THEGAYUK

Tag: Birmingham News

Get the latest LGBT+ Birmingham news from THEGAYUK. Breaking news, features and interviews from the gay community in Birmingham in the UK.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | King Charles III, Birmingham Rep

    ★★★★ – regally captivating.

    (more…)

  • Gay Running Group In Birmingham Awarded £2000 From Pride Fund

    The Birmingham Swifts, the city’s LGBT running group, has been awarded nearly £2000 from the Birmingham Pride Trust Fund to build upon the club’s successes. The money will go towards increasing visibility of the Swifts and improving the quality of running sessions on offer for the LGBT community of Birmingham.

    Members of the group, which has only existed for just over a year, were able to proudly wear new running tops during last month’s Birmingham Pride Parade, but the club will now be able to own group kit for individuals who may not be able to afford to purchase their own. Alongside the clothing, the club will have a flag to act as a focal point at races and events, and new publicity materials to attract prospective members.

    The Swifts will also be able to put on extra sessions to complement the existing offering, by training members as leaders and a coach. This includes more Starting Out sessions, which are based upon the popular couch to 5k programme, and a training plan for the Great Birmingham Run.

    Tommy Hill, chair of the Swifts, said:

    “It’s fantastic that Birmingham Pride have chosen to support the Birmingham Swifts. Together we are promoting health and physical exercise for the LGBT community, and showcasing running within Birmingham.

    “We know there are many barriers for LGBT people when it comes to taking part in sport, such as cost, the fear of homophobia and the belief they will not be good enough. The Swifts are determined to remove these barriers by being an encouraging and supportive group where everyone is welcome, no matter what their ability.
    “After enjoying a successful Birmingham Pride, the Swifts are now looking towards the half marathon in October. Thanks to this funding, we’ll be able to put together a training plan for the race and have a striking visual presence on the day.”

  • Lord Cashman Lends Support To Play Which Tackles Sexual Abuse And Cover Ups

    The cast of a new play called At Ease will be joined by Lord Michael Cashman, on Friday 5 June, during rehearsals to lend his support to the play which tackles the issues surrounding historic sexual abuse and cover-ups.

    Victims of historical physical and sexual army abuse are given a voice in a new play in rehearsal in Birmingham.

    Lord Cashman appears as a character in the play.

    At the centre of this highly unusual play is the correspondence between one-time Household Cavalryman, Alex Rees who was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder, and Michael (Lord) Cashman, who was an intended target. Rees writes he was brutally tortured and raped while in the army in the 1970s. Rees, who died in 2002, identifies adults involved in the bullying and in the parties in which abuse took place. He also identifies army personnel involved in cover-ups. Rees is, at last, given an opportunity to put his story to the public via his extraordinary correspondence.

    The bond between Rees and Cashman, a life-long campaigner for LGBT rights, is both strange and poignant.

    In an attempt to right some wrongs, while contributing to the present debate around historical abuse by giving voice to Rees and others, theatre company DD Arts Birmingham is piloting its new play, AT EASE, from June 17, raising these issues, together with other contemporaneous accounts.

    Pilot performances 17-20 June: Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham. 0121 200 0946.

  • Julian Clary To Rub His Ring For Panto

    Punters are you ready? King of Camp, drinker of Blue Nun and fister of politicians, Julian Clary is ready for Panto.

    Following last year’s record-breaking production of Jack and the Beanstalk, Birmingham Hippodrome has announced another all-star cast for this year’s action-packed pantomime Aladdin, which runs from Saturday 19 December 2015 until Sunday 31 January 2016.

    Julian, 56, who will play Spirit of the Ring, (insert ring jokes here) will be joined by MARTI PELLOW, LEE MEAD, MATT SLACK and ANDREW RYAN.

    Julian Clary has established himself as one of the country’s most recognisable and popular stage and television entertainers. He has turned his hand to comedy, acting, presenting, writing and in 2012 Julian won Celebrity Big Brother. As well as his autobiography, Julian has become an accomplished novelist with a number of best-sellers to his credit. He is a hugely- popular panto performer and has headlined some of the biggest pantomimes around the UK, including Dick Whittington at Birmingham Hippodrome opposite Joan Collins in 2010. Julian plays the Spirit of the Ring.

    Hurrah! Get Booking campers.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense: Hilarity at its best

    ★★★★ | Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense

    Jeeves and Wooster played by Jason Thorpe and Robert Webb respectively, bring to The Birmingham Rep a delightful and hilarious performance of Perfect Nonsense with actor Christopher Ryan. There is an initial gag before the curtains go up by a speaker announcing that phones should be switched off, for it might interrupt the first performance of Mr Wooster and he might feel nervous. Of course, merriment ensued.

    Perfect Nonsense tells a story of Wooster and his butler Jeeves who are putting on a play, but it is Wooster’s debut so he starts the show with running through his part and calming himself by saying: ‘How hard can acting be?’ Jeeves had cleverly set everything up so Wooster pretty much walks on to the intricate set that he has just been describing, as it is rolled on, on wheels, and displayed behind him as he turns around. It was so efficient that it surprises Wooster every time.

    Perfect Nonsense, directed by Olivier Award winner Sean Foley, is currently touring the UK, and it is peppered with comedy, suspense, and a little drama, especially when Wooster is blackmailed by half the characters, who all want the silver cow creamer.

    Robert, Jason and Christopher combined made the show extra special, as each contributed to the amusement by exaggerating facial expressions that provided the effect they wanted: to bring the house down with laughter.

    Robert Webb, whose credits are endless, but one would immediately recognise him as Jeremy Usborne from the Peep Show, had an innate ability of moving his body to suit the action and it made the transition between scenes even funnier. He even simulated Michael Jackson’s famous moonwalk to travel between scenes. Webb reprised the role like a duck to water and carried the show with relentless energy and flair.

    Jason Thorpe, whose theatre credits include: From Morning to Midnight, His Dark Materials and What the Butler Saw, lends his ingenious acting ability and comedic timing to Jeeves, Wooster’s butler. He also convincingly multi-part plays other roles in the show, and to each one he gives a special touch that supports Wooster’s storytelling. His characterisation of Stiffy was sublime.

    Christopher Ryan most famous for playing Mike in 1982-1984 TV series: Young Ones, portrays the character of Seppings who plays all other roles with an enthusiasm and persistence that would put anyone my age to shame. Christopher dominates the stage with his flair of movement with one second portraying Wooster’s aunty Dahlia and in the next Roderick Spode who is described as being 6ft 9in when Ryan is nowhere near that height at all.

    The set was a masterpiece of the steady yet unpredictable design of Alice Power whose recent design credits include: The Walworth Farce; and A Mad World My Masters by Thomas Middleton. Power designed a set that was so effortlessly mutable, that it became part of the comedy, as the sets were pushed on and pictures were rolled up and down a photo frame via a rotating handle.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Back Down: Cheeky, Dramatic and Sincere

    Back Down is an intense play by Steven Camden aka Polarbear, whose excitement stems from writing dialogue and unashamedly falls in love with his own ‘Brummie’ story, and the action centralises itself on the friendship of three ‘brummie’ friends: Zia, Tommy and Luke. ★★★★ (more…)

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Honey Man, The Birmingham Rep

    ★★★★ | The Honey Man, The Birmingham Rep

    Sweet, Charming and Sincere.

    The Honey Man, written and acted by the extremely talented Tyrone Huggins and elegantly directed by Emma Bernard, delights the Birmingham Rep Door with an evening of sweetness, surprise and wonder, as we see the Honey Man captivating the soul of the young character Misty. The audience are quickly gripped too.

    The Honey Man tells the story of two very different backgrounds: the wealthy and white high class via a teenage girl who is seen constantly battling with boredom, yet she appears to trying anything she can to get away from working; and the segregated and left to rot class represented by a West Indian gentleman whose past time and lifelong dedication is looking after bees.

    The drama revolves around the mystery of the Honey Man’s bees’ deaths, and the incessant preoccupation of finding the solution to the problem. Misty spills into Honey Man’s home when he happens to open the door to visit his allotment, much to her surprise, for she thought that the overgrown cottage that he lived in was uninhabited, and the ideal place to smoke cannabis away from the Concorde Manner, which was her home. They have conflictive dialogue at the start, but the enigma of the Honey Man flirts with curiosity of this young girl. She is so enthralled that she promises to help him find a cure, which happens to be living in her dad’s gardens.

    Two very special moments live in my memory from this theatre performance. The first being the Honey Man showing Misty how bees dance and he does this with the sweetness that a granddad might have when playing with his young granddaughter. He creates bee sounds and physicalises movements that show bees moving about the hive which enchant her. Misty misses her grandmother very much, so it seems that she sees Honey Man as a replacement for the relationship she had worshipped with her grandmother. By the end, they establish a special and unique bond.

    Tyrone Huggins masterminds contemporary writing with exalting a current issue that is affecting the planet today: the deforestation of lands and the fragmentation of wild habitats, both of which are ruining a lot of animals’ lives, particularly bees, who cannot pollinate and ensure the growth of plants. Huggins gave the audience a secret pleasure, for he played The Honey Man himself. The accuracy of emotion and the intricacy of character portrayal don Huggins a heavy-weight champion of contemporary drama, as he creates two parallel worlds that are crying for help, and when they meet they seem to be each other’s salvation.

    The Birmingham Rep graces us with an actress whose professional debut is The Honey Man. Beatrice Allen commands the stage most delicately, but with a hint of rawness to it too. Allen’s portrayal of Misty is both engrossing and overwhelming, and even though she may lack experience, this does not show on stage, as she matches Huggins’ ingenuity pretty convincingly.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Unknown Male

    ★★★★ | Unknown Male

    Unknown Male depicts a tragic story of Heather who has recently got a job as train a conductor. All is very well. Until, after the tunnel, a person jumps off the platform on to her incoming train.

    The story revolves around Heather and her coping mechanisms, or the lack of; Emily, her daughter who has been trying to comfort her mum, but unsuccessful, so she decides to investigate who the victim who was run over by her mum’s train; and Mark, Heather’s boyfriend, who also has trouble relighting Heather’s will to live, and deviates from the house to very familiar territory.

    Unknown Male brings to the Rep Stage a topic that is rarely talked about, and if it is, then the story tends to emphasise the sympathy of the individuals who died under the train. However, Stephanie Ridings ambitiously captivates the audience with the other side of the story: the victim being the person who ran over the individual. Excellently portrayed and greatly realised under the direction of Nick Walker. Both visions equally combine the success in delving deep into the topic and expertly deliver the content where, with a quick glance at the audience, there was evidence of a few tears being shed with many eyes.

    This was also achieved by the brilliant cast that consisted of Lorraine Stanley as Heather; Phoebe Frances-Brown as Emily; and Mark was played by Ged Simmons.

    The three actors conveyed the emotions brilliantly. Particularly, Lorraine’s conveyance of Heather, whose emotion range was a phenomenon. Stanley portrays Heather more than convincingly, to the point of thinking one was sitting in the family’s front room with a feeling of awkwardness as the drama ensued. Ged did a sterling job with Mark, as he evidenced on stage what a person in his position might go through and the ability to explore the dark sides of a man whose world is ripping apart. Finally, Phoebe delights the spectators with her portrayal of a young teenager; the actress, of course is older than Emily, but she shows an innocence and defiance of Emily’s age in a subliminal way.

    Stephanie Ridings does the Birmingham Rep Foundry proud, as she showcases the ability to create a piece of theatre in a way that transports the audience from a seat at The Door, to a seat inside Heather’s flat most magnificently, drawing every person on to the tragedy explored in Unknown Male.

    The set was minimalist, but was used to great effect; especially in the very last scene, as it was converted to a train station platform, to which Emily is found standing over.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Fleabag: Epically Entertaining and Daringly Dirty

    ★★★★★ | Fleabag

    Fleabag is a kind of play where you are unsure of what you will be watching. Especially as the sign on the theatre entrance read: ‘Warning: References to sex’.

    Fleabag is a one-woman sixty-minute show that portrays the life of one young woman in the most hilarious, sympathetic and filthy fashion. Loved it. It starts in an interview setting, and then it trails off to her hot encounters and her needing to take ‘hot’ photos of herself to please her many admirers. ‘Take A Dirty Picture For Me’ comes to mind.

    It all happens in the space of 48 hours, and whilst it is funny in the writing, it shows great depth when the theme of feminism is introduced in an almost caricature way. Maddie Rice played the role master-mindedly. She makes her character appear ‘laddish’ and pertaining to be a player.

    Though many things she did and said were crude and filthy, if a bloke said and did the same things as Maddie, to his ‘blokey’ mates, no one would batter an eyelid. But because it was a female, some audience members cringed with discomfort.

    Maddie Rice plays the unnamed character with utter and sheer brilliance. Her wit and humour were 10/10. It was that funny that I thought I had booked tickets to see a stand-up comedian at ‘Live at the Apollo’ show. Maddie really captured the role as written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with precision and dedication. It felt as though the role was written for her.

    Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing was a delicious treat to our ears, and a true and daring piece of work that was worthy of the full-house show it received.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Othello, Frantic Assembly, Birmingham REP

    ★★★★★ | Othello, Frantic Assembly, Birmingham REP

    Mesmerising, Otherworldly, Sublime

    Who would have thought that Shakespeare’s “Othello” could be placed in a ‘Chatsworth Estate’ like location, bursting with rawness but, at the same time, realness unlike any other. Frantic Assembly dissects the true essence of the play and transfuses it in to a contemporary setting. Extremely commendable work.

    “Othello” is my favourite play by William Shakespeare, but as underrated as it may be to many, it cannot hide the fervour of overcharged emotions that play from minute one. It tells the story of a Venetian moor who is the general of the armies in Venice that marries the daughter of a Venetian Senator, figure of which disapproves of the union. The theme of this play is jealousy, and Iago speaks of this as: “It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on.” Iago is jealous of many things, but in particular Michael Cassio’s promotion to Left Lieutenant by Othello, when Iago has been his long serving ‘slave’. Iago sets about on a mission to deem Desdemona ‘false’ and unworthy of Othello’s love. Iago proceeds in planting the seed of doubt in to Othello’s mind that Cassio and Desdemona are, essentially, at it. It all goes downhill from there, culminating in Othello killing his wife due to the paranoia.

    Some say there may be a sub-jealousy theme going on: Iago is jealous of Desdemona being married to Othello, when Iago envisions himself in her place. There is one sequence in Frantic, on the pool table, Iago is standing over Desdemona, and then the table rotates as Iago walks along it and his crotch level with Othello’s head. Read between the lines yourself.

    The ensemble of Frantic Assembly was subliminally phenomenal. Each actor played a key part to the show’s success. Every actor was strong in movement but eloquent in speech, which is a hard thing to do. Especially when, in one moment, one is being flung around a pool table and in the next reciting a speech in perfect iambic pentameter. Under the electric and elegant direction and choreography of Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett with Eddie Kay, “Othello” simmers into a beautiful crescendo of emotions and physical energy.

    The actor that stood out most ferociously was Steven Miller, who you might recognise as playing Lenny Lyons in Casualty, with his relentless energetic flair and passionate speaking, in verse. His monologues were heart-felt and sincerely understood.

    The set, for me, played a fundamental part in the atmosphere witnessed by the audience. The way the concertina flats moved effortlessly around the stage, and the way the pool table zoomed in and out, almost like a feather, was only short of genius. My favourite scene was when Cassio (Ryan Fletcher) is drunk and he portrays being drunk most convincingly, and the set aided to this with the ‘walls’ literally moving as Fletcher zig-zagged alongside it portraying the drunk effect we all know, very well, “the room is spinning”.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | MY PERFECT MIND, The Rep – Birmingham

    ★★★★★ | MY PERFECT MIND, The Rep – Birmingham
    Epically Humorous and Uncompromisingly Sincere

    Told by An Idiot’s “My Perfect Mind” stuns The Door of The Birmingham Rep, with its simplistic yet meaningful set and with its mastermind-like quality of acting. This astonishing play is an account of the actor Edward Petherbridge suffering from a stroke and his recovery, with help of a friend, Paul Hunter who does everything in his power to accommodate Edward’s imagination and fantasy.

    “My Perfect Mind” draws inspiration from the story of Edward Petherbridge’s second rehearsal of King Lear, where he suffered a severe stroke, which left him almost paralysed. Upon recovery, Edward comes to an enlightening discovery. Though his mobility had suffered from this event, all the lines for his part, King Lear, lived in his memory still.

    King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most enigmatic and profound plays starting off with this 80 something King abdicating his land and rule by splitting it into three parts to give to his three daughters: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. He asks of them, as an exchange for this gift, their expression of love to him. Goneril and Regan obey, but Cordelia upon being asked what she feels about her father, she merely says: “nothing”, which makes the old king banish her. Later on, in the play Lear loses his rule, goes insane and is banished. Shakespeare loved happy endings.

    The 90-minute play was filled with powerful energy and with a plethora of characters coming from one actor – Paul Hunter. Hunter had an incredible ability to multipart with astonishing speed, parts of which seemed to give Edward the Wonderland of Lear. Every time a new character emerged they asked Edward what he was doing? To which he always replied with “I am performing King Lear”, then Hunter, in character, acted impressed and amazed every time. Hunter blew the audience away with his gift of shape shifting between characters and with his unrivalled ability to seduce the crowd with laughter, particularly when he switched from David to Carol.

    Petherbridge’s story shone brightly on stage, as he played himself and the situation so vividly, it appeared we were witnessing the event real-time. His roaring delivery of speeches and then his sweet old-man like voice provided us with an emotional journey of discovery and recovery. We were left wishing we could hear Edward perform “King Lear” for real. The dramatic device Edward used with splashing paint over the wall was epic, as he belted Lear’s storms speech.

    One conclusion I can draw from this experience and it is somewhat ironic. King Lear goes through the play receding in his mental capacity and suffering bitterly, yet Edward used King Lear as a form of recovery. The fact that he still remembered the part, post-stroke, gave him a great sensation and by fate, he falls into the delightful direction of Kathryn Hunter and on the tour of “My Perfect Mind” depicting his story so magnificently.

    04 – 08 November 2014