Silas Hawkins introduces the show at Greenwich 21st December 2017 at West Greenwich Library
Our BSL interpreter never made it (pre-christmas traffic and lost keys played a part) so we are captioning the videos one by one, slow, tedious, but necessary.
Silas Hawkins is an old Christmas ham with wide experience of voiceover, audiobooks, film and stage. Favorite credits include : all the voices for animated children’s series Summerton Mill, broadcast on CBeebies, Bob the talking cyberdog in Scottish Manga animation Rogue Farm, quadrilingual character voices for the computer game Haven – Call of the King and, most recently, a juicy role in a forthcoming audio Dr. Who for Big Finish Productions – a particular thrill given the family Dr. Who connection ( father, Peter Hawkins, provided the very first Dalek voices.)
Silas has been a reader for Liars’ League ( showcase for unpublished short fiction) since its inception some 10 years ago and many of his previous renditions can be heard in its online archive e.g. ( favourite ) My Last Friday Night John Race. This years stage credits have included the monologues Cornet Solo by Ben Francis and I’ll be along D’reckly by Mark Lindow, featuring, respectively, a doleful, Welsh ice-cream-van-man and a bereft Cornish grandad.
A taster of what we got up to at St Hilda’s for Brockley Max – (there would be more but I forgot to turn the recorder back on after the interval for a while)
A barnstorming performance by both our readers, and an exciting mix of traditional and modern protest songs from Vocal Chords.
Silas Hawkins reads Liberty by Andrew McCallum, followed by We Raise the Watch Word Liberty, and Bread and Roses sung by Vocal Chords.
Silas reads The Branded Hand by Brian Johnstone after Vocal Chords singing Dougie Maclean’s Ready for the Storm and finishing with Erile
Carrie Cohen reads Wigtown Bay 1685 by Elinor Brooks with Senzenina before it, and Give Me Wings to finish.
Silas again, reading Tabernacle Lane by Jeremy Dixon followed by Labi Sifre’s Something Inside So Strong
Brockley Max is coming – and we are getting involved.
2nd June 7pm at the Talbot Pub in Brockley SE4 1QG, Arachne authors Bartle Sawbridge, Rosalind Stopps and Cherry Potts join other writers from WooA (Writers of Our Age), Neil Lawrence, Anna Somerset and Hilary Dunn for Urban Myths. (the link says 7-7.30 that means 7 for 7.30, we aim to be there at least 2 hours.
You can join in with 100 words of your own urban myth, and get stuck in with the epic writing relay, which is definitely best experienced slightly sozzled.
On Sunday 4th June at 3.30, we join Vocal Chords Choir (who have supported Solstice Shorts Festival a couple of times) at their Songs of Protestgig at St Hilda’s Church SE23 1NL when actors Silas Hawkins and Carrie Cohen will read some of the poems from Liberty Talesto complement the songs.
Our final drop-in session is at Art In The Park Story-telling tent on Hilly Fields, on Saturday 10th June at 2.30, when Arachne stalwart Katy Darby will be reading our forthcoming younger children’s book, The Old Woman From Friuli by Ghillian Potts which is in the shops 6th June – you can buy direct from us NOW post free.
As part of the Brockley Max festival, we are reading at Misty Moon Gallery, behind Ladywell Tavern, 80 Ladywell Road SE13 7HS, 7pm 1st June at 7pm.
We were rifling or is that riffling*? through Lovers’ Lies and (Award WINNING)Weird Lies for stories as yet unread to a live audience, and look what we found!
Weird dreams that might become real, loneliness-eating goldfish , gravity-challenged adolescents, a modern take on The Flying Dutchman, Buddha interferes when the air-con breaks down, and (not in either book, but just for fun) a fairground exhibit answering back.
Haiku Short, Parakeet Prawns, Konnichiwa Peter by Lee Reynoldson, read by Tony Bell The Love Below by David Malone, read by Sarah Feathers Touchdown by Christopher Samuels, read by Lisa Rose Surf & Turf by Mi L Holliday, read by Sean Patterson This isn’t Heat by Richard Smyth, read by Silas Hawkins The Real McCoy by Cherry Potts, read by Carrie Cohen
Can’t wait til the 1st June for your fix of live science fiction? come to The Story Sessions on Wednesday 21st May as well! Different stories and mostly different writers, but the same weird stuff.
*The spell check doesn’t like it, but it’s what you do with books isn’t it: riffle – as in to flick rapidly but gently through the pages… word of the day!