To download a resource pack please visit Lighthouse Poole website
Valise
Noire Storytelling Theatre received a grant from the Heritage Lottery
Fund (HLF) for the project, Poppy Fields. Awarded through HLF’s
First World War: then and now programme, the project focuses on the
creation of thousands of poppies made out of paper and wire which
have been included in site specific performances and shown now as a
collection in this exhibition. The poppies have been created by
children from Cultural Hub schools, the public, care homes and youth
groups across Poole and Bournemouth. Performing Arts, The Arts
University Bournemouth and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
To
mark the Centenary of the First World War, Poppy Fields is enabling
local people in Poole and Bournemouth to come together to preserve
the memories and heritage of the people who lived through the First
World War.
The
Poppy Fields performances are contemporary interpretations inspired
by local stories from World War One, seen through the eyes of two
First World War nurses, performed by Michele O'Brien and Hazel Evans.
Research has been carried out at Poole and Dorset History Centres,
The Imperial War Museum London as well as uncovering local stories
first hand.
Sites
for performances have included the fallen trees near the War Memorial
in Poole Park, Green Park on Longfleet Road near Poole Hospital which
is built on the site of The Cornelia Hospital and Bournemouth Town
Hall which was formerly the Mont Dore Military Hospital. A three day
pilgrimage took place in the Summer of 2014 as a walking performance,
Michele and Hazel started at the Cordite Factory in Holton Heath at
dawn and continued to visit numerous heritage sites in Poole,
including War Memorials, churches, schools, parks and places of
significance during World War One. The performances have been a key
aspect of the project in order to disseminate local heritage stories
as an engaging and immersive experience for the audience.
Poppy
Fields is a Valise Noire project In partnership with The Heritage
Lottery Fund, Bournemouth and Poole Cultural Hub, Borough of Poole,
Lighthouse Poole’s Centre for the Arts, Wave Arts Education Agency,
Activate Performing Arts, The Arts University Bournemouth and
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
We
would also like to express addition thanks to:
Sound:
Momo:tempo sound design for the performances
Photographic
Documentation: Sharon Gadellaa for documentation of the Pilgrimage,
Danika Westwood for documentation of site specific performances
Filming:
Hartley Woolf and Sebastian Wrigley for the Poole Park performance
Costumes:
Tom Murphy and Lucy Sammons from the Arts University Bournemouth
Family
Documentation and WW1 artefacts: Steve Limburn
Cultural
Hub Schools: Ad Astra First, Bethany and St Clement's Bournemouth,
Bishop Of Winchester, Canford Heath Infants, Canford Heath Junior,
Haymoor Junior, Heathlands, St Luke's, Poole High.
Poole
and Bournemouth Libraries
Poole
Museum and History Centre
Borough
of Poole Culture and Community Learning Team
Lewis
Manning Hospice
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