Jane’s hope lives on

The story of a forgotten Scottish heroine who was murdered in Auschwitz was told in powerful performances by Tram Direct at Theatre at Queens on Glasgow’s Southside this week.

The harrowing details of Jane Haining’s final days as matron of a Church of Scotland orphanage for Jewish girls in Budapest, were dramatically retold by professional and community actors in ‘To Serve is to Resist.’

Because she refused to leave ‘her girls’ she was arrested and died with them in the gas chambers of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.

The performances were even more poignant because Jane had worshipped in the very building where Tram Direct now has its headquarters and theatre space. The congregation of what is now called Queen’s Park Church of Scotland, installed two stained glass windows to remember Jane’s sacrifice and some of the current congregation took part in scenes in the play.

One of the cast was from Budapest and had known of Jane’s bravery.  Aniko Szilagyi  is currently working for her PhD at the University of Glasgow. She first visited Glasgow in 1999 as a winner of an English speaking competition run in Budapest as a living memorial to Jane Haining. Said Aniko: ‘It is strange taking part in this play. It is part of my history.’

The play was commissioned by Isobel Barret founder of Tram Direct who runs it and Theatre Ecole from their base within Queen’s. ‘When I heard the story of Jane Haining I commissioned Ian Morland to write this play. It was a story that just had to be told and it was right here on our doorstep.’

The first act tells of Jane’s determination to work abroad as a Christian missionary and how she achieves her dream on being appointed matron of the Budapest girls’ home.

The second act illustrates vividly how, despite her suffering throughout interrogations and in the death camp, she never lost her faith in God. Skilful use of original film footage of Hitler speaking, set the context of the time. Nine songs interspersed throughout the play added to the emotional response of the acting.

Those who watched the play were left with a profound sense of awe at Jane’s courage. ‘This deserves to be wider known and seen,’ said one member of the audience.

 

Singing the song of human rights

An evening of poetry, music, song and food, was celebrated by the Campaign for Human Rights in the Gambia this week in Glasgow.

A key speaker was former Vice President of the West African country, Bakary Dabo, who now lives in London. In a calm and diplomatic way, he explained how a Rule of Fear had overtaken the democratic rule of law which The Gambia had enjoyed before a military coup. ‘The people in power now are not leaders.’ he said. ‘It is a depressing picture. This small country of 2 million people has an appalling human rights abuse record. There is a very vicious despotic system in place run by one man with his clique.’ Mr Dabo emphasised how important it was for groups such as Amnesty International and the Glasgow based Campaign for Human Rights in The Gambia and others to be raising awareness of the situation and to be supportive in the search for a solution.

‘We are hopeful,’ he continued. ‘But The Gambia is right now held by its throat as a hostage.’

Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Danny Alderslowe. A Green Party Councillor, he had that day at the final meeting of the Glasgow City Council before the local government elections, won a motion to review the Personalisation process being implemented by the Council.

Danny had orchestrated an excellent programme of entertainment at the Afro Caribbean Centre in Osborne Street G1. This ranged from Haggis on the bagpipes with Omar on the drums, Jethro from the Congo, Scratchy Noises fiddle band, Fozzy singing fighting songs, Lucio and friends on an array of African stringed instruments and Tomona reciting one of his thoughtful poems. Danny, himself, had written a poem based on the fact that the osprey flies between the Gambia and Scotland ‘easier than a jumbo jet!’

Other speakers included Elena Soper from the University of Glasgow’s Amnesty International group who detailed some of the human rights abuses known about in the Gambia; Arthur West, chairman of the Gambia Human Rights Campaign and John Matthews Chair of the Glasgow Branch of the National Union of Journalists. ‘We support the Campaign wholeheartedly,’ said John. ‘We are the first trades union to recognise journalists who are seeking asylum, as members of our union and we can act on their behalf when possible. As a political journalist, our colleague Alieu Cessay had to flee from the Gambia. He is not alone. Some journalists – and others who have displeased the regime – have disappeared, been imprisoned, tortured. The evening is to celebrate life while expressing our compassion for the safety of our brothers and sisters and highlighting the need to have a free press and freedom of speech if a country is to be truly free.’

 

 

To Serve is to Resist

The play about Jane Haining’s life and death will be performed for the first time on Friday 30 March and twice on Saturday 31 March at Theatre at Queens, 170 Queen’s Drive, Glasgow. For tickets tel: 0141 423 6037 or email: manager@tramdirect.com or see website: www.tramdirect.com

An exhibition on Jane’s life will also be on display during the production and can be viewed during the interval when tea and coffee will be served.

Titanic events for church memorial weekend

Titanic weekend set to save Glasgow souls

It is almost 100 years since the Titanic sank with the loss of more than 1500 people. Glasgow has its own direct link to the Titanic through a church off Paisley Road West.
Called the Harper Memorial Baptist church, it is named after a Scottish preacher called John Harper who was aboard the Titanic when it was holed by an iceberg on 14 April 1912.
And next month when many Titanic events are scheduled to remember the tragedy, the congregation will hold a Titanic Weekend.

Starting on Friday 13 to Sunday 15 April they aim to let a wider audience know that the faith of the man whose name was given to the building, is still valid for people today.

Said church Deacon Gordon Webster: ‘We wanted to make use of the fact that most people know about the Titanic to tell the story of John Harper and win people for the Lord.’
A widower, John Harper was travelling with his niece and his six-year-old daughter to be a guest speaker at the Moody church of Chicago for a second season. One of the survivors of the disaster told how John Harper asked him as the ship was sinking: ‘Has your soul been saved?’ When the man said ‘no’ John took off his own life vest and gave it to him.
Born in Houston, John Harper became a preacher at an early age. When he was appointed to a congregation in Glasgow it had 25 members. When he left it for a post in London in  the early 1900s, the church had its own purpose built ‘tin kirk’ in the Plantation district of the city which could seat 1000. It was named after John Harper when a new building was opened in 1921 by his daughter, Nan Harper who survived the disaster.
John’s wife  had died a week after their daughter had been born.  She was buried in Craigton cemetery. The details of John’s heroic death were added to her grave stone soon after the Titanic disaster. For the church’s Titanic Weekend a memorial and rededication service will be held at the cemetery in Cardonald at 2.30pm on Saturday 14 April. Bailie Iris Gibson and Councillor Alistair Watson are expected to attend.

That evening – 100 years to the day, after the disaster – Dr Erwin W. Lutzer of the Chicago Moody Church, will preach in the Harper Memorial Baptist church in Glasgow at 7.30pm. His church in Chicago was the one that John Harper was travelling to.  John had been invited back to preach because of the success of his first visit. Some of the meeting rooms in the Chicago church are dedicated to him. A play about John Harper will be performed in Glasgow on Saturday 14 April,  and there will be music by Father’s Song.
Dr Lutzer will also speak at the Sunday 15 April morning service when communion will be celebrated and again in the evening when music will be provided by the Govan Salvation Army Band.
There will be a holiday club for primary school children on Friday 13 April. The local Lorne Park Primary School has already studied the Titanic story and some of their work will be on display in the church during the weekend. On the Friday evening a Christian rock band ‘Superhero’ will perform for the teens, twenties and music minded people. This is the only Scottish date for the band which is on tour in Europe currently and will be touring the United States following the Titanic weekend events.

‘This is a big step for us to have a rock group – they’ll be the first we’ve had. But we think we’re well prepared,’ said Deacon Webster. He added: ‘The whole process of planning this weekend has been amazing. It is a wonderful experience for the team of 13 volunteers from the church who have organised it. We’ve been taken aback at the world wide interest with people emailing from abroad asking to book seats.’ The church can seat 600 people and has a hall for an additional 100 where a video link will enable them to share in the proceedings. Leaflets have been distributed throughout the local community and visitors to the city that weekend will also be invited specially. For further details see the website: www.harpermemorial.net For tickets for the rock concert email: superhero@harpermemorial.net or call GLO Bookshop, Motherwell: 01698 275343

image copyright : ©Graeme Hewitson  Eikon Bible Art.

Painting the complex white

Kinning Park Community Complex is being spruced up thanks to Barr Construction and Johnstone’s Paints. They have donated 200 litres of paint which will be used by volunteers to give the busy centre a much needed make-over.

Built in the early 1900s as a primary school. It was saved from closure by a longterm sit in by local people who saved it for community use. The building is host to a range of activities including Zumba classes, public meetings, sports clubs, music workshops, art shows and live music events.

The venue has been crying out for re-decoration for sometime but the committee feared funds would be hard to come by as the income they receive from tenants and groups who use the facility is tied up in the everyday running of the building.

Barr Construction and Johnstone’s Paints work together on such projects as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes. Said Barclay Chalmers, managing director of Barr Construction: ‘We are committed to working with local communities to support initiatives which provide resources for people and generate training and employment opportunities. We were happy to step in and donate paint along with Johnstone’s Paints as part of our ongoing drive to keep Scotland’s communities alive.’ Johnstone’s Decorating Centre on Watt Street, near Kinning Park, supplied the paint.

Colin Begg, a visual artist and director of Kinning Park Complex, said: ‘At a time when money is tight, support from Barr Construction and Johnstone’s Paints makes a tremendous difference to our facility. There is so much going on here for local people and we’re starting to drum up a reputation as the place to be in the arts community, so keeping the place in decent nick is really important to us to keep attracting users.’

The facility is entirely community-run and currently welcomes hundreds of people each week.

Local Councillor Allison Hunter – who was born and grew up in the area – stopped by the complex to support the project and meet those involved. She said: ‘Kinning Park Complex has been a huge asset to the local area for many years and is well deserving of a make-over as it is a truly fantastic facility. I am grateful for this kind donation and hope people continue to use the centre for many years to come.’

 

Guerrilla gardening pays off

Saturday 31 March will be the  Grand Opening Day for Kelvingrove Square Gardens. From 12 noon  till 3pm the little cultivated area outside the gates of Kelvingrove Park at Kelvingrove Street, will be alive with stalls, and music and people talking.

Mosaics designed by children from the nearby Gaelic School have been placed in the main patio area and several more are planned for other locations around the square.

The Square was taken under the wing of local residents when they considered it was lying neglected and unloved. With a lot of guerrilla gardening and dialogue with the Council, eventually support was found and the patch of green was improved. Now it is used as community space and has a ‘Friends of…’ group which has its annual general meeting scheduled for next month (see community notices)

College challenge to secondary pupils

A scheme to encourage more senior students from secondary schools to opt to go to college was rolled out this week at Cardonald College.

Groups of students from Govan High, Whitehill Secondary and St Paul’s High were invited to the College and challenged in a series of activities to get a taste of student life there. College students were the mentors to each group of 10 secondary school pupils. Apart from practical workshops covering tv, fashion, hairdressing and beauty, music technology and construction – all courses offered at Cardonald – the pupils learned how College students manage their finances and how the college functions.

Said a College spokesperson: ‘The main aim is to show the options available here. Some may not be ready for the jump to University from school just yet. Others can come here to gain more qualifications such as Highers before taking degree level study.’

The 30 secondary schools with the lowest progression rates into higher and further education will be sending their S3 to S6 pupils in the College option.

 

Ukrainian nightingale sings in Kelvingrove

Something out of the ordinary will take place in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Sunday 18 March at 3pm.

During the concert on that day a song composed by the father of Russian classical music, Mikhail Glinka, will be sung by pupils from Glasgow Russian School who are members of the new Singing Studio there.

Glinka wrote the song using a poem entitled ‘The Nightingale’ by a local poet when he was a guest on the estate of his friends the Tarnovskys. Their estate was Kachanovka, in the Ukraine.

The current representative of the Tarnovsky family, and former owner of the estate, Mrs Tanya Hine, OBE, lives in Bearsden, and will be at the concert with members of her family. Mrs Hine will hear the song written on her family’s estate performed in Russian by schoolchildren of Russian heritage along with Russkaya Cappella, the adult Scottish choir that sings Russian music.

Said Svetlana Zvereva, co – director of Russkaya Cappella: ‘It’s remarkable that Scotland now has enough children to form a children’s choir singing in Russian. Sometimes the children are of

purely Russian parentage or have one parent from one of the republics of the former Soviet Union. Whatever their background, these children now have the chance, through the Glasgow Russian School, of preserving their Russian cultural heritage, including its musical component.This is also enriching Scotland’s artistic traditions.’

Picture shows children of the Glasgow Russian School’s Singing Studio in rehearsal.

Stabat Mater and Martyr Ogilvie provide moving Lentfest productions

Lentfest continues with exciting music and drama.

Don’t miss the only performance of the hauntingly beautiful Stabat Mater by Pergolesi in Glasgow this year. It will be sung on FRIDAY 16 March at 7.30pm, by two soloists from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland who are giving their last performance in the city before going to London to join London Opera companies. Both alumni of the Conservatoire and having graduated with distinction, Soprano Maria Kozlova and Mezzo soprano Beth Baxter will be with the St Patrick’s Ensemble in the glorious acoustic of St Mungo’s Church in Townhead.

This will be the premier of a new Stabat Mater setting by young Scottish composer George Tongchai Duthie and was commissioned by St Patrick’s Ensemble for Lentfest this year. In 2009, the group made its sold-out debut in Edinburgh’s Greyfriars’ Kirk. They were subsequently invited to perform the Vivaldi Four Seasons at the Usher Hall in May 2010. In November 2011, the ensemble returned there to perform works by Vivaldi, Dvořák and Hans Gál.

Tickets £8 (£5 concessions) available from 0141 554 1333 or lentfest@agap.org.uk

The interest in Lentfest events this year has been an exhilarating experience for the organisers. Said Stephen Callaghan, Lentfest Director: ‘The growth and demand has been almost overwhelming. There has been response from almost every dioceses in Scotland and interest from Venezuela, Russia and Italy. For some people the event they attend this Lentfest may be their only experience of Church for a year. I believe the Holy Spirit is at work.’

Among the drama events is the absorbing production of the Martyrdom of St John Ogilvie. Written and produced by Lentfest director Stephen Callaghan

himself, it is based on the dramatic events that surrounded the death of Scotland’s martyr, John Ogilvie, who died at Glasgow Cross in 1615. Because the actor rehearsing to play the part of Ogilvie, had to move to another part of the country at the last minute – the understudy Stephen Callaghan – had to step in by default. Performed by AGAP Community Theatre which includes many people who are acting for the first time, the touring production can be found on the following dates and locations among others: Saturday 17 March at 7.30pm St Gregory’s, Wyndford; Sunday 18 March at 2.00pm (Matinee) St Martin’s, Renton; Friday 23 March at 7.30pm St Helen’s, Langside; Saturday 24 March at 7.30pm St Lucy’s, Abronhill. For full details and for the entire programme for Lentfest check the website: www.agap.org.uk/lentfest

 

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