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Month: March 2016

MA Creative Writing Anthology teaser

Written by Shaun Carter on . Posted in Uncategorised.

Manchester is a City of creative talent. You’re thinking of Morrissey, of Steve Coogan, and of the Gallagher brothers. You might also be thinking of Michelle Keegan, and Max from the Wanted. Intimidating, I know. Well, did you know that the University of Manchester teaches an MA in Creative Writing?

In between the absinthe and existential crises, the class of 2016 are putting together an Anthology of their work. Late in the summer, there will be a collection of extracts from all of these upcoming poets and fiction writers, bound together in a lovely print book with cover art and author photographs; what’s more, the anthology will be offered to a readership of agents, ever seeking new talent.

On September 8th, there will also be a launch night. More details will follow soon, but it will be amazing.

Who knows, you might get to read the work of the next E.L. James, or one day, with luck and hard work, Katie Price? Don’t miss it.

British Cycling End World Championships In Style

Written by Alex Whitcomb on . Posted in Sport.

East London’s Lee Valley Velodrome, the venue of Team GB’s record medal haul in 2012, saw Britain take an impressive medal count for the first time since Olympic triumph four years ago. Five golds, one silver, and three bronze were enough to see the British team placed above rivals Germany, Australia and Russia respectively. Despite this, the road to Rio is not paved in the same colour as the medals that once again hang around Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish’s necks. The championships showed some of GB’s weaknesses that will have to be improved upon if they are to achieve their aim of bettering their performance in London.

Good showings by both men’s and women’s endurance were the backbone of the strong performance. The near miss by GB to win the men’s team pursuit on the second day showed that they are in good form and seem to be peaking at the right time in the Olympic cycle.

One significant milestone was Jon Dibben’s points race gold. Not only was it Dibben’s first World Title—thoroughly deserved after a consistently successful 2015/16—but it was also the first gold medal won by a british man at the World Championships since 2013. When he spoke to The Mancunion in October last year, GB endurance coach Chris Newton was adamant in his belief that Britain’s men would finally end their gold medal drought before the Olympics. That duck having now been broken appears to have vindicated that confidence and will come as a tremendous relief to the management team.

Part of the revitalisation in the success of the men’s team is surely down to Team Wiggins. The existence of a special squad, spearheaded up by Wiggo himself, devoted to the men’s endurance team the whole year round will have eased commercial pressures on all the riders to do unnecessary road racing during the rest of the year. All four of the silver medal winning pursuit team are Wiggins riders, along with points winner Dibben and Individual Pursuit bronze medallist Andy Tennant.

Laura Trott once again showed her class as the pre-eminent female endurance track rider, claiming two golds in the scratch race and omnium. She has been the world number one for some time and is fast becoming Britain’s only safe bet for glory in Rio, by consistency being at the top of the sport in all four years of this Olympic cycle. She will be the favourite for the Omnium in the summer and a key part of the pursuit team, that will be raced with four riders over four kilometres at the Olympics for the first time, matching it with the men’s event.

Jason Kenny also made his mark by taking the individual sprint title—his first gold medal since Keirin glory in 2013. After a poor recent few years, Kenny appears to have peaked at the right time, especially with younger British sprinters like Lewis Oliva and Matt Rotherham having strong seasons breathing down his neck.

However, no matter how Britain fared at other events at these Championships, Mark Cavendish’s performance in the Omnium was always going to come under the most scrutiny. The rider L’Équipe named as the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour de France has famously never won a medal at the Olympic Games, being the only empty-handed member of the track team in Beijing. He managed sixth place in the omnium and gold with Wiggins in the Madison on his return to the World Championships, but will have to improve on that over the spring. This will be especially difficult, since most of the international track events take place between September and March, meaning that there will be precious few opportunities to make any gains.

Under these circumstances, it is now highly likely that they will opt for points race victor Dibben, seeing as he had been the first choice for the omnium until Cavendish declared his intention to compete in the event. Cavendish’s road commitments also complicate things somewhat, with potential dispute between his employers on the road (Team Dimension Data) considering him for all three weeks of le Tour and GB director Shane Sutton insisting that he leave at least a week early to prepare for the Olympics.

What will also be the major disappointment of the Championships is the failure of Jess Varnish and Katy Marchant to qualify for the Olympics in the team sprint. They finished fifth overall, seemingly enough to see them through but were only two places ahead of France, and needed to be three ahead to gain the final European place at Rio. Varnish, disappointed to have missed out by one place and angry at the GB management for not prioritising their qualification, told BBC Sport “How many more times can I keep putting my life on hold, making these choices for my career, if it’s not going to pay off, through no fault of our own?”.

It will also be disappointing that GB failed to hit the mark in as many Olympic events. Three of the five golds came in events that are no longer in the Olympic programme (points race, scratch race, and Madison). While winning them shows good form, they will really have to finely hone the events that they will be competing in at the Olympics.

This year’s World Championships have shown that Great Britain are still a force to be reckoned with in track cycling. The usual suspects of Trott, Wiggins, and Kenny are now back to their best, with new talent like Dibben and Tennant looking to make waves on their Olympic débuts. However, as has been the case for the last four years, domination is by no means assured and we might well be in for a shock if we expect GB to surpass their 2012 haul of seven gold medals, especially since there are now only nine up for grabs to start with. Britain have performed above expectations compared to how they have been over the last four years. Let’s hope this means they can translate this into more Olympic glory.

 

University of Westminster denies student exam deferral due to lack of “proof” of father’s death

Written by Simon Taylor on . Posted in News.

A University of Westminster biochemistry student was denied an exam deferral after not being able to prove her father’s death. Saima Haq took to twitter to vent her frustrations: “I explained in my statement that there is absolutely no way for me to provide any original documents at this time, since they are being processed in the country of his death, but I have given photocopies of all the evidence that my uncle has been emailing me.” Her tweet has since been retweeted over 7,000 times, receiving widespread support and gaining the attention of the press.

In an interview with the Standard, Haq stated: “In a country like Tanzania, it is not a simple process to obtained typed up documents translated into English.” She added that “the medical report I gave was handwritten, which the uni [sic] have said does not have a clear medical opinion, even though it has been stamped by the hospital.”

Haq’s course uses “personal tutors”, whom she claims has been ignoring her emails in the two weeks since her father’s death. Describing the whole institution she said she has been “amazed at how unprofessional and unsupportive” they have been throughout the process.

The University of Westminster responded, tweeting Miss Haq saying they were “very sorry to hear about your loss” and promised to look into her case. A university spokesperson has since emailed the Independent expressing their sadness for Miss Haq’s loss. They added, “However, we have clear and robust procedures for students submitting exam deferral requests, which must be substantiated by original, independent documentary evidence.”

In a later tweet, Saima Haq said she had received support from others in similar situations and claimed that a fellow student had been kicked out of her university due to spending a month in hospital because “in their view she should have handed in her mitigating circumstances claim before going in.”

Similar stories were not hard to find at the University of Manchester. Lexi Bickel, a second year student, found out from her mother that her grandmother had terminal cancer halfway through the first semester of this year. Having told her tutor, who she describes as “very supportive”, Miss Bickel found the process of being given approval for mitigating circumstances “complicated.”

“They required proof that any of this actually happened—they suggested a letter from a medical professional […] my mum had to independently contact my grandmother’s consultant and was charged a fee to be given an official letter”. In January, Lexi received news of her Grandmother’s passing. She told The Mancunion: “We had to call the mitigating circumstances committee in case it affected their decision, something that we shouldn’t have had to worry about over such an emotional time.”

I still came back to university a few days later to complete my exams, which I found very difficult to do. I didn’t receive any extra support over this time, not even a check-up email, which I thought was poor—it would have taken 5 minutes to do and made me feel a lot less isolated.”

She also described the process as “stressful and felt horribly clinical and detached.”

“I know of several other people who have had similar problems or have even had their circumstances denied because the proof wasn’t sufficient—I understand that there needs to be some kind of evidence provided, but the current system seems heartless and confusing.”

Lexi is certainly not alone, a second year biology student explained the struggles they went through applying for mitigation: “I have depression and anxiety issues, and have had them before I came to university. In first year I just managed to complete all of the work, but in second year I’ve struggled.”

I have recently been trying to apply for interruption, so that I restart second year this September, but the faculty is telling me that because I have registered attendance from December 2015 that I can only come back and resit my January exams [which I didn’t take], and start again in university in early 2017.”

The student also revealed that their “mitigating circumstances were denied without any follow up emails asking for further proof; I am in the process of registering for Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS)”.

They added: “It’s been about 3 weeks since my first meeting with DASS and I’m still not officially registered, due to a combination of incompetence at the GP and my illness taking away productive days”.

They claim that they were not informed of the importance of registering with the disability support until after they applied for mitigation. “The University of Manchester’s mitigation [or] special circumstance protocol is archaic and potentially very damaging to students like myself. They do not seem to consider case-by-case factors and do not seem to be well prepared in helping people with mental illness, and left me to do everything by myself even when I told them that I would prefer help [and] guidance”

A University of Manchester spokesperson responding to these claims said: “The University is unable to comment on individual cases, however the mitigating circumstances process is designed to be as thoughtful and sympathetic as possible to the students who apply. The University makes a simplified guide to this process available to all students online and also signposts access to counselling and disability services where needed. Like other universities we do require evidence that requests are genuine, though we seek to be as understanding as possible when asking for it.”

Review: Chris Ramsey’s All Growed Up

Written by Harry Newton on . Posted in Theatre.

A six month wait for the show at Salford’s The Lowry was well worth it, as Chris Ramsey came to stage and performed a polished act that left you both crying and cringing! Ramsey told the story of becoming grown up, retelling his life from childhood all the way up to buying a house and becoming a father. He seemed to enjoy being back in the north where the beer is better and the humour is friendlier, after a troublesome time in London the week before. Ramsey had found himself being pinned against a wall in his hotel by a policeman in his underpants. I must make it clear that it was Ramsey in his underpants—not the policeman. This turned out to be a mix-up as Ramsey wasn’t the knife-wielding criminal they were actually looking for. The jolly Geordie made it to stage in Salford without threatening anyone along the way… presumably.

Ramsey’s energetic style on the stage was infectious as the whole crowd was in tears of laughter; the show overran by half an hour as they just couldn’t get enough. The show included some jokes that made you wince more than laugh—not because they were bad, but because they simply hurt to think about. The latter part of the show particularly made it difficult for me to look my dad in the eye once I had arrived back home.

Whether it’s just a Northern thing or not, I’m not quite sure, but Ramsey felt very relatable as he spoke about family holidays that everyone in the room had been on, playing games as a child that everyone had already played, and a dislike for parts of the south that everyone except southerners has.

Personally I haven’t seen much of Chris Ramsey on his own, as I’ve mostly seen him on panel shows like Celebrity Juice. Often it’s dangerous to go and see a comedian that you have just enjoyed on a panel show, as they may be completely different on stage alone, or repeat old gags. However, with Ramsey it was the complete opposite impact! Panel shows don’t highlight just how funny he is, as when he started to talk to the audience he really flourished and showed how genuinely funny and spontaneous he can be.

Despite how funny he is though, the largest audience reaction didn’t come from anything that he said—it was when Pete on the front row announced that he worked for Inland Revenue. What a bastard.

LSE SU fails to elect General Secretary

Written by Marcus Johns on . Posted in News.

The students of the London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSE SU) have failed to elect a General Secretary role in their 2016 elections. A majority of students voted for to re-open nominations (RON).

The LSE SU will now have to open a new election, the date of which will be announced in the morning.

This is the first time that RON has been elected in a British Students’ Union election.

In the first round of voting, Mohammed Rayhan Uddin received 992 votes and Harry Robert Stuart Maxwell received 768 votes. Both failed to reach the 1399 quota needed to win the role. Of the total 2798 ballots were received, RON received 1038 votes.

In the second round of voting, Maxwell was eliminated and the number of RON votes reached 1333, which defeated Uddins’ 1208.

An anonymous source from LSE told The Mancunion: “Unfortunately, despite starting positively, the campaign for General Secretary descended into mudslinging allegations of bullying and antisemitism. I think, unfortunately, as that was the direction the campaigns took, RON was the best result.”

Earlier in the day, an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) motion was circulating at the LSE SU, which called for the re-opening of nominations even if Uddin or Maxwell won the contest. At LSE SU, an EGM needs 250 signatures, and then the student body is required to vote on it. Sources told The Mancunion that the EGM looked as if it would succeed, but was ultimately unnecessary, as RON won the election regardless.

However, another anonymous source said: “I think that because they would have asked all the supporters of whoever lost to sign in [what was already] a very close contest, the EGM would have undermined the democratic process.”

At the event where the election results were revealed, students were heard chanting: “RON! RON! RON!” A Facebook page for RON was also created, Ron Lse Gen Sec posted “Mischief Managed” as the results were announced and one LSE student posted: “Ron Weasly wins LSE Student Union General Secretary Election, first time at any UK university.

“Well deserved! Clean campaign, full integrity, no scandals. I wish this candidate was electable in all kinds of elections.” Students also updated LSE SU’s Wikipedia page, adding Ron as the Union’s General Secretary

A Masters student, studying a MSc in the Social Psychology Department told The Mancunion: “The only thing that came across my news feed before the election was how every candidate was flawed. So there was bullying, threatening of legal action, so everything that was said about it was super negative. And that was the only advertising that I received. It was really poorly advertised and just badly publicised.

“Plus, the union hasn’t really impressed a lot of the student body because they keep cancelling a bunch of talks that are really interesting and it just seems like they’re babying the student body because they’re like: ‘no you can’t listen to this talk, it’s too abrasive’ when really students are capable of making their own decisions and being critical.

“So, not a great attitude towards the Students’ Union; really bad publicity that the elections were taking place; and all the things that came across about the election were about how bad the candidates were.”

They added: “The union is garbage, the candidates were garbage, and I didn’t even know there was an election the day before.”

The Mancunion will continue to update the story as it unfolds.

This week in global

Written by news on . Posted in News.

“World’s hottest criminal” finishes term – USA

The “world’s hottest criminal” has completed his jail sentence and is now free to begin his new career as a model.

Jeremy Meek’s mugshot racked up over 80,000 likes after being posted to Facebook following his arrest for possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty to the allegation and was convicted for 27 months.

Following his arrest women offered to pay his bail and extended the opportunity for him to “hide out at their houses”. Despite the huge female interest, Meek is a married man and has said that he is looking forward to spending more time with his children now that he has served his sentence.
Meek’s new career is already underway. He has been snapped up by modelling agency White Cross Management. He has also become “Instafamous” with more than 30,000 followers.
In a post on his social media accounts he said: “‘I want to thank my family and everybody for all your love, support and prayers. I’m overwhelmed and grateful for what lies ahead. I’m ready.”

Hot, cross, and very bothered – UK

The English Defence League have fallen for a spoof news story stating that a bakery has removed the crosses from its hot cross buns for fear of causing offence.

The Facebook page English Defence League London Division II shared the story ‘Anger as Southend bakery launches Hot Cross Buns WITHOUT “offensive” cross’ with the comment “Hot cross buns without a cross. Well that’s just a bun. We must not upset the Islamic invaders must we?”

One commenter, Alec Lang, called for a boycott of the bakery due to their decision.
However, the story was produced by the Southend News Network, a joke news website whose recent stories include ‘Fireman Sam actor: My drink and drugs HELL after sacking’ and ‘OUTRAGE at Southend school after girl is sent home for looking TOO PRETTY in uniform’.

Part of the hot cross bun story quotes the owner of the fictional bakery explaining that “a maths teacher came in and demanded that we stop selling them as they can be rotated slightly, leaving an ‘X’—he felt that the buns do not give out a clear signal about whether or not they are a ‘plus’ symbol or a ‘multiply’ symbol.”

Bingo ding dong – UK

Drunk and disorderly behaviour erupted into a brawl at an establishment in Derby city centre last Saturday night on March 5. This would be quite unremarkable if the establishment in question didn’t happen to be a Gala Bingo hall.

Commonly thought of as being filled with quiet pensioners, a bingo hall would not be the first place people would suspect a drunken scuffle to break out.

This is not the first time violence has come to bingo—in 2013, Gala Bingo handed life bans to six female players involved in a fight at an establishment in Torquay.

Tension had been simmering as a group of excited, youthful bingo-goers reacted nosily to the announcement of numbers. The mass brawl was then sparked as some middle-aged regulars objected to the excessively boisterous behaviour of the group in their 20s.

Around ten men were involved in the fight which was broken up by Gala Bingo security and staff before three police arrived on the scene.

A 20-year bingo veteran said she had “never seen anything like it” in all her years of playing, and that a friend had found it very entertaining.

However, an older player who saw the fight unfold played down the incident: “It was just a few stuffy old sorts getting their knickers in a twist.”

Swan succumbs to selfie treatment – Macedonia

The unrelenting obsession with selfies seem to show no signs of easing just yet. People are continually attempting to push the limits of what can be achieved by what is essentially just taking a photo of oneself from close range.

Whether it be a selfie hanging off a cliff, underwater, with a dangerous animal, or in any other ‘original’ setting (where the photographer’s face still constitutes the focus of the frame), it seems any situation could be made better with a selfie to share with the world.

But the oft-labelled narcissistic craze has once again shown its evil side and has claimed another victim. In this case, an unsuspecting swan in Macedonia met its fate after a Bulgarian woman decided to haul it out of a lake by its wing for some photos.

Possibly becoming the ugly— the “bit they don’t want you to see”—side to the woman’s Snapchat story or Instagram post, the swan clearly did not get anything positive from the experience.

Builder in bear scare – Unidentified

A construction worker fell over whilst running for his life from what he thought was a savage bear—but what was, in fact, his friend in a costume.

A video shows the man at work walking through the site on which he works, carrying a coil of wire, before being jumped by the costumed colleague who was hiding around a corner. Immediately he turns and sprints away—despite his friend standing up and waving to try and defuse the situation.

He makes it around 50 metres before tripping and landing on his face, while his colleagues who are filming laugh at his misfortune.

Huge rabbit gets new home – UK

Atlas, the giant rabbit in need of a new home, has been adopted and been given a surprising new name.

Jen Hislop, aged 43 from North Ayrshire, has christened her new addition to the family Atilla the Bun Binky Master Jazz Paws. Hislop was carefully selected from hundreds of applicants to take on the furry animal after he grew too big for its former owners to care for.

Hislop is clearly delighted with her new pet saying, “Atlas is an absolute hoot and doesn’t stop running around unless he’s crashed out on his massive beanbag. He even has his own pet stroller, so my 15-year-old daughter Laurrie and I can take him out and about.”

Atilla the Bun Binky Master Jazz Paws is a seven-month-old continental giant rabbit and has grown to about the same size as a West Highland White Terrier.

Pro-gun poster girl shot by son – USA

A pro-gun campaigner who was the “poster girl” for the pro-gun lobby was shot in the back by her four-year-old son who was sat in the back of her car.

Jamie Gilt may face negligence charges after her young son picked up a loaded .45 semi automatic pistol from the back seat of her truck while they were driving through Putnam County, Florida, and fired it. She was not killed and was taken to hospital where she is reported to be in a stable condition. Police officers deduced that the firearm had definitely been fired from inside the vehicle, and that the only other occupant was Gilt’s son.

Gilt had been up until the accident a vehement supporter of full gun rights, running a Facebook page called ‘Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense’ where she before, had posted “Even my 4-year-old gets jacked up to target shoot with the .22.”

Ballsy wife gets testy – Romania

A Romanian woman allegedly tore off her husband’s testicles after he forgot to give her flowers on International Women’s Day and refused to help with the house work. After being rushed to the emergency room with his left testicle hanging out of his scrotum, Ionel Popa’s wife said she was fed up of being ignored by her husband and didn’t know her own strength.

Marinela Benea said her husband had come home drunk the night before, and then the next morning had shouted at her that she was “not entitled to give him orders”. “I told him he was not any kind of man and I grabbed his balls. It was not my fault he pulled away,” said the moxey spouse. “I thought maybe that some ice would solve the problem, but he insisted on calling an ambulance”, she continued. Her husband is now in hospital after undergoing emergency surgery to repair his scrotum after his left testicle was left hanging out.

Looted Cockerel to be ‘permanently removed’ from Jesus College, Cambridge

Written by Emily Hulme on . Posted in News.

A Benin bronze cockerel at Jesus College, Cambridge has been taken down from display after students argued it should be returned to Nigeria where it was looted from by the British in 1897.

Last week The Mancunion reported on the Jesus College Students Union’s (JCSU) debate, where the Benin Bronze Appreciation Committee (BBACs) was successful in passing the motion to repatriate the cockerel—named Okukor—to Nigeria. The university agreed on Tuesday 8th March that the cockerel should be permanently removed from its place in the main dining hall. Discussions are now underway to decide the Okukor’s future, including the possibility of its repatriation to Nigeria.

In a statement made by Cambridge University, a spokesperson said Jesus College will work with the wider university, and resources will be put toward developing new initiatives with Nigerian heritage and museum authorities “to discuss and determine the best future for the ‘Okukor’, including the question of repatriation”.

The spokesperson added that the recommendations made by students in the JCSU debate will be taken on board: “The college strongly endorses the inclusion of students from all relevant communities in such discussion.”

The cockerel, along with hundreds of other bronzes, was looted in a punitive expedition by British imperialists when it occupied Nigeria in 1897. The expedition was said to be a brutal act of imperialism, and left the Benin City, now Nigeria, completely destroyed, with thousands dead. Nigeria has made several pleas for its traditional bronzes to be returned, as the pieces are a part of its culture and its history.

For this reason the BBAC claims that returning the Okukor to the “community from which it was stolen” was “just”. According to the committee, “the contemporary political culture surrounding colonialism and social justice, combined with the University’s global agenda, offers a perfect opportunity for the College to benefit from this gesture.”

The controversy followed the ‘Rhodes must fall’ debate at Oriel College, Oxford where the university turned down students’ demands to remove a statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes. Claims state that this was because the university was being influenced by “a dictatorship of donors” that threatened to withdraw funds.

 

don’t publish yet. Review/Interview: Made in Taiwan

Written by Nicole Tamer on . Posted in Film.

Having been highly impressed by the feature film Made in Taiwan—which is about a filmmaker who realises that his flickering films can be used as a drug—I couldn’t wait to interview the filmmakers. After spending three years in Taiwan, Jonny Moore became inspired by the country to make this unconventional film set in Taiwan and wrote the script with his sister Leonora. Funded with Kickstarter and with the support of their family, the siblings created a mind-blowing film which was only filmed at night within one month. The highly strenuous shooting hours messed up their concept of time and gave lead actor, Alexander Jeremy, the worn out look which he features at the end of the film.

Another behind the scenes secret was to apply lipstick around the eyes to create dark under eye circles. The duo had already produced a feature film and learnt a lot from their experience. “To any aspiring filmmakers out there: my advice is to just do it. You’ll learn from your mistakes and there are so many funding possibilities out there. On top of that, equipment has become cheaper and lighter, we wouldn’t have been able to follow through with such a project fifteen years ago.”

Their journey is not going to stop with this project; they are planning to film another feature which might also be set in Asia, too. Their enthusiasm is truly inspiring and this translated well into the film which had a dreamlike feeling to it. Alexander mentions that as a foreigner, one easily loses boundaries in another country where everything is different and foreign. He tried to translate that feeling into his role on screen and succeeded in creating a three-dimensional character plagued by his own creation. The film won the category for Best UK Film at the Manchester Film Festival 2016.

Review: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Written by Annabel Cartwright on . Posted in Theatre.

This academic year has seen some exciting changes taking place in the University of Manchester’s Musical Theatre Society (UMMTS), the most significant of these being the decision to double their number of annual productions. Two smaller-scale performances were scheduled to bridge the gap between the winter and summer musicals: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Songs For A New World.

Maths student Joe Dickens, who is the current Chair of the society, has explained that the decision to put on the additional productions was centred around the intention to create artistic opportunities: “We wanted a way to give more opportunities than the requisite two for people to be involved creatively, and hopefully to offer another set of shows where new people could be welcomed into the society.”

Funded independently by each show’s respective creative team, the cast and production value of Spelling Bee and Songs For A New World were significantly smaller than those of the typical performances put on by the society. Sitting between the two large-scale UMMTS productions of the year, Betty Blue Eyes and Grand Hotel, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee served as an impressive demonstration of the quality of performance that may be achieved on a comparatively small budget.

Shaped around the individual thoughts and feelings of young children participating in a spelling competition, Spelling Bee is a sensitive and comic portrayal of the complexities of childhood. The simplicity of director Sarah Teale’s interpretation of the musical worked wonderfully alongside the simplicity of the plot. Each child has their say about spelling, parenting, and friendship whilst taking their turn in the competition, through songs ranging from the laugh-out-loud, ‘My Unfortunate Erection’, to the truly heart-wrenching, ‘The I Love You Song’. Attentively, Sarah did not obscure the individual experiences of the children with over-production in terms of set and choreography (a surprising bonus of having a limited budget, I suppose).

Most notably, the ability and group chemistry of the ensemble cast is what melded together the various theatrical aspects of this energetic performance. It was blatant that every single cast member felt a sense of joyousness in the presentation of their role, encouraging the audience to share in their collective fun. This feeling of collaboration between performer and audience was only exacerbated by the clever and comic use of audience participation. The actors proved that they did not need to rely on scripted lines to effectively create comedy; Lucy Scott and Jack Harrison impressively displayed a penchant for improvisation, coming up with clever quips in response to audience-nominated spelling bee contestants spontaneously.

While each member of the cast portrayed their character with both light-heartedness and integrity, one performer stood out from the crowd, both as a vocalist and actor. Eiméar Crealey gave a stunning performance as Olive Ostrovsky, a shy young girl who is desperate for her parents to come and see her spell. Eiméar’s vocal ability was astonishing in the best kind of way. Her impeccable tone and quality of voice rang out above the wonderfully directed live band, lead by Aine Mallon. Paired with a truly honest portrayal of a girl much younger than herself, Eiméar had the audience crying tears of joy and sadness respectively.

With a little more rehearsal time and a larger budget, kinks in the performance might have been ironed out, however an audience member would have to be rather pernickety to identify any real flaws in the performance. The dances were a little rough around the edges, and it was a shame that not all actors were able to sport their own personal microphone, however these are the sorts of issues that come hand-in-hand with creating a piece of theatre in an independently-funded student production.

The versatility and intelligence of UMMTS’ performers, and the expansion of their annual repertoire, is reassuring when considering the prospects of student-run theatre, and the future of this particular society. While the skill of musical theatre practitioners, and the emotional, and often social, power of musical theatre works often go unrecognised, the University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society are forcing theatregoers to sit up and take notice.

Review: Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet

Written by Mia Davis on . Posted in Theatre.

The Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 2016 Shakespeare celebration brought the infamous tale of the most infamous ‘star-crossed’ lovers to the Lowry theatre and did not disappoint. Kenneth MacMillan’s adaptation, set to the Prokofiev score, was beautifully dramatized—accompanied by a wonderful set, it transported the audience to Renaissance Verona.

Act I perfectly sets the scene for the audience, even those not firmly familiar with the story, as an audience, we are dropped among the sparring Capulets and Montagues who sport different colours; both as opulent as the other. The drama of the expertly choreographed sword fights which are timed to perfection immediately demonstrate the drama and tension to come throughout the following couple of hours. We see Romeo (William Bracewell) and his friends laughing and joking throughout the first act, and young and naïve Juliet (Yaoqian Shang) unimpressed with the young man her parents want her to marry. However, the first meeting of the pair at the Capulet masked ball oozes chemistry and is the beginning of their secret-filled love affair. The act ends with the infamous balcony scene, which expertly uses the set to its advantage, yet doesn’t lose any of the secluded romance which is so familiar.

The romance is however tragically short-lived. The drama massively intensifies during the second act, which mostly takes place among the bustling market. Romeo’s friend Mercutio and Juliet’s cousin Tybalt fight extremely dramatically—ending in the tragic death of Mercutio. In a fit of rage, and revenge, Romeo kills Tybalt, and as a result is banished from Verona, and from his love. The tension is palpable as the curtain goes down for the second short interval, although it seems to provide a natural break before the last act.

The overall performance of undoubtedly one of the most tragically romantic love stories of all time is a pleasure to watch. The choreography massively plays to the dramatic and tragic side of the story, and of the wonderful music—perhaps minimising some of the romance and sensuality. However, as a performance, all elements came together beautifully and captured the audience from the start.

A previous version of this article stated that Cesar Morales, who was not dancing that night, played the part of Romeo. This has been amended accordingly.

Three sexual attacks in city centre believed to be by the same culprit

Written by Rebecca Noël on . Posted in News.

Following three attacks on young women in Manchester’s city centre since the end of January, police have sent out a warning, urging women around the area to be wary when walking late and to avoid being alone.

The three women were alone in the early hours of the morning on each separate occasion and were thought to have been attacked by the same man, described as: Asian, late 20s to early 30s, clean shaven, carrying a ‘Blacks’ umbrella, and wearing jeans and a dark blue coat.

The first attack occurred on January 30th around 3.30am along Oxford Road during which a 19-year-old woman was approached by the man who sexually assaulted her before continuing to follow her to Whitworth Street before attempting another attack. Thankfully, she managed to escape.

The second attack took place on Saturday February 6th at around 4am and involved a 22-year-old woman who was assaulted twice before escaping. The incident occurred as she was walking along Kent Road West and the attacker fled immediately after.

On Wednesday March 2nd around 4.20am, as a 21-year-old woman waited for a taxi on Oldham Street. She was approached and assaulted by a man of a similar description.

A similar assault took place on Feburary 14th on Minshull Street between 1.50am and 2.05am before the man walked off towards Canal Street. However, this is thought to have no relation to the other attacks around it and this attacker is still being searched for.

Images of the suspect, believed to be responsible for all three attacks, were released two weeks ago and Greater Manchester Police’s Detective Constable Steve Lowton explained that the images had been shown “in the hope that somebody may recognise this man and be able to assist with our investigation”.

Until more news of the whereabouts of this suspect is brought forward, women around Manchester are pressed to be extra cautious; to stay in groups when out at night and to travel only with licensed transport.

Jess Lishak women’s officer for the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union told The Mancunion: “It’s really disappointing to see the police reverting to victim blaming again, telling women to ‘not walk alone at night’ in order to somehow prevent themselves being sexually assaulted. Perhaps Greater Manchester Police should concentrate on policing criminals and catching the man they believe is responsible for these sexual assaults rather than policing women’s behaviour. But more than that, these ‘safety tips’ aren’t viable. Women don’t have the option to be accompanied everywhere we go, unless GMP are suggesting that they’ll foot the bill for this. These “safety tips” don’t protect us from over 90% of rapes that are committed by perpetrators who we’ve known, trusted and often even loved.

It’s statements like this from the police which create the culture where victims of sexual violence are more likely to suffer in silence than tell the police due to a fear of not being believed, that they’ll be blamed and are unlikely to see justice”.

Are celebrities ruining Sport Relief?

Written by Harry Newton on . Posted in Sport.

Don’t worry, you are not about to read a scathing attack of Sport Relief and the fantastic work that they do for charity. Last year Sport Relief made around £52 million, with 50 per cent of the money raised by the public for Sport Relief going towards transforming lives in the UK.

The formation of Sport Relief was a fantastic idea, using something that almost everyone in the country likes in some capacity, for a good cause—similar to the fantastic work that Comic Relief and Children in Need do. These kind of fundraisers use celebrities in order to gain more exposure: People are more interested in Simon from Blue doing hopscotch than Simon from the Co-op, as sad as that may sound. Everyone gets a nice Friday night watching the show, Sport Relief make a ton of money for a great cause, and these celebrities get a little bit more exposure—what could be better?

Well, the problem with this is that it is slowly crossing the boundary of glorifying certain celebrities instead of the fundraiser itself. Last year saw Eddie Izzard run 43 marathons in 52 days for the charity. You’d be heartless to not to respect what Izzard did, and it will have definitely inspired people up and down the country to get involved with Sport Relief in some capacity and donate to save lives. Fantastic. Rosy. Joyful.

However, it cannot be escaped that Eddie Izzard’s career, just before doing these marathons for Sport Relief, was in a trough. Izzard had been big in comedy for decades, however he’s fallen behind new comedians in the last five years—Eddie Izzard needed Sport Relief just as much as Sport Relief needed him. Izzard was on every news channel for two weeks, had his own show on BBC following his exploits up and down the country, and since then has been stapled on the TV yet again like it’s the 1990s all over again. It must be said that at this point, I’m actually quite a fan of Eddie Izzard.

Of course, Izzard could have got his name back into the limelight by doing some outrageous stunt, whereas this was beneficial for everybody involved. It’s not with Izzard where the problem lies, it’s with how these events are becoming more focused on the promotion of the individual instead of the fundraising. All this month we’ve seen in the press C-list celebrities doing great things for charity, and it has become more about boosting the careers of minor celebrities instead of the larger celebrities actually doing something important for charity.

This is a plea to other celebrities to get involved while Sport Relief needs them, instead of their career needing Sport Relief.

UoM supports campaign to save endangered amphibian

Written by Alina Shrourou on . Posted in News, Science & Tech.

Thursday the 3rd of March marked World Wildlife Day 2016. This was a day of celebrating wild animals and plants, and also aimed at raising awareness of endangered species. With some help, the University of Manchester have commenced a campaign to help save one of the world’s rarest and most unusual frogs from extinction.

Last year, a tiny frog had a big impact on nine-year-old Lucy Marland when she visited the Manchester Museum. After seeing a Lemur Leaf Frog (Agalychnis Lemur) in the museum’s vivarium, and discovering that there are only a few hundred of them left in the world, Lucy decided that she wanted to help to save them from extinction.

Backed by the University of Manchester, the global campaign has now been launched, with an aim to educate primary school children about the endangered amphibian and its threats to extinction in its natural rainforest habitat.

The efforts are focused in the UK, Sweden (where Nordens Ark, Europe’s largest conservation organisation exists, Nordens Ark) and the Guayacan region of Costa Rica (where the frog still survives in the wild).

The materials for the education part of the Lemur Leaf Frog project have been called ‘Learning with Lucy’. At present, three short videos featuring Lucy have been produced—as well as worksheets designed for classroom lessons to be incorporated into primary school education.

By teaching children of the threats to this species and making people more aware of the conservation status of these animals, it is hoped that people—particularly those in the Guayacan region—will take more care of their natural surroundings and spare more thought into how their actions will impact the wildlife around them.

Alongside the Manchester Museum and the University of Manchester, Sir David Attenborough and the Ambassador of Costa Rica also back the campaign. Earlier this year, His Excellency Enrique Castillo Barrantes, the Costa Rican ambassador to Great Britain, visited the University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences to celebrate the project. Although the faculty and Costa Rica already have a good relationship, as the second year Tropical Ecosystems field course runs there every year, this visit was incredibly important for enhancing this relationship.

By strengthening the connection that the university has with Costa Rica, this will in turn strengthen the campaign to save the Lemur Leaf frog, therefore making the conservation of the endangered amphibian all the more likely.

Professor Richard Preziosi, head of the Environmental Research Group in the Faculty of Life Sciences, conducts research on saving endangered frogs and commented on the importance of such campaigns. He told The Mancunion: “Apart from the fact that frogs are fascinating creatures, they provide important benefits to humans and to ecosystems. Frogs have been the source of important chemicals used in medicine and some consume disease carrying pests like mosquitoes.

“Frogs are also very important in ecosystems because of the central role they play in food chains as both a predator and as prey. Plus, they are one of the few animals that work against the flow of nutrients constantly being washed into rivers and ponds. Tadpoles develop on those nutrients in ponds and then come out to live on the land.”

For more information about the campaign, please visit: http://www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/communityresources/schools/learningwithlucy/

University to create new park on campus

Written by Marcus Johns on . Posted in News.

Today the University of Manchester has unveiled plans to turn Brunswick Street into a park—to be named Brunswick Park.

As part of the university’s £1 billion campus masterplan and concurrently with the Cross City bus corridor works by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the road will be blocked off to traffic and it will be replaced with an area of green public realm.

The park will sit in the heart of campus between the Simon and Williamson buildings. The removal of traffic will improve safety for students and other pedestrians alike; currently the crossing is uncontrolled and is particularly busy as lectures come to a close every ten-minutes-to-the-hour.

One third year student told The Mancunion: “I think it’s a great idea to replace this hazardous crossing with a nice green area, to juxtapose the grey university buildings and busy Oxford Road with some peace and quiet. I think campus sorely needs a touch of environment.”

Diana Hampson, Director of Estates and Facilities at the University of Manchester said: “The University is transforming the campus through its £1 billion Campus Masterplan and that includes a commitment to environmental sustainability by improving our green spaces and public realm.”

The area will be extensively landscaped and will feature pedestrian paths, cycle lanes, wildflower areas, trees, and benches. It comes as preparation begins on works to turn the Oxford Road into a bus, bicycle, and hackney carriage only road during the day time.

The entire street will be converted and plans show a large circular area in outside the Zochonis, Roscoe, and Simon buildings, which leads to the Oxford Road along a wide paved area.

“Improved pathways” will be provided between Oxford Road and Upper Brook Street for pedestrians and cyclists, which aim to form “an important gateway to the campus,” according to the University of Manchester’s plans.

These pathways come as TfGM gets ready to revolutionise transport along Oxford Road, widening pavements and planting trees to create a boulevard feel along the ‘Corridor’, in addition to the introduction of ‘Dutch style’ cycle lanes, which will go behind bus stops. The plans hope to increase the speed, reliability, and safety of using public transport, cycling, and walking along the Oxford Road.

Hampson added: “These proposals form a centrepiece of our vision and will create a heart of the University campus for staff, students, visitors and the local community to enjoy”

Sitting between the open area outside University Place and the small areas of greenery in front of the Williamson and Simon buildings, the park will also be used for large-scale campus events such as graduation, with plans drawn up for a central space to accommodate these.

Consultation with Manchester City Council has already taken place with community base consultations planned imminently.

Subject to planning, work is expected to begin on the Brunswick Park scheme later in 2016.

University of Sheffield forces the eviction of protesting students

Written by Merle Streck on . Posted in News.

The Free University of Sheffield movement has been occupying the Richard Roberts Auditorium for over a week to demonstrate against “the current assault on higher education”. Shemina Davis, Sheffield’s Media Relations Manager, confirmed to The Mancunion that the university has in fact taken out a possession order against the protesting students.

Christy McMorrow, the Students’ Union President, appeared in court yesterday to represent the protesters. He said that some academic staff members supported the movement and that the demonstrators did not intend to disrupt teaching.

Reports indicate that the protesting students received an email from the University of Sheffield management on Thursday, 3 March stating that: “We would much prefer it if the occupation could be brought to a swift conclusion.” Judge Robinson was later quoted as saying that students have a “free and democratic right” to protest against the quality of higher education. However, since the University of Sheffield is the rightful owner of the Auditorium, Robinson would be willing to grant the university’s possession order.

In their press release, a spokesperson from the University of Sheffield said: “As a university, we fully support freedom of speech and the right of students to express their views peacefully and within the law. The university recognises the commitment of the occupiers to peaceful protest, however cannot condone occupation of a building that could cause disruption to our staff and students.”

The demonstrators have conducted general meetings to discuss their concerns about access and quality of higher education. Their aim is to protest peacefully for “an education that is free and fair.” Outlining their intentions to occupy the auditorium on campus, the students stated: “In recent years, we’ve seen the complete separation of the public from our ‘public’ education system.”

“In this era of marketisation, we’re seeing students treated as consumers – to be passive recipients of information for the sake of employability—rather than producers of knowledge.” The protesters claim that student fears of debt and competitive job markets have jeopardized the “reciprocal engagement between academic and student which should underpin learning in the university.”

The University of Sheffield management, the students claim, is not seeking to provide students with an education, but are instead higher education’s “plunderers.” By commencing legal action against the protestors, the Free University Sheffield Movement claims that the university management is only confirming their concerns about the quality of higher education nowadays.

During their occupation of the auditorium, the Free University of Sheffield movement delineated their four main objectives. Firstly, protesters advocate the university active resistance against the reforms of the higher education green paper.

Secondly, they are demanding regular open forums between the vice-chancellor and students and for the University of Sheffield management to “publicly pledge non-compliance” with the government’s PREVENT programme which they deem “racist and Islamophobic.” Finally, the students want to see an end to “unfair casualised teaching contracts.”

A spokesperson for the University of Sheffield responded to these demands, saying: “the university understands that the increasing marketisation of higher education is rightly an issue very close to the hearts of many of its staff and students and along with universities across the country, we have outlined these concerns in detail as part of our response to the government’s Green Paper on Higher Education.”

During their occupation, the students have directed further complaints against management stating that they have been forced to occupy the auditorium in “freezing” conditions. After having asked management about the heating, the students received a response stating that the heating had been turned off as management had never received an official booking for the auditorium.

The protesters expressed their resentment against management’s hypocrisy stating their confusion that the university is “content to let us freeze” even though “excessive security provisions” were ordered for the students’ safety.

As part of the campaign, the students organised rallies, a poetry night, stand-up comedy performances, and also hosted a gig-night with special guests such as Grace Petrie—an activist and folk singer-songwriter. Additionally, the demonstrators have reached out to management on multiple occasions asking them to join them in a series of workshops set to take place in the week where the students’ objectives will be discussed in detail.

The demonstrators have yet to receive a response. McMorrow is hopeful, however, that talks between the protesters and university management will take place after the case is finished in order to discuss the students’ demands further.

Women in Media Conference 2016

Written by Elizabeth Rushton on . Posted in News.

Last weekend 100 students and 21 guest speakers gathered at Manchester’s International Anthony Burgess Foundation for the inaugural Women in Media Conference, an event seeking to empower and inspire female students pursuing a future career in the media.

Organised by a mostly female team from Manchester Media Group, the event gave students the opportunity to hear from women who have led successful careers in fields ranging from journalism and production to PR and marketing. Delegates not just from Manchester but also from universities as far afield as Stirling attended the event.

Proceedings began with a launch evening on Friday 4th March, which included a welcome speech from Helen Pidd, North of England Editor at The Guardian, as well as live music from local singer-songwriter Sarah De Warren and student band The Vanity Project, winners of the national iSessions competition.

Saturday saw the start of a series of panel discussions, workshops, and keynote speeches, which gave rise to great discussion and invaluable advice from the speakers, but also highlighted the reason why empowerment of female students aspiring to a media career is so badly needed.

Even in student media there is still an undeniable underrepresentation of women, with Chloe Yates, the Student Radio Association’s (SRA) regional officer for the North West revealing that the proportion of female delegates at the SRA’s 2015 national conference was just 1 in 5.

Sam Walker, presenter on BBC Radio 5Live and BBC Radio Manchester acknowledged that much has changed since the days when women’s on-air roles amounted to “laughing at their male co-presenter and reading the traffic”, adding that it was crucial that men be part of the ongoing conversation on women in the media in order for progress to continue.

The final day began with a discussion of BAME representation within the media, led by the women behind The Nubian Times, a Manchester newspaper reaching out to multicultural communities which lack a voice in mainstream media. The remainder of the day’s activities included a discussion of the compatibility of fashion and feminism, featuring Louise Court, director of content at Hearst Magazines, who subsequently shared inspiring words on the importance of resilience and self-belief in her keynote speech.

The conference came to a close with a session featuring BBC North West presenter Beccy Barr, award-winning producer Cat Lewis, and Sarah Kavanagh from the National Union of Journalists, which saw delegates exchange views with the panel on subjects including ageism in the media, challenges faced by working mothers, and the issue of unpaid internships.

Proceeds from the conference will be donated to Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), a local charity supporting women involved in sex work. Over £800 was raised, and at the time of writing a JustGiving page has been set up to try and boost the total to £1000.

It is hoped that the conference will become an annual event, and planning for 2017’s event is already underway. The event ran concurrently with the Manchester Wonder Women festival, which plays host to a range of upcoming events celebrating women and their achievements over the past century.

Gender pay gap exposed at University of Manchester

Written by Eve Foster on . Posted in News.

A report released for International Women’s Day by the University and College Union (UCU) has exposed the lingering gender pay gap within universities across Britain, where, on average, female academics are paid £6,103 less per year than their male counterparts.

At the University of Manchester, the report states male professors earn £82,851 per year, compared to just £76,711 for female professors—a gap of £6,140 per year—meaning that females earn less than 93 per cent of males’ salaries.

In the combined pay gap rankings, calculated by assigning higher scores to the institutions with the largest pay gaps amongst four contract levels (all, early-career, mid-career, professors) and correcting for the ratio of males to females, Manchester is relatively low at 70th of 87. The worst offender, receiving 93 points in the combined list, is St. George’s Hospital Medical School.

For all academic staff, the University of Leicester has the largest disparity once specialist institutions are eliminated, with females earning 78.7 per cent of males’ salaries.

At some universities the disparity in professors’ pay drops as low as 83.6 per cent, and the report notes that Russell Group universities generally have a greater gender pay gap. The study, which examines both further and higher education, found that unless the rate of progress seen over the last ten years changes, the gender pay gap could remain until 2050.

UCU, who are striving to close the gender pay gap within further and higher education, outlines a four-point plan to end the pay gap within the report, including conducting equal pay audits and analysing the results, and working with the UCU to address any pay disparity. However, they note that many employers not only fail to stick to these steps, but do not even undertake equal pay reviews.

University of Manchester Students’ Union Women’s Officer, Jess Lishak, told The Tab: “It’s disappointing to see that not only are women underrepresented in the University, making up only 20 per cent of professors and 34 per cent of all academic staff, but that they are also paid less for the same job.

“The University should not only be a better and more equal employer, but they should also be setting an example to their students (who may well go on to be leaders and employers themselves) that regardless of gender there should be equal opportunities and their work should be valued the same.

“Until the university insists on paying its women staff the same as their male counterparts, perhaps they should be charging their women students 7.4 per cent less tuition fees as well.”

A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “The University of Manchester takes issues of equal pay very seriously. We conduct equal pay audits every two years, in accordance with guidance recommended by both the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These audits are overseen by a Joint Working Group comprising University and trade union representatives, including representatives from UCU. The audits examine pay differences by ethnicity and disability as well as by gender.

“The most recent of our audits shows that out of a possible 54 grades and categories examined, there are 47 with such a small pay gap that there is no need for further attention. There are also no significant gaps for staff in grades 1-8 across gender, ethnicity and disability. For the pay zones in which a vast majority of our professorial staff are paid, the gender pay gap is negligible (less than 1%) and overall, the gap is 5%. 23% of our professorial staff are women, though we have a target, which is supported by a number of measures, to achieve much greater gender balance.

“The audit shows that the University’s implementation and application of Higher Education Role Analysis—a standard for higher and further education institutions—and the associated pay structures provide a framework within which the University continues to provide equal pay for like work. This means that it is continuing to meet its obligations in this area under the provisions of the Equality Act.

“The University has developed and is maintaining a fair and equitable reward system and, in so doing, is supporting its equality objectives in a critical and measurable way.”

Alliance Manchester Business School Football team means business

Written by Davide Cappelli on . Posted in Uncategorised.

Ranked 7th in the United Kingdom and 35th in the world by the Financial Times for its MBA (Master of Business Administration) programme, Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) secured third place at the International Football Challenge. The tournament, which has been organised by the AMBS sports committee, saw students from the best business schools across Europe taking off their suits and putting on their football boots to compete in an 11-a-side competition at Salford Sports Village.

The two MBA teams from Alliance Manchester Business School managed to get through the group stage after beating Warwick 4-1 and Edinburgh 1-0. However, both the MBA class of 2016 and the MBA class of 2017 failed to get into the final, after two tight games against University of Oxford Business School and IE University. With a 4-2 against Oxford (winner of two editions of the trophy), the Spanish university put its name on the fifth edition of the International Football Challenge.

Photo: Manchester Business School

AMBS Vice-president of sport David Valdivia, who organised the event with MBA students Stefania Miravalle, Francisco Ponce, Willis Arum and Rupsha Das said: “We have been a bit unlucky, especially in the semifinal against Oxford, where we did not deserve to lose. We played really well and we created many chances. Unfortunately, we also missed a penalty when the game was 0-0.”

“However, this was the first tournament for our team, and I have noticed some good improvements from the group stage to the semi-final. It has been a good preparation for the MBA Olympic Games that will take place in Paris this May. I think that with some more twists, and if we arrange the team a little bit better, we can try to win that competition”.

Therefore, manager Gonzalo Vargas has already started the preparation to take captain Chris Matthews and his teammates on the top of the MBA football rankings. It would be the first time for our business school. In the past it has been always complicated to compete with other European schools such as HEC Paris or IE whose MBA class is four times bigger than the AMBS one.

However, MBS International football challenge has also been an opportunity to promote Manchester as a leading football capital in the world. Indeed, the welcome event took place at the National Football Museum with a speech from speaker of the year in 2014 Andrew Thorp, and the participant teams had also the chance to visit what Thorp called “the theatre of dreams”, that is Old Trafford.

The event was not only encouraging on the level of football though, for during the weekend, there was also room for some more business-related talks.

Speaking to the Mancunion, David Valdivia said: “The event has also been a great opportunity for networking with alumni and students from other countries and universities. It has been a unique chance to share ideas on business competitions and to create business opportunities for the future”.

This further proof of the power of football to connect people, nations, and even the business leaders of tomorrow.

Review: Let it Be

Written by Jack Carmichael on . Posted in Theatre.

Described by some as one of the most influential bands of all time, and adored by a legion of fans, the musical Let it Be is set some high expectations. Let it Be is a tribute performance to The Beatles, and includes some of their most famous songs. The first production of Let it Be opened on the West End in 2012 to positive reviews, with the success sparking both a UK and European tour. The current tour is taking the Beatles’ music across the country. The production at the Opera House in Manchester runs for a week from 29th February to 5th March.

The production is an inventive combination of a theatre show, musical and gig, mixing the three elements to maximise audience engagement and enjoyment. The production stretches over seven key eras in The Beatles’ musical careers, and includes different scenery and outfits for each time period.

The scene is first set in a faux Cavern Club with early rock n roll songs taken from Please Please Me, The Beatles debut album, including an excellent rendition of I Saw her Standing There. The scene then moves through The Beatles breaking into the American music scene with a performance of fan favourite She Loves You on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1965. The performance then takes a more colourful turn, with the cast donning full Sgt Pepper outfits for performances of With a Little Help from my Friends and When I’m Sixty-Four. The production’s penultimate theme is “Peace and Love”, finishing with an Abbey Road scene, complete with a shoeless Paul McCartney.

The songs were all performed excellently by the cast. Two solo performances by Paul McCartney (Emanuelle Angeletti) of Yesterday and Blackbird could have been mistaken for the original recordings. John Lennon (Reuven Gershon) had a rocky start, with his early performance of Twist and Shout missing several high notes. However he redeemed himself after the interval, coming back strong with Strawberry Fields Forever (and he also looks remarkably like Lennon).

While the songs were, on the whole, performed well by the cast, the production was made much more interesting by the continued crowd engagement with the production. During the songs, the cast encouraged the audience to sing and dance along, and in the pauses the cast joked with the audience. This turned the production from what could have been just a set list of songs into an interactive and engaging evening. Let it Be is highly recommended for fans of The Beatles looking for a night of 60s rocking and reminiscing, but high theatre prices may put off students who only have a passing interest.