Collaboration with 154 Collective
I have been a part of 154 Collective since 2015 creating various projects, productions and events as a composer, musician and performer.
154 Collective is a Bradford based, multi artform group, who work with a diverse & international pool of artists including Theatre Makers, Performers, Painters, Writers, Photographers, Animators, Dancers & Musicians. We create work in an array of artforms including theatre, exhibitions, publications, music albums & public art, and where possible create single projects that can be experienced across a number of platforms encouraging cross-artform experimentation and appreciation in audiences.
We seek to tell intimate stories, that explore universal themes and the human condition, from unusual & thoughtful perspectives; as well as exploring how the collaboration of artists & artforms can influence process & presentation. www.154collective.co.uk
“154 Collective are one of the most amazing groups of artists I have come across – each member is hugely talented in their own right, as their solo work demonstrates, but the work really comes alive when they collaborate. I don’t know of any other collectives that have quite the ambition, nor proven methods, of collaborating across so many artforms”
Annabel Turpin, Chief Executive & Artistic Director – ARC Stockton
“What struck me most about 154 Collective is their unique process of collaboration with a number of artists across many disciplines, culminating in an entirely distinctive work.”
Bryony Shanahan, Co-Artistic Director – Royal Exchange Theatre
Projects:
The Incarceration of Nellie Bly (development planned for 2020)
Our next planned multi artform production for midscale venues, charting the true story of the pioneer of investigative journalism, Nellie Bly. The work will combine live performance, film, animation, virtual reality media and original music performed by an onstage band. It will be a feast for the senses that is at turns cinematic and epic, raw and intimate and poetic and beautiful.
Short animation and music test sequence:
Wrestling the Walrus
Hodgkiss Award Winner and a Co-Production with Royal Exchange Theatre. Wrestling the Walrus is an exploration of care, living with dementia and shared history.
“Attention to detail that’s painstakingly accomplished here in a playful and unconventional manner” The Reviews Hub
“Boldness and invention” The Guardian
Watch the trailer here:
Listen to the songs from the Production:
July 2019: Ten date run at Royal Exchange Manchester then transferred to ARC Stockton and The Yard London.
The Musical Botanist
The Musical Botanist is a magical, interactive installation, suitable for families and people of all ages; inviting them to create music in a collection of singing plants, simply by touching the leaves or flowers.
The installation can be open to the public throughout the day and will have a variety of different potted plants, all of which are connected (using copper cabling and wire) to Bare Conductive circuit boards. These circuit boards have a series of different sounds, musical loops and melodies programmed into them. When someone touches a plant this triggers the corresponding sound of the circuit board, that can then be heard through the PA system.
Originally commissioned by Bradford Festival.
Available for touring to outdoor and indoor festivals and events
Gargoyles of Selby
For the duration of the inaugural Selby Arts Festival 154 Collective were given the keys to a disused shop in the centre of the town – and tasked with filling it with artwork co-created with festival goers about the unique heritage of Selby. Inspired by the intricate gargoyles that adorn much of the architecture we worked with local people to create an entire album of songs, visual artworks, stories and animations that imagined modern-day versions of gargoyles that reflected the personalities of the people and identities of the area. Over 500 people visited the shop and contributed to the project.
Commissioned by Selby Arts Festival 2017
Under the Bed
Told using performance, music, live animation and film, Under the Bed is a compelling play about childhood trauma and what happens when nightmares are indistinguishable from reality.
“This is quiet simply the finest use of a child actor I have come across in some thirty years of reviewing” State of the Arts
“One of the most creative productions you are likely to see” The Reviews Hub
Watch the trailer for the show:
Listen to the music from the Production here
Co-commissioned by ARC Stockton and Theatre in the Mill Bradford
Toured nationally autumn 2015 and 2016
Hayley Youell 