Area Guide A/W 2017

Here’s the latest Area Guide – we’ve teamed up with our friends at Creative Black Country to produce the latest edition featuring…

-100 Masters – Festival of Masters at Starworks Warehouse
-Juneau Projects and a new set of augmented reality animations to try out
-Interview: Amelia Beavis- Harrison
-Interview: Laura Dicken
-Black Country Touring’s Community Cinema
-Interview: Katie Tomlinson
-Funny Things Festival
-Interview: The Orchestra of Chaos
-Interview: Redhawk Logistica (The Joke Exchange)
-Interview: Producer of The Lost Hancock’s – Dave Freak
-Feature – Black Country Type
-Listings

 

15 February Culture events to keep you busy

Until 22 February
NICKLIN REVISITED
Reuben Colley Fine Art
During the 1950s & ‘60s University of Birmingham Geography tutor Phyllis Nicklin captured Birmingham at a time of massive change. Not only was the urban environment being significantly  transformed but new communities were changing the city’s demographic profile too.
In collaboration with Brumpic Reuben Colley Fine Art have invited a number of artists to produce work inspired by Nicklin’s photographs. The exhibition will feature paintings & drawings by Reuben Colley, Mark Godwin, Danny Howes (pictured above), Rick Garland, Horace Panter, Mark Lippett, Stephen Earl Rogers, Annette Pugh and Kevin Line.

5 February – 10 April
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2015
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
This world-renowned exhibition showcases 100 awe-inspiring images, featuring fascinating animal behaviour and breath-taking wild landscapes. Dive deep into the oceans, fly amongst the tree tops and journey across sand dunes discovering the variety of life this world has to offer.

7 February, 6 March, 11am – 5pm (and first Sunday of the month onwards)
MAC CRAFT MARKET
mac birmingham
An exclusive selection of products from local designer makers offering ceramics, jewellery, paintings and much more – it’s a great place to pick up original home and gift items.

9 & 10 February
MOTIONHOUSE: BROKEN
mac birmingham
Broken erupts onto the stage in an adrenaline-filled spectacle. Athletic contact work, spectacular acrobatics and a gripping narrative combine with a revolutionary set design and digital imagery that melds with the performers as they move. Tickets £22.

12 February, 11 March, 15 April, 7.30pm – 10.30pm
COVENTRY LATES
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
One night a month the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry opens their doors for an exciting evening of art, music, drinks, talks, performance and history inspired fun.

13 February, 12 March, 9 April, Saturdays 10.30am – 3.30pm
SKETCH COVENTRY
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
Join local urban sketchers in the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry Café for a day of sketching around Coventry city centre at this informal and supportive event.

14 February
VALENTINE MATINEE: BRIEF ENCOUNTER
The Lighthouse
Tickets £6.70 / £6.20 concessions £4.50 under 25s/students

15-20 February
CREATIVE WEEK IN THE MEAD GALLERY
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
In response to Gerard Byrne’s new exhibition, Coventry artist Jo Gane will curate the activities area in the Mead Gallery.

16 & 17 February
20 STORIES HIGH: THE BROKE N BEAT COLLECTIVE
mac birmingham
20 Stories High and Theatre-Rites join forces to create a unique mash up of hip-hop, theatre and puppetry bringing together 4 amazing artists: beat-boxer Hobbit, b-boy  LoGisTics, puppeteer Mohsen and, from the Midlands, singer/rapper Elektric, to form The Broke ‘N’ Beat Collective. Tickets £12.

16 February, 12–5pm
CAMERA OBSCURA FAMILY DROP-IN
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
FREE drop in event
Birmingham Obscura will be installed at Warwick Arts Centre, allowing participants a chance to explore a mechanical camera obscura with artists Pete Ashton and Jenny Duffin.

17 February, 1-3.30pm
PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY FAMILY WORKSHOP
Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre
Use recycled materials to construct a working pinhole camera in this workshop led by Jo Gane. £3, book in advance.

19 February
CHRIS MARTIN: THIS SHOW HAS A SOUNDTRACK
mac birmingham
Movies always have a soundtrack… so why can’t a stand up show? Join ‘one of the UK’s best observationalists’ (The Guardian) for a brand new stand-up show accompanied by its own original soundtrack. Tickets £10.

25 February
NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE: AS YOU LIKE IT
The Lighthouse & mac birmingham

25 February
DENADA DANCE: HAM & PASSION
mac birmingham
A gender-bending evening of seductive and provocative dance. Three short narrative works form this kitschy and filmic bill of contemporary dance with a very Spanish flavour – a true feast of meaty dance soaked in a salsa of passion.
Tickets £11 (£9).

26 February
AUSTENTATIOUS: AN IMPROVISED JANE AUSTEN NOVEL
mac birmingham
Undoubtedly one of the most talked-about shows on the UK comedy scene, Austentatious: is a comedy play spun in the inimitable style of Jane Austen – and based entirely on audience suggestions.
Tickets £15 (£13).

REVIEW > Dave Gorman at Symphony Hall

“If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” intoned Dave Gorman at Birmingham Symphony Hall on Thursday night. In normal circumstances this may have seemed presumptuous as this was the opening gambit of his two hour set. However, and as many of the Gorman devotees in attendance may have suspected, this was merely a preamble to an in-depth statistical analysis of the popular song in graph form via the Stafford funnyman’s weapon of choice, the Powerpoint presentation.

It is a gross understatement to say that this is a man with an inquisitive nature. Previous undertakings have included an expedition to track down 54 namesakes and a globetrotting Googlewhack Adventure. Viewers of “Modern Life is Goodish”, who no-doubt swelled Thursday’s crowd will have been pleased to see many of the elements that make that show so successful in full effect as over the course of a consistently engaging two-hour set Gorman repeatedly challenged the accepted norms and the mundane. In doing so he turned a spotlight on subjects as diverse as Paul Hollywood, selfies and Mrs. Gorman’s knees with a seasoned confidence that enabled him to hold the audience’s interest without the need for scattergun one-liners and the self-assuredness to occasionally let Powerpoint deliver his punchlines.

Gorman demonstrated his love of the lower reaches of the internet in what for many were the highlights of the show, two “Found Poems” lovingly compiled from the comments sections of website news stories. Lacking the usual string quartet, Dave was accompanied firstly by a somewhat reluctant CD and for the conclusion of the show by support act for the evening, Nick Doody. The Yorkshireman had earlier performed an excellent half-hour set of incisive, topical satire and proved himself to be an equally accomplished pianist as the show was bought to a hilarious denouement.

It’s fair to say that when the Symphony Hall crowd spilled out into the cold Birmingham night they certainly were happy, and boy did they know it.

Words: Ian Thomas

SHOUT Festival 2015, 12 Nov-22 November

Back for its seventh edition, SHOUT 2015 encompassing the best in live performance, theatre, comedy, music, visual art, talks and film that explores Queer and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and LGBT themes.

Here’s our pick of what to see…

NOVEMBER Comedy round-up

There is a plethora of funny people heading to Brum over the next few weeks. Ian Thomas picks out the best of the bunch here…

David O’Doherty  
12 November
mac Birmingham 
@mac_birmingham 
£16 (£14 conc.) 
macbirmingham.co.uk
We Are All In The Gutter But Some Of Us Are Looking At David O’Doherty :- Fresh from delighting the Edinburgh Fringe for the 14^th consecutive year the lanky Leinsterman, self-proclaimed “Lidl Enya” and former Perrier award winner hits the mac with an evening of exuberant humour and wistful musical numbers played on a tiny 1980s keyboard.

Area Guide November

The latest edition of Area Guide is here and packed with events for November. This month’s beautiful cover is by Ben Javens who is taking part in the Bicycle Basket Bazaar at Eye Candy which is happening on the 2nd November. Read it online here.

WIN tickets to see Richard Herring!

Hobgoblin, the official sponsor of the Leamington Spa Comedy Festival, has teamed up with AREA Culture Guide to offer you the chance to win a pair of tickets to see Richard Herring perform live at the Royal Spa Centre. Hobgoblin’s sponsorship of the comedy festival is perfect for its ‘Season of Mischief’ which runs throughout the whole of October, continuing its reign as the ‘Unofficial Beer of Halloween’. Join in the fun by clicking ‘Like’ on Hobgoblin’s Facebook to have a go on its Madvent calendar for your chance to win mischievous prizes every day throughout October.

Area Culture Guide – MAY edition

Check out the latest edition of AREA CULTURE GUIDE featuring art, music, fashion & shopping, comedy plus the opportunity to win tickets to over 30 festivals. Click here to see the digital edition or pick up your copy from outlets around the West Midlands.

Area Culture Guide – March/April edition

Check out the all-new sparkly edition of Area Culture Guide for March and April. Take a look inside for Art, Music, Comedy, Theatre and listings…

Love Stirchley More, 14-16 February @PlaceProspector

The South Birmingham suburb of Stirchley has been quietly undergoing something of a cultural revolution over the past few years, thanks to a group of creative and proactive residents with a passion for presenting films in locations like pubs and Balti restaurants, a successful healthy living social enterprise offering courses and produce, a monthly food and craft market as well as live performances and community workshops in and around the locale.