Thank you so much - we've reached the target! There's still until 7pm on Monday to pledge - and everything extra helps the project massively. Besides, everyone needs one of Lizzie's prints on their wall!
Travelling with Thomas is the next exciting project from Morris Offspring’s creator, Laurel Swift. Currently in development, TwT lets audiences experience the creative process in action, sharing her journey to create a large-scale folk musical.
This Kickstarter will enable us to make a high-quality studio recording and film of the work in the forthcoming TwT showcases. This recording will be essential in helping us describe and promote the show to producers, audiences and funders as we move on to the next stage.
We're really proud of the work we've done so far, and it's essential we document it. Please help us reach our £2000 target and make these showcases the best they can be:
- Spread the word
- Bag yourself a reward and
- Come Travelling with Thomas this April!
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Travelling With Thomas - The Journey So Far
Laurel (composer) and Lizzie Watts (designer) are ready to conclude and celebrate a year’s research and development (R&D) work, exploring the folk legend Thomas The Rhymer. Forced to travel to Fairyland, Thomas is helped and hindered as he tries to find a safe way home with a burden and a gift. It is a tale of fairness, love, truth and time.
The project is unique as we are letting audiences ‘behind the scenes’ from the outset. We know it's really rewarding to have 'been there from the beginning' and have that sneak peak into the world that creates theatre's magic.
We have had three sets of showcases since May 2017, the fourth and final showcase of the R&D coming up in April 2018 will be a brilliant summary of the perilous journey so far and a tantalizing insight into what’s to come.
The showcase is an exhibition of Lizzie’s distinctive artwork, alongside a concert of Laurel’s contagious music performed by an 8-strong band of leading folk performers:
- Hazel Askew – voice, flute
- Benji Kirkpatrick – voice, bouzouki
- Ben Moss – voice, fiddle
- Nick Janaway – voice, guitar.
- Paul Sartin – fiddle, oboe, voice
- Deb Chalmers – fiddle, viola
- Sarah Moody – cello, voice
- Harriet Riley – marimba, percussion
We can’t wait to hear the full band!
We hope you can support our project. All the rewards are listed on the left, and the images of Lizzie's original prints are below.
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Original Travelling with Thomas Prints
Available as A4, A3 or A2. Choose from the six designs below. If you've seen a different one you'd like at one of the shows, just buy one in the correct size and then send a message letting us know your preference.
Click the image for a closer look (takes you to our website - please come back afterwards!)
London Showcases:
Gunnersbury Park Museum - 1pm - Monday 23rd April - FREE
Cecil Sharp House - 7:30pm - Tuesday 24th April - £10/£7 Advance
Risks and challenges
Every project comes with it's own unique risks and challenges. We have already put a lot of effort into making sure this a sustainable, risk-managed project. The main risk remaining at this stage is that with the pressure of getting everything ready in time for each showcase we also remember collect what we need for the next steps, in particular audio, film, photos and audience feedback. This Kickstarter Campaign turns that risk into a fun project feature; making invaluable good quality documentation a reality.
Another key risk is being able to prove to potential funders, and our brilliant existing funders Arts Council England, The English Folk Dance and Song Society and The Golsencott Foundation, that the project is really as exciting and worthwhile as we think it is! This Kickstarter helps us demonstrate to funders that people really love the project and want it to happen.
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You might like to know a little about what happens beyond April 2018.
The full folk musical will take around 5 years to develop. Our current funding takes us to the end of year one, April 2018. We have done lots of work that puts us in good stead ready for the next step.
Part of the plan is of course that by inviting audiences in from the outset, you lovely people will be keen to follow the whole journey, coming to showcases, bringing your friends, and helping the work be increasingly sustainable as it develops.
After this showcase the team and our fabulous project mentor will sit down, evaluate everything that happened, and make a new plan for the next step. The rough plan ahead is (and of course we will let you see and interact with our progress along the way):
Year 2 - Bringing the Landscape to Life - exploring movement of the various beings in the worlds of the story. Building on the work to date to with Morris Dancers, Clog Dancers, Aerial Artists, Mask Artists, Jugglers and more.
Year 3 - A Taste of the Magic - completing a few short (5-10 minute) sections so people (us included) can grasp a better sense of how the finished thing might look.
Year 4 - Book! Working with a fabulous storyteller to create the 'book', the show's script, drawing on all the research and work to date. It is unusual to start from the music, design, characters, songs and movement, and we're excited to see how it helps the narrative of the story develop.
Year 5 - Staging! Bringing the whole show into glorious (glittery?) technicolour being. The final stage will be touring the full show nationally and bringing Folk Arts to the West End!
Travelling with Thomas is supported by Arts Council England, The English Folk Dance and Song Society and The Golsoncott Foundation.
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Funding period
- (28 days)