firstlight meets...

Michael is one of the best school leaders in the country. He and I worked together since 2005. We're also both Mancunians and therefore, Manchester City supporters.

This podcast is also available in visual for on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNNzsGdDLV2Sg6haVNztfbQ

The music is:

Music: Clarion by Scott Buckley https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckley 

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/-clarion 

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/zWz0_Krqmzc 

Once again, I'm inspired by hearing from Jackie and Doug what they are others are doing. Working with our homeless friends is something from which we can all learn. The Street Arts website is https://www.streetartsproject.com

Allen Stokes' book of powerful poetry is called 'Love, Life And The Legion' and is available on Amazon.

They won't thank me for saying it, but Doug and Jackie are inspirational. Their work, along with other individuals and agencies, have supported many, many homeless people. Our podcast chat is about what the Street Arts Project is, how it works and how we can help. Their website is https://www.streetartsproject.com and both Jackie, Doug and Street Arts are on Facebook. 

It's a delight to share with Roger stories about some splendid times in the theatre. It's a privilege to record tributes to some of my heroes.

Roger Gowland is one of the region's most successful actors and educators. Thousands of pupils benefitted from his skilled leadership and teaching. Thousands of us are honoured to act with him. Roger is an inspiration, a gentleman and a role model for lesser mortals like me.

Music courtesy of:

Campfire by Roa https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031 

Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 

Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/al-campfire 

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/lxdDvNO5aD0 

No one has been more important in my love for theatre than Kevin and Estelle Hand. They are two of the most engaging and influential people in Stratford-upon-Avon's public theatre and music world. Entertaining, wise and insightful, Kevin and Estelle are iconic local heroes.

Dave and I have known one another for about forty years. We trained at Durham as teachers and we both retired in recent years. In this episode I have the pleasure of discussing David Copperfield with him. The book I chose is the collection of letters and diaries by the gifted and humbling Etty Hillesum. It's called An Interrupted Life the Diaries, 1941-1943 and Letters from Westerbork published by Picador. It's easily one of the most important works I'll ever read.

In part 3, Penny tells us how things are for her health and her family. We talk about the superb blog Penny is writing about her cancer journey. It's so helpful, inspiring and a 'must follow.' Penny and Richard have found this YouTube upload valuable. It helps families talk together about managing illness.  https://youtu.be/czzAicecxiQ

Penny's excellent blog: https://darkmutterblog.wordpress.com

In this part of my chat with the brilliant Richard and Penny, we talk about the future and make some exciting plans to zoom some Shakespeare and Webster. Jacobean tragedy was made for zooming!

Penny and Richard are charismatic, gifted actors, directors and teachers. It's been my honour to have known them for a quarter of a century. In the first part of our our chat we talk about how important theatre is to our lives.