Melville Centre Abergavenny

BMJ
2023-01-25 19:00 - 22:30 (Europe/London) | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Monthly Black Mountain Jazz session
Feat. BMJ collective with saxophonists Dan Newberry and Alex Clarke
Join the Black Mountain Jazz House band with 2 rising star sax players for a lively and fun night.
The BMJ Collective draws on a number of talented young professional musicians performing regularly in the South Wales and neighbouring areas. Between them they can offer a wide variety of line-ups and the opportunity to invite guest performers to join them. Joining the BMJ Collective for this performance are rising young stars, saxophonists Dan Newberry and Alex Clarke.
Tickets:
Standard – £14
Friends of BMJ – £12
Under 16’s – £8
Also, check out BMJ concert celebrating Women in jazz in Wales at The Borough Theatre, a collaboration with Arts Council Wales. Thursday 9th February.

New Poets Poetry Cafe
2022-12-20 10:30 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
With the renowned and charismatic Ric Hool, The New Poets Poetry Cafe is a series of
4 sessions hosted in The Melville Cafe/Bar. For the writer, this series is for anyone
interested in developing their poetry. This group is also open to those poetry enthusiasts
that do not write but want to learn and share in their passion.
Each participant brings one self-penned poem plus copies of that poem for discussion during
the first 45 minutes; after a short break the poems of an exemplar poet will be introduced.
Sessions will run on Tuesday’s:
20th December
17th January
21st February
To book your spot, please call 01873 853167 or email melvillecamanager@gmail.com

Monthly Volunteer Lounge
2022-12-13 09:30 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | Melville Centre Cafe-Bar, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Tuesday 13th December from 9:30am – 12pm
Our monthly volunteer lounge is a chance for all of us to connect, share ideas and plan future
events and activities together. We would love to see you there and talk about how your time
and expertise are so integral to making this place flourish.

The Future Is Us Exhibition
2022-12-07 08:00 - 2022-12-15 17:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Film Screening and Exhibition for ‘The Future Is Us Project’
Until 15th December
Tuesday & Thursday’s 1 – 4pm
‘The Future Is Us Project’ was a Monmouthshire Arts based project to empower and listen to young people
between the ages of 10 and 25. Through engagement and participation, it aimed to give them a platform to
project their views, and posed questions around whether or not their voices are heard.
Do they have a seat at the table?
Culminating in a celebration event on 16th July with dance and drama performances around Abergavenny,
the event was captured on camera and we are delighted to share with you the results! Click HERE for more!
Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, you are invited to view the exhibition in our gallery and share in a
diverse array of media including printing, photography and installation. Accompanying this, is a looped
screening of the film that documented the project and final event on 16th July in venues around Abergavenny.
The film includes stunning dance performances, artist interviews and messages from the young people who took part.
For more Information, please call 01873 853167 or email melvillecamanager@gmail.com

Cait Davies Vocal Tuition Concert
2022-12-03 | Monmouthshire
The students of Cait Davies Vocal Tuition present their annual
Christmas concert, featuring some festive favourites.
Cait trained in Musical Theatre at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts London and is
a Licentiate of Trinity College London.
Cait started Cait Davies Vocal Tuition in 2019, starting with just a few students and
teaching them from her living room. In 2020, Cait made the decision to expand her
business, which some thought a strange decision to make in the middle of a global
pandemic, but she did it nonetheless. And now two years on she has 30 students
coming to her purpose built studio on a weekly basis, performing in two concerts a year.
Students have the opportunity to enter for exams in Musical Theatre or Rock and Pop, or
they can just learn for fun and confidence building.
This is and Invite Only Event
For more information on how to book, contact Cait via her Facebook page
@caitdaviesvocals or via email at caitdaviesvocaltuition@outlook.com

Corws - The Blodeuo Theatre Company
2022-12-02 11:30 - 13:00 (Europe/London) | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Corws/Chorus
The culmination of a year long story, Corws gives each participant the chance
to share their own story, dream or imagining. Focussing on our core emotions, these
unique performances convey genuine expressed creativity in movement words and music.
Addressing core questions such as; what makes you feel happy, uneasy or courageous?
We are taken on walks through many landscapes, showcasing the depth and breath of the
human experience.
The Blodeuo Theatre Company
Blodeuo Theatre Company brings together over 20 participants of diverse ability
and endeavours to tell their stories. Hosted at The Melville Theatre and held by a
group of committed and enthusiastic facilitators, the company takes its name from
the drama group’s first performance which told the ancient Welsh story of Blodeuwedd;
Somewhere near Castell Mur, overlooking Trawsfynydd, she was created from flowers
by magicians as related in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi.
Please note: This event is invite only
For more information call 01873853167 or email melvillecamanager@gmail.com
This project is kindly sponsored by The Arts Council of Wales.

Abergavenny Film Society Screening
2022-11-30 16:30 - 22:30 (Europe/London) | The Melville Theatre, The Melville Centre, Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 5UD, United Kingdom
Fortnightly Screening of World and Independent British Cinema
Join us for our fortnightly screening, where we showcase the best of World and
UK Independent Cinema titles. Both diverse and inclusive, we always encourage
lively discussion of films and invite audience members to rate the films.
Our Memory Belongs to Us
30th November
Screening 1 – 4:30pm
Screening 2 – 7:30pm
Screening at 4:30pm
Three Syrian activists are reunited on a theatre stage in Paris. 10 years after the revolution,
they revisit traumas and memories of a ferocious war.
Directed by Rami Farah
Watch the trailer here
Our Ladies
20th December
Screening 1 – 4:30pm
Screening 2 – 7:30pm
In 1996, five best friends attend a strict Catholic school for girls in the Scottish Highlands town of
Fort William. They get the opportunity to go into Edinburgh for a choir competition, but they are
more interested in drinking, partying and hooking up than winning the competition.
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones
Watch the trailer here
Cost:
Free to members
£5 non-members
First-come-first-served basis. Doors open at 4pm and 7pm respectively

Wales Early Music Forum Cymru workshop for singers
2022-11-26 09:30 - 16:30 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Singing workshop in Abergavenny!
A workshop for singers, we will be singing nine works for Advent and Christmas which range in mood from slow
and solemn to exuberant and lively, and in difficulty from easy to more challenging.
Hosted by experienced organ scholar and choir director Emma Gibbins, whose expertise includes numerous posts
as director of music in London and Wales. This workshop is sure to be informative and engaging and the perfect
way to evoke the joy of Christmas through Music
£18 Early Music Forum member
£22 non-member
£5 student
To book you place, please contact Emma Wheelock on 01600 74 04 12
or to book online click here

An evening with Robin Ince
2022-11-22 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Join us for an evening with Robin Ince to discuss his newest book Bibliomaniac! The event will take place in Melville Theatre, Abergavenny on November 22nd at 19:30.
Ticket options:
Event access £10
Event access with book £20
Book tickets here:
https://www.book-ish.co.uk/event/an-evening-with-robin-ince/

‘A unique, funny picture of Britain… A love letter to bookshops and the vagaries of public transport.’ Richard Osman
Why play to 12,000 people when you can play to 12? In Autumn 2021, Robin Ince’s stadium tour with Professor Brian Cox was postponed due to the pandemic. Rather than do nothing, he decided instead to go on a tour of over a hundred bookshops in the UK, from Wigtown to Penzance; from Swansea to Margate.
Packed with witty anecdotes and tall tales, Bibliomaniac takes the reader on a journey across Britain as Robin explores his lifelong love of bookshops and books – and also tries to find out just why he can never have enough of them.
It is the story of an addiction and a romance, and also of an occasional points failure just outside Oxenholme.

Black Mountain Jazz - wall2wall Jazz Festival 2022
2022-11-18 18:00 - 2022-11-20 23:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Black Mountain Jazz wall2wall Jazz Festival 2022 brings world class jazz musicians to the very heart of Abergavenny
There is something for everyone, from Gospel singing Workshops, youth BIG BAND workshops, Jazz Storytime for little ones with Louby Lou, a Photographic exhibition of previous BMJ performances by local photographer Kasia Ociepa. All of this is to compliment performances by both International and National Jazz performers.

A Jazz harpist on a global tour juliecampiche.com
Amy Winehouse’s saxophonist aaronliddard.com
A smooth Gregory Porter style baritone vocalist. marvinmuoneke.com
A Big Band featuring Usk vocalist Debs Hancock. monmouthbigband.co.uk. www.debshancockjazz.com
A free community day of jazz poetry, the blues, jazz videos and more
A photographic exhibition by local jazz photographer Kasia Ociepa. kasiaociepaphotographer.pic-time.com/portfolio

All this in the heart of Abergavenny at The Melville Centre for the Arts.
Book tickets here: https://thelittleboxoffice.com/blackmountainjazz
Tickets and Details are online www.wall2walljazz.co.uk
Facebook @BlackMountainJazz. Twitter @BlackMountainJazz

SUITCASE THEATRE presents three performances of THE ASPERN PAPERS
2022-11-10 19:30 - 2022-11-12 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
SUITCASE THEATRE

presents

THE ASPERN PAPERS
by Henry James

in a new version for theatre by William Gilbert

Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 November
7.30pm
at the Melville Theatre, Abergavenny

The Aspern Papers by Henry James is a story of obsession and ambition, set in Venice in the early part of the 20th Century. The Papers themselves are love letters from a deceased poet, Jeffrey Aspern, to the woman who inspired his greatest poetry. Kept secret after the poet’s untimely death, they now become the object of a quest by the story’s central character, Henry Jarvis – a man who will stop at nothing to get hold of them. Passions run deep and betrayal rears its ugly head as Jarvis inches his way towards his goal – the love letters of Jeffrey Aspern. Will he succeed in gaining what he most desires?

Tickets: £11 (u18s £6) available here:

www.suitcasetheatrecompany.com

Black Mountain Jazz Philip Clout's Quartet
2022-10-30 20:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
The dancing exuberance of South African Township music, the convivial groove of gospel-influenced soul jazz, the joyful sway of Cuban guaguanco rhythms, the bluesy melodies of middle eastern praise songs and so much more all come together in pianist Philip Clouts’ superbly accomplished quartet.
Doors and Bar open @ 7.30pm Tickets on the door and from http://blackmountainjazz.co.uk/

Mayor’s Charity Concert - In support of Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine
2022-10-20 19:30 - 22:30 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
The Hadron Colliders
The Melville Centre is delighted to host a return visit of the Hadron Colliders for this year’s Mayor’s Charity Concert in our 70 seat Melville Theatre.
The Mayor, Tony Konieczny, is a founder member of the band (guitar), with Dave Price on keys, Julian Miles percussion, Simon Burch (bass), & Emily Games (vocals). Proceeds of the concert will provide humanitarian aid for Kharkiv where the families and friends of many of the Ukrainian refugees who have come to the Abergavenny area still live.
Download the Hadron Colliders poster for Mayors Charity event Oct 20th.
Melville Centre Abergavenny October 20th 2022
Doors open: 7.30pmConcert starts 8.00pm
Bar available/ refreshments
Tickets: £10.00 available to reserve or purchase from The Melville Centre, Abergavenny. Tel: 01873 853167
Book Tickets

An Illustrated book talk: ‘Life on the Floodplain' - Fundraising for Ukraine & Afghanistan Crisis Appeals
2022-10-15 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
7pm Saturday 15th October 2022
At the café-bar, the Melville Centre for the Arts, Abergavenny

Doors open 6:30pm

An Illustrated book talk: ‘Life on the Floodplain – A Garden Wildlife Diary 2020’

‘A year’s diary entry of the wildlife photographed in a garden on the Usk floodplain tells a bigger story of trauma, mental health and the power of nature to help heal the mind.’

Please join us for a fascinating talk and the opportunity to meet and chat to Ceri.

£5 donation on the door in aid of DEC Ukraine & Afghanistan Crisis Appeals
Bar available

Signed books available on the night, full-colour hardback £24.99

Press Release — Life on the Floodplain

How photographing the Welsh countryside has helped my journey with PTSD

Ceri Leigh has been in therapy for the best part of the past 10 years since an accident on her way home one day from work left her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and unable to walk for a year and a half.
The former Exhibitions Manager (Design & Conservation) at the Natural History Museum in London now suffers with insomnia, severe flashbacks and dissociative paralysing seizures which prevent her from leaving the house unaccompanied and unable to drive a car or cook in case she loses all sense of reality and collapses to the floor.
But the 58-year-old, who now lives in the Usk Valley, has found photographing the beautiful floodplains of the Brecon Beacons the best medicine for calming her anxious brain.
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, Ceri took pictures of the wildlife she watched from her window every day in 2020 — recording a few hundred species — and she has just published a book called ‘Life on the Floodplain’.
The book is a living document of the natural environment during a time of restrictions and lockdowns, providing diary entries of the year the world stood still, alongside pictures of British animals and birds, including Canada geese, woodpeckers and nuthatches — as nature carried on.
Writing the book for Ceri was a step towards her old life and the job that she loved managing exhibitions at one of the UK’s most popular museums.
For a long time, Ceri has felt as if ‘there is no one in charge of her head’ and even the sound of a child crying, or an ambulance siren, can trigger a seizure — the effects of which can last for hours.
But in writing 365 entries in her journal and taking pictures of the landscape, plants and animals around her with an iPhone, she found comfort from the confusion and disorder of daily life.
Ceri said: ‘With PTSD nothing makes sense. Piecing your mind back together takes baby steps, over and over, every day. It’s a never-ending battle. You may have no idea of time with PTSD or, like me, often not know where you are and can temporarily be out of touch with reality.’
‘I fall frequently with the seizures but I feel nothing as I get a dose of natural anaesthetic with the dissociation. If I fall backwards, there is no feeling and no thoughts — it’s like a computer malfunction, my brain just shuts down.’
‘But the constant falling is taking its toll on my neck, and other vertebrae are showing painful signs of degeneration. Thankfully, the seizures have decreased from several times per day, to several times per week, and after more than a decade, I’m in a better place. But the struggle and fallout has been acute — it’s a shock to the system when your life falls apart in an instant.’
Ceri added: ‘Watching wildlife calms me as I find it has a meditative quality. Taking photographs on my mobile phone distracts me from the anxiety of PTSD and it grounds me in reality. I encourage everyone to observe their own environment, as even in cities, nature is present. It’s surprising how much wildlife can be seen if you take the time to tune in and look around.’
Life on the Floodplain is priced at 24.99 GBP and available to order from local bookshops or online retailers from 9 September 2021.

The Red Dress Project - a weekend of talks and presentations with Kirstie McLeod
2022-10-08 10:30 - 2022-10-09 15:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
We are thrilled that Kirstie MacLeod has accepted Emma Bevan’s invitation to bring her amazing Project to the Melville Centre for the weekend of 8th and 9th, October 2022!
You will have the opportunity to watch the film and listen to Kirstie’s story, and ask questions – the film and talk will take place at 10:30am, and then at 1:00pm (please arrive 10 minutes before it begins).

You will also have the opportunity to buy a copy of the crowd-funded Red Dress catalogue, or one of the postcards.

* NB: Please pre-register for a seat as we have a limited number of seats, thank you. Email: info@melvillecentre.org.uk – and please specify which day and time you prefer * REGISTRATION CLOSES on 21st September

_____________________________
Leading on from this weekend, Emma Bevan, with the support of the Melville Centre, and Ginevra Croft, will be coordinating a community project “Connecting Communities” with anyone interested in taking part: Creating a Community Shawl.
You can donate your square – it can be created by knitting, embroidering, felting, printing, crocheting or sewing squares, which will then be sewn together to create the Community Shawl, a representation of warmth, safety, and community, with a nod to the Welsh shawl. The shawl can be displayed at events or exhibitions and worn during talks.
Please email emma.events9@gmail.com if you would like to take part. Completed pieces can be dropped off or posted to: The Wool Croft, Neville Street, Abergavenny NP7 5AD and the deadline is 11th December 2022.
__________________________________

THE RED DRESS:
A 13-year, award winning global, collaborative embroidery project
2009 to 2022
The Red Dress project, conceived by British artist Kirstie Macleod, provides an artistic platform for women around the world, many of whom are marginalized and live in poverty, to tell their personal stories through embroidery.
From 2009 to 2022, pieces of the Red Dress travelled the globe being continuously embroidered onto. Constructed out of 84 pieces of burgundy silk dupion, the garment has been worked on by 336 women and 7 men, from 46 countries, with all 136 commissioned artisans paid for their work (as well as receiving a portion of all ongoing exhibition fees). The rest of the embroidery was added by willing audience at various exhibitions & events.
Embroiderers include female refugees from Palestine and Syria, women seeking asylum in the UK from Iraq, China, Nigeria and Namibia, victims of war in Kosovo, Rwanda, and DR Congo; impoverished women in South Africa, Mexico, and Egypt; individuals in Kenya, Japan, Turkey, Sweden, Peru, Czech Republic, Dubai, Afghanistan, Australia, Argentina, Switzerland, Canada, Tobago, Vietnam, Estonia, USA, Russia, Pakistan, Wales, Colombia and England, students from Montenegro, Brazil, Malta, Singapore, Eritrea, Norway, Poland, Finland, Ireland, Romania and Hong Kong as well as upmarket embroidery studios in India and Saudi Arabia.

POETRY UPSTAIRS- 27th September
2022-09-27 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Poetry Upstairs for: TUESDAY 27th September
Don’t miss this opportunity to join us – another three amazing poets to listen to and chat to… bar and doors open 6:30, performance begins 7pm.

Nicholas Murray is a freelance author and journalist based in Wales and London. Born in Liverpool; the author of several literary biographies including lives of Franz Kafka, Aldous Huxley, Bruce Chatwin, Andrew Marvell and Matthew Arnold, five collections of poems, and two novels. His biography of Matthew Arnold was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1997 and his biography of Aldous Huxley was shortlisted for the Marsh Biography Prize in 2003. The biography of Franz Kafka has been translated into nine languages. Nicholas Murray is a regular contributor of poems, essays and reviews to a wide range of newspapers and literary magazines and has many collection of published poems.

Jemma L King is a poet based in West Wales. She won the Terry Hetherington Young Writer of the Year Award in 2011 and in 2014 was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Wales Book of the Year for her poetry collection ‘The Shape of a Forest’ (Parthian Books). Her second book ‘The Undressed’ was released by Parthian Books in 2014. She is a reviewer of contemporary literature for numerous publications and teaches literature and creative writing at Aberystwyth University. She is a founding member of the Centre for Women, Writing and Literary Culture.

Charles Wilkinson: The Snowman and Other Poems (Iron Press, 1987) Ag & Au – 36 page pamphlet (Flarestack Poets, 2013). This publication formed part of a submission that helped to win Flarestack the Michael Marks Award for poetry publishing. The Glazier’s Choice (Eyewear – forthcoming 2019); shortlisted for The Beverly Prize. Charles Wilkinson’s early work was published in magazines, including Delta, English, Iron, Littack, and The Human World.
His more recent poems have appeared in over fifty publications, including Envoi, Poetry Wales, Poetry Salzburg (Austria), Tears in the Fence, The SHOp (Eire),Crannog (Eire), The Interpreter’s House, Magma, Fire, Stand, Scintilla, Shearsman, Pennine Platform, Other Poetry, Earthlines (The Two Ravens Press), The Warwick Review, Under the Radar, New Writer, The Reader, The Iron Book of New Humorous Verse, Entanglements (The Two Ravens Press), The Aesthetica Annual, Snow Lit, Revand Otoliths (Australia), as well as in American magazines such as Gargoyle, The Madison Review, The Raintown Review, Lummox, Futures Trading, and The San Pedro River Review.

Please bring £5 to pay on the door, but DO pre-register to ensure your seat! Email info@melvillecentre.org.uk

Free parking and wheelchair access.
Please do not bring food or drink in the building that is not purchased here.

POETS:

Charles Wilkinson Jemma L King Nicholas Murray

BLACK MOUNTAIN JAZZ - details TBC
2022-09-25 18:00 - 22:30 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Join us for another fantastic evening hosted by BMJ!

Details on their website, more information to follow

TANGO JAZZ QUARTET; Black Mountain Jazz
2022-08-24 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
TANGO JAZZ QUARTET
BMJ CLUB PROGRAMME

Sunday 28th August 2022: 8pm
Bar opens at 7.30pm

Melville Theatre: Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, NP7 5UD
www.tangojazzquartet.com

Jazz Quartet have played at our club and festival several times over the past years. In 2020, the pandemic scuppered any thoughts of a live festival and a virtual event evolved.
One of the videos included, which was produced in Argentina for us by Tango Jazz Quartet, explores the blending of the two genres of music.
We are delighted to be part of their 2022 European tour and very much look forward to their visit to Abergavenny.
WORKSHOP
In addition to their evening performance, Tango Jazz Quartet will be facilitating an earlier workshop from 4pm to 5.30pm, exploring the link between tango and jazz.
The workshop will be for all instruments, including voice.

Standard: £15.00
Friends of BMJ: £13.00
Full time students: £8.00
Under 18s: £5.00
Workshop tickets: £10.00
Book online www.blackmountainjazz.co.uk
thelittleboxoffice.com/blackmountainjazz

PS: Please contact BMJ regarding tickets, not the venue, many thanks!

Believe it or not! Storytelling evening
2022-08-05 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
An Evening of Storytelling and Music
Indulge in a spell-binding evening with the accomplished storytellers Guto and Megan – prepare to be transported into other worlds!

BELIEVE IT OR NOT! is an evening of Storytelling and music, featuring:

Guto Dafis and Megan Lloyd, introduced by Richard Berry.

The performance begins at 7.30pm, with the bar open from 7pm.

Suitable for adults and children 12 years and over.

Guto Dafis tells stories with energy and humour, wryness and warmth. He is also a musician; he punctuates and enlivens his storytelling performances with song and the music of his melodeon, and he has a musician’s sense of pace and dynamics in his delivery of a tale.
He has performed many times at the Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival (St Donats, and latterly Llandeilo), as well at other festivals in Wales and England (Mekonville, Suffolk; Tafwyl, Cardiff; Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival; Festival at the Edge, Shropshire). He has also delighted audiences as far afield as Brittany (The Welsh Pavilion at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient), the Netherlands (Galerie Josine Bokhoven, Amsterdam), Italy (Suns Peraulis Musichis des Menorancis, Udine) and the UAE (Tales on an Island, Sharjah).
Historic sites at which he has appeared this year include Tretower Court, Castell Coch, Caerleon Roman Baths and Chepstow Castle.
“a gifted teller … with a relaxed and easy style that is guaranteed to draw you in” (Carl Gough, Swansea Storytelling)
www.gutodafisstoryteller.weebly.com

Megan Lloyd – Storyteller – Dancer and Artist
Megan Lloyd has told stories from Tashkent to Tenby, Harduf to Haverfordwest and Cardiff to Carmarthen. She even told stories in Lapland for the Farther Christmas himself.
Megan tells stories for all ages, in venues as wide ranging as Theatres, Libraries, Castles, Schools and Bishops Palaces.
She has regularly performed at Beyond the Border Storytelling Festival as a Storyteller and Bharata Natyam Dancer with India Dance Wales. Megan was also part of the Storytelling Company of the same name that was born at the Festival touring venues through out Wales.
She received the Roald Dahl Trust commission for a family story show “ Giants”.
Megan’s dance hand gestures that she uses as part of her storytelling language brought about a project “Talking Hands” where she worked along side a BSL story teller.
She has worked on many Welsh Arts Council Creative School’s Projects combining Storytelling with her others skills as a visual artist and Indian Classical Dancer.
Her performances are often described as “ Mesmerising“ .
A cunning turn of phrase, a gesture of the hand and a tune on the fiddle bring the tales alive.
http://www.head4arts.org.uk/megan-lloyd/

Click “website” to book tickets:
£10 or £5 conc

Poetry Upstairs - at The Melville
2022-07-19 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Welcome to Poetry Upstairs at The Melville on:
TUESDAY 19th JULY at 7pm until 9pm
Doors open at 6:40pm Entry £5
(cash on the door please, cards preferred for the bar)

Please contact us to register your place (you must book in advance), then pay on the door as usual.
To register, email info@melvillecentre.org.uk and send your full name/s and telephone contact numbers, or call Emma on 01873 853167
We regret we may not be able to admit anyone who has not registered beforehand, as we need to know numbers ahead of the evening; please call ahead to check availability.

Three more top-class poets:

Jeremy Hilton is the author of twelve books, most recently Lighting Up Time: Selected Poems 1991 – 2004. The full sequence of Fulmar’s Wings (75 poems) is due from Knives Forks & Spoons Press in 2021. A novel, A Sound Like Angels Weeping was published by Brimstone Press in 2012. Hilton was born near Manchester in 1945 and has degrees in English Literature and in Social Work. From 1972 until 1998 he served as a social worker, mostly in Worcestershire. Between 2007 and 2017, he studied music composition, and completed a number of contemporary chamber music pieces, some of which have been performed. In 2017, he moved to Bridport in Dorset with his partner, the writer Kim Taplin.

Ann Drysdale now lives in South Wales and has been a hill farmer, water-gypsy, newspaper columnist and single parent – not necessarily in that order. Her poems have been published in several of the Potcake Chapbooks. Her seventh volume of poetry, Vanitas, has recently joined a mixed list of published writing, including memoir, essays and a gonzo guidebook to the City of Newport.

Mike McNamara was born in Ireland but lives in South Wales. He had his first collection Overhearing The Incoherent published in 1997. His poetry, short stories and drawings have been published in mags in Ireland, North America, Canada, Singapore and the UK. Mike also had a selection of poems published in The Pterodactyl’s Wing (Parthian, 2003). His latest collection Loose Cannon is published by Subterranean Blue Press.

Shirt Tail Stompers (Black Mountain Jazz)
2022-07-03 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Black Mountain Jazz =
“At very short notice, we are delighted to welcome back the Shirt Tail Stompers, who played to a capacity crowd at Black Mountain Jazz in 2019.
One of the world’s leading swing bands and London’s top vintage band, the Shirt Tail Stompers are firmly established at home and internationally playing Harlem swing and the hot jazz of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

Featuring music from composers such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Benny Goodman, their highlights include appearances at the Royal Albert Hall late night Jazz, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and National Theatre River stage.

The year before the pandemic they played in Norway, Thailand, France, South Korea, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and throughout the UK to rave reviews!

At their last BMJ gig, several regulars voted them the best act at the club ever. Without a doubt – not to be missed this time”

The Bee Hive - with LoubyLou Storytelling
2022-06-29 | Monmouthshire
30 minute outdoor theatre experience! Bring your blankets, chairs and picnics. Join Bumble and Bee in this vibrant and fun performance, as they fill you in on all things bee through song, dance and some rather silly sketches. Join them on their quest for world pollination!
Stand up for your stripes and join our buzzing friends, as they embark on their World Pollination Tour across South Wales this Summer!

These little bees are on a quest to save their species and they need your help. Join them on the Melville Centre lawn and watch them spread their message through catchy songs, fun filled sketches, a little bit of waggle dancing and plenty of audience interaction. Get ready to shake your stingers, warm up your wings and prepare for world pollination! You won’t want to miss out on this un-BEE-lievable experience!
Our Bee Hive experience is a fun and rather wacky theatre performance for children (and adults) of all ages. The aim of the performance is to demonstrate the importance of bees in our ecosystem in a vibrant, and entertaining way. The set up is very relaxed and children are encouraged to engage throughout.
The performance will take place OUTDOORS on the Melville Centre lawn. You are welcome to bring camp chairs, blankets or whatever you like to make yourself comfy and watch the show in comfort. Please note, if the weather is poor on the day, an alternative indoor space will be available.
The duration of the performance is 30 minutes. There are FOUR performance times to choose from; please see website link for times and tickets

Louby Lou’s is an interactive storytelling company that is passionate in delivering high quality sessions to parents & children. We take classic stories or themes & bring them to life using action, sound, props, puppets, role play & parachute work. Our sessions have a strong focus on using the imagination & getting lost in the wonderful world of make believe.

For more information, visit the website, Facebook Page or Twitter Feed.

"Poetry Upstairs!" at the Melville - June 28th
2022-06-28 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
2022 Reading Series
Tuesday 28th June 7pm start (please be there 6:30 – 6:50) £5 Entry (please bring cash for entry – the bar has a card reader for your drinks)
David Costello (Liverpool) Chris Hall (Abergavenny) Des Mannay (Newport)
Please contact us to register your place (you must book in advance), then pay on the door as usual.
To register, email info@melvillecentre.org.uk and send your full name/s and telephone contact numbers, or call Emma on 01873 853167
We regret we may not have spaces for anyone turning up on the night who has not registered beforehand, as we need to know numbers ahead of the evening; please call on the day to check if there are more places available.

David J Costello lives in Wallasey, Merseyside. He won the Welsh International Poetry Competition in 2011 and was placed 2nd in the 2018 competition, was a PenFro Poetry Competition prizewinner in 2019, and a prize-winning poet in both the 2015 Troubadour International Poetry Competition and the 2011 Grist Poetry Prize. David’s pamphlets are Human Engineering, (Thynks Publishing, 2013) and No Need For Candles, (Red Squirrel Press, 2016). He runs Pop-up Poets and is an active supporter and advocate for Wirral Libraries. His most recent 2020 collection, Heft, is published by Red Squirrel Press.
Chris Hall’s published work include, Bneath Cragshaddo (WYSIWYG Chapbooks), Balladz f Bedlam (Stonebridge).The metaphysical poem A Journey was published in Scintilla and two poems Five Surrealist Paintings and Dewi Stone appeared in the Spring 2014 edition of Tears in the Fence. Work is to the fore in The Lonely Crowd and Leg Avant. His 2019 collection, No Fish, is published by Collective Press.
Des Mannay is a Welsh writer of colour. His first poetry collection, Sod ’em – and tomorrow is published by Waterloo Press. He is co-editor of The Angry Manifesto poetry journal. Winner -‘rethinkyourmind’ poetry competition (2015), LIT-UP poetry competition (2019). 2nd/ highly commended – Disability Arts Cymru poetry Competition (2015). ‘Gold Award’ – Creative Futures Literary Awards (2015). His work is featured in 26 poetry anthologies

Community Taster Evening
2022-06-22 17:30 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
BMJ club programme…

Drop in anytime from 5.30pm until 10pm

Bar opens at 5.30pm

VENUE

Melville Theatre: Pen-y-Pound, Abergavenny, NP7 5UD

TICKETS: Free Entry

History of Jazz
Relax in one of the side rooms with a drink and watch some (or all) of the three videos that we made in 2020 –
Jass to Jazz. 5.30pm: Video 1 7pm: Video 2 8.30pm: Video 3

Videos Screening
During the first year of lockdown, being unable to have a ‘live programme’ – we produced a number of great videos and streamed them. For this Community Evening we are screening six of them – three in the theatre and three in the bar:

5.30pm: Kim Cypher Quintet – inspired by the funkier side of jazz (theatre)
5.30pm: Zoe Gilby Trio – Parliament Jazz Vocalist 2019 winner (bar)
7.15pm: The Claire Roberts Trio – presenting Carmen McRae Meets Monk (theatre)
7.15pm: Remembering Peggy Lee featuring Victoria Klewin, Becki Biggins and Debs Hancock – celebrating the 100th birthday of this singing legend (bar)
8.40pm: Fergus McCreadie & Luca Manning – two award winning giants of jazz from Scotland (theatre)
8.40pm: Remembering Charlie Parker featuring Jonny Bruce, Ben Waghorn and Martha Skilton – a tribute to a musical genius of the 20th century (bar)

Sit and relax with a drink – watch whole videos or ‘dip in and out’ – enjoy! And – we also have the CD on sale.

Youth Big Band
If you are 18 and under and like jazz, or interested in learning more about it – and you play an instrument or sing (any reasonable level) – drop in and see us anytime between 5.30pm and 7pm – we are forming a youth big band – BMJ Katz 2022.
Work Experience
We are able to offer a few work experience opportunities for older students – mainly in sound engineering, video, lighting and press coverage. We can provide more information – same times as above.

Drypoint Etching
2022-06-22 10:00 - 14:00 UTC | Monmouthshire
Please join Rachel Cadman, one of The Big Skill tutors, for a FREE printmaking workshop exploring drypoint engraving. It is a lovely technique and very easy to learn, so no previous experience or drawing skill is needed. As you will be using ink, it would be good to wear old clothes and bring along an apron if you can. You will guided you through the process, from making your design through to the printing using an etching press, and go home with a series of prints you will be proud of. Maximum of 8 people. age 8 plus. . Book via their website www.thebigskill.com/workshops

Comedy Night
2022-06-20 19:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Comedy Night at The Melville Centre!
Organised by The Big Skill cic, we are delighted to be able to host this comedy night in our Theatre…

To book tickets (£5 or £2 concessions) please click the booking link

Our MC for this evening of comedy, is Welsh-born performer Sarah Bridgeman – a seasoned comic who has been writing and performing all over the UK since 2008. Always a hit with audiences, her friendly, instantly likeable persona, makes her an ideal MC or opener. Her credits include appearances on BBC Radio Wales and as a finalist in the Welsh Unsigned Standup Awards. As well as performing her sharp one-liners and observational material as stand-up performer she has also penned a play which was performed at the Swansea Grand Theatre by Fluellen Theatre Company in 2018, based on her experiences in comedy called “Tonight’s Performance Begins In…”.

Reviews & Testimonials…
“Smashing, funny act – full of great ideas and beautifully delivered” – Barbara Nice
“A joke machine” – Jamie Owen, BBC Radio Wales
“Funny quirky and instantly likeable” – Ffandango Comedy Club
“Always a hit” – Dolly Chicken Comedy
“Sharp writing and darkly relatable observations – Highly recommended!” – Howl
“The audience loved her, she was born to be funny – more than funny, clever funny!” – Cheryl Beer
Our first act is Drew Taylor. South Wales based Drew Taylor has been making waves all over the UK comedy scene. A sharp observational style combined with a strong stage presence combine with a lovely slow Welsh voice makes for a naturally funny comic who’s just great listen to. In total command of the room his relaxed and assured person is uber funny.
“A guy destined for comedy greatness!” Theatr Gwaun, Fishguard
‘A lovely combination of charm, confidence and great jokes!’ Nathan Caton
“Clever stuff!” – Bath Echo “A guy destined for comedy greatness!” – Theatr Gwaun “Just go and see Drew Taylor!” – The Small Space Theatre
Our next act will be Phil Cooper – Charming Welsh comedian Phil Cooper brings a unique blend of storytelling and smart jokes to any stage. As well as live stand-up in the U.K./Europe (as an MC or set), he also has experience in TV, radio and warm-up.​​In 2019 he appeared on BBC Sesh (the BBC’s platform for Welsh talent)
“Makes comedy look simple, a true talent” – Fosters Comedy​”Impossible not to be drawn into his expertly delivered dialogue as he riffs off audience interactions – Top class comedian” – Ministry Comedy “Very impressive. Had everyone in stitches. We will certainly be having him back again and again” – Eminent Comedy
Our headliner this evening is Noel James. Noel is a 54 year old charismatic performer whose quick wit, warmth and charm have served him well in the stand up comedy clubs of the UK and overseas. He has been involved in both performing and writing for theatre, radio and television. His passion for acting stretches beyond the confines of just comedy; his versatility and readiness to learn new skills have opened up other avenues, including presenting and musical entertainment.
His most recent gigs include the Glee Club; Sensatori Hotels; the Balham Banana Cabaret, London; The Stand Comedy Clubs; the Atlantic Fringe Festival, Nova Scotia.
‘Noel James is a lovely comic’ – Kate Copstick, The Scotsman 2007 “The funniest joke I’ve ever heard – Almost certainly it was by Noel James. Go and see him live to hear it.” – Jon Richardson, The Guardian 2017 “Surreal Welsh comic Noel James lives and dies by wordplay, his delivery a gabble of consciousness that skips from pun to giddy flight of fantasy with ill-coordinated abandon […] Any stand-up can struggle to connect with an audience. But James betrays the soul of a poet and accomplishes it with such rare panache and commitment that it approaches art.” – Jay Richardson, March 2010

Art Exhibition: : “In the Lines”, Julia Davenne
2022-06-18 10:00 - 2022-07-07 17:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Julia grew up in Llantrisant, near Cardiff, and now has returned to South Wales – Abergavenny, after many years away in London and Norway. She studied a B.A. degree at St Martins School of Art, and a postgraduate diploma at Royal Academy of Arts, Schools, London where she concentrated on composition. After returning from living in Norway, Julia taught at Chelsea School of Art for 12 years before re-locating to the Brecon Beacons.

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Living on the edge of the Brecon Beacons is to be on the doorstep of dramatic, wild and sometimes remote nature and the inspiration for my artwork. The landscape is rich and varied, at times wild plains, ancient forests, moss covered trees, old stone walls, dark earth, derelict remains, mist descending over the mountains, the river sources winding down the valley into the rivers, dark skies, stormy weather, twigs & branches, woven hay mounds, mountain peaks, geometric stone steps over years formed by water, ancient stones & boulders, oak trees & silver birch.

In my artwork…I look at the geographical formation of the different terrains. The artwork is a depiction of this terrain, using marks, forms and lines. I am interested in :- mark making, in the linear quality & language of maps, in the possibilities of depicting a terrain in a visual language, and then in the possibilites that arise in making works from drawings on paper: – using these drawings as a material.
I draw images from nature, simplify them to a language of marks, lines & forms and build them into compositions. I work with drawings on paper and on boards & installations.

The artworks shown here were made over many years and this is my first show in Abergavenny, curated for the Melville Centre and beginning on the weekend of the Abergavenny Arts Festival.

www.juliadavenne.com
(Please note opening hours vary so please call ahead 01873 853167)

Arts for our Community Workshops
2022-06-18 10:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Come along to The Melville Centre on Saturday 18th June for an exciting series of FREE workshops, and then relax and enjoy delicious snacks and refreshments in our coffee-bar.

Many thanks to The Big Skill for providing funding (you can book your places directly on their website, link below).

Schedule:

*10.00 am – 11.30 am: Sketching Workshop with Alli Neal…
So, you think you can’t draw…
Think you can’t draw or want to draw better? Want to draw but don’t really know how to begin?
This workshop is intended for anyone who has ever picked up a pencil and wished that they could really draw.
In this free workshop Alli Neal will help you to discover and begin to develop the drawing skills you think you haven’t got.
All materials provided.
(Dr. Alli Neal left her job as course leader for the BA in Fine Art at the Hereford College of Arts to complete a PhD on contemporary drawing practice. She is now concentrating on developing her own drawing and painting practice. )

*10.30 am – 12.00 pm: Stitch Meditation Workshop with Pam Wesson…
Stitch meditation is known as an ‘active meditation’ – a process where the hands are busy yet the mind is free to wander.
You are not aiming to produce a design or project just carrying out the process of stitching some pieces of fabric together.
Switching off your creative head can be harder than you think, however, you do often end up with a lovely little piece of art that you can frame,
put in a book or use as part of another project.
All materials provided.

* 10.0 am – 11.00 am
or
* 11.30 am – 12.30 am @ Printmaking Workshop with Francesca Kay…
Poet and printer Francesca Kay offers you a chance to try letterpress printing – making words with movable type and ink.
It’s a 600 year old craft, and more fun than a computer! Francesca will help you find a word or short phrase that has meaning for you, helping you typeset and print it on her vintage Ajax tabletop printing press. You will have a unique memento of this ancient and enjoyable art. And there’s a special poster made with wooden type that you can also print to take away as well.
If you can read backwards it will help!

* 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm: Needle felting workshop with Emma Bevan…
Textile artist Emma Bevan will be offering the opportunity to try, or develop, your needle-felting skills in this 2 hour session. You can make a little brooch of your favourite animal or flower, a heart brooch, or maybe something abstract!
Emma will supply all the natural fibres, the needles and materials necessary for making your own needle-felted creation.
Emma is a qualified tutor and artist and an experienced workshop facilitator; you will have lots of fun learning all about felt-making.

We are also delighted to have the art exhibition by Julia Davenne, who will be displaying her work here from 18th June to 7th July – here is one example of her beautiful work:

“River”. Oil and graphite on linen, 33 x 45 cm, 2016 – 2017.
website : www.juliadavenne.com

In addition, we are thrilled that Pam Wesson will have her inspirational New Quilt for Humanity on display here that day, as well as her work in progress Pride Quilt.
'The New Quilt of Humanity' was a community lockdown project initiated by Pam Wesson through the Facebook page Stop & Stitch.
Inspired by the words of Julia Myers & Liz Kettle's Stitch Meditation Facebook group, Pam reached out to other stitchers, locally & globally,
to take part by sending her their 'stitch meditation' squares. Little did she know at that time how long lockdown would last & how important 'stitch meditation' and the
Stop & Stitch community group would become in supporting people through this difficult time.

For more information, please email emma.bevan@melvillecentre.org.uk
Workshop bookings available soon at www.thebigskill.com/bookhere
Beacons Open Studios online brochure can be viewed here: Beacons Open Studios 2022 online brochure.pdf

Poetry Evening May 31st
2022-05-31 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
Welcome to the second Poetry Upstairs at The Melville Centre!
Tuesday 31st May 7pm £5 Entry

Norman Jope (Plymouth) Melisande Fitzsimmons (Plymouth) Mike Jenkins (Merthyr)

Please contact us to register your place (you must book in advance), then pay on the door as usual.
To register, email info@melvillecentre.org.uk and send your full name/s and telephone contact numbers, or call Emma on 01873 853167.
We regret we cannot admit anyone who has not registered beforehand, as we need to know numbers ahead of the evening.

Norman Jope was born in 1960 in Plymouth, where he lives again after residence in a number of other locations (most recently Bristol and Budapest).
He has published For the Wedding-Guest (Stride, 1997), The Book of Bells and Candles (Waterloo Press, 2009), Dreams of the Caucasus (Shearsman Books, 2010)
and Aphinar (Waterloo Press, 2012) and his poetry has appeared in many magazines and webzines in the UK, Europe, North America and Australasia.
With the late Ian Robinson, he co-edited the anthology In the Presence of Sharks: New Poetry from Plymouth (Phlebas, 2006).
He was the editor of the literary and cultural magazine Memes and co-edited a Critical Companion to Richard Berengarten (Salt, 2011; reissued by Shearsman in 2016);
critical work has appeared in Tears in the Fence, Terrible Work, Stride and other outlets. He currently works as an administrator in higher education.

Mélisande Fitzsimons writes a modern conversational poem that is alive to changing states and conditions. The reader is taken on a journey through narrative obsessions that moves from the ordinary to the extraordinary in its exposition of what it is to live as a migrant and internationalist. This is essentially the poetry of exile in Brexit Britain where ‘skin mutates into membrane, too sticky to breathe’… ‘with barbed wire rasps / scratching at the whitewash’ mixed with an otherworldliness, bodies being cleansed, and family stories redolent of home. Her collections include A Language of Spies (Crafty Little Press 2019) and Life Here is Full of Tomorrows (Leafe Press 2021).

Mike Jenkins is an award-winning Welsh poet and author.
He is widely published and is much in demand for his lively performances and writing workshops. He has performed at the Hay Festival and the Aldeburgh Poetry Festival and
has read and tutored at Ty Newydd, the National Writers’ Centre for Wales.
Mike frequently appears on radio and television and is known among Cardiff City football fans as the club’s ‘unofficial poet’.

Bass12 - New Orleans come to town (Black Mountain Jazz)
2022-05-29 20:00 - 22:00 (Europe/London) | Monmouthshire
LIVE JAZZ NEW ORLEANS STYLE… PURE ENERGY and FUN.

A visit by the Bass12 brass band will take BMJ back to basic good-time jazz in highlighting the early days of the music, when the streets and clubs of New Orleans marched and danced and jumped to raw, brassy sounds.
Bass12 hails from Cardiff and performs a mixture of New Orleans street grooves and upbeat covers, featuring lots of improvisation.
The band is made up of graduates of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Cardiff University who now perform and teach across the UK.
As well as performing, the band organises workshops that highlight and introduce the New Orleans style of street music and create a fun environment for participants, especially in how such bands extemporised on the hoof.
It is hoped that BM Jazz can involve Bass12 in a workshop at this year’s wall2Wall Jazz Festival. In the meantime, prepare yourself for an evening that brings the exciting sounds of the Crescent City to Abergavenny.

Only a handful of tickets remaining for our second LIVE BMJ club night… Book your seat for some high energy entertainment with some of Cardiff’s finest .
www.blackmountainjazz.co.uk
