WEBLINKS
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FACTS
| Whitefriars in Coventry is both a religious group and a place.
Friars are similar to monks but in the way perform their religion ministering differently.
The Whitefriars of Coventry were a Carmelite group who set up a friary in 1342.
The friars wore habits not unlike Monks. The different orders were distinguished by the colour of their habits.
The Carmelites wore white habits hence they were called 'whitefriars' The Franciscan Friars who had been based in Coventry since 1234 wore grey habits and were therefore known as 'Greyfriars'.
Friary buildings were laid out with church, cloisters and domestic buildings on a similar plan to a monastery.
Coventry Whitefriars was founded relatively late - the Carmelites came to England first in 1240 -but grew to become a powerful and famous Carmelite house.
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 |  | Review by Peter Fletcher, an occasional connoisseur of contemporary performance
In their elegant programme notes, Coventry based theatre company Talking Birds describe themselves as:
"a company of artists ... driven by ideas, and by finding the most appropriate media, collaborators and venues for interrogating and presenting those ideas."
 The text by director Nick Walker was full of twists and turns, matching mirth with murk in the shifting dark chambers.
 | Μύ | Peter Fletcher
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They have established themselves as leading innovators in the truest sense of the term 'multi-media'.
Now in their tenth year, they are undertaking the Helloland project.
This project is a compilation of ten different works including a 'web artwork', a series of radio dramas (which you can see by following the links on the left), a film short, an 'interactive audio montage' and Solid Blue, a theatrical performance (described as "a show trial").
This flair for the inter-disciplinary was clearly evident in Solid Blue.
| Μύ |  | Whitefriars monastery, the atmospheric setting for Solid Blue
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On one level, this was a dark tale of a mysterious Kafka-esque courtroom, in which a surprise witness unravels a miscarriage of justice.
But the essence of the performance is best understood with reference to the company's self-image, that of an alchemist of ideas and aesthetics.
The three performances, by Maxine Finch, Patrice Naiambana and Graeme Rose were moody and powerful.
The star of the piece...was the venue itself. The ancient and slowly crumbling Whitefriars monastery, surreally placed just off the Coventry ring road.
| Μύ | Peter Fletcher
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The text by director Nick Walker was full of twists and turns, matching mirth with murk in the shifting dark chambers. The design and soundtrack, by Janet Vaughan and Derek Nisbet, respectively, was excellent.
The star of the piece, though, the operator which allowed Solid Blue to add up to at least the sum of its parts, was the venue itself. The ancient and slowly crumbling Whitefriars monastery, surreally placed just off the Coventry ring road.
And as a testament to Talking Birds innovative ability to turn necessity into virtue, a live closed-circuit TV link-up allowed wheelchair users (or indeed anyone) unable to access the first floor performance space of the 14th Century building, to experience a different angle on the trial and cast their verdict on its completion.
Solid Blue was the very essence of 'site-specific' and thus this performance has now passed into history, but I urge art lovers of every hue look out for further offerings from this innovative company, this year and beyond.
Solid Blue was a Belgrade Theatre event on between Tuesday 13 - Saturday 17 August 2002.
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