It’s March, it’s March.

We have new courses on the horizon, one in particular I really want to mention right now is the Alexander Technique for Acting.

It’s an incredibly special course and starts again on Saturday 14th April.

“I received an email from Gemma about a new Alexander Technique course run by act up. I had a strong gut feeling that I should sign up and so did. I absolutely loved it. Dewi Matthews is amazingly experienced and wise; a wonderful man. Being back in the familiar and beautiful surroundings of the R.A.D made a real impression on me. The course was liberating, powerful and energising. As I was throwing myself into the various exercises and practises I heard an inner voice calling me: “It’s not too late. You have to go to Drama school.” Danielle Lautier

The Time Capsule

I will be working with director Ant Stones in the Autumn on the Kurt Vonnegurt play and as preliminary exploration…

I have been invited on board to produce The Time Capsule, which has a short run at The New Wimbledon Studio from Wednesday 2nd to Saturday 5th May.

The piece comes from the collective Tea Fuelled.

Have a look here, we have a crowd funding appeal going, which if I don’t say so myself has a lot of treats on offer..

The Time Capsule appeal….

 

And over the weekend we shot a trailer for Shekhar Bassi‘s short…  People won’t Understand.

Thank you so much, to Annabel Baldwin, Francois Coppey,  Martin Edwards and  Ruari Lane.

It rained throughout, but we had a brilliant time despite.

 

And in the evening, Cee the Singer and Polsky were introduced to the world…  music, music, music… never forget the music.

See you soon. xx

 

act up will jump on anything that takes it’s fancy… always have to massively believe in the project but then it will go all guns blazing to enable and promote.  There are too many people dismissing too many people right now, we don’t buy into this game..

Miss Lloyds first love is all things music and it’s great that more and more is coming my way. Drastick who is part of the South London collective KSounds is someone I will do anything for, this man has huge talent.  And if some are plotting his progression to the top, he made a huge impact on The Pendragon Recordings. Just look at the latest track and video… makes my mouth water.

Drastick ft Ace the Producer ( KSOUNDS ) – RIDING AND ROLLING ( MUSIC VIDEO )

 

I’m also very excited to have the privilege of working with writer/director/actor  Shekhar Bassi on his latest film People Won’t Understand.

It will be featuring a unique music score written especially for the film….  and of course I say right now.. more news to follow.

And all of this reminds me again to say that there finally seems to be a slight change in Brit-ain… before it was seen by many, I guess the powers that be that you couldn’t be figured out if you happened to be an actor that could write well too or a director that could also write.. or perhaps a writer that acted too….

All I say is come on – Get it all……..

If you ever have anything you want me to show off about, do let me know about it.. and as I always say, if I don’t meet you, how can I ever truly start to show off about you..

There’s always more than meets the eye when you take an act up course.

 

Sam Rose in the Shadows is one of the plays I am producing.

It’s  the children’s puppet theatre company Tucked In’s new play about what it is like to be sad and how one can learn to be happy again.

Ivan Rose is a six-year-old boy. Shut away in his little house in the city under the watchful eye of his aging tutor, Greta Hollow, he fantasises about the outside world, which he knows nothing about. His father spends most of his time away, and Ivan can only imagine he is off fighting dragons and generally being a hero!

Yet one day Ivan decides to break free of the confines of his little house and searches through the vast city to find out what his heroic father, Sam Rose, really does all day. When he finds Sam Rose he is dismayed. Instead of a hero he sees a hunched, sad man carrying a heavy box through the cracked, grey streets of the city. He is on a quest to unlock his box of sorrows and free himself from his sadness.

We would like everyone to take ownership of the production.

Tim the Puppet has an appeal going to raise extra funds so we can tour the play to schools across the UK.

Click here to see him in action and for further description of the play.

Pleasefundus love Tim.

 

 

 

Actually Happy New Year is all it is right now…  and as I like to say I’ll report back soon….

xx

 

 

 

Hello

Seems only a few days ago that I last visited this fair place, time has suddenly zoomed on.

The Pendragon Recordings.

So I now know how to make an album, I love learning new skills and I have to say never have I had to learn something so fast…  My first love has always been music.  And all hail to anyone that has ever made an album, to be honest I had no idea how complex it really was.  Mixing and mastering, I had no idea something had to be mastered before being turned into an album.  A lot of secret professors and wizards in the music profession that never seemed to be known about…  so I ‘out’ them all.

Best to look at Pendragon’s website for all of the details…

act up’s courses.

act up‘s courses are coming to an end for this year and the New Year one’s are booking up so do jump on board if you want to jump in right now..  and it feels the right time for us to all jump.  As I always say, working in the arts or dipping your toe into the arts, you should always be in a perfect state of unknowing so jump in with me and we’ll know nothing together.

The plays

All the plays are coming along and there will be more news to follow very shortly…

 

Understandably there is a lot of fear around at the moment, if we let it get the better of us we tend to allow it to overwhelm us and we can easily fall to the ‘giving up’ syndrome..  so let’s put two fingers up to Fear and the powers that be that are cutting back on the arts at such a rapid speed and charge ahead…

So who’s going to join me into the unknown?

 

 

 

 

Hope you can make it, RSVP here.  Midday at the Barbican on Tuesday 13th December.

Idris Elba (Driss) said:

“I think the work you, Chris/Team and the kids have done to pull this together is incredible, it should be a standing example of why the arts are so important to growth, I can’t wait to brag about this album ..Quote me . IE”   Idris Elba (Driis).

 

We have been beavering away on The Pendragon Recordings for a while, always pushing, always knowing it was a huge important project and we are finally hitting that point.  I love the way this always happens with projects.

We are launching the album on Tuesday 13th December, midday at the Barbican Centre. 

and all profits from the album will go to Kids Company. 

We have incredible artists on board, and we are overwhelmed by their generosity.

Please go onto the homepage of the website to see who they all are. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

I’ll have a go here too..

. 

Claire Egan from the ENO

Mr Gee

Drastick

The Urban Voodoo Machine.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Gentleman’s Dub Club

Stomp

 

Polsky

 

Mosi Conde

 

Choir With No Name

Idris Elba

 

and Noah and the Whale are playing live on the launch day as well as 5 other incredible artists…

 

Please tell the world about this project…

Thank you…

 

 

So excited to announce that I have been granted the rights to produce Kurt Vonnegut’s  Happy Birthday, Wanda June at The Old Red Lion next Autumn 2012.  Ant Stones directs.

Thank you so much to Donald Farber at The Kurt Vonnegut Trust for all of his assistance in making this happen.

To be kept informed of the production as it unfolds, and until the website is up and running take a look and ‘like’ this Facebook page.

Whooo hoooo.

“Hello, I am Wanda June. Today was going to be my birthday, but I was hit by an ice-cream truck before I could have my party.”

 

 

Boo.

Two days ago I took two very fine gentlemen actors up to the BBC for some on the hoof filming.  The BBC thankfully are not going to forget the Summer riots. I was contacted the day before to ask if I could deliver two actors up to the table mountains of White City.   This is my best kind of work when there is no time to think but just to get too. It was a great success and a brilliant opportunity for Bevan Riley and Patrick Elue who met with brilliant and experienced producers and directors.

Patrick sitting upon his BBC throne – just the business.

 

Pendragon Recordings is being launched at the Barbican…

I can’t breathe I am so excited.  This came from an idea and it’s been a long old hard slog, we have had very little funding in place..  Some said no and some incredibly amazing and glorious people said yes and we have pushed and we have pushed because we believe that everyone needs to treat everyone as equals and everyone deserves a second chance.

I’ll keep you updated with news of the launch, and if you love music and a tad political, do follow us on Facebook..

Onto the next stage ….  Chris Warren awaits you..

Looking for a spoken word fix? Tune in and chill out. London’s coolest poetry club night returns featuring an electric new line-up and rising talent on the Open Mic.

Curated by Mr Gee (host of Radio 4′s Bespoken Word and Rhyme and Reason), Raymond Antrobus, Deanna Rodger,Simon Mole and Kim-Leng Hills, Chill Pill is a laid-back club night where up-and-coming poets share the stage with some of the finest spoken word acts in the UK. Plus, we’ll be mixing it up with tightly spun tales inspired by today’s headlines, the ever-popular Classics Corner and plenty of banter to boot.

 

Featuring Dizraeli, Mark Mr T Thompson and live music from Poeticat.

Whether you’re a spoken word enthusiast, emerging poet or just curious, come with a sense of humour and leave your expectations at the door.

Calling all budding poets

 

For your chance to get heard, arrive early and sign up for the Open Mic. Limited slots available.

 

act up is steering the good ship Chill Pill so do come along, will be a brilliant night and all for only £8.00.

You can book tickets here.

Hope to see you there…