CALLING BARNSLEY: Book launch puts local voices centre stage at Barnsley Civic
Barnsley has picked up the phone and answered in style - with a brand new collection of monologues giving voice to the borough’s beating heart.
Award-winning theatre group LUNG are dialling up the drama with the book launch of Calling Barnsley and live readings at Barnsley Civic on Friday, November 7, at 7.30pm.
BUY TICKETS: Tickets are £15 , including a copy of the book, bow on sale at barnsleycivic.co.uk.
Many of the fabulous stories in print were recorded in a red public phone box installation at the Civic.
‘Thatcher’s dead. What do we do now?’ it’s one of the first lines in this electrifying anthology – and it sets the tone for a raw, funny and fiercely local portrait of life in Tarn.
From sumo wrestlers squaring up in Penistone to an effigy of Maggie Thatcher going up in flames in Goldthorpe, Calling Barnsley shines a spotlight on the town’s stories – tragic, tender and triumphantly true.
Frozen prawns, white ponies turned black with coal dust, a golden bridge to nowhere, a skull in a field, a boomeranged bicycle. Boxers, librarians and single mothers share their memories with brave vulnerability, joy and resilience, it tells all these stories and more.
This is Barnsley, speaking for itself – past, present and future.
The book launch will also feature an exclusive Q&A with creators Helen Monks and Matt Woodhead, with every ticket holder getting a copy.
Adapted from real interviews with Barnsley folk, the collection captures everything from miners and mums to boxers and bookworms – voices that laugh, grieve and graft their way through history.
It’s Barnsley unplugged: unfiltered, unpolished, unforgettable.
For the past 18 months, LUNG have worked with students at Barnsley College to collect and record the voices of Barnsley and its surrounding towns.
They have crafted verbatim interviews with local people into powerful monologues that reflect the rich and diverse stories of Barnsley.
These were recorded by professional actors and played in a public phone box installation at Barnsley Civic, between January and March. Now they are published by Faber, along with additional monologues created from interviews currently underway and a foreword by Ian McMillan.
More than a book launch – it’s a homecoming and local folk are being urged to answer the call. as Barnsley, speaks out loud and proud – about the past, present and future.
Glowing big name tributes have already been paid.
John Godber OBE, playwright, said: '‘The pieces in this collection resound with genuine authenticity of place and character, this is the heartbeat of South Yorkshire. Writing so full of the stuff of life you can almost taste it.
"Barnsley's own singer-songwriter Kate Rusby sats of it: “This book is Barnsley through and through: tender, funny, and beautifully real. A true celebration of the voices that make us who we are.”
Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director, National Theatre, said of LUNG: "Its work continues to challenge and inspire the nation, consistently creating bold, deeply human work like Calling Barnsley.”
Following the publication of Calling Barnsley, LUNG have ambitious plans for the project, including a tour of the phone box across the principal towns of Barnsley. LUNG will also produce 115 free packs to distribute to schools, community groups and local services that may want to hear and read these stories.
Commissioned by Storying Barnsley, in partnership with Barnsley College and Barnsley Civic. Legacy funding is provided by The Great Childhood Ambition and Love Where You Live programmes.
It is available at £10.99 paperback and £9.99 for the e-book.
LINKS:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thebarnsleycivic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/barnsleycivic/#
Tel: 01226 327000