The Creative Space

” The Beaches of St Valery” which opened to four star reviews at Oran Mor in March will  be touring next year to venues all over Scotland. The play tells the epic story of a young Scottish Soldier of the 51st Highland Division.

The play debunks the “miracle” of Dunkirk, and tells the tale of the 9,000 Scottish Soldiers sacrificed by Churchill in a secret deal with De Gaulle. For them there was no way home. For them there were no little ships. For them there was only St Valery-en-Caux, surrender, and four years incarceration .

But a few of them escaped . We  follow one of them , 18 year old Private Callum Chisholm  as he ages from a raw recruit in the 4th Cameron Highlanders  in 1938, to a war-weary officer on the Rhine in 1945.

He suffers defeat, surrender,  escape, and a hollow victory, as the juggernaut of war rumbles on. But through the horrors of war, Callum finds  and then loses  the love of his life, Catriona. “The Beaches Of St Valery”  is Callum and Catriona’s story. 

Watch this space for details.

Major General Victor Fortune Surrenders to General Erwin Rommel at St Valery ©Imperial War Museum

Four Star Reviews for “The Beaches Of St Valery”

An article by Joyce McMillan in “The Scotsman.”

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/theatre/theatre-the-playwrights-shining-a-light-on-the-forgotten-corners-of-history-1-4430456

Joyce McMillan in “The Scotsman”

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews-the-beaches-of-st-valery-transit-la-cage-aux-folles-1-4389166

Mary Brennan in “The Herald”

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15137093.Theatre_review__The_Beaches_of_St_Valery__Oran_Mor__Glasgow/

David G. Moffat for “Mumble Theatre”

https://mumbletheatre.net/

Very pleased to announce that “The Beaches Of St Valery” which will open at Oran Mor on Monday 6th of March  is now cast.

Ron Donnachie will be playing the role of Captain Callum Chisholm of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders.

The part of Young Callum will be played by James Rottger. 

Catriona will be played by Ashley Smith. “The Beaches Of St Valery” At Oran Mor

Full details of the play and booking details can be found HERE

I’ll be appearing at the Scottish Screenwriters Christmas get together  talking about  writing for stage and screen at the CCA in Glasgow. See their website for details. http://scottishscreenwriters.ning.com/

See you there.

Come  along to an evening at The Tron Theatre Victorian Bar on Tuesday 10th of November at 7pm to find out more about becoming a Tron 100 member for 2016.

After a successful exciting first year, The Tron 100 club is now open for applications for 2016.http://www.tron.co.uk/creatives/creatives/100club/.

The event on the 10th will allow you to meet current Tron 100 members, network and find out more what the Tron 100 has to offer before applying. To attend this event please email lisa.nicoll@tron.co.uk by Friday 6th of November.

TRON 100

Tron 100 is an artistic membership dedicated to developing and supporting artists in the areas of theatre, television and radio. Tron 100 Club offers industry workshops, networking events, panel discussions, dedicated artist led devising, writing and performance opportunities as well as access to discounted rehearsal space. Perhaps most importantly, Tron 100 offers a place to come together regularly to discuss, explore and develop new ideas with the wider artistic community with the support of the Tron Creative Team.

Open to professional actors, writers, directors and other creative roles, The Tron 100 focuses on listening to artists needs and wants in order to work alongside them helping provide opportunities which enhance and develop their chosen career path.

A carefully curated week of events, workshops, discussions and creative opportunities takes place in the building each month to Tron 100 members.

Our aim is to develop and enhance artistic relationships and opportunities in Scotland and further afield in the UK.

Examples of relationships that developed through Tron100 2015 include; Soho Theatre, The Royal Court, The Agency, Shepherd Management, BBC, Oran Mor, Traverse Theatre, Dundee Rep, Orla O’Connor Casting and with individuals such as Stephen Greenhorne, Nicola McCartney, David Leddy, Kai Fischer, Ben Harrison, Matthew Lenton, Charlie Westenra, Jimmy McGovern, David Blair and David Hayman. ( For a full list of all 2015 workshops go to The Tron Creative Page)

Further to this, in 2016 there will be a dedicated Tron 100 performance week which gives the opportunity for members to promote their work as an artist to a wider audience.

All this plus discounts in The Tron Bar and Kitchen and on theatre tickets! Full benefits can be found athttp://www.tron.co.uk/creatives/creatives/100club/.

Membership costs £100 for the year and this can be split over ten months so that it is manageable.

Application deadline for Tron 100 is the 30th of November.

Feedback From Current Tron 100 Members

The most important thing Tron 100 brings is support. A face in the industry to share your ideas with that is willing to lend a hand or point you in the right direction. Space to share and develop your skills. A meeting place where you feel you are welcome and belong, where you are not feeling judged by “what are you up to at the moment” but are asked “What do you want to do now and how can we help.” I genuinely think it is the best thing to happen to our community in years.

As an actor born, bred and based in Glasgow, I have never really been able to access the same sort of networking and learning opportunities as my London counterparts, so the Tron 100 Club is an incredibly welcome innovation.

The best art is often the product of collaboration, and encouraging artists to develop, both personally and professionally, within an inspiring artistic community such as the Tron 100 Club is a fantastic resource for artists at any stage in their career.

Sometimes working in theatre can be a lonely. Standing in front of closed doors, wondering how to get that door opened and then what to do if that door opens. The Tron Theatre has always led by example, producing brilliant and exciting work, as well as programming and supporting emerging artists. And now the Tron 100 wonderfully opens the doors to artists, opens the door to opportunities to learn, to network, to discover, to collaborate, to inspiration and to find who we are as artists.

Lisa Nicoll

Development Producer

Tron Theatre | 63 Trongate | Glasgow | G1 5HB

Direct Line: 0141 559 5304

Box Office 0141 552 4267

Online http://www.tron.co.uk

The BBC  Academy has been working in partnership with Birmingham university to create a fantastic training course, allowing staff to develop their storytelling skills in bitesized chunks.

Please apply if you are interested or forward the information from Ben Toone to anyone you think maybe interested in giving it a go.

Digital Storytelling: Filmmaking for the Web is The BBC Academy’s first online course on FutureLearn in collaboration with the University of Birmingham and Creative Skillset and we’d love you to join the course and hear your feedback.

The course goes into the filmmaking process from coming up with the idea through to research, filming, editing and sharing the film online. It mixes video and audio from The BBC Academy wrapped with academic theory and discussion provided by the University of Birmingham.

The course lasts for 4 weeks, starting on Monday 28^th September is all entirely online. If you’re interested you can sign up now for free and click to enrol on the course Digital Storytelling: Filmmaking for the Web.

Do email ben.toone@bbc.co.uk if you join – we’d like to keep a track of how many BBC staff are joining up.

Do email Ben about your thoughts on it and if you’re happy to be interviewed after the course about your experiences.

Many thanks,

Ben Toone

BBC Academy

Ben Toone

Content Producer, BBC Academy

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Telephone – 03030 816360 | Email: ben.toone@bbc.co.uk | Online: www.bbc.co.uk/academy