Norwich in the Blitz

On Thursday 3rd April 2014 I attended the Norwich in the Blitz talk by Steve Snelling at The Curve at The Forum, Norwich. This event presented by the author of Norwich A Shattered City was a well informed and interesting talk.

During two nights of intense bombing in April 1942 Norwich suffered its worst ordeal of the war as Hitler targeted the cathedral city for destruction as part of his vengeance campaign designed to lay waste Britain's cultural centres. Known as the Baedeker raids, the German bombers tore the heart out of the city, turning the commercial centre to a near wasteland, and leaving entire streets in ruins.

Yet, ironically, though there was heavy loss of life, with over 200 deaths caused by these raids alone, the majority of the city's most historic buildings, including its Norman castle and cathedral, escaped the bombs and the fires that ravaged so many shops, factories and homes. The author has made much use of records in the National Archives together with Mass-Observation diaries held at the University of Sussex to tell the full story of a ruthless bombing campaign that continued into the summer of 1942. His research, combined with vivid eyewitness accounts, offers a fresh perspective on the raids as well as setting them in their proper historical context.

Fragile at The Forum

It was a short walk from The Undercroft at Norwich Marketplace to Millennium Plain outside The Forum on Sunday 19th May 2013 to see Tilted Productions perform Fragile at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. This performance featured Tightwire artists, dancers, a trampoline duo and a dancing clown searching for the beautiful in the fragile and the fragile in the seemingly beautiful.

Maresa von Stockert's latest work combined contemporary circus, dance and physical theatre. Fragile's architectural set created the illusion of the performance being on a rooftop. Imagine a flat concrete roof where someone has put up a garden with a few plants in pots and some grass.

One layer of the piece exposed the microcosm of human activity taking place in this garden. It looked at the lives of those who visited the roof terrace and explored what the garden meant to them. For the creator of the garden it may be an oasis or even an obsession. Others made it their hide-away; a place where they escaped reality.

Some saw it as a playground, others as a forbidden space. For one person it may have resembled paradise, for another a foreign world of green discomfort, bewilderment and fear. While intricate relationships tenderly and brutally entwine, a strange transformation happened to the garden itself enhancing the sense of a warped reality and other worldliness outside The Forum.

This Sixty minute performance at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival was incredible and created an amazing spectacle in Millennium Plain. The trampolining and tightwire walking thrilled the large crowd outside The Forum who were spellbound by the movement and the unique story of Fragile. I very much enjoyed this outside event at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival which proved to be a big hit in Norwich City Centre.

Hot dancing at The Forum

On Saturday 11th May 2013 I attended the Bad Taste Company's performance of Faust on Millennium Plain outside The Forum, Norwich. This Norfolk and Norwich Festival event was a unique fusion of breaking combined with Lindy Hop, Charleston and big-band music of the roaring Twenties.

Faust is based in the Twenties prohibition era and re-imagines Goethe's classic tale, where our hero is in danger of losing his soul to the devil. This fantastic show featured flaming cocktails and burning boxing rings.

The Bad Taste Company gave us a set full of amazing dancing which thrilled the large crowd outside The Forum. This was a fast paced show with lots of imagination. The temperature was raised on Millennium Plain with the hot moves and flames of Faust.

Great American Poems Evening at The Forum

On Tuesday 16th April 2013 I attended the Great American Poems evening at the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library. This was a night of readings and presentations by scholars from the University of East Anglia. This was a free event for the poetry lovers of Norfolk.

The Memorial Library is a unique “living memorial” to nearly 7,000 young Americans in the 2nd Air Division of the US 8th Air Force who lost their lives during the Second World War. Located in the landmark Forum building in the centre of Norwich, the Library have a lending collection of over 4,000 books covering all aspects of American life and culture, and a specialist collection devoted to the history of the 2nd Air Division.

The wonderful poems chosen for the evening were ‘Safe in their alabaster chambers’ by Emily Dickinson, presented by Kate Anderson. ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost, presented by Philip Wilson. ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ by T.S. Eliot, presented by Gareth Jones. ‘If We Must Die’ by Claude McKay, presented by Christopher Astwood and ‘I Am Vertical’ by Sylvia Plath, presented by Silvia Panizza.

This was an stimulating and interesting event at the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library which gave us a diverse selection of American poems to enjoy. Safe in their Alabaster Chambers, untouched by morning and untouched by noon. This is Emily Dickinson brilliance and my favourite poem of the five presented at The Forum.

Prehistoric Invasion at Norfolk and Norwich Festival

Once the Briten Sinfonia concert finished at St. Andrew's Hall on Friday 11th May 2012 I made my way to Gentleman's Walk for the Close-Act UK premiere of Invasion as the Norfolk and Norwich Festival brought a mythical world full of huge beasts stalking majestically through the streets of Norwich with prehistoric birds flying overhead.

The performance moved around Norwich Marketplace past City Hall before culminating in a performance at The Forum. I walked around with the puppeteers until they reached The Forum where a large crowd had gathered. In this brilliant piece of street theatre the audience become part of the performance as we were entertained by a mixture of birds, dinosaurs, drummers, one eyed robots and a witch on stilts.

It was like chaos in Norwich City Centre until a magical song attracts the prehistoric animals and restores calm, leaving the crowds to go with the flow of this unique and amazing event which brought the Norfolk and Norwich Festival to several thousand people. I really enjoyed this event from dutch street theatre company Close-Act and I loved the way how along with everyone else on this memorable night became part of the mystical world they created.

The Iron Man saves the world!

The Iron Man making friends outside
The Forum, Norwich

Once upon a time, the unexpected arrival of the Iron Man cast a shadow of fear across our community... But when an enormous dragon from outer space threatened to annihilate our planet, it was the Iron Man who valiantly came to our rescue.

These dramatic events from Ted Hughes' modern-day fairytale were acted out at Millennium Plain, Norwich by the Graeae Theatre Company which is an organisation composed of artists and managers with physical and sensory disabilities. This production was adapted by Paul Sirett.

On Friday evening we were all enchanted by this magical show as the Iron Man travelled to Australia to challenge the Dragon from outer space to a test of strength to save the world. Another magical event at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

The Iron Man towered above Millennium Plain and became a superhero in the process. The deaf and disabled ensemble put on a brilliant show which stirred all the emotions of both young and old. The dragon from outer space is now singing songs of peace across the Universe.

The Wolves put on a spectacular show

The Wolves making their way down Gentleman's
Walk thrilling us with a spectacular show 

After the concert at St. Andrew's Hall on Saturday I made the short walk up to Millennium Plain to experience the excitement of Deabru Beltzak's The Wolves. Street Theatre at it's best on the streets of The Fine City for the Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2011.

This is a reworking of the Pied Piper of Hamelin featuring huge mechanical puppets with amazing special effects. This time it's a pianist who with their music rids a town of wolves. When the town forgets it's obligations the pianist takes revenge on the town by returning the wolves spreading chaos and ruin.

This was a spectacular show that thrilled the large crowd that followed the wolves from The Forum down Gentleman's Walk and back again. I must admit it was scary but very enjoyable. There was an adrenaline rush as we chased after the pianist and the wolves. A night that Norwich city centre will never forget.

Saxophone Massive Festival Launch!

Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2011 launched by
Andy Sheppard's Saxophone Massive

The Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2011 is finally here with the Festival launch from Andy Sheppard's Saxophone Massive. Millennium Plain outside The Forum was packed with hundreds of people to witness this extraordinary event.

More then two hundred saxophonists from across Norfolk led by Andy Sheppard gave an amazing performance that thrilled us all in the packed crowd. It was very loud as Norwich city centre danced to the sounds of Jazz.

There was a a great atmosphere and a party vibe in the air. What a brilliant sight, with the saxophonists playing in the shadow of the St. Peter Mancroft Church. A fantastic start to the Festival with another two weeks of amazing events to look forward to. The Norfolk and Norwich Festival is up and running in great style.

The bells are ringing out at St Peter Mancroft

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St Peter Mancroft Church, Norwich

As I stand on the steps outside The Forum the air is suddenly full of the sound of fourteen pealing Whitechapel bells. I look across to St Peter Mancroft Church standing majestic in the City Centre towering above Norwich Marketplace and Gentleman's Walk.

Full of beautiful stained glass windows gleaming in the Sun. Mancroft is Latin for a great open space recalling The Normans positioning of the Market in medieval times many Centuries ago. The church is dedicated to both St Peter and St Paul with their symbols appearing on either side of the porch door.

I stroll down to the statue of Sir Thomas Browne surrounded by a marble eye and brain. It's time for lunch so I take my seat and take a bite out of my tuna sandwiches.

Norwich Autumn Reflections

Just yesterday the Sun was shining but today it's raining and dull. All the crowds with their brightly coloured clothes outside the Forum are covered up in over coats. Summer is over with normality returning to the streets of Norwich. Where have all the smiling faces gone along with all the balloon and ice cream sellers? Everyone has returned to Work, School or College. No more fun until the weekend when we can all come out to play.

Bright blue skies are replaced with black clouds but we still dream of brightly coloured rainbows over the Cathedral and Pulls Ferry. You can hear the wind blowing down Tombland as people shelter from the pouring rain. Pizza and chips are replaced by sandwiches for lunch. That pint of ale is now a mineral water. Walk down Guildhall Hill with umbrella in hand rushing to avoid the raindrops.

You can bet your bottom dollar that the Sun will come out tomorrow. The streets will again be full of happy smiling faces bringing life and colour to Gentleman's Walk. Glasses of cider and ploughman lunches will be back on the menu. We will all be dancing again in Chapelfield Gardens.