“I could write a book on a pigeon’s feather”
Eddie (pigeon fan from Blackhall Rocks)
A new performance celebrating local men’s passions and enthusiasms is coming to Blackhall Community Centre this October. Fandom: Untold Stories is about local men’s passions from County Durham. The project is a collaboration between North East theatre company, The Six Twenty and community groups from across East Durham. Collected from interviews within the community over the past year, with visits to local men’s crees, bowls groups and community centres. Fandom: Untold Stories aims to share all the brilliant stories and interesting hobbies of local residents that are right on people’s doorsteps.
Artistic Director of The Six Twenty, Melanie Rashbrooke explains:
“We’ve been working with Men’s Crees across East Durham, celebrating the untold stories of local men’s fandoms, passions, memories, hidden talents, skills and enthusiasms. Using these stories to inspire a new performance. Expect to hear remarkable tales about Bob and his brilliant bees, Eddie our champion pigeon racer and Norman and his infamous gnomes!
This project is a celebration of local men and their untold stories of fandom. It’s about their passions and the things that bring them joy. It’s about championing the local heroes that are right on your doorstep.”
The event will take place on Tuesday 3rd October, 11am, at Blackhall Community Centre, and includes a short work-in-progress performance from The Six Twenty celebrating some of the local community Fandoms they’ve been unearthing. As well as an opportunity to share your own hobbies or interests, hear directly from some of the participants, share some food with local enthusiasts and take part in some of the brilliant activities they’ve learnt about so far!
This is an opportunity for local residents and the groups that have been involved in the project to hear the fantastic stories of local men’s passions, meet new people and try their hand at a new activity that might peak their interest.
As part of the performance, food will be shared with the audience and options to share your very own stories of your Fandoms and hobbies. For more information, or to book tickets, go to: https://thesixtwenty.com/fandom/
For more information on The Six Twenty, go to www.thesixtwenty.com
Thank you to all the men and women that have participated in Fandom and shared their stories with us. Fandom is made to celebrate these untold stories from:
Men’s Cree at Blackhall Community Centre, Men’s Cree at Trimdon Station Community Centre, Men’s Cree at Eastlea Community Centre, Job Club at Roseby Road Community Centre, Bowls Group at Thornley Village Centre & Colliery Championship Wrestling Group.
As well as Eddie, Bob, Stephen, Norman, Tony and Ken.
Show is suitable for ages 12+
This project was made possible thanks to funding from the No More Nowt (formerly East Durham Creates) and National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Call out to community groups and audiences:
Join theatre company The Six Twenty to celebrate your untold stories and share your hidden passions. After the show you’ll have the chance to share your own stories, learn a new skill or hobby and share a communal lunch with all those involved.
We hope to see you there!
If you are a community group or individual that would like to come to the event. Please contact Emma at emma@thesixtwenty.com for more information on coming down or how to take part.
Setting fire to what theatre can be, we fuse new writing, live music and devised theatre together to make shows that are relevant and responsive to the modern world. Beginning well before the curtain rises and long after it drops, this isn’t sit down shut up theatre; it’s theatre for a great night out.