Theatre for all.
Creativity for the community.
North Street Fair, Bristol
9th September
Bakesmiths Café Open Mic, Bristol
16th April 2017
Songs
Gill writes original music for all our family shows and pop-up theatre pieces. She takes inspiration from many different musical traditions; 'Alf the Highwayman' music was very much in a traditional folk music vein whereas the supporting soundtrack for 'Tethered' is based in electronica.
Gill also builds songwriting into a lot of Brave Bold Drama's community projects, taking snippets, quotes and anedotes from others and turning these into lyrics. 'The Avona Shanty' was created from people's personal connections to the Avon River. Over fifty individual river stories were gathered as part of our Avona Project for the Festival of Nature, June 2016. These stories were turned into a piece of choral music that was sung by a massed community choir of over 70 voices at the Bristol Harbourside.
Gill worked with Bath-based Kilter Theatre on their 'Unsung' community songwriting projects, visiting primary schools and discovering the 'unsung' elements of the places where the children lived. For this project Gill wrote songs with children at St Keyna Primary, Keynsham ('Train to Keynsham'), Westfield Primary, Radstock ('Out There') and Fosseway Special School, Radstock ('Bright Lights Over Fosseway')
Gill has also written songs about Ecology for Inklings Productions (Bristol), about Anniversaries for A Word in Your Ear (Bath) and about Bristol's Buildings for the Architecture Centre (Bristol). She writes her own songs too and gives them an outing from time to time, usually at community events such as Musicians on the Run (Bedminster, Bristol).
‘Train to Keynsham’
Lyrics written with students from St Keyna Primary School, Keynsham and performed by KLOGS (Keynsham Light Opera Group)
‘Out There’
Lyrics written with students from Westfield Primary School, Radstock and performed by Westfield Ladies Choir
‘Bright Lights Over Fosseway’
Lyrics written with students from Fosseway Special School, Radstock and performed by Westfield Ladies Choir
These three songs were commissions from Kilter Theatre for their 'Unsung' community song-writing project
‘Ballad of Marianne’
Commissioned by Gillian Sweetbartley for her play 'The Ballad of Marianne’s Waste'
‘Swimming with Sharks’, ‘Simple Simon’, ‘Get your Gaym On’ & ‘FOMO’
Commissioned by Frenetic Fox Theatre for their devised show 'Appily Ever After'
‘Back to the Garden’
Commissioned by Inkling Productions for their 'Greenlight' new writing events.
‘365’
Commissioned by A Word in Your Ear for their Story Friday events.
‘Blood of the City’, ‘Mortality in Mortar’ & ‘Waitrose Mums’
A trilogy of songs commissioned by The Architecture Centre, Bristol as part of their Sounding City project.
Songs of Dry Wit & Wet Reverb
What do you get when you cross Rupert Murdoch, monks bricked up in a café wall and middle-class Mums complaining about Waitrose?
'Songs of Dry Wit and Wet Reverb', of course. An irreverent, theatrical set comprised of ditties written and composed by Paul Lawless and Gill Simmons (aka Moreish and Tangy) - suitable for any occasions including open mics and community festivals.
This double-act was born from a commission by the Bristol Architecture Centre for their Sounding City: A musical map of Bristol project, to celebrate their 25th birthday.
Tour Dates
Sharp Teeth Scratch Night, The Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol
30th October 2016
Sounding City: A musical map of Bristol Project
(Bristol Architecture Centre 25th Birthday)
25th September 2016
Shaftesbury Fringe Festival
Friday 30th June 2017
Southbank Arts Trail, Bristol
14th May 2017