OpenMind Festival Day 2 (poetry) interview
Day 2 of the OpenMind Festival of Independent Artists will be a poetry special.
Here is the press release/interview I provided to Greenroom to promote the event.
If you'd like to ask me any questions about the weekend, the day 2 event or the Infinite Perspectives theatre piece then feel free to do so here and you can all interview me and I'll respond to your questions.
Best wishes,
Ushiku "Indigo" Crisafulli.
OpenMind Collective will be celebrating their 1 year anniversary as a company in style with a special weekend festival – the OpenMind Festival of Independent Artists.
Ushiku Crisafulli wrote a play between October 2009 and January 2010 called ‘Infinite Perspectives’ and his goal was always to perform the piece as part of his own company. He workshopped the piece at the inaugural OpenMind at Earth Cafe in August 2010, and in the past year it has been developed further.
The premise of the piece is that a man named Silver creates a reality manipulation device called the QiiQ. However “with great power, comes great responsibility” and the power of the universe in one man’s hands is definitely a contentious one with so many world views out there – but to Silver that’s all part of the chaos.
He encounters a young man named Indigo, a friendly but troubled fellow who believes in peace whilst acknowledging the darkness within his own heart.
An esoteric spiritualist Russian who lost his family in the battle of Stalingrad, Yuri connects to the power of the QiiQ via quantum meditation – and wishes to use the power of the QiiQ to halt Nazi aggression and establish a global Communist empire.
With each man’s utopia being another man’s dystopia – whose vision will be the one perspective that sets itself out against the onslaught of Infinity?
Since December 2010 Ushiku has been working with artists nationwide on producing a festival of independent artistry, and OpenMind are proud to announce the OpenMind Festival of Independent Artists.
The festival will take place in 3 venues on 3 different days, with 3 alternate endings being shown on different days of the festival to add a unique experience for the audience on each day, as no performance will be the same. The festival is running from Thursday 11th August to Saturday 13th August which is OpenMind’s official 1 year birthday.
On Friday 12th August OpenMind festival comes to Greenroom with an evening of poetry and performance.
The following poets will be participating in the festival:
Anna McCrory: A young woman who quickly made a huge impression on the Manchester poetry scene before moving to Oxford for University. She’ll be showing just how and why she made such a positive impression so quickly with some witty poetic words – ‘poeming’ as she calls it.
Anna Percy: A talented poet who has performed nationally, she has a strong feminist voice and runs a regular women’s poetry event ‘Stirred’ on a monthly basis.
Josh Coates: A poet who founded ‘Poetry Picnic’ last year which quickly became a showcase for emerging young poets alongside some more experienced poets in a chilled out setting. He’s not afraid to discuss controversial subject matters but does so in a poignant manner.
David Viney: A powerful poet whose words are deep and impactful, if you’ve heard David Viney before you know you’re in for a treat.
GrIm: A Hertfordshire based poet whose poems often have an edgy hip-hop feel, inspired by artists such as Scroobius Pip. He’s not afraid to approach strong subject matters and does so with raw energy and potency.
Cathy Bryant: A brilliant published poet whose poems like her book contain ‘Strong Language and Scenes of a Sexual Nature’, she’s playful, poetic and philosophical.
Rod Tame: Often confused with ‘The Doctor’, Rod’s words will take you on a journey through time and space in poetic verse.
Chris Dommett: A very impressive poet with a strong commitment to his craft – how can one condense ‘A Year of Words’ into one sublime story? I don’t know, you’d have to ask him, but he does it brilliantly.
Dominic Berry: Author of ‘Tomorrow I Will Go Dancing’, this diverse poet loves all things magical and will spellbound you with his poetic verse.
Benny-jo Zahl: This man doesn’t do generic love poems, or so he says with a cheeky smile before laying one down satirically. Whether it’s humorous pieces or true, human and deep pieces you’re after – this man has a poem to cater to many forms and emotions.
Yusra Warsama: An accomplished actress and poet, Yusra fuses her cultural identity as a British Muslim alongside a uniquely visual and auditory style of poetic performance. She’s honest, talented and outspoken and will definitely leave audiences amazed.
The first performance starts at 6pm, with entry included as part of the weekend festival ticket or £6/4 on the door.
For more information, tickets and full listings for the festival please visit www.openmindfestival.eventbrite.com
Here is the press release/interview I provided to Greenroom to promote the event.
If you'd like to ask me any questions about the weekend, the day 2 event or the Infinite Perspectives theatre piece then feel free to do so here and you can all interview me and I'll respond to your questions.
Best wishes,
Ushiku "Indigo" Crisafulli.
OpenMind Collective will be celebrating their 1 year anniversary as a company in style with a special weekend festival – the OpenMind Festival of Independent Artists.
Ushiku Crisafulli wrote a play between October 2009 and January 2010 called ‘Infinite Perspectives’ and his goal was always to perform the piece as part of his own company. He workshopped the piece at the inaugural OpenMind at Earth Cafe in August 2010, and in the past year it has been developed further.
The premise of the piece is that a man named Silver creates a reality manipulation device called the QiiQ. However “with great power, comes great responsibility” and the power of the universe in one man’s hands is definitely a contentious one with so many world views out there – but to Silver that’s all part of the chaos.
He encounters a young man named Indigo, a friendly but troubled fellow who believes in peace whilst acknowledging the darkness within his own heart.
An esoteric spiritualist Russian who lost his family in the battle of Stalingrad, Yuri connects to the power of the QiiQ via quantum meditation – and wishes to use the power of the QiiQ to halt Nazi aggression and establish a global Communist empire.
With each man’s utopia being another man’s dystopia – whose vision will be the one perspective that sets itself out against the onslaught of Infinity?
Since December 2010 Ushiku has been working with artists nationwide on producing a festival of independent artistry, and OpenMind are proud to announce the OpenMind Festival of Independent Artists.
The festival will take place in 3 venues on 3 different days, with 3 alternate endings being shown on different days of the festival to add a unique experience for the audience on each day, as no performance will be the same. The festival is running from Thursday 11th August to Saturday 13th August which is OpenMind’s official 1 year birthday.
On Friday 12th August OpenMind festival comes to Greenroom with an evening of poetry and performance.
The following poets will be participating in the festival:
Anna McCrory: A young woman who quickly made a huge impression on the Manchester poetry scene before moving to Oxford for University. She’ll be showing just how and why she made such a positive impression so quickly with some witty poetic words – ‘poeming’ as she calls it.
Anna Percy: A talented poet who has performed nationally, she has a strong feminist voice and runs a regular women’s poetry event ‘Stirred’ on a monthly basis.
Josh Coates: A poet who founded ‘Poetry Picnic’ last year which quickly became a showcase for emerging young poets alongside some more experienced poets in a chilled out setting. He’s not afraid to discuss controversial subject matters but does so in a poignant manner.
David Viney: A powerful poet whose words are deep and impactful, if you’ve heard David Viney before you know you’re in for a treat.
GrIm: A Hertfordshire based poet whose poems often have an edgy hip-hop feel, inspired by artists such as Scroobius Pip. He’s not afraid to approach strong subject matters and does so with raw energy and potency.
Cathy Bryant: A brilliant published poet whose poems like her book contain ‘Strong Language and Scenes of a Sexual Nature’, she’s playful, poetic and philosophical.
Rod Tame: Often confused with ‘The Doctor’, Rod’s words will take you on a journey through time and space in poetic verse.
Chris Dommett: A very impressive poet with a strong commitment to his craft – how can one condense ‘A Year of Words’ into one sublime story? I don’t know, you’d have to ask him, but he does it brilliantly.
Dominic Berry: Author of ‘Tomorrow I Will Go Dancing’, this diverse poet loves all things magical and will spellbound you with his poetic verse.
Benny-jo Zahl: This man doesn’t do generic love poems, or so he says with a cheeky smile before laying one down satirically. Whether it’s humorous pieces or true, human and deep pieces you’re after – this man has a poem to cater to many forms and emotions.
Yusra Warsama: An accomplished actress and poet, Yusra fuses her cultural identity as a British Muslim alongside a uniquely visual and auditory style of poetic performance. She’s honest, talented and outspoken and will definitely leave audiences amazed.
The first performance starts at 6pm, with entry included as part of the weekend festival ticket or £6/4 on the door.
For more information, tickets and full listings for the festival please visit www.openmindfestival.eventbrite.com
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:52 am
For any like myself who are not familiar with this group, can I ask where it is taking place? Usually when an advertisement doesn't say where it is, I assume it is in London, but is this the case?
Ah, I see this all happened back in April. Still I am curious. I hope it was a good festival.
Ah, I see this all happened back in April. Still I am curious. I hope it was a good festival.
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:24 pm