live literature
Work as a director of live literature productions has become increasingly central to Mark Hewitt's creative activity. He began directing in 2006 through a 'Cultural Leadership Bursary' awarded by the the National Association of Literature Development (NALD) for the purposes of exploring the role of director within the sphere of performed literature, and in particular, the emerging phenomenon of the 'live literature show'. This professional development bursary allowed a period of engagement with directing, sitting in on rehearsals with established theatre directors and studying and researching contemporary practice. An article about the experience - ('Directing Live Literature') - can be seen by NALD members on the NALD website.
A first directing project, linked to the bursary, was Facing the Public.
Above: Martina Evans in rehearsal at Westgate Chapel, Lewes, during 2006
Facing the Public
Martina Evans, 2007
Live literature performance featuring the poetry and prose of Martina Evans (née Cotter), exploring Irish social and political history as refracted through the lives and accumulated experience of the Cotter family over three or four generations. Using words and photos, the piece took the form of a multi-media scrapbook, or in Martina's own words: "a detailed vision of Ireland that goes between the world of my parents and grandparents in the 1920’s and my own childhood in the 1970's". Performed by Martina, the piece was previewed as a work-in-progress during the Lewes Live Lit Festival Season, October 2007.
Left: recent photo © Barbara Piemonte, 2006 / Right: the young Martina in her Communion Dress
Left: the Black & Tans in Ireland in the 1920s