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Chickenshed: An Awfully Big Adventure
In 1974, musician and composer Jo Collins met Mary Ward, a teacher and director. With a shared belief in harnessing the creativity in everyone and anyone, they started a theatre company. In a chicken shed.
The rest, as they say, is history. Forty years on, Chickenshed is a unique theatre company that makes beautiful challenging, pioneering and inspirational theatre, and the concept of inclusion that seemed so obvious to Jo and Mary is now an international movement with a mission to change the world. Thousands of people have enjoyed Chickenshed shows, major figures such as Princess Diana and Judi Dench have supported their work, and many lives have been changed by the company’s ability to bring together young people from all backgrounds, races and abilities.
Chickenshed: An awfully big adventure charts the story of this incredible theatre company, to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
"A heartwarming and informative celebration of the landmark 40th anniversary ... Thomson's storytelling as she recounts the history makes for an illuminating read"--The Stage
"WITH Christmas looming on the horizon, the pressure to buy the perfect gift grows by the day ... But with the launch of Chickenshed theatre's coffee table book, the answer of what to get the person who has everything might just have arrived."--The Enfield Advertiser
"[Chickenshed's] story is told in this celebratory coffee-table book, with spotlights on individual company members and an affectionate foreword by Judi Dench." --New Statesman
The rest, as they say, is history. Forty years on, Chickenshed is a unique theatre company that makes beautiful challenging, pioneering and inspirational theatre, and the concept of inclusion that seemed so obvious to Jo and Mary is now an international movement with a mission to change the world. Thousands of people have enjoyed Chickenshed shows, major figures such as Princess Diana and Judi Dench have supported their work, and many lives have been changed by the company’s ability to bring together young people from all backgrounds, races and abilities.
Chickenshed: An awfully big adventure charts the story of this incredible theatre company, to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
"A heartwarming and informative celebration of the landmark 40th anniversary ... Thomson's storytelling as she recounts the history makes for an illuminating read"--The Stage
"WITH Christmas looming on the horizon, the pressure to buy the perfect gift grows by the day ... But with the launch of Chickenshed theatre's coffee table book, the answer of what to get the person who has everything might just have arrived."--The Enfield Advertiser
"[Chickenshed's] story is told in this celebratory coffee-table book, with spotlights on individual company members and an affectionate foreword by Judi Dench." --New Statesman
264 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2013
About the author
Elizabeth Thomson
7 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Elizabeth (Liz) Thomson, a widely published journalist and frequent broadcaster, studied music at the University of Liverpool. For many years she pursued a dual career, reporting on the international publishing trade by day and the arts by night. She has lectured on both publishing and music, and has conducted platform interviews at literary festivals around the world. A contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, she is the editor (with David Gutman) of critical anthologies on John Lennon, Bob Dylan and David Bowie, and the author of a 40-year celebration of Chickenshed, the ground-breaking London-based theater company. She is the revising editor of New York Times critic Robert Shelton’s biography of Bob Dylan.
Thomson has been a Visiting Fellow of the Open University Sixties Research Group and is the co-founder of a folk music charity, Square Roots Productions. She is also the founder and executive producer of The Village Trip, an annual arts and music festival celebrating the history and heritage of Greenwich Village.
Thomson’s attendance at Joan Baez concerts spans fifty years, and includes reporting on the live recordings for Ring Them Bells in New York.
Elizabeth (Liz) Thomson, a widely published journalist and frequent broadcaster, studied music at the University of Liverpool. For many years she pursued a dual career, reporting on the international publishing trade by day and the arts by night. She has lectured on both publishing and music, and has conducted platform interviews at literary festivals around the world. A contributor to The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, she is the editor (with David Gutman) of critical anthologies on John Lennon, Bob Dylan and David Bowie, and the author of a 40-year celebration of Chickenshed, the ground-breaking London-based theater company. She is the revising editor of New York Times critic Robert Shelton’s biography of Bob Dylan.
Thomson has been a Visiting Fellow of the Open University Sixties Research Group and is the co-founder of a folk music charity, Square Roots Productions. She is also the founder and executive producer of The Village Trip, an annual arts and music festival celebrating the history and heritage of Greenwich Village.
Thomson’s attendance at Joan Baez concerts spans fifty years, and includes reporting on the live recordings for Ring Them Bells in New York.
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