Category: David Highton

OPEN Ealing Family Fundraising Day – Activities for children and young people

Saturday 21st July

11am – 3pm

Drop in anytime, no booking required.

Minimum donation to access all activities: £5

Free for parents or guardians

Drop in anytime from 11am to 3pm and join us for a series of activities for kids and the rest of the family. We’ll have:

• Drawing activities
• Bead work
• Printmaking
• Dance

We will also have a book sale to raise additional funds for OPEN Ealing with a share of the proceeds going to the local Ealing group of Cancer Research UK.

Children must be accompanied by an adult. Refreshments will be available on a donation basis.

18th July 7.30pm

Tickets: £5

Big Heart – a poetry show about surviving a heart attack (with jokes!)

How do you fight back when your own heart tries to kill you?  Get a sneak preview here .

In 2010, for his thirtieth birthday Richard Tyrone Jones, the healthy, gym-going ‘Ringmaster of Spoken Word’ (ThreeWeeks) got a rather unexpected present. Heart failure.

Having battled back from the brink of death to (almost) full-health, armed with a pen and a pacemaker, he has now written a show about his experiences, which he describes as ‘a unique prescription of cardiomyopoetry, animation and anecdosage.’

Richard will expand on the lurid details of his near-near death from dilated cardiomyopathy (heart failure), atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) and atrial thrombosis (blood clot in the heart), his convoluted convalescence and living everyday life with the condition that will almost certainly kill him. Here is truly a show for anyone who ever had a heart. Or failure. Many Fringe acts consider their show to be a matter of life and death. This one literally is.

What had caused this triple-decker of misery? And can being so dangerously ill actually improve your life?

Richard Tyrone Jones is a poet, writer and founder of spoken word clubnight ‘Utter!’, celebrating its 10^th birthday in 2013, and is also Director of Spoken Word for PBH’s Free Fringe. Germline, his first book of stories, poems and art was published by Vintage Poison Press in 2009. Big Heart (& other sickness) is published summer 2012 as an e-book and paperback.

‘Raw, at times graphic, and very funny’ BBC Ouch!

‘Fascinating, sobering, hilarious, and ultimately uplifting’ New Scientist

‘Masterfully manages the listeners’ mood as it oscillates between laughter and despair… It is a big-hearted show, and a valuable lesson in making the most of whatever life throws at you. Highly recommended.’ Fringe Guru

BIG HEART earned recommendations from Time Out and New Yorker for preview performances in London and was nominated for ‘Best spoken word show’ at the Buxton Fringe. Following Edinburgh it tours the UK this Autumn. See www.richardtyronejones.com for details.

Richard Tyrone Jones’ BIG HEART is supported by The Wellcome Trust and aided by Apples & Snakes, The British Heart Foundation and the Cardiomyopathy Association.

Friday 6th July 12.30-1.30pm  free admission

Garry Smith plays a resophonic guitar and plays mostly with a slide but isn’t primarily a Blues performer. Instead he relies mostly on self-penned songs and instrumentals and covers of songs by such people as Tom Waits, Steve Earl and Richard Thompson. Of course, there may be SOME Blues. There may also be English or Irish folk music. His aim is to go beyond the repertoire expected of the instrument and to explore the possibilities open to the slide guitarist. He has recently performed at the Bracknell Guitar Festival and supported artists such as Steve Tilston, Sarah McQuaid and Peter Case.

For more details and to listen to Gary perfom, visit his My Space page.

Refreshments will be available to purchase. We will be serving sandwiches, quiches, cakes and hot and cold drinks.