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Day: 29 October 2012

Must See This Week In Theatre: 5th November-12th November

Written by Josephine Lane on . Posted in Theatre.

Orpheus Descending

Whilst being one of Tennesse William’s lesser-known plays, Orpheus Descending, still has plenty of what we love about him: a young male drifter, an unhappy Southern belle and lots of passion. Stars Imogen Stubbs as Lady Torrance.

Runs from 24th October to 24th November at The Royal Exchange Theatre

Student Tickets £10 or £5 on a Monday or Friday

 

Johnny Come Lately

Award-winning Manchester-based company Coal return to the Royal Exchange with their new show. The play blends physical theatre, comedy and tragedy, the play centres around a mother and daughter’s surreal experiences when a mysterious stranger turns up on the doorstep.

Runs from the 6th to 10th November at the Royal Exchange Theatre

Tickets £12 or £5 on Friday

 

Paper Tom

A new piece of writing which centres around the theme of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Telling the parallel stories of two soldiers, one World War One and one today, ‘Paper Tom’ is sure to be a heart-wrencher.

Runs on the 10th November at the Lowry Theatre

Tickets £5-£10

 

The Best of BE Festival

Three award-winning performances from the Birmingham’s International BE Theatre Festival. Featuring performers from Spain, Belgium and Granada, the evening will no doubt be an interesting one. There will also be an post-show discussion with the show’s cast and creators.

Runs on the 6th November at the Lowry Theatre

Tickets £12

Portrait of an author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Written by Aidan Gregory on . Posted in Books.

F. Scott Fitzgerald can be described as nothing less than an American literary titan. He was born in 1896, in the town of St Paul, Minnesota. His early life was a comfortable ascent through top American private schools that propelled him all the way to Princeton University.

Surprisingly, Fitzgerald was not the model student. At Princeton he persistently flunked classes. So following President Wilson’s commitment to the Great War in Europe, he dropped out and enlisted as an officer in the US army. Unlike a later generation of famous American writers (Hemingway included), Fitzgerald never saw action. The war came to its conclusion before he could be deployed to Europe. More importantly, his military service took him to Montgomery, Alabama. There he met Zelda Sayre; the deeply troubled love of his life. Together they formed an attractive couple who went on to epitomise the glamour, decadence and deep insecurity of the Jazz Age. By marrying Fitzgerald, Zelda sowed the seeds of the writer’s own destruction. At the same time however, she also did an excellent service to literature. Their volatile relationship and numerous affairs provided Fitzgerald with the emotional spark that enabled him to create the unique complexity of his (especially female) characters.

In addition to his tormented heart, Fitzgerald was a raging alcoholic. Like many great artists, Fitzgerald often wrote his material under the influence. Alcohol has a way of bringing out creative genius (students of Manchester take note, all those nights at Sankeys may not be for nothing). You can smell the Jack Daniels seeping from the pages. He mentions alcohol in every single one of his novels, and many of his short stories. From Benjamin Button’s fondness for whisky, to sipping cocktails on Gatsby’s lawn, it was an obsession of his that spilled onto the pages.

Tragically, meaningful recognition for Fitzgerald only came after his untimely death in 1940 at the age of 44. He suffered from the timeless curse of many a talented writer; he found fortune and success too early in his career. After The Great Gatsby was published a higher level of success seemed unattainable. Resultantly his life had nowhere else to go other than self-destruction and penury; the onset of which was made quicker by his alcoholism and tempestuous marriage. But following the USA’s entry into World War Two in late 1941, Armed Services Additions organised an effort to ship thousands of copies of The Great Gatsby out to US troops. Soon it was being read in foxholes, tanks and cargo ships the world over. This step helped propel Fitzgerald’s works to a place where they truly belong: at the front line of American literature.

If you read only one Fitzgerald book, make it The Great Gatsby. It’s the glittering casing of a love story whose centre is peeled back to reveal hardened knots of class, aspirations, and money money money. It is a novel that itself mythologizes a certain time and a certain notion of America, just as Nick Carraway mythologizes Daisy, and Gatsby does the American Dream. And a copy won’t set you back more than £3.

Saving and Craving: Accessories

Written by Chloe Letcher on . Posted in Fashion & Beauty.

Saving

Icon Eyewear (available at New Look), £11.

Just because Winter is closing in on us, and the nights are getting darker, it doesn’t mean that Sunglasses should be locked away for the next couple of months. Sunglasses are a great way of bringing an essence of old school, Hollywood glamour to what might feel like a mundane outfit. If you’re lucky enough to be going somewhere warm over the Christmas break, or even if you just need something to hide behind when you have an almighty hangover, they can add a sometimes much-needed touch of style. This pair by Icon Eyewear (available at New Look) have a lovely vintage feel. The tortoiseshell frames are also a favourite amongst many high-end designers this season, such as Ray Ban, Gucci, Prada, and Linda Farrow. The over-sized style and metallic detailing around the edges of the glasses gives them an expensive look, however, they are a great buy at £11.

Craving

Dior (Available at Selfridges), £239

Despite being a lot more of a splurge, this pair by Dior are actually not too dissimilar. Again, the tortoiseshell framing makes for a good change from the conventional dark, winter colours, and it would be easy to emulate Audrey Hepburn’s iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s look by putting them on with a fur-collared coat. The beauty of tortoiseshell is that it’s an all season colour; it can compliment darker shades in winter, and contrast nicely to pastel shades in Spring and Summer. The expense of the glasses lies in the attention to detail; such as the patterned arms and branded ‘Dior’ hinges. The acetate material will also make them more durable than a cheaper pair, meaning that although they are an item to save for, they will see you a through a number of seasons. Even if you aren’t brave enough to pull this pair out on a (rare) sunny November morning, they are still a worthwhile investment for the warmer months.

And the girls in their successful dresses

Written by Sophie Lipton on . Posted in Theatre.

Four Stars out of Five Stars

If you are looking for culture, colour and creativity without leaving Manchester, ‘And the Girls in their Sunday Dresses’ is the play for you. Directed by Princess Mhlongo, it brings the inspirational story of two African women who meet in a queue, waiting days for rice. The two South African Award winning comedians Lesego Motespe playing a strong minded domestic housekeeper and Hlengiwe Lushaba playing a retired prostitute, emotionally touch, yet constantly tickle the audience. They uncover and explore the struggles of being black subordinated females in a country where the desire for equality is also essentially a waiting game. I’ve never seen such an engaging two man (or should I say two women) play that successfully kept me entertained from start to finish, with their edgy yet powerful performances.

At first, I did wonder why the stage only consisted of a chair and some gates, but it was soon apparent that no fancy stage design was needed with the immense raw talent that filled the room. I felt Lushaba really knew how to engage with the audience, from start to finish. Not only could she project and powerfully hit the audience with her scripted lines, but her improvisational skills were exceptional, especially her cheeky hilarious behaviour to certain members of the audience. I do think audience participation can sometimes be a bit ‘pantomime-esque’, but here it just brought a new dimension of energy to the performance. Clearly, the actresses had the ability to light up the room with laughter, but also make us feel sensitive and serious towards the characters when appropriate. Their emotions seem to feed the audience who constantly craved more, just like the women yearned for their rice.

Cleverly, the performance transitioned from reality to the women’s imaginations. From gospel singing in churches to advertising make up, these snippets did elevate the whole room, taking us on an adventure to the streets of Africa and back. It broke up the characters’ tedious four day queue, giving the play movement. Ironically they were still waiting for rice. It was truly amazing how this technique gave flexibility and even more vivacity to the drama.

Behind the laughter, political messages are ‘simmering’ with regard to black, poor women being tied down to the shackles of African society. These messages are clearly voiced throughout the play, leaving the audience pondering over how much we take for granted in an egalitarian society.

Nevertheless, the actresses did not leave me feeling down, but left the audience on an empowered and liberated note. It will make me think twice about complaining about the queues in Fallowfield’s Sainsbury’s as I will always remember ‘And the Girls in Their Sunday Dresses’. The show is part of the ‘Afro Vibes’ festival, and after seeing this great piece of drama, I would not hesitate to watch any of the other performances. If you want a hilarious yet thought provoking watch that will take you on an inspirational journey, put on your Sunday dress and watch raw talent take its toll.

‘And the girls in their Sunday dresses’ ran from the 17th to 18th October at the Contact Theatre as part of the Afrovibes Festival

Wake me up when the musical ends

Written by Josephine Lane on . Posted in Theatre.

One Star out of Five Stars

I’m becoming more and more aware these days, that anything, and I mean anything, can be adapted into musical interpretation.  The Spice Girls songs, Shrek and even Legally Blonde are now apparently the perfect thing to adapt into stage musicals, literally anything! Anything that is, except the Green Day album: American Idiot.

Okay, so perhaps the songs could be adapted into a fantastic musical. The fact that American Idiot is a concept rock-opera album (who knew?) should make it one of the easiest tasks in history. The failing of this such adaptation however, was that is only added about twenty lines of dialogue to the entire thing.

Oh yeah, there was a story somewhere in there too. It followed, ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ or Johnny, as he leaves his dull suburban life for the big city, develops an alter-ego (who I thought was his new best friend – the alter-ego thing was conveyed terribly) , falls in love, shoots heroin and then decides its all too much for him and goes back home.

The real failing of the show was its lack of context, clarity and dialogue: all amounting to the story feeling somewhat rushed. In the first scene, Johnny and his friends sit down to drink and discuss how shit their lives are, three lines later and they’re off on ‘Holiday’.  How and why their lives were shit, we never really found out. There was an entire sub-plot involving one of his friends and their pregnant girlfriend. She was basically present throughout the entire show, sitting on a sofa and moaning about the trouble with teenage pregnancy (well not really, but she should have been). We never even found out her name. Speaking of which, the character ‘Whatsername’ literally appeared out of nowhere, and our Johnny was in love. And yes, I know that in musicals relationships are established in seconds, but this character was given no context or introduction, and had no lines.

Putting my theatrical snobbery aside for a moment, I will say that the show was not a total failure. High-budget spectacles are scarcely boring. I have to admit my jaw did drop in amazement when the curtain went up and I was greeted with about 30 television screens, each with identical global news montages  (whether this had anything to do with the themes in the story is questionable), the rock show-style lights totally blinded the audience and the whole thing made quite an impact. The show was visually great, particularly the dancing. I can’t say the singing blew me away though, and it didn’t really deviate from the way it was sung on the album. The combination of this, the lights and the presence of the musicians onstage made the whole thing feel like more of a rock show than a musical. Now I love a gig as much as the next person, and I don’t really mind Green Day that much, but this made me feel rather annoyed throughout.

I recommend the show with caution: go if you are a big Green Day fan, if not, avoid it like the plague.

American Idiot: The Musical is from the  12th to 24th November at the Palace Theatre

 

BA Econ Society

Written by Kate Bullivant on . Posted in Societies.

The BA Econ Society is the biggest course society with over 1000 members, each year they hold a number of socials, a trip abroad, fundraising activities and career talks, appealing to all social sciences students. In previous years, the society was very focused on promoting careers in banking and finance. However, this year the society is aiming to showcase all the other sectors social sciences students could work in. The first of these specialised events takes place on the 15th November, 5.30pm in Arthur Lewis Common Room. Current BA Econ students who did an internship over the summer will share their experiences, explain the benefits of internships, and how to secure a graduate job at the end. The speakers are:

John Shenton- PwC
Alex Siwek – Ernest and Young
Toch Eduputa – Shell
Jason – Local MP
Jessica Nightingale – Civil Service; Foreign Office
Rich Edwards – Caplor Energy

It may seem that this society is only of interest to BA Econ students, but this is not the case. They welcome anyone who might have an interest in what their talks have to offer, and it’s a great way to find out about alternative career options.

Recently the BA Econ society held a 5-a-side charity football tournament. The chosen charity was the road awareness charity Brake. I spoke to the External Relations Officer John Shenton, who explained why this charity is particularly special to the BA Econ society.

‘This charity has personal importance to our society because last year’s president Rob McCormick was killed in a road accident in Manchester. We held this tournament to raise money for a great charity and because of the fantastic support it offered Rob’s family after the accident. We will continue to raise money for them in the future. There were 16 teams that took part in the tournament and we managed to raise £300’

If you want to find out more on Brake and the amazing work they do then visit their website: http://www.brake.org.uk/

For more information on the BA Econ Society then visit their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2202405416/?fref=ts

Or groupspaces –  groupspaces.com/baeconsociety

Or twitter @baeconsoc

Everyone is welcome, not just BA Econ students.

 

Veg Soc

Written by Kate Bullivant on . Posted in Societies.

Veg Soc is for students who have a passion for vegetarian and vegan cooking. Their aim is to share recipes, organise various socials and campaign for better veggie options on campus. You don’t have to be a vegan or vegetarian to join, and if you are looking to become one, they have a support system to help you. I spoke to the chair of Veg Soc, Ruby Box to find out more about this scheme.

“We run a vegetarian and vegan mentoring scheme to support anybody wanting to make the transition. Or even for people who just want to give up meat one or two days a week! All they have to do is contact Lacey on her email address (see below).”

Vegetables…

‘‘People often think vegetarian food is boring lettuce and carrots, but anybody making the transition from meat to veg will discover there are a huge variety of delicious vegetarian recipes. From vegan cookies and cakes, to veggie hot pots, burgers and curries. For every meaty meal, there’s a tasty veggie option.’’

What’s coming up…

Veg Soc is new this year, and so far has been extremely popular. They have socials most weeks, which are of course vegan and vegetarian friendly. This Halloween the social is Pumpkin Potluck, this involves everyone carving a pumpkin and we will make recipes out of the remainders. Ruby told me how ‘all the carved pumpkins will be donated to Student Action’s elderly Halloween as decorations’. On top of this there are going to be film nights, cooking demonstrations and trips to food festivals.

Trips…

Unicorn Grocery. Photo: Veg Soc

Sunday 14th October, Veg Soc took a trip to ‘Unicorn’. This is a supermarket in Chorlton, completely vegan, fair trade, sustainable, organic supermarket stocking as much local fruit and veg as they can find. Future events include Meat Free Mondays:  for more information on this go to VegSocCampaignGroup on Facebook and get involved. ‘’It’s going to be big!’’.

Get Involved…

Monitoring Scheme: [email protected]

Facebook: VegSocManchester

Come along to our next social.

 

Societies Events Listings: 5th – 10th November

Written by Kate Bullivant on . Posted in News.

Monday 5th November

JUDO TRAINING

Armitage Conference Room

7pm-8 30pm

Come along to the Judo Society’s training session – great way to learn new skills or improve old ones.

WARPED – Weekly Meeting

Jabez Clegg

8pm-9pm

Warped is the Manchester University Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, anything from Harry Potter to Starwars. Go along and embrace your inner geek!

DANCE SOCIETY – SALSA CLASSES

Jabez Clegg

6 15pm-7 45pm

** ALL LEVELS WELCOME **

Tuesday 6th November

MANCHESTER ART GROUP

Sandbar, 120 Grosvenor Street, Manchester, M1 7HL

5pm-6pm

Look for us on Facebook under, ‘Manchester Art Group’ and check out our website www.manchesterartgroup.co.uk

DANCE SOCIETY – Ballet

Zoo

Beginners:  6pm-6 45pm

Perfect if you’ve never done ballet before or only just started to learn.

Intermediate: 6 45pm-7 30pm

Best for those with some experience in ballet to those who haven’t done it for a couple of years.

Advanced: 7 30pm-8 15pm

Aimed at those who have extensive experience.

ROLE PLAYING SOCIETY – WEEKLY MEETING

Council Chambers, Barnes Wallis Building, Altrincham Street

6pm-7pm

For more information contact: [email protected]

ZUMBA CLASSES – £3

Student’s Union, Khaled Said Room/Council Chambers: 17 00 – 18 00

Women for Women International Soc hosts a weekly Zumba class for only £3.This amazing charity helps women of war all around the world, and all money raised goes straight to the charity.

Wednesday 7th November

CIRCUS SKILLS

Burlington Society

2pm-4pm

Circus Skills is an opportunity to do something different and fun with your Wednesday afternoon, anyone is welcome – whether you can juggle or not! Keep an eye on the facebook page because, on the rare occasion it’s sunny they practise outside.

JUDO TRAINING

Same time and same place as Monday – the Judo’s Societies Wednesday training session.

HARMONY GOSPEL CHOIR

Upstairs in Jabez Clegg

4pm-6pm

If you have always wanted to be part of a choir then this is a perfect place to start, they are always welcoming new members. Harmony Gospel Choir manages to produce a high standard of singing while having fun at the same time.

DANCE SOCIETY

Zoo

Dance Fitness: 6 30pm-7 30pm

Street: 7 30pm-8 30pm

Belly Dancing: 8 30pm-9 30pm

Thursday 8th November

MUSEA – LIFE DRAWING

University of Manchester Students’ Union – Room 8

5pm-6pm

RAW MANCHESTER ROCKS SOCIETY

Hardy Wells – Rusholme: 8pm-9pm

The Manchester Rocks Society has a weekly social from 8pm until late. Go along, have a drink and find out what they are all about.

DANCE SOCIETY

Zoo

Inters/Beginners Tap: 6pm-6 45pm

Modern: 6 45pm-7 30pm

Advanced Tap: 7 30pm-8 15pm

Saturday 10th November

JUDO SOCIETY – COMPETITION

Above Owen’s Park Bar – Fallowfield

5pm-6pm