To Treasure Forever

"On 2 May 2011, a group of Bristolians engaged on a 14-day theatrical intervention into their daily lives that asked them to be creative, responsive and playful. They sent and received emails, SMSes, MMSes, post and tweets and visited interactive objects hidden throughout the city. This is a book that chronicles some of what happened."

To purchase a copy of the Fortnight book, click here.

"A Rich Mix of Surrealism, well-observed Teenage Gaucheness and high-speed Madcappery"

Veune have reviewed three other Mayfest shows, Operation Greenfield which you can read here, The Guild of Cheesemakers which is here and Fortnight readable here.

"A Fascinating Glimpse into the Mind of a Fascinating Man"

Here's a couple of Mayfest reviews from the local blogger, Bristol Culture. They reviewed Fortnight here, and The Invisible Journey here.

300ft Up Bristol looks like a Model Village

It was Saturday 14th May and Fortnight (two weeks of letters, texts, emails, tweets and treasure-hunts) finally drew to a close. Proto-Type weren't going to let it all end quietly though and sure enough, sticking to the proverb of saving the best till last, Fortnight participants were treated to a very special party in the sky across the entire top floor of one of Bristol's very tallest buildings, Castlemead. There was laughing, chatting, dancing, boozing and much admiring of the view. It was a great and very poignant way to end this special project with the city all the participants had been exploring and getting to know a little better now laid down beneath them all like a model village. Here are a few pics from the night:

A Higher Plane. End of the line. All change please. A Higher Plane

During Mayfest, punters who were taking part in Fortnight were asked to imagine that Bristol had an underground train network with stops that were for getting to differenet states of mind. Here is the map Proto-Type Theater have put together made up from people's responses (click on it to enlarge). I've got some very interesting tube journeys planned!

Duckumentation

For those of you taking part in Fortnight this Mayfest, Duckumentation and this montage of images will be old news. For those of you not taking part, this is a little window into the some of the fun you're missing out on. It might all be pretty baffling but if I explained it to non-Fortnight participants, well, I'd have to kill you. Quack!

It's like a Party Line, Only on Twitter

Whether you're taking part in Fortnight at this year's Mayfest or not, one clever way we can all engage with its goings on is through the magical world of Twitter. Each of Fortnight's participants have been given access to a shared Twitter account and, for the 2 weeks during the performance, they can all tweet reactions and responses to the show as well as other interesting observations on the happenings. The fact that each tweet is now anonymous adds an extra layer of intrigue too! To check out these goings on, just follow the link to @mayfortnight here, or keep an eye on the Mayfortnight Twitter stream in the left hand column of this blog!

It's Starting....

To all those who are taking part in Fortnight during Mayfest, arise up from your Bank Holiday slumber and check your postbox. There be a treat awaiting...

Last Chance to Register for Fortnight

Tomorrow at 6.30pm is your absolute last chance to register for Proto-Type Theater’s Fortnight, the theatre experience that will redefine the way you look at your city, your home. It's unlike anything you've ever done before, and might just change your life.

Fortnight enables the experience of “theatre” to penetrate beneath a seemingly brittle aesthetic surface of performance, deep into the consciousnesses of participants as they begin to interact with and perceive world around them as the performance itself; the place where we act out our own daily lives. In Fortnight, the spectator becomes participant; the journey becomes narrative. The mediated messages within Fortnight lead participants down a living, breathing rabbit hole where the familiar becomes unfamiliar and reality distorts.

Sign up today and over the ensuing two weeks you will receive a series of secret invites, poetic nudges and mysterious communications that will ask you to look again at the way you navigate through your city.

To book your place, call Bristol Old Vic Box Office on 0117 987 7877.

Meet The Mayfest Crew: Kerrie Avery

What is your job at Mayfest?
Project Manager

Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year's Mayfest?
I am very excited about Fortnight, it will be a unique chance to let something beautiful take control of your life. Icebook will be incredible - a modern day fairy tale which will make you feel like a child again. Also, Ousia by Darren Johnston will be an awesome spectacle - unique and extreme, wholly absorbing and visually miraculous.

I love Mayfest because...
It makes me believe that there are no limits to implementing creative ideas.

Sum up Mayfest in 3 shiny words.
Mind opening experiences.

Tinned Fingers’ Mayfest Top Picks

Tinned Fingers are a group of artists with backgrounds in writing, theatre and visual arts who work collaboratively to create experimental live performance and interactive events. They work with a DIY aesthetic, inspired by the possibilities of making a performance in your living room and embracing the economy, satisfaction and inherent optimism of re-using everyday materials. Tinned Fingers are members of Residence, an artist led space creating space to make theatre and live art in Bristol and they performed at Mayfest 2009 and 2010.

Tinned Fingers are performing a work-in-progress version of their latest project, The Last Romance Club Ever, as part of Junction Sampled: Festival of Performance in Cambridge over the bank holiday weekend.

“We are hopeful. We are looking for love. We want to get lucky. We want to serenade you outside your window at night. We want to give you our last rolo. We can’t sing but, for you, we’ll try.”

Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year’s Mayfest?

The Ice Book: I saw this at the Dartington College of Arts Alumni Festival last year and thought it was very beautiful. A tiny, miniature story that comes to life like a living pop up book.

Save Me: I'm really excited to see how this unfolds over the course of the festival - Search Party’s last piece, Growing Old With You, is one of my favourite performances that I’ve ever seen. Knowing Search Party, I'd expect this new work to be just as considered, poignant and playful.

Fortnight: I've just signed up for this today, looking forward to some magical things to start happening...!

Tom Wainwright's Top Mayfest Picks

Tom Wainwright is a writer, performer and theatre maker based in Bristol. Tom makes solo work (he's currently touring his show Pedestrian); writes plays (his first play Muscle has been produced by both Bristol Old Vic and Hull Truck and is under commission to write another for Hull Truck) and collaborates with artists from all disciplines. Tom is currently working on a collaboration with Sam Halmarack (of...and The Miserablites) through the Ferment development programme at Bristol Old Vic.

Which 3 shows are you most looking forward to at this year’s Mayfest?

My top 3 are all unlike anything I have ever seen before:

Operation Greenfield is heart-breakingly smart and so funny, epic and joyous it made me want to jump out my seat and roar when I saw it (twice) in Edinburgh 2010.

Ousia is terrifying and beautiful. And way cool.

And Fortnight. I was a guinea pig for trials for this show and all of us lab rats became completely obsessed with it. I don't mean to sound like a nob but it's very romantic.

Something Poetic, Lovely, Beautiful and Strange is coming to Bristol

Fortnight is an experience for 200 people who live in Bristol that takes place largely via the modes of communication people use everyday: mobile phone, email, and post. Over the course of two weeks during Mayfest, participants will receive secret invites, poetic nudges and mysterious communications that encourage a revised understanding of what it means to live in Bristol now.



To sign up just go to the Fortnight website and follow the instructions before the 27th April.

Fortnight

Proto-Type Theatre
Monday 2nd until Sunday 15th May 2011 @ Secret Location

Something poetic, beautiful and strange is coming to Bristol. It will encourage you to peel back the layers of where you live. To look for secrets, surprises. To meet someone new. Or hide in a crowd. On 2nd May, Fortnight comes to Bristol. And you are invited...

Accept the invitation and over the course of two weeks you will receive secret invites, poetic nudges and mysterious communications that will ask you to look again and look anew at the way you navigate the journeys through your home; through your city.

A test version of Proto-Type’s Fortnight was one of six projects commissioned by Theatre Sandbox in 2010 to explore how theatre artists can use pervasive technology. We are delighted to be working with Watershed to bring the full version of Fortnight to Bristol.

Here’s how it works:
- Call 0117 987 7877 and purchase a ticket for £15.
- Add info@fortnightproject.com to your address book to prevent any important emails ending up in your spam.
- Keep an eye on your email. You will be sent a registration email. You need to register before midnight on 27 April in order to participate.
- Put a star in your diary by 2nd May when magical things will start happening for you. Put a small star by 8th, 11th and 14th May when there just might be something you want to be free to do.
- To participate you must live in Bristol postcodes BS1-15 and be in Bristol from 2nd – 15th May 2011. Sorry anyone in BS16 plus!