Friday 29 July 2011

Pride in Photography.




With this years Liverpool Gay Pride Festival looming, Seen Magazine have celebrated the event by bringing together all the individuals who have pride in what they do; whether it be football or religion, music or of course... photography and so that's where I come in, here's my interview...

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE



Beatles hotel hosts third annual fashion show for Linda McCartney Centre



Returning to Liverpool’s Beatles-inspired Hard Days Night Hotel for the third time, the annual Linda McCartney Centre fashion show is set to be bigger than ever when it takes place later this month.

Showcasing summer lines by independent boutiques Gypsophila Couture and Total Recall Vintage, as well as designs by local fashion graduates, the show has been organised in aid of Linda McCartney Centre in Liverpool that houses a state of the art breast assessment unit, as well as research and development laboratories, an outpatient unit and chemotherapy centre.

Event organiser and Stylist Joseph Nze said: “I have organised this event in memory of my dear friend Gail Tyler who sadly passed away from breast cancer last month. The Linda McCartney Centre does some fantastic work screening women for the disease and offering post-operative care, and they need vital funds to continue their work. I’m hoping to raise in excess of £1,000 through ticket sales and donations on the night. I’ve sold a fair few tickets but there’s still a way to go. I am happy doing this as I am achieving so much by helping others who may not have the courage to do something like this. As the youngest fashion stylist in Liverpool I need to be recognized as a stylist and by doing this show I am promoting myself and The McCartney Centre for the well being of others and to show people out there that there is always something that you can do to make this world a better place. By doing this show I have got many contacts in the fashion and art industry which is fantastic for myself and the my joint business with a women called Joanne Derbyshire which is now up and running the company called "Jo by Joseph" look us up on www.jobyjoseph.weebly.com. So no matter how young or old you are have courage to do things and hopefully it will happen I have courage and the will-power, now i am an owner of my own business!

“I hope this event inspires other designers to use their designs to help raise money for truly worthwhile causes like the Linda McCartney Centre. I will be hosting a Winter-themed fashion show in December and I would love more designers to come forward to showcase their collections.”

The fashion show will be supplemented with performances by high-energy, R & B dance troupe Cody Urban Dance who won the Liverpool Unites In Dance competition in 2010 and Liverpool singer Beauty. An auction will also take place at the end of the evening where bespoke, one-off design pieces will go under the hammer with proceeds going towards the charity.

Kate Taylor from Linda McCartney Centre said: “We’re extremely grateful to Hard Days Night Hotel for hosting the event for the third year running, and to Joseph who has donated his time and effort planning and putting this amazing fashion show together. It’s people like Joseph who help keep our doors open 24/7 to women from all across the North West.”

The Linda McCartney Centre Fashion Show will take place on 31st July 2011 at Hard Days Night Hotel from 5pm till late followed by an after party. Tickets cost £5 for the fashion show and £2 for the after party event and are available on the door.


Word Joseph Nze. 


Fashion show also produced by local designer John Maines. 

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Mexico at the Lantern Theatre Liverpool. Grin productions.

"Mexico is a dark drama exploring the tense relationship between a Mother and an unhinged daughter."



Sometimes your shadow doesn’t look anything like you, according to writer-director, John Maguire, a line he often cites from one of his own plays.
This is a key theme that John explores in the new play he is directing at The Lantern, Liverpool, Mexico, by Wes Williams Friday July 29th and Saturday 30th 2011.

Over the last few years John’s passion for Fringe Theatre has developed.  In June 2010 he became involved with Write Now, Liverpools International One Act Play Festival, directing his self-penned piece, Heart
‘Small drops make the Mersey and the odd shopping trolley’.
 John returned to the Liverpool Actor’s Studio in April of this year, directing a romantic comedy MRS BOJANGLES by Steph Blakeborough.  

Delving further into Johns love of theatre,

I value fringe theatre as its one of the rare places that artists can spontaneously create. Performance is becoming so fabricated and constructed to the point of ridiculousness, emotion by numbers. The restrictive nature of fringe theatre means that in order to entertain, a tale has to be told in an imaginative clear manner, no room for gimmickry. Lack of resources is the ingredient that creates. It forces you to be clever, to dissect problems instead of throwing cash at them. There is a definite buzz around fringe productions and it's the spit and sawdust venues that are particularly wonderful electric. Liverpool audiences are particularly amazing, as they have what I call the Huckleberry Finn trait, telling it how it is……if they don’t like something, they are not afraid to tell you.



John is an experienced actor in his own right, most recently performing Shakespeare last September in Hamlet in the North West of England, with a season finale in Civitavecchia, Rome.

 I understand actors, their needs, feelings, paranoia, as I have been one of those energised, skilled fragile beasts.

The play Mexico is a dark drama exploring the tense relationship between a Mother and an unhinged daughter. An explosive tango ballad between the two. However, it's the brother who never actually occupies the stage that is the primary focus of the action.

After directing a comedy I felt compelled to try something in complete contrast. The main thing that attracted me to this piece was the dynamic use of language between the characters and also the things they don’t say that speaks volumes.

John constantly analyses his craft and feels that Fringe theatre is one of the best places to experiment. He believes in consistently improving and is always thinking of the next project.


Any director/writer indeed an artist constantly develops. No one is ever completely really happy with the end product, whilst you have a momentary fleeting appreciation, an artist can always spot grounds for improvement. Graft equals Craft.


After Mexico, John will be developing a self-penned play BRUISE, touching on a range of issues from domestic violence to social isolation via the internet.  The play will be a hard hitting autopsy of an explosive relationship. Bruise is an explosive piece of writing, exploring the destructive forces that compel two opposing characters to stay united in a complex, bitter, yet somewhere along the lines loving relationship. It illustrates the diverse ways one can be bruised, physically, psychologically, mentally and in a way that cannot be explained by mere language.

Words Rita Tannet. Pictures Matt Ford. 

Mexico- 29th & 30th July 2011. 7.30pm

Box Office: 0151 703 0000

www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk
57 Blundell Street Liverpool.


Click here to book tickets. 

Friday 1 July 2011

Catch up.

Firecracker is back from having a well deserved month off. Time spent wisely planning my big exhibition for this winter...
There are a few good posts due out soon though, including work I have been doing with Grin Productions on their latest Play Mexico. The play is on 29th-30th July at the Lantern theatre.
I've also been working with Liverpool's coolest H.P.G's (High Profile Gays) for this years Pride poster and brochure. It's in the designers getting the finishing touches as we speak. I've also been working on this years Vogue Ball poster for Darren Suarez. I can't give too much away but I can tell you the shoot involved a naked man, a paddling pool, 70kg of sand and more glitter than you can shake a love glue gun at... 

Here are last years posters.







I've got a shot in this weeks Look Magazine, so here's a little shout to that.  








Matt.