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VANITAS ARTS : DIGITAL STORYTELLING
Vanitas Arts is a collaboration between Director and Producer Amanda Huxtable and Digital Storyteller and Producer Shirley Harris who have been developing bold and ambitious cross-platform work in the North since 2016.
Using combined media - screen, digital, audio, theatre and music, we tell stories that have been previously overlooked and explore hidden voices that have been silenced. Involving and immersing audiences in our stories is our ambition, alongside developing new partnerships with artists, organisations and venues as we develop. Inclusion and Advocacy are at the core of our work, underpinned by a strong artistic vision and a commitment to researching and developing new, exciting ways of working and storytelling.
Vanitas Arts is a collaboration between Director and Producer Amanda Huxtable and Digital Storyteller and Producer Shirley Harris who have been developing bold and ambitious cross-platform work in the North since 2016.
Using combined media - screen, digital, audio, theatre and music, we tell stories that have been previously overlooked and explore hidden voices that have been silenced. Involving and immersing audiences in our stories is our ambition, alongside developing new partnerships with artists, organisations and venues as we develop. Inclusion and Advocacy are at the core of our work, underpinned by a strong artistic vision and a commitment to researching and developing new, exciting ways of working and storytelling.
Following a busy summer where we were fortunate to receive support from Manchester Factory International and Sheffield Theatres to develop R&D for our next iteration of Persons of Interest - a live immersive audience experience based in Chez Bricktops Jazz Club - hosted by the incredible jazz entrepreneur Ada Bricktops Smith. Developed for a small sharing audience of 50 critical friends; audience feedback will help inform the next stage of our work in development. To celebrate International Women's Day we released 'The Chatelaine', a new audio drama reimagining a moment in time of jazz auteur Josephine Baker, who from her chateau in the south of France offers a safe space for refugees fleeing the Nazis after the fall of Paris.
Our story begins when Josephine, her maid and companion Etta and close confidante Jaques Abtey, head of the counter military intelligence, receive unexpected visitors, German soldiers searching for Jewish and other persecuted citizens. 
'Persons of Interest' audio drama series launches with audio drama featuring jazz star Gladys Bentley
Vanitas Arts has launched the first episode in its new jazz-based audio drama series titled 'Persons of Interest', four audio drama podcasts based on the lives of prominent jazz artists who are Black and Queer: Gladys Bentley, Josephine Baker, Ken 'Snakehips' Johnson and Ada 'Bricktop' Smith.
The series complements Vanitas Arts’ ever-growing suite of digital storytelling, cross-platform productions that hold inclusion at their core and explore stories from history that have previously been overlooked. The first episode in the podcast series: ‘You’re Somethin' Else, Gladys’, written by Anita Franklin and produced by Vanitas Arts, reimagines the story of former Drag King Gladys Bentley, who finds herself and husband Charles living at her mother's house in the 1950's US McCarthy Era. Gone are the golden years of the Harlem Renaissance when Gladys could single handedly fill the Clam Club as one the biggest earners on the circuit. Now, Gladys and Charles await the arrival of Mike, a journalist sniffing out the stories that could expose the stars for their transgressions and sexual indiscretions.
Creative Enterprise is excited to announce the latest cohort of Female Founders for 2022/23 and our Director Amanda Huxtable is one of the 2022/23 new cohort
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‘We go through life,
we shed our skins,
we become ourselves’
Patti Smith
TRUMPET
Produced by Vanitas Arts
Directed by Amanda Huxtable
Based on the book by Jackie Kay
When the famous jazz trumpet star Joss Moody dies the world learns that he was born a Black female. Joss had spent over 40 years with his breasts bound, in male clothing, and avoiding situations where he might be discovered. He had perceived his success as a jazz musician as an opportunity to live through art without the boundaries and structures that an oppressive society imposes to restrict individuals.
Inspired by Jackie Kay’s novel Trumpet, this project is developing an immersive reimagined version of the story combining the disciplines of performance, live music, theatre, dance and moving image.
Following on from audience evaluations we are developing Trumpet for full performance
Produced by Vanitas Arts
Directed by Amanda Huxtable
Based on the book by Jackie Kay
When the famous jazz trumpet star Joss Moody dies the world learns that he was born a Black female. Joss had spent over 40 years with his breasts bound, in male clothing, and avoiding situations where he might be discovered. He had perceived his success as a jazz musician as an opportunity to live through art without the boundaries and structures that an oppressive society imposes to restrict individuals.
Inspired by Jackie Kay’s novel Trumpet, this project is developing an immersive reimagined version of the story combining the disciplines of performance, live music, theatre, dance and moving image.
Following on from audience evaluations we are developing Trumpet for full performance
