ARTIST STATEMENT 

With a special interest in using creativity to empower us, my focus is on bringing theatre and performance, including music and song, to small towns and rural communities throughout Wales. I share stories, poetry, song and plays (original, or the work of other writers), with audiences of all backgrounds but especially those with limited access to the Arts, inviting Community Audiences to create performance with me, in the hope that they will feel enriched, engaged and inspired.

 

I work across all sectors, having produced work for large scale outdoor performance with Walk the Plank in the Conwy Valley to small independant Theatre as Writer and Director for Little Lights Theatre at the V&A Museum in London. 

 

Mae cyd-weithio gyda phobl sy'n siarad Cymraeg yn bwysif i mi. Fel dysgwr, rwy'n gwerthfawrogi pob cyfle i ymarfer fy Nghymraeg yn y gymyned.  

 

The Mermaid's Purse & Other Stories in Rhyme Island Schools Programme 

Funded by the Holy Island Landscape Partnership, this programme explores new writing for children, in a book jointly published by the Uiversity of Wales and Ports, Past & Present. 

Anglesey Bard - The Public Map Platform 

Funded by a major Arts & Humanities Research Board grant, this project, led by The University of Cambridge, seeks to discover the ways in which Children and Young People view the island of Anglesey and their hopes for it's future. Reserach outcomes will be shared with Welsh Government to inform Wellbeing of Future Generations policy. Bardic approaches have been the implementaion of Creative Methods to to 'hear' the Children & Young People, through reflecting on live performance related to local Folklore & Mythology, place based poetry and the land itself. This has taken many forms, from creating shadow puppet stories together to performance poetry, and will culminate in a new Myth for Anglesey co-created by every child who has taken part.     .

Creative Practitioner in Residence - The Centre for Arthurian Studies, Bangor University

Home is Where the Legends Are is an internationally significant approach to sharing the stories of King Arthur which invites community groups to engage with the stories and reflect on them in terms of their own personal quests and their roots. The project has worked in dimentia care settings and schools, culminating in performance work at Pontio Centre for the Arts, Bangor. 

Creative Practitioner: Lead Creative Schools for Arts Council of Wales

Using Drama Practice, Storytelling and Creative Writing, I regularly work with various Schools in the North Wales region to implement Curriculum Reform with an embedded creative approach, helping to inspire pedagogical change in Teaching & Learning for teachers and pupils. 

Writer & Performer: Golau Gaef | Winter Light for Walk the Plank

As the main writer (and lyricist) on this major Outdoor Arts experience, the vision was to tell the story of the Conwy Mermaid, but it imagines her meeting the many other mythological chracters from the tales associated with the Conwy Valley, including the illuminated Ychan Bannog, the Afanc and other creatures. Essentially a comment on the way humans interact with nature, the story, which uses Dance, Song, Spectacle and Circus, attracted thousands of audience members during large scales events in Llandudno town centre and an outdoor tour of Conay Valley towns during Covid restrictions. The button below takes you to a telling of the story online. 

Creative Practitioner: Dyffryn Dyfodol for Ffiwsar

As part of this project, which explored pedagogical approaches to creativity and the way socially engaged practice might impact the future of the Conwy Valley, I worked with a group of volunteers from The Snowdonia Society to tell their story surrounding invasive species. The resulting Podcast can be heard via the link. 

 

 

Contemporary Cyfarwydd: Mycelium Storytelling Hub for Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival 

Funded by the Arst Council of Wales' Connect & Flourish Fund, my role is as Contemporary Cyfarwydd, collecting and reshaping the Stories of Ynys Môn

Writer & Performer: Ports, Past & Present / Porthladdoedd, Ddoe a Heddiw 

Writer & Performer for the 'Creative Connections' Strand.

Funded by The European Regional Development fund through the Ireland Wales  Cooperation programme, PPP is a collaborative partnership between University College Cork, The University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth University and Wexford County Council. Click below and scroll down to see and hear creative responses to Port Life in North Wales.

Writer & Director: Llwybr Dychmygu / Imagine Trail for TAPE Music & Film 

Creative Writing & Performance with the community to produce content for an Augmented Reality App, which is to celebrate the history and culture of Colwyn Bay and the surrounding area. Radio Play, Podcast, Poetry. 

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© Gillian Brownson