Brook Tate is a Bristol-based artist who has worked his way through Bristol Old Vic's extensive talent development strands to become one of the theatre's Supported Artists. From Open Stage to Open Session to Made In Bristol to Ferment, Brook's journey showcases the bespoke support offered by the theatre to help emerging artists discover their voice and share their craft with the city. This evening, his new family musical Mr Maglump will premiere on Bristol Old Vic's YouTube channel as part of the Bristol Arts Channel, celebrating online content by the city's cultural organisations.
Brook's journey with Bristol Old Vic started through his volunteer work with the local charity Borderlands, which supports refugees, asylum seekers and those with insecure immigration status and, in a partnership with Bristol Old Vic, gives them access to various theatre productions. Brook then appeared on the Bristol Old Vic stage himself during Bristol Open Stage in 2017, the theatre's annual birthday call-out which sees people from across Bristol perform whatever they like in the historic auditorium over the course of one day in May. Brook performed his song Dry Ground and was subsequently put in touch with Bristol Old Vic's Writers Department to become a 2017 Open Session writer, a year-long attachment to the theatre, which supported the development of his first theatre show, Mr Maglump. Mr Maglump is based on a novella by Brook, written for his two little nieces, which focuses on themes of integration within communities and sticking true to yourself. It features original music by Brook and was developed by Bristol Old Vic in collaboration with students from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The piece was shared in a scratch performance in Oct 2018, after which Brook joined Bristol Old Vic's 9th generation of the Made In Bristol programme, an annual residency scheme for young theatre-makers to train within the building.Videos