Today I Killed My Very First Bird - Art Events Day
On Monday 6th February Mental Fight Club Presented, Today I Killed My Very First Bird, hosted at the Marylebone Theatre in collaboration with Theatre Royal Plymouth and Voodoo Monkeys.
All were invited to join us for this unique FREE theatre workshop, film screening, and post-film discussion.
We kicked off our day with a dance session to experience dancing on a theatre stage! Our Dragon Cafe singers then filled the theatre with a mixture of chant, rounds and original songs written by the group. Following this Theatre Practitioner and friend of Mental Figth Club, Lee Hart, brought us a fun workshop including games and play to help build a devised piece of theatre. Our evening event focused around a special screening of ‘Today I Killed My Very First Bird’ an unflinchingly brutal and poetic story of crime, addiction, and redemption written by Jason Brownlee. We then invited everyone present to join Jason Brownlee (Writer of the film), Lee Hart (Director) and Neil Coles ( Mental Fight Club ) for an open discussion on the themes, issues and challenges raised by the film and we examined the personal, structural, and institutional barriers that artists face when producing and sharing work.
We would like to say a special thank you to Theatre Royal Plymouth and Voodoo Monkeys for letting us show their production and the Marylebone Theatre for having us for the day!
Full Timetable:
1pm – 2pm: Danceworks - A mixed bag of modern and historical dance is welcoming patrons. We look forward to celebrating friendship and connection once more in great company!
2:30pm – 3:30pm: The Singing Group - The Dragon Café Singing group will be meeting for a live session where we will be raising our voices together in song as we come together. Come along and join in, everyone is welcome.
4pm – 6pm: “Bypassing our inner Critic”
In this fun workshop, award winning theatre practitioner and friend of Mental Fight Club Lee Hart will use games and play to facilitate an exploration into ensemble building, a shared physical dynamic, and the building blocks of a piece of devised performance.
6:30pm – 7:30pm “Today I killed my very first bird”
A filmed presentation of a Voodoo Monkeys and Theatre Royal Plymouth production.
An unflinchingly brutal and poetic story of crime, addiction, and redemption.
Today I killed my very first bird! I done it in silence, didn’t utter a word.
Are we born broken or conditioned by our environment? Do the choices we make define us? Can we ever truly escape the trauma that shapes our lives?
A darkly comic and stylish rollercoaster ride through 24 hours in the life of an East London villain. Drugs, violence, and dirty deals are a regular part of life, but when a job goes badly wrong, he’s forced to explore the conditioning that turned him from an innocent child into a monster.
Voodoo Monkeys is a new collaboration between writer & performer Jason Brownlee and director & engagement specialist Lee Hart. The company’s first show, "Today I Killed My Very First Bird" is a theatrical exploration of Jason’s lived experience told through poetry, performance & storytelling.
7:30pm -8:30pm: Post Film Discussion – “What barriers stand in the way of our creative voices being heard and how can we overcome them together?”
Lee Hart and Neil Coles from Mental Fight Club will lead a discussion alongside Writer/Performer Jason Brownlee into themes raised by the film and examine the personal, structural, and institutional barriers which artists face when producing and sharing work.
