Tuesday 31 January 2012

Task No. 1 · The “Significant Other” Festival

(What's this "12 tasks" all about? Service exchange + gift economy + meeting people + promoting fantastic projects. Read about it here).

I met Laura at Otesha, my current work place. I think she was volunteering there. She's amazing, has a bike, recently moved house, does a lot of volunteering and... I guess that's all I know about her. Last year, when "12 tasks" was shaping up in my imagination she approached me. It was clear I had my first task. Read how we worked together and check out the results. And if you are available on Feb 11 / 12, invite your significant other / special friend / cosmic lover (you name it) to Camden People’s Theatre. I'll be there too thanks to Laura's "thank you" tickets.

"When we first started producing the festival we knew we wanted a great poster to represent us. The problem (or so we thought), was lack of funds to pay a graphic designer properly. Luckily we found Calu. Working with her was one of the most relaxed, calming experiences we've ever had with a designer. Laura had a quick chat with her about ideas, shapes, colours - things that we thought were core elements at the heart of the festival. We were shocked by the first draft Calu sent us. It was near perfect and we couldn't be happier.

Working with volunteers has its challenges and at the back of our minds, we also don't want to overstep our boundaries with our friends by using their talents for little or no payment. At the same time, we're producing this festival for the love of it and what it represents and we know there are other people out there who are similar... it's just a matter of finding them."


The Pensive Federation presents
The “Significant Other” Festival

Significant other: colloquially used as a gender-blind term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about marital status, relationship status, or sexual orientation.

7 x 7 minute plays, 7 writers, 7 directors, 14 actors

We asked 7 writers to create a 7-minute play each in 7 days with the theme of the Significant Other. We handed the scripts over to a director and a company of 2 actors and gave them 7 days to stage it. The result is The Significant Other Festival – staged just before millions of couples celebrate Valentine’s Day.

By creating theatre in a confined period of time, we hope to capture what real people think and feel about love and relationships in the 21st century. Through this format, we are able to draw together a company of creative people from different backgrounds, and experience. The resulting mix may bring us short snippets of love, lust, hate, revenge, passion… but no one will really know until it begins. So join us, it’s all happening right now.

The Pensive Federation is a theatre company created by Neil J. Byden and Laura Kim who met whilst working on Platform in 2010, an Old Vic New Voices production. Despite their very different backgrounds, they have much in common, particularly a shared aspiration in theatre which reflects the everyday. The Pensive Federation aims to create accessible theatre; it examines our hopes, fears and dreams; we explore the things that connect us all when you strip away race, religion, and sexuality.

Show taking place at Camden People’s Theatre
58-60 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PY
Tickets: £7.00
Book tickets via http://www.cptheatre.co.uk or 08444 77 1000

Sat 11 February 2012 3:00pm
Sat 11 February 2012 7:30pm
Sun 12 February 2012 3:00pm
Sun 12 February 2012 7:30pm

Bring it on!

Unlike Hercules that was punished by the Gods and had to undertake a series of tasks, I am willingly offering myself to the universe to volunteer my energy to 12 different projects / organisations / community groups this year (yes, one per month). So here's the thing; I believe in service exchange and even more in the gift economy (not expecting anything in return). Life has shown me again and again that "what goes around comes around". I'm in a privileged position compared to a huge percentage of the population on this planet. I open the tap and clean water comes out of it. I can easily fix my bicycle's flat tyres. I can buy, get given or rescue food. I have more than one pair of shoes. I can skype with my far away relatives to catch up on life. I wake up without worries and go to bed feeling safe. I'm heard. I can express publicly my love for others. I have a fantastic part-time job that is fairly paid. I don't need to work more to pay for things I can avoid buying in the first place. I can read and write. I have time to spend with the people I love and doing things I'm passionate about. I can breath fresh air, wash my clothes in a washing machine and watch movies online. I can flush the toilet and buy toilet paper. I can dress up and give hugs. I "can see the beauty every day, and source my life from its presence". I can't thank life enough for all its gifts. I want to give something back and record the adventure. If you want to be one of my "tasks" please get in touch. I would love to hear from you and hopefully meet you. Just tell me how your project is part of the solution / creating change. That’s all. Simple.