Third Angel

As Third Angel’s work changes over time, so does the team needed to deliver it. At the beginning of this year, in the midst of imagining all the things we want to do next, we realised we were going to need to create a different role within the team to make it all happen. And so the Projects & Communications Co-ordinator was born! It’s going to be a busy time. 

We’re delighted to introduce you to the person who’s going to bring it to life. Jonathan Fry has joined us at Third Angel HQ, where he’ll be working to support planning and delivery of all of our creative and participation work. So without further ado, over to Jon to say hello.

Like a lot of people in the arts I’ve walked a pretty weird, meandering path to get to this job! I’ve designed and published games, contributed to a UN report, given music lessons, and washed a lot of dishes…

In 2018 I finished work on a Masters in “Applied Human Rights” at the University of York, with a focus on the ins-and-outs of charity work and a dissertation looking at zero-hour contracts. I knew I wanted to do work that was thought-provoking, participatory and empowering. The hard bit was finding where to start!

After graduating I moved to Berlin with, in hindsight, stunningly little in the way of a plan. After a few big reality-checks on the usefulness of a Masters Degree for finding work, I eventually settled into a rhythm as a freelance music teacher. Alongside paid lessons I volunteered with some local creative initiatives, which led to a paid position as Project Manager at the Berlin Open Music School, a community project that runs free, volunteer-powered music lessons. It was a real pleasure to work with a load of lovely people to dismantle barriers to music education, and there’s a kind of hypnotic brilliance to the sounds of a dozen beginner guitarists all hitting the same chord over and over.

I decided to move back to the UK earlier this year to move in with my long-distance partner after many months of travel-restricted separation. This “Projects & Comms” role at Third Angel struck me as an opportunity to do the kind of work I had enjoyed before but on a slightly bigger scale. In all honesty I was pleasantly surprised to get an offer, I had been dealing with the stress of interviews by prioritising enjoying myself as much as seeming professional. It’s great to be working somewhere that values personality and playfulness as well as a CV!

Photo by John Franglen

“We’re super proud to introduce some of the new trustees who have joined our team over recent months, bringing a wealth of skills and experience, including HR, social entrepreneurship, artistic leadership, and diversity and inclusion work. 

Naomi, Edenamiuki and Sophie will also be joined by Tommi Bryson from our next meeting in September (more details then!). We’re also really pleased to have Liliya Filippova as our Trainee Trustee, following on from her Kickstart placement earlier this year - she’ll be shadowing the Board and learning all about the work of charity trustees over the next year.” 

- Laura Holmes (Executive Director)

Edenamiuki Aiguobasinmwin 

Edenamiuki Aiguobasinmwin (also known as Namiuki) is an artist and Executive Director of multiple leading initiatives focused on design and implementation of sustainable approaches to supporting artists, entrepreneurs and leaders through The Break Dance Manchester, Young Creative Leaders and Elevate Young Minds.

Edenamiuki is Nigerian born, he grew up within the UK’s Hip Hop Dance scene as a performer and presenter and is a creative practitioner with a Master’s degree in Choreography from Leeds Beckett University. Edenamiuki is also a Lead Dance researcher at Manchester Hip Hop Archive, making him the first Hip Hop dance archiver in Greater Manchester and beyond.

“Over the last 5 years I have had the opportunity to be commissioned to develop and perform works such as ‘Reformation’ and ‘Exploring the Man’, which were performed at a variety of local and international platforms such as The Civic Theatre in Dublin, York Theatre Royal, Ludus Dance, Stadler’s Well in London and Temple in Lisbon in Portugal.”

Edenamiuki has received recognition from the United Nations (winning multiple awards at Plural+ 2018), the Commonwealth, Future Team Russia, the Sri Lankan, Cameroon Government and more. Edenamiuki is also part of the first cohort of the Arts Council England’s Area Council Development Programme.

Sophie Hunter

“I’m really delighted to have a place on Third Angel’s board, to be able to support them in any way I can to keep being the brilliant, eclectic, thoughtful company that they are. I am particularly inspired by their commitment to creativity in everything and to the next generation of artists and creatives.”

Sophie is a freelance creative producer, facilitator and evaluator, working to encourage change through reflective practice and the development of learning communities, often but not exclusively working within the field of arts education.  She brings together her experience in holding space for people’s learning with her ability to co-create large-scale strategic projects. She grows people, places and projects.

Sophie came to the city in 1997 to work for the Crucible Youth Theatre. She stayed at Sheffield Theatres until 2004, worked for Creative Partnerships for 8 years, and then co-founded Growtheatre in 2012. Most recently she has spent 6 years at the helm of Create Sheffield, the Cultural Education Partnership for the city, developing learning networks, and supporting artists and educators to improve arts access for children and young people.

Naomi Cosgrove

 

“From a young age I have loved theatre and I grew up as a member of the Crucible Youth Theatre which I remember as some of the happiest days of my childhood. I believe taking theatre out to the audience is so important in connecting with those who might not realise how much being creative can change their lives and Third Angel does that beautifully.

As a HR professional I feel grateful to help support Third Angel in its mission to diversify as an organisation and to be a guiding voice in recruitment and organisational development.”

We might have been undaunted at the end of Day 1, but the rain had other ideas. As we arrived at The Piazza (now Phoenix Way), the previous day’s map making was gradually dissolving in the sea mist drizzle and rain.

We re-drew the grid in the rain, and hoped it would be worth it.

It was. By midday the rain had stopped and the names of most Day 1’s streets were at least locatable. We got to work.

Fenna who is 5 years old renamed Freeman’s Wharf as PARAMEDIC ROAD as when she goes up she wants to be a Paramedic, the grown up who was with her told me that Fennas mum had been in Derriford Hospital for the last two weeks and since then she had found hospitals and Doctors and Nurses fascinating.

John had a few pints one evening a couple of years ago and as he was leaving the pub he slipped up, proper comedy style, injuring his elbow. To remember that, he wanted to rename East Take Ope as ‘I Fell Down Here Street’ but it’s a very short street, so he settled on TUMBLE STREET.

Sam and Tammy arrived together with other friends. Tammy renamed Mutley Plain TREVI ROAD, in recognition of the work Trevi do protecting vulnerable women. She and Sam are fundraising for them right now, so Sam renamed Ford Park Road SKYDIVE AVENUE, because although they’ve never been in a plane before, they’re going to jump out of one to support Trevi.

Kym & Sean moved to Plymouth to study. They met in a Geology lecture drawing Gastropods (!) and decided to stay when they graduated. 

They renamed Southern Terrace as GASTROPOD WAY.

A couple renamed the DBS building near High Street NEW BEGINNINGS after their children’s success of starting new endeavours with their studies.

Here’s a few more street names from Day 2:

Now let’s see if the weather has been kinder overnight…

The Desire Paths: Plymouth
Day 1
Stories from the team: Alex, Bee, Callum, Gill, Laura & Nisha:

Before we had even started drawing the grid, Phoenix approached us asking us what we were doing after observing us and prepping the space.

Phoenix renamed Armada Way (The Piazza) as PHOENIX WAY. They had told us they had changed their name after seeing and encountering a series of repeated synchronicities of the ‘phoenix’ in the past week. Marking how they had risen from the ashes and risen from certain challenges they had been facing. It was apt that this should be our first renaming of streets in Plymouth.

Jason & Juliet renamed Rusty Anchor on the West Hoe as OUR LITTLE COVE, as this is where they often go for nice romantic evenings by the sea side to watch the world go by and they are hoping to find the time to do it more often.

Kyra and Tyler renamed Wolseley Road as KYLER BOULEVARD, because they are cousins and also best friends, and they hope that is always true.

Peter renamed Notte Street DREAMER WAY, as he’s just moved down to Plymouth from the North for his partner’s work. He used to perform a lot and is now working as a social worker, but always holds theatre in his heart. He thought of “Dreamer Way” because you always have to ‘dream away’.

Chris & Charlie renamed The Box as PANDA BOX because they met there in January and have been dating ever since and Pandas are the national animal of China, where they’re both from. It was the first time Chris had ever been to Plymouth so they met on her very first trip here!

Abbott renamed Devils Point as ABBOTT’S WAY. It’s his birthday today and he has an interview at Plymouth College of Art tomorrow so he’s hoping that taking part in Desire Paths will give him good luck and help make his dreams come true.

The forecast is for rain overnight… but we are undaunted.

In partnership with Plymouth Culture, as part of the Heritage Active Zone Cultural programme HAZ, we’re very excited to be making a brand new version of our participatory, story-swapping, map-making performance for public spaces The Desire Paths in Plymouth this summer, and we’re looking for performers or artists who are based in, or have strong connections to Plymouth to be part of our team. 

The Desire Paths is a conversational, durational performance that involves drawing a street map on the floor with chalk, talking to the public and inviting them to rename a street after a hope or dream for the future. It also involves listening to any stories they tell you about themselves and/or the town, and maybe telling those stories back at the end of the project. You can see photos and video of indoor and outdoor versions of the show here.

We always research the history of street names in our new location, but we know from experience that it helps to have some people on the team who are already familiar with the city and its history. 

SO we are looking for 3 performers experienced or interested in engaging with the public, gathering stories (so listening and telling), drawing/writing in performance. You might be an actor or performer who wants to try some task-based work, a visual artist interested in installation and performance, a presenter, or anything else that uses those skills.

You’ll need to be available for at least one remote pre-production meeting in June, and then to work in person from Thursday 30 June to Sunday 3 July inclusive for rehearsal and performance, plus a little time on Monday 4 July to tidy up, collate and send over write-ups of the stories you’ve collected. We pay £130/day for 4 days minimum, 5 days maximum. Rehearsal and performance days are usually 6 1/2 hours plus breaks.

Interested? We would love to meet up and have a chat! We’d particularly like to hear from artists who have global majority heritage, d/Deaf or disabled artists and those from marginalised communities.

Our Co-artistic Director Alex Kelly will be in Plymouth on 25th of May for a site visit and to talk to interested performers. To book in for a conversation, please click here.

And if you have questions about the project in advance, drop him an email here. 

Recruitment is now closed for this post. Thank you for your interest! 

We’re creating the new, full-time permanent role of Projects & Communications Co-ordinator. Could that be you..?

The Projects & Communications Co-ordinator will be key to the successful delivery of Third Angel’s plans over the coming years, updating our project management processes to keep everything on track, and turn our Communications Strategy into a deliverable plan. We’re looking for an enthusiastic team member with experience of successful project management and marketing and communications approaches.

You’ll be skilled at scheduling and co-ordination, a great communicator, and confident using social media for professional purposes. Your experience could be gained through employment, voluntary work or through hobbies or passion projects. We believe that diverse teams make the best decisions and are always looking for opportunities to bring new ideas, perspectives and life experiences into our team.

We’d particularly love to hear from applicants who have global majority heritage and from those who are d/Deaf or disabled. We’re striving to be an inclusive and supportive employer, and would welcome any conversations about how we can make our workplace accessible to you.

The role is full-time (35hrs / week) and annual salary is £22,000 per year (equivalent to £2,050 per month before tax).

The closing date for applications is 9:00am on Monday 16th May and interviews on Thursday 26th May 2022. 

Unfortunately, we’re unable to be flexible on the interview date so please ensure you would be able to attend on that date.

You can download the Information Pack HERE [link now disabled]

If you have any questions please email us on mail@thirdangel.co.uk or if it would be helpful to have an informal chat you can call us on 0114 274 4974 and ask for Laura Holmes (our Executive Director)

 

    what dya need books for, ur homeless.
    a “support-worker” once asked us this.
    this show is our reply.

Back in 2019, we invited gobscure to be one of the participants on the BOOST mentoring scheme. We were aware of gobscure as a writer, sean burn, having heard great things about their play joey, produced by greyscale earlier that year. 

They had approached us with their project provoked 2 madness by the brutality ov wealth, an autobiographical show about their experiences of homelessness, and an incisive take-down of various aspects of UK government and local council policy.

Over the course of a week we were able to shape about three quarters of the show, and share it with an invited audience. After that showing I think we were all sure that the project had legs. So we were delighted when gobscure was awarded funding by Arts Council England to finish making and then tour the show, and invited us to mentor the completion of it. Of course, everyone’s plans had to be rethought in the year that followed, but we were still able to open the show in a socially distanced set up at Slung Low’s brilliantly welcoming venue The Holbeck in autumn 2020.

We talked about documenting the whole show on video, but there are sections that really only work in the room live. Third Angel had recently really enjoyed working with Brett Chapman on thirteen short films for The Distraction Agents, and so we asked him if he was interested in collaborating with gobscure on making some short chapters from the show as stand-alone films.

The result is four ‘filmed-jewels’ from the show, created by gobscure, Brett Chapman, Lara Kardas, Alexander Kelly and Lindsay Nicholson at The Holbeck in autumn 2022, with the support of Third Angel and Slung Low. We launched the films online earlier this month and are proud to be able to share them here. We hope you enjoy them.

1. kicking the bucket

2. red tape saves lives

3. magic money trees

4. housing contains the word sing

 

We are deeply saddened to hear that Jamie Iddon passed away this week, aged 46. Jamie worked with us as a deviser performer in 1997 - 98 and was integral to the creation of our shows Experiment Zero and Senseless. He was a pleasure to work with, a charismatic performer and great company. He was also a man of many parts, going on to become a chef and a member of the RAF. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Rest in peace, Jamie.

Image: Jamie and Rachael in the publicity image for Senseless, by Rob Hardy.