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Tuesday, 03 November
Library and Information Services Month
Show Spotlight
Behind every creative idea is a world of knowledge, inspiration and discovery.
As part of our support for this year's National Year of Reading, we are proud to celebrate Library and Information Services Month, recognising the vital role these services play in supporting our work at Live & Local and enriching our artistic and cultural landscape.
We believe libraries and information services connect people with the resources, ideas and materials they need to explore new possibilities, develop creative projects, deepen their understanding of the arts and preserve the knowledge that shapes our cultural heritage.
One example on this year’s programme is Gav Cross’ abridged performed reading of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Now sold out, the event highlights the enduring appeal of literature and the appetite for creative experiences that bring stories to life.
We asked Gav one simple question: How has access to literature inspired your creative process as a performer?
"A library is everything to me. I am one of those people that spent more time than most in the library in my youth.
The mobile library came to the end of my street every Friday after school. I would get a fiction, a non-fiction and a graphic novel (well, a Tintin or Asterix the Gaul with my allocated three tickets…).
The library on the High Street of my south-east London suburban upbringing was also a regular solo haunt.
The School library where the librarian would let me sit quietly in breaks has a special place in my heart.
These were sanctuaries for me in so many ways at that time, and have remained an important part of what I do. As have the books and stories I was introduced to."
"A quick peek at my website will show you that the written word is the inspiration and starting point for so many of the shows that I perform. From twisting fairy tales and nursery rhymes to make families laugh and feel slightly queasy - to ghost story shows for grown-ups.
I love the written word, and of course, the gift of literacy is an incredible thing, but not everybody has that. We have had stories for longer than we have had books. And only in the last couple of hundred years have libraries been so open to every one.
I’m also fascinated by the tradition of gathering together and reading out loud. We know that the great authors of the 19th century would sometimes perform their stories and that there is evidence that local people would read for a pittance to read out loud the next chapter from a blockbuster Charles Dickens or Arthur Conan Doyle novel. To say nothing of sharing a good ghost story in the dark by candlelight."
"I love being read to myself. Audiobooks have been a wonderful way to access great literature ever since my first 'tech machine'! I’ve just completed the unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings over the summer, which might tell you how many miles I do as a touring performer. And it was magnificent. I had to resist starting it all over again!
I also adore that some of these stories are regarded as classics, but actually, people haven't read it for a long time or at all.
That's why I enjoy performing my 90 minute version of The War of the Worlds, because it is my adaptation, my version. They are, of course, all the words of H.G. Wells (but I selected which ones to recite!)
I'll tell you a secret… When I finish my performed reading of The War of the Worlds, it isn't even the last chapter of the book! I enjoy telling people that in the after show conversation because I hope they will go away and read the book in its entirety.
There is a reason it has inspired Rock operas, movies, TV adaptations and shocking radio versions.
It's timeless and terrifying."
Thank you to Gav Cross for this blog.
FInd out more by visiting Gav's website, here.
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