Sheila Hill (writer)
Sheila Hill is an English artist, writer and theatremaker.[1]
Career[edit]
She was a columnist and feature writer for the Guardian newspaper, before focusing on theatre, and art installations.
A spinal injury, in her early 30s, removed her from normal life, but Atkinson Morley Hospital's intensive rehabilitation programme started to turn things around, despite the fact that regaining a functional level of strength took several years.
Sheila wrote about this period in a series of newspaper articles, and also in her theatre work, Crocodile Looking At Birds - selected as one of the Observer newspaper Arts Events of the Year.[2][3][4]
As an artist, she draws on real voices, transcribing and editing these into short, poetic testimonies, which she uses as her starting material.
Sheila also founded and curated Tabernacle Folk, a four-year, progressive, commissioning, international music festival (2010-2013). This was voted Critics Choice Best Gig in London, by Time Out.[5][6]
In 2019, she was co-commissioned by Brighton Festival and Glyndebourne to create an autobiographical work about motherhood, performed by 100 women, grandmothers and children, which she spoke about in features on BBC Radio 3 (In Tune) and BBC Radio 4 (Woman's Hour).
Works[edit]
- Eye to Eye, The Dome, Brighton Festival, 2019[7][8]
- Him, Royal Festival Hall/Glasgow's Tramway/Birmingham Rep/Edinburgh Traverse, 2016[9][10][11]
- The Question Room, Science Museum, London, 2009
- I See Your Beating Heart, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, 2001
- Crocodile Looking At Birds, Lyric Hammersmith, London, 1995
- My Parents Never Talk To White People, ICA, London, 1994
- Check King Coal, Oval House, London, 1985[12]
References[edit]
- ^ "How I became an artist". British Council, Theatre and Dance. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
- ^ "Crocodile Looking at Birds (1995)". ITV Film, BFI Archive. Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ Parry, Jann (31 December 1995). "A year in the Arts". Observer.
- ^ Parry, Jann (28 May 1995). "Review". Observer.
- ^ Critics' Choice Best Gig in London, Time Out, 29 March - 4 April 2012.
- ^ "Eight new works commissioned for Tabernacle Folk Festival - The Wire". The Wire Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ "BBC Radio 3 - In Tune, Improviso, Chilly Gonzales, Howard Skempton, Sheila Hill". BBC. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Potty training, Going away with friends, Jude". BBC. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ "Sheila Hill: HIM". Tramway. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ "Guest Review: Him at the Southbank Centre". Exeunt Magazine. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ "Him - A Gentle Triumph". HuffPost UK. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ David, Hugh (14 December 1984). "Mine Game". Times Educational Supplement. p. 20.