Pam Taylor
Pam Taylor lives in Wirksworth, works as a modern language teacher at the Anthony Gell School and is a long standing councillor on Wirksworth Town Council. She was a founder member of the Wirksworth Twinning Association and has worked with the Festival for over 20 years with a particular focus on performance.
“I’ve always enjoyed a wide range of performance, film and art exhibitions. One of my favourite artists is Jaume Plensa, whose immense, grandiose sculptures I’ve seen in Prague and at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I love challenging theatre and Nottingham Playhouse has always had a special place in my heart, whether, as a teenager, seeing Franz Wedekind’s “Spring Awakening” or a just a few years ago, Kneehigh’s “Tristan and Yseult”. But the Wirksworth Festival has always worked its magic for me… on numerous occasions pinching myself just to check that I’m really having this particular experience in Wirksworth… the sheer breadth and depth of talent within our community, the nurturing of our young people’s confidence and Ccreativity, the artists of national and international repute who have been pleased to perform here. So many highlights…here’s just a few: Mark Lockett’s Gamelan, IndependDance 20:20 Vision – later performed at the Millennium Dome, the Hillsiders – a local radio soap opera, Jaleo Flamenco dancing at midnight down Coldwell St, Horse and Bamboo with their enormous threatening puppets, St John St Theatre – never failing to hit the spot, Public Service Broadcasting – fresh from Glastonbury, the Serbian film “Black Cat White Cat” shown in the old Baptist Church, Théâtre Témoin with their haunting take on bipolar disorder, Pae-Pae and his Usuthu Dance from Mamelodi in South Africa…..”