Barbara Nice & Gals in Comedy Fundraising Night – 16th September!

Comedy fundraiser flyer

Our last Comedy Fundraiser event was such a swinging success that we’ve decided to hold another one! We  invite you to join us for a comic feast to raise funds for a new Company van!

Women & Theatre presents

Barbara Nice & Gals
Comedy Fundraiser

Barbara Nice “As hilarious as it is possible to get” The Scotsman.
***** The Independent
***** Chortle

Wednesday 16th September 2009
The Glee Club Birmingham, The Arcadian Centre
Doors 7.30pm / Audience in by 8pm / Show 8.30pm
Admission £15
Allocated seating / club menu available
Box Office: 0871 472 0400/ www.glee.co.uk

Following last year’s sell-out Comedy Night, Women & Theatre are back at The Glee Club to bring you another warm, friendly and hilarious night of laughter on Wednesday 16th September from 7.30pm.

Comedy legend Barbara Nice has been driving Women & Theatre’s iconic purple van, the length and breadth of the UK, gathering a high quality line up of the Nation’s funniest women including Jo Enright, Annette Fagon and Kerry Godliman.

Described as “a hybrid between Mrs Merton and Victoria Wood” (The Times), Barbara Nice “doesn’t just blur the gap between audience and performer – she obliterates it” (Edinburgh Evening News.)

Barbara Nice is the comedy creation of Women & Theatre’s Artistic Director and founder member Janice Connolly. Janice has also been seen in Peter Kay’s award winning Phoenix Nights. Other TV credits include Max and Paddy, Thin Ice BBC, Dead Man Weds ITV and Coronation Street.

Everyone welcome!

Women & Theatre is a Birmingham-based company with 25 years experience of creating illuminating and accessible new theatre about things that matter.  Women & Theatre is an award-winning company and has been pioneering new ways of addressing contemporary issues through performance since 1983. The company creates engaging drama, which promotes the spiritual, social, physical and mental well being of the whole community. We aim to reflect the language and lives of ordinary people, giving voices to those not usually heard.

Throughout the years, Women & Theatre has held the belief that laughter is food for the soul. Within all our work there is always a healthy dollop of humour that we bring to audiences across Birmingham, the West Midlands and the UK. Securing a new van for the company will keep us reaching diverse communities and professional audiences for many years to come!

All proceeds to Women & Theatre new Van Fund!
Women & Theatre (B’ham) Ltd. Registered in England & Wales No. 1998448; Registered Charity No. 518580

Posted: August 5, 2009 in Uncategorized
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Touch Wood – Touring for Breast Awareness Month in October 2009

Women & Theatre favourite and Healthy Alliance Award for Cancer Prevention winner Touch Wood is on the road again for Breast Awareness Month in October 2009.  Touch Wood tells the touching and funny story of Sheila, who receives her first invitation to Breast Screening.  Touch Wood was developed to increase the uptake of breast screening amongst over 50s women, and the play takes a friendly approach to promoting the importance of screening and dispelling myths.  Performances of Touch Wood are available for booking in October 2009 for community venues and schools, for more information or to register interest, please get in touch.

Posted: July 15, 2009 in Announcements, news
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Park:Life Summer School – 27th July – 7th August 2009

This Summer, Women & Theatre are holding a two-week Summer School with local young women, to create a piece of drama about being a teenage girl in 2009.  Park:Life will explore issues that are important to the young women, including relationships, exam pressure, safety and life in urban spaces, particularly in the context of Birmingham’s urban regeneration.  Over a two-week creative devising process they will create a performance to be held in Highgate Park on 7th August, linking in with the public launch of Birmingham City Council’s Big City Plan.

We are currently recruiting participants and are interested in working with young women, and girls who are at risk of exclusion.  Please contact us if you would like to register interest on behalf of yourself or young women that you work with.

Park:Life has been made possible with funding from Connexions, Birmingham City Council, The Grantham Yorke Trust and the Charles Henry Foyle Trust

Posted: July 14, 2009 in Announcements, news
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Hooded at the Birmingham Rep on 12th and 13th June

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Thursday 11th & Friday 12th June 2009, 6.30pm
The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Tickets: £3 (£1.50 concs.)
Box Office: (0121 236 4455 / www.birmingham-rep.co.uk)

Are they carrying knives? (Or books?)

Exploring young people’s lives, alliances and prejudices in our multicultural city, Hooded is a refreshing, fast moving, and seamless piece of contemporary theatre created by a diverse group of teenagers working with Women & Theatre.

Is it any different being a teenager now than it was then?

Real stories from the lives of “The Hooded Ones” are played out with verve, passion and conviction whilst original music, film and projection made by the young people weave an authentic back drop.

They may all look the same but everyone’s story is different…

Hooded has been developed with funding from Birmingham City Council’s Creative Futures, Awards for All, The Bryant Trust, The Baron Davenport Charity and The Harry Payne Trust.

Posted: May 27, 2009 in Announcements, Community, Education, news
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Women & Theatre announce new Artistic Programme for 2009/10

Women & Theatre step into Spring with the announcement of our new Artistic Programme for 2009/2010.  Follow the links to find out more about each project, or download our information sheets  below. If you would like to discuss how each project could work for you, please do get in touch with us.

Scoffing: Available for touring in Summer 2009
Theme: Obesity – causes and diagnosis
Target audience: Weight management professionals, GPs, those diagnosed as clinically obese
Powerful and moving, Scoffing is a one-woman show full of music and images which resonates with people of all ages, shapes and sizes about eating, body image and self-confidence, exploring the complex factors which affect obesity and weight management.

We are holding a sharing of Scoffing on Wednesday 13th May 2009 at 3pm at The Friends Institute, Highgate. Please let us know if you would like to attend

Step by Step with May & June: Available for touring 29th June – 10th July 2009
Theme: Healthy Eating and Healthy Lifestyles
Target Audience: General community, Schools (Year 6, Secondary & parents’ groups)
Larger than life characters May & June tackle healthy eating in this interactive performance.  A great way to get people thinking and talking about the big question: why don’t we eat healthily when we know we should?

Bare Drama: Available for touring in Autumn 2009
Theme: Gang Prevention
Target Audience: Schools (Years 7 and 8 )
An exciting new play about how gangs form and gang prevention.   The programme encompasses a play and workshop where pupils have the chance to engage in-depth with the issues raised.

The Learning Curve: Available for touring in October 2009
Theme: Breast Health and Breast Awareness
Target Audience: Community Health Promotion, Health Professionals’ Training, Schools (Year 9 and up, Colleges)
This audience favourite is back for Breast Awareness Month 2009.  Covering a range of issues from body image to breastfeeding and screening, the play is ideal for health awareness and promotion.

If you have a burning issue you think we could help with, we are also available for new commissions and projects.  Each year we work with a range of partners to produce new pieces of theatre about issues that are important to them; recent partners include Leicester YMCA, Action for Inclusion, Scope, RoC Drama, Walsall tPCT, and Walsall Community Arts.

Downloads:
Health & Community Programme for 0910
Education Programme for 0910

Posted: May 7, 2009 in Announcements, news
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Women & Theatre Taking Shop on Women & War – 7th March 2009

“Women’s lives and their bodies have been the unacknowledged casualties of war for too long”  Amnesty International, Lives Blown Apart
Women and War

Women & Theatre Talking Shop
International Women’s Day, 7th March 10.30 -3.00

What is the relationship between Women and War?
What would you fight for?
How do we overcome the trauma of being involved in warfare both for ourselves and our children?
What part can women play in bringing peace?
Come and talk –together we can make a difference.

Women & Theatre are marking International Women’s Day 2009 by opening our doors and inviting women to come and talk with us about Women and War.  We are interested in looking as broadly as possible at the topic including domestic violence, and rape as well as the role of women in warfare  as victims, peacekeepers and soldiers.

Our “Talking Shop “ day will consist of listening to guest speakers and  monologues, looking at photographs and articles and discussion in small and large groups.

Join us at Friends Institute, 220 Moseley Road, Birmingham, B12 0DG on 7th March 10.30 -3.00.
Free event but please bring some food to share for lunch.  Please note that this is a women only event.
RSVP to 0121 440 4203 or info@womenandtheatre.co.uk

Posted: February 16, 2009 in Announcements, news
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Stronger on tour and available for booking in March 2009

‘Very well written – very well researched. I related to it so well it could have been my story!”
Stronger explores the experiences of families of children with additional needs, highlighting some of the pressures and joys that families with a disabled child can experience and what strengthens them.  The play is accompanied by a facilitated post show discussion, allowing audiences to engage with the issues raised and receive more information. Stronger was commissioned by Scope to support its Strengthening Families initiative and was developed through research with the help of family members and Scope staff.

The programme is suitable for parents’ groups and relevant professionals.   Stronger is touring in London & Middlesex in February 2009 and is available for further bookings in March.  To find out more or discuss a booking, please contact us.

Posted: February 5, 2009 in Announcements, news
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May and June are Bilingual!

Intrepid duo May and June continue their sterling work getting to the bottom of healthy eating and healthy lifestyles in Walsall.  Their latest venture is a DVD, commissioned by Walsall Creative Development Team, sharing the key messages of their healthy eating play, Step by Step with May & June.  The DVD will be used as a training tool and distributed to GPs surgeries and community venues, bringing a bit of entertainment with a clear healthy messages to waiting rooms across Walsall!

The DVD also has a bilingual language track, with the option to listen to the dialogue in English or Hindi.  May & June proudly continue Women & Theatre’s tradition of crossing language barriers to reach a variety of communities.  Over the years we’ve created bilingual theatre with South Asian languages (Chale Ga, Chale Ga, Dil Ke Baat), sign language (All of Us, Woman First), and even an entirely non-verbal play, Un-Kahi (Unspoken), which reached diverse audiences regardless of spoken language.  Women & Theatre also regularly work with community interpreters and signers to support performances, discussions and research.

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The Cervical Monologues on Tour in Sandwell

Cervical Monologues is one of our most popular plays, an engaging collection of monologues exploring life, love, sex and the cervical screening process.  Since its premiere in 2005, Cervical Monologues has been updated with new monologues to reflect women’s experience even more widely.  Now Birmingham’s answer to The Vagina Monologues is back for a two week tour of Sure Starts in Sandwell, thanks to Sandwell PCT.  Selected dates of the tour are open to the public, so if you’d like to catch the ladies in action, you can come along to:

Friday 30th January, 1pm  at Hillside Childrens Centre
Tuesday 3rd February,  6pm at Priory Family Centre
Thursday 5th February, 1.30pm at Galton Valley Children’s Centre
Friday 6th February, 1.30pm at Greenacre Children’s Centre (Brandhall Primary School)

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Reviews of The Bad One

After a triumphant opening at the Birmingham Rep with four sell-out shows and lovely warm responses, The Bad One is off on tour. For your chance to catch one of the remaining performances check out the tour schedule. We’ve had some great reviews so far, here’s the pick:

” Something of a gothic tour-de-force” ***

“With Connolly`s inimitable stage prescence complemented by  good performances from Susie Riddell, Laurence Saunders and Heather Pilkington, and neat staging under Terina Talbot`s direction, it should be a good ambassador for Birmingham theatre “

Terry Grimley, Birmingham Post 27 sept 2008

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“The Bad One will have your brain ticking long after the paid performance; a sure sign that this production has real legs “.     ****

Star Bendick  – What’s on Stage Midlands  Sept 28 2008

Check out the full review here

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Are  we sitting comfortably ?

“Pants and naked bottoms have their place but I felt a little short changed by having my expectations raised by some delightful and witty humour in the first few minutes, to be disapointed as it slipped all too easily to excessive coarse humaour.

The rest of the audience, on the other hand , only roared louder and louder with each successive joke “

 Ben Whitehouse
ReviewsGate.com
Posted by Rod Dungate, Sept 29th 2008

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Two Sides To The Story

“This may be a piece of mysterious whimsy, but it is rooted in the real world , with plenty of insight into how the two sides of the brain work together and the nature of duality ”

David Baldwin, Previewing the show in Metro Life  Sept 25th 2008
www.metro.co.uk

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Dark and sinister and deliciously funny

“A glorious resolution which is both moving and symbolic in equal measure”

“This is a play with a serious edge packaged with great humour and panache… Like a strong cup of tea with five sugars, The Bad One goes down a treat!”

Nice review there from Kevin Quarmby Take a look at the full review on his website. The question is, is Laurence really that sleazy? We’re not so sure!
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Posted: October 10, 2008 in Announcements, news
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