Game of 2 Arfs

Frontline Dance have been awarded funding by the Arts Council West Midlands, with additional funding from Stoke-on-Trent City Council and RENEW for an exciting site-specific inter-generational
project entitled 'A Game of 2 Arfs'. It will take FRONTLINEdance into new areas of work, with a range of artists and partners including Staffordshire Dance Collective, Rotten Park Road Theatre Company and Stoke on Trent Cultural Development Team.

A 'Game of 2 Arfs' will see the community of Stoke engaged as participants and audiences in a professional dance performance with poetry and theatre. This contemporary dance event will take place in public spaces in the City Centre, Stoke on Trent (Hanley) specifically, Gala Bingo and the Potteries Shopping Centre and Market Hall.

We will take inspiration from the two environments and histories of the places past and present, and through this project hope to engage a greater number of people participating in and also watching dance and the arts; this is where you can get involved! We are looking for bmx'ers, free runners, skaters, breakdancers and wheelchair users to create a short piece.

We are also looking for 15-80yr olds to make an inter-generational piece, taster sessions will take place on the 12th and 19th May at J. Block, Stoke-on-Trent College, Moorland Road, Burslem, 7-8.30pm. No experience necessary, just come and join in the fun and be involved in this exciting event!

Volunteers are also needed to help out throughout and just on the performance day.

The project commences this month and culminates in a finale on Saturday 9th August 2008, so don't miss out on your chance to take part in this amazing opportunity - please contact us on 01782 285754 or 07919 016962.


- Rachael Lines
Artistic Director, Frontline

Review: Shout at the Regent Theatre

by Sarah Myers

Get set to don your gogo boots and micro minis because the swinging sixties are back with brand new musical Shout!

Three Northern lasses journey to London to seek out “Fame, fun and fellas” with a little help from their aging Aunt Yvonne. With a lot of girly chats, haircuts and advice from their favourite magazine, Shout follows the girls through the grooviest decade of the twentieth century. Ok, so maybe the storyline is a little thin but Shout is still an entertaining tribute to a fab decade. Jam packed with such classics as “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, “Son of a Preacher Man” and of course “Shout” this show will have you bopping in the aisles.

Claire Sweeney gave an energetic performance as the fun-loving gal of the three, although that’s not necessarily a good thing. Her over-enthusiasm made her stick out like a sore thumb among the other girls. Shona White and Donna Steele gave talented vocal performances but were overshadowed by Su Pollard. She surprisingly stole the show with great comedic timing and a dazzling voice for these classic sixties tunes. The majority of the comedy was provided by the only male cast member, Howard Jones, who played a variety of roles, from radio announcer to Spanish waiter to a dapper Dan.

Luckily, what Shout lacks in way of plot and acting, is made up for with a great array of songs that are guaranteed to get you up out of your seats and dancing to the music. I urge you to go see the show with a relaxed frame of mind, ready to let the spirit of the sixties take you over until you’re dancing and clapping along with everyone else in the room.

By Grace alone

Our Faiths by Matt Pointon

I GOT rather a surprise when I walked through the doors of the Bethel Evangelical Church in Hanley. Usually it is me who asks the questions in this column, but Elder Rose was more interested in my own salvation than publicising his church. But as I was soon to learn, salvation is the foundation upon which Evangelical Christianity is built.

“Evangelical Christians believe,” explained Pastor Muwowo, “that we may only be saved through God’s grace, not through our own actions.” This might sound like a harsh doctrine, but according to Pastor Muwowo, it is far from so. “Jesus died on the Cross for us all. All we have to do is accept him.” He continued: “We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, it is God speaking. Therefore we have to obey Him and bring that message to as many people as we can.”

Evangelism as a movement grew rapidly in the 19th century, although the Bethel itself was not established until the 1930s. All of the church’s actions are inspired directly by the Bible, from the sermons to the fact that it is independent and has no hierarchy, just like the very first Christian churches.

When I attended, the message being preached was one of the bridges that Christ builds for us to cross to reach God, and during the sermon Pastor Muwowo compared these to a famous bridge back in his home country of Zambia. His heritage fascinated me so I asked him more about it.

“It is all part of God’s plan,” he told me. “Back in the 19th century missionaries from European countries came to Africa and brought the Gospel to us. Now Christianity still prospers across the world, but in Britain it is declining, and so God has decided for me to make the journey in the other direction and repay the favour.”
And as we all partook in Communion as equals, with no officiator, I could see that in a way he was right, and that far from dying, the Evangelical Light still burns brightly in our city through the faith of both locals and those from far afield.

www.bethelhanley.com