Urban and the Shed Crew: Riveting and Available to Stream
You listen… sometimes.
Urban and the Shed Crew is a powerful, moving story packed with memorable, searing performances, including a terrific ensemble of young actors.
Beautifully done, all, esp. Richard Armitage (Chop), Anna Friel (Greta) and Fraser Kelly (Urban). Unforgettable.
The film garnered the People’s Award at the Newcastle Film Festival, and Richard Armitage, as Chop, captured the Best Actor award.
Rent it now.
Some Urban and the Shed Crew scenes…
Thank you, Candida Brady, for this wonderful film, and thank you, Bernard Hare, for writing something – as Urban says in the film – that means something.
Urban and the Shed Crew to Premiere at Newcastle International Film Festival
Photo by Alistair Morrison.
Based on Bernard Hare’s memoir Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew, the film adaptation Urban and the Shed Crew, directed by Candida Brady and starring Richard Armitage, Anna Friel, with Fraser Kelly as Urban, will screen at the Newcastle Film Festival Saturday, March 31, at 7 PM.
The screening will include a reception, the film, and an “In Conversation’ panel featuring Fraser Kelly, Richard Armitage, Candida Brady, Titus Oglivy and more. It will be held at The Biscuit Factory (16 Stoddart Street) in Newcastle. Tickets are £32.93, and are available now.
For more information on the screening and to reserve your tickets, check out the Urban and the Shed Crew Newcastle Film Festival site.
The film also stars an astonishingly talented young cast as the ‘Crew’, including Charlie Heaton (Frank), Jonathan Payne (Skeeter), Liam Ainsworth (Sparky), Olivia Downie Hullah (Molly), Olivia Tomlinson (Kara), Oscar Rogers (Sam), Nadine Rose Mulkerrin (Amber), Ellie Rooney-West (TLS), and Max as Tyson. The film also stars Neil Morrissey as Doc and Kathryn Drysdale as Madge.
The Crew
For more information on the film, watch the trailer here, and follow Urban on Twitter and Facebook.
Poster by Graham Humphreys.
Remembering Urban and the Shed Crew’s Urban – Lee Kirton – on the Anniversary of the Film’s World Premiere
On November 7, 2015, at Chapel FM – in the Leeds neighborhood where Chop, Greta, Urban and his Shed Crew lived – a feature film based on these lives made its world premiere to packed houses. In light of these two compelling, sold-out screenings, The Leeds International Film Festival added an extra screening of the film – directed by Candida Brady and based on Bernard Hare’s memoir – the next day, at a larger venue, the historic Hyde Park Picture House. Most of the cast, and many of the actual – now adult – Crew attended, including Lee Kirton, Urban himself.
But the journey of the members of the Shed Crew was never an easy one. And in June, Lee/Urban himself lost his nearly life-long battle with addiction. It happened as playwright Kevin Fegan finished his verse version of The Crew’s story, and staging was being prepped in Leeds.
‘Don’t mourn him too much. (Lee) did what he had to do and now he’s gone. “Deal with it,” to quote Kev. “We did.”‘ says Hare, who officially adopted Lee, and unofficially adopted the Crew and their families. ‘We’ve had to do a bit of speed-grieving around here because of the strange and unique circumstances. Still, I’ll never get used to losing my right arm.’
So the show – as it must – went on, and proved to be a powerful and emotional experience for all who knew, and who knew about, The Crew. With the permission of the playwright, here are his cathartic and striking Prologue and his final scene.
EXCERPTED FROM “THE SHED CREW” BY KEVIN FEGAN.
PROLOGUE
- A WAREHOUSE IN LEEDS. THE AUDIENCE ARE BROUGHT INTO A HOLDING BAY. URBAN IS ON HIGH. CHOP IS DOWN BELOW WITH THE AUDIENCE.
URBAN
Hey, Chop, it’s great up here –
come and see the sights.
CHOP
You know I’m feared of heights.
Who’s is this warehouse?
URBAN
Since when did we care?
We’re two infamous outlaws, us.
CHOP
Urban, come down will you, one last time?
URBAN
Why, what did you have in mind?
CHOP
Good place to tell our story?
I know it’s 2017
and things have changed –
URBAN
Never be the same again.
CHOP
I know what you mean.
URBAN
Who’s gunna start, me or you?
CHOP
You kick off, while we wait
for the rest of the Shed Crew.
URBAN
When we first met Chop, he became
some kind of fat bastard spirit guide:
some of us were ten, some of us were fifteen,
some of us were mental, some of us were mean;
we were walking on the wild side,
feral,
not like mowgli in the jungle
befriended by kindly animals,
more like Lord of the Flies,
abandoned on some desert island
in the inner city of Leeds.
We were totally off the lead,
we took care of our own needs
and we grew like rampant weeds
in the financial flower-bed of the North.
Yes, we were Thatcher’s illegitimate bastards
but we didn’t need saving,
we were children of the rave scene
and we knew how to party
in the graveyard of Leeds.
CHOP
They’re all my family.
URBAN
Yeah, dysfunctional.
CHOP
Especially Urban, who I adopted from day one.
URBAN
Why did you do that, Chop,
when I’ve been in and out of prison
since the day I was born?
CHOP
You’ve been like a son to me.
URBAN
Shut up, you nonce, you’re embarrassing me.
CHOP
Listen to me for once.
There’s something about you, Urban,
I knew it from the start.
URBAN
Told you before, Chop, you’re all heart,
it’ll get you nowhere.
CHOP
You were twelve years old in 1995,
a cheeky little gobshite,
who couldn’t read nor write –
THE SHUTTERS OPEN TO THE WAREHOUSE AND
CHOP LEADS THE AUDIENCE INTO THE MAIN SPACE.
One thing you should know
about the downtrodden and the poor:
in every slum, there’s a natural
conspiracy against law and order.
There’s give for those who can give
and there’s take for those who take.
You see, when the stakes are high
some people would rather turn to crime
than live with the leftovers of life.
As for me, I see every little crime as a dead rat
in the Tories’ water tank;
some of us are just waiting for a chance
to smash and grab, pillage and burn,
turn society upside down
and shake the coins from its pockets,
put a rocket under its arse
and shoot it to the moon
to the thumping beat of an old-school choon.
DANCE MUSIC.
SCENE 14 (Final Scene)
THEY ARRIVE AT THE LAKE DISTRICT IN THEIR STOLEN
CAR AND MAKE CAMP.
SHED CREW
They park up at Lake Windermere
and recky the lie of the land.
They camp in the woods nearby
and sit around a warm fire making plans.
The pitch has good voodoo.
CHOP
Right, you all know what we have to do.
THEY PUT ON BALACLAVAS AND GLOVES. URBAN
CARRIES EXCALIBUR, CHOP CARRIES THE
BOLT-CROPPERS, SAM A PETROL CAN AND PIXIE AN OLD
RAG AND MATCHES.
SHED CREW
At midnight, they return to the lake.
CHOP
Me and Urb will nick a rowing boat;
you guys be quick torching the car.
SAM POURS PETROL OVER THE CAR AND PIXIE LIGHTS
THE RAG AND THROWS IT IN. THERE IS A WHOOSH AS IT
CATCHES FIRE. CHOP CUTS THE CHAIN TO A ROWING
BOAT AND JUMPS IN WITH URBAN.
URBAN
Let’s row to the island
and watch the fire engines.
THEY ROW.
CHOP
It’s time, Urban: throw Excalibur
into the lake while the flames burn.
THE BOAT WOBBLES AS URBAN STANDS UP.
It’s a real shame, Urbie,
I was hoping you’d change the world for me.
URBAN THROWS THE MACHETE INTO THE WATER.
URBAN
Chop, man, that’s your job;
you’re the only one can read and write properly;
you’re the teacher, not me.
CHOP
What exactly have I showed you?
How to get locked-up and knocked-up?
How to get twatted on drugs?
Stuff like that?
URBAN
Yeah. And how to be decent
with each other, and kind;
how to chill out and not be
fucking lunatics all the time.
You have to tell our story:
get in touch with that Fergal Keane,
tell him how it is for real.
CHOP
Maybe I will; what the fuck,
maybe I’ll write him a letter,
maybe I’ll write him a book.
REST OF THE SHED CREW JOIN THEM.
SHED CREW
We lived it, we couldn’t care less;
most of us are still here to tell the tale:
some of us are addicts
and some run our own business,
some of us are in jail
and some are as straight as a vicar’s dick
and some are completely off the rails.
But look at us: we’re all in a book.
Deal with it, we did; this is for real.
A STORM BREAKS. THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.
URBAN
What about me, Chop? What became of me?
CHOP
What can I say? It’s 2017, Urbie,
you’ve left the scene.
URBAN
But we’ll always have our story.
CHOP
Some things can’t be undone;
I’m gunna miss you, son.
URBAN STARTS TO LEAVE.
All that energy has to go somewhere:
you’ll always be in the “ch’i” –
the energy blazing through every living thing.
I’ll not mourn;
but instead, when it thunders and lightning
and kicks up a storm,
I’ll think of you, Urban, kickin’-off up there
without a care in the world.
URBAN HAS GONE.
###
Director Candida Brady is hoping to release her film of Urban and the Shed Crew globally online. At this point, nothing official has been announced. For updates, please check Ms. Brady’s Twitter account, as well as the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the film.
Chop (Richard Armitage) and Urban (Fraser Kelly) on the last day of filming ‘Urban and the Shed Crew’.
Ah, Berlin Station, your international and US casting staff deserve an Emmy
Berlin Station S2 continues S1’s tradition of blending its superb US cast with equally gifted international actors to create a talented, tight ensemble. The series airs in the US on EPIX Sunday nights at 9/8C, and on a slight delay in territories worldwide.
Let’s keep working on the UK, shall we, Paramount TV?
Richard Armitage as Daniel Miller (aka Trevor Price).
Leland Orser as Berlin Station Deputy Chief Robert Kirsch.
Mina Tander as Esther Krug.
Ashley Judd as BB Yates, the new Berlin Station Chief.
Thomas Kretschmann as Otto Ganz.
Heino Ferch as Joseph Emmerich. with S1’s divine Michelle Forbes as Valerie Edwards.
New Berlin Station recruit Keke Palmer as April Lewis.
Emilia Schüle as Otto’s daughter, Lena Ganz.
Longtime – now former -colleagues, Valerie (Michelle Forbes) and Steven Frost (Richard Jenkins).
Natalia Wörner as Katerina Gerhardt.
And, burying the lead… OR saving the best for last: Rhys Ifans as Hector DeJean. Welcome back!
Best Actor (and Person) + Generous Fandom + Super Cause = RA Birthday Cybersmile Fundraising Triumph!
He’s so modest, he’ll never admit he was the absent, but ever-present inspiration, but we all know he was!
On the heels of a massive, collaborative social media fundraising campaign – to honor RA’s birthday – The Man Himself took to Twitter with personal thanks. RA, I think may I say, the pleasure was ours!
<HUGE, THRILLED GRIN> And drumroooollllllllllll, please!
The Cybersmile Foundation fundraising total at just after 8 PM US Eastern time: a GARGANTUAN… waaaait for it:
* £10,142
* (which is $15,908 US)
* raised by 448 donations!
So we not only exceeded the £10,000 Dream Goal, but also the 444 donations (to mark RA’s 44th birthday)! And, still, people are giving.
With all my heart, I believe RA’s ‘troops’ are the best fandom/Army any actor could imagine, and the most fabulous community of people to have as pals! At your core, you have kind and generous hearts, and when RA asks for your help – and he rarely does – you step forward and volunteer like the loyal, devoted, compassionate, unselfish people who are this fandom. Even fans like Jade – who wrote that she’s on the brink of homelessness – and others on fixed incomes and tight, tight budgets, contributed. All of you are sensational!
Cut to the chase… RA!
With apologies to Joshua Horowitz, who did a “Happy, Sad, Confused” photo with the Hannibal gang at Comic Con, I hope THIS was RA’s face HAPPY face today when he heard the news:
RA’s HAPPY face for MTV’s Joshua Horowitz’s “Happy, Sad, Confused” Photo Collection.
~ Taken at ComicCon15
(And maybe he’ll give us a Thrilled-Beyond-Words selfie later!)
This, I think, is a great moment for the RArmy… and you insubordinate fans who gave generously, but won’t call yourselves part of the Army <heh> (And yes, I’m talking about you, Yvonne Lustenberger, m’dear Twitter pal!)
So we did it, troops! Raise a glass of pinot noir, vodka, a Red Dragon Tini, your favorite tipple, or just grab a bowl of chocolate ice-cream. You all deserve it.
I file this post with great affection for you all, and am proud to be a part of this community more than I can express.
Cheers, Marcia
You may also follow Richard Armitage US
on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RA! We Cherish You, Each Other & Want to Help Make the Web A Kinder Place!
It’s your BIRTHDAY, RA! August 22 at last!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RA!
But we all know – that to you – your birthday is much more than chocolate ice cream and loads of cupcakes: your birthday is an opportunity for your “well-wishers” – aka the RArmy – to demonstrate how much we care. And this year, on the anniversary of your debut on Twitter, your cause is making the web a kinder place.
In a post on Weibo, RA said: “Let us in the online world, cherish each other, care about each other.”
RA on Weibo: “Let us in the online world, cherish each other, care about each other.”
Referencing Cybersmile? Yes, I think that’s clear. Support them here:
https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
That’s right, this year, The RA Birthday Cause is The Cybersmile Foundation, the anti-cyberbullying charity, working to put an end to cyberbullying, help its victims, and create positive attitudes and interactions and make the web a kinder place!
To add your support. visit Cybersmile on JustGiving here: https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
Since RA announced this birthday initiative, the RArmy has stormed the Cybersmile JustGiving website and has done so with kind, generous hearts (and open wallets!): TODAY – just after 5 PM US Eastern Time – RA’s troops have given £7,880 ($12,367 US) from 348 donors!
And it’s HOURS until Midnight of August 22! If you haven’t yet, again, here’s the link to donate.
Please, everyone, let’s do what we can to celebrate RA’s birthday
in a way that will make a difference to
thousands of people who need a hand.
If you’re feeling especially generous, all the organizations RA supports do incredible work with few resources. To also lend a helping hand to RA’s other causes, go to JustGiving for the rest of his list: YoungMinds, Anthony Nolan, Childline, Shelter, Barbado’s, and The Salvation Army, and give as generously as you can afford.
If you already know which cause you want to support, here are direct links to all:
Cybersmile: https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
Happy Birthday, RA!
We hope you spend it with those you love most and make you laugh loudest,
and that your celebration lasts alllll yeeeeear loooooong!
You may also follow Richard Armitage US
on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
Wish RA ‘Happy Birthday’: Support Cybersmile and Help End Cyberbullying!
Cybersmile: RA is the anti-cyberbullying organization ‘s Official Ambassador!
Richard Crispin Armitage couldn’t make his birthday wishes to us clearer than his two tweets today, and – through implication – his post on Weibo.
THIS year, we can let him know that we wish him a very Happy Birthday (which rolls around Saturday, August 22), by supporting the one cause upon which he has focused in these posts: Cybersmile!
The full link is https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
Wish RA a happy birthday by donating to Cybersmile!
(Sorry, I HAVE to add the “cupcake thing,” for nostalgia, if for no other reason. RA joined Twitter on his birthday last year and this shot was his very first tweet.. So RA: completely unexpected and adorable!)
On August 22, 2014, RA made his Twitter debut on his birthday. This shot was the tweet, or as RA called it: “the cupcake thing.”
And if you’re wondering about how he recommends we express our birthday wishes, via donating to Cybersmile, here’s his second tweet:
Multiples of 4! Got it? Easy! Not easy enough? Here’s the direct link:
https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
What’s more, there’s an RA WEIBO POST: “Let us in the online world, cherish each other, care about each other.”
Sounds like a clear Cybersmile reference, to me. Doesn’t it to you?
RA on Weibo: Referencing Cybersmile? Yes, I think so. Support RA and Cybersmile here:
https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
Please, everyone, let’s do what we can to celebrate RA’s birthday in a way that will
make a difference to thousands of people who need a hand.
All the organizations RA supports do incredible work with few resources, like Cybersmile, whose RA page is here.
To also lend a helping hand to RA’s other causes, go to JustGiving for the rest of his list:
YoungMinds, Anthony Nolan, Shelter, Childline, Barbado’s, and
The Salvation Army, and give as generously as you can afford.
If you already know which cause you want to support, here are direct links to all:
Cybersmile: https://www.justgiving.com/richard-armitage17/
Oh, and Happy Birthday, RA!
We hope you spend it with those you love most and make you laugh loudest,
and that your celebration lasts alllll yeeeeear loooooong!
You may also follow Richard Armitage US
on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
Wish RA a Happy Birthday & Change Lives at the Same Time!
Once upon a time, not so very long ago, on Sunday, August 22, Richard Crispin Armitage made his world debut.
Last year, on his birthday – Friday, August 22 – Richard Crispin Armitage (aka @RCArmitage) made his Twitter debut, and the photo above was his first tweet.
What a whirlwind of a year it’s been! And now it’s birthday time again!
RA’s birthday is coming up this Saturday, August 22.
Unlike last year when he was in The Crucible at the Old Vic, this year we won’t know where he’ll be on his birthday. So for this time around – like many times before – some will probably send special gifts or greetings to the offices of his representatives; some will also send birthday greetings on Twitter; and some – including many from both categories above – will also choose to wish RA a happy birthday by supporting one of his chosen charities. RA has made it clear that he appreciates his “well-wishers”/followers/admirers/fans/Army supporting his causes.
RA supports a number of organizations doing remarkable, much-needed good work. For his list, go to JustGiving, and – because it hadn’t been added to RA’s JustGiving page at this writing – you can also give directly to his latest cause, CyberSmile, through its JustGiving page. (All individual groups’ JustGiving links are also below.)
Give as generously as you can afford. We know these causes mean much to RA, and – who knows? – he might even prefer that we spend our money there, rather than on snazzy fluorescent socks or tubs chocolate ice cream.
Classic Sassy Sox Tour shot. And remember, RA admitted that the only thing he “stole” from the Hobbit set was socks! #CriminalMastermind
RA and ice cream: a true, life-long love affair! Photo by Sarah Dunn.
Though he does look good with – and in – a sports car….
Image courtesy of Richard Armitage Net.
…we can’t afford to give him a sports car. But we can afford a little help for his friends…
Please, everyone, let’s do what we can to celebrate RA’s birthday in a way that will
make a difference to thousands of people who need a hand.
The organizations RA supports do incredible work with few resources.
Go to JustGiving for his list – Shelter, YoungMinds,
Childline, Anthony Nolan, Barbado’s,
CyberSmile and The Salvation Army – and give as generously as you can afford.
If you already know which cause you want to support, here are direct links to all:
CyberSmile
https://www.justgiving.com/cybersmile/
Oh, and Happy Birthday, RA!
We hope you spend it with those you love most and make you laugh loudest,
and that your celebration lasts alllll yeeeeear loooooong!
You may also follow Richard Armitage US
on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
What he says…
Thanks to RA for his kind spirit, and to Richard Armitage Quotes on Facebook for capturing these words in this image.
Where’s the Holiday *and* RA Love? RIGHT HERE! Share!
Good, old-fashioned Suthrn neck-hugs to each and every one of you this holiday season!
To many of us, this time of year can sometimes be rough. You get stressed, there are all these pressures: family gatherings, gifting, celebrations, parties… so many demands. The next thing you know, you’re grumpy! (Even good old RA US!) I’ve been frank about my struggle with depression, and this time of year could be, well, difficult. But I know that I have my own community, a community that embraces not only me, but also you – and others – as well: the Richard Armitage community!
Like the man himself, I believe our community epitomizes the spirit of this season, which is all about love, inclusion, hope, promises kept and kindness. When I look at the Richard Armitage fandom, I know I’m truly blessed to have you guys in my life. AND we are all blessed to have each other. (And RA, too, o’course. After all, we are a community because of his professional artistry and personal integrity and spirit!)
Share the love!
SHARE OUR VALUES OF LOVE,
INCLUSION AND KINDNESS!
RA supports a number of charities doing superb,
much-needed good work.
Go to JustGiving for a list of them all,
and please give as generously as you can afford.
Open your heart: love, live and enjoy!
And special thanks to Marlise Boland and The Anglophile Channel –
@AnglophileTV on Twitter, on Facebook and OH!
those interviews on the YouTube Channel –
for the great RA images in this blog entry!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!
And very best wishes for a happy and *playful* 2015!
You may also follow Richard Armitage US
on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
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