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PRESS RELEASE It Takes a Town. The Princes
As part of National Theatre Wales’ Located Residencies programme, Pontypridd-based designer and artist, Becky Davies, initially began work on her project, entitled The Bridge, in December of 2019. The project aimed to capture residents’ places of significance in Pontypridd and celebrate them in a way that was truly accessible and collaborative in process. Creative activities were planned, predominantly in the form of workshops and participatory activity.
Becky has reworked her project in response to both the unprecedented Storm Dennis floods and the Covid 19 outbreak. The project, now named It Takes a Town, looks to celebrate the beauty of coming together in a time where unfortunately we cannot. Through Becky’s eyes, we explore a local café, The Princes, via illustration, poetry and sound. The Princes is one of the places in Pontypridd which strongly represents and fosters community bonds in times when we can share space together.
Image Description
A poster, designed in the style of a classic, simple, faded red and crisp white Princes Cafe receipt. The receipt is much larger than a usual cafe receipt, including lists of all the freshly baked goods or refreshments you would typically order at this popular cafe in the town of Pontypridd in a series of small boxes. Circled in scribbled, hurried biro pen are 2 pots of tea and 2 pancakes. However, Becky has adapted the receipt for the sake of the poster to also include one of her own, nostalgic illustrations of what she once would have ordered at the Princes Cafe as a child. The illustration depicts a 1-person steel teapot, ornate chunky china tea cup and a small, square green cake decorated to look like a frog with a crown on its head, sat on a plate which matches the teacup. The tea time treats sit as a collection on a circular bronze tray, and in the background of the illustration is a tea-stained wash.
The following information is provided, written in one of the receipt columns instead of where a usual list of cakes would be. It states:
An NTW Located Residency in Pontypridd. Local Artist Becky Davies will be hand-illustrating a downloadable, sensory guide for re-creating the atmosphere of beloved cafe, The Princes. With a cuppa in hand, Becky will provide you with soundscapes, original poetry, and a bake-along that will help you to bring this local gem into your home. In addition, you will be invited to share the sights, smells, sounds and textures of your favourite places in Pontypridd to inspire Becky’s next editions of sensory guides.
Becky is currently curating the work in the form of a book with the support of her collaborators, Elise Davison, Rufus Mufasa and Tic Ashfield. The book will be available online with a further 100 copies printed and distributed to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to embark on this sensory experience of The Princes.
Becky has said of the project: “The recent flooding and the coronavirus outbreak has raised significant challenges for me as a Participatory Artist in terms of how to work responsively, but more importantly than that, appropriately. However, I feel as if my project has transformed into something it was always meant to end up being - it’s just been fast-tracked by the circumstances! I hope to produce a book full of multi-sensory experiences that the public can simply take in and enjoy, feeling re-connected with their town. The book will be an object that the public can re-visit as part of lockdown life and beyond. I hope this will be the first of several editions, shining the spotlight on my beloved town of Pontypridd, my relationship with it and its people. This exploration and my development as an artist feels so rich right now, and I am so grateful to National Theatre Wales and my collaborators on this project for supporting me at what feel like an important juncture in my creative career."
Participant Call-Out – A chance to be a part of this edition.
As part of the Located Residency in Pontypridd with National Theatre Wales, Becky will be making a soundscape, which will help recreate the atmosphere of popular café, The Princes, for the public at home.
As we are currently in lockdown, Becky is inviting people of different ages, with a Pontypridd or Rhondda Cynon Taff accent, to record the sound of themselves having a chat over a cuppa at home using their mobile phones. The more voices collected, the fuller The Princes will sound! 2-5 minutes will do, and once completed, please send your recording to the e-mail address below:
No conversations in their entirety will be used, the sounds collected will be part of an overall soundscape.
More information regarding National Theatre Wales Located Residences can be found here https://www.nationaltheatrewales.org/ntw-projects/located-residencies-2020/#becky_davies
Becky Davies’s work here beckydavies-theatredesigner-artist.com
If you would like to discuss the project further or have any questions regarding It Takes a Town please email Chantal Williams at chantal.s.wiliams@gmail.com.
The Welsh Version of this press release can be downloaded here
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