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Month: May 2022

‘People would rather take a loan and be able to eat’: Medical Students launch the #LiveableNHSBursary campaign

Written by Luke Hewitt on . Posted in Features.

A viral Twitter campaign has highlighted the difficulties fifth and sixth year medical students face in coping with the cost of living due to a lack of funding from Student Finance England.

Medical students across the UK have joined together on Twitter to share stories of burn out and dire financial circumstances with the hashtag #LiveableNHSBursary. An unsustainable mix of multiple part-time jobs, frantic unpaid placements, study, exams, and rising living costs is slowly pushing more potential doctors away from the NHS when it needs them most.

Penny Sucharitkul, Doctors Association UK rep and student at the University of Leeds, told The Mancunion how, alongside three fellow female student doctors – Michaela, Trisha and Eilidh – she started the movement: “We started a group chat on Twitter, the four of us are from widening access backgrounds and thought we need to make this change now because people are struggling to pay their rent and you’ve got student doctors using food banks.”

The four founders of the campaign: Top Left: Penny, Top Right: Trisha, Bottom Left: Michaela, Bottom Right: Eilidh.

The #LiveableNHSBursary campaign was created by Eilidh to help raise awareness about the substantial drop in funding medical students face in their fifth and sixth years and the drastic effect it is having on students across the country. Penny described how the cut comes at perhaps the most crucial part of their course: “As you’re going into your final year, your most difficult year, you’re essentially taking a £5,000 pay cut.”

Currently, medical students are provided with full funding for their first four years of study, once they move into fifth and sixth year the funding plummets by half, from around £10,000 to just under £5,000. This is due to Student Finance England only fully funding students for four years of study.

Once medical students progress to fifth and sixth year they transfer onto the NHS Bursary system, but, unlike most other healthcare students, they are not entitled to the same level of funding. Medical students are only allowed to take a maximum “top up” student maintenance loan of £1,975 per year, roughly £8,000 less than the standard for all other students. 

Medical students do, however, receive a means-tested NHS bursary which can vary from anywhere between £2,207 to £3,191 with an additional non-means-tested £1000 grant. But other healthcare students, such as nursing students, receive a £5,000 non-means-tested NHS bursary for each academic year. This NHS bursary has proved invaluable for some and has supported them whilst they pursue their careers in healthcare. 

When asked about the financial support available for medical students, a University of Manchester spokesperson said: “The University has invested in one of the most generous support packages in the UK for students in financial hardship; approximately a third of all our undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year. This includes the University’s Living Cost Support Fund and more information is available here and here. The Royal Medical Benevolent Fund also offers specific support to medical students.

The #LiveableNHSBursary campaign aims to achieve: parity between medical students and other healthcare courses, have the means test removed, and give all medical students full access to the NHS learning support fund.

Medical students are also expected to complete unpaid clinical placements alongside their studies which often leads to students struggling to juggle their responsibilities. Penny explained the lengths some students are going to in an attempt to pay their bills: “You’re on placement five times a week on 9 til 5 shifts, going home and studying for three or four hours or going straight to work. Some students work night shifts and double weekend shifts just to make ends meet.”  

On the subject of clinical placements, a University of Manchester spokesperson said: “All clinical placements form part of a medical student’s studies; it is an essential part of learning to be a doctor and preparing to practise medicine safely. As students become more senior, they take on more tasks, safely supervised, within the clinical teams they are on placement with – this is so they are ready to start working as a doctor when they graduate.”

Penny told us the goal of the movement on Twitter “ … is about encouraging people to share their stories of living on such a small amount in their final year.” The hashtag has already garnered considerable interest on Twitter with several students’ stories going viral. She said, “we’ve already seen stories of people working two jobs, people not being able to pay their rent and people struggling to plan their jobs/lives around placement rotas.”

A post shared on Twitter by a medical student confirmed the struggles faced by many students “I currently have two jobs to help fund Uni. This is on top of balancing placement time, academic opportunities and socialising/relaxing. I feel like I have no time to destress and my mental and physical health has suffered as a result. #LiveableNHSbursary”. 

https://twitter.com/alexanderjbald/status/1520097985371246592

Penny hopes the campaign can improve the funding system so future medical students don’t have to go through the same struggles, “The main goals of the campaign is to have full access to the NHS Bursary learning support fund, access to full student finance for our final years of study, and a review on funding for travel costs”.

She also reiterated that the ability to take out further maintenance loans would be invaluable to medical students – even if it adds to their already exorbitant student debt. “My debt is already at £80,000. Adding to it isn’t really going to make much of a difference, in the past there has been an argument for not wanting to add to our loans but most people would rather take a loan and be able to eat.”

The British Medical Association released a press statement on 28th April 2022 backing the campaign. The co-chair of the Medical Students Committee Kadija Meghrawi said: “The funding provided by the NHS bursary is unacceptably low and there must be a review of current funding mechanisms. Those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds cannot rely on generous friends or family, and must instead sacrifice their education and health to work long hours.”

The hashtag has also received support from politicians. Debbie Abrahams MP (Oldham East & Saddleworth) told one student on Twitter that she would speak to the health secretary whilst former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron tweeted his support: “Very Happy to back the #LiveableNHSBursary campaign. If we truly care about the future of our NHS, then we need to support medical students so they can actually afford to do their training away from home”.

 

Recently, The Mancunion uncovered student nurses reliant on food banks and feeling “burnt out before you’re qualified”, with the emergence of #LiveableNHSBursary campaign it is clear that problems in healthcare education aren’t confined to nursing students. Medical students face a 50% drop in funding at the most crucial part of their degree. With staff shortages in the NHS endemic, this extra financial hurdle has the potential to discourage future doctors when they are needed most.

On mental health, a University of Manchester spokesperson said:

“Medical students have dedicated pastoral support team within their programme they are encouraged to access when they need advice and support.

“The University provides a comprehensive range of resources and support for students in relation to their mental health. All information about what’s available can be found here. The support includes a free and confidential Counselling and Mental Health Service that provides both psychological interventions and mental health assessments. In addition there is a 24/7 mental health support phone line that allows students to access support outside of core hours.

“The University has a public health framework for helping students and staff think about how to look after their mental health – the Six Ways to Wellbeing – which allows students to reflect on what helps them stay well.

“And we have also partnered with the other Great Manchester universities and Greater Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Partnership (the NHS) to launch a first in the UK: a Mental Health Service for Greater Manchester students. This allows our Counselling and Mental Health Service to refer students for treatment who experience significant mental health difficulties and who currently struggle to access NHS services as they are currently configured.”

Is violence an evolutionary trait?

Written by laurenmanning on . Posted in Science & Tech.

Men are more likely than women to perpetrate nearly all types of interpersonal violence and are the most common victims of interpersonal violence. Research has largely focused on the role of gender norms and masculine values in promoting male violence. It has been argued that the prevalence and pattern of male violence is a result of the social norms which cause men to value hierarchy, power, respect, and emotional suppression. These factors definitely play a part, but there may be a scientific explanation to explain the patterns of male violence we see.

In Death from a Distance and the Birth of a Humane Universe, Bingham and Souza present an explanation of male violence based on the difference between the roles of males and females in mammalian reproduction. For males, mating with multiple females increases their potential reproductive output – a man can get multiple women pregnant. However, for females, mating with multiple males has little to no effect on their potential reproductive output – a woman cannot be a little pregnant.

If an organism’s purpose is to have as many offspring as it can, as Bingham and Souza argue it is, then it is advantageous for males to have multiple mates. These males, therefore, will compete for females to mate with. This is not a new idea, but one that isn’t always considered in the search for the origins of male violence.

Based on this idea of male-male competition, it is logical to assume that violence between males should be the most prominent form of violence. That is exactly what we see. Males are nearly ten times more likely to commit homicides and are 2 to 3 times more likely to be victims of homicide, compared to females.

Furthermore, we can assume males who have the most competitors for mating opportunities should be involved in violent competitive interactions more often. Again, this is exactly what we see. Unemployed, unmarried, young men are the most common offenders and victims of homicide. Young males between the ages of 20-24 are almost five times more likely to commit homicides than older men aged 50-54. Moreover, unemployed men in their peak reproductive years (aged 25-44) are around five times more likely to commit homicides than employed males of the same age.

Of course, these statistics are not a result of evolutionary processes alone. Humans exist within large, complex communities, and the socially pressures ideas and cultural values within these groups will impact our behaviour. However, scientists have argued that this behaviour initially evolved in response to sexual selection by females, and is socially facilitated by the presence of other men in pursuit of the same goals.

Further evidence for this theory comes from our closest living relatives – the great apes. It has been shown that the most severe forms of violence between males in these species tend to be linked to sexual access and reproductive success. Furthermore, females seem to be attracted to these males who successfully compete, resulting in male violence being actively selected for in both sexes.

You may find yourself thinking that humans have risen above these basic motivators for sexual reproduction. Yes, we are more complex than other mammals, and we live within expanded social contexts which influence our behaviour in very different ways to apes. But, our genetic information has been shaped in the same way as other mammals over millions of years. As a result, our behaviours are still influenced by these same fundamental needs. This may help us to understand the cause of male violence in our species, and perhaps give us some clues on how to prevent it.

Cute and cuddly: Unpacking animal conservation bias

Written by laurenmanning on . Posted in Science & Tech.

One of the biggest impacts of human urbanisation is ecosystem degradation. Rising populations demand resources, space, food and urban spaces. The cost? Rapid decline in habitat quality, and consequently biodiversity.

But habitat loss is not the only threat. Human-wildlife conflict can lead to the introduction of diseases and invasive species which threaten the survival of the native communities. In addition to all this, the illegal wildlife trade market has caused severe declines in populations of some species, such as the African elephant, rhinoceros and wild cats, as well as a variety of birds, reptiles and insects.

Whilst human effects are widely accepted, our efforts around species conservation seem skewed towards a small handful, particularly mammals. But often, these aren’t the species at the most immediate risk of extinction. So why do we gravitate towards the fuzzy, cuddly ones?

We like animals like us

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categorises species based on their level of threat from least concern to extinct. As of 2022, 37,480 species have been designated to be at threat of extinction. The groups with the highest number of threatened species are the fishes, amphibians, insects and molluscs. Despite this, there is a significant bias in public attention, research and conservation efforts on only 0.2% of the animal species on earth – the mammals.

Number of assessed and threatened species by taxonomic groups. Source: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-3.

This disconnect between evidence and human action is most likely based on our innate preference for animals which are more ‘human-like’.  The value of different animal species, and therefore our level of concern for their safety and welfare, depends not on their ecological importance or their level of endangerment, but on how we perceive them.

Studies have shown that similarity to humans is a major determinant of donations to species conservation, with people giving more money on average for species which are more closely related to humans. It has been suggested this is because we think only animals like us have the cognitive complexity and awareness which merit higher moral consideration.

We often attribute intentions, beliefs, and emotions to selective nonhuman species which we see as human-like. The closer a species resembles humans in their appearance and behaviour, the more people tend to project human characteristics and mental states onto them. This ‘interpretative anthropomorphism’ has significant consequences on our concern for these species – species which are thought to have awareness and experience emotions, especially the ability to feel pleasure and pain, are more likely to be given moral rights. As a result, we base a species’ worthiness of concern and protection on their resemblance to us.

Aesthetic animals

Our preferences are also driven largely by aesthetics. We like charismatic vertebrates, such as elephants, lions, giant pandas, whales, penguins, and polar bears. There are endless examples of these flagship species being used as conservation tools to promote the protection of the ecosystems they are a part of.

The best example is the giant panda featured in the logo of the World Wildlife Fund. Studies have found that online campaigns featuring these species receive more donations than those featuring ‘unappealing’ species, such as insects. This uneven focus can result in the neglect of species under the most threat, most of which are not ideal flagship species.

A study on the perception of invertebrates found that people most often expressed fear and disgust towards them, with occasional positive attitudes towards species which were aesthetically appealing or useful, such as butterflies or shrimp.

These invertebrates, most of which have been deemed unappealing and therefore unworthy of attention, represent 98% of the animals on the planet. Despite this, there are few regulations on their welfare and treatment. The regulations that do exist protect invertebrates proven to be sentient, such as octopi. The other invertebrates have yet to be shown to be sufficiently sentient to garner such concern.

Estimated percentage of species threatened within selected groups. Source: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-3.

Bias elsewhere

This bias is present not only in public opinions but can be found in research and scientific publications as well.  In 2021, the IUCN had evaluated 91% of known mammal species and 100% of known bird species, compared to 1.1% of insects and 11% of molluscs. In fact, for almost all invertebrate groups, there was insufficient coverage to estimate the percentage of threatened species within that group.

From 1987-2001, 69% of articles published by the two leading conservation research journals, Conservation Biology and Biological Conservation, were on vertebrate research and only 11% on invertebrate research. Even within these groups there was taxonomic bias, with more papers on mammal research than those on fish, reptile, and amphibian research put together.

The covers of ten popular nature magazines in the US over twelve years primarily featured mammals (40%), and often centred around flagship species, such as polar bears, pandas, and tigers. This reinforces the attitude of ‘mammal is animal’, and thus reinforces the bias towards mammals in conservation and protection.

All animals matter

The animals we find important are the focus of our scientific research, our conservation campaigns and our rehabilitation and reintroduction efforts. But we are responsible for the endangerment of many more species than just those we find appealing, intelligent or worthy of our concern.

Conservation efforts should be centred around the most endangered species, which means shifting our research focus, governmental policies, and media attention. Humans are the greatest threat to the survival of all animals, and we owe all of them our attention and help.

The Mancunion takes on: Bongo’s Bingo!

Written by Erin Osman on . Posted in Lifestyle.

Last Sunday night, May 1, The Mancunion took to the streets of Manchester, and headed to Bongo’s Bingo’s 80’s themed bonanza at Manchester Central.

We didn’t know quite what to expect. A bit of bingo, sure.

But for a bingo session lasting from 7:30pm to 12am, there had to be more … and there certainly was! 

The DJ stroke bingo-caller told us that, for any newcomers to Bongo’s Bingo, “it’s basically just one big massive rave”. And that pretty much sums up this crazy experience. A perfect (if wild) blend of bingo, karaoke, dance-offs, rave intervals, and Tina Turner impersonators: I’ve never seen anything quite like Bongo’s Bingo! 

The night we attended was the Bongo’s Bingo XL – Back to the 80s extravaganza, the crowd were donned in shell suit jackets, neon and 80’s themed costume. Perfect attire to match the 80’s soundtrack and prizes on offer throughout the night.

The actual bingo game is intense and fast-paced, especially given the fact everyone’s already at least four vodka cranberry’s down. But the prizes are worth the intensity as you’re in for a chance of winning a whole host of prizes such as: a lifetime supply of Coco Pops; an 80s karaoke machine; a brand-new Henry Hoover; a £2000 cash prize, or even, a decapitated life-size cardboard cut-out of Margaret Thatcher … 

Photo @ The Mancunion

The night started, quite unexpectedly, with a performance by a group of professional break-dancers. It descended, in perfect chaos, into a dance battle.

Before long, we were all swept up in the rowdiness of the crowd. With ‘guest appearances’ from Freddie Mercury, Prince, Michael Jackson, and finally Tina Turner – the bingo became a fully-fledged concert, polished off with confetti, smoke-machines, glow sticks and strobe lights.

Photo: Jess Walmsley @ The Mancunion

A look around the benches and you can quickly tell the place is mostly filled up with hen and stag-do parties, with dildos being thrown around and men’s chests on full display.

It’s chaotic, lively, and very drunken. Whether you’re 77 or 18, Bongo’s Bingo is your antidote to your classic (sometimes boring) club night out. 

Photo: Bongo’s Bingo

To avoid breaking your bank I’d advise a serious pres beforehand, as drinks are pretty expensive. And, be prepared to run, no, sprint, to the toilets between bingo sessions to avoid getting stuck in a hefty queue. 

Coming up this June, Bongo’s have over 80 shows across 27 different locations all around the country including: Birmingham, Blackpool, Coventry, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gorleston-On-Sea, Hull, Leamington Spa, Leeds, Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool, London Bridge, London Clapham Junction, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Norwich, Rochester, Sheffield, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Stafford, Swindon, Wigan and Wolverhampton.

Bongo’s Bingo describes itself as the definitive bingo experience, and, I have to agree.

It’s bingo as you’ve never seen it before. So, head over to the Bongo’s Bingo website now and grab your tickets!

Photo @ Bongo’s Bingo

Dates Announced:

Birmingham: Saturday 4th June, Saturday 11th June, Saturday 18th June, Saturday 25th June

Blackpool: Friday 3rd June

Coventry: Friday 3rd June, Friday 17th June, Saturday 25th June

Dundee: Friday 3rd June

Edinburgh: Friday 10th June, Saturday 11th June, Saturday 25th June

Glasgow: Friday 10th June, Afternoon Show – Saturday 11th June, Evening Show – Saturday 11th June, Thursday 16th June, Friday 17th June, Thursday 23rd June, Friday 24th June, Thursday 30th June

Gorleston-On-Sea: Saturday 18th June

Hull: Friday 3rd June, Friday 10th June, Friday 17th June, Friday 24th June

Leamington Spa: Saturday 11th June, Saturday 25th June

Leeds: Wednesday 1st June, Friday 10th June, Friday 24th June, Sunday 26th June

Leicester: Friday 3rd June, Saturday 11th June, Saturday 18th June, Saturday 25th June

Lincoln: Friday 24th June

Liverpool: Bank Holiday Special – Wednesday 1st June, Bank Holiday Special – Thursday 2nd June, Bank Holiday Special – Friday 3rd June, Saturday 4th June, Friday 10th June, Saturday 11th June, Friday 17th June, Saturday 18th June, Friday 24th June, Saturday 25th June

London Bridge: Bank Holiday Special – Thursday 2nd June, Bank Holiday Special – Friday 3rd June, Saturday 4th June, Friday 10th June, Saturday 11th June, Friday 17th June, Saturday 18th June, Friday 24th June, Saturday 25th June

London Clapham Junction: Friday 3rd June, Friday 10th June, Saturday 11th June, Friday 17th June, Saturday 25th June

Manchester: Saturday 21st May, Daytime Show – Sunday 5th June, Friday 10th June, Friday 17th June, Friday 24th June, Daytime Show – Sunday 26th June

Middlesbrough: Bank Holiday Special – Thursday 2nd June, Friday 17th June

Newcastle: Bank Holiday ‘Tropical’ Special – Thursday 2nd June, Bank Holiday ‘Tropical’ Special -Friday 3rd June, Bank Holiday ‘Tropical’ Special – Saturday 4th June, Friday 10th June, Friday 24th June, Thursday 30th June

Norwich: Friday 24th June, Saturday 25th June

Rochester: Saturday 18th June

Sheffield: Saturday 4th June, Saturday 11th June, Saturday 18th June, Saturday 25th June

Shrewsbury: Saturday 4th June, Saturday 18th June, Saturday 25th June

Southampton: Saturday 11th June

Stafford: Saturday 4th June, Saturday 18th June

Swindon: Saturday 11th June, Friday 24th June

Wigan: Saturday 4th June, Saturday 11th June, Saturday 18th June, Friday 24th June

Wolverhampton: Saturday 11th June, Friday 17th June, Saturday 18th June, Saturday 25th June

Can pharmacogenomics be introduced to the NHS?

Written by Isobel Green on . Posted in Science & Tech.

The general conversation between a patient and a doctor involves a patient describing their ailment, the doctor investigating what has been described and then deciding on a diagnosis and treatment plan. However, when they prescribe you a treatment, it is usually extremely generic to the diagnosis.

Medicine follows a ‘one size fits all’ approach. It is expected that one treatment should work for everyone with the corresponding condition. But it is not expected that one TV channel will satisfy everyone wanting to watch TV, hence we are adorned with hundreds of channels. So why is medicine any different?

As individuals, differences in our DNA make us all unique. We therefore have varying responses to drugs. Some will benefit from a medication, some will not respond and some will have adverse reactions.

Drugs are usually tested on a large population and the average response is recorded: evidence based medicine. But there is often little alternative for those which do not fit the average. The personalisation of medicine is tailoring treatments based on your individual needs. The concept is not new, but being able to predict a drugs reaction in our bodies has not been possible before.

What is pharmacogenomics?

Pharmacogenomics is a branch of personalised medicine. It is the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs. It involves determining genetic differences associated with adverse drug reactions by performing a genetic sequencing test. If genetic variations are found in a patient, adjustments can be made to their medication such as dosage or changing the drug.

The genetic sequencing test involves taking a blood, saliva or body tissue sample to be analysed in a laboratory. The results of this test can then be matched to appropriate medications. It was recently announced this service might be available on the NHS by next year.

Why integrate pharmacogenomics into the NHS?

You might be questioning the necessity of pharmacogenomics, particularly its integration into the NHS. Adverse drug reactions are more common than you might think, particularly with commonly-prescribed drugs.

  • Only about 50% of people taking antidepressants notice improvement in symptoms
  • Over 5 million people in the UK receive no pain relief from codeine
  • 6.5% of UK hospital admissions have adverse reactions to medications
  • 15% of UK hospital inpatients have adverse reactions to medications
  • There are 8000 overnight hospital stays a year in the UK due to adverse reactions to medications, costing £1 billion

The general premise of personalised medicine is to use the known individuality in a population to improve patient diagnosis, care and treatment.

Strategies are needed to employ personalised medicine such as a specific test for a certain mutation in a tissue to prioritise the use of a specific treatment. A more recent strategy, which is being introduced to the NHS, is to employ broader tests which can test for hundreds of genetic variants as opposed to just one. This will allow for precise treatment monitoring.

Health economists work to provide information on whether to introduce a new intervention into a healthcare system. They base this information on the value the intervention can provide to the system, compared to what is currently in place, so that the fixed healthcare budget can be spent appropriately.

Health is valued in quality adjusted life years (QALY’s) – a measure of quantity and quality of life.  QALYs quantify the health effect of a medical intervention. A valuable intervention results in more QALYs gained for less cost. For example, cancer medications are easy to measure with QALYs as it is easy to determine how many extra years of life a patient receives from the medication.

Does pharmacogenomics hold any value to the NHS? On paper, yes. An economic analysis of pharmacogenomics will highlight the cost-effectiveness of the intervention as the genomic tests are relatively cheap for the amount of QALYs gained.

However, this does not take into account implementation issues. Practically, pharmacogenomics will be a nightmare to implement. GPs and clinicians will have to develop their knowledge of pharmacogenomic relevant medicines, and then adapt their consultations to account for the genomic testing. This assumes they are willing to change the way they work.

It will have to be decided when is best to test individuals; when they are born, or to wait until they need a medicine. An information system is then required to hold and transfer individuals information.

There are also patient level factors to be considered as part of this implementation. A patients ignorance or poor health literacy may hinder their acceptance of the care. There may also be reservations towards knowing their genetic status in situations where there is an absence of effective treatments for conditions such as Huntington’s disease or Alzheimer’s.

Why is it now then that the government have decided it is a good time to introduce pharmacogenomics to the NHS? There are still a lot of factors that need enlightening; who to test, when to test them and how to gain the support of clinicians. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, is the NHS currently in a position to take on such a pioneering technology? Or politically, will it be of great benefit to promote the NHS as a world leading healthcare system in genomics?

With special thanks to Professor Kathrine Payne; professor of health economics at the University of Manchester.

Electric Rosary

Review: Electric Rosary

Written by Michal Wasilewski on . Posted in Theatre.

After winning the Bruntwood Prize for Screenwriting back in 2017, and with its release being continuously pushed back up until now, Tim Foley’s Electric Rosary finally found its way toward a world premiere in Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre.

Bringing robots and nuns together on one stage, it is an original and high-concept science fiction comedy, following the Sisters of St Grace convent shortly after the death of their Mother Superior. Dwindling in numbers and with many unresolved internal issues, including financial struggles and a fight for the late Mother’s successor, the four Sisters are in trouble.

Searching for inspiration to throw some life and vigour into the sanctuary life, an unlikely help appears in the form of Mary, a council-funded robot nun. As soon as she arrives into the convent, she stirs confusion among the nuns. What place does technology have in such a conservative and tradition-bounded environment as a Christian convent?

Rather than undertaking this question in a serious manner, Electric Rosary resorts to a comedic approach. Mary, played in a hypnotising nature by Breffni Holahan, causes bursts of laughters in the audience the moment she appears on the stage. Due to her robot-like mannerisms, combined with hilarious reactions of the other Sisters, the first half of the play was filled with laughter.

Electric Rosary
Photo: Helen Murray.

This setting the scene for a potentially heavy philosophical subject matter is brilliant in its concept, with Electric Rosary aiming to make a debate about faith and humanity accessible and enjoyable to everyone. 

The debate, however, does not feel present in the play. The exploration of “what it means to be human in tomorrow’s world”, promised by one of the show’s headlines, is nowhere to be found. Setting the play in an environment that contrasts with technological advancements and that gives ground to a multitude of jokes could be the backbone of exploration of serious subjects, but it is the furthest the show goes.

The second half of the play, which lets go of much of the humour to try and focus on dramatic tensions, does not match what was promised before. Towards the end, Electric Rosary turns pretentious but not deep, losing some of its uniqueness and originality.

The plot and the relationships between characters hold up greatly when they are a subject of jokes, yet as soon as a drastic tonal shift arrives, they don’t bear any power. This shift in tone does not feel natural, splitting the play into two parts, the first one comedic, the second dramatic, in a way that makes them unbalanced and separated from each other.

Electric Rosary promises more than it actually delivers, but it does not make it a bad show by any means. It is a highly entertaining watch and knows how to make science fiction fun. With inspirations taken from great classics of the science fiction genre, it provides a creative twist on its predecessors through heavy reliance on comedy. However, there is not much philosophical depth to go with it, therefore your expectations should be adjusted.

Electric Rosary runs at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 14th May.

For more Electric Rosary content, check out our interview with playwright Tim Foley.

Hedwig

Review: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Written by Sarah Taylor on . Posted in Theatre.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a rock musical many people have heard of but less have seen. Premiering off-Broadway in 1998, Stephen Trask and John Cameron Mitchell’s genderqueer production was then adapted into a 2001 cult-classic film, with Mitchell also in the titular role. Since then, it has gone on to make its way into popular TV series such as Sex Education and Riverdale, and has become synonymous with freedom, inclusivity and self-love.

So, the story goes: genderqueer rock star and struggling artist Hedwig Robinson falls in love with young Christian musical protégé Tommy Gnosis, only for the latter to reject them (due to a botched gender reassignment surgery that has left Hedwig with the titular ‘Angry Inch’), steal her songs, and become a massively famous rock star. As the band shadow Tommy’s tour, Hedwig spills anecdotes about their life and career to their adoring audience.

One might think for a story that seems so pertinent and emotionally intense that the musical could be dour, but the story is handled with equal amounts of humour and sensitivity.

Photo: Divina De Campo @ The Other Richard via Press

We drift into the show with a plethora of 1980s new wave and glam rock hits, including Blondie’s ‘Dreaming’, a tone setter for the type of music that will follow.

Jamie Fletcher’s take on John Cameron Mitchell’s script is extremely faithful, but she sprinkles in a few Mancunian quips about Rochdale and Rusholme, much to the crowd’s delight. Ben Stones’ set situates us – the audience – in a sort of Greater Manchester social club, where Hedwig and the Angry Inch are performing a concert. A garland of St Georges flags hang on the wall, almost framing an advertisement for Jonathan Larson’s iconic rock musical Rent.

From the opening musical number, ‘Tear Me Down’, Divina De Campo has the audience under their spell. Adorned in a somewhat patriotic looking stars and stripes cape, they spread their wings to reveal the message GENDER IS A CONSTRUCT emblazoned in huge pink letters, receiving rapturous applause from the audience.

Photo: Divina De Campo @ The Other Richard via Press

Divina De Campo is undeniably one of the most talented queens to come out of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. They throw themselves right into the role of Hedwig, with every ounce of humour and empathy, flamboyance and fabulosity. And God can they sing! And dance! And act!

Much of the dialogue is delivered by Divina, who affects an exaggerated German drawl as they reveal more about their life. They deftly change accent to recall things said by other characters – the deep Southern drawl of the US Sergeant who seduced them and the nasal whining of the teenage Tommy Gnosis, along with a couple of regional British accents which gain a few laughs.

Divina sports the signature blonde victory rolled wig, which they eventually remove at perhaps their most vulnerable moment in the show, as they perform closing number ‘Midnight Radio.’ They also undergo a series of costume changes throughout the show. From diamante-encrusted denim cut-offs to an enormous fur coat which she turns around to reveal is splattered in blood for dramatic effect.

Photo: Divina De Campo and Elijah Ferreira @ The Other Richard via Press

Under the brilliant choreography of Mark Smith, Divina throws themselves into each dance routine, using the entire stage as intended. ‘Wig in a Box’ – my favourite song from the musical – is triumphant, with Divina doing their best Tina Turner-sequel ‘Proud Mary’ shimmy. As in the film, the lyrics to the final chorus are projected on a screen at the back of the stage, karaoke-style, encouraging the audience to singalong – which they do!

But this musical would be nothing without the extremely talented Angry Inch – Hedwig’s band who play not only every musical number live, but also provide backing music and instrumentals to Hedwig’s cabaret-esque confessionals. Led by superb Music Supervisor and Musical Director Alex Beetschen, who also plays keyboards, with Frances Bolley on lead guitar, Isis Dunthorne on drums and Jess Williams on bass, the band are absolutely electric, imbuing the stage with an infectious amount of energy.

Elijah Ferreira is excellent as Yitzhak, Hedwig’s husband who often bares the brunt of their tantrums and demands. He brings the wit and charm that Yitzhak’s character demands and also takes on the role of Tommy Gnosis in some of the flashback scenes. Ferreira’s musical talent and comedic timing should not go unnoticed. He provides several laughs popping up in the right-hand dressing room and shreds on guitar, not to mention his impressive vocal contributions. Between the pair of them, Divina and Elijah work the crowd as if this really is a rock concert, beckoning people to wave their arms, clap along, and harmonise.

Photo: Elijah Ferreira @ The Other Richard via Press

As with John Cameron Mitchell’s original script, Fletcher’s production is laden with laugh-out-loud moments and sexual innuendos aplenty, and it never gets boring or feels like too much. Nothing is off-limits in Hedwig. During the hilarious ‘Sugar Daddy’, where Hedwig tells us of their encounter with the US Sergeant who seduced them with ‘gummi bears’ (pronounced goomi) – a role figuratively taken on by Ferreira in a black leather cap and jacket – they are joined on stage by a giant harness-wearing inflatable pink gummy bear. It’s ridiculous but it’s absolutely brilliant.

It goes without saying that the cast receive two standing ovations by the end. It’s a testament to their talent and the importance of this show. Divina’s Hedwig is larger than life; sometimes confessional storyteller, sometimes stand-up comic, sometimes rock ‘n’ roll mega star, but always with the audience hanging onto their every word. As director Jamie Fletcher says, “Even though this musical was born in the 90’s, it absolutely feels like a story for right now.”

An unmissable production with a stellar cast, superbly executed story, and captivating musical numbers Hedwig and the Angry Inch runs at HOME until 11th May.

Taylor Swift: Eva Rinaldi @ Wikimedia commons

Taylor Swift est in horto: How teachers are making Latin more accessible

Written by Libby Elliott on . Posted in Opinion.

Latin. Most people think it’s boring, dated and constantly clutching at straws to find its relevance in the modern world. It’s biggest weakness? It is grossly inaccessible.

Latin is primarily taught in private schools, to classes of very few with a remarkably weak grip on how the rest of the country experience education. I mean, we were quite literally led through a pandemic by a Prime Minister with a degree in Classics from Oxford. As we can see from the shambles ensuing in the Commons, knowing Homer’s Iliad back to front doesn’t exactly prepare you for viral Armageddon. And he only got a 2:1.

So, whilst I love to bore people with how truly riveting the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of the ancient world actually is, it’s important to acknowledge this ‘hot take’ comes from a very privileged position. Latin, and its exclusive field of study, is quite frankly problematic. And those who teach it or, like myself, have a lasting interest in it, need to work on decolonising the field.

Don’t act like you didn’t love a bit of Percy Jackson when you were younger. How did we all go from knowing and loving the myths of the Underworld, Medusa, Zeus and Hercules as kids to our interest being completely lost? Leaving, for the most part, the suited and booted gentry on these Classics courses.

Getting to Latin A Level, I realised it is quite literally full of sex (of all orientations), rebellion, politics that looks remarkably like our modern-day politics, a ton of fires and a bunch of raunchy high-profile affairs. And I wished more people knew!

Okay, so it’s in a dead language and nobody likes grammar. I’m also missing out the brutal wars, slave societies of Rome and grossly suppressed rights of women. However, it all comes together to make this fascinating, mythological, quirky, sexually explorational pocket of history. But the posh, droll teachers tend to put us off well before GCSEs.

Latin has typically been taught, in its private school sphere, through Caecilius. If you don’t know him, he’s usually hanging out in horto. And if you took Latin you’ll know in book three he cheats on his wife, Metella… maybe it’s time for Taylor Swift to get involved?

A Cambridge University academic has put together a new guide that suggests Latin should be taught more like a modern foreign language. Students should be encouraged to speak, sing, and write creatively – even perform. Rather than just reciting grammar tables and cheating on vocab tests for three years until they can drop Latin at GCSE.

Stephen Hunt, a Latin teacher of 35 years, thinks a more open-minded and imaginative approach will widen the interest in the subject and also make it more accessible. This is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the Latin teaching community.

Yes, it’s important to make sure this uniquely middle-class subject is accessible, but once it’s been made accessible, how can they be sure that there will be interest? This will involve picking apart the elitist and slightly ‘gatekeepy’ side of Classics teaching that puts so many students off.

There are currently less than 10,000 students who sit GCSE Latin and, as you can imagine, the overwhelming majority are from private schools. A recent British Council survey revealed that Latin is taught at KS3 at only 2.7% of state schools compared to 49% of independent schools.

Hunt had this eureka moment that a change was long overdue, as he details in one research paper when he asked students who were struggling with Virgil’s poetry to translate a modern song instead. The Swifties among the class managed to turn ‘Bad Blood’ into ‘quod, are, nunc malum sanguinem habemus’. My little nerdy Swiftie heart might just have exploded.

Other examples of this strategy include 3D models of Rome being built on Minecraft by teachers, translating ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen and even getting students to read and write fanfiction in Latin. Let me tell you now, the love poems and intermarital myths of the ancient world are remarkably similar to that Harry Styles fanfiction lying about in your Wattpad library from when you were 14. Dido and Aeneas’ relationship is almost perfectly personified in the ‘All Too Well (Ten Minute Version)’ music video.

Hunt explains that Latin and its discipline have never truly been subject to “thorough academic investigation. We tend to rely on anecdotal information about what seems to work.” Upon reflection, Hunt is now horrified that he once taught Latin using texts which didn’t truly acknowledge the horrors of slavery and stereotyped female figures.

“Because the human brain is hardwired for sound, it learns by speaking, listening and using language. Some Latin teachers are realising that this is the way to learn any language – dead or alive.”

The Department of Education announced the launch of a £4m scheme to encourage Latin to be taught among secondary state students, starting in 40 schools across England, as part of a four-year scheme.

I used to stay behind after school in Sixth Form to help out hosting GCSE Classical Civilisation lessons for local schools in Streatham. Don’t get me wrong, I do think £4m could be better spent on lowering the rising cost of living, and there are still some structural issues with the elitist nature of Classics in the example I just used.

So, my suggestion is that teachers and students who are really passionate about expanding the discipline incentivise themselves to run creative spaces off their own backs where possible. Either in person or online. Where everybody is welcome.

Still not convinced Latin has any relevance? While the language might be dead, the stories of the ancient world have a lot more in common with your uni love life than you might think. I would implore any Swiftie, former Wattpad tween, local campus ‘softboy’ to go give Dido and Aeneas’ love story a read. She literally burns all her belongings and then flings herself onto the fire as her ex sails away.

Too strong on the simp behaviour for you? Lookup a Bacchanal – groups of women would go up a mountain for a ‘holy’ ceremony, get hammered, have massive orgies and end up rioting. Basically a Wednesday night at 256.

Or for the feminists on campus, read about Camilla the female warrior in Virgil’s Aeneid Book II. Don’t fancy the obvious ‘girlboss’ feminist trope? Women in antiquity are almost always portrayed as either sirens, virgins, whores, or meddling mothers by the men who wrote classical history and literature. Distractions or problems. There is so much to pick apart, and so many conversations to be had on how little we have evolved from this ancient perception in modern literature.

Politics students, Plato’s Republic, is the one for you. It’s probably even on your syllabus at some point. Plato, writing around 380 B.C., describes a tyrant who would emerge from the democracy. As democracy becomes more equal, the prospect of tyranny rises. A tyrant who over-identifies with the people and tarnishes the name of those in power, whilst being perhaps the furthest removed from any sentiment of the people at all. ‘The rich try to look just like the poor for power’ is a sentiment Donald Trump often tried to play on, I would argue.

There really is something for everybody in Latin. And so many interesting conversations to be had about how many similarities we still see in modern politics, literature and speechmaking. It’s just up to those who are teaching to be a little more creative, a little less elitist and a lot more accessible.

Star Wars the Clone Wars

May the 4th be with you! – A love letter to Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Written by Joe McFadden on . Posted in Film.

Growing up, Star Wars: The Clone Wars was perhaps ‘the show’ that defined my childhood, so much so that I can safely say I would be an entirely different person without it.

Following its August 2008 film debut, Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on the small screen on October 3rd of that year. What started out as a fun, light-hearted foray into a previously unexplored era of Star Wars would – 12 years, 7 seasons, and a fan campaign like none other later – eventually transform into one of the defining shows of the 2010s and one of the most beloved stories in Star Wars history.

The Clone Wars wasn’t a show that talked down to its audience, but instead taught them and encouraged them to grow up with it.

I still remember when I first watched The Clone Wars. The date escapes me but it would have been sometime in late 2009 when I was 7 years old and me and my twin brother, Tom, rented the DVD ‘Clone Commandos’ from the library. The first episode we watched was Season 1 Episode 5 ‘Rookies’ and the memory is still imprinted in my mind over a decade later. Watching this show was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was violent yes, but not scary, and it had a maturity to it that even as a kid I remember appreciating. The Clone Wars wasn’t a show that talked down to its audience, but instead taught them and encouraged them to grow up with it. 

After watching this first episode, now a firm fan favourite, I was hooked. Not just on this show but the universe it inhabited. Interestingly, I had never actually watched the Star Wars saga before. Growing up I was never forced to sit down and let the magic of George Lucas’ space opera wash over me. Instead, I discovered it on my own – or rather fittingly, with my brother – and that is why I think The Clone Wars had such an effect on my formative years. It opened my eyes to the magic of Star Wars, a franchise that has had such a defining effect on my life, and most importantly, formed the centrepiece of mine and my brother’s relationship for much of our later childhood. 

Set between the events of Star Wars Episode’s II and III, The Clone Wars follows the exploits of Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi as they fight the Droid forces of the evil Separatist Alliance with the aid of their valiant Clone army. Now, if you are not a Star Wars fan this will mean nothing to you but back in 2008 exploring this relatively new era of Star Wars in a mainstream TV show was a very exciting prospect. 

The show was structured as a loose anthology with a broader narrative focusing on the aforementioned main characters whilst other episodes were centred around supporting characters from the wider Star Wars mythos (e.g. everyone’s favourite Jedi Master Plo Koon). However, the brilliance of the show lay in its use of episode arcs – a run of 3 or 4 episodes telling one singular story that fed into the show’s wider themes like corruption, power, destiny, and the cost of war (once again this was a children’s programme…). These allowed the show to truly depict a war in the stars and gave the creators (Dave Filoni and none other than the maker himself George Lucas) a narrative freedom that few other shows on the air, both past and present, were able to exhibit. 

Being entirely self-funded through Lucasfilm animation, and broadcast on Cartoon Network, The Clone Wars was free from the constraints of traditional network TV. Thus, the show was far more mature in its storytelling and visuals than literally any other show in the history of ‘children’s’ television. Key moments were clear even from the first season. The aforementioned ‘Rookies’ ended with a character blowing himself up “For the Republic” and S1 E21 ‘Innocents of Ryloth’ had the Separatists use civilians as human shields. 

War crimes were not just limited to the villains however, because, as countless YouTube compilations have pointed out, the Republic broke plenty of the Geneva Conventions themselves. Indeed, in what is one of, if not the, most acclaimed arc of the show, fallen Jedi General Pong Krell ordered his troops to fire on enemy combatants disguised as Clones, only to realise they were firing at their own men. Another episode featured the revived Darth Maul decapitating the leaders of crime syndicate Black Sun after they refused his offer of an alliance. 

Time and again, The Clone Wars refused to pull its punches and was all the better for it. Despite its violence, the show’s core was its moral messages. Each episode would begin with an epigraph aimed at teaching its young audience a lesson. Indeed, several arcs (which some unfortunately decry as ‘boring’) were about politics and the corruptibility of our leaders. I can tell you now, 9 year old me was way too proud of himself for knowing what ‘eradicate’ and ‘cast off’ meant. 

For me, this is what summarises the Clone Wars best. It was a show that actually grew up with its audience and didn’t scare away from including clear messages about morality and ethics. Another reason why it holds a special place in my heart is because I watched it with my brother. 

But one thing that we will always have is Star Wars: The Clone Wars and those magical moments spent a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

Now, some of you may be reading this and think he’s dead but I assure you that is not the case. In actual fact he is very much alive (and as irritating as ever) but as we grew up The Clone Wars was always something we bonded over. We’d build Lego together (okay he built, I destroyed), play with action figures, excitedly binge a new series in a weekend whenever Amazon had lowered its prices to a figure our Dad deemed ‘reasonable’. Brotherhood is perhaps the core tenet of The Clone Wars as, after all, the Clones are brothers, so looking back it’s extra special to me that I experienced it with my twin. 

As we grew up, Tom and I drifted to other interests and areas of study. He chose STEM whilst I chose Humanities. He likes Football, I like films. But one thing that we will always have is Star Wars: The Clone Wars and those magical moments spent a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away.

On May 4th 2020, The Clone Wars aired its series finale ‘Victory and Death’, the epic conclusion not just to the thrilling ‘Siege of Mandalore’  arc, or the show itself, but to our childhoods. I remember waking up early and going downstairs to watch it together as if we were kids again. The Clone Wars was such a huge part of our childhood that when it ended 6 weeks after we turned 18 it only felt appropriate that our childhood should end with it.

For me, this is why Star Wars: The Clone Wars was the most important show of my childhood. Not only did it awaken my love for Star Wars and subsequently cinema, but it taught me about life, politics, and morality. However, most importantly, it was something I shared with my twin brother, Tom, because without him the show would not nearly mean as much as it does to me – and that is why I will always be grateful for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

 

May the 4th be with you to all Star Wars fans!

Bin strikes called off after pay rise of 11-22% agreed

Written by Archie Earle on . Posted in News.

Bin strikes that were set to leave 220,000 homes overflowing with rubbish have been called off after an improved pay offer was accepted by Unite and GMB members.

Negotiations between the unions and refuse collection contractor Biffa had stalled, with binmen set to strike. However, an agreement has been reached that would involve a pay rise of between 11% and 22%. The improved conditions will be seen by all members including drivers of bin trucks.

Initially, Biffa had offered most of its staff a pay rise of 1.75%, worth roughly 17p an hour, causing backlash from those who were working for the company.

The strikes were set to take place from May 3 and would have lasted for two weeks, with a potential further two weeks from May 23.

94% of those who voted in both the Unite and GMB ballots opted for strike action.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary for Unite, said ‘This is a great win for our members.” And praised the unity of members.

Michael Clark, a regional organiser for GMB, also welcomed the support given by the Manchester City Council, highlighting that pay rates would be further reviewed in the autumn.

Whilst students in halls were not likely to have been affected by the strikes, Mr Clark did suggest that “mass disruption for the people of Manchester” would have affected students in private housing.

Nazir Afzal

Get to know the university’s new Chancellor: Nazir Afzal

Written by annahindmarsh on . Posted in News.

Nazir Afzal has been appointed as the University’s new chancellor. His very successful life and career is characterised by his devotion to causes such as gender-based violence and child protection. Here are just some of his major achievements and career landmarks. 

Early life 

Afzal was born in Birmingham as a second-generation immigrant from Pakistan. Growing up he suffered racial abuse which inspired him to use his voice and power as a male in society to make an impact in helping women during his career. He told the New York Times in 2013, “I thought this [racial abuse] was how it was, and I put up with it […] and I think a lot of women feel the same about the abuse they suffer.”

Career

Within his 24 year career there have been numerous achievements, including becoming Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England in 2011. This was when he moved to Manchester and oversaw more than 100,000 prosecutions a year, and managed 800 lawyers and paralegals.

He also made history by being the first Muslim chief prosecutor ever appointed. During this role, he prosecuted some of the highest-profile cases in the UK, notably the Rochdale grooming gang and the former BBC presenter, Stuart Hall, for sexually abusing minors. He was very devoted to prosecuting cases involving violence against women.

He told the New York Times in 2013 “I come from these communities [Muslim conservative communities], I understand their patriarchal nature. I can challenge them.” He stated that he uses his privilege as a man in society to generate change. “And because I am a man, the men in the community are more likely to listen to me.” 

In 2016, after leaving the CPS, he became Chief Executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. He resigned following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 so that he could express his views openly on Question Time.

In 2017 he joined the Complaints Committee of the Independent Press Standards Organisation as its first member from an ethnic minority. In 2018 he was appointed as an advisor to the Welsh government on issues around violence against women. Since then he has taken up numerous posts in education, including being a guest lecturer in Manchester and continuing his charitable work and efforts to support the advancement of women in society. 

Major Achievements

Afzal helped set up a national hotline for women at risk of forced marriage, which gained so much attention that the US government contacted him to help set up a similar model in the US. He is also an independent member of Oxfam’s Safeguarding and Ethics Committee. He has also been listed in the Pakistan Power100 which ranks him among the 100 most influential people of Pakistani origin in the world today. His honourable work with the CPS and in local communities resulted in him being awarded an OBE by the Queen in 2005.

If you would like to learn more about Afzal, he recently published his autobiography in 2020, The Prosecutor.

Dorian Electra

In conversation with Dorian Electra

Written by Jay Darcy on . Posted in Music.

Dorian Electra‘s My Agenda World Tour was quite something. I was lucky enough to attend the Leeds gig, and it was, without a doubt, one of the craziest, wildest, and most surreal experiences I’ve ever had in a music venue.

I love Dorian as both a music and a visual artist. Their gender-bending aesthetic and genre-defying music reminds me of some of the incredible androgynous 80s artists such as Boy George and Pete Burns. We’re beginning to see a resurgence of gender-bending across multiple musical genres – not just ones that are traditionally queer, like dance and disco. Take Lil Nas X (hip hop) and Harry Styles (pop). Dorian belongs not only to a new wave of hyperpop princes (and princesses) but also “gender-benders”.

Dorian finds it interesting how queerness is a little bit “trendy” right now, which is great to see, but it can also pose its own problems.

“Maybe there’s an overemphasis of queerness, in terms of gender identity and sexual orientation, a little bit right now, ’cause it’s, I would say, trendy in a way, it’s being talked about a lot…”

“While I’m really happy to be a part of that, and be a part of a group of artists that are definitely pushing that forward, I also feel like we are in a moment right now, where politically we’re gonna look back and be like, the overemphasis on gender identity politics is not the most helpful thing for rallying people around leftist political causes like economic justice and things like that.”

Indeed, Dorian’s art is informed not only by their queerness but also intersectionality.

“You need to be intersectional with it and take class and race and everything else into account and not just gender identity, ’cause it’s very easy for that to also become co-opted by capitalism.”

On the topic of branding, I asked Dorian about their stage name (note: Dorian is their real forename). Because Dorian is so aesthetically and musically theatrical, I wondered if Dorian Electra was a persona or alter-ego of sorts (take Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce). However, they told me that Dorian Electra is “definitely me”, before adding, “me, but pushed to the extreme”. Dorian has never thought of Dorian Electra as a character, but, rather, each song/video as a different character, or headspace, that they inhabit.

Dorian has been playing with gender from a young age. As a kid, they dressed up as Bono – and dressed their cousins up as the other members of U2 – complete with a fake beard, drawn on with their step mom’s eyeliner. In school plays, they enjoyed being cast in male roles. In one play, they decided to be a gay man – even though it was not in the script.

Dorian did musical theatre as a kid: “The theatre in me, it will never die”. For Dorian, a live show is about crafting a story and an arc. Their current tour has three different acts, with three different costumes. It’s not just a playlist; it’s “three different moods [and] worlds… on a limited, DIY budget”.

Dorian grew up on classic rock – their parents were both fans of the genre, especially Alice Cooper and the Rolling Stones. They love how theatrical Alice Cooper is: “He gets killed onstage five different ways in this one show”.

Dorian feels very lucky to have grown up in a supportive environment – especially because so many other queer kids do not have that. Dorian’s mom actually did their male friend’s drag make up for the first time – she even put him in her bra! Dorian remembers their mom’s house as the fun, “be-your-self” space.

Dorian will never forget the love and support their parents gave them, and their goal is extend that love and support to others. With their gigs, they want to create a safe space where kids can come and feel that love and support – especially because they might not feel that at home.

This made sense to me because their Leeds gig, albeit wild, was something of a progressive paradise – and, indeed, a safe space – where people could be themselves (or whoever they wanted to be). There was so much love in the air that night. Clearly, Dorian has succeeded with their mission to create a loving, beautiful environment for their fans.

They were delighted when I told them this: “That makes me so happy to hear… My hope is really that people will hopefully make friends at the show and take that energy and start a club night… Take that energy and keep putting that out into the world.”

As aforementioned, Dorian belongs to a select group of artists who is as much a visual artist as they are a music artist. Whilst Prince is, indisputably, one of the greatest music artists of all time, I’m more a fan of his visual art – you only have to look at my Insta feed to log how much of a fashion inspiration he is to me.

Dorian told me that the way they think about music, visuals and fashion is interconnected. They take things they like, especially opposites and extremes, and “smash” them together and see what happens. This is especially the case with their gender-bending fashion, but they also like to blend different historical periods and eras – and musically, combine and remix different genres. Dorian tends to style themselves, so when they’re writing and recording music, they like to think about the aesthetic of the music, e.g. what sort of costume would go with the music.

Whilst Dorian plays with a multitude of genres, hyperpop is at their core. Something I have wondered for awhile is why the gays love hyperpop so much. Why is it so queer? What is it that makes it so attractive to the girls, the gays and the theys?

“A lot of hyperpop is sort of like taking things about the status quo of pop music, but in a self-aware way, but not afraid to embrace it as well, like cheesy core progressions or super sweet lyrics that are over-the-top, like purposefully brain-dead, dumb, ‘let’s party’ lyrics. That’s kind of on the one end of it, but being able to embrace that in a camp and self-aware way that is very queer at its core, because it’s not afraid to be super girly and over-the-top or ditzy or whatever.”

“Then there’s the other side of just being really intense and dark and raw and abrasive, on the other end, and when you can smash those together, at the same time, it creates like a really interesting mix that I feel does resonate with a lot of queer people, I’m sure.”

To go back to my earlier point, hyperpop is at Dorian’s core, but they do like to play around with different genres. Their two studio albums, Flamboyant and My Agenda, are very different in sound and vibe. Whilst many of the themes are similar, the former is smooth and sultry, whilst the latter is hot and heavy.

Dorian told me that in order to stay engaged, they have to feel like they have surprised themselves, so they they cannot help but do something different every time. Whilst they want to retain a lot of the pop elements of Flamboyant and the experimental elements of My Agenda, they want to try out new elements on future projects – “But it will still feel very Dorian at its core”.

But it’s not just music Dorian is focused on for the future. Recently, they did a fashion collaboration with Left Hand LA – and this is something they want to do more of. “I definitely think about my art as something that extends beyond the walls of just music, so I’m excited to keep pursuing that”.

Whilst the UK leg of Dorian Electra’s My Agenda Tour has now come to an end, they’re currently touring continental Europe and have a few more North American gigs. Head to their website to keep up to date with their upcoming projects.

NOISY

NOISY talk tour, festivals, and future

Written by Maddy Oxley on . Posted in Music.

Maddy Oxley chats with Worthing trio NOISY ahead of their upcoming UK and Europe headline tour, and an absolutely stacked festival season.

I struggle to categorise NOISY’s sound myself, so for the benefit of readers who may not have heard of the band before, I first ask the band how they’d define themselves. Cody Matthews describes their sound as “moshpit pop” with Connor Cheetham adding on that they’re “trying to bring big beats back”, but, like me, they all agree that their sound doesn’t fit into a box, and they’ll probably keep changing their answer. They add on that they reckon fans of Kasabian and Fatboy Slim would probably like their music, with Connor saying he thinks they sound a bit like The Prodigy mixed with Twenty One Pilots.

“Brixton academy was mad, that’s a bucket list thing everyone wants to tick off as a band”

After a very busy latter half of 2021, with support slots for YUNGBLUD and Don Broco amongst others, two tracks being used for FIFA22, and single ‘Young Dumb’ featuring in an O2 ad, NOISY have a plethora of things to choose from for career highlights thus far. When asked what the highlight has been, Cody said “Brixton Academy was mad. That’s a bucket list thing everyone wants to tick off as a band“, with Connor and Spencer saying their set at Reading and Leeds last year. Cody adds on that “just being out” is a highlight in itself, he explains “we started the band in late 2019, and then it was just lockdown, so we didn’t have a chance to tour, so the past year’s been great, just being on the road…we’re itching to get back out.”

And what’s the dream for the band? “Headline Glastonbury”, Cody says without a second’s thought “Go big or go home”. “Headline Brixton academy is an immediate one”, Connor says, and they’re half-way there after supporting Don Broco there in November. He then adds, “it’s a random one but we actually want to headline this park in our hometown – Steyne Gardens in Worthing”, before Cody interrupts “We’d love to put on our own festival there, ideally next year but let’s see”.

“We’re gonna put everything into this one to show what NOISY is”

Moving on to discussions of their upcoming tour, where the band will hit Manchester’s Deaf Institute on 3rd June, Cody says “The set’s gonna be the best we’ve ever done. The energy’s gonna be insane, we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to step it up this tour. We haven’t been out on the road in 6 months, so we’ll just be putting everything into it, we want it to be NOISY in a nutshell, have people walking away like ‘fuckin’ hell’.” Connor then says “There’ll be lots of new music. We’ve done a few tours and we’ve learnt what works. We’re gonna put everything into this one to show what NOISY is.” Cody jokes, “We need to smash it so we can play Steyne Gardens, it’s all building up to that.”

When talking about their most anticipated tour spots, Cody says “Manchester’s always a great one. They have such a great music scene up there. Our hometown too, obviously that’s good for any band.” Connor adds “Sometimes you can be surprised by a little random town that you don’t know much about, but you get there and it all kicks off.” When asked about their favourite Manchester venues, the band mention The Deaf Institute, the O2 Ritz, and the sadly now demolished Sound Control, saying “Manchester has so many sick venues, it’s something that Brighton’s missing. We’ve not got many small ones, Manchester smash it on that front.”

With such a stacked festival season approaching for the band, including Neighbourhood Weekender in Warrington, the band say they’re most excited for Truck Festival in July. Cody says “We’ve got a sick spot there on the main stage. When we found out about that slot we were buzzing. We’ve got a sick festival season this year, we’re really busy, Fridays and Saturdays most weekends.” Spencer adds “I’m excited for that, it’s like right smash a set and you’re straight off for another one.”

“We’re figuring out what we want to do and it’s fucking exciting”

On the topic of new releases, Cody said “You’re always working towards a body of work, and that’s what we’ve been doing the past six months, working out what we want to do next for this band…it’s in a crucial stage for us where we need to put out our best music ever, we’re figuring out what we want to do and it’s fucking exciting. We’ve stepped it up, but in a way we didn’t think we would, we didn’t sit down and set out what we wanted to write.” Talking about the new music, Cody says “Package together everything we’ve ever done and times it by 10 and that’s what we’re gonna sound like for the next year.”

The music video for most recent single ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Raver’, shows the band using the video budget for a massive night out in Brighton, which Spencer assures me was all filmed organically over the course of one night – “the most mental day ever”, Cody adds. I ask them if the label minded them using the five grand on a night out, to which I’m told that “It was actually their idea!”

To close the interview the band urge readers to “Come down to a show, especially the Manchester one!”

NOISY play Manchester’s Deaf Institute on 3rd June (tickets here) and Neighbourhood Weekender on the 28th May.

Craig David

Live Review: Craig David at AO Arena

Written by Jay Darcy on . Posted in Music.

Craig David sat down with The Mancunion back in 2019, ahead of his 2020 UK tour. Well, you know what happened next…

At long last, the Hold That Thought Tour is here – a thought we held for two years – and, boy, was it worth the wait!

The concert featured two special guests, Lost Girl and Nippa. Nippa opened the concert at 7:30, though we arrived at 7:35, and he left the stage at 7:40. Maybe he started earlier than announced – if not, his set was criminally short. His music is not to my taste, but I can appreciate how great it is. Craig loves Nippa so much that he collaborated with him on the track ‘G Love’ – and brought Nippa back out to sing it with him.

Lost Girl had a lengthy set, which began with a medley of garage hits. She told us that she used to create such medleys on her YouTube channel before she was discovered. She then treated us to a selection of her original music – a mixture of rap, RNB and house. She was a dazzling diva, complete with a DJ and dancers. Her vocals were incredible – she gave Rihanna a run for her money with her cover of ‘Stay’ – and she had some of the best stage presence I’ve ever seen. She spoke candidly about how hard it is to “make it” in the music industry and even sang a song documenting her struggles. Safe to say, she’s one of the best opening acts I’ve ever seen, and I’m definitely going to give her a listen on Spotify.

Before Craig arrived, the stage was already set, with several palm trees (giving the illusion that we were in Ibiza for one of his TS5 parties) and a “22” neon sign (yet to be lit up) – the name of his upcoming studio album, for it’s 22 years since he had his debut. When Craig finally took to the stage, a giant moon descended from the sky. I’m not sure of its purpose – full moon party, perhaps – but it looked sick, so who cares? In all honesty, I was not expecting the set to be quite so spectacular.

Craig, too, looked super snazzy in his sequinned black tracksuit – a brilliant blend of smart and casual, showcasing his two sides – rivalled only by his sparkling sweat towards the end of the show, which glistened in the bright lights.

The crowd was very varied in age. Craig has two core groups of fans: people in their 30s and 40s, who grooved to him back in the day, and people in their 20s, who vibed to his comeback. He truly had one of the greatest comebacks of all time – after 7 years of no hits. He pleased both groups with his varied setlist that included his old tunes and songs from his comeback. The former included ‘Fill Me In’ (the third song of the setlist), ’16’ (the relatively new remix of ‘Fill Me In’, which closed the main set), and his signature song ‘7 Days’ (the final song of the encore).

Lots of his comeback songs were performed during his house-heavy TS5 DJ set – most definitely, the highlight of the night. The first half of the concert was lots of fun, but it didn’t really get going until TS5. Craig has incredible stage presence, and TS5 turned the arena into a ginormous club, the whole crowd on our feet, dancing to his countless bangers. He performed both covers and original music (such as his comeback single, ‘When the Baseline Drops’, and the relatively recent hit, ‘Really Love’).

His musicians and backing singers added to the excellence of the gig. They complimented his smooth, sexy voice and his vivacious stage presence.

I met Craig David a few years back – he is, without a doubt, one of the most charming celebrities I’ve had the pleasure of meeting – but this was my first seeing him perform. I’ve wanted to see him live for awhile – after all, he is one of my favourite artists (and he’s not even a guilty pleasure).

I knew the concert would be fun, but I was not expecting it to be as phenomenal as it was. He’s taking TS5 to Wile Out Festival (in Burnley, near where I’m from) this summer. I’m not a festival person, at all, but I might just suck it up and go because TS5 is some of the most fun I’ve ever had!

Freedom to hate? How we protect citizens from hate speech on Elon Musk’s Twitter

Written by Alfie Cumberworth on . Posted in Opinion.

“A lot of people are going to be super unhappy with a West Coast high tech as the de facto arbiter of free speech.”

Fast forward just one year and we are here discussing the $44 billion bid to buy Twitter from Elon Musk. These are the very words billionaire Musk tweeted in response to the suspension of former US President Donald Trump on Twitter, following the Capital Hill riots. Words come back to bite it would seem.

With weary spectators of this monumental purchase worried about Musk’s perception of free speech is one in which hate speech, libel and extremism are seen as by-the-by of a functioning democracy, the question ultimately becomes: how now are we supposed to protect people from online harm?

For once, I am more than happy to praise the Johnson administration here in the UK. Way before recent talks about Musk’s purchase rose to the forefront of the global conversion, the UK government was well underway with passing The Online Safety Bill.

Although it is still going through the legislative process, the new regulations which will be brought into effect will include restrictions and limitations on illegal and harmful content. Part of these reforms is to make social media giants such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok responsible for the content posted on their respective platforms.

If these companies are deemed to be acting in a laissez-faire manner regarding harmful content, OFCOM will have the power to fine them up to 10% of their total annual global turnover.

Over in the EU, legislators are also underway with creating an online bill of rights of sorts that will ensure “a safe, secure and fair online environment where fundamental rights are protected”. There is also a growing number of people in the US who are advocating for much stricter online safety protections, particularly in regards to shielding citizens from harmful and hateful content.

Although we shall wait and see just how far these restrictions can go when taking the First Amendment, which protects a citizen’s right to free speech, into account.

All of this should, I hope, give some reassurances to those who are concerned with Musk’s Twitter takeover. Despite his potential to create a toxic and hateful environment dominated by utterly deplorable people, such as Katie Hopkins and Alex Jones, yet again.

Having said this, it is already highly evident that this news has only made the so-called Culture Wars far worse than they were just a fortnight ago. Twitter has acknowledged that there has been a fluctuation in those deactivating their accounts.

Whilst at the same time, some prominent right and far-right public figures have seen their following grow significantly. It would seem that the supposed “town square” of free speech Musk aims to create has actually created yet another space where the left and the right refuse to engage with each other.

Playing devil’s advocate for a second though, maybe this is all a bit of an overreaction? Musk has already somewhat backtracked on his all-encompassing definition of free speech by stating that he will adhere to whatever definition of “free speech” a country accepts as its own.

He has claimed to have every intention to stick very much within the law. Perhaps then the UK’s upcoming Online Safety bill, as well as the work being done within the EU, and potentially the US, means the more sinister side of Musk’s free speech will be curtailed after all. This wouldn’t be the first time Elon Musk has stepped back into the shadows after making a bold – and naïve – comment.

The internet was quick to point out that Musk never donated a single dollar to the UN’s World Food Programme’s plea to billionaires to save 42 million people from famine. Instead, he confronted them by asking for a breakdown (now provided on their website) of exactly how the 6.6 billion dollars would be used. Maybe then this Poundland Tony Stark will turn out to be all talk and no action.

Even though Musk’s bid for Twitter has been put forward and is being discussed as if it has been finalised, it has not. There is every chance that Musk will never get his hands on Twitter. 

If his bid does go through though, our only hope is that elected officials take a stance to protect their citizens online. Be it through legislation such as the aforementioned Online Safety Bill, or through the introduction of some online human rights the EU seem to be veering towards.

After all, they are elected to do this. And with Musk’s supposed love for pure democracy, who would he be to tell them they are wrong to do so?

UoM banned from transporting radioactive material

Written by Clara Margotin on . Posted in News.

On April 28, the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) issued a Prohibition Notice to the University of Manchester, to stop the institution transporting “radioactive material pending administrative improvements”.

The ONR observed “administrative shortfalls” in the transport compliance inspection they conducted on the campus’ premises on April 6 2022.

A spokesperson for ONR declared that “[ONR’s] inspection found there were potential risks involving radioactive material consigned by the university, and consequently we have issued the Prohibition Notice to cease transport of radioactive material until such time as these contraventions are remedied.”

The University of Manchester occasionally organises and operates the transportation of small quantities of radioactive components to other partner institutions, research centres, and laboratories.

However, following ONR’s inspection, which found that the University’s transport radiation risk assessment did not fully meet all the required ONR guidance, the University has been banned from transporting radioactive material.

In a statement given to the Manchester Evening News, the University says it is taking the matter “very seriously” and has decided to voluntarily stop transporting any kind of radioactive components.

The ONR indicated that there was no harm to students, staff, nor to the public or the environment. They suggested that the University would recover the right to transport radioactive material as soon as it would be able to meet the ONR’s guidance and notices again.

alzheimers, disease, neuron, memory

Is Alzheimer’s disease primarily a women’s health issue?

Written by Sofia Smithen on . Posted in Science & Tech.

When we consider common women’s health issues, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) wouldn’t naturally come to mind. However, women over 60 are more likely to experience Alzheimer’s than breast cancer. Statistics have shown that women are more heavily diagnosed with this disease compared to men. In fact, in the United Kingdom the ratio of female to male Alzheimer’s patients is 2:1.

Why are women so greatly impacted by this disease? Of course, a clear reason for this difference is the increased average life expectancy of approximately 4 years. But this is not the whole truth.

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common disorder under the umbrella term of ‘dementia’. This family of illnesses affect 850,000 nationally and costs the NHS £26.3 billion annually. Dementia is the 7th leading cause of death globally and the rate of annual patients seems to only be increasing. Despite these alarming statistics, there is a clear lack of detailed research into the illness – this often makes diagnosis challenging.

Key symptoms of the disease include: memory loss, decreased cognitive skills and difficulty carrying out daily tasks. The primary physiological feature of the illness is the formation of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain and a loss of neuronal connectivity. Shockingly, these features can occur up to 20 years before any symptoms are displayed. These changes originate in regions such as the hippocampus – a structure associated with memory.

As discussed, there is a major lack of research into Alzheimer’s sex prevalence. This is primarily due to issues with funding and diagnosis difficulties. Diagnostic issues can arise from factors such as distrust in the healthcare system, lack of awareness and shortage of specialists. This article will investigate some of the proposed potential links between sex and this illness.

Depression and menopause link

Depression is very prevalent in those with AD and it is often difficult to distinguish between the two diseases as they share common features. Typically women are estimated to have a higher chance of depression than men and this is believed to increase the chance of Alzheimer’s disease by up to 70%.

The onset of the menopause elevates the risk of depression due to shifts in hormone levels. It is thought that these changes in oestrogen levels alter the structure of the brain to change its function. Oestrogen impacts neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, which play key roles in regulating depressive symptoms. It is believed that oestrogen acts as a protective barrier to the formation of amyloid plaques.

There is a huge social pressure placed on women going through the menopause. Where this natural change is viewed as a negative. It is often overlooked how impactful this can be on an individual’s mental health. Menopause not only affects a woman’s physiology but also their brain function.

Autoimmune disease risk

It has been shown that there is a strong correlation between the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain and Alzheimer’s. Autoimmune diseases, like multiple sclerosis, cause an increase in these plaques which may be part of the brain’s response to infection. In fact, it was suggested that up to 20% of people with an autoimmune disease will experience a form of dementia later in life.

It is acknowledged that women face an increased risk of having an autoimmune disease. Whilst the exact reason why is unknown, it is thought that pregnancy strengthens the individual’s immune system.

Environmental causes

Studies have demonstrated that the most influential factors would include sleep patterns and socioeconomic status. Circadian irregularity is very common in AD patients. The production of peptides associated with formation of plaques are the highest when sleep disturbances occur.

Further to this, the rate of education for women in the U.S. has gradually increased over the last few years and there has been a corresponding decline in cases of Alzheimer’s disease. Whilst it is impossible to distinctly say this is the cause, it could be a possible link.

Hope for future research? 

It is impossible to definitively say why women are so disproportionately affected by this illness. However, the World Alzheimer’s Report 2021 addresses this issue in further detail. The clear findings are that awareness campaigns and sex-specific brain screenings for those over 50 could have considerable influence on the rate of illness. It is extremely encouraging that these steps are going to be taken in future healthcare and research to reduce the sex gap of Alzheimer’s disease.

Partygate: Gary Knight @ Flickr

Why Boris needs the boot

Written by Isabel Riley on . Posted in Opinion.

It has been confirmed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will be issued with fixed penalty notices. This is in response to them being found guilty -along with over 50 others- of illegally attending a gathering during lockdown on the 18th of June 2020. 

It is alleged that Johnson was present at 6 of (at least) 12 of such events currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police. 

Now, you may be asking yourself what a fixed penalty notice is in the first place. They are fines, initially introduced in the 1950s to deal with parking offences. If not paid up, they become a criminal offence. One can either pay, or reject the FPN and have the matter resolved in court. 

Now that’s out of the way, you might be wondering, “why should I care?”

I’m sure images of the V-Day congas and people flocking to the beach during sunny lockdown days are fresh in many of our memories, so why is such a big deal being made about a few parties during a tough time? Well, Boris Johnson is the first PM in British history to ever be found guilty of breaking the law while in office.

This is a very dangerous precedent that should not be normalised. Normally, a PM guilty of openly and knowingly misleading parliament would resign. As he is the first to be sanctioned for breaking the law, there is no precedent. However, it is clear he ought to resign. 

While the amount to be paid is undisclosed, a fine is a ridiculous punishment. To people as rich as Johnson and Sunak, it is nothing more than a scolding glare. Barely a smack on the wrists. The fine is not a punishment at all. It merely serves as confirmation of their guilt.

The fines are proof that Johnson has repeatedly lied to parliament and to the British people. It is proof that while he made it illegal for people to say goodbye to their dying loved ones, he was laughing behind our backs at parties. He has lost the moral authority to lead. What little he had in the first place. 

So quite rightly, Keir Starmer – among countless others – has called for both the PM and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to resign. The echo of calls for Johnson’s resignation never seems to fade from the halls of Westminster.

So let’s recap some of these previous reasons, in case people are in any doubt that this instance alone is not enough for his immediate removal.

As recently as last December calls for his resignation resounded throughout the UK over a Downing Street Christmas party hosted in December 2020. This was a time “when every individual up and down the country was told to stay at home in order to protect the NHS”.

As if that weren’t enough proof of his contempt for the British public, another perhaps more memorable example is that of Dominic Cummings’ Barnard Castle trip. When Cummings, one of Johnson’s most senior advisors broke lockdown rules, he defended him saying he acted “responsibly, legally and with integrity”. His persistent defence of someone he knew had acted illegally is just more proof of his disrespect for the British public.

Johnson also faced many demands for his departure over his woeful handling of the Covid crisis. Lockdowns imposed too late, a failed test and trace system, and thousands of avoidable deaths. If this is not reason enough for him to be ousted I don’t know what is. Perhaps doling out billions in public money to his mates for phoney PPE contracts. There is no limit to his lies, his sleaze, his contempt, his croneyism.

Johnson’s response to the penalty notice matched his conduct so far entirely, stating that “at the time it did not occur to me this might have been a breach of the rules”. The brain boggles at how stupid he believes us all to be, thinking we’d lap up his excuses. This has to be the final straw.

Boris Johnson does not care at all about the British public, that has always been clear. Now it has been made undeniable. His only care is advancing his own personal agenda and that of his mates. His flippant and utterly contemptuous attitude has further cemented hypocrisy, arrogance and cronyism as core values of the crumbling Tory party. His party will undoubtedly have its work cut in piecing itself back together.

Johnson needs to be taught that our country is not his playpen. The whole government needs to be taught that it is not one rule for us, one rule for them. Johnson must go, willingly or not. 

Frankenstein

Contact Theatre beatboxes Frankenstein back to life

Written by Jay Darcy on . Posted in Theatre.

Contact Theatre and Frankenstein have a few things in common. Artistically, they’re both exceptional – the creme-de-la-creme of their spheres. Aesthetically, they’re both… interesting. Oh, and like Frankenstein’s Monster, Contact was underground for awhile, before being brought back to life, now bigger and better than ever before. The similarities stop there. To be honest, I don’t really know where I was going with this metaphor, and I don’t know why I’m still typing. Let’s stop this, shall we?

Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster is a critically acclaimed, gig-theatre production by Battersea Arts Centre and BAC Beatbox Academy, inspired by the original monstrous tale of power and persecution. Six performers with six microphones take apart Mary Shelley’s original and reimagine a world of modern monsters. Using their mouths to make every sound, six talented young artists challenge how today’s society creates its own monsters.

A gripping, one-of-a-kind, theatre-beatbox hybrid, Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster is a powerful and poetic show that pushes the power of the human voice to it’s expressive, musical and rhythmic limits. 200 years after 18-year-old Mary Shelley wrote ‘Frankenstein’, six young performers with six microphones take apart the original and reimagine a world of modern monsters – from our over-stimulated digital age to the pressures to conform – while taking musical inspirations from Pachelbel to The Prodigy.

The production is co-created by the wider BAC Beatbox Academy, co-directors Conrad Murray (‘High Rise eState of Mind’) and David Cumming (‘Operation Mincemeat’), and BAC. This means it has been co-authored by cast members at every stage, who also shape all aspects of presenting the show in its different incarnations.

The company continue to work with young talent everywhere they go. Each live show of ‘Frankenstein: How To Make a Monster’ opens with a curtain-raiser – a short performance created through workshops with local young people – and ends with a beatboxing battle. At Contact, the company will work with young people from Greater Manchester to deliver these workshops across the city.

Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster is the first professional production from the BAC Beatbox Academy, whose members have developed and adapted the production over the years. Starting with a small-scale Scratch performance at BAC where they encouraged feedback from the audience, the company continued to build on their success. They returned with sold-out runs at BAC, winning Off West End and Total Theatre Awards, embarked on their first national tour, presented the highest-rated show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019, received rave reviews at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and released their first film which they co-created and shot during the lockdown in 2020.

BAC Beatbox Academy is BAC’s home-grown young performance collective for local artists aged 11-29 years. Since BAC created the Academy in 2008, it has pro-actively engaged harder to reach groups in areas of significant deprivation; locally, throughout the UK and internationally. Through the Academy programme of nurturing rising talent and pushing the boundaries of sound and music, the casts of Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster have developed; from a collective of local participants into highly-accomplished performers and music leaders.

In their five-star review, The Guardian refers to Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster has “A rip-it-to-pieces-and-remake-it production that galvanises the heart of Mary Shelley’s exclamatory Gothic” – and The Guardian never lies.

But whether you read The Guardian, or, God forbid, The Daily Mail – everybody is united in thinking that this show is inventive, intelligent, and incredible. It’s one of the few things we can all agree on!

Frankenstein: How to Make a Monster plays at Contact Theatre from 10th until 14th May.

War of the Worlds

Review: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

Written by Jay Darcy on . Posted in Theatre.

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is the stage adaptation of the 1978 album of the same name – which, in turn, is based on H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds (1898). The novel has been both popular (having never been out of print) and influential, spawning half a dozen feature films (including the 2004 film, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise), radio dramas, a record album, various comic book adaptations, a number of television series, and sequels or parallel stories by other authors.

It was most memorably dramatised in a 1939 radio programme, directed by and starring Orson Welles, that allegedly caused public panic among listeners who did not know the Martian invasion was fictional. The novel has even influenced the work of scientists, notably Robert H. Goddard, who, inspired by the book, helped develop both the liquid-fuelled rocket and multistage rocket, which resulted in the Apollo 11 Moon landing 71 years later! So, yeah, it’s a pretty big deal.

The plot follows a Martian invasion of Earth, in which Martians attempt to turn our planet into a colony. The novel has been variously interpreted as a commentary on evolutionary theory, British imperialism, and generally Victorian superstitions, fears, and prejudices. Wells said that the plot arose from a discussion with his brother Frank about the catastrophic effect of the British on indigenous Tasmanians. What would happen, he wondered, if Martians did to Britain what the British had done to the Tasmanians?

So, The War of the Worlds is much more than a sci-fi epic, it’s a commentary of real-life, with themes still pertinent in today’s society.

Jeff Wayne’s musical adaptation (or ‘version’) of the novel has enjoyed massive success. In the UK, it peaked at number 5 and has sold over 2.7 million copies here since its release. In 2018, it was the UK’s 32nd best-selling studio album of all time. Worldwide, it has sold an estimated 15 million copies.

The concert tour adaptation of the album began in 2006, and all these years later, it’s still growing strong, selling out arenas and entertaining people of all backgrounds and ages. This tour was subtitled The ‘Life Begins Again’ Arena Tour.

Photo: Jay Darcy @ The Mancunion.

It’s hard to explain exactly what this show is. It began with the orchestra trickling onto the stage, each member sitting on the stage left. They were followed by the band, who sat on the stage right. After that, we were introduced to the one and only Jeff Wayne, who stood just off-centre stage, in front of the orchestra.

The show made great use of projections, with stunning visuals and video footage of the incredible main cast, which was made up of The Moody Blues’ Jeff Haywards (who sang ‘Forever Autumn’ on the original soundtrack), Strictly Come Dancing‘s Kevin Clifton, Anna-Marie Wayne (Jeff Wayne’s daughter), Blue’s Duncan James (also known for Hollyoaks, The Celebrity Circle and Celebrity Masterchef), Inglorious’ Nathan James (no relation to Duncan), and Steps’ Claire Richards (also known for Popstar to Operastar, Celebrity Big Brother and Loose Women). Academy Award, BAFTA, 2 x Tony and 3 x Golden Globe nominee Liam Neeson OBE was featured in prerecorded videos and 3D holography, whilst Callum O’Neill was featured in prerecorded videos. Quite the cast, right?

The stage design and lighting deserve particular praise. There were two screens featuring cutting-edge CGI and video content. Not too long into the first act, a 3-tonne, 30-feet-tall, fire-breathing, ginormous “Tripod” (Martian fighting machine) descended from the ceiling onto the stage. It fired real flame heat rays at the audience. Towards the end of the second act, a bridge came down, which arched over the audience sat in the stalls – one end sat on the stage whilst the other sat on the floor, behind the audience in the stalls. It was very impressive. This scene marked an important part in the story, with Clifton singing ‘Brave New World’, and the bridge made it even more epic.

Kevin also showed off his vocals in Burn the Floor earlier this year, but going by Ella’s review, he does much better under the direction of Jeff Wayne!

Another highlight was early on in the first act, when Hayward sang ‘Forever Autumn’, and Autumn leaves fell from the sky, covering the audience. It felt very immersive. Perhaps my favourite scene, though – and definitely my favourite song – was early on in the second act, when Duncan James and Claire Richards finally appeared. They sang ‘The Spirit of Man’, my favourite song from the musical.

Richards’ role was criminally underwritten; she died in the same scene that she was introduced in – yet, she still arguably stole the show. Whilst Steps are huge – they’re still selling out arenas all these years later, and I was lucky enough to see them last year – their cheesy music never let Richards show off her true potential, so it’s great to see her in a role that does (she also got to show off her vocal range in Popstar to Operastar).

Anna-Marie Wayne, too, has powerhouse vocals. She might be Jeff Wayne’s daughter, but her voice sells itself.

I did find it a little odd that the rest of the main cast were featured only in prerecorded videos whilst Clifton sang ‘Brave New World’. I wondered why they didn’t just bring them onstage to sing along with him, though I considered the possibility that they would all sing together in a later performance, so they were kept apart in this one to make their actual coming-together more impactful.

This “musical” is everything you could want in a show. I mean, it’s basically several different shows in one. Yet, it doesn’t feel overdone or over-the-top. It’s a manic masterpiece – intentionally so.

The 2022 tour Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds has now come to an end, but it will, no doubt, be back in a few years – if the Martians don’t get here first…