In the Spotlight

Expression Unlimited: The Journey Begins

In May 2004 two young men left Glasgow for Italy on the first leg of a musical journey. Mark from Coatbridge and Mark from Glasgow were representing Scotland in an international arts project funded through the Culture 2000 programme, called Expression Unlimited.

The destination was a small coastal town, Numana, where they joined fellow sensory impaired artists and musicians from Italy, Greece, Slovakia and Croatia. The aim was to devise and develop a piece of music theatre which will be brought back to Scotland for performance this September in Glasgow. The project was designed to encourage creative collaboration and artistic exchange between the European partners.

Jon Reid, Sense Scotland Arts Worker and the music facilitator for the Sense Scotland group said:

"A project like this which brings together deafblind and mainstream musicians needed the right kind of environment and timescale to fully tap into everyone's potential. We started off with a session where we got to know one another and find out what we were all interested in. With drama games and group work we were able to build trust within the group and build confidence for the further six days of music and theatre."

The group, led by artistic director Clark Crystal, began to formulate a story, workshopping themes and ideas and developing a soundscape. By the last day of workshops, the group were ready to present their piece of theatre - a story of love on the high seas - to a small audience of families.

The audience reaction to the show was fantastic and all the participants, Milena and Francesco from Italy, Aris from Greece, Peter from Slovakia and Marijan and Kristjan from Croatia, are thoroughly looking forward to their trip to Glasgow to present the work at Gilmorehill G12 on Thursday 30th September. Mark, from Glasgow will play the key role of Ship's Lookout in the piece, while Mark from Coatbridge will take the role of Chief Sailor, providing the musical anchor for the piece.

With the support of the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union.

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