The Surrey Heights Casting at Shoosh, Croydon Photo: Max Owens

Aimee Butcher, 22, of Croydon has proposed a reality TV series to showcase the diversity and talent in Croydon. The auditions for the show took place for almost a week, and with some 5,000 applicants, the judging panel saw hundreds of auditionees daily.

Aimee told us about her ideas for wanting to create the show and gave us the exclusive on the casting process:

Aimee Butcher, 22 – Surrey Heights Producer tells all.

The judging panel included Aimee, the brains behind the idea for the show, and two other Croydon residents: Josh Stutter who lives on an estate in Croydon, and Joey Maxwell-Simbo. They talked about looking for people with a unique story who will help present the best that Croydon has to offer.

Joey spoke about looking to present both sides of Croydon – the haves and the have nots; to show that Croydon like any other London borough boasts a spectrum of wealth and diversity. Josh, like Joey, was looking for someone “exciting” who he could feel would make good viewing.

It was reported that the casting team for the Surrey Height show were not only looking for “chavs”. After four full days of casting the judging panel expressed a little bit of disappointment at not having seen a single “Croydon facelift”. But they assured us at East London Lines that the search continues as they want to show all the faces and sides of Croydon and put the “real” back into “Reality TV”.

East London Lines spoke to some of the hopefuls who came to show off their unique qualities to the panel of judges.

Joe Hagan and Jordan Rhodes

"Chocolate Orange"

Jordan Rhodes, 21, from Oxted, Surrey – sounds pretty lively but didn’t seem so sure about why she should be on the show. We believe in you Jordan!

Joe Hagan, 21, was the only person to turn up at the auditions accompanied by a manager. Definitely came across as a serious contender.

Double act CourtneyDee Thompson, 21, and Alix Beadon, 19, gave a huge dose of the bright characters – also known as Chocolate Orange. The duo are Croydon girls born and bred, got their excitement across to be auditioning and taking the opportunity to do something new and fun:

The series itself has not yet been commissioned by a television channel, but the project has attracted both media and public attention across London, and nationwide with coverage in the Evening Standard and The Sun.

The making of the series is being filmed by Mentorn Media – Danni Davis from the production company spoke to East London Lines about why they are following Aimee’s story as she brings the project to life:

In the words of the producer Aimee Butcher – “watch this space”.

Additional reporting and production by Maxwell Owens

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Cultural Olympiad Arts Council Photo: Alex Adey

Top cultural projects from across the East London Lines boroughs are among those driving forward the Cultural Olympiad.

Organisations from across London last week showcased their contributions to the summer of arts and showed how important the London 2012 Olympic Games will be to the capital’s culture, at an Arts Council event at the Museum of London.

Young Ambassadors

The Geffrye Museum in Hackney are opening their doors to Young Ambassadors in the borough and beyond. The Stories of the World has been running for three years and gives young people the opportunity to contribute ideas on how the museum is run and visit local schools to spread the word about exhibitions and the project.

East London Lines spoke to Vanessa Whybell, assistant education officer for the project, and Shaun who has been a Young Ambassador since the project started:

At Home With the World is now on at the Geffrye Museum. The exhibition explores living rooms from around the globe. It is free and runs until Sunday September 9.

Contemporary Anthropologists

Forest Hill’s Horniman Museum is also participating in the Stories of the World. The Body Adorned is an expansive photographic project, for which the curator trained a group of young people to become ‘contemporary anthropologists’.

Horniman’s Assistant Director Curatorial, Finbarr Whooley, told East London Lines that the exhibition asked the photographers working across London to find different ways in which the body is dressed and adorned.

The Body Adorned is free and runs at the Horniman Museum until January 2013.

Cultural Olympiad Bus Stops Photo: Alex Adey

LED Bus Shelters

If from the top deck of a bus you peer down upon a piece of LED artwork, you are looking at the brainchild of Alfie Dennen.

Bus-Tops are appearing on top of bus shelters across the capital and have locations across all East London Lines boroughs. It is one of twelve commissions forming Artists Taking the Lead, a programme funded by Arts Council England. The project is a collaboration between established artists and members of the public, who can also submit designs for the innovative exhibition spaces.

Dennen told East London Lines that he hopes as well as surprising bus users, the displays will generate Olympic fun with Bus-Top Pong:

Bus-Tops also works with the Arts Awards, which provides courses and activites for schools and young people that contribute towards nationally recognised arts qualifications, for example NVQs.

Dennen explained that through the scheme you can complete a Bust-Top Bronze award, he said: “11-24 year olds can spend a day’s workshop looking at how the screens work, how artists have used them, creating work for the screens, and then actually exhibiting them.”

International Collaboration

Heart ‘N’ Soul is coming out of the Albany Theatre in Deptford. The creative arts company focuses on learning disability culture and offers a range of opportunities for people to take part, train in a new skill or develop their artistic talents. For the Cultural Olympiad, they are presenting a 72 member strong international music collaboration called the Dean Rodney Singers.

The project is being curated by autistic artist Dean Rodney, after the idea came to him in a dream. All the songs are being created on iPad apps by band members across the world. The aim is to create a space where disabled and non-disabled artists and musicians can work on an audio-visual installation in time for the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Sandra Reynolds from Heart ‘N’ Soul told East London Lines how it will work:

Poetry Slam

The Albany Theatre is also hosting a poetry slam organised by one of the country’s foremost poetry organisations. Apples and Snakes are working on a nationwide project called Shake The Dust which will see poets and writers going to schools to collaborate with young people to produce poetry for the  slam. The London regional finals will be at the Albany Theatre on the 16 June and the Southbank Centre hosts the national final between July 5-8.

Miriam Nash, producer of the project, said that Shake The Dust will bring together poetry programmes from around the country to create something that can continue nationally after 2012. She also told East London Lines that the project is not just aiming to get more young people writing poetry.

Mapping the Change exhibition was launch May 17 Photo:Steven Ren

Mapping the change, a four year-long Hackney Museum project recording the changes in East Londoners’ lives in the run up the London 2012 Games has been launched as a major exhibition.

The project, funded mainly by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), is documenting the impact of the coming Olympic and Paralympics Games on the lives of people living in Hackney.

More than 5,000 people from all walks of life in the community were involved with the project.

It has produced multimedia riches of film, written, audio and photographic based records archiving the changes in their lives as well as their responses to them.

Activities have included oral history recordings in Hackney and Fish Island, photo competitions in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest; community journalism courses; art and heritage workshops; documentary films, history walks and talks; an extensive schools and families programme and a series of community exhibitions at Hackney Museum and other community venues.

Jonathan McShane, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Health & Community Services said: “Hackney co-hosting the London 2012 Games is not only about new buildings, better transport and job opportunities, it is about people experiencing change in preparation for what will be a major event in history. Mapping the Change will provide us with a revealing and valuable account for future generations to look back on.”

Ron Newman, a Hackney resident who joined the community journalism course, told us how the project has changed him.

The exhibition is free to enter and will run until September 15. To find out more or get involved contact Hackney Museum on 020 8356 3500 or mappingthechange@hackney.gov.uk.

La Bohème Isango Ensemble at Hackney Empire Pauline Malefane as Mimi pic: Sue Hymen Associates

The classic opera La Bohème by Puccini has been reproduced in many languages and the latest has come to the Hackney Empire. An innovative reworking by the award winning Isango Ensemble of  South Africa. 

The production begins on Youth Day a winter public holiday held on the June 16 in South Africa. This commemorates the day when over 23 young people  were killed in Soweto.  Unofficially the real figure is put at 200.  Set in the Townships of Cape town doomed lovers, Lungelo, played by Mhlekazi Whawha, and his love Mimi, played by Pauline Malefane meet and fall in love.

The hardships and friendships are accompanied by the award winning score of  marimba and steel drums. The music with not a gap between is as captivating as the cast.  When Mimi dies of tuberculosis the marimba which mimics her heartbeat also stops.

The company and the Hackney Empire have joined up with the the Global Fund to fight aids, tuberculosis and malaria. Many of the performers are from townships  which “are amongst some of the world’s highest infection areas for TB”, while many of the company’s extended family members are “living with the realities of TB on a daily basis.”

Famed actor of both stage and screen Sir Ian Mckellen said ‘The Isango Ensemble is unique. I believe no other theatre group in the world so successfully brings old theatre classics into a modern, wholly African expression.”

The story is not all doom and gloom. The lively and enigmatic dance sequences are foot tapping  and the comedy aspects of the play shine through. This performance is a must see for all even if you’re not an opera buff.

I spoke to some of the audience members at the Hackney Empire after the showing to gauge their reaction:

Alan Dein: 'After You've Gone: East End Shopfronts, 1988' Photo: George Drake Jr

The lost array of East London shopfronts is being celebrated in a new photography exhibition at the borough’s Local History Library & Archives.

After You’ve Gone  opened on Thursday night and captures the East End in the late 1980s, soon before the traditional local shops began to make way for the modern high street.

The photographs were taken by BBC Radio 4′s Alan Dein and are displayed with residents’ memories of the businesses they depict, as well as images of the locations today taken by Ais Clafferty.

Dein told EastLondonLines he only ever intended the photos to be a personal record and is delighted with the exhibition.

He said: “I’ve found through my own passion with the story of the East End, so many people from different generations – whether they’ve known the East End all their lives or they’ve just discovered it last month – they are intrigued by it. They are fascinated by this place and I hope that these kind of images are part of that fascination.”

'After You've Gone: East End Shopfronts, 1988' Photo: George Drake Jr

By 1988, many of the shopfronts pictured had already closed down. One of the most striking images in the exhibition is 111 Mile End Road: at that time it still held the remnants of Walters Man’s Shop but today the Georgian Terrace, which was hidden behind, has been restored.  One would never know that Walters existed.

Shopfronts come and go and so make very good records of change. Dein also wanted to capture the colour of an area so often depicted in black and white:

The exhibition follows a positive response to appearance of the images on the website Spittalfields Life. The present day photographs were taken by Ais Clafferty, who told EastLondonLines she got involved after being shown them by exhibition’s researcher and digitiser Emma Hunt.

Most of Clafferty’s photography involves abandoned buildings.  She said: “It’s the sort of remnants of something that existed before; the kind of clues as to what may have happened there. And you can kind of make up your own narrative from the sort of fragments that are left.”

Clafferty also told EastLondonLines how she found all of Dein’s original locations:

After You’ve Gone: East End Shopfronts, 1988 is at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives until July 12. Free Admission.

Recordings by George Drake Jr.

Doors about to close on Warehouse Theatre pic: Stephanie Davies

The once prestigious Warehouse Theatre, located in East Croydon and forced into administration earlier this month, faces imminent closure due to a lack of funding.

Following funding cuts from the Arts Council last year and more recently a U-turn on proposed finances from Croydon Council, the Board were left with no alternative but to seek administrative advice. Sunday’s performance may be its last.  Croydon’s arts community faces yet another blow.

Members of the theatre say they plan to appeal. But Annie Richards from Streatham, who has worked at the theatre since December 2009, is less hopeful about the venue’s future.

Speaking to East London Lines, she gives her response to the news of the imminent closure of the theatre and also spoke of her concerns about her job:

A spokesman from Croydon Council told East London Lines: “We are disappointed to hear that the Warehouse Theatre has gone into administration. We hope that they will be successful in raising alternative sources of funding and we have offered our support in this endeavour. If the Warehouse is unable to survive then we will aim to restore studio theatre to Croydon as part of the re-modelling of the Fairfield Halls.”

Ted Craig, the Artistic Director of the Warehouse Theatre, told East London Lines about the reasons for the impending closure of the theatre. He remains hopeful, and spoke about the campaign to save the theatre set up by its members:

Final show at Warehouse Theatre

Warehouse Theatre Box Office pic: Stephanie Davies

The production currently on stage at the Warehouse Theatre - Call Mr. Robeson has been allowed to run until the end of its schedule on Sunday May 20, 2012. The play follows the life of Paul Robeson, an African-American singer and self-confessed communist. It has been well received by theatre members and employees alike. The message behind the play, one of perseverance and standing up for your rights in the face of adversity, seems to have some significance for the theatre in the words of Tayo Aluko, who wrote and performs the play.

Video courtesy of Tayo Aluko

Aluko said that once it was confirmed that the play “Call Mr. Robeson” would run until its final show at the Warehouse Theatre on May 20 – he pledged to donate the showing’s proceeds to fund the theatre’s survival.

The play has received a very positive response in the theatre with one member of staff saying she was glad the theatre would close with such a brilliant play as its last. Aluko has vowed to bring “Call Mr. Robeson” to the Warehouse again, should the theatre successfully reopen.

Listen to Tayo Aluko’s full interview with East London Lines here:

For tickets to what seems to be its final show, contact the Warehouse Theatre.

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Adult Learners’ Week begins today and Lewisham Council have published a comprehensive list of events for anyone who want to get involved.

Many of Lewisham’s main providers of adult and community education will be working together to showcase the different ways adults can access learning. There are formal and informal events across the borough for people interested in a career change, networking or simply learning something new.

Lewisham Council’s website features case studies from residents in the borough who have benefited from the Learners’ Week and Community Education Lewisham. Joanne’s story is one such example.

Joanne joined CEL in 2010, and and completed a general interest funeral flowers course; she progressed to complete two L1 Award courses in Contemporary Floral Designs (C&G) and Wedding & Special Occasion Designs. She is currently working towards a L2 Certificate in Floristry at Greenwich Community College, as well as continuing general interest creative courses at CEL in Glass Painting & Hat Making. Joanne developed her own website (www.jojoflowers.co.uk), and accepted private commissions for complex wedding and funeral designs whilst she was studying. EastLondonLines interviewed Joanne, and talked about her progress since becoming involved in CEL:

Maggie Smith recently came in to East London Lines HQ to chat about Forest Hill Writers’ Group who have had involvement in Adult Learners’ Week events in Lewisham in previous years. In their contribution to the Lewisham Cultural Olympiad  – a collection of contributions compiled in a booklet entitled ‘If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be The Library’, they mention that the 2011 Learners’ Week brought the group to fruition:

The weeklong catalogue of events begins today at Deptford Lounge where you can find out what opportunities there are at Lewisham College. Other events taking place this week include a clothes making taster, an event showing opportunities at the Stephen Lawrence Centre and Gamelan tasters at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill. A full list of the events Lewisham Council are running can be found here.

Photo: Steven Ren

Artefacts from Shakespeare’s Theatre in Shoreditch will be on display at the Hackney Museum
from May 17 to  September 15. The exhibition coincides with the World Shakespeare Festival, launched at April 23.

The display, as part of the Mapping the Change exhibition, will include finds discovered at an excavation site of Shakespeare’s first theatre in Shoreditch. These finds were discovered at the location of one of the earliest of London’s playhouses, called The Theatre, built in 1576 by James Burbage.

The location was confirmed by Museum of London Archaeology following excavations of the site in Shoreditch. The site, which was excavated in 2010, was a former warehouse on New Inn Yard.

Pottery from the 16th century, including money boxes, used to hold the theatregoers’ fee were found on the site, and as well as other assortments of pottery, original roof tiles, pipes, and drinking vessels, and Victorian domestic items including a well-used toothbrush, which are to be displayed at the exhibition.

Shakespeare wrote and performed at The Theatre from 1594 to 1597; and Romeo and Juliet was almost certainly premiered there and was written to be performed in The Theatre, as details of the stage layout in the script show.

In 1597 due to the disagreement between the Burbages and their landlord, the wooden structure was dismantled and taken south of the river to become part of The Globe theatre.

Photo: Steven Ren

Councillor Jonathan McShane, Hackney Council’s Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Culture said: “I’m delighted that we will display important artefacts showing Hackney’s link with Shakespeare and the arts, as far back as the 16th Century. Through Mapping the Change the Council is showing the public part of Hackney’s past while providing an insight into the 2012 Games for future generations.”

Senior Archaeologist for Museum of London Archaeology, Heather Knight, said: “Shakespeare has not only helped to shape the culture of the capital, his influence is evident across the globe. Excavating the Theatre gave Museum of London Archaeology the opportunity to add to the knowledge of this extraordinary figure. It’s been a privilege for us to be involved with this exciting project and we are delighted that the finds are going to be displayed to the public at the Hackney Museum.”

The Mapping The Change exhibiton is an attempt by the Hackney Museum and Hackney Archives to record the changes to local people’s lives and creating a lasting legacy for future generations to experience and understand.

These records will be shown in a special exhibition in 2012 and will form a key part of Hackney’s Museum and Archive collections as a snapshot of a crucial period in history for Hackney, seen through the eyes of local people. The Hackney Museum is free to enter, and lets residents discover the past and present of Hackney, with exhibits and hands on activities.

Location of Hackney Museum

Shakespeare’s Theatre in Shoreditch will be on display at the Hackney Museum

La Boheme (Abanxaxhi) pic: Sue Hyman Associates

East London Lines has scoured the listings and handpicked the best events in our boroughs for the next seven days. Enjoy!

If you have any events you think we should list, let us know by tweeting @eastlondonlines or by leaving a comment.

FRIDAY May 11 & 17

LA BOHEME (ABANXAXHI)

Hackney Empire, 291 Mare St, London, E8 1EJ

The Isango Ensemble present a re-imagining of Puccini’s classic opera set in the townships of modern-day South Africa. Expect an amazing chorus of marimbas, steel pans and incredible voices from this critically acclaimed production.

Also showing will be Isango Ensemble’s The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and Aesop’s Fables. See Hackney Empire for more details.

7.30pm, £10-34

SATURDAY May 12

UP THE CREEK

302 Creek Road, SE10 9SW

Legendary comedy club Up The Creek is well worth a 5 minute meander out of Deptford into Greenwich. Famed for it’s Sunday Special, it also has excellent line-ups throughout the the week and this Saturday is no exception. MC Chris Henry is joined by Jason Patterson, Ian Smith and Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated Andrew Maxwell. There’s also a bar and disco until 2am.

8pm, £12 – £15

SUNDAY May 13

THE AUSSIE BBQ LONDON

Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, LONDON

Australia comes to East London with an afternoon of beers, bands and BBQ for the third consecutive year. It’s the biggest showcase of antipodean talent outside of Australia and began when two music fans from Melbourne decided to organise an Aussie-style barbecue and music event at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. From those humble beginnings, the BBQ has showcased over 250 acts in 5 countries around the world, including the UK.

1pm – 11pm. £10/£12

Here’s a video from band The Bowers playing at the event:

MONDAY May 14

PETE (THE TEMP) VERSES CLIMATE CHANGE

Albany Theatre, Douglas Way, Deptford, SE8 4AG

Hammer & Tong National Poetry Slam champion Pete the Temp puts on a theatrical stand up show trying to stop climate chaos only with his mouth, as performed at last year’s Edinburgh festival. Comedy website Chortle rate him as poetry’s answer to Mark Thomas and this is definitely not a show to be missed.

8pm, £7.

TUESDAY May 15

THE GREAT GATSBY

Wilton’s Music Hall, 1-4 Graces Alley, E1 8JB

A new and immersive production of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. The audience are invited to dress in their best 1920s clothing and help recreate the decadence and glitz of the era for this fresh and innovative cabaret production.

7.30pm, £17.50 – £27.50

WEDNESDAY May 16

BEDTIME STORIES at 40 WINKS

109 Mile End Road, E1 4UJ

Relax and dress in your PJs and dressing gowns for this evening of decadently-themed storytelling. This week’s theme is ‘Murder and Mayhem’, with stories from Cat Weatherill and Kasper Sorensen. Curated by David Carter and Miss Rachel Rose Reid, it’s held in the former’s house/hotel. Make sure you book! Ticket prices include food & drink.

7pm, £25

THURSDAY MAY 17

SPECTOR at CAMDEN ELECTRIC BALLROOM

Finally, we twist the rules slightly by expanding into Camden for Pick of the Line favourites and Hackney locals and BBC Sound 2012 nominees Spector, who are playing at the Electric Ballroom in NW1. Support from Eugene McGuinness, Gabriel Bruce and Violet.

EastLondonLines music correspondant Olga Casablancas interviewed Spector, and asked them about the future of how people are going to be listening and buying music.

7pm, £10

SOUL UK Launch pic: SoulUKRadio

A new community radio station will launch at the exclusive Roxbury nightclub on Croydon High Street tomorrow.

Organisers are bringing together music and social action as Sounds of Urban London Radio (SOUL Radio) will hold its launch party as a fundraiser for the Campaign 4 Justice, a campaign seeking justice for those who have died in police custody.

The event will feature well known UK talent such as reggae outfits Saxon and Coxsone, former BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Chris Goldfinger, producer Commander B, R&B band Loose Ends, UK Garage legend Sticky and reggae singer Maxi Priest. It will celebrate the lives of Smiley Culture, Mark Duggan, Sean Rigg and others who have lost their lives in controversial circumstances.

The driving force behind SOUL Radio is Merlin Emmanuel, nephew of David Emmanuel, the latter being known to most Britons as the reggae singer Smiley Culture. The performer, who had hits in the 1980’s with the songs ‘Cockney Translation’ and ‘Police Officer’ died during a police raid at his home in Surrey last year. Emmanuel had been charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and was due in court shortly after his death.

According to The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) he died from a single stab wound to the heart at his home in Hillbury Road in Warlingham when four Metropolitan Police Officers were at the house at the time, carrying out a search of the property.  The IPCC investigation found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by officers involved in the raid.

But the Emmanuel family accused the watchdog of treating them with “contempt”, the Guardian reported last year.

Merlin Emmanuel told EastLondonLines: “A positive that has come out of my uncle’s death, is that it has galvanised the community and there is a lot more awareness around issues of social justice. I have met many families who have gone through a similar ordeal to mine. I wanted to start the radio station to provide good music, informative debates, chats and organise community days – it’s all positive.

“With regards to the campaign, we have offices and staff – a team of barristers, counsellors and psychologists. We are aiming to support those who have lost loved ones in custody, but also to offer an advice and support service for a broad range of issues affecting our community.

“We’ve had a good turn-out at events and things are changing, there are many influential people who agree with the sentiments of our campaign. The legitimacy of the IPCC is compromised by their structure and the fact that 9 out of 10 staff members are ex-police officers. Community confidence in the criminal justice system is very low, there needs to be a change.”

The Campaign 4 Justice is calling for an independent inquiry into all suspicious deaths in police custody. Further demands centre on reform and strengthening of the powers and independence of the IPCC.

An inquest into Smiley Culture’s death will be held later this year.