. Indeed, the story of the sons of God taking wives from among the daughters of men is almost invariably airbrushed out of our preaching schedules...
This is popular apologetics at its best; think C S Lewis on a skateboard. If you go and take a non-Christian friend with you, you won't be embarrassed by it and there'll be lots to talk about afterwards.
Friday, 16 October 2009
Origins and Lemons on the road.....
Origins and Lemons cast member Rachel Wilcock reports another great but busy week on tour. The highlights of the week include the trip to Kingsdown Theatre which in itself was a fantastic venue made even better by the large audience of around 300. The magnificiently beautiful church of St Mary’s Cogges was cosy but the audience once again meant a fantastic night was had by all.
Rachel sends get well wishes to team member Olly who has been under the weather and would like to thank everyone for being such fantastic hosts.
Rachel sends get well wishes to team member Olly who has been under the weather and would like to thank everyone for being such fantastic hosts.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Origins and Lemons tour diary
Origins and Lemons cast member Rachel Wilcock is writing this tour diary:
"We're just over one week into the tour and the cast and crew are having a great time.
We've had some fantastic audiences - loads of really big belly laughs.
It takes a bit of time to get used to being on tour; we have finally worked out how to fit all the set into the van at the end of each venue. Dan's joining the crew from next week. Even though Ollie and all of us have managed really well an extra pair of hands will be very much appreciated. I'll write again early next week - Bye for now!"
PS If you haven't booked your tickets to come an see us visit the Origins and Lemons website for tour dates and online booking
"We're just over one week into the tour and the cast and crew are having a great time.
We've had some fantastic audiences - loads of really big belly laughs.
It takes a bit of time to get used to being on tour; we have finally worked out how to fit all the set into the van at the end of each venue. Dan's joining the crew from next week. Even though Ollie and all of us have managed really well an extra pair of hands will be very much appreciated. I'll write again early next week - Bye for now!"
PS If you haven't booked your tickets to come an see us visit the Origins and Lemons website for tour dates and online booking
Monday, 5 October 2009
Former Riding Lights actor performs a classic sketch in Trafalgar Square!
Luke Walton, former Roughshod actor, Arts Development Officer for the Bible Society and co-producer of the recent Bible Society/Riding Lights film 'Unscripted', will be taking over an 8m high plinth in Trafalgar Square tomorrow afternoon for one hour as... part of the Fourth Plinth Project.You can read more about the project here http://www.oneandother.co.uk
Among other things, he will be performing the classic Riding Lights sketch “Life: wotsitallabout?” Given that the sketch is written for rather more than one actor to perform, we're intrigued how he's going to do this...
Go to www.oneandother.co.uk on Tuesday 6th October between 2pm and 3pm to see streaming video of Luke performing - LIVE!
Luke would be really pleased if you felt an urge to make a small donation to the Sky’s the Limit to encourage him as he performs an old sketch in a new and high up place, you can do so by going to http://www.justgiving.com/riding-lights and donating there.
PS - bidding on the handwritten copy of 'Bugs' by Antony Dunn is going well. Take a look at: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V
Friday, 2 October 2009
First review of ORIGINS & LEMONS - the new revue show from Riding Lights
Review: Origins & Lemons, Riding Lights Theatre Company, on tour until December 5
YORK EVENING PRESS
9:55am Thursday 1st October 2009
Origins & Lemons, Riding Lights Theatre Company, on tour until December 5 I’ve been to a few Riding Lights performances now, including African Snow and Redemption Song, but Origins & Lemons – Squeezing The Juice Out Of Genesis was my first experience of a Riding Lights revue.
People said it would be like the early Riding Lights performances; I’d enjoyed their other recent productions, so I wasn’t quite sure what the difference would be or if there was going to be any.
The title Origins & Lemons was curious and raised a few questions: was it only focused on the Bible; did I need to be a scientist to understand Darwinism; or did I merely need to go with an open mind and be prepared for a good night out? Riding Lights is a Christian theatre company from York, so is Origins & Lemons about the Bible? It is, yet it also examines the origins of life today in a pleasantly thought-provoking way. Was it hilarious? Absolutely; the person sitting next to me said it reminded them of Monty Python.
The show is a series of sketches with songs, one being a fantastic play on words of the original Oranges And Lemons song. Written and directed by Paul Burbidge and Nigel Forde, two of the founding members of Riding Lights, the revue plunges into some of the issues that have aroused people’s curiosity since the dawn of time.
This is not dumbed-down comedy. In the year that marks the bi-centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of his landmark publication of The Origin Of Species, this performance reaches out to everybody.
Actors Alan Christopher, Fred Denno, Jamie Higgins and Rachel Wilcock use a mixture of observation, imagination and light-heartedness to take the audience back to the very beginning, concentrating on “the Why? of the created world”. The Friargate Theatre was full to bursting on Tuesday for the opening night of a UK tour that will arrive back in York on December 3. Other performances include St Andrew’s Church, Starbeck, Harrogate, on November 25.
The opening two nights in York were sold out weeks ago, so anyone wishing to see this show on its return should book straight away. I left the theatre saying with complete honesty to one member of the Riding Lights team: “That was the best night I’ve had at the theatre in years”. • For tickets, visit www.ridinglights.org/o&l or phone 01904 613000.
Win the only complete, hand-written copy of 'Bugs', Antony Dunn’s third collection of poems
Win the only complete, hand-written copy of 'Bugs', Antony Dunn’s third collection of poems
Antony has written, in his own fair hand, a complete and unique copy of his third collection of poems, Bugs, in a classic black Moleskine sketchbook, using a series of .38mm black Muji gel-pens. It will also contain one or two new poems, which are not included in the printed version of Bugs.
The hand-written copy of Bugs will be auctioned both online and 'live' on Fri 9 Oct at Friargate Theatre, York. It will be signed, dated and dedicated to the winning bidder.
The auction is being held to raise funds for Riding Lights Theatre Company, where Antony worked as Marketing Manager from 1997 – 2007, and which will receive every penny of the winner’s payment.
The money will contribute to Riding Lights’ The Sky’s The Limit fundraising campaign, designed to establish a production fund over and above the regular income which it needs to keep its doors open. More details can be found at www.ridinglights.org/stl
We know that many people will want to bid on this item, even if they can't attend the book launch in person. We have therefore put the book onto eBay so that it is possible to enter your bid whether you're in York or Yemen. To make things even more exciting, the eBay auction will close during the book launch at Friargate and all live bids will be put onto eBay so that as the closing time approaches you can still have a chance of winning. Just follow this link to the eBay page:
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALTHOUGH THE EBAY PAGE SUGGESTS THAT THE AUCTION WILL END ON 10 OCTOBER, IT WILL ACTUALLY END AT 8.30pm BRITISH SUMMER TIME ON FRIDAY 9th OCTOBER, WITH THE WINNER BEING THE HIGHEST CURRENT BIDDER AT THAT TIME.
The 'live' auctioneer here at Friargate will be poet and founder member of Riding Lights, Nigel Forde.
Please note: the reserve price is £100.
You are also very welcome to come along to the launch at which Antony will read from Bugs for around half an hour, and will be available to sign ordinary copies of the book, which will be on sale for £9.00. The bar will be open throughout, and you’re warmly invited to stay around for as long as you like.
Fri 9 Oct, 7.30pm
Friargate Theatre, York
Lower Friargate, YO1 9SL
Box Office 01904 613000
Admission is FREE, but please ring to reserve your seats
The event at Friargate Theatre is one of four readings to mark the publication of Bugs (Carcanet OxfordPoets):
Mon 5 Oct – London, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Fri 9 Oct – York, Friargate Theatre
Fri 16 Oct – Leeds, Yorkshire Dance
Wed 21 Oct – Oxford, Blackwells Bookshop
Full tour details are available at
www.antonydunn.org
www.antonydunn.org
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