Exciting news…
EXCITING NEXT STEPS IN THE CHRONICLES OF ATOM AND LUNA
Today BBC 6 Music Poet in Residence Murray Lachlan Young and production company Funnelwick Limb have announced the next steps in their epic digital storytelling project The Chronicles of Atom and Luna.
Now thanks to support from the National Lottery (via Arts Council England) Murray will begin writing the Atom and Luna verse play which will go into production in Autumn 2022, bringing back the live, in-person element that makes Funnelwick Limb’s storytelling so immersive and magical. Alongside this, the Funnelwick Limb team will be working on Chronicle Three - a new set of interactive audio tales for release this year.
The Chronicles of Atom and Luna tells the story of twins Atom and Luna. Left home alone by their mother they are saved from starvation by the arrival of their magical child minder, Iffly Sney. But Iffly falls terribly ill and only the twins can save him. They must seek out the mysterious Old Mother Redbeard. And so begins Atom & Luna’s journey into the heart of the forest, a journey that will change their lives forever.
So far Funnelwick Limb have released two of the chronicles, each exploring different elements of the ‘back story’. Chronicle One is a series of audio tales available free of charge at funnelwicklimb.com and Chronicle Two an AR (augmented reality) story game called The Quest for Old Mother Redbeard downloadable for free from your Android or Apple app store.
Alongside the aforementioned developments Atom and Luna will also be resident in Colchester’s Hollytrees House and in Inspire Libraries in Nottinghamshire in August 2021.
In Colchester over the weekend 12 - 14 August visitors to Hollytrees House will be able to search for the Atom and Luna audio tales, go on storytelling walks (advance booking required) and play the Atom and Luna AR. The storytelling walks will be performed by Colchester based actor Tom Campe and directed by Scott Hurran, Eastern Angles Theatre Company Associate Director.
In Nottinghamshire Library visitors in Hucknall, Newark and Retford will have the opportunity to hunt for the six audio tales and AR, with readers being able to collect a special memento if you discover all 7! As with all of Funnelwick Limb’s activities childrens ideas from the residencies in Colchester and Nottinghamshire will feed into the writing of both the verse play and the audio tales.
Writer and lead artist Murray Lachlan Young said ‘The fantastic story of Atom and Luna has been germinating for such a long time now - we started pre lockdown - that I now can’t wait to get started on developing the theatre piece which will sit alongside the AR and the audio tales. Working with director Nina Hajiyianni and designer/illustrator Bek Palmer I’m looking forward to making something magical for all the family!’
For further information please contact Matthew Linley on 079897 48350 or linleymatt@gmail.com
@funnelwicklimb | #AtomLuna |www.funnelwicklimb.com
Inspire Libraries Residency - 1-31 August 2021 - for more information see here
Colchester Walking Story Tours 13-14 August 2021 - for booking see here
For further information about the project see funnelwicklimb.com
1. Artist Murray Lachlan Young and other members of the Funnelwick Limb team are available for interview at this time. Project and artists images are all available on request.
2. The Chronicles of Atom and Luna are made up of:-
Chronicle One - Tales from the Forest - six audio tales available now on You Tube
Chronicle Two - Quest for Old Mother Redbeard - available now from Apple/Android app store. Commissioned by The Space and made with MBD Ltd
Chronicle Three - a new set of audio tales, to be released this year
Chronicle Four - Atom and Luna - a performance piece, premiering Autumn 22.
4. Murray Lachlan Young is a British poet, stand-up performer, broadcaster, playwright, screenwriter and children’s author. He came to prominence during the Brit Pop era of the mid 1990’s when he became the only poet to sign a contract worth £1m. His work echoes the great rhymers Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and Gilbert Sullivan, along with more alternative influences such as Grandmaster Flash, Tom Waits and Ian Drury. His satirical commentaries can read like RD Laing in their philosophical intensity, whilst their subjects range from the vanities of celebrity and middle-class angst, to highlighting the absurdities of modern life. Currently the poet in residence on BBC 6 Music radio station, touring the UK with his solo stand-up show and the collection of his work How Freakin’ Zeitgeist are you? Published by Unbound books
5. Scott Hurran (director) Scott Hurran trained at Central School of Speech and Drama and RADA. Hurran is a Leverhulme Arts Scholar, and received the JMK regional directors bursary in 2018. He is the Artistic Director of Ecclesia and is currently Artistic Associate at Eastern Angles. He has previously held associate positions at the Gate Theatre, Mercury Theatre and Roundhouse. Hurran was the 2020 recipient of the New Creatives commission from BBC Arts and Screen South.
6. Tom Campe (walking tour performer) Tom is an actor and writer based in Colchester who trained at UCC. He recently received arts council funding for his play ‘Bring Back Chainmail’ which will tour in 2022. Mostly interested in devised theatre, Tom enjoys working collaboratively; experimenting and interacting with audiences directly to better involve them within a piece.From October he’ll be studying clowning in France, at Ecole Phillipe Gaulier.
7. Funnelwick Limb exists to develop cross platform storytelling work, primarily but not exclusively, for family audiences. We combine live performance with family-friendly VR experiences, games and audio content with good old schoolbooks. We want to inspire and enable digitally-savvy young people to get lost in language, learn how to create their own stories using different mediums and develop a live performance habit. We want to nurture a new generation of cultural creators and consumers, equipped and hungry for words and the kinds of cultural experiences we can’t yet imagine, unhindered by the barriers to engagement that exist for many today. Funnelwick Limb grew out of the success of The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps (launched in April 2019 to critical acclaim – as a book, as an audio drama, as a a tablet game, as a VR experience and as a live show). www.funnelwicklimb.com
8. At Action Transport Theatre (associate producer) we don’t believe children are the future. We know they are the now, the present. Their individual ideas and imaginations are relevant today and inspire and inform everything we do. We work with children and young people as creative collaborators, to make professional and aspirational theatre which we share locally, regionally, nationally and internationally from our home in Ellesmere Port.
9. Eastern Angles (associate producer) combines heritage with theatre to make regional stories and hidden histories come to life on stage. We provide professional rural touring and site-specific theatre with a focus on new writing, new audiences and the development of new talent. Our stories and themes are derived from our sense of place, specifically East Anglia and the East of England. Since forming in 1982, Eastern Angles have blazed a trail across East Anglia for nearly 40 years and expanded to national tours and Edinburgh Festival residencies. Based in Ipswich at the Sir John Mills Theatre, the company has a second base in Peterborough at Chauffeur’s Cottage.
10. Arts Council England (funder) is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision www.artscouncil.org.uk. Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies administering the Government’s unprecedented £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Funds. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19
