Girl Power? We'll see...
The Scottish Storytelling Centre's season of
gender exploration, motherhood and family.
The Scottish Storytelling Centre is exploring women and
social issues this October, with
an interactive theatre experience investigating the suffragettes and a drop-in
day of activities celebrating birth stories.
On the 8th and 9th October,
the Centre explores the stories of two contrasting campaigners for
women's rights. Flora ‘the General' Drummond and Chrystal
Macmillan, are introduced in Chrystal and the General, to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Women's Suffrage Movement.
General Drummond was a pugilistic Scots militant, tartan
swathed and imprisoned nine times for her passionately direct activism.
Chrystal Macmillan was a committed internationalist and peace campaigner with
the quiet, steely determination of a woman possessed by a razor-sharp legal
mind who believed in campaigning within the law. Chrystal and Flora's
stories are told by two present day women's rights campaigners, Suzanne Dance
and Clunie Mackenzie (with the script co-written by Jo
Clifford), who place stories of the past in
the context of our present struggles. Combined with Rachel Amey's vision
of women's future, this interactive theatrical event is dedicated to the memory
of Sue Innes (writer and feminist campaigner).
The Centre continues to draw on women's issues on 10th of October with three free drop-in events under the title Love, Create, Heal: Women and Birth, in association with
the Pregnancy and Parents Centre, Edinburgh. The day
is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and commemorate stories of birth, motherhood and
family in a fun, participative day for women from all communities and their
families to get involved with. Join in with some free creative activities to
get you thinking about your own experiences of birth.
Birth
Stories at 10.30am, is an opportunity to hear stories of birth
from around the world, and share your own experiences. Then enjoy our
interactive session of Family Stories at 2pm, bringing together parents and children
to explore relationships and celebrate memories.
The Centre's monthly
storytelling event, the Storytelling Café on
the 14th October is hosted by Judy
Paterson and explores the theme of Women and Men, a topic
that's sure to get a reaction! Judy's entertaining storytelling
often incorporates stories of diverse cultures.
The Scottish Storytelling Centre is the national body for the support and development of the storytelling
artform. The organisation is a partnership between the Scottish Storytelling
Forum and the Church of Scotland, and is supported by the Scottish Arts
Council, the City of Edinburgh
Council and a wide range of
charitable donations. www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk SCO11353
Pregnancy and Parents Centre (the new
name for the Birth Resource Centre) is a charitable organisation which has
grown and developed over twenty years in response to what women have told us
that they and their families need during pregnancy, childbirth and beyond. Many
of those women continue to be involved as volunteers, making it possible to
maintain our work of providing emotional and practical support, and
information.
GUDE CAUSE was formed to mark the 100th anniversary of the Women's
Suffrage Movement Procession along Princes Street in 1909. The culmination of this celebration will be a
re-enactment of this march on 10th October 2009, with a series of events in different parts of Scotland, not only to remember, but also to mark what has changed in the
past century to improve women's position in society and to draw attention
to what still needs to be done. http://www.gudecause.org.uk/
Jo (formerly John) Clifford is a
writer, performer and teacher who lives in Edinburgh. Until recently, Jo was Professor of Theatre at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. http://www.teatrodomundo.com
Suzanne Dance is
an actor with extensive experience in theatre, film and TV. She is also a community
work facilitator and teacher of well-being.
Clunie Mackenzie trained in Edinburgh
and has been in numerous productions throughout her professional career,
including Tamlane and The Shepherd with Theatre Alba.
Rachel Amey is a
writer and performer based in Edinburgh.
Reviews for previous work include: "A tight snappy piece...artful,
intriguing and often highly comic" (The Scotsman) "As riveting as it
is entertaining" (The Big Issue).
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