Youth Thoughts
This space is curated and edited by the young people who attend our youth theatre. It is a digital platform for their thoughts, ideas and responses to art, politics and culture.
Amber- Page Moss
At 5:00 on Friday 10th, the sound of a drum echoed around Greenland Street. It was bitterly cold, but that wasn’t enough to stop a well-wrapped-up crowd gathering outside the CUC for a flashmob that both said goodbye to the centre and marked the start of the weekend’s Threshold Festival. Fortunately, the festival had still been able to go ahead, housed in other buildings around the Baltic Triangle. As one man began fire juggling, others laid flowers on the steps of the CUC, little patches of brightness in the grey February light. But isn’t that the Liverpool way? Through these hard times, the people and especially the artists of the city will carry on as best as they can, and if it happens that something beloved is lost thanks to the current economic climate, at least it won’t be allowed to fade away unnoticed.
Danny Fitzgerald
I’ve heard this song around but I never really took a detailed look at it and listened to the vocals and piano until now and I am shocked. Shocked that I didn’t listen to it earlier, it is very hard hitting song and sends the emotions rushing around your body, the song can be related to in many different ways. I believe that if we want to make a good song that is impacting, we need to hit the audience at the heart because then they will sit up and listen to our views and opinions.
If anyone else thinks an artist they know has an impact on many people and yourself, mention it.
Amber- Page Moss
Liverpool is a crucible of historic sites, no doubt about that. Maybe we don’t have any Roman ruins or Tudor castles, but we live in one of the greatest ports of the Industrial Revolution, something that undoubtedly left it’s mark. Take a walk along the docks and you can gaze at a dizzying mish-mash of eras and architectural styles to your hearts content, all listed, protected, proud. But would you look? Do you care? Stray just a little way down the road from the Albert Dock, and those buildings, though listed, become somewhat dilapidated. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not proposing we should break into what are most likely unsafe sites in the name of preservation. Groups like the Parisian UX are acting illegally, as admirable as their dedication to their city’s heritage is. There has to be a middle way, and it has to be something the public can be openly involved in.
Of course, the bureaucracy of conservation can easily become inconvenient. I have seen this first hand, since a few years ago my own workplace was desperate to repair it’s roof. Being a listed building, permission from the English Heritage was required. It took a whole year for the word from London to return, by which time the economic downturn had hit, the necessary funds were gone, the repairs have not been carried out. It seems the principle behind preservation has been somewhat twisted.
What is needed is something that will make the public take notice and truly care about the history around them, and not at the moment when cherished buildings come under the threat of wear or being knocked down, but always and every day. Theatre can play a huge part in this, and has already begun. I’ll always remember the first ever Collective Encounters production I saw, one which inspired me to join the youth theatre, that was based in an old warehouse which, I have heard, is sadly no longer standing. The Williamson’s Tunnels are also hosting events, such as ‘Dismembered Empire’ last October or Burjesta Theatre’s ‘Gathering Jack’ next month. With site-specific theatre bringing attention to the subtle beauty and mysteriousness of Liverpool’s many centuries-old sites, audiences can easily become supporters of our proud history. And so the extremes of the UX heroes in Paris won’t be needed here, because our streets will be filled with everyday heroes, all caring for the monuments of our heritage together.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/
Amber- Page Moss
On Thursday 8th December, the Anna Di Scala and Izzi O’Rourke exhibition at Parr Street 3345 was stormed by the cast of ‘Dismembered Empire’. At first, the revolutionaries within the Purple Hand were enjoying the freedom of expression conveyed through artwork in our non-Imperial world. However, they were soon followed by the sinister and oppressive Directorate, who were eager to take control of the audience and even tried to arrest the artists! Nevertheless, the protests of the Purple Hand put a stop to their wicked plans…Find out more www.dismemberedempire.org.uk
