Third Angel

    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.

Do you want to change people’s minds about what theatre can be?

We are looking to recruit three new Trustees to the Third Angel board. No previous board experience is necessary, as training and support will be given where needed. What’s important is that Trustees can champion our values and bring different perspectives, skills and life experiences to our conversations and our work. 

We will be holding an open information session and Q&A on Zoom on Tuesday 18 January 2022 from 5 – 6pm for those who would like to know more.

We are committed to having a broad range of voices at the top of our organisation – different ages, different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, D/deaf and disabled voices, LGBTQ+ voices to ensure that our strategic thinking and decision making remain creative, lively and balanced.

We are particularly interested to hear from:

• Artists, particularly those with experience of making small scale theatre
• Community leaders and advocates, particularly those with connections to Sharrow & Nether Edge (S7)
• People with good financial management skills
• Marketing, communications or public relations (PR) professionals
• Entrepreneurs, self-starters and original thinkers
• People involved in education & young people’s provision
• Leaders or influencers in the arts sector

Our values guide our decision making and how we operate and work with others. Third Angel is:

• Innovative and experimental
• Playful
• Collaborative
• Open and transparent
• Trusting
• Inclusive, accessible and anti-racist
• Socially and environmentally responsible

Third Angel is a theatre company led by founding Artistic Directors Rachael Walton and Alexander Kelly. We make shows and participatory events that tell stories, ask questions and invite conversations. We aim to create collective experiences that reflect and interrogate the ways in which we live in the world that surrounds us, now and in the future. We believe everyone should be able to access the arts and are committed to trying to break down the barriers, whatever they may be.

Please contact mail@thirdangel.co.uk for more information about the role or an informal chat. 

We are pleased to start 2022 with an update from Rob Fellman, our resident archivist and PhD candidate with the University of Sheffield! Over to Rob:

Their ‘web’ perhaps began as a Venn diagram of circles that cross together over time to form a singular, collaborative constellation that might be called ‘Third Angel’. As I write this, I realise I have been subconsciously informed by Kelly’s own use of the Venn diagram analogy in a previous Backpages article. I return to this point later and add the words: a process he calls ‘seeking the heart’.

This is an excerpt from an article published in Contemporary Theatre Review’s Backpages in September 2021. As the author of the article, I would describe it as a playful connection with Third Angel’s approach to research within their artistic practice. I am under no illusion that my own research residency with Third Angel is a testament to this very process, and indeed, places me firmly within their ‘Venn diagram’. This article, in part, represents this acknowledgement as I try to connect my own wider research with previously published texts on Third Angel’s working methods. I become unashamedly aware, in turn, of Third Angel’s influence on my own thinking. To what extent am I a neutral observer, and how much of my own view is also theirs? (Or should I say, ours?)

This article is intended as a creative response to theory, that takes its inspiration from the words of Third Angel and two specific recurring images from within their oeuvre: the Voyager space probe travelling away from Earth, and the idea of the ‘perfect circle’ that our planet appears to be from such distances away…

The circle contains within it a web of connections, of ‘cross-transit’ by which ‘iterations’, or microcos- mic cycles, can form as ideas are tested, adapted, and then repeated (such as trying out an idea in rehearsal). Kelly’s co-artistic counterpart, Rachael Walton, told Philip Stanier of a moment during the making of 9 Billion Miles from Home that marked a processual shift away from factual content, marking ‘the start of a departure from an obsession with Voyager, away from science, towards [the question of] why Voyager was so interesting’. The circle, as opposed to a continuum, illustrates the degrees of academic and practical research in ratio (whether scientific or artistic in origin), like the points of a compass, by which a combination of the full spectrum of possibilities makes a complete – perfect – circle. 

Take a read of the article and see how these two things relate:
Crossing the Circle: A Response to the Role of Research in the Work of Third Angel
by Rob Fellman
in Backpages 31.3, Contemporary Theatre Review, 31:3, pages 364-379. (2021).

Rob Fellman is a Collaborative Doctoral Award holder with Third Angel theatre company and the University of Sheffield, UK. His research explores longevity in the UK arts sector and is supported by the White Rose College of Arts and Humanities.

We’re well into The Distraction Agents second run, and we’re labelling, stamping and posting as fast as we can, we thought we’d give everyone a little ‘making of’ time with Freya and Daphne, aka Rachael and Stacey. Over to them…

And don’t forget, you can still buy The Distraction Agents from this very website! And click before the 17th December, and you should even get it before Christmas. 

Shot and edited by Helen Varley, Digital Marketing Manager

We’re delighted to announce the appointment of our new Trainee Community Producer, Liliya! Liliya will be helping out with our participation work, including the Future Makers workshops which are now in full swing!

Liliya actually started a few weeks ago, so we’re handing over to her to introduce herself and tell us how it’s been going so far.

I first learned about Third Angel when I was nineteen and retaking my A-Levels, seeing promo for ‘The Department of Distractions’. Sadly, I couldn’t see the show due to school and other commitments, but the following year I was lucky enough to be offered a place on an ‘Introduction to Directing’ course created by the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme and facilitated by Third Angel.

By that point, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the performing arts, and after the eight-week course, I felt a strong pull towards Third Angel as a company. I really admired how dedicated, ambitious and welcoming the team was. Now, almost three years on, I am really happy to be working on that team as the Trainee Community Producer!

Most of my creative past has been on stage. Acting is my deepest passion and I’ve been auditioning to drama schools for the past few years. My most memorable performance so far was playing Nora Helmer in a production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House with the Lantern Theatre. I like to think I still have some of Nora’s individualism, awareness and boldness after embodying her. 

Recently, I performed with Walk with Amal with Sheffield Theatres which was such a joy to be a part of, and again so fulfilling to see so many people engaged with the performance and message of the event! Alongside performing, I love facilitating theatre in one way or another: from stage managing a production of Twelfth Night to creating costumes, I enjoy many different elements of theatre production.

Being Third Angel’s Trainee Community Producer is a real honour: I get to encourage other people to explore their creativity and passion through creating new work. Facilitating Future Makers has been so wholesome. We recently collaborated with The1Devotion (Dominic Heslop) for the rap and spoken word workshop, and seeing young people engaging so wholeheartedly with expressing themselves through spoken word was beautiful. I feel really lucky that I get to give what younger me would have loved to experience.

It’s difficult for me to accurately say what my realistic expectations are for this position, being a raging perfectionist! Some days it seems like I’m always thinking “I could have done x better” or “why didn’t I think to say y?” Or “I shouldn’t have done z in this way, what was I thinking?” But one thing I can say is that I’m really looking forward to how this environment fosters my confidence, self-belief and connection to the arts in a new perspective among a team which feels like home.Third Angel is a company which has highlighted to me just how performance arts are crucial to feeling connected to ourselves, to others and to wider issues in our communities.

Outside of Third Angel, I’m working with the Sheffield Theatre’s Young Company, getting music lessons in Yellow Arch Studios or going to acrobatic, yoga and dance classes amongst other creative, holistic and freeing endeavours. I’m excited to see where these six months take me! 

Win a copy of our limited edition challenge experience!

Following a successful first run of The Distraction Agents in the summer, we’re delighted to give you another chance to play. And to celebrate, we’re giving away three boxes for free!

The Department of Distractions, a clandestine organisation that claims its job is to plant stories in the world “to make life more interesting”, is on the search for new recruits… and they think YOU might be just what they need.

The Distraction Agents is a game, a puzzle, a challenge, and a story that can be enjoyed from home in your own time. The experience includes a mysterious box delivered to your door containing five tasks set by the Distraction Agents themselves. Immerse yourself in the world of this top secret organisation, follow the video instructions sent by your recruiter, and then complete the challenges to reveal the secret code and unlock your prize! Here’s a little taster…

This competition is open to UK residents only and as it is a free draw, it’s free to enter!

How to enter:

The competition opens on Wednesday 17th October (10am) when our first posts will go out on our social media channels. 

Enter on Twitter – Like and retweet any of our ‘competition’ posts. You get an entry for every retweet, so the more posts you retweet the more chances you’ll have!

Enter on Facebook – Like and comment on any of the ‘competition’ posts tagging someone who you think would like this experience. You’ll get an entry for each person you tag.

Enter on Instagram – Like and comment on any of the ‘competition’ posts tagging someone who loves puzzles, mysteries or board games (one tag per entry, so the more you tag, the higher your chance of winning). You can also get an extra entry if you share the post to your stories. Make sure you tag us @third_angel_uk or we won’t see your share!

How the winner is chosen:

There is one winner per platform. For each retweet/share/tag you receive one entry, each additional retweet/share/tag will earn you an additional entry. So the more you share, the higher your chance of winning!

The competition closes 8am on Wednesday 3rd November 2021. Any shares after this time will not be counted.

All the entries will be entered into draw and the winner will be picked at random. There will be a draw for each platform, so three chances to win!

We will contact the winner by direct message on the social media platform they entered on.

The prize:

The prize is a free copy of The Distraction Agents experience.

If you aren’t lucky enough to win the prize, you can still buy The Distraction Agents from early November, but you’ll need to be quick as we only have a limited number of boxes available.

Questions? Contact us at mail@thirdangel.co.uk

EDIT: DEADLINE EXTENDED! Contact your Work Coach to discuss a referral. 

Exciting news! We are hiring a new Trainee Community Producer to join Third Angel for a six month placement. This is a Kickstart position open to 16 - 24 year olds in receipt of Universal Credit. If that sounds like you, and you are passionate about theatre, drama and performance, keep reading…

Third Angel’s community projects are at the heart of what we do. We provide support for the next generation of artists, as well as delivering creative workshops in Sheffield with the goal of making theatre and performance accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. As part of our programmes, we encourage individuals to explore their own creativity, express themselves and learn new skills relating to drama, performance and production.

We are looking for someone with enthusiasm and confidence to work alongside our skilled team and deliver our busy schedule of creative workshops for young people and community groups in Sharrow and Nether Edge in Sheffield over the coming months.

The Trainee Community Producer will gain hands on experience in designing and delivering engaging creative activities and exercises for different people, be trained in safeguarding and creative evaluation, and gain skills in leadership, administration and project management. They will be supported by a mentor and buddy within the company, and through training and 1-1 advice from our partners Creative Access.

In order to apply, you must be:

• Aged 16 - 24
• In receipt of Universal Credit (and not have had any paid work in the last five weeks)
• Available mid-October to March next year
• Able to work in-person in Sheffield

This is a paid, part time opportunity (25 hours per week, including some weekend work) starting in mid October.

There is a simple application process involving answering three questions in a short video or voice message, but applicants must be referred to us by a Work Coach at Job Centre Plus in order to apply. No prior experience of this work is required as full training will be given; we are looking for someone who is excited by the work and eager to learn.

We are particularly keen to receive applications from people that have personal knowledge of the Sharrow and Nether Edge area of Sheffield, or of the communities that live there.

More details about the job and how to apply will be sent directly to applicants after we’ve received a referral from their Job Centre Plus Work Coach. The closing date is Wednesday 6 October 2021 at 5pm.

We’re really excited to be able to have a new creative voice on our team to help us complete this valuable work. If you know anyone that might be suitable, please do share. We welcome

If you need any help with applying, please contact our office on mail@thirdangel.co.uk or 0114 272 4974.