About the performance

English Skies is a journey through the life and mind of a woman remembering things past;
lovers and loves, dreaming and longing.

English Skies is a project created by singer-songwriter ESKA (musical collaborations include Zero 7, Tony Allen, Bobby McFerrin, and Mathew Herbert), comprising an album, a songbook, a live show and this 'staged song cycle' - a collaboration between ESKA, Movement Director / Director Struan Leslie and composer / Music-Director, Simon Deacon. The creative team is completed by sound-designer, Tom Slater, video artist, Hannah Mason, creative producer, Jack Prideaux and musicians Julian Ferraretto and Robin Mullarkey.

ESKA, Struan and Simon have worked together on previous projects including the National Theatre / Art of Regenerations's Next Generation (co-directed by Struan and Simon) - concerned with developing young and emerging artists in South East London - and on the Goldsmiths Vocal Ensemble's work (Simon is Director of Popular Music Performance at Goldsmiths) with the Matthew Herbert Big Band (Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Glastonbury Festival), choreographed by Struan (Head of Movement at the Royal Shakespeare Company).

English Skies will be developed as a 90 minute multimedia theatre piece and can be adapted to include a local choir. Workshops from all team members are also available.

www.englishskiesstaged.tumblr.com

Key Personnel

ESKA - Composer/Performer
Struan Leslie - Director
Simon Deacon - Director/Music Consultant/Technical Manager
Jack Prideaux - Creative Producer
Tom Slater - Sound Designer
Hannah Mason - Video Artist
Julian Ferraretto - Musician: Violin, Viola, Mandolin
Robin Mullarkey - Musician: Cello, Bass

Please visit www.englishskiesstaged.tumblr.com for further information on team members.

Production Information

Running time at full length: 90 minutes

Suitablel for age 14 +

Use of recorded and live music

Does not require a clear understanding of English or another language

Touring Information

Small scale show (up to 500 seats)

Appropriate for a studio space (requires a cyc. for projection)
- Minimum performance space 6m x 6m, staging format: seated, end-on

Number of people on tour: 5/6

Number of performers on stage: 3/4

Available to tour from mid 2012

Outreach and Educational Work

English Skies presents a number of opportunities for artist development and educational work. This would take the form of a devising process involving a local, or community choir (or one recruited especially) to be part of the performance or as a curtain raiser to the performance of English Skies. This could involve teacher/artist training in order to create cultural heritage beyond the life of the performance period. This is all based on the ethos of 'Next Generation'.

Next Generation', a model of practice devised and developed by Simon Deacon and Struan Leslie is a programme that can be delivered by the participating artists/performers in the form of intensive workshops and training for young people, emerging artists, artists with an established practice and the creative industries. The process uses writing as a tool with music as a central expressive voice.
http://struanleslie.com/work/projects/nxt_gen.html

All team members have been involve in this way of working and could be available for workshops in their fields of expertise.

Company History

To this point the company has received support in kind from major organisations including the Goldsmiths, University of London and the Actor’s Centre (London). This involved the exploration of the songs in terms of their meaning, both literal and metaphorical. The material has been developed, as a 'script' inspired by into a journey-like structure without being bound by narrative but more liberated by the visual and physical world of the lyrics.This involved the exploration and excavation of the songs in terms of their meaning, both literal and metaphorical, a process of re-reading and ordering the material as a script into a journey-like structure without being bound by narrative but more liberated by the visual and physical world of the text.

Recent Productions / Tours

ESKA's most recent performances include Tony Allen (70th Birthday at Barbican, '10),
'English Skies': Live Performance and Baaba Maal (WOW Festival, RFH, '11)
Struan Leslie & Simon Deacon (with Neil Bartlett) made "Everybody Loves A Winner" for Manchester International Festival '09.

In the last three years, each of the key collaborators have been involved in large scale projects with music impresario Matthew Herbert and his big band project ‘There’s Me and There’s You': British Council 75th Birthday Concert (Barbican, '09), Glastonbury '10 and the ‘One Day’ concert with London Sinfonietta at the London Jazz festival, (Royal Festival Hall, '10).

Struan Leslie is Head of Movement at the RSC, www.struanleslie.com
Simon Deacon is Director of Popular Music Performance at Goldsmiths, University of London.

www.thewheelonline.wordpress.com

Reviews

ESKA 'English Skies': Live Performance & Performance with Baaba Maal (14/03/11): http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?Itemid=12&id=3281:wow-women-of-the-world-southbankcentre&
option=com_k2&view=item

ESKA 'English Skies': Live Performance (11/03/11): http://www.musbook.com/rss/3653/Preview-
Women-of-the-World.html

Simon Deacon, Struan Leslie & Neil Bartlett's 'Everybody Loves A Winner' (19/03/09): http://issuu.
com/manchesterintfestival/docs/programme09

Matthew Herbert Big Band at The Barbican (29/10/09): http://entertainment.timesonline.co.
uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article6894118.ece, http://entertainment.timesonline.
co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6885799.ece