The award-winning Riding Lights theatre company is performing The Narrow Road at St Stephen’s Church in Bristol on Tuesday 23 March.

The Narrow Road by Paul Birch is “a moving combination of powerful theatre, meditation and corporate worship”.

Sharp satirical comedy, innovative theatre and powerful Christian communication have become the hallmarks of Riding Lights’ work.

The play is about an extraordinary journey; one which will re-trace the footsteps of Jesus into a world of miracles and madness, violence and liberation. As The Narrow Road is walked, this turbulent world is turned upside down; its inhabitants confronted by an unexpected and surprising vision.

Meeting the characters and re-living the events of the gospels, this story takes its audience back along that original road, through the place of the cross and into the challenge of a life beyond.

At intervals, the performance creates space for other expressions of response , music and reflection arising out of the drama. The whole presentation becomes a powerful act of remembrance, both participatory and reflective.

The Narrow Road asks each of us to review the understanding and practice of our own faith in relation to that journey today.

Canon Tim Higgins, and Priest-in-Charge of St Stephen’s, comments:

“We are pleased to work with Riding Lights at Saint Stephen’s with this mission in Bristol’s city centre. Powerful theatre connects well in a culture of curiosity, spiritual exploration and individual journeys of faith. I am confident the theatre piece will evoke a deep response.”

Riding Lights is one of the UK’s most successful independent theatre companies and is internationally renowned for more than thirty years of touring productions.

Following the huge success of their previous plays The Passion, Calvary and Redemption Song, this new play for 2010, The Narrow Road, was commissioned by the Dean and Chapter of York and Lightline Pilgrimages, specialists in Christian travel.

Tickets: £8 for adults and £6 for concessions are available from St Stephen’s Cafe or by emailing info@saint-stephens.com

These concerts are free, so why not join us on a Wednesday lunchtime from 1pm to try them for yourself?

Here is the programme:

September 2nd – Moussa Kouyate, solo kora – West African harp music
Moussa is a Senegalese Master Kora player descended from a famous family of bards. The Kouyate are advisers to kings and holders of the anthology of music of the Mandinka people since 1235. Moussa worked in Dakar for twenty years, and has since performed at WOMAD, the Royal Festival Hall and BBC Radio 3. Artist site

September 9th – Royal Court Players – Golden age of baroque music with strings
Their generosity has underpinned the high standard of performances at Saint Stephens for many years. They will be playing baroque music with string ensemble and continuo.

September 16th – 40 Minutes of Noyes – Auriol Britton celebrates poet Alfred Noyes
Auriol is a member of the congregation at Saint Stephens. She has acted and recited poetry since childhood and won recent prizes at the Bristol Festival of Speech and Drama for her performance.

September 23rd – Bristol Georgian Choir – Folk songs and sacred chants from Georgia
A mixed adult chorus, led by Anthony Johnston, performing three part harmony folk songs and sacred chants from the Republic of Georgia. The choir began in Bristol in 2004 and has delighted audiences around Bristol such as the Ashton Court Festival, the Watershed and the Harbourside Festival. New members are welcome – please enquire after the concert.

September 30th – Gordon Pullin, tenor – Songs by Ivor Novello and Noel Coward
Gordon has sung all over the UK, Europe and the USA. He has given a number of solo broadcasts for BBC Radio Three, including a complete programme of Coleridge Taylor. Since winning a choral scholarship to Cambridge Gordon has covered the whole tenor repertoire, but especially likes English song and new works by contemporary composers, including Philip Wilby who programmed the St Stephens lunch time concerts last year and writes for Black Dyke Mills Band.

(No concerts in October)
November 4th – Jazz piano with Anders Olinder – with David Mowat on trumpet
Bristol is blessed with perhaps the best jazz scene outside London. Earlier this year Anders Olinder’s refined, spacious and very contemporary take on some jazz ‘standards’ impressed the ‘Imaging God’ arts event here at Saint Stephens, and so he’s back. Anders, originally from Sweden, tours frequently with Glen Hughes (of ‘Deep Purple’ fame) but finds time to accompany and support more modest Bristol acts as well. He will be accompanied this time by David Mowat (and accompanying as jazz is a two way street)

November 11th – Juan Gabriel – Sacred sound sculpture
When Juan, who has become a lynch-pin for the Thursday evening ‘Critical Mass’ liturgy and sharing, played here last May, we weren’t sure what to expect. The impact was such that we are eager to have him back. He has the gift of gently taking people who may never before have heard singing bowls or throat singing and blowing them to another, peaceful shore. Close your eyes, suspend judgement and enjoy this shaman-influenced journey. Artist link Hear a previous concert by Juan

November 18th – A Bristol Ecoshow – Silent film with Ben Baddoo and Chai 4 Two
You will hear much more about this film in 2010. It is the first expression of what will become a large participatory performance next summer and beyond. Made by Annie Davenport, it is drawn from her work with a Southville Baby and Toddler group which led, last summer, to a new community garden. The point of the Ecoshow project is for arts practitioners to help make Bristol people and the systems that govern us much greener than they are now. Ben Baddoo and Chai For Two (Knud Stuwe and David Mowat) play their ambient music to accompany the images.

November 25th – Royal Consort Players – Baroque chamber music
To round off another extremely diverse series, Mike and Fran Wilshaw and friends bring us back to our western cultural roots with the best of baroque music.

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Recorded at Saint Stephens on Wednesday 29th July.

Mbira, the ‘African thumb piano’, is a traditional instrument of the Shona tribe of Zimbabwe. Living in Bristol, Cecelia uses it to communicate with our ancestors and for healing. Edd Bateman on bass and David Mowat on trumpet accompany.

There are more free lunchtime concerts on Wednesdays in September – details to follow on this site shortly.

Recorded at Saint Stephens on Wednesday 22nd July.

SG “guitar-based passionate songs about friends and family”
ML “funny, intimate, endearing and quirky stories”

There are more free lunchtime concerts on Wednesdays in July – details here.

Recorded at Saint Stephens on Wednesday 15th July.

Spanish and Jewish music from the era of Ferdinand and Isabella, Catholic monarchs who sadly were less tolerant of their diverse subjects than the Caliphs who preceded them in Grenada. To complement their music, expect some Jewish klezmer.

There are more free lunchtime concerts on Wednesdays in July – details here.

Recorded at Saint Stephens on Wednesday 8th July.

With voice, bells and assorted instruments, Juan uses the vibrational qualities of sound to bring about transformation.

There are more free lunchtime concerts on Wednesdays in July – details here.

Oregon-based jazz legend David Friesen makes a rare UK appearance as part of the “Imaging God” conference on Saturday 20th June at Saint Stephens.

Guests booked for the day’s conference will be able to get tips and inspiration from David as he talks about creativity and its sources. They will also enjoy an intimate afternoon performance at Saint Stephens in the centre of Bristol.

Tickets are also available for this performance on its own. It starts at 4pm, and David will be on stage for about an hour. To book, visit http://imaginggod.eventbrite.com and select your preferred tickets.

Any queries? Call us on 0117 927 7977 or email info@saint-stephens.com

More about the Imaging God conference

Click the small flyer image to read more, or visit BCAN here.

What makes 4 non-Jews love Jewish klezmer music? This diverse ensemble explores the musical world of European Jews in the time of Anne Frank. With music, visuals & narrative they build a profile of a European people spiritually rooted in the Middle East.

Whilst enormously poignant, the memory of such a pan-European identity challenges narrow nationalisms to this day. Archival visual material of Jewish life before the holocaust comes from UWE’s Faculty of Education. Free (with donations).

Featuring David Mowat (trumpet), Knud Stuwe (guitar), Simon Leach Oud (derbuka), Valerie Hodges (clarinet, bass clarinet)

For more info, email info@saint-stephens.com or call 0117 927 7977.

(“K is for Klezmer” image from here)