The Chronicles of Rothwell
Rothwell Temperance Band is collaborating with critically acclaimed sound artist and audio producer Verity Watts in celebration of the band's colourful history. Verity is a former BBC radio producer, the founder of an award winning knitting brand and a hugely successful DJ. Verity approached Rothwell through its Musical Director, Dave Roberts with the idea of providing a story that links to "making an impact on the world around us" by showcasing "the artistic power of sound, music and words, combining them in a way that connects an audience even more deeply to the content."
Commenting on the project Dave stated, “I was just bowled over by her ideas, passion and artistic freshness. The amount of work that Verity had already done to put the flesh on the bones of her ideas was incredible and it was easy for us to come on board. This was about bringing our story to life in a very different way using so many separate artistic strands like animators, DJ links, images, film snippets, voices, press cuttings sound samples. Verity has brought all these and more together to create a uniquely powerful performance, not a concert, that celebrates the people, the music, the passion, the triumphs and the tragedies that have made Rothwell Temperance Band.”
Performed without a break, the arc of the 70-minute multi-genre, multi-media work chronicles the story of the band formed in 1881, the breakaway split in local temperance attitudes all the way through World Wars and contest battles to rise from the Fourth to Championship Section. The production is deliberately aimed at banishing outdated brass band stereotypes and the performance venues, organised by the 2023 Leeds Year of Culture, are in keeping with this message. The MD explained, "What Verity has produced will blow the stereotype socks off! I couldn't quite believe what she has done; the result is a spectacular piece of performance theatre that bubbles with energy and invention. Everyone is excited about it, so if you want to experience something different make sure you book a ticket. It will be brilliant and thought provoking."
Productions: The Chronicles of Rothwell Temperance Band
This Green Moon — Woodland Adventures
Saturday 2nd September
3.00pm
Swillington Organic Farm
Swillington
West Yorkshire
LS26 8QA
Brudenell Social Club
Friday 22nd September
8.00pm
33, Queens Road
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS6 1NY
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