Participants needed: My Percussive Lips

10th February 2022

Take part in a new artistic project this March in Manchester.

Actor and movement artist Jonathan Hunter invites you to participate in his project 'My Percussive Lips' in March. Currently in research and development stage, the project, supported using public funding by Arts Council England, will look at the perception of stammering through a combination of theatre, music and dance.

Jonathan, who has a stammer himself, is looking for others who stammer to take part in workshops where you'll explore themes of fluency, connection, communication, self-expression and storytelling. You'll be doing this through creative play using music, dance, painting and drawing, but you do not have to be a creative to take part!

If you choose to join in, you'll be helping Jonathan and other artists to create a new piece inspired by the experience of stammering, as well as our campaign 'No Diversity Without Disfluency' and the concept of art being a catalyst for social change.

Benefits

Jonathan wants the workshops to: 

• inspire creative expression in participants
• empower young people by practising combined arts, and
• develop a deeper personal understanding of participants' stammer in a creative way.

None of the exercises will be compulsory and will be led with a sensitivity to how the group are feeling. Covid-19 guidelines will be followed throughout. 

Who can take part?

Jonathan is looking for people who stammer of all ages in and around Manchester. A parent/guardian/carer will be required to attend for any children wanting to take part.

When and where is it?

Workshops for adults are on the 1st, 5th, 8th (evening) and 9th March. Workshops for children and young adults will ideally be on the evening of 8th March (5:30-7:30pm), with a possibility of adding Saturday 5th if that's suits you better. They'll be held at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester.

How to get involved

If you are interested, or would like to find out more, please contact Jonathan at jonathan.hunter95@yahoo.co.uk

You can download the project poster below.

About Jonathan

Jonathan Hunter is an emerging theatre-maker with specialist skills in stage combat and actor movement, and has worked in venues such as Liverpool's Royal Court, The Duke's Theatre and The London Hippodrome. He has been nominated for his work in Children's Theatre, Physical Theatre and in Ensemble (GM Fringe Awards 2019).

As a person who stammers, Jonathan found that having a sense of play in his creative practice really helped, and by allowing his voice to play around, he says he found his stammer could relax.

This project came into existence from a collection of short, unheard of unfinished scrap poems Jonathan wrote sporadically about his experience with his stammer. His poem, 'My Percussive Lips' written at the end of 2020, kickstarted this journey.