Year-long Absolutely Cultured project will create a theatre parade around the streets of west Hull, featuring a community cast and crew
Floodlights parade in Gipsyville, 2021. Photo by Tom Arran for Absolutely Cultured.
Middle Child are delighted to reveal we will be working with residents of Gipsyville on a new theatre project about the industrial heritage of the Hull neighbourhood.
This exciting new project has been commissioned by Absolutely Cultured with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Starting this Friday we will work with residents in creative workshops over the next 12 months, exploring how the area became the place it is today.
These will then be used to create a theatre parade around the streets of Gipsyville featuring a community cast and crew.
Reminiscence sessions will be run by Absolutely Cultured, and supported by Gipsyville Library, to give residents a chance to contribute their memories, stories and links to the history of their area.
Middle Child artistic director, Paul Smith, said: “We’re over the moon to be working with the communities of Gipsyville to create a new piece of theatre together, about the neighbourhood and its history.
“We look forward to not only meeting people to bring their stories to life, with the help of experienced writer and theatre maker, Rachael Abbey, but also learning from residents about the power of storytelling to bring generations together.
“This project is an opportunity for people from different backgrounds and experiences to make a collaborative piece of art and we can’t wait to get started.”
The Gipsyville project will run alongside another Absolutely Cultured heritage project on Spring Bank, inspired by the zoological gardens that used to be in the area from 1840 to 1861.
Working with Handmade Parade, an award-winning community arts and parade specialist Community Interest Company based in Hebden Bridge, residents will be able to participate in a range of creative, heritage-focused sessions and workshops built around this theme.
Stephen Munn, CEO and Artistic Director of Absolutely Cultured said: “It is fantastic to receive this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. It’s a really exciting project that everyone in these communities can be a part of.
“The project is an expansion of the work we’ve been doing in Spring Bank and Gipsyville over the last couple of years, ensuring people have opportunities to take part in creative activities in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them and supporting residents to produce their own opportunities to be creative!”
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