Bristol Old Vic Sets Sail Update

The More 4 documentary Swallows and Amazons – the Bristol Old Vic Sets Sail aired on Saturday 11 at 8.00pm. If you missed it, it is available online for the next six days.

Voyages of Discovery Update

We mentioned in our previous news item that our Voyages of Discovery display is now in the First Floor Cafe area at the Bristol Old Vic. It will be there throughout the Old Vic’s production of Swallows and Amazons, up to January 15. Here are a couple of photographs of the display in its new home:

(Photographs (c) Elizabeth Sewart).

Voyages Open at the Old Vic

The Bristol Old Vic’s first preview performance of Swallows and Amazons took place on Wednesday evening. On the same day the Trust’s first Voyages of Discovery display was installed at the Old Vic, where it will be available to visitors throughout the Musical’s production run, December 1 to January 15.

The first preview performance was enthusiastically received by the audience. All the signs are that this will be a highly-entertaining and enjoyable adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s classic book.

Daily Telegraph Preview of Swallows and Amazons

The Daily Telegraph have published an interesting preview of the Bristol Old Vic’s forthcoming Swallows and Amazons musical. The article includes interviews with the musical’s writer, Helen Edmundson, composer, Neil Hannon, and Director, Tom Morris.

Swallows and Amazons Set Sail at the Bristol Old Vic

Final arrangements are being made for the Bristol Old Vic’s premiere of Swallows and Amazons on 1 December. In addition to the musical itself, the Trust’s Voyages of Discovery display is ready to be installed in time for the premiere. Work is also continuing on the More 4 TV Documentary, Swallows and Amazons – the Bristol Old Vic Sets Sail, which is scheduled for transmission on 11 December.

Voyages of Discovery at the Bristol Old Vic

We are very pleased to announce that our first Voyage of Discovery will take place at the Bristol Old Vic, where it will complement the Old Vic’s forthcoming production of Swallows and Amazons in December, 2010 and January, 2011.

Voyages of Discovery will provide theatre-goers with an introduction to Arthur Ransome’s life and to Swallows and Amazons, the first in his famous series of twelve children’s novels.

80th Anniversary Livery

Random House are celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Swallows and Amazons by releasing a new commemorative Red Fox edition. The new paperback cover reflects the distinctive jacket designs used by Jonathan Cape’s hardback editions.

The new edition is due for release on 28 October, 2010.

Project Updates

We’ve updated the Projects section of the site with current developments in A Ransome Home, Snug Berths, Temporary Moorings, Voyages of Discovery, Camp Fires and Model Students.

Old Vic Launches School Choir Competition

The Bristol Old Vic have announced a School Choir Competition, to run as part of their forthcoming brand-new production of Swallows and Amazons. School classes are invited to submit their performance of Whistle on the Wind, one of the show’s songs, by video. The winning performance will be picked by Neil Hannon, the musical’s composer, and the winning class will receive tickets to one of the performances at the Old Vic, plus a backstage tour.

Happy Birthday, Nancy Blackett

On Sunday 12 September 2010, the Nancy Blackett Trust will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Arthur Ransome’s purchase of his second yacht, the seven ton Hillyard cutter Electron. Ransome renamed  her Nancy Blackett in recognition of his best-known fictional character, the leader of the Amazon Pirates.

Ransome kept Nancy Blackett at Pin Mill, on the River Orwell, where she soon inspired the plot for his seventh Swallows and Amazons novel, We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea, published in 1937. He later described her as “the best little ship I ever had.”