Blank Media Collective

blankpages Presents… [BlankWeekend]

Saturday 9th Oct 2010

Friday 12 November, 7:30pm | Kro Bar | £2
Music, poetry, improvisation, performance; blankpages Presents… is a different kind of literary night out. Expect live music from Old House Playground, on-the-spot poetry from Reverend Conor A’s Holy Church of the Improvised Word and an open floor poetic invitation. Get involved!

Reverend Conor A | Old House Playground | Stephanie Hancock | James Shaw

Kro Bar (opposite The Academy) | 325 Oxford Road | Manchester | M13 9PG

Reverend Conor A
Performance poet, improvising poet-compere and event organiser, Reverend Conor A has performed all over the northwest and beyond, including touring Northern Ireland in February 2007. In a quote about Reverend Conor A, Rosie Lugosi says; ”...he pulls the rug from underneath the angry young man poet…”. Reverend Conor A improvises under the title of The Holy Church of the Improvised Word: a secular religion. Engaging and interacting with audiences this performance promises to be one to remember.

Old House Playground
Four jaded young cynics meeting in a smoky old back alley bar and playing their way through a night of Bukowskilly sad, subtle, ironic reflections on lost love, passion and angst. Old House Playground was created in spring 2005 by Tryfon and Evangelos, who had been experimenting with different sounds and styles together for a few years. After some changes to the rhythm section Conor and Andreas joined in 2006 and 2007 respectively. By the spring of 2010 Evangelos unfortunately wasn’t able to follow the band anymore so a new Irish blood joined in. Haigh Gorman is the latest entry in the Old house playground family.
Old House Playground’s self produced debut (music and lyricks by Tryfon Lazos and Evagelos Vasilakos) is “The Whore and the Dog:” an album of 14 tracks drawing influence from rock, jazz, blues, rebetica, and flamenco and is available by contacting the band here or by e-mail: oldtryfonplayground@hotmail.com

Stephanie Hancock
Stephanie will be gracing us with her presence at blankpages Presents… as her alter-ego Pope Bernadette I (the first female Pope) as part of her 2010 tour of Manchester. Stephanie Hancock leads an ongoing exploration into Performance, social interactions and engagement, political and personal performances and happenings about gender, identity, cultural stereotypes, sexuality and creed.

James Shaw
Poet, playwright and musician, James Shaw has just gained a first class degree in Creative Writing at John Moores University and has won the JMU Fellowship Award for 2010. His poetry has been published in Get Back Magazine and his screenplays have already generated offers from two North West publishers. Currently, he is working on the release of his first full album ‘Musical Moods’, having previously released the ‘Serving Scouse EP’ to high acclaim. In September 2010 he begins an MA at JMU in Screenwriting. James was born in 1981 in Liverpool, where he currently lives and works.