Community Play for the 125th Anniversary of Waterlow Park - September 2016

Val staged a community play, From Estate to Park for the 125th Anniversary of Waterlow Park.

Photo from left to right, Richard Roques (Sir John Lubbock,
Chairman of the London County Council), Val Doulton,
Derek Howard (Sir Sydney Waterlow). Behind the group the
statue of Sir Sydney Waterlow in the park, the inscription on the statue
in the words of Sir Sydney is 'A garden for the gardenless'.

Photo from left to right Dermot Taylor (sculptor Frank Taubman)
with Val in front of Frank Taubman's statue of Sir Sydney.
Dermot studied and acted in Val's Adult Education
Shakespeare group for many years.

Patricia Walby, who organised the whole celebration day sent Val the following words of appreciation for the staging of From Estate to Park:

“The Live Literature Company proved hugely supportive during the 125th anniversary of our local park — Waterlow Park -- in North London.  When one of the six local schools we were working with had to absent themselves at the last minute from one of six plays mapping the history of the park -- we contacted Valerie Doulton in desperation. She and her company, which for this particular play was headlined by Derek Howard, immediately came to our aid, taking over the production with professionalism, speed and enthusiasm and in so doing lifted considerable stress from the organisers.  I don’t know how she did it but I take my hat off to her that she produced 15 minutes of flawless costume drama with Derek Howard in the lead role. I have worked for many years in television drama, and I can say from considerable experience that Valerie and her team are a local treasure which I, and I know many other local people, would like to support in any way I can. In the meantime I look forward very much to seeing new productions for which I know they have plans.”

Edinburgh Festival - August 2016

Dermot Linehan, Festival Director and Chief Executive,
deep in thought as he discusses the future of festivals worldwide. 

Val was one of the guests at the Visiting Arts Producer's Breakfast meeting at Edinburgh Festival 2016.

Val with Lindsey Kemp after his masterclass at RADA - May 2016

Val with Lindsay Kemp, RADA May 2016

Val and Lindsay Kemp ran a Summer workshop together in Todi, Italy. This happened because a dear friend of both of them brought them together for this work. His name is John Spradbery and he worked as Lindsay's Production Manager for many years, touring the world with Lindsay. Prior to this Val, John and Lindsay met in Edinburgh at the beginning of the 1970s and worked in the same building there together. Val was delighted to meet Lindsay and be invited to this RADA masterclass. We both miss John Spradbery, Val gave an address at his funeral 2 years ago.

John Spradbery at his 80th Birthday do.

Satish Kumar, Resurgence and Ecologist magazine event - March 2016

Picture Val took of Satish and his assistant Sharon
at St James's Piccadilly.

Val was delighted to continue Live Lit Co's commitment to environmental issues when she joined Satish Kumar, Founder of Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine, for their special event at St James's Piccadilly in March.

Symposium: Tagore in modern times - March 31st 2016

The Nehru Centre, 8 South Audley St. London W1K 1HF.

The Cultural Wing of The High Commission of India.

March 31st 6.00 pm for 6.40 pm

Symposium: The relevance of Tagore in modern timesThe Chair is the distinguished politician Clare Short

This symposium is the first of two to commemorate the Golden Jubilee anniversary of The Tagoreans, organisation that believes in Rabindranath Tagore’s philosophy of life and draws its inspiration from his creativity in various fields such as literature, music and art. The second symposium will be in September 2016.

We are living in a world beset with various threats to humanity with growing religious conflicts, political repression, poverty and environmental destruction. This event will focus on the importance of Tagore’s ideas and vision to meet these challenges and help to save humanity. Speakers:

•  Dr John Stevens - Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Languages and Cultures of South Asia, SOAS. The main focus of his research is historical, utilizing sources in English and Bengali to promote the understanding of the histories of India and Britain.

• Ragini Mohite - Postgraduate Research Student at the University of Leeds. Her thesis deals with the early 20th century writings of Tagore and Yeats.

• Valerie Doulton - Writer, Producer, Artistic Director of the Live literature Company. She directed and produced William Radice’s translation of The Post Office.

Presented by the Tagoreans.

Live Lit Co returns to Venice with Blake - February 8th 2016

Above image: The Divine Comedy, Beatrice & Dante,
image by William Blake.

Venice, Italy – February 8^th 2016 at 6pm. Talk on Blake followed by dinner.

At: Marina Militare Circulo Ufficiale ‘Adriano Foscari’, Fondamenta dell’Arsenale, Castello 2168, Venezia.

We began 2016 with one of our international events and a return to Italy where Val gave a talk to the Circolo Italo Britannico Venezia, on her staging of William Blake’s work, in particular Songs of Innocence and Experience. This included live readings of translations of Blake’s poems into Italian by great 20^th Century Italian poet, Ungaretti. And music by John Tavener inspired by Blake. 

This is the first event we have staged in Italy since our tour of Bryon in Love to Verona, and it was delightful to be invited to return.

Val Talks About Her Stagings of William Blake in Venice - February 2016

The above photo was taken at the Venice Carnival. Val was invited to Venice during the carnival by the Circolo Italo-Britannico Venezia to talk to them about her stagings of William Blake's work.

Live Lit Co supports campaign for Climate Change

Above photo Val took of Emma Thompson speaking to the crowds
outside the Houses of Parliament.

Val joined the crowds for the September 2014 Climate Change London march.

The Live Literature Company has been a long supporter of this issue. Click here to see The Live Literature Company's Summer Party page for our message from the Director of Friends of the Earth.

The next Climate Change march in London will be tomorrow Sunday 29^th November 2015.

Lord Desai speaks on the Indian Constitution

Lord Desai speaking on the Indian Constitution

Val was invited to hear Lord Desai (pictured above) speak on the Indian Constitution at the High Commission of India in London.

His very lucid talk was followed by questions from the audience. Lord Desai explained to one questioner that it is not legal for the Indian caste system to be practiced in the UK.

One of Val’s Public Speaking students from Birkbeck was in the audience, and Val was delighted to hear from him about the launch of his company, Speaking English Well.

Please click here to be taken to The Live Literature Company website.

A great way for children to see their first Shakespeare performance

The audience at Hall's Croft Garden, Stratford

Children continue to enjoy the way The Live Literature Company perform their shortened Shakespeare productions as you can see in the audience photograph above, taken at Hall's Croft Garden, Stratford in July this Summer,

In the background is Paul Edmondson, Head of Knowledge, The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, who gave a sonnet master class to Val's American students, who were performing Twelfth Night in One Hour to this audience.

Please click here to be taken to The Live Literature Company website.