London 2012 inspires Winchester - University of Winchester

Alumni News
VENTA / Issue 26 / Summer 2012
Wedding bells
for Foundation
Music Director
Fluid Motion Theatre Company rehearsing
Graduate theatre company takes
Shakespeare to the streets
Hannah and David Curtain
Hannah Williams (Music Theatre,
2003 to 2006) married David Curtain
in September and enjoyed a blessing
at the Chapel on King Alfred Campus
following a ceremony at Winchester
Register Office. The happy couple
continued to reminisce as the
reception headed down to the Vault,
in the University Centre.
Hannah will be on tour during May with her
Soul band Hannah Williams & The Tastemakers
to promote the upcoming release of their
debut album on Italian label Record Kicks
entitled A Hill of Feathers which is available to
pre-order on HMV.com. For more info about
the band, please visit www.facebook.com/
hwtastemakers
Hannah is now the Director of Foundation
Music at the University of Winchester which
has a thriving community of over 500
musicians. To find out more please visit
www.winchester.ac.uk/music
Fluid Motion Theatre Company,
formed in 2010 by graduates Leigh
Johnstone (Drama Studies, 2008 to
2011) and Ali Gill (Drama Studies,
2008 to 2011), has developed an
innovative approach to Shakespeare
in an attempt to encourage the
public to engage with the famous
playwright’s works. Participants
can dress up in costume, play an
instrument or speak text to help them
develop a deeper understanding of
the texts and get into the spirit of
Shakespeare.
The project, called Have a go at Shakespeare,
has taken to the streets across Hampshire
and Sussex encouraging people from all walks
of life to have fun and promote community
cohesion through drama. Now in its second
year, the project has been awarded Arts Council
funding and has been renamed Streetspeare;
The Tour and aims to extend its opportunities
for interaction with the public by focussing on
breathing techniques and iambic pentameter
to help deliver the texts and acting.
Following the success of its first year, the
project has also been extended to schools
with the Streetspeare Schools Project which
works with students and allows them to create
abridged versions of Shakespeare that they
then perform in the streets of their local towns
or cities. The company has also just piloted a
series of workshops at Robert May’s School in
Odiham, working with Year 11 students to focus
on how exam stress can be relieved through
drama.
“Fluid Motion offers a unique opportunity
for engaging with street performance,” said
Bill Richards (Drama Studies 2008 to 2011),
employee of Fluid Motion. “We can see
people’s reactions instantly and can tell it’s
been well received straight away. People don’t
realise that Shakespeare can be fun and we see
a real mix of children and adults wanting to
take part.”
Streetspeare; The Tour began in April and
continues until August. To find out more and
see where you can join in with a performance
visit the website www.fluidmotiontheatre.co.uk
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