Launch of Alex Pascalls musical dramaCommon threads
Common threads a musical drama celebratingthe shared histories and experience of oppression and diversity in the coal andsugar industries of South Wales and Grenada will have its first public performanceat the NUTs headquarters on Tuesday 15 April at 11.15 am.
Written and produced by Alex and DeirdrePascall of Good Vibes Records & Music Limited, the drama aims to increaseopportunities for imaginative learning as well as build pupils confidence,increase their powers of concentration and observation, and improve theircommunication skills.
In the audience on Tuesday will beBaroness Howells and Ms Ruth Rouse, the High Commissioner for Grenada. Bothoriginate from St Davids in Grenada where the plays sugar industry is set.
Performed by students from the Star TekSchool of Drama in Brent, Common Threads is set on a sugar cane plantation inGrenada and in a coal mine in South Wales. Its theme is the redemptive power oflove and resistance in the face of hardships and exploitation. The music is anuplifting, joyous fusion of styles and melodies from the Caribbean and theWelsh valleys.
Aimedat Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 of the National Curriculum, it is designed to providesources for teachers for lessons in linguistic and cultural diversity, musicappreciation, poetic forms, history, social geography and citizenship
Celia Burgess-Macey, lecturer in Primary andEarly Years Education, at Goldsmiths College: said, " The play will bemost useful within the new area of citizenship education, since it is bound toprompt debate about the diasporic experiences represented in children'sfamilies, communities and histories and to lead to discussion of identity anddiversity, respect for commonality and difference which are key themes incitizenship education".
In over 25 yearsof educational work in schools throughout the UK, Alex has constantlystriven to find creative means of using the diverse cultural,linguistic and social histories of the children in our schools to engagethem in the learning process. Common Threads is a product of thisexperience.
The work was commissioned as a play by Gwent Theatre in Monmouthshire,Wales. Between May and July 2001 it was performed in more than 30theatres, schools and community centres in South Wales and seen by over 12,000children and teachers. Since then the text has been extensively re-written andseven new songs added.
Allbut three of the songs in Common Threads, were composed and arranged by Alexand Deirdre Pascal. The lyrics were written by Alex, who has a matchlessknowledge and experience of Caribbean musical forms and styles. The music iscomposed by Deirdre, a multi-talented musician equally at ease withtraditional, popular and classical music.
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CommonThreads is published by Good Vibes Records and Music Ltd.
ISBN 0-9517036-2-5. The pack price of 65.00 includes play text, CD andworkbook. Items are also sold individually.
For further information contact: GVRM Ltd. Tel: 0870 240 4698; Email:GVRM@Email.com