Episode 3 Britain's City of Culture

Hello, and welcome to Hull, the UK city of Culture.

Hello, and welcome to Hull, the UK City of Culture.

Showcasing the brightest and the best

of contemporary culture has brought us here to Hull's Cemetery

for a circus performance with a difference.

And continuing our celebration of difference, we meet Matt Fraser

who will be putting his disability centre stage to play

I'm a deformed actor playing a deformed character

for the first time in Britain, which is extraordinary that it

should be the first but it's exciting that I get to do it.

We will meet the army of 2017 volunteers giving

# There's a star man, waiting in the sky...

And go on a trip down memory lane with a Spider from Mars.

Hello, I'm Anne-Marie Tasker, and I'm the arts and culture

correspondence for the BBC here in Hull and this is Kofi Smiles.

I'm the face of Hull, chosen by the BBC with a mission,

to bring you culture whenever and wherever it happens.

Today, we are taking it quite literally because we are not

in a concert hall or in a theatre, we are here in a graveyard.

It's a setting for a performance which is quite difficult to sum up

It's part-circus acrobats, part music, part dance and it

all takes place under the cover of darkness.

Areialists, acrobats, video artists, singers.

Coming together to tell the story of an ancient Greek

"Depart" explores the tragic love story of Orpheus when he descends

into the underworld and tries and fails to bring his dead wife,

The audience happens upon the action as they wander

We are trying to find the right trees, and battling

the British weather has been challenging.

Performing outdoors definitely has its challenges like that.

Quite often you will find yourself quite drippy, and wet.

It's also kind of really exciting in the outdoors because it's not

often in the outdoors that you get the chance to perform in a tree,

What's magical about it is that the audience is in the outside

in the wilderness with you, so that you get to share

an experience a lot more than in a theatre

The show is by the world-renowned Australian company Circa who only

arrived to rehearse a few days before the first performance,

and although this graveyard closed in the 1970s,

the choice of venue has caused some controversy.

If you approach something with respect and with care,

and if your intent is to help bring a community to this place,

to improve this place and a great deal of nurture has

been given to this site, then I think you are

The show premiered last summer, but for these performances,

Circa are working with one of Hull's community choirs.

More than 100 members of the Freedom chorus have spent months rehearsing

and add an ethereal soundtrack to the performance.

It's absolutely brilliant to be part of the city of culture,

but to be able to perform alongside Circa as well is really incredible.

It's not a venue that anybody knows is a venue, of course.

Of course, great respect will be paid because of where we are.

Well, it's getting dark now and everyone is here waiting

It's Friday night, walking around a graveyard, so I thought

it was brilliant the way they brought out a different

I've only got one difficulty, how do you describe it

The setup, where it was, where it is held, the performers,

Captivating. Enthralling, absolutely brilliant.

And after Hull, the play moves from Brighton to Blackpool.

"Depart" is just one of hundreds of events taking part

In fact, an event has been promised every day of the year.

And when you make a promise like that, you are going to need

a lot of people to help with the staging and that's where

They've given up their free time to lend a hand.

There are more than 2,000 of them, ranging in age from 16 up to 84.

Caroline has been to meet some of them.

They are the blue-coated army, an army of volunteers

from all backgrounds, ages, from all over the UK.

From greeting people at events to performing as extras in plays,

the 2017 volunteers are the engine that is helping to drive this

In much the same way as the games makers did at the London Olympics,

Hull's volunteers of the welcoming face of this city

There's no way I was going to miss this year volunteering.

There's no way I was going to miss this year's volunteering.

Sue caught the bug at London 2012 and she was one

Tonight, the blue jacket is being left at home.

The green tabard is the uniform for this event in one

Sue, and other volunteers, have been collecting

We are finding in most of the activities we do

there are people from all over the world coming.

Are you here to join the search for the seven...

Well, you can't say the job of a volunteer isn't varied.

At this one event alone, they have been directing all these

people to where they need to be, collecting their data

and some are even part of the performance itself.

We wanted to be city of culture volunteers because we couldn't

resist being involved in such a fantastic opportunity.

The toilets are downstairs on the ground floor.

Mum of two Louise also works full-time as a teacher.

She is squeezing in her volunteering shifts on evenings and weekends.

When you put that jacket and it gives you license

to strike up a conversation with absolutely anybody.

Even out of the uniform, I'm finding that I'm more likely

to start a conversation with people who I don't know that I was before.

Volunteering for her is stepping completely out of our comfort zone,

but today, she is helping out at a stress test for

Well, this is a rehearsal of a performance due to take place

in a couple of weeks' time and it will involve live ands and require

the audience to move around the performance space,

so the volunteers are being used to put it to the test and make sure

It's been interesting to see how a theatre company works on its first

Talking to people, strangers, but I feel now I'm

I've seen already in the first few months that she has just flown

She is one of the welcoming faces of Hull and for me,

that's a gift that the city of culture has given

At first, I didn't think we would be able to be involved.

Enid and Jason have also thrown themselves out of their comfort zone

Some people see us as visually impaired and we should be

in a corner, but we have been put out the front because it's nice.

You feel more engaged with what is going on with this

process in general, but it gives you a little insight

in things that you thought you couldn't do which you can,

with that support network going on in the background.

I think we should give something back to our communities.

And this has given people such a massive opportunity to do that.

I think it's that it's absolutely wonderful that I have been

Hopefully, at the end of the year, we will have a huge army of people

then in a position to volunteer for all sorts of organisations

and really lift the community life of the city.

The city of culture goes global with celebrations

in Hull's Twin city, Freetown.

We remember David Bowie and the spiders from Mars

But first, here's my guide to some 2017 highlights and a little look

North Atlantic Flux took us on a four-day journey of musical

discovery bringing in Icelandic and Scandinavian musicians to Hull.

On the Orchard Park estate, local residents collaborated

with artists to put on a vibrant parade around the neighbourhood.

The Ferens Art Gallery has an amazing new exhibition called

Skin, which features work by Ron Mueck, Lucian Freud

and the Sea Of Hull photographs taken by Spencer Tunick of over 3000

And I don't care if anybody sees me or not.

We are looking forward to Assemblefest which takes over

an ordinary shopping street, turning unlikely places

Nearly 30 years ago, the beautiful South performed

in Hull, and in June, Paul Heaton and Jackie Abbott

East Park will be transformed to the fictional Malarkey

Park for Hull's first childrenchildren's

Park for Hull's first children's literature Festival.

And in July, the BBC Proms will come to Hull for a day

of outdoor concerts, the first time recently that this

British institution has travelled outside of London.

Well, from a circus performance in a graveyard to something more

traditional. We are talking Shakespeare, Richard III to be

precise. But Hull being Hull, it's with a difference. We are sitting in

with the lead actor, mat Fraser. He is returning to his theatrical

roots, after role in American horror story. Can you imagine a mark on

this normal body? I could have ruled the world. Mat Fraser has been in

rehearsals for three weeks now. And for him, it's one of the toughest

roles he's ever had with 685 lines to learn. Director, Barry Rutter

started Northern broadsides 25 years ago with the aim of making

Shakespeare access the ball to all. His success means others are sure to

follow. You have done lots of theatre, but never any Shakespeare.

Why now? I did Puck, in a chaotic version of a Midsummer night 's

dream. The reason why now is because I was intrigued to be asked to

audition and I'm what we might call a mid-term career artist, and each

time you do something it is less shocking dangerous the next time you

do it. It had been a long time since I had been scared of something and

just the notion of doing that wonderful, eponymous character. It's

not the easiest of Shakespeare's plays, is it? It's one of the most

famous plays, it's done more than Hamlet, even. And it is the only one

where the character talks directly to the audience and they are in on

his secrets of evil, he's one of the most famous villains and famous

disabled people. I think I'm one of the first people to say I'm a

deformed Akhtar laying deformed character. It's extraordinary that

it should be the first but exciting that I get to do it. It must be a

big deal for you, isn't it? It wasn't from me, I didn't push to get

it. I was offered it. Although we could say it's about time, Barry

offered it to me and not anybody else, so I'm going to run with it

and see what we do. I'm fascinated to see what audience members make of

it. He horrible to everyone. He was stabbed you in the back by any means

necessary. As a disabled person, I camera late to having to think round

the corners, -- I am used to having to think round the corners. I can't

really relate to the murder and decay that he causes though. For me,

the challenges to step up to playing one of the biggest characters. I've

never played the lead before. You have two on that. I'm very much a

team player. I have any go, obviously. I wouldn't be an actor

otherwise, but I don't have a monstrous ego that wishes to be the

star. So owning the lead, that's my challenge. In terms of challenges

for the audience, it is whether my deformity Pauls out of the play. But

Lenny Henry doing their low... There's been a lot of boot polish

going on over the years, so now, let's go!

-- Lenny Henry playing Othello. Hull is twinned with Freetown in Africa.

It started with William Wilberforce trying to abolish the slave trade.

Hull and Freetown were twinned many years ago and it's a relationship

being celebrated in 2017 with a concert later this summer. Surely

Henry has been finding out more about Freetown and how it's being

involved with the City Of Culture. A message from Freetown to Hull. This

is the capital of Sierra Leone and as its partner enjoys its year as

the city of culture, expectations are growing as to what this will

mean for Freetown. I expect people will want to see a treat coming from

Freetown. All the stuff we've got going on, I'm sure it's true. They

don't have a choice but to be treated. That the many people,

Sierra Leone is not known for its culture, but that this, Ebola. It's

impact still resonates. 50,000 people also died in a civil war in

the 1990s. Sierra Leone's Refugee All-stars was formed during the

crisis. People were killed in front of my eyes. I saw people burned in

front of me. I lost my brother, my sister, my friends. It was too bad.

The All-Stars translated their suffering into lyrics that inspire

and uplift. As part of the city of culture celebrations, they have

travelled to Hull to spread hope, joy and faith. Culture means a lot.

Good connections between Freetown and Hull City, so I'm excited. This

year is not just about showcasing talent like this, but building

educational links and letting people know that Freetown is open for

business. To cement their future relationships, the Twin cities are

now building connections through education. Pupils at schools can

share cultural links via Skype. Your pen pal wants to know what your

favourite food is. This is not just for the children, but it is for them

to access more information to develop more creative thinking. I

like school, because when I go there, I can express myself and I

like many books. When I finish, I want to become a lawyer. This is

Freetown's version of the promotional film that propelled

Hull's place as the city of culture for this year. Freetown now wants

the world to know it is open for business.

It's one of rock music's most celebrated partnerships, during the

1970s, David Bowie and the spiders from Mars changed the face of music.

The spiders from Mars had a very different musical apprenticeship.

They honed their skills on the club pub circuit from Hull, playing as

the Rats. Sadly, only one of them is left, Woody Woodmansey. We went on a

trip down memory lane with him. # There's a star man, waiting in the

sky. # He'd like to come and meet us...

David Bowie introduced Britain's music fans to cities that are dust

-- the spiders from Mars. Woody Woodmansey is the only surviving

member of the group and he has come back home to visit some of the

places where he hung out before he was famous. The spiders were

originally called the Rats. I recorded with the Rats with Mick

Ronson. He'd been in with the Rats with another drummer and they done

the rise and fall of Bernie Gripplestone. I don't think

that would have worked for David Bowie. As the Rats played their

first gig is in a Hull and East Yorkshire, from pubs clubs. We were

in the Duke Of Cumberland in 1969. How much has it changed since then?

Directed noise anything. Different net curtains! -- I don't recognise

anything. We would come back to Hull and we would come here. We would

have a night out, watch bands. It doesn't look like you would fit on

there with your drum kit. M it would fit on there but the band would not.

-- my drum kit. The rise and fall of Ziggy stardust and the spiders of

Mars was the album may play. But there was one place they never

performed it, Hull. Finally, coming to play here. It was the biggest gig

in Hull, so it was with my dream to play here. How does it feel to be up

here. Getting ready to play. It's great. It's somewhere that David

wanted to play himself because he knew we were from Hull, so it was

always on our wish list but it just never happened. To come back now,

Hull, the city of culture, it's amazing. To be able to celebrate

David's legacy and do it for Mick and Trevor. It would've been nice

for them to be here in their city to be playing.

More than four decades since that talk, with the Tony bus and he

performance the full album the first time ever, live as part of the

celebrations. -- Tony Visconti. Woody buzz dream

of playing the album in Hull has finally come true. That is it from

Hull's General Cemetery and our latest look at the highlights from

the UK city of culture. We will be back in the summer, but you can get

your cultural fix on our website. Goodbye. Goodbye.

All the energy being stored up in the atmosphere is going out with a

bang in parts of England. Severe thunderstorms about. Flashflood in

being reported, and a