Tag: southsea

Clare Campbell-Collins – my story for Holmes Fest 2018 opening night

Clare Campbell-Collins will be performing her sketch at Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle on 27th June at The Square Tower.

Life Is Amazing: Hello Clare, tell us about your sketch at Holmes Fest 2018?.

Clare: A classic daytime television programme has been given a Victorian twist! See Sherlock in a very different light, as four performers bring to life something which probably shouldn’t be brought to life. A comedy sketch with a difference, which will forever alter how you see the programme it’s parodying!

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

Life Is Amazing: Why do you love Sherlock Holmes?

Clare: I love him because of the timeless appeal of his sexy logic.

Life Is Amazing: What would you investigate if you could investigate anything at all?

Clare: I’d investigate my incessant desire to find a pair of jeans that fit well. Seriously, I can’t stop. I have about 7 pairs.

Life Is Amazing: If Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes went shopping, what one item would each buy, and why?

Clare: Well, if they’re shopping down Gosport High Street, Moriarty would likely buy a Beef & Vegetable pasty from Greggs (even a criminal mastermind needs to eat), and I think Sherlock would buy a pack of pipe cleaners from the Pound Shop.

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

 

Vin Adams – my story for Holmes Fest 2018 opening night

Vin Adams will be performing his poem at Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle on 27th June at The Square Tower.

Life Is Amazing: Hello Vin, tell us about your piece.

Vin: The Adventure of the Desperate Author is a  sketch with Vin Adams and Nick Downes.

Watson has truly come at a crisis when he pays a surprise visit to Baker Street. Holmes has a bone to pick with Conan Doyle and, in the ensuing argument, everything Watson holds dear is turned on its head. Where is Mrs Hudson? What’s happened to Holmes’ violin bow? And why is Watson so vague about his wives? (Warning: parents may need to explain jokes to their children and each other.)

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

Life Is Amazing: Why do you love Sherlock Holmes?

Vin: As a child, I felt very much let down by the lack of robbery, violence and murder in the Noddy books by Enid Blyton. Sherlock Holmes filled that void.

Life Is Amazing: What would you investigate if you could investigate anything at all?

Vin: A friend of mine is adamant that he once saw a ghost – I’d like to investigate exactly what he’d been drinking.

Life Is Amazing: If Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes went shopping, what one item would each buy, and why?

Vin: Given that Moriarty had to resign his Mathematical Chair, he might like to buy a small stool.

Perhaps Holmes might buy a second Persian slipper to go with the other one (although this could dangerously increase his smoking habit).

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

 

Jackson Davies – my story for Holmes Fest 2018 opening night

Jackson Davies will be performing his poem at Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle on 27th June at The Square Tower.

Life Is Amazing: Hello Jackson, tell us about your piece.

Jackson: The Heinous Threat to the Empire is a narrative spoken word show, as the nefarious Dr. J. Fell describes the eerie case of a gravedigger acquaintance of his to Sherlock Holmes. As the show unfolds, it becomes clear that this case may threaten all of Her Majesty’s Empire.

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

Life Is Amazing: Why do you love Sherlock Holmes?

Jackson: Ever since I first read A Study in Scarlet when I was in my teens, I’ve devoured all of the Sherlock stories. I find them easy to read even today, even when I struggled with Victorian writing by other authors. There’s something about Watson’s detailing of Sherlock’s methods that seems at once beguiling and impressive, but there’s also a real warmth there. A feeling that these two work so well together and admire each other in such unique ways… that, to me, is the real draw of the stories even when the mystery is resolved. I’m not such a big fan of the BBC series as I think it misses what is really important about the Holmes stories – the heart.

Life Is Amazing: What would you investigate if you could investigate anything at all?

Jackson: That’s a great question. I think Sherlock would be well placed to investigate corruption in modern politics, as I think he’d find it all a bit distasteful. Personally though, if it were me, I’d investigate the Fermi paradox – if there are so many stars and universes around us, and the universe is as old as it is, where is everybody?

Life Is Amazing: If Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes went shopping, what one item would each buy, and why?

Jackson: Probably an ounce of shag tobacco, that I’d like to think they share the same brand. Probably also have the same cocaine dealer. Of course, they probably should have both invested in lifejackets and helmets for the whole Reichenbach thing

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

 

Christine Lawrence – my story for Holmes Fest 2018 opening night

Christine Lawrence will be performing her piece at Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle on 27th June at The Square Tower.

Life Is Amazing: Hello Christine, tell us about your story and what else you’re doing at Holmes Fest 2018?.

Christine: I’m a writer and performer, I am performing at ‘Three Cheers for Arthur Conan Doyle’, a new piece of writing that I’m calling “Mrs. H”.

I will also be appearing at Moriarty’s Mischief  at Canvas Cafe on Saturday 30 June and am taking the lead with T’Articulation as the compere of Sherlock’s Shout Out at the Hunter Gatherer on Tuesday 3rd July.

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

Life Is Amazing: Why do you love Sherlock Holmes?

Christine: I love Sherlock Homes because he is perfectly flawed, totally barking mad, and possibly quite hot.

Life Is Amazing: What would you investigate if you could investigate anything at all?

Christine: If I were Sherlock, I would investigate any little mystery that came my way, especially after a few puffs on my pipe.

Life Is Amazing: If Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes went shopping, what one item would each buy, and why?

Christine: I once saw Moriarty and Sherlock together in Charlotte Street Market. Sherlock was purchasing onions and Moriarty a new pair of leather thigh length boots. I couldn’t for the life of me say why.

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

 

Charlotte Comley – my story for Holmes Fest 2018 opening night

Charlotte Comley will be performing her piece at Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle on 27th June at The Square Tower.

Life Is Amazing: Hello Charlotte, tell us about your story.

Charlotte: My story for Three Cheers for Arthur Conan Doyle is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Doyle’s love of mediums and centres on the often asked question, ‘is anybody there?’

Get Your Tickets for Holmes Fest 2018’s Three Cheers For Arthur Conan Doyle here.

Life Is Amazing: Why do you love Sherlock Holmes?

Charlotte: First of all, you need to know, I named my dog Watson. Holmes is actually my least favourite character in the books. Unlike the portrayal of Nigel Bruce’s Watson in the 1940s movies (with Basil Rathbone) Watson is not an idiot. He is not a bumbler (at least in most cases). He represents an intelligent war hero with a loveable gambling quirk. Even Holmes admits that he is in Watson’s debt. Despite being wounded, Watson is a crack shot with a pistol and is quite capable when Holmes requires the physical assistance of a brave man who has seen combat. I am so envious of Holmes because he has such a good friend and ally. Watson stands for loyalty. My dog Watson, not so much – unless you are carrying a bucket of KFC. That said, despite being a small white terrier he is fierce.

Life Is Amazing: What would you investigate if you could investigate anything at all?

Charlotte: I would investigate who stole my Ghostbusters poster in 1984. I was thirteen, I had two jobs and I did an extra shift on the milk round which involved getting up at four in the morning during a bitter cold December to buy the cinema ticket. And the man who drove the milk float was weird! Weird in a WEIRD way. It was my least favourite job of all time and when you think that I used to put egg mayonnaise on British Rail sandwiches, that is saying something. I was so excited about seeing Ghostbusters. And if I’m honest I still think it was Bill Murray at his best. How Murray got a Golden Globe for Lost in Translation and no awards for Ghostbusters I don’t know. I was thrilled when the cinema gave me that free poster. Thrilled. I was ready to go to Athena for a classy poster frame but I had to work and when I came back from Lenders Food factory on Saturday my poster was gone. Except for some suspicious black and red bits of paper. I suspect I know who took it and destroyed my poster, but I never had any real evidence. Which is probably a good thing that I am unable to solve this crime as my revenge would be as cold as the milk I delivered. Damn I am still annoyed. In fact, I am getting cross just writing about the incident. I would probably ask Mycroft for help. He understood people and Holmes would think the case of a missing Ghostbuster poster beneath him.

Life Is Amazing: If Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes went shopping, what one item would each buy, and why?

Charlotte: I’m not sure, but I would advise them to get life jackets and sturdy walking boots if they were going to fight near the Reichenbach Falls.

Meet the Musicians at Holmes Fest 2017 – Hudson and Lestrade

Janet Ayers and Matt Parsons
Janet Ayers and Matt Parsons

About Hudson and Lestrade

Hudson and Lestrade AKA Janet Ayers & Matthew Parsons perform under many subtly crafted disguises. As Les Kazoos D’amour they have performed over the years at Tongues & Grooves, Lymington Library, Teapoet Collective, Open Word and the Front Room, plus guesting for book launches and community events in Portsmouth.

Matthew Parsons is an Artist http://mattparsons.org/ , Musician and Writer (Dark Cities 2016)
Janet Ayers is a community artist https://www.facebook.com/Southsea-Community-Choir-204761259929574/ Illustrator, Celebrant and Performer.

Get your tickets for Holmes Fest 2017 here
Wednesday 28th June, 6.30pm, The Square Tower, Portsmouth
Price: £7.50

 

Q: “What do you love about Victorian music hall songs?”

The songs are a window into a world that we no longer inhabit. Finding the true meaning of the slang words puts the songs in context and you find they do mock the upper classes, with all the various performers taking on different identities: women dressing as young men, posh ladies affecting a common accent, men dressing as tramps… Above all, we’ve picked the best tunes and melodies and catchy choruses for the audience to join in with.

“What’s the worst thing about them?”

Some of them go on for ever and ever and ever… and lots of stereotyping and sentimentality. Also, not all of them would have been recorded or notated so some are lost forever! Perhaps they were the better songs?!

“If you could be any Victorian, who would you be?”

Matt: Queen Victoria
Janet: Prince Albert

Community choir singing for all over the summer:

If anyone would like to sing over the summer, then please join Sing for Water Portsmouth from Tuesday 18th July for 8 weeks! More info from Janet on contact@janetayers.org or this link only £45 for 8 weeks includes song sheet and audio cd. Raise money and awareness for Water Aid. Performance on Sunday 10th September 2pm outdoors in Old Portsmouth!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1632043353687486/

Les Kazoos

A J Noon – my story for Holmes Fest 2017

A J Noon

The Case of the Shyster Watson – My Story For Holmesfest 2017

 

‘My story for Holmes Fest 2017 is set later in their careers and was inspired when reading through Arthur Conan Doyle’s original ideas for the stories. There is a name in there I hope the Sherlock fans will recognise, a name that ties the piece together. Trying to write a very short detective piece has proved interesting and hopefully I have managed to pull together enough for the audience to both recognise the characters and to tell an interesting story.’

About A J Noon

AJ Noon was and born bred in Portsmouth, and, after an extended absence, returned home three years ago. The history of the area has a firm grip on his interests and when not writing and performing in the area he can be found skulking on the decks of HMS Victory. He writes short stories and is putting the finishing touches to his first novel in conjunction with studying his MA at Portsmouth University.

Tickets for Holmes Fest 2017 available here
Wednesday 28th June, 6.30pm, The Square Tower, Portsmouth
Price: £7.50

Christine Lawrence – my story for Holmes Fest 2017

Christine Lawrence

Dear John – My Story For Holmesfest 2017

The fact that Conan Doyle spent time in Southsea and he created Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson whilst he was living here inspired me to write my story of sinister retribution, called Dear John. I used the twisted mind of a so-called madwoman to weave this dark story – and I have to add, it’s purely from my imagination. Relatives of Doyle should therefore not be disturbed or offended by its dark tone!

About Christine

After completing an MA in Creative Writing, Christine published her first novel, Caught in the Web. She is now about to finish her second novel, Payback which she plans to publish this year. She is passionate about writing, playwriting, acting and directing, runs the wardrobe at Titchfield Festival Theatre. She particularly enjoys performing her own writings and meeting people. She writes at www.southwickwriterwoman.blogspot.co.uk

Christine was one of the authors involved in the Portsmouth Bookfest 20 x 12, has short stories published in Portsmouth Fairy Tales for Grown-ups, and Day of the Dead. She has performed at events including the Victorious Festival, Portsmouth Plugged-in, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Day of the Dead, I,II and III at the Square Tower and several other locations in Portsmouth, including the Guildhall, The Kings Theatre and the New Theatre Royal. Recently Christine was one of the fourteen writers who took part in the Writing Edward King project at Portsmouth City Museum which received Arts Council Funding. She performed her writing for this project in several venues across the City.

Tickets for Holmes Fest 2017 available here
Wednesday 28th June, 6.30pm, The Square Tower, Portsmouth
Price: £7.50

Caught in the Web is available on Amazon as a paperback as well as an Ebook on Kindle. It is also stocked in Blackwells, Portsmouth, Waterstones in Portsmouth and Fareham, as well as at The Book Shop Lee-on-the-Solent.

St James’s Lunatic Asylum, where Christine’s story is set.

Christine’s Books

 



 

Arthur Conan Doyle and the vicar of St Jude’s, Southsea

Southsea – St Jude’s Church and Vicarage

In his book A Study In Southsea, Geoffrey Stavert traces Arthur Conan Doyle’s life in the seaside town, partially through Doyle’s fictionalised account of Southsea life in his novel The Stark Munro letters. His real-life surgery at No. 1 Bush Villas, was renamed “Oakley Villas”, while St Jude’s was newly Christened “St. Joseph’s”. Stavert writes:

At “Elmwood”, a pleasantly commodious Thomas Owen house situated just off Elm Grove between Grove Road South and the Woodpath (on part of the site now occupied by Telephone House), with lawns and hedges on three sides, lived the Reverend Charles Russell Tompkins, a curate of St Jude’s Church, Southsea. Not content with a wife and seven daughters to minister to his creature comforts, the Rev. Tompkins also maintained a cook, a housemaid and a nurse. It sounds as if St. Jude’s was a comfortable parish in 1883.

I suspect the Rev. Tompkins was the original of the un-named “High Church Curate of St. Joseph’s” whose encounter with the new tenant of Oakley Villas is described in The Stark Munro Letters. The curate had been one of the first to call after the new doctor had put up his plate, with high hopes of welcoming him to the flock, and had been considerably taken aback when he was firmly told that the doctor had no intention of becoming a regular attender at his church or any other…

Come and celebrate Conan Doyle’s life in Portsmouth at Holmes Fest on 28th June 2017 at The Square Tower, Old Portsmouth. Tickets are selling, so book your seat here before it’s too late. https://www.wegottickets.com/event/401304

June 1882: Arthur Conan Doyle Arrives In Portsmouth

Clarence Pier, Southsea, in the 1880s

One fine day towards the end of June 1882, a young man stepped ashore from a coastal steamer at Clarence Pier, at the western end of Southsea Common. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with plump cheeks, a well-developed moustache, and a pair of sharp, bold eyes which hinted that although it was only a month after his twenty third birthday, he had already been a round a bit and could look after himself nicely, thank you. He was dressed in comfortable tweeds, complete with waistcoat and stiff collar and tie, despite the time of year. With him he had all his worldly possessions: a tin box containing his top-hat (every Victorian gentleman with any pretensions to professional respectability had to have a top-hat, and consequently a box to carry it in) and a leather trunk.

It must have been a pretty heavy trunk, because not only did it contain his best suit, spare pair of boots (shoes were not commonly worn by men, being considered effeminate), linen and toilet things and a few essential books, but also a brass plate inscribed with his name and medical degree, and his photographic gear, comprising at least a large wooden box camera, separate lens, and a set of glass photographic plates. Young Doctor Conan Doyle had arrived to seek his fortune as a general practitioner in Portsmouth.

– From “A Study In Southsea”, by Geoffrey Stavert.

Celebrate the life and times of Arthur Conan Doyle in Portsmouth at The Square Tower on Wednesday 28th June 2017. Stories, songs, duelling, poison bottles – and a prize for the Best Dressed Victorian!

Light refreshments, good company and top hats. What more can you want?