November was another busy month for The Riverfront. Although the weather outside turned cold and theatres faced further restrictions with the introduction of the Covid Passport for event and cinema attendees, The Riverfront continued to bustle with activity thanks to a busy theatre programme and wonderful community activity.
November was also the month where Newport Live appointed Gemma Durham as the new Head of Theatre, Arts and Culture for the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre. This important role will be responsible for leading the arts programme for The Riverfront as well as a wider cultural offer across Newport and the surrounding area.
On her appointment, which commences in January, Gemma comments “I am thrilled to be taking on this fantastic role at Newport Live and working with the superb team at The Riverfront. They work incredibly hard to provide opportunities for people across the city to get creative and enjoy the arts and I look forward to the role I can play in working with them to develop our artistic and cultural activity across the city of Newport.”
Shows
November was a jam-packed month of performances for The Riverfront as shows returned in full swing to both the Main Auditorium and Studio Theatres.
Ballet Cymru presented two exceptional shows, Giselle and Made in Wales, featuring a cast of fantastic spellbinding dancers. Made in Wales was a very special show for The Riverfront as it marked the only Welsh date for the triple bill which featured Cerys Matthews reading extracts from Dylan Thomas’ works alongside three new performances from emerging choreographers.
Fagin and Fly Half, two productions originally scheduled to take place in 2020, finally took to the stage to entertain drama audiences with their original works; Sinfonia Cymru presented an evening of classical music with viola player Timothy Ridout; and Circus of Horrors returned once again with another unbelievable yet entertaining production. Monthly features Lunchtime Concerts and Aftermirth both welcomed more people to enjoyi these fantastic shows, as regular attendees begin to return to the theatre.
After weeks of rehearsals in the Basement and Studio Theatre, Operasonic performed their family-friendly opera Nightmare Scenario. This production engaged the audience in the action as they played a role in shaping how the crime-mystery show unfolded and ultimately ended.
As an early Christmas treat lucky attendees of sold out show The Fairy Tale of New York were entertained by an evening that combined classic Irish music with Christmas hits. This show marked a special occasion being the first sell out show at The Riverfront since early 2020.
Closing a fantastic month of performances was Possible from National Theatre Wales. This was a very special performance as The Riverfront played a huge part in the initial conception of the piece earlier this year as it was live streamed from the auditorium when theatres were unable to open. It was a very poignant evening seeing the piece back on stage and being performed in front of an in-person audience.
Cinema
In November the Riverfront’s Studio Theatre was given a makeover thanks to the installation of newly refurbished seating. The refurbished seating was christened with cinema screenings of James Bond’s No Time To Die; tickets for which were a celebratory £3. Also this month we screened a varied weekly programme of Cinema in the city centre, with popular screenings of Boss Baby 2, The French Dispatch and The Rescue.
Young people
There were two magical productions of Sherman Theatre’s The Elves and the Shoemaker, one Welsh and one English, which brought both families and school pupils back to The Riverfront to enjoy live theatre once again. Lliswerry Primary School who brought a group commented that the production was the first trip out of school and first experience of live theatre for many of the pupils, its was a wonderful treat for all.
As part of the Into Film Festival over 210 pupils from St Josephs attended the Riverfront’s Cinema over two days to enjoy free screenings of Croods 2 and Horrible Histories.
A teacher from St Josephs commented ‘Thanks for making us so welcome. The children were so excited and some of them would never have seen a film in a cinema before so it was wonderful that we could give them this experience.’
Theatr Iolo also ran English and Welsh language free play writing workshops in Ysgol Bro Terynon and Lliswerry Primary School. Lliswerry are continuing their work on the Arts Award with The Riverfront Arts Development artist Nathan. Each week the pupils learn about a different British Artist under the umbrella of ‘Cool Britannia.’ Artists in November have included Clarice Cliff and her Art Deco pottery and a look at The Beetles Yellow Submarine. The Arts Award is a great way to introduce learners to a range of creative endeavour and the students earn an Arts Award Certificate celebrating their work.
Gallery
In November the RED SHOES Poster Archive exhibition opened in The Riverfront’s first floor mezzanine gallery. Curated by Sean Featherstone, this poster archive is a not-for-profit artist-led radical poster collection based in South Wales. The archive consists of posters which represent a wide variety of social justice issues including climate justice, civil and human rights, equality, poverty, industrial disputes, international solidarity and peace.
In addition to this exhibition, CONSUMERSMITH’s lockdown inspired piece ‘May Love Be What You Remember Most’ has been installed in its permanent location, A3 prints of the piece are currently on sale from The Riverfront’s Box Office. Money raised from the sale of the prints will be reinvested back into future community activity planned for 2022.
CONSUMERSMITH comments ‘I think it’s fantastic that The Riverfront are using my work to raise money to fund projects that will bring artists and the community together. The very nature of street art is being for the people.’
Live at The Riverfront
The free informal live music and performance community event Live at The Riverfront took place on Friday 26 November to mark the beginning of the Art on the Hill weekend, and welcomed an audience from across Newport to the foyer event.
Performing in November were fiddle player Kat Batchelor, acoustic folk singer songwriter Ronnie 3 Chords and recent graduate and winner of Open Mic UK 2021 Josh Hicks. In a very busy weekend for Josh, he then went ahead and performed at Newport’s Christmas light switch on event the following day.
Live at the Riverfront takes a break in December due to Christmas and will return in January.
Art on the Hill
Each year in November Art on The Hill, a weekend long festival, celebrates Newport’s creative community and their work. This year, the event ran from Friday 26 - Sunday 28 November and included a range of creative activity across the city.
Paused last year due to Covid closures, The Riverfront was thrilled to be able to host its Art on the Hill craft market again this year. Through the market The Riverfront supported and showcased local artists and craft makers who were selling a range of beautiful handmade crafts. Stallholders included Inside Out Cymru selling small wire and bead jewellery and crochet decorations made by attendees to their craft class at The Riverfront, fabric bags from Tommelise Danish Design, handmade jewellery from The Newport and Usk Vale Lions Club and clothing made from cotton locally produced in the Ivory Coast from Ayoka Designs.
In addition to the craft market there were a range of craft workshops running across the weekend including playwriting workshops for young people from Theatr Iolo, a felting workshop to produce a wool broch and a mindful movement workshop which featured a series of gentle guided movement and visual art practices.
In residence
Reality Theatre and Inside Out Cymru continued their weekly sessions at The Riverfront throughout November.
Performers from Rubicon Dance Company were in rehearsal at The Riverfront every Monday and Thursday preparing for their upcoming show The Nutcracker in partnership with The Riverfront. As opening night approached the young dancers were able to rehearse daily in the main theatre as the show really began to come to life.
Members of Newport Live’s Community Sport and Wellbeing teams have also been using The Riverfront’s Studio Theatre and green screen equipment to record videos for projects they will be working on in schools in the new year, keep an eye on our website for updates to follow
Other Activities
The Riverfront is thrilled to welcome the Action for Children Fostering Service (AFC). As well as running ceramics for foster families AFC also now run their monthly support meeting for carers at The Riverfront. The two organisations are working together to create a programme of arts activities to support families and children. The Riverfront will also be running trauma informed training for arts facilitators to upskill practise.
This month the group were given a tour of the building as well as being invited to attend Rubicon’s rehearsals and get an exclusive sneak peek of The Nutcracker.
The Riverfront is also pleased to be hosting Newport Youth Council, with the support of Danielle Rowlands they are a group of young people aged 11-25, responsible for ensuring that young people have a say on issues that matter to them, helping to shape tomorrow for future generations.
Danielle Rowlands, The Riverfront’s Education and Participation Officer commented ‘We are absolutely delighted to be working with Newport City's Youth Council. Members meet weekly and discuss/ debate on a variety of topic's. We are particularly excited as we believe connection to, and engagement with art and creative endeavour gives not only provocation but also the skills to empathise, understand and communicate more efficiently!’
Keep up to date with everything that’s coming up at The Riverfront and find out how you can get involved in upcoming events or workshops online at newportlive.co.uk/Riverfront.
