conFAB Presents MISS SMITH Live Album 2011 Written/directed: Rachel Jury Composer: Andrew Cruickshank Weary of bringing her kids up in deprivation, single mum, Miss Smith sets out on a journey of discovery in search of her future, navigating her way around the voluntary sector, the Scottish Parliament and falling in love along the way. Can she find her happy ending? Developed in consultation with community activists who include Anne-Marie Smith, Cathy McCormack and Rosie Kane, Miss Smith is a dramatised music and vocal composition that explores issues of social and economic justice in Glasgow today. Accompanied by a live four piece band with a mix of professional and community performers. For more information on the process and themes behind the show visit : misssmithshow.blogspot.com / http://fb.com/MissSmithShow / http://twitter.com/MissSmithShow / www.confab.org.uk / www.dancehq.co.uk conFAB Confab ('konfab) inf. ~n 1. a conversation. ~vb.-fabbing –fabbed. 2. (int.) to converse. Our ethos is that all arts practice is a conversation: a conversation between the creator of the work and the consumers; between the themes of the work; between the mediums used to express the artistic vision; between the practitioners delivering the vision; and between the multiple layers of relationships, emotions, ideologies and principles with which the vision is perceived and experienced. Art asks questions at every step of the process, engaging all participants in a continuous dialogue with those questions both as practitioners and consumers. As with a conversation, so conFAB's work is a fluid, shifting, proactive, responsive, eclectic and open ended dialogue. We are a cross-artform, text based arts organisation. We produce an eclectic range of art ventures, ranging in scale, format, genre, medium and output. Please see our projects page for further information. Composer’s Note: several of the songs in the show have a dance form in their title eg Waltz, Polka, Tango, Jig & Quickstep, so there are clear musical reference points from different eras. From time to time there is a gentle nod to the music of the period (& its rainy streets) in which the action takes place, while there is also a connection to the folk tradition. This is most evident in some of the vocal lines & the featuring of the fiddle & accordion. Andrew Cruickshank Rachel Jury: trained at East 15 Acting School, after which she has done a little less acting but a lot more writing, directing and producing. She is currently the producer for the cross-artfrom text based organisation conFAB. www.confab.org.uk / www.racheljury.co.uk Andrew Cruickshank: has composed for theatre, film, tv & many educational settings. His theatre compositions include three productions for Plutot La Vie - the most recent was “By The Seat of Your Pants” which toured earlier in the year. This acclaimed show is set to return in 2012, as will “The Gateways” - his first collaborated with Rachel Jury. In 1998 Andrew was named “Best Composer” in the Scottish BAFTA awards.