Press Release
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ELOQUENT PROTEST – an artist’s response to war – returns by popular demand to The Trafalgar Studios for the third time on Remembrance Sunday, 9 November 2008 at 2 pm. All profits go to the international medical and humanitarian agency, Médecins Sans Frontières. Tickets are £15, £10 conc (war veterans free) and are now available from the Box Office at Trafalgar Studios.
Former MP and veteran campaigner Tony Benn will once again host this afternoon, presented by artists giving their time freely to explore the power of words and music against the human cost of war.
ELOQUENT PROTEST is directed and produced by Caroline Clegg, Artistic Director of Feelgood Theatre Productions in Manchester. It was originally conceived as a special Remembrance Sunday event with fellow producer Hazel Roy to underpin Caroline’s 2006 production of NOT ABOUT HEROES at Trafalgar Studios. She was encouraged by the initial response in that first year to repeat the exercise in 2007, when the audience very quickly filled up the smaller Studio Two, leading to this year’s promotion to the venue’s large space.
Says Caroline, “For years artists, writers and poets have raised their voices in eloquent protest against the terrible cost of war. They have spoken with passion against the warmongers who treat soldiers like cannon fodder and civilian casualties as mere statistics. As a theatre director, I seized the opportunity to bring together the eloquent protestors of today in what I hope is becoming an important and meaningful fixture in the London theatrical calendar.”
In addition to this year’s London production, a separate version of ELOQUENT PROTEST has been selected as the UK entry to open the Kathmandu International Theatre Festival on 12 November. Three of the London cast will be joining director Hazel Roy to perform this event in Nepal. “In a country which has just survived its own civil war, this production should be particularly apt,” says Hazel.
In alphabetical order, the 2008 performers are: Rosemary Ashe, Tony Benn, Sally Burgess, Janie Dee, Stella Duffy, Sam Ellis, Johnnie Fiori, Leslie Forbes, John Guerrasio, David Harsent, Julian Littman, Loveday Littman, Manchester Lesbian & Gay Chorus, Fiona McDonald, Ben Mellor, Julie Nicholson, Annette Reis-Dunne, Andrea Roberts, Shelley Silas, Lemn Sissay, Peter Straker, Will Strange, Neal Thornton, Two’s Company, Rupert Wickham, Dan Willis other special guests to be confirmed.
One of last year’s Eloquent Protest attendees, Mrs. Dale of Blackburn, contacted the producers to say “This is an event I would like to see in the Albert Hall to remind people that while we respect the dead, we need to respect those who will die even more. As a reflection of this, Wilfred Owen changed the title of his poem from Anthem to Dead Youth to Anthem for Doomed Youth. My grandson died in Iraq; he was 19. Please don’t stop this event, you have sown a wonderful seed of hope.”
For further information or press interviews, please contact:
Anne Mayer (Press) 020 7254 7391 or 07764 192842 annemayer@btopenworld.com
For further information on the show or with queries contact: thefolks@feelgoodtheatre.co.uk
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Introduction:
Tony Benn
Singers
Rosemary Ashe
Sally Burgess
Charlie Dore
Johnnie Fiori
Fiona MacDonald
The Manchester
Lesbian & Gay Chorus
Nasrin Parvaz
Annette Reis-Dunne
Andrea Roberts
Peter Straker
Writers
Stella Duffy
Leslie Forbes
David Harsent
Ben Mellor
Shelley Silas
Lemn Sissay
Actors
Janie Dee
Sam Ellis
John Guerrasio
Loveday Smith
Will Strange
Two’s Company
Rupert Wickham
Dan Willis
Chris and Olly
Musicians
Julian Littman (MD)
Neal Thornton
Directors
London: Caroline Clegg
Nepal: Hazel Roy
Special Guests
Mende Nazer
Julie Nicholson
Trafalgar Studios
www.feelgoodtheatre.co.uk
Event sponsors & supporters:
The Stage Door Foundation
Dave Kirkwood Studio
J. S. Dutton
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