Hello!
Thank you for dropping in, and welcome to my collection of stuff – an archive of all the bits and pieces of my creative/professional work that would otherwise be in dusty boxes in the loft…
The decision to digitise all of this was initially to model to students the use of online portfolios of work, but now I feel it is also to keep some records of organisations, theatre companies, projects and brilliant people in the public domain… it’s become a personal arts archive from my perspective of practice. In keeping with my work in performance-making, I’ve tried to make everything here as visual as possible – for the eyes first.
So a little on me: I was born and raised in Hartlepool in the North-East of England, and I suffer, like many Hartlepudlians, under the burden of the ‘Monkey Hanging’ legend.
I am currently Senior Lecturer and Course Director for BA Applied Theatre at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, within BCU. A post I started in September 2022. I think it’s a fantastic ‘contemporary-theatre-making-with-a-purpose’ course – a mixture of devised studio theatre with a purpose and theatre in non-trad. spaces; Theatre-in-Education and Drama-in Education, Community plays (outdoor and site-based),with experiences of in-school/drama educator-focussed career paths, youth and Community facilitator /workshop leaders… with all of the benefits of a conservatoire style teaching/training professional intensity. It’s based in leafy Bournville in Birmingham in the beautiful listed buildings of Ruskin Hall and Maple House – originally the School of Arts and Crafts for the chocolate factory workers of Bournville.
Prior to this I worked at Coventry University as a Senior Lecturer (then an Assistant Professor) and Co-Course Director for Theatre & Professional Practice 2009-2022. (I have collected all of my past CU projects for your perusal).
I am also Artistic Director of The Fabularium, a busy touring outdoor theatre company, which I set up in Coventry in 2010, with some of the my first graduates from CU. We make work for festivals, outdoor community events and indoor touring when weather turns!
Prior to moving to Coventry I was Artistic Director of Spike Theatre in Liverpool, another independent theatre company that I established in 1993 when I graduated. I co-devised and directed all of Spike’s national and international touring work during this period (See the Spike link above) and also developed many additional projects for the company. These included: Theatre in the Parks, an annual large-scale, outdoor theatre event that became part of the core programme for Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008, and Hoof! Spontaneous Theatre, a unique long-form improvisation show that ran for five years and saw me improvising all over the UK including a trip to Hollywood to collaborate with performers from Chicago’s famous Second City.
Hoof! promo pic
(If you are interested in improvisation, take a look at the Long-form Impro section on my page). I am continuing my practice and research within long-form improvisation, having collaborated many times with the wonderful and sadly missed John Thies of The Hothouse, Los Angeles into new frameworks for spontaneous narrative theatre performance and supporting teaching methodologies.
I have also directed for other theatre organisations, both nationally and internationally, and I have taught at Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool John Moores’ University (I.M. Marsh Campus). I was Coordinator for the Physical Theatre Programme at Hope Street Ltd. in Liverpool for six inspiring years.
I’ve been making music since my teens in a variety of bands – I played for most of the noughties in a band called The Most Terrifying Thing (TMTT) and enjoy writing and playing music still…
And finally, the best job of all… I am first and foremost, a proud dad to Nancy and Edith…. they keep me busy when I’m not busy-busy.
PS – If you find blank areas or links, it’s because I’m still filing, uploading and compiling the stuff from the dusty boxes… bear with me.
Glenn Noble online 