The UK Kent-based Actors’ Co-operative Katapult Productions presents "Tipperary to Flanders Fields" which commemorates the First World War in words and music, using some of the songs and poems from the era.  Some of the content tells the story of the women in WW1 in their own words.  

Devised and directed by Michael Thomas, the performers will be Julia Burnett, Marie Kelly, Alan Simmons and Ann Lindsey Wickens.

Performances of “Tipperary to Flanders Fields” will be held during Remembrance Weekend 2017 at the following venues:

The Avenue Theatre, Sittingbourne, ME10 4DN on 11^th November 2017 at 7.30pm;

at The Astor, Deal, CT14 6AB on 12/11/2017 at 4pm;

and at The Queens Theatre, Hornchurch, RM11 1QT on 13/11/2017 at 2.30pm.

Tickets available from the box offices of the theatres.

www.katapultproductions.co.uk

Initial information shared from Remembering Women on the Home Front Facebook page, with further information provided by Katapult Productions.

In Memory

Today my little brother was able to participate in our democratic system for the first time. I won't say participate in our democracy because that is not something that happens on a single day but is a part of our lives living in an organised society. But for the first time in his life, having turned 18 earlier this year (OK, he's not-so-little), he was able to give direct input into the workings of our government by voting for his local MP and the national party they represent.

Less than 50 years ago he would not have been able to do this - it is easy to forget that it is within living memory that the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 in the UK (1969 taking effect 1970). It is also often neglected that it took a very long time, for everyone to be able to vote without their income or property being assessed and, of course, irrespective of gender.

It is therefore easy to take such a basic human right, such a fundamental part of living in a democratic community for granted - and to become blind to the struggles that so many still face to keep a hold of it.

'A group of women in their 20s left the polling station with smiles on their faces in 1929, having just voted in their first general election.' (Huffington Post)

For one particular woman - who had not only rocked society by going to university but was one of very few who were permitted to graduate - the constant struggle to simply be accepted as a human being had galvanised in her a courage and fire to do whatever it takes to change the situation. For decades the ruling officials had been presented with paper after paper, women and men had argued and discussed and persuaded and called for change via policy and debate. The privilege of the privileged few was strong enough that it not only encouraged them to resist sharing it but also gave them the power to do so. Unlike every other previous movement for mass culture change - and, in fact, every other advance in granting suffrage to a wider and wider group of people - for women, use of violence was resisted. Is this why change was slowest on this front? The privileged few could retain one demographic with which they didn't need to share their power because their lives weren't directly threatened by them?

Something had to change. This quiet revolution needed to raise it's voice in order to be noticed and taken seriously. Read 'My Own Story' by Emmeline Pankhurst - probably the most important book a UK citizen can read.

Many women and men put their lives at risk because they knew that life as it was couldn't go on. The situation was worth dying for. 104 years ago today, Emily Wilding Davison, London and Oxford University 1st Class graduate, who had been working full time for the Suffragette movement and the WSPU after leaving a career as a teacher (after many others had been denied to her simply because of her gender), died in a hospital in Epsom. Four days previously, she had taken part in one of the many protest acts she and countless others carried out over years, demanding suffrage for women, which were known to be highly dangerous to the protesters themselves (though very rarely were they in any way dangerous to anyone else). She brought WSPU flags in front of three newsreel cameras to excite the mass-scale public response needed to instigate genuine, lasting change and, as a result of her injuries received, lost her life.

So, on this day, 104 years later, I would like to take a moment to reflect - and ask anyone out there reading this to do the same - about the difficult paths that have been taken to lead us to where we are today - and those that remain ahead. To all 974 female candidates standing in today's parliamentary general election, no matter what party or policies you represent, I send thanks and courage. It is so easy to forget or sweep under the carpet the battles you have had to over come to get even as far as standing to represent your constituency. Yes, simply by way of identifying as a woman, they will have had to fight longer and harder than their male counterparts (a look at the number of sexism-driven death-threats MPs standing today have received confirms this) - a hateful fact that will one day change, thanks to their having taken on the fight. You are all my heroes. Thank you.

Useful links/references...

1. 2017 UK General Election stats (BBC)

2. 'Women's Equality party candidate receives death threat signed 'Jo Cox'' (Guardian, Telegraph)

3. 'Threats of death and violence common for women in politics' (Guardian)

4. 'Truth behind the death of suffragette Emily Davison is finally revealed' (Guardian)

5. 'The real suffragettes: Emmeline Pankhurst, Emily Davison and Edith New' (The Week)

6. Suffragettes - Timeline (UK Parliamentary Education Service)

7. A brief history of representation (An Introduction to UK Parliament, FutureLearn)

8. 'The Story of Parliament' (Houses of Parliament)
9. The WSPU (Wikipedia)
10. The Pankhurst Centre, Manchester

Starting the year with a Bang! And a Crash! And a Paradiddle and a tssssch tch t-tssssch tch t-tssssch tch…

Drummers at the 2016 Taunton Carnival

The colours of a carnival. The people thronging the streets of a usually quiet, rural-suburban town. The local community’s chance to show off, with floats and costumes and parades, dancers and shouters, banners and displays. And the noise – oh, the noise! The regimented, rhythmic snare and bass drums of a marching band, the complex and intoxicating rhythms of a samba band, clashing and overlapping, reverberating off of the tall buildings of the high street, old buildings with new faces reflecting the pounding and beating of old sounds played anew, adding reverb, changing their shapes, painting a whole new picture from the colour palettes of many cultures and histories and futures. To one young observer, the visual extravagance of the floats passed by, uninspiring – but the sound of drums lit a spark, sent a message, galvanised a desire: “I will make that sound.”

It’s about time we celebrated drummers in this space. As usual, there is no lack of inspiration – from Sarah Jones (Hot Chip, Bat for Lashes, Bloc Party), Dame Evelyn Glennie, Cindy Blackman (Lenny Kravitz, Santana) and Daisy Palmer

Drumming legend Cindy Blackman

(Goldfrapp, Rae Morris) to the Velvet Underground’s Moe Tucker, She Drew The Gun’s Sian Monaghan and Bobbye Hall, Jody Linscott, Terri Lyne Carrington and so many more – forming an integral part of bands in every genre (The Carpenters, Arcade Fire, The Slits, Beastie Boys, The Who, Pink Floyd…) playing and touring with artists of every calibre (Dolly Parton, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Dylan…); and all this while still, still being told, even by their peers (as a recent Radio 4 show confirmed), that this is a ‘man’s game’, that they’re ‘not strong enough’ – or, if they are, that they ‘look too masculine’ – and if they don’t, that they look ‘too pretty’. Despite still, still being asked, ‘Are you the drummer’s girlfriend?’, ‘Do you need a hand with that, love?’, ‘Are you any good?’, indignities that would never be directed to their male peers, they pick up their sticks, count in the beat and get on with being amazing. In short, they ROCK.

Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of being entertained by some incredible drummers. Those that stick out the most – who most certainly deserve to be listed with the names above – include Phildas Bhakta who I saw drum with Genesis tribute band The Book of Genesis; an incredible jazz drummer who I saw play in a session with the Southampton University Jazz Orchestra some years ago and who’s name I never learnt but who’s mastery of the kit and the genre has stuck with me ever since; and Emma Holbrook who not only rocked the socks off the Bristol Sessions back in the summer but who I had the somewhat awkward pleasure of meeting afterwards and (less awkwardly) since – and who was the inspiration to finally put together this celebration of great women drumming talent.

Emma Holbrook at Glastonbury Festival 2016 (Photo: Enrico Partisani)

So, back to the carnival and where we began our story of Emma Holbrook, drummer, composer, filmmaker, photographer, teacher and inspiration.

At 8 or 9 years old, amidst the noise and colour of the local carnival, Holbrook knew that she would drum. After begging and pestering her parents she managed to get her hands on a toy drum kit – there was no question of them affording a real one or even lessons. Her first instrument some years later was then the snare drum in a local marching band made up almost entirely of girls – quite the inspiration! It was also a fast learning curve but one that the 11-year-old was more than up to. At secondary school she managed to get time on a full drum kit and figured out how it all worked. At 16 she auditioned for and received council funding for lessons and a drum kit of her own, and she was soon drumming for multiple bands at her college.

And now it becomes a bit more tricky – this is the age when we are told we have to make Big Decisions about our Careers, our Vocations, our Future. No more doing something just because we’re good at it or we enjoy it – we’re told we now have to make a living out of our endeavours. Personally, as someone who’s never quite managed to settle on one thing long enough to ignore all others, I’ve always been jealous of those who’ve known all their lives what they want to be – say, a doctor, police officer, teacher, firefighter – or even those who’ve known what they want to do – work with animals, in sport, marketing – or music. With enough dedication and determination the path looks so straightforward – but of course, this is not the case. Holbrook knew deep down that there would be for her a place, a home, in the creative world but, as is often the case with subjects that don’t lead directly to a secure and steady profession, encouragement was not particularly forthcoming. Many tried to lead her towards something more stable such as teaching, and one teacher even told her she not only couldn’t but shouldn’t pursue music. At this stage Holbrook compromised. Still following a creative path, she studied Film & Drama at the University of Reading – playing the odd bit of djembe for fun here and there.

Emma with filmmaking colleague Susannah Mo interviewing Guardian dance journalist Judith Mackrell for 'Making The Cut' 2015 (Photo: Josh Randall)

It wasn’t until nearly 10 years later, after a successful but relatively short (how our culture suffers from funding cuts) stint teaching film, arts and music tech, that Holbrook’s percussive talents were fully unleashed again, the sound of drums called once more and that vision of her younger self could be realised – she would make that sound – and, boy would people listen when she did!

Watching her play, it’s no surprise that she had a background in drama. Musicians often pull fantastic faces when they’re playing, generally not consciously (see for e.g. two amazing music face-pullers here!), but Holbrook uses it – when she’s up on stage, she’s performing, throwing everything she is, her personality, her hopes, her fears – and most certainly her acting experience – into it. Holbrook feels the rush of making great sounds live, the excitement of not knowing what’s coming next, the joy in collectively creating something right there in the moment – in turn, making her every stroke a joy to watch, to hear, to feel.

Drumming inspiration Emma Holbrook (Photo: Neville Ward)

Currently Holbrook is composing, performing with multiple bands in an array of genres from folk to jazz to funk and for the first time teaching music itself. She has taught herself the piano, working with shapes to create sounds. She’s also continuing with photography and filmmaking, proving that you can earn a living doing what you love – and that that ‘what’ needn’t be a single thing, a known career on a straightforward path, but a plural of endeavours. And it may change in the future, take many twists and turns as Holbrook herself grows. Something I wish we were all told back when we were making those Big Decisions!

Like many people the world over trying to forge a path for themselves in the arts, the creative and the entertainment ‘industries’, hers has not been an easy or straight forward journey. Discouragement, dead-end jobs, outright discrimination, deprivation and even that other D-word that, finally, society is allowing us to openly talk about and start to work through, depression. But also determination, desire and good dose of, ‘Dya know what? I’m going to do it anyway.’.

“It’s hard, especially when you first start. My transition into being a full time creative has been gradual but it had to be. There have been all sorts of challenges up to this point both personal and professional and there will be more in the future but my message is: keep going, keep going, keep going – it’s worth it! Music is brilliant – being creative, meeting new people, travelling the world, constantly learning, challenging yourself. There are many downsides to face but in overcoming them you can find a life for yourself, make a life for yourself - one that is completely your own.”

I want to thank Emma so much for her time and openness when writing this article – and to say to her, I hope you get to meet your hero (the aforementioned Dame Evelyn Glennie) soon, just like I got to meet you!