Now, I’ve been baptized, confirmed, had confession, been to Latin mass. I even spent my whole education in Catholic establishments from primary school all the way to sixth form. My whole family is Italian- (pretty darn Catholic). However, growing up as a modern teenager in secular Manchester full of distraction, temptation and vice, I have basically lived a a carefree life of sin- (not so darn Catholic). The visit to St Peter’s Basilica doesn’t count- I was on holiday, not pilgrimage.

So, one non-descript week in February, I began my week as a pure, devout Catholic. But wait- what does that even mean? what did I have to do? I couldn’t follow every single rule in Leviticus (besides, that’s more Old Testament and Judaism. Catholics are more New Testament kinda guys)- I only had one week! I decided to follow the simplest, most effective and applicable rules- The Ten Commandments, Seven Deadly Sins, and various themes from the Cathechism (the document outlining modern Catholic beleifs and practices set out by the Papal Office).

So for me, this meant: no doing anything to excess: drinking alcohol, no gambling (bye bye National Lottery), no swearing or blasphemy (OMG), no temptations of any kind and not to think any immoral thoughts. As for the Seven Deadly sins: sloth (no procrastinating, oversleeping, being lazy), lust (bye bye boyfriend- see you in a week), envy (but her shoes are so pretty- i wish i had those shoes), pride(no makeup or straighteners or fashionable clothing that shows off my figure), greed (if i even so much as think about a Krispy Kreme, I’m going to Hell), wrath (imagine having to be calm and collected 24/7!)

 It started off relatively well- I’d taken down all my posters (false idols), and adjusted my appearance accordingly. I’d even bought a cross-necklace to wear at all times to ward off the Devil. I’d prayed morning and night, and by midweek I’d donated money to charity (CAFOD of course- the catholic charity du jour, as well as British Red Cross and Oxfam) and since I’d somehow managed to pick the exact week Lent starts, I’d celebrated Shrove Tuesday, fasted on Ash Wednesday, gone to Mass and recieved my cross of ashes on my forehead (made from last year’s Palm Sunday palm leaves, fact fans).

 What I found most difficult was was trying to remain pure and untempted by all of the immorality in modern media. It really is everywhere. I couldn’t even walk past a shop window without some scantily clad mannequin draped over a SALE sign trying to tempt me into spending money. I think that’s about 6 out of 7 deadly sins covered in that one situation alone!

 In my attempt to avoid all this vice and media corruption, I soon found myself staying home, sat in bed twiddling my (now idle) thumbs listening to Vivaldi (best to avoid song lyrics with immoral suggestions- about 99% of them). It was also hard not to procrastinate and not to covet. There wear distractions everywhere, and I was constantly seeing things I wanted. So I decided to be productive instead!

 It’s suprising how much you can actually get done when you no longer have any immorality in your life- i’d done so much housework, research, essays, errands, application forms and meetings. But what struck me was how easy it is to become a religious extremist. With no other influences allowed in your life other than your religious doctrines, I can easliy see how some people are driven to religious extremism, such as Mormons, or Fundamentalists.

 You have to be really careful how you apply these doctrines to your life. I found it fairly easy, for example, not to blaspheme or swear, but applying some of the more heavyweight or obscure aspects of Catholicism, such as being against homosexuality and abortion, and men not being able to touch anything a mentstruating woman has come into contact with for fear of contamination of her uncleanliness, were just baffling. There was one particular incident when I was on the tube and I couldnt give up my seat to this old man, becuase technically i’d be contaminating him. He looked confused and I had to lie and say I had a bad back myself. By trying to stick to one rule, I’d broken another.

 By the Friday and Saturday, I had managed to settle into the lifestyle and it didn’t feel so forced and unnatural. I enjoyed praying- it seemed like a form of therapy- a way to plan for the day and reflect back on it- very cathartic. I also began to enjoy being selfless and positive and kind. I plan to continue these aspects. I found it interesting on the Sunday though. I was looking for a fitting way to end the week and I chose to go to evening mass at a spectacular Catholic Church- I soon realised how most of the churches in Englad I had assumed to be Catholic were in fact Anglican. Westminster Abbey- not Catholic. St Paul’s Cathedral- not Catholic. Thanks to King Henry VIII and the Reformation, most of the Catholic churches we see today are no older than the 18th Century due to King James II putting Catholicism back into mainstream British acceptance. I found myself in mass at the beautiful London Oratory in Knightsbridge (incorrectly known as Brompton Oratory).

 It was a calming, stunning and ritualistic- all that complicated bowing, kneeling, standing, sitting, praying, genuflecting, antiphoning etc- end to a very inspiring and interesting week into the life of the religion I so often claim to be a part of, and until now I had never really challenged that, and what it meant to me to actually be a Catholic. It is nigh on impossible to be a modern independent woman, and be Catholic, It is possible however, for me to now go to Heaven.

 Amen to that!

This experiment was conducted by Francesca Balchin, our university outreach co-ordinator. How does religion and ritual effect your life? Did you give up something for lent? Please note, although you may be a festival ‘follower’, the Accidental Festival is not an organised religion…yet!

Is identity, who we feel we are, or is it how people can identify us? Is identity a personal  thing or is it the labels and stereotypes and categories we have to fit in?

When creating art or theatre, do we make a conscious decision to how much of our “personality” we want to ooze out of the piece created? Or do we just make and analyze later and identify traits of ourselves in the work?

 Recently I have started to consider the honesty of the work I create and came the conclusion, that the piece will only truly reflect honesty if it reflects my identity. However, because I’m  not completely sure what my identity is, the fear overwhelms me that if I make work that reflects my identity or what I believe  my identity to be, based on others perceptions; I could stifle the potential of my work.

For example, one could argue  my identity is that of a black girl from Brixton, which to an extent is true. Although these facts can help one identify who I am, I cannot not  say these descriptions foretell or define  who I am.  Would it be right to say that because I’m a black girl from Brixton, that should be the core of all my work? Surely it will make the sphere of my creations limited and the same. But  is straying away from what my identity appears to be a way of denying what I am and seeing the world through false eyes?

So in this complexed state of mind, I realize that MY identity has permission to change or evolve and does not have  to be bound by peoples expectations or ideas of who I am and the work I should produce. I should create work  inspired by elements of me that have been inspired by the things around me or things I feel are important.

If you ever feel pressured to create work that does not reflect your views or  represent you in anyway I’d suggest that you question why you are making this pieces of work or it will be very hard to support it whole heartedly.
Lastly I’d say our identity should not be created by other people, your identity should be fuel to your creativity and vice versa.

This post was written by Margaret Bakosi; Community Outreach Liaison/Fashion and Music Liaison.

Can you identify? Do you feel marginalized or misunderstood? We want everyone to identify with some part of AF2010. We also enjoy the unidentifiable. If you sometimes feel like a Red Square trying to fit through a blue triangle-shaped hole, then come to AF2010. We have rainbow-squishy walls allowing any shape through our doors.

A couple of weeks ago our class finished a photography project which we had been working on independently since Christmas. Our task was to chose a well known self portraiture photographer and to draw inspiration from their works and creat our own piece. We would recreat elements such as their use of light, narrative, location, colour, frame ect. After four weeks of photo shoots and experimentation we wanted to show our work so fare. This resulted in our class creating a scratch exhibition at Central.

All of us entered into this project with different ideas and aspirations and although, for many of us this is not our final product, we came up with some exciting and beautiful images. In the same spirit of our scratch exhibition some of us have decided to open up our work in process to you our festival followers.

Take a look:

My inspiration and motivation for my process throughout the project and the photograph that I displayed came from Anna Gaskell’s photo ‘Untitled #29 (Override) 1997’. I love how Gaskell’s photographs are so tightly cropped and taken from angles that almost seem impossible; the combination of these two aspects really had an impact on me, making the subject of the photograph seem menacing and challenge the imagination.-Emily Wilkinson

"The photographer I chose as my initial inspiration was Arno Raphael Minkkinen. His main body of work has spanned over the past thirty years and is one durational enquiry into reconnecting the human form into a natural landscape. I developed my photographs in an attempt to try and connect my body to my primary urban landscape, Kilburn. I found my body became a bridge, a traverse that could only rupture or abstract my surroundings. I am left still challenging how I connect my life to a world that is at one time solely built to accommodate my body, yet stifles and suppresses it into unnatural lanes and channels." - James Cawson

“This photograph was originally inspired by Ana Mendieta's Imagen du Yagul because I was interested in her relationship with landscape. I wanted to explore the idea of trying to reconnect with an untreated, organic habitat as I feel people grow further away from the body and its natural ability. This image was taken using a long exposure looking over the orange glow of a polluted London at dusk.” - Laetitia Clarke

My photo was inspired by the works of Horst.P.Horst who is a world renowned fashion photographer who began working for vogue in the 1930s. I love the way he uses strong lighting in his work to bring out all the delicate and elegant parts female body .I purposeful chose to not show a face in my work as it takes away any immediate emotion and forces the audience to look closer into the image and hopefully place their own narrative on to the photo. – Phoebe Bozeat.

“My photo was inspired by Cindy Sherman. the fact you have to view it from a low angle looking up means that the woman in the picture is a representation of a fantasy or idol, surrounded by tributes and a shrine. Her strong stance is a reference to all the women in history who have left their mark, whilst the fact that is it airbrushed, represents female vanity and vulnerability. It is wholly in black and white, as a reference to retro photographic techniques, with the only colour being that of the olive skin.” - Francesca Natalie Balchin

As the photography, fine art and film liaison I always get excited about new work by up and coming photography so if you know of any shows ,exhibitions or even just your own work on a blog please do let us know and keep us up to date.

Well done phoebe on filling everyone in on what we’ve been up to. If your into photography, or even if you’ve never tried we have a Photography competition opening shortly so stay tuned.

Joining them in their rehearsals has meant commutes out of London to three regional venues in the south of England. They are all doing different things very well and have, in one way or another, made me excited about small regional venues and what they can offer to communities, artists and audiences alike.

The Point in Eastleigh offers a wide variety of popular performing arts training for the local community whilst developing a unique new creation space equipped with accommodation and living spaces for companies alongside a fantastic airy studio, not only used by high profile companies from elsewhere, but also as a testing ground for local resident artists, who, in the early stages of their careers are given help with producing and rehearsal space, something not many other venues can boast to provide for such young artists.

Greenham Common Arts Centre is housed in the old American military base established during the height of the cold war before being left abandoned. Despite being slightly out of the city, and somewhat difficult for audiences to get to, it seems to be a very inspiring retreat in which artists can come to create work for other places. Only last week was I in a lecture where Helen Paris of live art company Curious was telling us of the site specific piece that the company made there featuring ghostly photos of herself running around the building stark naked, and a mysterious, displaced cowgirl on horse back, riding around the exterior of the grounds as a nod to the American presence long departed.

Finally we come to The Basement in Brighton which is potentially, my favourite of the three. The Basement has created a great atmosphere for people to experience some of the most exciting evenings of performance available in the UK, as well as a great starting point for anyone who has never been to see theatre or live art. The building centres on a hub of a bar which sells cheap drinks and a cosy, friendly atmosphere and from which you can wander off into either of the Basement’s two spaces.

The Basement serves as a great social hub for audiences of theatre, live art and notably music – it seems rare that venues whose main focus is performance, should have such a popular and varied programme of bands. The programme does not try to have too many events, and as a result has a balanced and exciting content.

From scratch nights and more social ‘Supper Club’ evenings for new work to performances by internationally acclaimed artists like Curious, Uninvited Guests and Tim Crouch, their programme has made me want to return to the seaside post rehearsals, to have an ice cream, to put a handkerchief on my balding head and enjoy some shows that, at the moment, can’t even be found in London!

Peter Reed once again hunts down some of the best offerings our country has to offer. And it doesn’t stop there; his performance-sensitive nose is busy sniffing out the best in all things international for AF2010.

About a week ago I was introduced to a thing called Chat Roulette.  It’s a lot like skype only, instead of calling someone you know, you are randomly hooked up to any of the 30,00 other people “playing”.  Here ensues a frantic whizz through different web-cams all over the world. If you get someone you are unhappy with, simply press f9 and it will pick another random camera.

This very simple idea is the brain-child of a 17 year old Russian programmer called Andrey Ternovskiy. He created it so that him and his friends could be randomly paired off with each other. Now thousands of people use this site to make friends, pull pranks, show each other their genitals and more.

The earliest recording of this website, that I could find was in November 09, so this is an extremely new platform. The little advertising on the site pays enough for the running costs, but the creator says:

“Advertising on Chatroulette is kept to a minimum, because there are a lot of sites full of advertisements, which distract you from what you want to do on those sites. I also love minimalism. That’s why I have put only four links on the bottom as advertisements.”

To hear more from the horses mouth come this way!

At the moment this site is getting a lot of blog coverage, some are calling it “the most innovative thing on the web since myspace”.

Having now been on chat roulette several time, it paints a confusing but mesmerising picture of of a digitally connected world. We stare through out camera’s into tiny pockets of the universe, where more often than not, we find other beings staring back. The simple gesture of copying someones facial expression is enough to make you feel as though the planets are aligning. Conversing like this is like Close Encounter of the Third Kind.

Other times you find that all too often you meet an incredibly obscene amount of content; (and I advise anyone who is easily offended to think twice before entering the site) whether it is cleverly superimposed film footage of bestial sex-acts, or a group of guys flipping the bird and shouting sexist, racist, homophobic abuse, or most likely it will be someone masturbating, asking you to “show your tits!”

If you can forgive it these sins, there is much to find inspiration and enjoyment from: I have had amazing conversations with people from all over the world, had a guy draw my portrait, a personal acoustic concert and seen some amazing pranks that make me find new enjoyment and thanks that I live in a world like this. The serendipitous and transient shared moments make the experience feel like a real happening. Could this be pointing to the future of digital performance?

Here are some highlights recently:

Some peeps having a Burka Party

These guy were from Germany and could literally play anything you asked...they did a beautiful rendition of "The Bear Necessities"

I got this girl to make a combined face from both of ours.

what the duck!

This girl from Philadelphia Pennsylvania also shared her face with me.

peek a boo

I'm in Sweeney Todd!

Twilight!

But this is only the beginning. Think back to the first time you went on facebook, or google for that matter. We can barely imagine how this idea will evolve. Will it overtake other social networking sites? What will be the next great prank on here?

Maybe next year’s accidental team will have their own accidental chat: a specifically designated  web space for performance and art to be created and aired to a global audience…?

This blog was written by me, James Cawson, the web designer. I look forward to seeing more exciting performance ideas on chat roulette!

So why write about sport then I hear you ask? Well with the arrival of the winter games to Vancouver there have been widespread protests throughout the city. This was something that caught my attention for various reasons. This winter’s games are being held in one of Canada’s poorest areas, with more homeless per capita than almost anywhere else in the country and with billions of dollars being spent on the event local people are asking why the money is not being better spent on housing, feeding and rehabilitating the people who live in the city. While the situation in London isn’t as extreme I can’t even fathom what the expense to the capital will end up being at the end of the whole process of building and deconstructing stadiums (I don’t have the internet so I can’t find out… sorry!) but the hugeness of it is also something which I find deeply frustrating. The games are costing every council tax paying household in London at least £20 per year and apparently there is a good chance that those of us who live in the capital could be hard pushed to get tickets.

As a resident of East London specifically I find the Olympics both a blessing and a curse, on one hand it is fantastic the amount of jobs which have been created in the area, on the other hand cheap foreign labour is increasingly being used to carry out the work over residents of the area. On the one hand it is making an area which was previously pretty bleak in to the centre of the sporting world, on the other hand the games only lasts for a few weeks and once they are over we are left with stadiums too large to justify maintaining. On the one hand the area around Stratford and Pudding mill lane is undergoing massive regeneration and is becoming increasingly desirable; on the other hand the gentrification of the area is forcing local people, the people who give the east end its unique charm, out of their homes at an alarming rate. One has to ask also that if, in this time of deep financial crisis, when we’re facing cut backs almost across the board whether the 2012 games are really the right thing to be spending our money on?

Two of our most recent blogs are written by Harry Bradford, AF2010s newest voice on our blog (partly because I lost his first one…sorry). The olympics is certainly a double-edged sword. If the Accidental Festival were to hold the Olympic games, what contest would you like to see?

So is circus the missing link between the informal setting of a club and traditional theatre? In the current day it is more and more important to find this link, in order to attract young people of the clubbing generation in to the theatre. The current resurgence of the circus is clear to see, over the last year we have seen albums and tours from some of the world’s biggest pop acts such as Britney Spears and Take That entitled ‘circus’ and acts such as Cirque du Soleil and Cirkus Cirkor take up residencies at major west end venues, at the same time more underground companies are emerging and creating circus inspired work in venues at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, with squat parties and raves becoming not just about mediocre techno and hardtek but about original work and the absurdities which we find in the circus. This is clearly accessible to the people who attend such events in a way that more serious work would not be and this is what most attracts me to modern circus.

This post was written by Harry Bradford, who is our Circus and Physical Theatre Liaison as well as being on the club night team. What an excellent combination to throw an awesome event at AF2010

Within BATP however, there is a divide, a tension between students that has lasted for too long.   The rift is between ‘Technical’ students and ‘PA’s’ (Performance Arts students.) What is a technical student though? It is too broad a brush, and their name means we often forget they have amazing talent creative ability. A technical student, or a ‘techie’ could be anyone from a …the list goes on.

Why is there a rift? It could be for many different reasons, Could it be we work together too early on in our careers before we have fully developed our practices? Maybe we don’t work with one another enough? Another possibility is that performance artists take technical students abilities for granted, or that technical students are confused as to what being a performance artist actually means. Whatever the problem, there has been disregard and disrespect of one another’s disciplines for far too long. It is time that we put down the hatchet and start to celebrate exactly what the collaborative nature of our courses can provide for us.

Several things are in the pipeline that will bridge the gap, possibly most exciting is the brain-child of our very own , who is writing a musical that will be performed by BATP students for charity. The project is collaborative and fun, taking the obvious talents of all students. It is about . I urge every student who reads this to get involved in some capacity.

Another brilliant project that manages to create truly exciting collaboration across the board is , which combines the talents of designers, performers and technicians from the student body, staff and alumni. Last year they put on an absolutely outstanding show at , that truly showcased the ability of BATP in collaboration. Finally of course, there is The Accidental Festival…

Rumour on the street is that once upon a time The Accidental Festival played its part in dividing technical students and Performance Arts students. Whether true or not the rumour is that students had to attend the festival in order to meet a due requirement of their courses, which led to a growth in animosity between the two. However, in 2010 we aim to make up for this wrong-doing by collaborating with technical students to create a festival that everyone can enjoy. During the launch of the applications and website we worked with some really talented technical students to put on talks from Liz LeCompte, Simon McBurney and Katie Mitchell.

We want to use all of the different strengths BATP has to offer to put on something that truly communicates the strengths of our abilities as a whole, and this is a chance to not only showcase our talents, but also to celebrate what excites us all about all aspects of performance.

Yet another important upload from Letty! What better place than AF2010 to break-down barriers and bring people together!

As you can see, as a result of all the responses and with no wish to insult anyone, we have revised this blog post. I, as administrator of this blog have been sifting through the comments, separating spam from legitimate responses, so apologies if your comments are only just coming through. Also, in proof that no censorship is affecting your right to have a voice, I have scored through anything written that we wish to retract. (We have removed any names from this article in an attempt to prevent further insult.) From all this energy and passion, I’m sure the future will be full of wonderful BATP collaborations.

At first I thought I could write a well considered micro essay on my thoughts about text based shows which cross borders and are presented before audiences with no grip of the language being spoken. However, I soon realised that perhaps a conclusive essay wouldn’t set the right tone for these early days of our dear little blog. Keeping this in mind, I decided to pose a few questions in the hope of some tantalising online chit chat on these dark and lonely London nights….

When I think of the international work which is best received, heavily funded and widely appreciated, my mind is drawn immediately to dance (be that Ballet or another form) and Opera. Both, two very expressive and visually striking art forms, one of which doesn’t require text to be spoken, and the other which is supposed to command such power with sets, costumes, stagecraft and music that it is not always essential to understand what is being sung.

Past these two things I can think of several productions that I’ve seen, that would be considered either as plays, new writing and contemporary devised shows which despite being enjoyable to a point, and sometimes making unusual connections with me, have still remained somewhat disappointing due to the text barrier. Sometimes, its not even the fact I can’t understand the spoken words that is distracting, its the techniques used to bridge the gap such as subtitles or accompanying programmes.

However, spending a week with the installation artist and musician, Trish Lyons has made me consider the value in listening to voices speaking foreign tongues and the fun that can be had with absorbing the intonation, and trying to gage meaning and feeling in a different way. Listening to two fellow students accompany a piece of work with prose delivered in Romanian and German started to re open the question for me about whether I can really enjoy a text heavy show in another language.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my ramblings and feel compelled to respond. If not, then I’m sorry and hopefully I’ll be better next time. There is sure to be something, however, in this varied and exciting blog that you will get your teeth into, so keep checking.

Peter Reed is our International Coordinator and is working hard, scouring the globe for the finest international talent. If you know budding artists from distant shores, then send them a link to our website and feel happy that you have played a part in shaping the Accidental Festival 2010.

“Theatre is an extremely powerful tool that can change how you think, feel, respond and live.”

I have loved theatre for as long as I can remember, and even more so as a student, one who has even decided to study it. Properly and everything! So when I decided that I wanted to bring more students to the wonderful world of theatre and performance, it just sort of made sense. Sooooo many young people think theatre is too highbrow and out of their grasp for two reasons: either it is full of toffee-nosed thespians, blabbering on about Shakespeare, diction, Laurence Olivier and their black-filled wardrobe calling everyone “darling!” because they haven’t bothered to remember anyone’s name; or it is full of crazy “Arty-Farty” types who go round hugging peas, dancing on top of bus shelters and calling suicide art because it is all so meaningful and terribly important to society and performance and you must therefore have an IQ of a hamster if you don’t understand it.

But! Never fear! For the theatrical world is not full of those kinds of people. Sure, everyone is allowed their own creative stamp and way of expressing themselves, and there are plenty of nutters out there who will give anything a meaning, but if you delve deeper and take a good hard look at us- you’ll see we’re all pretty normal- and the Accidental Festival aims to bring people from as far and wide as possible. Theatre is an extremely powerful tool that can change how you think, feel, respond and live. I love getting “non-theatricals” involved in theatre. Taking them to shows, discussing my crazy days and telling them how brilliant it can be. I want you to come to this festival and have a great time and enjoy yourself. I want you to discover that taking a risk is no bad thing. But most of all I want you to come to this festival having learned one thing, and one thing only: theatre is AWESOME.

Now, back to that essay…