Get Up and Go! The Go! Team returns to ding

ON THE GO!: The Go!

be performing at Sub 89 in Reading on Thursday, March 9. Picture: Courtesy of The

Wokingham-born Ian Parton, founding member of The Go! Team, speaks to JAKE CLOTHIER about LittleBigPlanet, their latest album, and the Like generation.

THE Go! Team is a phenomenon in that its style is not only hard to confine to even a handful of specific genres, but also constantly playing with fresh ideas.

Despite its unrelenting modernity, the movement that is The Go! Team has been changing the rules of the game for more than two decades.

When the band returns to Reading for a show at Sub89 on Thursday, March 9, it will be the first gig of theirs in the town for 15 years.

The band’s founding member and songwriter, Wokingham-born Ian Parton, said: “I begin it in around 2000, but we didn’t really start properly until 2004.”

This is when the band’s first full studio album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, was released.

“I was frustrated, with the indie scene and with the NME, and all that– how people would stay in all their own lanes, and peopled weren’t mashing music together much.

“It felt like a boys’ club, that skinnyjean brigade– so I was really just pleasing myself, like a pick and mix where I would grab all my favourite things.”

He doesn’t feel like much has changed,

Reading Rep makes final preparations for new take on Hedda Gabler

FINAL preparations are being made for a new take on an old favourite.

Next week, a world premiere will be performed for the first time at Reading Rep Theatre in Kings Road.

Harriet Madeley has adapted Hedda Gabler for the 21st century, and explores how one woman is trapped within a life that has been chosen for her.

Reading Rep says this adaptation, starring Anna Popplewell, is steeped in queer rage and suburban monotony.

in the upcoming horror sequel The Nun 2.

Joining her in the cast are Mark Desebrock as George, Ryan Gerald as Brack, Natalie Perera as Thea and Jessica Temple as Isla.

Hedda Gabler is the third production of Reading Rep’s tenth anniversary season. The five-play season sees the company honour its roots in collaborations with ongoing creative partners, and champion a new frontier of creatives.

either: “I’ve got this theory, that it’s a ‘like’ generation– the like button is the symbol of our times, where people like lots of things, but they don’t love much.”

This level of love and detail as an influence has endured, as the band’s latest studio release, The Get Up Sequences Pt II, continues to weave together strings of distinct cultural inspirations and genres.

On marrying often disparate elements, Ian says: “Songwriting is hard generally, so for me it’s trial and error.

“I hoard thousands of ideas on my phone, and spend months trying things one on top of the other without getting much out.

“They’re almost sellotaped together; in a song like Get It Together, where I literally had a flute part and a recorder part, the songs grow and grow.

“If the melody is hot, everything else should fall into place, and that’s when I bring in these international voices.”

He says that bringing in external, authentic aspects allows each album to be “a patch-work quilt, always changing, and keeping you on your toes.

The latest album is no different: “There’s no conceptual link, particularly” he says, referring to the second part of the Get Up Sequences series of albums.

“But there is a feel of an international, multi-colour, trippy happenings, things like steel drums and flutes.

“One minute it’s Bollywood, the next it’s African funk; all the best things in the world, in life, but zeroed in on the good stuff,

“Not happiness or escapism, just filtering out the bad stuff and deciding where you want your attentions to lie.”

The Go! Team garnered much attention of their own when one of the tracks from their first album, get It Together, featured heavily in the video game LittleBigPlanet and its subsequent marketing.

“I’m not much of a gamer,” Ian says, “but so many people found us through that, so I can’t knock such an amazing thing.

“It’s funny that when they hear that melody, they’re in Sackboy’s world, but I don’t know that world, which is what’s so interesting about music; the imposition of your won feelings and memories.”

Hailing originally from Wokingham, Ian says he’s been to many of Reading’s likely haunts: “We’d hang out there all the time; The Purple Turtle, of course.

“We were there when the Shoegaze thing was still kicking around, so it was an interesting time.

“There were a couple of us getting up to all sorts of monkey business, but I won’t say any more.”

As for the band’s future: “I don’t know; I’ve got more albums in me and there’s never-ending possibilities.

“But I think maybe I want to push harder– I’ve had this obsession with channel-hopping, but I’ve never felt like I’ve nailed that.

“Life is quite humdrum, so for me that hour on stage, where we’ve got two drum kits going off, guitars and jumping around, it’s life at its rawest.

“It’s life at its most exciting.”

The Go! Team have just released their seventh studio album, Get Up Sequences Part Two, available to buy and stream now. n They are performing at Sub89 in Reading on Thursday, March 9, with tickets available from Heavy Pop via: heavypop. gigantic.com

Playwright Harriet saw her debut creation, The Listening Room, adapted for BBC Radio 4, while her most recent, The Other Tchaikovsky, was shortlisted for a BBC Audio Drama Award in 2021.

The show is directed by Annie Kershaw, the artistic director and cofounder of A Girl Called Stephen, and current associate director on the West End production of Best of Enemies.

She was previously assistant director on Reading Rep’s 2021 production, Dorian, and last year’s Jekyll and Hyde, which starred Audrey Brisson.

Anna Popplewell played Susan Pevensie in Disney’s big screen version of The Chronicles of Narnia and is making her theatrical debut starring in the title role.

She has also recently a leading role n For more details, log on to: www.readingrep.com

Running alongside Hedda Gabler will be HEAR OUR VOICE, focused on making autobiographical and empowering work to ensure that all voices are heard.

This project was prompted by a post-show discussion on DORIAN, which highlighted the need for space for the LGBTQIA+ community of Reading.

And, as part of Reading Rep’s tenth anniversary season, 10% of all tickets to Hedda Gabler will be free for those who can’t afford them alongside all general tickets being priced under £20, while 30 tickets for each performance during the show’s first week being priced at £5 for people aged 30 and under.

The play runs from Wednesday, February 22, through to Saturday, March 11.

Tilehurst church to become a theatre as it welcomes touring company for new play

A CHURCH will become a theatre for the day as it welcomes a touring company for a day of drama.

St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Tilehurst is to host RISE Theatre, who will be performing their original play Faithful Companions in its church hall.

The faith-based play explores the story of Marie Madeleine d’Houët, who founded an international Society of Catholic sisters called the Faithful Companions of Jesus.

Set in 19th century France, it focuses on her desire to address what she saw as a great need in the world around her in and beyond, as well as exploring her Christian faith and what it meant to her. n For more details, or to book, log on to: www.risetheatre.co.uk/ faithfulcompanions

RISE say that this is a story of faith, love, loss, discernment, vocation, social justice and missionary zeal.

The show lasts around 75 minutes and is suitable for ages 11 upwards.

It is performed at the church in Berkshire Drive at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday, March 18.

Date set for East Reading Festival

THE DATE of this year’s East Reading Festival has been set.

The annual event is a celebration of the communities around Palmer Park, and sees the outdoor space used for a day of fun.

There are demonstrations from community groups, performances from musicians and dance groups, a fun fair and a host of activities.

Stalls offering information about the various activities that take place in the Reading area will also be available.

And there will be refreshments including food stalls and ice cream vans.

Organisers from the volunteer-led festival are looking for people to help out, both with advance preparations and on the day, which is Sunday, June 25.

n For more details, log on to facebook.com/ EastReadingFestival