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STRIKEUP DIGITAL
StrikeUp create shows for by and with our local communities, through the platform they feel represents them.
Sometimes, that means taking our work digital!
Fuelled by our own hunger for human connection throughout the pandemic, StrikeUp sought new platforms to reach out to our communities, create exciting work and keep ourselves entertained.
We are continuously delighted by the creative enterprise of our local communities, who share their energy and innovative spirit with us through digital workshops, community podcasts and rip-roarious films! StrikeUp are honoured to platform their work here.
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900 years
A digital performance poem
Supported by Historic England & Reading Culture Live
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StrikeUp created 900 Years as part of Anniversary celebrations for the commissioning of Reading Abbey in 1121.
An historic landmark of our town, StrikeUp were thrilled to mark the event with local residents who came together through 8 weeks of workshops and a filming day live in the Abbey ruins, to create this digital performance poem.
900 Years imagines life for the people of Reading in 1121, wondering at the anticipation and aspirations shaped by the building of the Abbey in the heart of their town. The project made us reflect on the power of central spaces for helping communities thrive.
Exchange
A lockdown film created in partnership with Reading Mencap & Reading Culture Live
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(I look better
in full screen)
After the Spring lockdown of 2020, many of our friends over at Reading Mencap were asked to stay on shielding at home.
After several months of lockdown and severe cuts to their services and activities, the wait for freedom continued.
StrikeUp were due to make our next project with Mencap following our Midsummer collaboration, so we got our thinking caps on to find a creative antidote to lockdown boredom.
As adults with learning disabilities are often unable to access digital activities or connect with people online, it was decided we should find a way to make a film together to burn onto DVDs and deliver round in time for Christmas.
We recruited some of our brilliant StrikeUp Education crew to take part and charged all participants with tasks to record at home.
For the StrikeUp Education students, much joy was to be had in getting the tasks wrong, displaying their best comedy skills after a series of digital clowning workshops.
For those shielding, StrikeUp teamed up with Reading Mencap Senior Support Worker Ali, to visit participants individually and record their performances across gardens and driveways. ‘Exchange’ represents our call to arms in times of crisis: find your people, get creative, spread the joy.
EXCHANGE
Clownspiracy
A comedy created in partnership with Total Communication & Reading Culture Live
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(watch me in full screen by hitting the play button)
At the outset of the first national lockdown, over-70s in Britain were asked to shield at home.
Following our research with AgeUK Berkshire in the build-up to our show Silent Generation, StrikeUp were keenly aware that many of those people were living alone, and reliant on external activities for socialising and seeing friends.
We also knew that the rise of digital activities would present a daunting prospect for some, with little experience or confidence when it came to using computers or going online.
We were delighted to receive funding from Reading Culture Live which enabled us to run a free digital comedy course for the over-70s, uniting older people through a feel-good and ridiculous common purpose and coaching some basic digital literacy at the same time.
StrikeUp’s witty writing associate Jack Taylor came into his own for the project, furnishing us with a punchy comic script tailor-made for the group to showcase each individual’s comic flair.
Clownspiracy struck a chord with digital audiences too, receiving over 5000 views on social media in its first week. The final film was created in partnership with Total Communication who taught StrikeUp about ways of making our work accessible for deaf audiences. TC’s Anna Bolton interpreted Clownspiracy in British Sign Language, enhancing our story for all audiences with her creative comic performance.
CLOWNSPIRACY
WHAT I WANT TO SAY
Poetry in Motion:
Digital workshops
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Just because you’re taking part from home, doesn’t mean you can’t get physical!
StrikeUp ran a series of digital workshops through the pandemic, connecting with participants old and new through tiny windows that peeped into our homes.
We kept each other creative through poetry, movement, comedy and improvisation tasks, taking advantage of the digital setting to learn camera techniques too.
StrikeUp Associate Gavin Maxwell, who regularly experiments with digital work through his company Gymjam, had us all breaking the mould with camera perspectives for out Poetry in Motion series.
Find out more about StrikeUp Education opportunities here:
CHRISTMAS PARTY
A new lockdown film and a Christmas party & in partnership with Reading Borough Council
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Another national lockdown, another comedy from our shielders; this time with tinsel! StrikeUp love to get in the festive spirit and 2020 was no exception.
With another call to stay at home, we reconnected with our Clownspiracy friends to create a twist on the British TV classic, Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas.
The project was sparked off by ideas presented from the participants themselves, who worked alongside StrikeUp writing associate David Winship to spark some fun in the darker months.
The final film was shared at StrikeUp’s digital Christmas Party, hosted in collaboration with Reading Borough Council for their Older People’s Working Group.
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