Our coming events

IMTAL - Europe AGM and Networking - Manchester

06 October 2010

The 2010 IMTAL-Europe AGM will be hosted by the People’s History Museum in central Manchester.

Newly reopened after a £12.5 million redevelopment, The People’s History Museum has been using theatre and live interpretation for more than fifteen years with performances on the galleries and in the newly-built theatre space. This is your chance to enjoy an informal tour and free performance of the museum’s highly innovative "Pauly’s War", mixing performance, participation and media.

The programme is subject to confirmation, but in outline:

10.00am - Welcome and refreshments
10.30am - Tour and introduction to the museum
11.30am - AGM
12.30pm - Lunch can be bought in the museum cafe or from one of the many shops nearby.
1.30pm “Pauly’s War” (performance lasts approx. an hour, to be followed by informal discussion)

Would you like to be more involved with IMTAL-Europe? If you might be interested in standing for the Board, please contact us.

Further details will be on the website from Sept. 16th onward.

This event coincides with, but is separate from, The Museums Association Conference in Manchester.

R.S.V.P. Booking forms/more info in Word format or Word format.
We’d love to have you with us but please let us know so that we can buy enough biscuits!

More information >>

How to interpret a frozen thunderbolt! Practical workshop training and networking day at Milestones

18 November 2010

Come and help celebrate the 10th birthday of Milestones, Hampshire’s living history museum.

'Imagine an open-air museum inside a massive modern building… a network of streets with shops, a village green and even a pub... dating from Victorian times and the 1930s… it's fun... a surprise around every corner!'

Participants at this training and networking day will explore the different styles of museum theatre used by the Milestones team to interpret the vast museum collections.

A participatory training workshop will provide the opportunity to experiment with a variety of theatre techniques in response to the site and museum objects.

This is a chance to share skills, ideas and challenges, and we hope you will be able to join us.

Delegate fee included refreshments
£60 for IMTAL Europe members
£90 for non-members

Download the booking form in either Word format or .pdf format

For booking and further information please contact:
board@imtal-europe.com

Milestones
Basingstoke
Hampshire

More information >>

Previous events

Love it or Hate it! Controversies in Museum Theatre

13 July 2010

Love it or Hate it! Controversies in Museum Theatre

IMTAL Seminar - hosted by Historic Royal Palaces
Tuesday 13th July 2010, 10.00 - 16.00
Kensington Palace, London

Is museum theatre the ‘marmite’ of interpretation? For some visitors, encountering performance can be controversial, even shocking, at least unexpected. Do the interpretative merits of an approach outweigh the fact that some visitors won’t like it? Can they be won over? How can a site decide whether to play safe or innovate?

We bring together a diverse range of top museum theatre practitioners who have created work at sites including Kensington Palace, Hampton Court and The Tower of London
• WildWorks (www.wildworks.biz)
• Goat & Monkey (www.goatandmonkey.co.uk)
• Spectrum Drama (www.spectrumdrama.com)
• Past Pleasures (www.pastpleasures.co.uk)

Each will present case studies, share their experiences of visitor reactions both positive and negative, and argue the pros and cons of different approaches.

The seminar includes a visit to the innovative ‘Enchanted Palace’ experience which combines fashion, performance, and dazzling spectacle, inspired by the stories of the palace’s former royal residents, to reveal Kensington's magnificent State Apartments in a magical new light. See link for more details.

Delegate fee - £60 for IMTAL members, £75 for non-members.

The delegate fee includes seminar, admission charges, lunch and refreshments.

All bookings should be received by July 1st 2010.

Payment may be made by cheque, BACS or invoiced on receipt of a purchase order number. In the unlikely event of cancellation, delegate fees will be refunded. However, IMTAL is not liable for other costs incurred, such as travel.

Download an application form here.

CANCELLED/POSTPONED From Exhibit to Props, Weekend Workshop in Germany, 15th & 16th May 2010

15 May 2010-16 May 2010

We are sorry to announce that the Spring weekend workshop with the actors and directors who stage museum theatre at the open air Freilichtmuseum Hessenpark has had to be cancelled and postponed. We hope to run the event in the autumn so check back for details.

Participants will be able to explore techniques drawn from the masters of acting and theatrical theory, Stanislavski and Chekhov, in a wide range of indoor and outdoor heritage settings. The workshop leaders are all highly experienced in museum theatre, and will offer this opportunity to both beginners and those who wish to refresh their established skills.

Further information will appear here soon, but for queries please contact board member Oliver Klaukien M.A. on the following email.

museumstheater@hessenpark.de

or write to
Oliver Klaukien M.A.
Freilichtmuseum Hessenpark GmbH
Theaterpadagogik and Museumstheater
Laubweg 5
61267 Neu-Anspach

(More of) Less of the Verbal - in London

22 January 2010

(More of) Less of the Verbal
A Training Day In Non-Verbal Communication Within Museum Theatre

Friday 22nd January 2010
at the Museum of Docklands, London
10am - 4.30pm

Following the success of “Less of the Verbal” held in Manchester last spring, Alison Hale and Emily Capstick of Peoplescape Theatre will be running another training day.

For all those interested in providing heritage interpretation with and for people to whom spoken text can be a barrier - such as overseas visitors, the hearing impaired, the very young, second language speakers or those with learning difficulties.

Alison and Emily will focus on elements of non-verbal communication to help you tell your story. Puppets, imaginative and creative object manipulation, movement, lighting, touch, music, sound and song can all help audiences understand the mood and tone, as well as the content of any heritage interpretation.

The day will include lots of opportunities to try out ideas, and to see extracts from Peoplescape Theatre's performances
Over the Sea to London
Darwin Stories
Seeking

What people said about “Less of the Verbal” last time.

“So often courses will talk about projects that have been undertaken… but you rarely get to experience the activities first hand”  

“[We saw] …how percussion and props can totally change the delivery of a session”

“I thought this was a really good course- a good balance between the theoretical and the practice”

“Thanks once again for a truly inspiring and joyful day”

Everyone welcome, whether you joined us in Manchester or not, as new material and activities will be incorporated.

£60 for IMTAL Europe members
£90 for non-members
(This fee includes lunch and tea/coffee)
For booking and information contact: board@imtal-europe.com or click here (as a Word document) or here (as a pdf) to download an entry form.

Manchester Christmas Exchange

16 December 2009

Insights editor Emily Capstick and Treasurer David Mosley will be lounging in the glorious cafe of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester on Wednesday 16th December from 11am to 1pm. All IMTAL members and potential members in the North West of England are welcome to join them for a chat and to network with other IMTAL people. The cafe sells soup, sandwiches and scrumtious cup cakes!

London Christmas Drinks

10 December 2009

Board member Chris Gidlow will be upstairs at the Round Table Public House, 26-27 St Martin's Lane (off Charing Cross Road by Wyndham's Theatre) in London on Thursday 10th December from 6.30pm onwards.

He is promising to dispense information about IMTAL, seasonal cheer, and optional snippets of Arthurian lore.

Bristol Seasonal Social

06 December 2009

Chair, Anna Farthing will host a brunchtime gathering for members and potential members of IMTAL in the shiny new gold foyer of The Colston Hall in Bristol from 11am to 1pm on Sunday 6th December. Coffee, drinks and food will be available to purchase from the café bar. Come and meet like minded people, show pictures of your work, have a chat about your plans, and hear what lies ahead for IMTAL in 2010. Email board@imtal-europe.com to say that you are coming, or just turn up.

Christmas Social, Guernsey

28 November 2009

IMTAL members are gathering at the Guernsey Museum in Candie Gardens
for coffee and mince pies on November 28 at 11am. Anyone in the area
is welcome to join board member and membership secretary, Lynne Ashton, friends and colleagues. Please send a Christmas message to: Lynneashton@googlemail.com to say whether or not you can come.

Live Interpretation Training for Senior Heritage Managers - Presenting the Past

10 November 2009

Past Pleasures Ltd is the oldest and largest freelance live interpretation company in Europe. They can be seen daily at Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London. Also regularly at The Service Wing, Audley End House and The Great Keep, Dover Castle.

Location: Hampton Court Palace, Surrey.
Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm
Fee for this course, which includes tea, coffee, lunch and all materials
£144 inc. VAT.

Contact the Past Pleasures office for further information on this training opportunity and to book your place.
01428 685755 or email: info@pastpleasures.co.uk

Kate Howard
Creative Director
Past Pleasures Ltd

IMTAL AGM, Agenda and Study Day - Hampton Court

30 September 2009

IMTAL members are invited to Hampton Court Palace on the outskirts of London, England for the Annual General Meeting and to see presentations from companies currently working with the site.

Wed 30th September 2009
10.15am - 4.30pm
Western Room, Clore Education Centre, Hampton Court Palace
(Please arrive at the main entrance, from where you will be directed. Click on "more information" below for travel details)

10.15am Coffee & welcome

10.45am ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - AGENDA
1. Apologies for Absence
2. To Confirm minutes of the 2008 AGM held in Bath
3. To Receive Director’s report to year ended May 31st 2009
4. To Receive Financial report for period to year ended May 31st 2009
4a To authorise Board to appoint an accountant for the current Financial year and fix his/her renumeration
5. Board matters
5a. Summary of present position
5b. Election of Board members
5c. Election of Officers
5d. Explanation of Board responsibilities
6. Closing Remarks /A.O.B.

A summary of the annual report can be downloaded from the "news" section of this website. Former Chair Robert Forshaw and Secretary John Paul Coyle have decided to stand down so we will be looking for new people to take on various roles on the board. Do please consider getting involved.

After the AGM our Study Day will begin. There will be a break for lunch (own cost or bring picnic) The presenters will include:

Chris Gidlow, Live Interpretation Manager for The Historic Royal Palaces which includes Hampton Court.

Peet Cooper and members of The Misfits Theatre Company presenting their FOOL PROJECT exploring the role of learning disabled adults in the development of court fooling.

Mark Wallis, Director of Past Pleasures, one of the largest and most successful live interpretation companies in Europe, discussing their latest projects and approaches.

Should delegates wish to explore the site, and see the Past Pleasures procession, a special reduced entry fee of £5 has been arranged.

Please put the date in your diary.

Please contact us at board@imtal-europe.net to let us know you are coming so we can organise refreshments

If you cannot come, please fill in the SURVEY below.

Conferences and Get Togethers - MA coming up

07 September 2009-05 October 2009

If any IMTAL members are planning to attend the heritage industry's upcoming conferences, and would like to meet up with fellow IMTAL members, please email us using the contact page and we will try to arrange something.

Museums Association Conference
Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London
5-7 October 2009
www.museumsassociation.org

If you hear of other events that IMTAL members should know about, please get in touch and we will add them to this diary.