This could be extraordinary. Experimental Birmingham theatre company Kindle are responding to the news that Chance’s famous Glass Works in Smethwick is to be redeveloped. They’ll be performing inside the factory, 13 - 17th June 2006.  | | Kindle at Chance's |
Kindle’s cast of four; Samantha Fox, Olivia Winteringham, Jessica McKinnon, and Emily Ayres have cleared a space on the seventh floor of the Works, in which they’ll perform. Film, music, sculpture, photography, poetry, sound and light installations and factual displays will be incorporated. They say their performance 'The Glasshouse' will reflect the work they’ve done immersing themselves in Chance’s stories. They’ve developed personas which will ‘become’ characters from Chance’s past. It will be a celebratory ‘sensory art experience’.  | | The Glass Works |
Intense and improvised – 'The Glasshouse' is not conventional theatre. Tickets £7 (full) £6 (conc) £4 (for residents of Smethwick with proof of postcode) available from MAC box office, Birmingham: 0121 440 3838 www.macarts.co.uk. See also: www.kindletheatre.co.uk. Kindle say that they have gathered stories connected with the building’s architectural history, and its role in the Smethwick community. In their performance they’ll be using personal stories from ex-employees, vivid and strange tales from the current owner and intriguing conversation with the living descendents of the Chance family.  | | Remnant of the Glass Works |
Jessica McKinnon, from Kindle: "I want to celebrate this space. Talking to people, we’ve discovered that this factory meant a lot, to a lot of people. "Everyone you speak to knows Chance’s Glassworks, and knows something about it, or knows someone who works here. "Soon it’s going to be lost, it’s going to be made into apartments and I think that this is a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the space. I want to celebrate people’s histories, and what this building meant to people in Sandwell and what it can mean in the future." The Glasshouse will include…  | | The Glass Works |
Performances by Samantha Fox, Olivia Winteringham, Jessica McKinnon, and Emily Ayres. Willow sculptures from Iris Bertz.
Photography installation from Lynette Clee.
Light installations from Geoff Broadway.
Exhibits of Chance Glass objects.
TV and video installation from Keir Williams.
Film from Film Café’s Steven Davies.
Object/glass installation from Jerome Harrington.
Dance and physical scores.
Two bridge structures from Sandwell community groups and primary school students.
Electro-acoustic soundscapes from Annie Mahtani of BEAST.
Live classical and electro–harp, accordion, clarinet, harmonica, violin and voice.
Performance poetry from Kimberly Trusty.
Natural and unnatural voice! Kindle Theatre company would like to acknowledge the assistance of the owners of Chance's Glass Works for donating the use of the space, Dave Pollard of Sozo Collective, The Arts Council, Sandwell Voluntary Council of Organizations (SVCO), the Local Network Fund for Sandwell Black Country, and lots of other people and organisations, too. | 
