“Startlingly well sung and theatrically inventive”

- Evening Standard

We were Executive Producers for Silent Opera: L’Orfeo over the last six months and now the show is closed. We raised a budget of £140,000 to deliver our largest scale project to date. With a team of hundreds of talented singers, musicians, craftsmen and technicians, we put on a show that was nothing short of spectacular. Under the creative direction of Silent Opera founder Daisy Evans, the show took place 17 times in February at Trinity Buoy Wharf (in some of the coldest weather we’ve had over a very cold winter!).

“Audiences enraptured by this vital new setting”

- whatsonstage

More press quotes and production photos can be found on their website, but our interest in the piece was universally recognised – Silent Opera, which employs digital technology to revitalise opera, and to reconnect a great art form with a public interest, is an exciting company. We are proud to say that under our guidance for their last three shows, Silent Opera have retained their place as one of the most innovative companies working in opera. And what’s more, our Creative Producership has ensured that over half the audience are under 30, and the same ratio are attending their first ever live classical experience.

We have been examining the next routes to go down with Silent Opera and will stay updated here on our website.

After long months of secrecy, we can reveal to those unlucky enough to have missed out that we’ve been hard at work since September on the latest Secret Cinema production: a live theatrical experience inspired by Frank Darabont’s critically acclaimed movie The Shawshank Redemption, which is set to run for an unprecedented seven week extension until March 2013

We’re contributing over a dozen actors from our ranks to the central cast, and a performance director in the form of Mat Burt, as well as continuing to work closely with The Ink & Paint Club – an immersive performance bar company to provide event logistics within a seamless creative world. A huge thank you to all those who have attended so far, and to all those working with us, especially the Secret Cinema production team.

If you’re producing or sourcing for other theatrical or arts events, drop us a line at info@heritagearts.co.uk and find out who, or what, we can provide from our experienced team to help make your event a success.

It’s with tremendous pride we can announce that tickets for Silent Opera‘s latest production, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, are officially on sale.

We’re lucky enough to be producing the show, which is supported by the Sky Arts: Ignition Futures Fund, the Arts Council, IdeasTap and Silent Cinema.

There’s so much that’s unique about Silent Opera it’s hard to know where to begin. Personal headphones for every member of the audience for an immersive live music experience like no other; a brilliant, brand-new English translation; a newly recorded live score; audience-driven narrative and so much more. The best thing to do (other than grab your ticket quick before they sell-out) is head over to Silent Opera‘s website and read all about it.

As a final word: members of the brilliant IdeasTap network have an opportunity to buy discounted tickets for the duration of the run. Head on over to IdeasTap website to find out more.

See you in the underworld!

Rather than go on about this idea afresh, I’ll pull a “here’s one I made earlier”: a transcript of a Live Chat that The Guardian invited us to take part in last week with this very issue as it’s focused. It was an honour to be a part of the panel, which included Matt Adams, artist and director for Blast Theory, Jessica Curry, co-director and composer for thechineseroom, Alex Fleetwood, founding director of Hide&Seek and Iain Simons, director of GameCity. Everyone had some pretty insightful things to say – so do have a read and drop us a line if you feel like joining in the conversation – I’d love to hear what you think.

A summary of the discussion went up here today; the full transcript can still be read, with user comments, over here. Hope you enjoy! ]]> http://www.heritagearts.co.uk/news/gaming-culture-and-the-arts.html/feed 0 http://www.heritagearts.co.uk/news/1679.html http://www.heritagearts.co.uk/news/1679.html#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:10:45 +0000 Mat Burt http://www.heritagearts.co.uk/?p=1679 It’s been a busy few months in the world of Heritage Arts.
In June, we produced an eclectic mix of shows and exhibitions down at the Old Vic Tunnels, including the fantastic Enlightenment Café from LAS Theatre, a part science, part theatrical event which creates an interactive educational world for the audience, The Majesty, created by horticultural installation artists Tony Heywood and Alison Condie, and a breathtaking Future Tense exhibition of Joseph Loughborough’s artwork. Follow the links for pictures and info.

Simultaneously, we were once again sourcing performers and support staff for Secret Cinema during their wonderful outing aboard Ridley Scott’s Prometheus – the first Secret Cinema featuring a film simultaneously as released in cinemas. You can see a few photos of our thirty-strong team at work over here.

We also took up the opportunity to get involved with Britain Creates, one of the central events of the Cultural Olympiad in the capital, which involved an auction of some unforgettable new artworks created in partnership between some of England’s most exciting artists and fashion designers. We provided a living installation for this unique event, produced by INCA, and pictures will be on the way soon.

Whilst London was abuzz with Olympic revelry, we put together a couple of themed events for Covent Garden’s Hospital Club, though, despite our best creative efforts, we couldn’t help but feel we might not have completely overshadowed Danny Boyle’s ceremony. Sporting heroes and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil were our inspiration: photos of the team and installations can be found here.

And, of course, no Heritage Arts summer agenda would be complete without the inimitable Standon Calling festival, who’s theme we brought to life with our friends Amy Lord, Meet Alice, Rolemop Arts and our energetic and unstoppable roving team of Themesters. Check out the summary and the pictures over here.

Looking out the window, the world seems distinctly Autumnal – it’s time to bid farewell to the summer. Thanks to everyone who’s been involved this season, and stay tuned for a whole host more stuff in the Autumn. There’s still a little bit of summer lovin’ to squeeze out of September, though, as in just over a week we’ll be on the ground with Future Cinema Presents: Grease, which promises to be three days of leathers, cars and beers. See you there? Hope so!

- Mat

PS – We’ve revamped our Portfolio page to make it easier to see what we’re up to.

Have a look and let us know what you think: info@heritagearts.co.uk.

We’ve lost a few of our recent news articles, but they’ll be back once it’s all sorted.

Enjoy the sun,

Mat
x

By the broadest estimation we have put fifty grand in the pockets of young artists – and we feel as proud of them and we do ourselves.

While we’re on back-patting, let’s appreciate the strength of the thing we’ve built, against all the odds, without any major backers or sponsors – VAULT was built by unity of vision and linking energetic companies together. Well done to all the artists, to all the technicians, to all the volunteers and to all the audiences, and everyone else who picked up the ball and just kept running. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Where to go from here? We’re not switching to a completely subterranean lifestyle just yet. This summer will see another fantastic Standon Calling festival, where we’ll be having all kinds of ludicrous outdoor fun, and before we get there we’ve got some plans for the parks and a few more plans for this place. So watch this space – thanks for coming along.