All entries for June 2009

The Romany Theatre Company

Writing about web page http://www.romanytheatrecompany.com/index.htm

Late last week I travelled down to Devon to read at The Arvon Foundation. I was a guest of the Romany Theatre Company, a remarkable organisation whose excellent work can be discovered at the website above.

Lively, intelligent and incredibly talented, the company and the course's participants – all travellers – were welcoming and challenging, in the best kind of way. I haven’t felt so home among people, apart from my own family, for some years. In terms of manners, enthusiasm and honesty they refreshed my currently eclipsed spirits.

Never have I been better tested in questions following a reading, nor better rewarded in songs and music afterwards. Yet we were all in bed by midnight and up for a read-through next day in the barn of all my new circus poems, a series of dramatic monologues finished very recently.

As the persona passed from one voice to another, rooks started landing on the slate roof in numbers, clattering and cawing so hard you almost couldn’t hear the poem above the natural summoning.

It reminded me of a moment in a poem of mine called ‘Skeleton Bride’ (in a recent Poetry Review) in which the teller of the tale is interrupted by the ‘gossip’ of the trees. The fact that the teller of the tale is finally revealed to be a campfire might provide a reason for the interruptions by these Ent-like elms and oaks. This is a short excerpt:

Light up, phabaràv, kindle the kind wood

for the rose of the moon is opened; the camp

nested in darkness; our dogs snore in their heap.

Prala, you are chilled. Seal your eyes when you will.

Those lamenting tents might then fall silent.

Our women are waiting on your rule of sleep.

Here, take my blanket stitched with flame.

Weave what warmth you can from what I say.

Keep listening, more like overhearing I know.

Don’t heed the wind’s gossip in the trees. Those elms

lie. Oaks over-elaborate. I have coppiced them all

for my word fires. Here is an ember to light you.

I very strongly recommend the work of the Romany Theatre Company. The photograph above is of the writer Dan Allum (in the barn at Arvon) who hosted me. He’d be the first to also state that the company is a collective venture and adventure. Certainly I’d jump at the chance to work with them again.

From their website:

The Romany Theatre Company creates rich, powerful and inspirational theatre and radio productions. RTC's work is rooted in Romany people, their culture and the centuries-old struggle for equality, with a strong emphasis on challenging negative views of Romany people and the lives they lead.

Through the accredited learning programmes, RTC are equally committed to empowering young Romany people by involving them in theatre and radio performance, increasing their knowledge and awareness of their own culture, so creating pride in their heritage and a willingness to celebrate their identity. RTC is working towards setting up a production company with a Media & Arts Academy linked to it.

RTC's aim is to encourage Romany people to reach out and break down the barriers of ignorance and fear by engaging and educating the general public, and moving towards a positive relationship of confidence, trust and community cohesion.

History of the Company from their website:

RTC are the only Romany theatre company in the UK.

• Set up in 2002 by Romany people and is run by Romany people.
• Became a registered charity in April 2003.
• RTC works with Romany people, non-Romanies and other ethnic minorities.
• Produced a video, Best Days Of Our Lives in November 2003.
• Won a national award of excellence 2003.
• Video/seminar. A Gypsy's Wish (video) opened at UGC cinema in Ipswich, Suffolk to a packed house and headlined at ten high profile seminars. Short-listed for Institute of Public Relations award 2004.
• First theatrical production, The Boy's Grave ran at the Sir John Mills Theatre in Ipswich IpArt festival in July 2004.
• A new show, Our Big Land went on a mini tour in 2005 and was received with wide acclaim. A soundtrack CD of the show was also produced.
• Killimengro (meaning 'dancer' in Romani), a show featuring music, drama and dance and partly performed in Romani language, toured East Anglia in June 2006 and went national to Leeds, Wales, Cornwall and Doncaster in 2006-2007.
• Romano Drom was a documentary about the changing lives Romany people in East Anglia over the years and ran as radio series 2007. It may be nominated for an award in 2008.
• A company member will join the Channel 4’s diversity programme September 2008.
• Atching Tan – BBC radio drama series begins broadcasting in October 2008 on eight local radio stations in the East with two follow up series in 2009-2010

RTC will bring a whole new audience to theatre, that is Romany people.

David Morley : 16 Jun 2009 15:25 |  Tags: Poetry Prose The Practice Of Poetry Warwick Prize For Writing |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Armstrong's Poetic Blunder on the Moon: from the BBC

Neil Armstrong missed out an "a" and did not say "one small step for a man" when he set foot on the Moon in 1969, a linguistic analysis has confirmed.

The researchers show for the first time that he intended to say "a man" and that the "a" may have been lost because he was under pressure.

They say that although the phrase was not strictly correct, it was poetic.

And in its rhythm and the symmetry of its delivery, it perfectly captured the mood of an epic moment in history.

There is also new evidence that his inspirational first words were spoken completely spontaneously - rather than being pre-scripted for him by Nasa or by the White House.

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

In the recording of Neil Armstrong's iconic phrase he says: "One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind". However, "man" and "mankind" mean much the same thing in this context.

But on returning to Earth, he explained that he thought he had said "one small step for a man".

Explanations offered for the discrepancy are that perhaps transmission static wiped out the "a" or that Commander Armstrong's Ohio accent meant that his "a's" were spoken softly.

In 2006, an analysis by an Australian entrepreneur added credence to these explanations - as it found there was a gap for the "a". However, subsequent analyses disputed this conclusion.

To settle the argument, Dr Chris Riley, author of the new Haynes book Apollo 11, An Owner's Manual, and forensic linguist John Olsson carried out the most detailed analysis yet of Neil Armstrong's speech patterns.

Mr Armstrong said he thought he had said "one small step for a man"

They are presenting the research at the Cheltenham Science Festival this week.

"For me that phrase is of great significance," said Dr Riley.

"It has been an important part of my life and those words sum up much of the optimism of the later part of the 20th Century."

Using archive material of Neil Armstrong speaking, recorded throughout and after the mission, Riley and Olsson also studied the best recordings of the Apollo 11 mission audio ever released by Nasa.

They have been taken from the original magnetic tape recordings made at Johnson Space Center, Houston, which have recently been re-digitised to make uncompressed, higher-fidelity audio recordings.

These are discernibly clearer than earlier, more heavily compressed recordings used by the Australian investigation.

These clearer recordings indicate that there was not room for an "a". A voice print spectrograph clearly shows the "r" in "for" and "m" in "man" running into each other.

The researchers say the Australian analysis may not have picked up the fact that Armstrong drawled the word "for" so that it sounded like "ferr" and mistook the softly spoken "r's" for a gap.

"It's perfectly clear that there was absolutely no room for the word 'a'," Mr Olsson explained.

The "Eagle" made its historic descent to the Moon on 20 July 1969

Riley and Olsson also concluded that Commander Armstrong and his family members do pronounce the word "a" in a discernible way.

And based on broadcasts from Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from the surface of the Moon, it is clear that the word "a" was easily transmitted to Earth without being obliterated.

But their analysis of the intonation of the phrase strongly suggests Commander Armstrong had intended to say "a man". There is a rising pitch in the word "man" and a falling pitch when he says "mankind".

According to Mr Olsson: "This indicates that he’s doing what we all do in our speech, he was contrasting using speech - indicating that he knows the difference between man and mankind and that he meant man as in 'a man' not 'humanity'."

There has also been speculation that Neil Armstrong was reading from a pre-prepared script penned for him by another party. According to Mr Olsson, that is not borne out by Armstrong's body language and speech patterns.

This is one of the few images of Armstrong on the Moon

"When you look at the pictures, you see that he's moving as he is speaking. He says his first word 'that's' at the moment he puts his foot on the ground. When he says 'one giant leap for mankind', he moves his body," he said.

"As well as this, there is no linking conjunction such as 'and' or 'but' between the two parts of the sentence. So it's for all those reasons that we think this is a completely spontaneous speech."

It may well have been that spontaneity that led to Armstrong's slight mistake. But according to Mr Olsson - Armstrong may have subconsciously drawn from his poetic instincts to utter a phrase that, far from being incorrect - was perfect for the moment.

"When you look at the whole expression there's a symmetry about this. If you put the word 'a' in, it would totally alter the poetic balance of the expression," he explained.

This makes Dr Riley feel that the research has made a positive contribution to the story of the Apollo mission.

"I’m pleased we've been able to contribute in this way and have hopefully drawn a line under the whole thing as a celebration of Neil and everyone involved with Apollo, rather than this constant little niggling criticism," he said.

David Morley : 04 Jun 2009 11:28 |  Tags: Poetry Prose The Practice Of Poetry Warwick Prize For Writing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

From The Indie: Now It's Bullying

David Morley : 04 Jun 2009 00:29 |  Tags: Poetry Prose The Practice Of Poetry |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem