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ART FOR ALL
(PLEASE NOTE: WALKING TIME ESTIMATES
COMPILED BY BITHI DAS).
LIST OF VENUES (AND DATED INSPECTED)
The Crypt (from 1997, ongoing)
Dick Collins Hall (2005, ongoing)
H-Pod (ongoing)
THE CRYPT
Munster Square
West Euston
1. Is this venue DDA compliant? i.e. is it up or down
a flight of stairs, with no access to a lift?
the Crypt is the crypt of a Victorain Church, so it is not fully DDA Compliant,
but it has reasonable access
(there is a steep flight of stairs down to Crypt, but there is also lift
access from left hand side of Church main entrance).
2. Is the loo accessible (and clean)?
men and women loos, all on same level as the Crypt and clean, with a disabled
stall in each.
3. What happens if there's a fire?
there are four exits to the outside well ,
which should provide enough protection
until the rescue services arrive
(the church is built of thick stone)
4. How far is it from Public transportation? Which
tube? Which bus?
TUBE: two streets (ten minute) walk up Osnaburgh Street
from Great Portland Street tube station
BUS: five minute walk from Albany Street bus stop
5. Does it get very, very hot in the summer?
no, but it sometimes gets cold in the winter!
(it's a Crypt!)
AND QUESTION
SIX:
How good is the performing
facility?
(- is there a formal stage, ease of access to stage, acoustics, sight lines,
lighting, electrical outlets, number in audience, formal bar, any other noise
issues that annoy the neighbours ... etc.?)
Access to stage is
excellent (stage area is on same level as audience). Acoustics are reasonable
, with a polite audience (although if anyone else is talking, the noise carries
and intereferes with the performance). Sight lines in the double-room stage
are reasonably good, although all the audience chairs are on one level.
Performers must remember to frame their performance in the open double doors,
or the audience vision will be blocked. Lighting facilities are very basic.
Electrical outlets by the first bay of the cafe room, outlets on the right
hand-side, immediately by the door at the back of the double-room stage,
and two outlets on the right hand side of the first room. the Crypt holds
60 people comfortably, with restricted view for a further 20, oif the doors
to the Cafe are opened as well,
DICK COLLINS HALL
Cumberland Market
West Euston
1. Is this venue DDA compliant? i.e. is it up or down a flight
of stairs, with no access to a
lift?
This community Centre is very easy to access, although it is built up a slight
slope, it is a modern building, and has a
ramp.
2. Is the loo easily
accessible from the performing space (and
clean)?
Reasonably accessible, but they are down a long narrow corridor, which gets
congested.
The toilets are modern and beautifully
maintained.
3. What happens if there's a
fire?
There is double door access to the street, at the Main entrance, on
ground
level.
4. How far is it from Public transportation?
Which tube? Which
bus?
Dick Collins Hall is a little difficult to reach, by public transport (most
community based shows mean people come from the neighbourhood, rather than
travelling specifically to come to the Dick Collins Hall). Nearest tube:
Great Protland Street ( a 15 minute walk), nearest bus stop on Albany Street
(or a ten minute walk from Hampstead Road).
5.
Does it get very, very hot in the summer or cold in
winter?
Reasonable temperature throughout the year (and a built-in bar at the
back to warm you artificially, if you get
cold)
AND QUESTION
SIX:
How good is the performing
facility?
(- is there a formal stage, ease of access to stage, acoustics, sight lines,
lighting, electrical outlets, number in audience, formal bar, any other noise
issues that annoy the neighbours ...
etc.?)
There is a formal raised stage, but it is up a short flight of stairs, so
it is not suitable for disabled performers. The acoustics are fine, with
or without a sound system, the sight lines are excellent, and the electrical
outlets are readily available, on the floor along the walls, at regular
intervals, covered with safety brass plates. Dick Collins Hall is a proper
community hall, and it holds 80-100 people comfortably.
H-POD
Cumberland Market Square
1. Is this venue DDA compliant? i.e. is it up or down a flight
of stairs, with no access to a
lift?
This is a modern building, used by the West Euston Partnership for activities
and built in 2007 specifically for Health and Culture projects. It is all
on one level. Its accessibility rating is
excellent.
2. Is the loo easily
accessible from the performing space (and
clean)?
There are two sets of loos - one down a inside corridor, but the other is
accessible from the generous entrance-way. Both are well-maintained, clean
and
modern.
3. What happens if there's a
fire?
There are two exits, in opposite sides of the building (north and south).
The south exit consists of an entire wall of glass doors which can be pulled
back, to create one
exit.
4. How far is it from Public transportation?
Which tube? Which bus?
As with Dick Collins Hall, the H-Pod is a little difficult to reach,
by public transport (most activities are community-based, which mean people
come from the neighbourhood, rather than travelling specifically to come
to the H-Pod). Nearest tube: Great Protland Street ( a 15 minute walk), nearest
bus stop on Albany Street =, a five minute walk (or a ten minute walk from
a bus stop on Hampstead Road).
5.
Does it get very, very hot in the
summer?
No (the south-facing glass doors can be opened completely in
summer.
AND QUESTION
SIX:
How good is the performing
facility?
(- is there a formal stage, ease of access to stage, acoustics, sight lines,
lighting, electrical outlets, number in audience, formal bar, any other noise
issues that annoy the neighbours ... etc.?)
There is no formal stage, so the
natural performing area is facing the audience (the backdrop is the south
facing glass doors). The acoustics are bad in the H-Pod, if there is
a room full of poople who want to talk when people are performing. The sight
lines are excellent because the audience space only. There is no formal lighting.
If you are planning to record anything, take a battery-operated unit. There
is only one available electrical plug which is on the west wall of the room,
by the south facing doors (unless the performer is using a sound system -
then there is none). The H-Pod holds 30-40 people comfortably. SUGGESTION:
if you have more people than comfortably fit in the room, and you have an
afternoon reading in pleasant weather, suggest they move the audience chairs
outside to the surrounding Cumberland Square Park.
The Poetry Café
Poetry Society
Betterton Street (National Poetry Day 2005, Climate Change Conference and
Reading 2007).
1. Is this venue DDA compliant? i.e. is it up or down a flight
of stairs, with no access to a
lift?
There may be a lift, although the poets weren't offered it by new economics
foundations, which organised both readings. The readings are held in the
basement, down a steep flight of
stairs.
2. Is the loo easily
accessible from the performing space (and
clean)?
There are loos are on the same level as the reading space. They seem
cramped.
3. What happens if there's a
fire?
Since disabled people can't access the space easily, it will simply be up
to the audience to exit quietly and politely up the narrow flight of stairs
- or
not.
4. How far is it from Public transportation?
Which tube? Which bus?
The
Poetry
Café
is difficult
to access without taking a taxi, if you have any walking difficulties. The
closest tube isn't very close (it seems to be between Covent Garden, Holborn
and Tottenham Court Road and the closest bus would be New Oxford Street,
which is some streets
away.
5. Does it get very, very hot in the
summer?
It's very hot at any time two or more poets are gathered together.
AND QUESTION SIX:
How good is
the performing facility?
(- is there a formal stage, ease of access to stage, acoustics, sight lines,
lighting, electrical outlets, number in audience, formal bar, any other noise
issues that annoy the neighbours ...
etc.?)
Let's be honest. Some Poetry Venues are difficult to access (Thr Troubadour,
Pentameters Theatre, for instance, but the work is wonderful).
The Poetry
Café
reading space in the basement is a disaster, but everyone loves to
read there, if they can. It's an honour to be part of the Poetry Society's
history. There is no formal stage, the performing space is very small, the
acoustics are rubbish, the sight lines are bad, the basement room is long
and narrow, there are no obvious electrical outlets, the audience numbers
about 30, and there are serious noise issues if you go outside during the
break, because the hard surfaces from the street create a whispering gallery
effect which means you annoy the neighbours when you talk in the street.
However, it is the Poetry Cafe, and an honour to read there and
the cafe/bar Café. Wonderful poets have read there since the Poetry
Society moved to Betterton Street from Earl's Court (poets read in
the basement, when they can get down to it, and on ground level, when they
can't, and poetry pilots such as Kim Morrissey's RHYMES WITH ORANGE are taped
in the meeting rooms above).
RHYMES WITH ORANGE was the 1996 BBC Radio 4 pilot poetry quiz show I devised,
taped before a live audience at the Poetry Society, moderated by Nerys Hughes,
with Carol Anne Duffy, Elaine Feinstein, Roger McGough, and E.J. Thribb (a.k.a.
Barry Fantoni) as panellists; the reader for poetry quiz questions was
Cahal Dalat, and the POSTCARD POEMS winners in the pilot were Michael Donaghy
and Brenda Niskala (selected by the panellists from 20 anonymous
poems written on postcards - other writers who generously wrote original
postcard poems for the pilot show included the much loved WeekEnding political
satirist Ivan Shakespeare (if the show had been commissioned as a series,
listeners could have sent in their own postcard poems). -- Kim
Morrissey
This project isn't just about
the Purple
Poets. |
BOOK EXCHANGE POSTER |
Poetry Workshops were funded in 2004 - 2006 by
the Arts Council, the Carnegie Trust, Time Banks UK
and The New Economics Foundation, as part of a London Poetry Project
with 13 Time Banks in London. The West Euston Time Bank sponsored The Purple
Poets 2005-2010, and the founding members of the Purple Poets are also active
members of the Third Age Project.
10.10.2010. |
Values
1. We treat people as assets.
We support the positive actions people can
and want to do for their community.
2. We are re-defining work
Regardless of the task,
everyone's time is valued equally
we value whatever it takes to make
neighbourhoods safe and vibrant.
3.We reciprocate.
We require that everyone gives something back
ensuring all in our society have the opportunity
to be involved in their community.
4. We support the development of social networks.
These require ongoing investments of social capital
generated by trust, reciprocity and civic engagement.
think purple! think poets!
Bloomsbury Time Bank
The Purple Poets
contact Ferdous Rahman
rahmanferdous AT hotmail.co.uk
mailing address: The Purple Poets
c/o Flat 18 Chenies Street Chambers
Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7ET
workshop leader: Kim Morrissey
with thanks to all the members of the Third Age Project
The Third Age Project TADs 2009 Christmas Show, The Wizard of Oz
with Purple Poets Jean Watt, Eileen Frances and Bithi Das.
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updated 10.10 2010
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