The Letter J's first full scale production - Grandad and Me - premiered at Imaginate Festival, Edinburgh on May 6th 2014 and then toured Scotland [more details below].
Grandad and Me is a living storybook about loss, longing and the treasures of memory and imagination. We meet a young girl who is missing her Grandad – he has gone, even though his favourite job was being her Grandad. Led by found objects and her imagination, she traces his footsteps on a magical adventure through time and space.
Grandad and Me : a “beautifully-crafted, whimsical mosaic of music, movement and animation” created by The Letter J, bringing to life The Grey Earl’s illustrations.
We're hoping to tour Grandad and Me again in 2015 - please do get in touch with our lovely Producer Rachel if you are interested in booking - details below.
Illustrations by Jon Bishop AKA The Grey Earl
Clear Day | an electronically altered version by The Letter J :
vocals - Jude, Guitar - Jon, electronic alterations - Andy.
“THE Big Idea, a family day at Tramway (in association with Imaginate), really flew the flag for home-grown children’s theatre when it offered workshops, installations and work-in-progress showings for under-12s by up and coming Scottish artists. The Letter J only started devising Grandad and Me a couple of weeks ago: you simply wouldn’t know it from the beautifully-crafted, whimsical mosaic of music, movement and animation that they create on-stage.
A little girl (dancer Ruth Janssen, unaffectedly child-like and spontaneous) is missing her Grandpa…Where is he? Imagination takes over in episodes that see him at sea in a trawler – the Shipping Forecast song is a joy – or in a rocket to the moon, with the whole set transforming accordingly with animated projections. Judith Williams and Jon Bishop weave in the live music. Janssen’s blend of wistful wondering and exuberant “solutions” touchingly suggest how youngsters (aged 5 to 8, in particular) adjust to the grief and loss of an absent, much-loved Grandpa.”
Photography by Neil Thomas Douglas
The Letter J Company for our 2014 tour were [in no particular order - it's a horizonal plane] :
- The Girl : Marta Masiero
- Music and Illustrations : Jon Bishop
- Music and Creation : Judith Williams
- Animation : Andy McGeoch and Jess Ashman
- Choreography : Ruth Janssen and Sally Owen
- Producer : Rachel Sanger
- Production Manager : Steve Moffat
- Dramaturgy : Lynda Radley
- CRP Session : Ellie Stewart
- Lighting Design : Paul Sorley
- Trailer Edit : Geraldine Heaney
- Prop Making : Fergus Dunnet
- Costume alterations: Helen Galloghy and Susan McComb
Ruth Janssen as The Girl at Tramway Family Day 2013
LOVE AND THANKS to all the folks at Imaginate who have offered advise, whoops ad cheers along the way to make it so. Jude is one of their Associate Artists. Matt and all the very brilliant staff at Platform who have encouraged and supported us with space, hammers and yums yums. Creative Scotland for supporting us to make it so. The Touring Network who has helped us get on the road. Educational Institute Scotland for your choreographic support. Dance House who gave us a leg up with space at Kinning Park Complex. Not to mention all the generous folks who donated on kickstarter. We're counting our blessing and counting you twice!
“We’re delighted to invite The Letter J to the Festival for the first time with this beautiful and moving tale.”
The Letter J premiered Grandad and Me at Imaginate Festival:
Tue 6th May | 10.30 & 13.30 | North Edinburgh Arts Centre - Imaginate Festival, Edinburgh
Wed 7th May | 10.45 &13.30 | North Edinburgh Arts Centre - Imaginate Festival, Edinburgh
Sat 10th May | 14.30 | North Edinburgh Arts Centre - Imaginate Festival, Edinburgh
Mon 12th May | 10.30 & 13.30 North Edinburgh Arts Centre - Imaginate Festival, Edinburgh
to book contact traverse.co.uk | 0131 228 1404
Then we set sail across Scotland:
Tue 13th May | 10.30 & 13.30 | Tramway - Glasgow | tramway.org | 0845 330 3501
Wed 14th May | 11.30 & 15.45 | Eden Court - Inverness | eden-court.co.uk | 01463 234 234
Mon 19th May | 17.00 | Eigg Community Hall - Eigg | maggie@isleofeigg.net | 01687 482 486
Wed 21st May | 13.30 | Dunoon Burgh Hall - Dunoon | burghhalldunoon@gmail.com | 01369 703 302
Thur 22nd May | 13.30 & 19.00 | Platform - Easterhouse | platform-online.co.uk | 0141 276 9696
Sat 24th May | 14.00 | The Palace Theatre - Kilmarnock | boxoffice@east-ayrshire.gov.uk | 01563 554 900
Sun 25th May | 14.00 | Birnam Arts Centre - Perth | birnamarts.com | 01350 727 674
Love and thanks to those who came!
If you are interested in booking Grandad and Me for future presentation please get in touch with our lovely Producer, Sarah Gray:
sgproducer@outlook.com
Special thanks to our funders: Creative Scotland, Imaginate, Dance House, Platform, Touring Networks.