069 Night Owl Adventures - Workshop and Walk : Donna Allen, Catherine Chapman, Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah

Artspace, Leeds Art Gallery, LS1 3AB
18:30 - 20:30

Owl (Hi)story Telling Tours: In front of Leeds Art Gallery

20.30 and 21.30

Become a night owl by creating a piece of feathery costume in the Leeds Art Gallery with costume artists Catherine Chapman and Donna Allen. Then go on a (hi)story telling tour with the Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah and discover more owl fellows in the architecture around Leeds Civic Quarter. Spread your wings and enjoy a bit of local history - for more, visit www.leedsowltrail.com

I am the Artistic Director of The Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah and I am preparing myself to take on the role of Owl Guide on Light Night. I will be taking three groups around the city on Friday 9th October following a section of the Owl Trail. The first group will be children from Berwick in Elmete Primary School who will have worked with the owl team to research heraldry. Theses sessions will inspire designs for their own owls which they will display on themselves as we walk around the city spotting these night hunters. They will also bring owl lanterns with them to light up our way. As the night closes in and the moon comes out I will be inviting adults and children from the general public to join me on two further owl spotting journeys. 

I am approaching the task of Owl Guide as I would for any play that we create for an audience at Blah Blah Blah. The first thing to do is jump into the world of owls by reading about them, looking at pictures, finding stories and poems and maybe even seeing a real owl. I call this approach "Immersion" because once you start to delve into a subject it begins to affect the way you see things, so in this instance I begin to see owls everywhere. Once I am in "Owldom" then my job as an actor is to invite you, the audience into it as well. My task has been made easier for me by the Owl Team who have created the wonderful Owl Trail which is a great tool for seeing Leeds City Centre not just as a shopping centre but as a mass of perching places for owls. "At 7pm the last of the bargain hunters leave the city centre clearing the way for the hunters of the night". I may use that line for the script I need to write and I will have to start putting my costume together and work out the route to take. So if you are out and about in Leeds on Night Light please join me on one of the Owl Trails.

If you want to find out more about Theatre Company Blah Blah Blah then go on our web site www.blahs.co.uk

Here is part of a poem I found which will make a great start to the beginning of our Owl Trail

Some children crept up
To the branch of the tree
And they were as quiet
As quiet could be.
Said the wise old owl
"Too wooh! To wooh!
Then up jumped the children
And away they flew!