We’re Recruiting: General Manager Maternity Cover

General Manager (Maternity Cover)

Part time: 3 days a week

Fixed Term Contract for 12 months from August 2012

Salary: £29,180 (pro rata)

Award winning company, Women & Theatre seeks a creative and effective General Manager.

Women & Theatre is a project-funded organisation with 28 years’ experience of producing well-researched pieces of original, exciting theatre about things that matter. The company’s work reaches audiences in a variety of settings including theatres, hospitals, community venues, schools and conference centres. By dramatising subjects at the cutting edge of people’s consciousness we create challenging and uplifting theatre that people want to see.

The successful candidate will have a positive attitude, a passion for the arts and the knack for getting the best out of people. They will have experience of financial, project and business management, fundraising and marketing activity and a strong track record in implementing strategy.

If you have relevant experience and are interested in working in a friendly, supportive enviroment, please contact us for an application pack on 0121 449 7117 or info@womenandtheatre.co.uk

Closing date: Wednesday 6^th June 2012, 5pm

Interviews: Wednesday 20^th June 2012

Women & Theatre welcomes applications from all sections of the community

Posted: May 9, 2012 in Announcements, Hiring, news
Tags: Announcements, news, Recruitment
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Another Faithful and Funny Comedy Course and Evening!

Women & Theatre, The Laughing Sole and The Feast are running the third Faithful and Funny Comedy Course, this time at the Springfield Centre, Sparkhill.

Young People of mixed faiths from across the city are working together to create original comedy material, supported by Mrs Barbara Nice, through the first week of the Easter holidays, before sharing their work with audiences on Thursday 5th April.

Faithful and Funny Comedy Evening, is free for all to attend, and is open to everyone. The event will be held at The Springfield Centre, Springfield Road, Moseley, B13 9NY, on Thursday 5th April, 7.30pm. All you need to bring is yourself and a good sense of humour – so join us if you can! Faithful and Funny Flyer

Posted: April 4, 2012 in Announcements, Community, Education, Projects, news
Tags: Announcements, Barbara Nice, Birmingham, Comedy, Community, Education, Janice Connolly, news, young people
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Underrated: Birmingham the Musical – Please Help Us Make This Project Happen!

Underrated: Birmingham the Musical

More miles of canal than Venice? Unlikely.
A tree for every person? Doubtful.
Underrated? Definitely.

Underrated: Birmingham The Musical will be a multi-voiced theatrical extravaganza celebrating the best bits of Brum through the eyes of its young people. Beyond the Bullring and the Balti triangle, what our city means to our most dynamic residents – the next generation who will shape its future.

Underrated has been developed by Women & Theatre working in partnership with Queensbridge Secondary School, Priestley Smith School for the Visually Impaired, and The Children’s Society’s Strong Voices, Strong Lives project for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

This project has been funded by BCC Next Generation, The Edward & Dorothy Cadbury Charitable Trust, The Eveson Trust, The Ernest Cook Trust, the Harry Payne Trust, and supported by mac Birmingham.

Posted: March 21, 2012 in Announcements, Community, Education, news
Tags: Announcements, Birmingham, Community, Education, Janice Connolly, mac, news, young people
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Women & Theatre and The Feast run another Community Comedy Course!

The Feast and Women & Theatre are running a free Comedy Course to bring together Young People (14 – 19 yrs) from Muslim and Christian backgrounds. Come and join popular local comedian Mrs Barbara Nice in an experience that will find the inner comedian in anyone! At the end of the course you’ll have the chance to perform the material you’ve created to local audiences, in a special Faithful and Funny event hosted by Mrs Barbara Nice and headlined by Shaitsa Aziz

The course will run during February half term, with sessions on Monday 13th, 10am – 3pm, Tuesday 14th, 10am – 3pm, and Wednesday 15th, 2pm – 6pm at The Safehaven, Broadway School, The Broadway, Birmingham B20 3DP

A performance will take place on Wednesday 15th February 2012, Featuring Shaista Aziz and local young people from Aston and Perry Barr, hosted by Mrs Barbara Nice.At The Drama Studio, Broadway School, The Broadway, Birmingham, B20 3DP
Free!

Come and join us for this great local night out, featuring stand up from a group young people of Christian and Muslim faith who have been taking part in a comedy course with Mrs Barbara Nice (of Coronation Street and Phoenix Nights fame). Support them as they share their newfound skills in a night guaranteed to be full of laughs!

This project has been funded through the Near Neighbours Fund

Posted: February 7, 2012 in Announcements, news
Tags: Announcements, Comedy, community Young People, news, Religion
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Women & Theatre Announce Tour Dates for Make, Do & Mend

Make, Do and Mend is an exciting new show from Women & Theatre which will be touring community centres and venues week beginning 27th February 2012.

Make, Do and Mend is an interactive partipatory show, exploring ways to make ends meet in the current challenging financial climate. There will eb songs and tips and a chance to discuss and contribute ideas.

For more info please click here”>

Posted: in Announcements, news
Tags: Announcements, Birmingham, Community, local, news, performances, Theatre, Tour
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W&T receive a special commendation in the Royal Society of Public Health’s 2011 Arts & Health Awards

Women & Theatre’s nomination related to the delivery and evaluation of WASTED – our participatory musical theatre project in association with mac, exploring women’s relationship with alcohol. Although we missed out on being one of the 4 award winners, we really value the feedback we have received from the Committee who commented on the excellence and innovative character of our work.

The Committee were very impressed not only by the particular project ‘Wasted’ which was the focus of the nomination, but the wide range of important projects the company has worked on over many years. It also wants to commend you very highly not only for the public health significance of the content of your projects, but for the care taken over consultation and research in developing your productions, and in evaluating their outcomes.

Professor Stephen Clift, Chair of the RSPH Arts & Health Awards Committee

Posted: August 18, 2011 in Announcements, news
Tags: Announcements, awards, news, Public health
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W&T’s Community Comedy Club wins Big Ideas Bonanza!

W&T have shown that laughter really can be the best medicine as its Community Comedy Club wins the Big Ideas Bonanza.

The Big Idea Bonanza – a campaign seeking ideas to improve the health of residents in Birmingham and Solihull – has announced Women & Theatre’s ‘Community Comedy Club’ as the winner of its inaugural award.

W&T’s Community Comedy Club was developed in 2010/11 in partnership with Stanhope Hall Community Centre. It consisted of 4 community comedy courses each culminating in a Comedy Night, where community participants performed their own material alongside a professional headline act  and host Mrs. Barbara Nice, the well loved comedy alter ego of W&T’s Artistic Director Janice Connolly. The courses were very successful with participants reporting raised self esteem and confidence and Comedy Events attracting large audiences and fantastic feedback.

The Big Idea Bonanza prize includes a package of support from The Young Foundation to develop the project further and maximise its potential to:

• Tackle low level mental health issues such as anxiety and depression
• Remove barriers of isolation and loneliness
• Develop new approaches in mental health
• Encourage social inclusion in health, education and the wider community
• Raise confidence and self-esteem
• Provide new opportunities for genuine social engagement

Eleanor Cappell, Social Entrepreneur in Residence at the Birmingham and Solihull NHS Cluster, who managed and ran the Big Ideas Bonanza said  “I and my colleagues at the Young Foundation look forward to working with the ‘Women & Theatre’ team over the coming months developing their ventures sustainability, scalability and impact measurement tools.”

Our Community Comedy Club has been incredibly successful, making a huge impact on individuals’ lives and uniting the Highgate community. We are thrilled to have won this award and have the opportunity to work with The Young Foundation to explore sustainable ways of developing the project, ensuring the benefits of laughter can reach more people in a range of contexts.

Posted: August 17, 2011 in Announcements, Community, Health, Projects, news
Tags: Comedy, Community, new, news, prize
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Look out: the Story Lady is out & about

During the months of June and July Women & Theatre’s ‘Story Lady’ is popping up all over the place – accompanied as always, by her giant ‘story bag’, brimming with objects relating to her many, many stories.

The Story Lady has a passion for stories; for telling them, collecting them, sharing them, performing them, singing them, for perfecting them. She is always looking for new stories, new listeners and new learners. She often appears when she is least expected; she might be hiding in a classroom, in the corner of the library, in a stationary cupboard or even under the head teachers desk! You never know….

The Story Lady project is being developed primarily in partnership with Allens Croft Primary School. It will involve regular visits from the Story Lady who will share stories with pupils and explore the ‘ingredients’ of a good story and help pupils set about creating their own. They will carry out research with people in their local communities and use their real life experiences as the basis for writing stories. The Story Lady will then work with the pupils to share those stories through performance.

The Story Lady will also be travelling on to 6 other Primary schools in Birmingham that will experience a scaled down version of the project, which will nonetheless celebrate stories and develop pupils’ speaking & listening, writing and performance skills.

This project is funded by Allens Croft Primary School and Creativity Culture and Education, as part of the national Creative Partnerships School of Creativity programme.

For more information about bringing the Story Lady to your school, community centre, hospital, workplace, or anywhere where people would like to hear a good yarn, please contact Women & Theatre on 0121 449 7117.

Posted: May 24, 2011 in Announcements, Education, news
Tags: drama, Education, news, Primary Schools, Stories, Storytelling
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Comedy Course & Comedy Evening with The Feast, 11-14 April

The Feast and Women & Theatre present:
Faithful & Funny
Exploring faith        Creating Friendships        Changing lives

Free Youth Comedy Course with Mrs Barbara Nice

Laughter is a powerful force, and can be used to lift up or tear down. We believe young people can be Faithful & Funny

Calling Christian and Muslim young people!!  Come and join local comedian Mrs Barbara Nice, a stand-up comedy star with TV credits including Phoenix Nights and Coronation Street, on a comedy course that will make stand up comics out of total beginners. You also get the chance to perform at our Youth Faithful & Funny Evening at the end.  There are only 10 places, so book now!

Course held Monday 11 April to Thursday 14 April, 10am to 12pm
At The Springfield Centre, Cnr Springfield and Woodlands Roads, Moseley, B13 9NY.
Free for all students, year 10 and above. Refreshments included.
For more information or to join the course contact Helen Tomblin, on 07968 695 812 or helen@birmingham.anglican.org

Interfaith Youth Comedy Evening

Featuring Birmingham local DUNCAN LOGAN, along with Christian and Muslim young people performing stand-up comedy. Hosted by MRS BARBARA NICE.

Thursday 14 April, 7.00pm
at The Springfield Centre, cnr Springfield and Woodland Roads, Moseley.
Free curry and refreshments served.
Free, for Age 15+, everyone welcome.

This special comedy evening features stand-up from a group of Christian and Muslim young people who have been taking part in a comedy course with Mrs Barbara Nice (of Coronation Street and Phoenix Nights fame). Come and support them as they share their newfound skills alongside Barbara Nice and headlining act Duncan Logan, one of the most original, freshest and cleanest acts on the comedy circuit.

‘I really want to book this guy again and again’ – Juice Comedy.
‘Naturally talented, naturally funny’ – Surgery Comedy
‘Fantastic night definitely book him again’ – Stafford Boat Club

Course and comedy night made possible by Westhill Endowment, Women & Theatre and the Diocese of Birmingham.

Posted: April 5, 2011 in Announcements, Uncategorized, news
Tags: Announcements, Barbara Nice, Comedy, faith, news, young people
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Highgate Community Comedy Evening, Wednesday 30th March

Highgate Community Comedy Evening
Local people from Highgate performing their own stand-up comedy
Hosted by Mrs Barbara Nice, and featuring Jo Enright
Wednesday 30th March, 7.30pm
At Stanhope Hall Community Centre, Ketley Croft, Highgate, B12 0XG
Free curry and refreshments
Free, for Age 16+

Have a laugh at this great local night out! This special comedy evening features stand-up from a group of Highgate residents who have been taking part in a comedy course with Mrs Barbara Nice (of Coronation Street and Phoenix Nights fame.) Come and support them as they share their newfound skills alongside Barbara Nice and headlining act Jo Enright.

“I had cramp in my belly, was laughing so much.”
“Very funny. Can’t wait till there is another one. Thanks for a great evening and a great curry!”

This project has been funded through the Heart of Birmingham Teaching Primary Care Trust’s Mental Health Grants Programme 2009-10 and suported by the Digbeth Trust.

Posted: March 18, 2011 in Announcements, news
Tags: Announcements, Barbara Nice, Comedy, news
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