A graduate of the Second City improvising group in Chicago, Latifah Taormina went on to co-found, produce, direct and perform with The Committee, San Francisco’s famed improvisational theatre of the late 60s. Under her stage name of Jessica Myerson, her Hollywood career included parts in The Graduate, Mrs Doubtfire, and Steelyard Blues, and she was a familiar face on American TV with appearances on many popular evening shows.As well as her performing history, Latifah is highly experienced as an arts administrator, painter, educator and mentor. She also initiated the Poems for Peace movement which spread to 14 countries, and she continues to work on projects to promote peace. Her autobiography, Ha Ha Among the Trumpets: An Improvisational Journey, chronicles her incredible journey set against the historical backdrop of the Kennedy assassination, Bloody Sunday, the Selma civil rights march, the early feminist movement, and anti-war protests. It also takes in her time as a teacher and educationalist during 10 years in Indonesia. In Creageivity 17 we barely scratch the surface of an incredibly creative and inspiring life, so join us for a fabulous conversation with Latifah Taormina!  https://amongthetrumpets.com/https://www.amazon.com/Ha-Among-Trumpets-Improvisational-Journey/dp/B0BRLVS7B3If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Our planned guest for this episode was unable to join us, so we made the creative decision to fall back on our own resources, with Adrienne Thomas the special guest of Harlan Cockburn and vice versa. Back in the 1970s we met at Maidstone Art College in Kent, southern England, and the journeys there were similar... but different: Adrienne battled for her place, and Harlan arrived by accident. Hear about 'Honouring your mistakes as hidden intentions', the magic of Captain Beefheart, and the bloke that wrote Ulysses... Y'know whassisname...We hope you'll be entertained, stimulated, and smile as we celebrate creativity in many forms down the years. Photo credit: Fortepan_231567 Bor DeszőIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Graham McGregor-Smith took a long detour as a Chartered Accountant, and then stay-at-home Dad before eventually launching himself into music. Having started with a love of AC/DC, he became influenced by the Great American Songbook, with artists such as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. However it was many years before he was able to progress things, when a chance meeting in a park led to him start realising that he can write highly melodic, lyrically-charged songs, and - as he says in the podcast - 'show off' by performing them live. Also performing live in the podcast is an elderly Westie dog called Polo, who has recently received a fresh lease of life!Graham's new album, Road To Anywhere is also his debut album (and there's an endurance cycling-related story behind the title) which he is now promoting and performing live. So does he see Madison Square Garden performances, and songwriting credits for Lady Gaga beckoning? Listen to Creageivity 15 to find out.You can also hear three songs from Graham's album, two of which feature an unusual solo...Website:https://mcgregor-smith.comMusic at:https://mcgregor-smith.bandcamp.comIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

CHRISTINE COHEN PARK is a novelist, freelance writer, facilitator of shared reading groups, and a former tutor on the University of Sussex M.A. in Writing & Personal Development,She’s written three published novels, Joining the Grown–ups, The Househusband, and A Key To Lock Out Cougars. She has also co-edited a prize-winning collection of short stories Close Company. As Christine joins us on Creageivity she has just completed her latest novel Bye Bye Apartheid Road set in Israel and Palestine, and this forms the start point of our discussion.There’s also some great storytelling about being a single mother in London, and slowly emerging from the role of a successful businesswoman, to that of a published author. Along the way Christine tells of the transformation she experienced when she went to a remote island in British Columbia, Canada, and learned that, ‘We also think with our bodies.’ For a thoughtful, entertaining listen, tune in to Christine Cohen Park.https://www.christinecohenpark.com/Music: Seaside Café by Peri Tune, and Goin’ Back by James Bragg: https://wabisabimusic.de/artists/james/https://souterrainsounds.bandcamp.com/album/red-cloudIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

To describe MARK RIMMELL as a movie set designer, or as a jeweller, is to barely scratch the surface of an extraordinarily rich and varied life.  Mark starts us off with his birth in the slums of London's East End in 1933, followed by incredibly difficult years. Gradually he overcame many obstacles and his creativity began to flower as a singer, and through an appreciation of fabrics.  As a young man, moving back to London from Northamptonshire, Mark ran an antiques shop and started rubbing shoulders with the likes of Paul McCartney, Derek Jarman and Francis Bacon.  (Talk to Mark for a while and it becomes easier to say who he hasn't met or worked with - check out the story of 'Charles and Marlon' at the end of the episode).Mark lives in Budapest, Hungary, where he makes wonderfully exotic jewellery and has produced over 70 gem-encrusted crowns. He is a testament to the spirit of Creageivity.Many thanks to musician and artist Maia Eden for her songs 'New Horizons' and 'Home': https://www.maiaeden.comIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Wow! Eleven episodes of Creageivity, so we thought we would open the treasure chest for a bumper bundle compilation of clips from throughout 2023. Featured guests are: Lisa Armytage, Claire Waller & Arthur Brown, Tim Fraser, Gregory Gudgeon, John May, Honora & Dahlan Foah, Jonathan Weightman, Mich Maroney, Steve McDade, Hermione Elliott, and Emil Thompson - All full of inspiration, fascination and creativity!Music clips include If You Don't Love Me by Louise Setara, Fables of Faubus from Mingus in Newcastle, Long Long Road by Arthur Brown, I Keep Waking Up In Your Dreams by John May, White by The Birth of Color Chorus, Offstage Stories Theme by David Personne, Front Line Man by Emmanuel Williams & Emil Thompson, and Introduction by Emil Thompson.The opening speech from King Lear is performed by Jonathan Weightman, and the photograph for episode 12 is by Skylar Kang, with thanks.Thanks also to Mark Flett and Richard Bolley for the kind permission to use their music in earlier episodes.Listen, enjoy, and please return for season 2!If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Our guest on Creageivity 11, Jonathan Weightman, performs as King Lear - a 2023 film role he starred in. Listen to this wonderful bonus minute of Jonathan in full flight!If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Jonathan Weightman has had a storied career as an actor, writer and director, beginning with almost exclusively female roles including Lady Macbeth and St Joan while at school, coming right up to 2023 when he starred as King Lear in a movie, shot underground! With an English father and Brazilian / Uruguayan mother, Jonathan describes how he always felt something of an outsider. However while he was at university in Manchester, Jonathan's mother moved to Portugal, and on his visits there he began to love and appreciate the country. Meanwhile he was involved in theatre and street theatre projects in the UK and across Europe, and in this time met his husband-to-be Keith Esher Davis. The deportation of Keith from the UK, as an 'undesirable alien' meant that they could no longer perform their jointly written play, Fever, and began their search for a haven where they could build a new life together. That place turned out to be Lisbon, Portugal, and in time Jonathan became a director at Lisbon Players theatre, and co-founded the Tagus Theatre. When covid came, he transferred his skills from live theatre to writing and directing two movies, We Came to Lisbon (2020), and  Offstage Stories (2021). He also had a short story, Mary Dances published by the Daily Telegraph in the same year, to his 'mixed horror and delight.'Jonathan's life admirably underscores the themes of Creageivity - of keeping on keeping on, and of finding outlets for personal expression, whatever we are presented with. Or as Jonathan says, "I have been extremely lucky."If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Visual artist, writer, magazine publisher, and classical music enthusiast, Mich Maroney is an inspiring creative who relocated from the metropolis of London to the rural peace of Ireland. It's here that she has realised a long-held ambition to start a magazine blending the written word with distinctive visual art. SWERVE Magazine is available in print and on the web, featuring stunning images and writing, from a wide variety of contributors. These include international artists, as well as members of the local community.Mich is the designer and maker of SWERVE - skills she has taught herself in recent times - and is very inclusive in her activities. These include encouraging others through workshops and writer's groups, and running a scheme for guest artists to stay in the County Cork town of Skibbereen to work on their own projects. In the podcast Mich describes herself as both a gambler in life, and someone who is scared of fairground rides, and yet her roller-coaster activities are testament to a 'never say die' creative spirit. SWERVE Magazine is an inspiring distillation of her ideas, and Creageivity 10 with Mich Maroney is a must-listen!    The podcast also features music by the contemporary composer Richard Bolley. For more on Mich, go to:    https://www.michmaroney.com/ For more on Swerve Magazine, go to:    https://www.swervemagazine.org/To hear Richard Bolley's music, go to:    https://soundcloud.com/user-374152765-982950488Photograph of Mich by Sarah Kate Murphy:    https://www.sarahkatephotography.ie/If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Based in the countryside near Dundee, Scotland,  'Old Man Thompson' - Emil Max Thompson  - is a talented musician, songwriter, stonecarver... and so much more. In this fascinating podcast he traces some of his family roots, including a cross-dressing great grandfather who was a risque star of Music Hall. We also learn what ekphrastic means, and how this is linked to the Glasgow city coat of arms and Saint Mungo. Then there's a diversion into piano tuning and how every instrument has its individual character, and why Dundee played a formative part in the writing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  This is nothing if not an eclectic podcast.Emil has collected many of his past musical works - and those of other musicians, including Creageivity guest John May - on his record label Souterrain Sounds, where his latest EP release Sailing To Port Manto is now available. Some of the EP is included in the podcast to whet the appetite of listeners.To hear more, and learn about lithophones and rubber bridges, listen to Old Man Thompson on Creageivity 09.https://souterrainsounds.bandcamp.com/https://souterrainpress.bigcartel.com/about-ushttps://yelluk.wixsite.com/my-site-22591/ABOUTIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

In her late 50s, as she was contemplating retirement from a career as a nurse, midwife and counsellor, Dr Hermione Elliott instead embarked on a huge journey of what she describes as ‘Unfoldment’. She saw the need for end of life care which was analogous to the Doulas who assist with birth, and has since worked tirelessly to found and lead the organisation Living Well Dying Well. Hermione is passionate about care of the whole person – physical, emotional and spiritual – and about upholding dignity and self-determination at every stage of life. In our podcast she talks about what led her to start LWDW, and how it was ‘a profoundly creative process’ in her own development. It’s an inspiring story with messages for everyone, and in particular those who are growing into their later years – an unflinching, but also uplifting look at death and dying. Unmissable!Find out more  about LWDW, End of Life Doulas, and Hermione at:https://www.livingwelldyingwell.com/https://eol-doula.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/in/hermione-elliott-7a47a44/?originalSubdomain=uk   If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

A drummer who arts, or an artist who drums? Steve McDade's academic career culminated as Head of Fine Art at the University of Chichester, and he has been a constant painter and exhibitor over the years: his most recent work being shown in 2023, with a back catalogue spanning very many art shows. As a musician​ he was inspired by Tony Williams at an early age (banging out rhythms on Tupperware, as we learn in this podcast).  ​He has played in a wide variety of jazz-oriented combos, from the free-form Displacement trio, the guitar-based Big Tent, and On the Corner, an ambitious big band rendering of works by Charles Mingus.And here's another thing: Steve, Adrienne, and Harlan were students together at Maidstone College of Art about 50 years ago, but somehow neglected to catch up until now. Join us for a deep dive into the art of painting, and find out why we are living in the 1970s, all over again.Steve's website is at: www.stevemcdade.co.ukSteve's YouTube channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/@StevenMcDade-cn2flIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Honora and Dahlan Foah are multi-disciplinary artists and producers, living in Atlanta USA, and working across a dazzling variety of media. Together they are creating a sequence of seven Frequency Operas, with the first of these unique events being staged in a Budapest church, and the latest taking place in the Vatican. Honora originally trained as a dancer, while Dahlan was a photographer and early audio-visual pioneer. They joined forces, forming Visioneering, a production company making large scale events and experiences around the world. In this podcast Honora talks movingly about their visual work for children’s hospitals, how she views death, and the conscious process of becoming an elder. Dahlan also reflects on his side hustle as conductor of two prestigious orchestras. Plus you can  learn why Honora times the duration of the Frequency Opera sections according to the resilience of the average human bladder...But what is a Frequency Opera? Tune in to Creageivity 06 to find out! More info at:The Birth of Color: http://www.birthofcolor.org/Mythic Imagination Institute:  https://www.mythicjourneys.org/newsletter_nov06_foah.htmlAtlanta Musician’s Orchestra: https://www.amorch.com/aboutusHonora bio: https://mythhonora.wordpress.com/about/Dahlan bio: https://www.birthofcolor.org/bios/dahlan-robert-foah/If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

What hasn't John May been involved in?  He describes himself as a Generalist, and his first activities were in the early UK Arts Lab network. There followed eight years with the New Musical Express (at the time the most influential music weekly in Britain), writing as Dick Tracy.He has met and interviewed - among many others - Allen Ginsberg, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, William Burroughs, Al Gore, and our favourite muso, Captain Beefheart.He is authour of numerous books, including four for Greenpeace, and is active in green and climate change issues. His collection of magazines, posters and interview recordings is vast, and in this podcast he talks about his role as 'Archivist of the counterculture and connected thinking'.John is also a poet, songwriter and musician, and we're pleased to have two of his tracks on the show, from his album Boho Solo.A fascinating journey through the history of almost everything, from a self-described 'young elder'. The photograph of John was taken on his 73rd birthday, by his son Alex.http://www.generalistarchive.co.uk/https://hqinfo.blogspot.com/p/about-john-may.htmlhttps://twitter.com/generalistblog?lang=enIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

In Creageivity 04 Gregory Gudgeon talks about performing Shakespeare's King Richard II, with puppets. Richard is alone in his prison cell, and begins to use objects there to take the place of people in his life as he compares how far he has fallen: ' Sometimes am I king; Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar, And so I am.'  He hears distant music, and is irritated, and also soothed by it, 'In this all-hating world.'We're delighted that Gregory offered to perform Richard's soliloquy especially for Creageavity listeners, so here's three bonus minutes: bask in the voice of a wonderful actor!If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Acting seems to have been in the blood for Gregory Gudgeon from an early age, with family connections to the stage, and a childhood role in a local pantomime which captured his imagination. Later, movement training came at the Jaques Lecoq school in Paris, with productions in French, and the mentorship of the Czech actor and director, Hannah Kodicek. Gregory has appeared with the international touring theatre company Complicité, is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has performed his one-man show of Richard II (along with a host of puppets) at festivals in The UK and Holland. His film career is long and varied, including 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front, as well as a major new movie which is currently strictly under wraps! In an entertaining and wide-ranging interview we hear about the importance of spoons, oatcakes, and why the Royal Navy’s loss was theatre’s gain.A must-listen!https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1087129/http://www.complicite.org/peopleperformers/GregoryGudgeonIntro and outro song excerpts by Mark Flett, from his album Somewhere Manhttps://markflettandhisband.bandcamp.com/album/somewhere-manIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Platinum and Gold record songwriter Tim Fraser got traction relatively late in his career, but hasn't looked back since, with multiple successes for major artists around the world. In this podcast he relates the story of how Tina Turner came to record one of his songs, and mentions a few other performers along the way. There's also the opportunity to hear four of Tim's recent compositions. With music spanning Rap, Pop, Rock and Show Tunes, Tim is a prolific and gifted songwriter, who nevertheless has a very practical approach to his work. His songs have also been heard on many TV series and video games.In addition, Tim lectures at the London College of Music, and is a Director of the British Academy of Composers and Authors. As a Freeman of the City of London, he has been granted the historic right to 'relieve himself' in Saint Paul's churchyard, and to drive his sheep across Southwark bridge... both of which he claims to have done. see more at: https://www.tim-fraser.co.uk/If you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Arthur Brown's debut album The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic... in 1968. Since then The God of Hellfire has never stopped making music and collaborating with a wide range of amazing musicians. (In this podcast he recalls gigs with Frank Zappa, and hanging out with Jimi Hendrix in his LA apartment). A true legend, Arthur met Claire Waller when she was running her much-loved Buttercup Café in Lewes, East Sussex, and the two slowly formed a partnership to bring Arthur's music and performance to new audiences, through multi-media shows, which may even (as we hear in the podcast) be staged in their own venue.It's a truly inspiring story which takes in the release of the single Long Long Road - released on Arthur's 80th birthday - and exciting work with young animators and designers. Along the way we hear about the pair's love of nature, and the idyllic life they are building together in the Yorkshire Dales.   see more at: https://www.thegodofhellfire.com/https://www.facebook.com/arthurbrownmusic/hear more at:https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Wyn0ejiSIAgFhCL6zbTRmIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!

Podcast 01 features special guest, actor LISA ARMYTAGE, who fell into acting – literally – aged 6,  when she entered the school stage headfirst as The Angel Gabriel through the wrong entrance - where the curtains were tied together at the bottom. Recovering from this mortifying beginning has been a lifelong quest. You may remember Lisa as a 30-something actor in the main cast of ‘Neighbours’ as Dr Beverly Marshall, mark 1. Leaving the show to spend more time with a young family, Lisa has nevertheless continued to work on stage, television, and film in a variety of dramatic and comedy roles. More recently she has re-emerged as an audiobook narrator and voice actor. She is now as busy as she was in her ‘Neighbours’ heyday. In April 2023 Lisa is in the first episode of ‘The Robots’ – a Big Finish audio production for all Dr Who fans.  Otherwise, you can hear what she’s been up to by taking a look at her page as a narrator on Audible as Lisa Armytage. That’s Armytage with a ‘y’ not an ‘i’. Think of an ‘army’ mixed with a ‘stage’ and you’ve (almost) got it. see more at: https://www.spokenbylisa.co.uk/https://www.audible.co.uk/search?keywords=lisa+armytageIf you think you're too old to be creative, or too creative to be old, then Creageivity is the podcast for you!