Community / Outreach

MAINSTREAMING BENGALI DRAMA AND PLAYWRIGHTS:

 

Challenges and Opportunities Explored

 

A Brick Lane Circle Seminar as part of a season of Bangla Drama

The Live Literature Company has a strong relationship with the Brick Lane Circle community. In 2011, Val was invited to the Brick Lane Circle for the above seminar. She presented the evening with Mukul Ahmed. Both spoke about their work staging Bengali drama.

 

Above (left to right): actors Noah Brooks and Harmarge Singh Kalirai who both performed in Val’s staging of Rabindranath Tagore’s The Post Office.

FROM ESTATE TO PARK 2016

 

“a garden for the gardenless” – Sir Sydney Waterlow

 

In celebration of the 125th anniversary of Sir Sydney Waterlow gifting his private estate (now recognised as Waterlow Park) to the general public, Val staged a short historical play From Estate to Park in the park itself. The performance featured the Pearly Queen of London’s East End announcing the gifting of the park. Far left (from left to right): Richard Roques (who played Sir John Lubbock, Chairman of the London County Council); Val Doulton; and Derek Howard (who played Sir Sydney Waterlow). Behind the group is a statue of Sir Syndey Waterlow where Waterlow’s gifting words are inscribed “A garden for the gardenless”. Right: Dermot Taylor (who played sculptor Frank Taubman) with Val in front of Taubman’s statue of Sir Sydney Waterlow. Dermot studied Acting for many years in Val’s Shakespeare Performance group.

 

 

L.L.C.’s OUTREACH IN U.K. COMMUNITIES.

2013 & 2014 THE WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE – Performances of War Poetry & Music – A performance piece based on the 7 parts of In Parenthesis by David Jones devised & directed by Val Doulton. In Parenthesis is a piece of literature embedded in Welsh culture. (See under Guernica on the website for more details).

THE BATH LITERATURE FESTIVAL & HAWORTH, YORKSHIRE

– Performances of L.L.C.’s Bronte production Charlotte, Emily & Anne a play by Douglas Verrall.

FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

In 2013, Val staged a performance from The Book of Thel by William Blake, in which he envisions the connection of the whole of creation. This was performed by actors Yvonne Bonnamy, Laura Carey and Catherine Harvey on London’s Open Garden Squares weekend.

 

This was an incredibly important performance for The Live Literature Company because it marked the company’s longstanding dedication to highlighting climate change as one of the most prominent issues we are currently facing as a global community of people. Andy Atkins, Director of Friends of the Earth gave valuable support to Val in writing:

 

“I do believe we need to link the arts and sciences in a much more concerted push for sustainability urgently. All power to you!”

 

This performance was followed by the company’s annual summer party, which was held in the conservatory of the kitchen garden at Lauderdale House; we shared tea listening to the fabulous Two For Tea Music, sung by Wendy Morgan.

BURDETT COUTTS AT HOME 2006

Burdett Coutts At Home is a short play based on the life of the nineteenth century British philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts. Performances were held at The Holly Lodge Estate Community Centre in London. This was followed by a scrumptious Victorian tea! Burdett Coutts At Home was written by Penny Dimond, Lisa Rose, and June Rose and directed by Valerie Doulton for the local community.



Above (from left to right): the curtain call with Penny Dimond, Anna Tymoshenko, and Val Doulton.

Back centre: Yvonne Bonnamy as Queen Victoria. 

Watching the performance of The Tempest by The Live Literature Company was a truly magical experience for my daughter. She was studying the play at school, but it was this performance that brought the story to life. The cast conveyed the meaning of the play so beautifully. If you get the opportunity to see a performance by The Live Literature Company do not hesitate – particularly if you are studying Shakespeare at school. (Cordelia Brown).

• June 2025 As You Like It with Shakespeare’s Sonnets (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) a recital performed at St. Anne’s Church, Highgate, by Niagara University drama students.

• June 2024 A Midsummer Night’s Dream in One Hour (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) a recital performed at St. Anne’s Church, Highgate, by Niagara University drama students.

• June 2023 As You Like It with Songs in One Hour (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) play performed by Niagara University drama students on the tea lawn at Lauderdale House, Highgate, & Salcombe, Devon.

• June 2019 A Midsummer Night’s Dream in One Hour (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) play performed by Niagara University drama students on the tea lawn at Lauderdale House, Highgate, performed by Niagara University drama students on the tea lawn at Lauderdale House, Highgate, & Salcombe, Devon.

• June 2018 Love Scenes from As You Like It with Songs in One Hour (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) performed by Niagara University drama students on the tea lawn at Lauderdale House, Highgate, Hall’s Croft garden Stratford-upon-Avon, Woodcot garden, Salcombe, Devon.

• June 2017 Much Ado About Nothing in One Hour (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) performed by Niagara University drama students on the tea lawn at Lauderdale House, Highgate, Hall’s Croft garden Stratford-upon-Avon, Woodcot garden, Salcombe, Devon.

• June 2016 & 2014 The Tempest in One Hour: A Climate Change Concept: (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) performed by Niagara University drama students in the garden at Hall’s Croft garden Stratford-upon-Avon.

• June 2015 Twelfth Night in One Hour (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) performed by Niagara University drama students at Hall’s Croft garden Stratford-upon-Avon, Woodcot garden, Salcombe, Devon.

• Shakespeare’s Henry V111 with a special focus on Anne Boleyn (adaptation & direction by Val Doulton) performed by Niagara University drama students at The Tower of London.