Forum Theatre

Augusto Boal

We are thrilled to be offering a Forum Theatre workshop as part of our Solas Festival 2011 programme. We're particularly keen to encourage young people to take part, but the session will be open to all.

Forum Theatre, a kind of 'Theatre of the Oppressed', was created by the Brazilian director, writer and politician Augusto Boal in the 1950s and has since been utilised all over the world. This interactive form of drama, explores challenging themes - particularly discrimination and oppression - and encourages participants to stop the action and try to change its course.

We're delighted that Hannah McLean, who was trained in the art of Forum Theatre by Augusto Boal's own son, is coming to Solas to lead this demanding and thought-provoking workshop. 

Here's what Hannah has to say about it:

"Forum Theatre is a tool for change in people’s lives. It encourages participants to explore and tackle their own oppression and that which surrounds them, by empowering participants to discuss issues such as stigma and discrimination with other people who may have similar experiences. It allows the participants to test out ways in which these barriers can be overcome in a safe and creative environment. 

As part of the process the participants learn how to facilitate Forum Theatre themselves so that when the ‘experiment’ finishes, they have the skills and confidence to lead other people. Members of the audience during a Forum Theatre performance piece or workshop become ‘spect-actors’ and are encouraged by the group to change the ‘action’ by becoming an actor in the piece for a scene. This encourages the audience to take ownership of the performance."

Hannah McLean is Project Manager of Glasgow's CAOS (Community Arts; Open Space) and runs regular Forum Theatre sessions with a range of groups, including young people and vulnerable adults. You can join her workshop at Solas on the afternoon of Sunday 26th June.

Call to the Wild - BEES bring Natural Play to Solas

Take a walk on the wild side - learn how to build dens, play games, track wildlife, tie knots, design camouflage outfits, get muddy, make environmental art and have LOADS of fun.

We're just delighted that BEES will be at Solas this year to lead Natural Play for 8-14s (places limited, registration required) on Saturday 25th June. And just so the rest of us don't feel left out, on the afternoon of Sunday 26th June they'll run an all-age environmental art drop-in session.

More about BEES

BEES (Borders Environmental Education Services) is a social enterprise based in the Scottish Borders. BEES runs Natural Play / Bushcraft/ Forest Schools activities for children in the Scottish Borders. BEES runs a wide range of environmental / outdoor learning experiences, such as Conservation Breaks on the Northumberland Coast, teacher training, team-building days and experience days. They'll have a stall in our Milky Way venue at the festival and you can find out more about what they do by visiting their website. 

Mary Ann Kennedy brings that 'festival feeling' to a Glasgow living room

Solas Festival has joined the recent live music trend which opts for intimacy and originality with a series of living room gigs hosted by volunteers throughout this year.

Last Saturday night we got a tantalizing taste of what’s to come at this year’s festival when around 40 of us crowded into a converted 3-storey tower in the West End of Glasgow to enjoy one of the most spell-binding live music experiences.   

The bill consisted of fabulous folky acoustic duo Fair Witness, followed by the renowned Scottish musician and broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy. Alongside stories of her upbringing in a Gaelic household in Glasgow, Mary Ann silenced the audience with her accessible interpretations of traditional Gaelic songs and show-stopping puirt a beul, combined with her beautiful compositions on the clàrsach. She's a master of her craft - humbling and inspiring to watch.

It was a real treat to hear music of such quality in such a comfortable setting, but this is typical of the events Solas has laid on all year and of the atmosphere of the festival itself.

Thanks to Ros for opening her house to us!

By Fay Butler, a Solas Volunteer

Mary Ann Kennedy takes to the Solas mainstage on Saturday 25th June with The Campbells 

(alongside four other members of her family; Scottish trad-royalty from the island of Skye)

Solas Festival 2011: Programme Highlights by Day

It's the moment you have been waiting for: a full run-down of The Solas Festival Programme! Below, you'll find the highlights of each day at Solas Festival 2011, but remember there will be lots, lots more happening all over the site. Frankly, we think you’re mad if you don’t come for the whole weekend (we cram all this into just over 48 hours, so you don’t even have to take any time off work!), but rest assured, whenever you pop in to join us, there’ll be something absolutely cracking to discover onsite.

You can find out more about our musicians here and our speakers here and we’ll be adding to our programme pages on the website over the coming weeks.

FRIDAY EVENING

It’s a folk-tastic music bill for the Friday night. RURA open with a young, fresh twist on Scottish Trad. Also on the bill we have folk stars Emily Smith and Michael Marra, and, with full band in tow, Emma Pollock (increasingly well-known in her own right as well as for her work with The Delgados, The Burns Unit and Glasgow-label, Chemikal Records).

SATURDAY (during the day)

Samba Sene & Diwan

World music with Samba Sene & Diwan; Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker; Rory Butler Album Launch; a brand new musical collaboration featuring We See Lights; performances from Open Swimmer, Silver Caves, Alex Cornish, Adam Stearns, The Wild Myrtles, David Ferrard and esperi. The film programme’s Frame by Frame interview features major Hollywood producer Alan Greenspan (Donnie Brasco, High Fidelity, Fever Pitch). Talks from Kathy Galloway, Pete Ward, Sol Oyuela, Steve Stockman, Karen D’Artois, Sarah Brown and a panel discussion on Sectarianism. Nick Thorpe talks about his new book. Eco-drama present ‘The Isle of Egg’; our visual artists lead lantern-making and the Long Light Procession; workshops in Samba drumming, waulking songs and lithographs, storyteller Gerry Durkin and children’s author Matthew Fitt.

SATURDAY EVENING

We’ve got two incredible bands returning from Solas 2010 because their live performances were so spine-tinglingly perfect we had to keep spreading the word; we fell in love with Glasgow’s The Starlets and Edinburgh-based hip-hop/electronic outfit Stanley Odd have to be seen to be believed. We’ve also got the lovely Irishman, Iain Archer, a favourite at our partner festival Greenbelt and well-loved in Scotland for his work with Snow Patrol and the Reindeer Section. Finally, The Campbells take to the stage; five members of the Scottish Trad dynasty from the island of Skye, including our very own Mary Ann Kennedy, and every one of them a Mod gold-medallist.

SUNDAY

Rachel Sermanni

Our hottest tip for 2011, Scottish singer-songwriter Rachel Sermanni; world-class classical cellist, Robert Irvine, performs Bach; another original collaboration for Solas featuring Jo Mango, Open Swimmer, Tall Tales and Kettle of Kites; as well as performances from Aerials Up and Julia & the Doogans. Talks from Gerry Hassan, David McNair, Jenny Baker and Alison Urie and panel discussions on Economics: The Cuts and Scottish Nationalism in the light of the SNP victory. The film programme’s Frame by Frame interview features Scottish producer Andrea Calderwood (The Last King of Scotland, Ratcatcher, The Hole). We’ve got workshops in environmental art and family bushcraft led by B.E.E.S.; a dawn hike up Tinto Hill and storyteller Mara Menzies. Theatre for kids with STaG and the Fischy Music Concert. And, of course, the Homecoming String Band lead our giant Ceilidh.