LeftLion February 2023 Issue 156

Editor George White (george.white@leftlion.co.uk)

Editor-in-Chief Jared Wilson (jared.wilson@leftlion.co.uk)

Assistant Editor

Lizzy O’Riordan (lizzy.oriordan@leftlion.co.uk)

Head of Video and Photography

Curtis Powell (curtis.powell@leftlion.co.uk)

Partnerships Manager

Adam Pickering (adam.pickering@leftlion. co.uk)

Fashion Editor

Addie Kenogbon (addie.kenogbon@leftlion. co.uk)

Screen Co-Editor Jamie Morris (jamie.morris@leftlion.co.uk)

Stage Co-Editor Ian C. Douglas (ian@leftlion.co.uk)

Head Designer Natalie Owen (natalie.owen@leftlion.co.uk)

These people #SupportLeftLion

Food Co-Editor

Daniela Loffreda (daniela.loffreda@leftlion. co.uk)

Photography Co-Editor

Nathan Langman (nathan.langman@leftlion. co.uk)

Screen Co-Editor Oliver Parker (oliver.parker@leftlion.co.uk)

Web Developer Tom Errington (tom.errington@leftlion.co.uk)

Food Co-Editor Julia Head (julia.head@leftlion.co.uk)

Stage Co-Editor Dom Henry (dom.henry@leftlion.co.uk)

Music Editor

Gemma Cockrell (gemma.cockrell@leftlion. co.uk) Photography Co-Editor Fabrice Gagos (fabrice.gagos@leftlion.co.uk)

Art Co-Editor George Dunbar (george.dunbar@leftlion.co.uk)

Art Co-Editor Marta Tavares (marta.tavares@leftlion.co.uk)

Al Draper, Alison Gove-Humphries, Alison Harrison, Alison Hedley, Anamenti, Andrene Alejandro, Anne Jennings, Ant Haywood, Barbara Morgan, Ben Lester, Caroline Le Sueur, Catriona, Chloe Langley, Chris Jarvis, Chris Mead, Chris Underwood, Claire Foss, Claire Henson, Claire Warren, Clare Foyle, Colin, D Lawson, Dan Lyons, Dan Hemmings, Daniel Watts, Darren Harvey, David Knight, Dean Collier, Dick Watson, Donna Rowe-Merriman, Eddie, Eden PR, Ellen O’Hara, Emma Hibbert, Emma Lipinski, Erika Diaz Petersen, Felicity Whittle, Foxy Painter, Fred Glenister, Freddy Angell, Graye Wilde, Hannah Foskett, Hayley Howard, Heather Hodkinson, Heather Oliver, Helena Tyce, Ian Storey, Ian Yanson, In memory of Anna Novak (Bradford and Scoraig), In memory of Jenny Smith, James Place, James Wright, Janine Lees, Jayne Paul William & Pirate Jack, Jed Southgate, Jem Woolley, Jenni Harding, Joanna Furniss, John Haslam, John Hess, John Holmes, Jon Blyth, Jonathan Fenn, Jos Potts, Joshua Heathcote, Judy Gray, Julian Bower, Justyn Roberts, Kathryn Hewitt, Kathleen Dunham, Kay Gilby, Kiki Dee the Cat, Koprowskit, Lawrence Poole, Leanne Moden, Les Hayes, Livi & Jacob Nieri, Liz Knott, Lizzy and Margot, Lizzy Colyer, Louise Duffield, Marc Weaver, Mark Barratt, Mark Gasson, Matt Cliffe, Matt Turpin, Matthew Riches, Mighty Lightweights, MinorOak Coworking, Miri Debah, Moira Scothern, Monica White, Nick Donovan, Nick Waine, Nigel Cooke, Nigel Hudson, Nigel King, NottingJam Orchestra, Paul Boast, Paul Woodall, Pete Barker, Peter Coghill, Philip Miller, Rachel Ayrton, Rachel Hancorn, Rachel Morton, Raphael Achache, Rhys Hawkins, Rich Fisher, Richard Barclay, Richard Goodwin, Rob Arthur, Roger Hughes, Ron Mure, Ross Balzaretti, Roy Manterfield, Russell Brown, Sam Hudson, Sam Nahirny, Sam Rose, Sarah Manton, Sarah Moore, Sarah Scriver, Simon Evans, Siobhan, Spicer, Steve Lyon, Steve Riordan, Steve Silver, Steve Stickley Storyteller, Steve Wallace, Stewart Berry, Stuart Wilson, Sue Barsby, Sue Reader, Tim Foster Hair, Tom Justice, Tom Patterson, Tracey Newton, Will

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Featured Contributor

Rose Mason

Rose Mason is a freelance writer from Nottingham. She works part-time for a charity who help people to improve their health and wellbeing and cope with the cost-of-living. She also does research, essay writing and creates social media content, with some occasional photography. For LeftLion, Rose is fascinated with writing about community. Moving back to Nottingham after six years away, she is in the process of relearning the city and would love readers to come along on this adventure and discover something new. Rose loves the outdoors and when not in Nottingham, can be found adventuring in the Scottish Highlands.

Read Rose’s interview with The Lonely Cinema Club on page 41

Getting to Work

We catch up with Alison Rashley and Michael Socha to find out exactly why The Television Workshop works so well…

Sun Times

You might have heard of Aftersun, the touching drama racking up every award under the, er, sun. But did you know it’s packed with Notts talent?

The Wheel Deal

It’s not often you get to join an Amazon Prime series, let alone one based on a best-selling novelbut that’s exactly what Marcus Rutherford achieved

A Cinema Programmer in Notts

There’s nothing better than sitting down in a comfy cinema, but who handpicks the films that you get to see? We find out…

Rise of the Titan

After learning her craft at Nottingham’s Actors Workshop, Lisa Ambalavanar achieved every nerd’s dream when she joined DC’s Titans

Major News

Major Labia are well-known for their theatre-based comedy shows and absurdist humour. Now the group are creating their first short film

Resorting to Humour

Leanne Davis shares how she channelled personal experience into her debut short, A Last Resort – an offbeat yet uplifting tragicomedy

All Hans On Deck

Launched in 1989, Nottingham fine garment designers Daniel Hanson have garnered an elite following for over three decades

Mise-en-Men

We catch up with activist Vaneet Mehta about his new book, Bisexual Men Exist, as well as bisexual representation on screen

A Mammoth Task

We speak to Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema founder Patrick Hort about why he’s dedicated to his Broad Street film spot

Out of Time: Nottingham on Screen Often shining a light on sections of society that big-budget titles ignore, we take a look at how our city has changed cinema

Editorial Leftlion in the wild

Hello there, I love movies. Gosh, I love movies. I love watching them, and I love writing about them. That’s why I was so excited for us to put together an entire issue dedicated to both the big and small screen - so I could talk to some of Nottingham’s finest filmmaking talent. Advance warning: there’s a lot of stuff from me in this one. Sorry.

Yet this isn’t just some self-indulgent attempt to chat solely about cinema, of course. Nottingham is a hub for the screen industry, and one that is growing in prominence and stature with each passing year. That’s something that’s well worth celebrating, in my humble opinion.

After all, we’ve produced some of film and TV’s brightest stars both in front of and behind the camera - from Vicky McClure to Bella Ramsey, Lisa Ambalavanar (p19) to Marcus Rutherford (p20). It’s home to talent machines, including the award-winning Television Workshop (p16) and the ever-growing Actors Workshop. It’s stacked with

an eclectic mix of film clubs (p45), showing everything from the greatest eighties blockbusters to deep cuts from David Lynch’s back catalogue. It has phenomenal cinemas like Broadway, Arc, Savoy and Bonington Theatre all either in or (depending on your arm strength) within a stone’s throw of the city centre. Wherever you look, there’s something exciting going on.

So, please enjoy our deep-dive into the Nottingham screen scene, catch up on our city’s latest projects, and - if you have some spare cash - take a trip to one of our wonderful clubs or cinemas. There’s plenty to check out, after all!

Big ups

Super chuffed to see ‘A Last Resort’ featured in @leftlionmagazine’s first issue of 2023 not least since we have the 100th edition featuring our university hero ‘Xylophone Man’ proudly framed in our downstairs loo!

@yoohoo_productions

Tag us on Instagram @leftlionmagazine to feature in a future issue

George White, Editor george.white@leftlion.co.uk

LeftLion Ltd is a carbon neutral company, having reduced our direct emissions by 99% since 2018. We offset the rest via direct air capture from Climeworks. LeftLion Magazine is fully recyclable and compostable, made from recycled or FSC® certified (C015932) sources, and printed using renewable energy. The emissions of this paper are offset via the World Land Trust.

Leanne Davis

"Did you see how perfect that dog's poo was? I'm jealous."

Student 1: "Is your song out yet?"

Student 2: "What, do you want her to sing it?"

Student 3: "Do you want her to do it aquapela on the bus?"

Seven-year-old kid: “Mum, why don't you get a boyfriend?”

Mum's friend: “She's got one!” Mum and friend lock eyes and clench jaws. Friend repeats the claim.

Kid: “B*tches get stitches.”

“Oh, go on then. You pulled my leg.”

“I’m telling you, mate. I’m telling you. Spoons is not top tier. It’s not even on the tier.”

"Did you ever used to waterboard yourself?"

"I love when the Grinch dresses in sexy outfits."

"Oh, please don't twerk. It's not necessary."

"I wish I was rich enough to have a cocaine addiction."

Woman moving trees: “I've popped a few cherries in the back of the van.”

“Shall we grab a coffee?”

“I've not eaten yet, I don't want to fill up.”

Pick Six

“My first name? You can’t even spell your own first name!”

"I was just minding my own business and he turned to me and asked if I knew the lyrics to Fetty Wap."

Since it’s our Screen issue, we had to get the picks of one of our finest ever filmmakers - Jeanie Finlay

“Yes, I’m a nincompoop, you can’t take me anywhere!”

“Mum, that’s exactly the kind of phrase that’ll get you shanked.”

“ARMS! They're the traditional cuddling limbs.”

“I don't need Bluetooth, I've got dentures.”

Girl 1: “That is soooo gay.”

Girl 2: “Ermmm…. You can’t use the word gay like that any more.”

Girl 1: “What? Shut up. I’ve got a list of favourite lesbians.”

Drunk guy waiting for the bus at 2am: "I've gotta do someone's tattoo when I get home. It's only a small one though."

Book

I am obsessed with the sharp wit and tongue of Patricia Highsmith. Her books are all good but The Talented Mr Ripley is just brilliant. I bought an anthology of the photographer Diane Arbus - Revelations - last year after seeing a retrospective of her work in Copenhagen. It has scans of her sketchbooks, notes scribbled in the margins as well as all her major work. It’s absolutely astonishing.

Song

I’m a lifelong Dolly Parton fan and especially fond of her closer to heaven high-hair, melancholic story-song era from the late sixties and seventies.

Songs like Down from Dover, The Bridge and my favourite, Bargain Store Film

It has to be After Life by Hirokazu Kore-eda. A fictional film by the Japanese master, shaped by his years making documentaries. It poses big questions about memory, love and storytelling. If you could choose just one memory to hold on to for eternity, what would it be?

Holiday Destination

Japan is the most fun, inspiring and interesting place I’ve ever been. I made my first ever documentary project, HomeMaker, out there in 2003, interviewing older, housebound people in central Tokyo, and I went back just before the pandemic. I’m hoping to get out there again soon, to unleash my rusty Japanese onto the unsuspecting public.

Meal

I recently visited the new Notts restaurant Mollis (next door to Alchimella) and I can’t wait to have their fried chicken, soft serve artichoke icecream and incredible banana miso rum cocktail again. Chef Alex Bond is the master of surprising and utterly delicious flavour combinations. So good.

Notts Spot

I really love visiting Primary, it fills me with such hope that this vibrant, independent creative endeavour (like my base at the brilliant Broadway Cinema) is thriving. Buying baked goods from Small Food Bakery, getting a drink or visiting the exhibition at Beam Art, Books & Coffee (most recently great work by John Newling) is a joy.

“Noone’sbuttpluggin’me.”

“I thought he was gay but he’s actually got a girlfriend! Turns out he’s just from Brighton.”

photo: Jo Irvine

Pixar really hit the mark when they made Toy Story , an animated movie about toys, and then sold toys of those toys.

Nottingham’s most opinionated grocers on...

Favourite films

Our favourite film ever is Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). It’s an absolute classic. Others in the top five would be: Withnail and I (1987), we particularly love the way the music is used in that film; A Shot In The Dark (1964) with Peter Sellers being fantastic; Hide and Seek (1964) with Ian Carmichael, which we only saw recently but very much enjoyed; and finally, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), which is probably the funniest film we’ve ever seen.

James Bond

We love James Bond, but mostly for the cars. As films, they’re actually quite boring and predictable. We very much liked Daniel Craig in the role though. Roger Moore is our favourite Bond but both Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan run him close. However, the best Bond line of all-time was spoken by Sean Connery in Dr No (1962), when Ursula Andress comes out of the sea and says, “What are you doing here, looking for shells?” and he says, “No, I’m just looking.”

Best Nottingham On-Screen Moment

It’s got to be Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). We know there’s been other moments since, but that was the pinnacle for us. Every time we saw it on television our father would say the exact same thing: “That was the days when you could go up and down Derby Road on a bus.” He couldn’t care less about the plot or the characters, just the bus and traffic lanes on screen.

Spotted Ilkeston town Anyone any idea who owns this cat? Currently in new look chilling in the fitting room

Spotted: Long Eaton go to the post office to send a parcel and when they ask to weigh it just hand them your baby. hope this helps

STAPLEFORD COMMUNITY GROUP

A family of five moved into the pot hole on Derby Road, so easing the housing crisis I guess

Spotted: Long Eaton Can't beat 4 litres of cider down by the canal for a good night out

Arnold Community Group UK Sounds to me like you just stole someone’s cat!

Spotted Eastwood Dodgy bloke last night knocking on doors trying to sell fairy tablets

Beeston Updated I would love to squeeze it for you

Spotted: Long Eaton

The fact you drink carling sums up this whole post

Burton Joyce Village, Nottinghamshire Just heard on BBC R2 - a song dedicated to "Burt and Joyce in Nottinghamshire" apparently it was 'their' engagement song! Surely not??

Beeston Updated few extra inch never hurt no one June

Spotted Ilkeston town Classy as the clap

Beeston Updated This was the biggest one on offer today. Nearly half a metre of girthy green goodness!

Burton Joyce Village, Nottinghamshire would an over weight man of pension age be welcome……… i have no leotard!!!

WHATS HAPPENING IN HUCKNALL AND SURROUNDING AREAS

Does the thought of covering a cake in fondant bring you out in a cold sweat?

Spotted Ilkeston town tried this mate. Couldn't get owt for my feet pics.. in fact I lost money.. some how

Spotted Long Eaton Hey, I’m looking forward to someone who can remove blood stains

Arnold Community Group UK Wow! Yellow downpipe!!

Spotted Kimberley & Eastwood

Does anyone know what happened to the two women having a punch up outside heron foods? Love a bit of gossip me

Spotted Long Eaton

Does anyone know this person? Or recognise her arse? Or car? She decided it was ok to use by the side of my front door as a toilet!

Carlton/Gedling Nottingham Community Group oh shut up val

Retford Information Page who in their right mind would go near his down below

words: Dani Bacon

Nadia on... the Future of Education

When I was about fourteen, my teachers went on strike. My classmates and I heard that we were getting a day off, and started asking around to figure out why. Soon after, I proudly joined a rally organised by the teachers’ union - my first of many to come. This experience - of seeing industrial struggle and solidarity in action, hearing about trade unions and workers’ rights - was at least as educational as memorising chemical symbols and the names of Henry VIII’s six wives.

I was reminded of this story when the National Education Union (NEU) recently announced the results of its strike ballot. Teachers overwhelmingly voted to strike again, and for good reasons. Since the Tories took power, their real-terms incomes have steadily declinedand that’s before energy prices shot up, eroding their paychecks even more. At the same time, workloads went from high to unmanageable, with teachers working an average of 54 hours a week.

Workers aren’t the only ones to suffer as a result. Burnt out staff won’t give children the attention they need. Meanwhile, teacher shortages - driven by problems with recruitment and retention - mean fewer specialist teachers in schools, and young people not getting the education they deserve.

But it’s not just in schools that educators are facing excessive workloads and declining pay. The University and College Union (UCU) has announced another eighteen days of strikes. Since tuition fees were hiked in 2010, university staff pay went down by around a quarter. Add to this a 35% cut to pensions and the normalisation of precarious contracts, and it’s easy to see why they’re fed up.

The struggles faced by workers point towards wider problems with our education system, which has been underfunded and mismanaged by successive governments. A pay rise for staff is a necessary first step towards improving it, but it’s only the beginning. What else would I do to transform education? Here’s a few ideas.

Most people would agree that every child, regardless how rich or poor their family is, deserves an equal start in life. Even staunch supporters of the free market claim to believe in equality of opportunity. But this principle is fundamentally incompatible with the existence of private schools, which cement generational inequality.

I don’t blame parents who want to give their kids the best opportunities money can buy. I blame politicians, disproportionately privately-educated themselves, who vote to cut funding for state schools, knowing that their own children won’t feel the consequences. Imagine how quickly things would change if the kids of the rich and powerful had to learn together with everyone else.

Education should be free and accessible: not just at school level, but at any age. This means investing in adult education, significantly increasing maintenance support for students and, yes, scrapping tuition fees. Some say that university fees are more like a tax, since most students get out a loan rather than paying upfront. But taxes should be paid on income and wealth, not knowledge. Education is not a luxury or a business like any other, but a public good that benefits society as a whole. If debt-free degrees are possible in Germany, Denmark or Norway, we can have them here as well.

A lot of debates around the future of education come down to the question of what it’s really for. For some people, the answer is straightforward: to prepare young people for work. And while that’s certainly part of its purpose, it’s not the whole story. All students, regardless of their class background, deserve the chance to develop their passions and broaden their horizons. As well as competent employees, students should be learning to be critical thinkers and conscious citizens. That’s why it’s crucial for arts and humanities to not be devalued - and to not shy away from difficult topics, such as race and the legacy of the British Empire.

Either way, if education is meant to prepare students for the future, it can’t do so without teaching about the issue that will affect virtually every aspect of our lives: the climate emergency. It shouldn’t just be students who choose optional subjects like Geography who get to learn about the changing climate. It belongs in every subject: whether that’s learning about sustainable diets and food production in food tech, or discussing how changes to the environment shaped our history, economy and societies around the world. Equally, sustainability should form a core part of vocational courses, from engineering to design. This is why I joined forces with the youth group Teach the Future to bring their Climate Education Bill to Parliamentthe first ever bill written by students.

Ultimately, the education system won’t be transformed by politicians alone. The best ideas come from the people who live it: students and education workers. I’m looking forward to hearing even more of them on the upcoming NEU and UCU picket lines. Solidarity, and see you there!

Ultimately, the education system won’t be transformed by politicians alone. The best ideas come from the people who live it: students and education workers

words: Nadia Whittome photo: Fabrice Gagos

Notts Shots

Vat and Puddle

Roger Poultney

A place in the sun Chloe Allen - @capture_bychloe

Here comes rubble Gary Thomas

Council Skies

Hazel Carvajal

A Cinema Programmer in Notts

There’s nothing better than sitting down in a comfy cinema, with the lights dimmed and the latest blockbuster or arthouse flick up on the big screen. But who hand-picks the films that you get to see? We chat to a Cinema Programmer in Notts to find out more about what goes on behind the projector…

I actually started out in music, and ended up running the events for a couple of venues – one in Sheffield and one in Leeds. My partner at the time had moved to Sheffield, but wanted to move back to Nottingham, so I ended up applying for a few jobs, and somehow I got the job I’m in now. I think in part because I had a degree in Film & American Studies. I’m not too far away from what I thought I’d end up doing, but I never envisaged my career involving film, if I’m honest. I think I had a naïve view of what a film degree could lead to - now there are so many more opportunities!

I’m not sure what I expected when I signed on. I came on board in a rather small role, but it’s grown and my responsibilities have increased. I think at the start I expected it might be a stepping stone to something else, but I realised pretty quickly that I really enjoyed my job.

A typical day involves the usual checking of emails, opening up the theatre and bar area and then setting up the film to be screened. These days it’s a fairly simple process of pressing play on a laptop (no loading of reels, thankfully!). The day will also usually involve running the box office or working on the bar, with some design work in between. My role has changed a huge amount since I joined. I didn’t start off doing design work or programming but those are two of my main responsibilities now. We’ve increased the number of screenings year-on-year, and overall, the venue’s offer is much stronger than it used to be.

As we’re a mixed arts venue, though, we don’t have the same amount of time dedicated to film that most cinemas do. We only have one screen, so this makes the programming quite complicated. I plan very far ahead, as when you screen one film informs the decision as to when you screen other films and so on. I tend to choose the big titles, as I don’t like to miss big films coming out, but it’s also about knowing what works and what doesn’t. Knowing your audience is really important, and there’s no harm in challenging them with more obscure or interesting titles if you think they’ll work.

Having events such as Screening Days – where exhibitors are able to see a handful of films before their release – or the BFI London Film Festival helps with programming too, and sometimes distributors will send what’s called a ‘screener’ for you to view. But

more often than not, it’s a case of perusing the release calendar and picking what you hope will do well!

It’s always a challenge, as you can’t take every film, and there’s a bit more consideration involved than there would be working for a chain. I also enjoy doing the design work for the venue, as that can help soothe any creative itches I have. On the other hand, sweeping up after showing a children’s film is easily the worst part of the job!

It sounds a bit cliche, but you meet all sorts of people in this role. We have a really diverse audience that naturally skews a bit older, given there’s not too many people who can go to a lunchtime screening on a weekday. Everyone is always nice and friendly, and enjoys chatting. It’s a lovely atmosphere almost every day!

I think the film that sold the most tickets was probably Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again or the first Peter Rabbit (which we took ondate). Post-pandemic, No Time To Die did great, but I think Belfast, Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick and The Duke did very well too.

If people are looking for recommendations, my favourite film from last year was Aftersun. It’s such a beautiful, sad film that’s also really stylistically interesting. Plus any film with Catatonia and Bran Van 3000 in the soundtrack is always a winner! Some other films I’ve loved recently are Titane, Drive My Car, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Annette, Nomadland, Another Round, After Yang and my ultimate guilty pleasure... the new Mortal Kombat film!

boningtontheatre.co.uk

I tend to choose the big titles, as I don’t like to miss big films coming out, but it’s also about knowing what works and what doesn’t. Knowing your audience is really important

illustrator: Emmy Lupin

GETTING TO WORK

words: George White

Boasting everything from Golden Globe-winning actors to BAFTA-winning directors, to say The Television Workshop is a gem in Nottingham’s screen scene would be a monumental understatement. We catch up with Executive Artistic Director Alison Rashley and multitalented graduate Michael Socha to find out exactly why the Workshop works so well…

Like the old Overheard in Notts adage that “You can’t throw a cat without hitting one of them yellow scooters”, you can’t tune in to a film or TV series without spotting a graduate of the Television Workshop right now. From Lady Chatterley’s Lover to The Last of Us, blockbuster epics to arthouse indies, Workshoppers are flying the flag for the Nottingham institution, and Nottingham more generally, wherever you look - raking in big awards, booking exciting projects, and regularly grabbing global headlines along the way.

Yet how does it feel to be the leader of an organisation that consistently churns out greats both old and new; that has BIFA winners, Oscar nominees and actual Ellie Williams among its alumni? Well, as you’d expect, it’s “a big responsibility”, Executive Artistic Director Alison Rashley explains. “Protecting the Workshop’s phenomenal reputation is so important. But we’re in a good place at the moment. We’ve just moved premises, which was a really big deal. Kids are casting all the time. It’s incredibly busy right now!”

If the weight of this responsibility is weighing heavily on Rashley’s shoulders, though, she does well to hide it. Across our hour-long chat at Blend Contemporary, the new boss - who took up the role early last year - chats passionately about the success of the Workshop’s graduates. She heaps praise on everyone from Vicky McClure (a “pure soul”) to Joe Dempsie (“one of the finest listeners” in the screen industry). She dives deep into the proud history of the institution. At every turn, the strength of her decades-long devotion to the Workshop shines through.

But why exactly is this relatively small organisation so incredibly successful? For Rashley, the answer’s a simple one. “We try to get Workshoppers acting with their heart and their soul, not with

their head,” she asserts. “They should be able to dive into their characters’ stories and really live them. The ability to do that without overthinking it, and being able to share your emotion right up on the surface, is a rare thing.”

The importance of this commitment to honest, raw performances is the most important factor for graduate Michael Socha too, who has used the skills he learned in Nottingham to thrive in the likes of Being Human and This Is England ‘90. “It's all about truth there, as cliche as it sounds,” the Derby-born actor explains. “Some actors almost work off a book. They think, ‘Oh, in this instance you’d feel sad, so I’ll do this face. And this time I’m happy, so I’ll behave this way.’ But at the Workshop you’re taught to become the character. You’ve got to properly feel it, believe you are that person. That helps to convince the audience.”

Yet developing talent alone isn’t enough - the Workshop is also committed to making sure everyone who studies there knows how to behave when the cameras aren’t rolling. “We’re big believers in preparing kids for any size of project,” Rashley adds. “The only reason people will keep coming back to us is if our students are beautifully behaved on set, and know how to conduct themselves, and always know their lines and know their times. That might sound basic, but when you’re doing thirteen-hour days relentlessly, being on time can be quite tough because it’s exhausting. We owe it to our students to prepare them for it all.”

As important as the institution itself is, though, for Rashley there’s another factor in play - the grit and character of the East Midlands. A “proud Nottingham girl” herself, Rashley believes that the “absence of ego” that comes with growing up in this area can ground actors in reality, elevating both their sense of drive and their performances on screen. “I love this city, I love that I’m from here. It’s fascinating that people don’t quite know where we belong - we’re not from the north, we’re definitely not from the south. So I think we have to find our own sense of self around here, and we have a very proud sense of self in this city,” she muses. “We don’t expect things to happen for us - we make them happen. So many people just go out and make quality stuff themselves.”

We try to get Workshoppers acting with their heart and their soul, not with their head

ONES TO WATCH

Making quality stuff happen is, and has always been, the way of the Workshop. Just this past summer, as part of the Sin Film Festival at Broadway Cinema, current students put together five separate, unique short films, which they wrote and starred in, covering a wide range of the seven deadly sins. From meta comedies to intense dramas, the skill on show in each production was truly impressive - making it easy to see why these self-made projects can catch the attention of casting directors across the country.

This do-it-yourself attitude means that people like Socha, who grew up miles away - both geographically and spiritually - from traditional drama schools, could craft a stellar career in an industry that so often feels out of reach. Even if that wasn’t the sole aim. “In a lot of traditional drama centres, there are people who just want their kids to be famous actors, but that wasn’t what drove me. I went to the Workshop because I loved it,” Socha says. “Growing up, the only option available to me was musical theatre, and in that field I wasn't really surrounded by people that were like me - I wasn’t a drama person with that sort of background. I felt out of place. Then I found the Workshop, where I could be surrounded by my people. I had a great time, and I’m still friends with so many grads I love flicking on the TV and seeing the likes of Jack O’Connell and Vicky just killing it.”

Seeing Workshoppers killing it is something we can all look forward to for a long time to come. Over the next few months alone, Bella Ramsey will continue to team up with Hollywood superstar Pedro Pascal in stunning HBO series The Last of Us, Marcus Rutherford will extend his run as Perrin Aybara in the second season of Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time, and Tom Blyth will join the multi-billion dollar empire that is The Hunger Games. Across every genre, every type of project, Nottingham’s stars will continue to shine.

And, back here in Nottingham, it will remain a busy time for Rashley and the Workshop. The gang are still settling into their new digs on Cranbrook Street, which “is in a great area, right down near Confetti, who we’re doing a lot more work with at the moment”. Using their brand new self-tape studio - which is “crucial to us, because every time somebody has to audition with a tape, we can take them down there, with good lighting and good sound, and make sure the tape is as effective as it can be”the team are helping to sculpt the next generation of Sochas and McClures. And in a few months’ time, the current Workshoppers will once again get the chance to showcase their talent to a big room packed with people, as Rashley and her students put together another short film festival, this time offering up “a love letter to Nottingham”.

“We’ll be forty this year, which is insane, so we wanted to tie it to the city,” she explains. “We’ve always been supported by Nottingham, and have become almost a famous little part of the city, so to celebrate that, this year’s films will all be based on famous local stories and key bits of our history.” A key pillar of Nottingham culture shining a light on other key pillars of Nottingham culture? We can’t wait to see how it all works out.

thetelevisionworkshop.co.uk

Spike Fearn

You

Lydia Page

Even in this early stage of her career, Lydia Page has already joined a household institution by bagging a role in The Larkins and shown her arthouse credentials in awardwinning indie Blue Jean - but she’s just getting started. With ITV shows and short films on the 2023 roster, expect Page’s prestige to keep growing.

Ewan Mitchell

Ewan Mitchell might have cropped up in global sensation House of the Dragon last year - cutting a frightening figure as a young Aemond Targaryen - but his greatest achievement so far has to be acting alongside the Sean Bean in World on Fire. I don’t know how you best the Bean, but we’re excited to see him try.

Safia Oakley-Green

Safia

late last year. Need we say more? The star of The Origin and Sherwood is clearly on to big things, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.

bus to work!!! Seriously, though, she’s destined for great things.

Put simply, there are too many incredibly talented Workshoppers to keep track of - but here are six you have to have on your radar…

might have spotted this guy starring in flagship ITV X show Tell Me Everything or mugging off his mates in 2022’s Aftersun. With everything from TV series, awardwinning indies and blockbuster superhero movies already under his belt, Spike Fearn is on a sharp rise to success.

Oliver Huntingdon

Most recently featuring in what we suspect is the ironically-named Happy Valley, Oliver Huntingdon is crafting himself a quality career. Other credits include Sky’s The Rising and Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World - marking a funking (we assume that’s what’s starred out) good start to life on screen.

Oakley-Green took home a British Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performance

Lucy Carless Sherwood was stacked with local talent - including Lucy Carless, who joined the David Morrissey-starring series after stints on Humans and Suspects. Not bad to say she has to get the

If you’re a regular Broadway-goer, or just a lover of indie films, you’ve most likely heard all about Aftersun - the emotive film that made not just one, but two members of the LeftLion team cry. A raw portrayal of fatherhood, childhood and mental health struggles, it’s a very special piece of art created by Charlotte Wells. But more than that, it’s also a showcase of Nottingham talent, with multiple actors from the Television Workshop present in the film. We catch up with talented young actor Ruby Thompson, who plays Laura in the award-winning release…

It’s not often a film is universally adored. Lauded by critics. Loved by audiences. Showered with accolades. Peppered with praise by everyone who helped put it together.

Yet Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ phenomenally-crafted, deeply moving tale of one ten-year-old’s summer holiday with her father, has achieved this rare feat - and then some. It’s already picked up countless British Independent Film Awards and been named as Sight & Sound’s best film of 2022, and you wouldn’t bet against it sweeping up at next month’s Academy Awards. Put simply, it’s a masterpiece. And, most excitingly for us, it’s a masterpiece packed with Nottingham talent.

You see, Aftersun’s casting director Lucy Pardee (quite rightly) looked to graduates of the Television Workshop to make up a gang of young holiday-goers who play an important role in the story of Sophie, the lively lead played by debutante Frankie Corio. Among this group is Laura, a more mature role model for Sophie to look up to, with the pair forming a close, meaningful bond as the runtime progresses. And playing Laura is our own Ruby Thompson - who delivers a top performance in this magical movie.

Getting the chance to collaborate with more familiar faces was also a joy, she adds. For Thompson and fellow Workshoppers like Spike Fearn and Kieran Burton, Aftersun was not only a chance to contribute to a special project, but to do so together. As friends. In Turkey. For weeks on end. Not a bad gig, that. “It was like being on a little holiday,” Thompson laughs. “You’re with all these people that you really get on with. We had such chemistry, which is what they were looking for. You’re there to do a job, of course, but in your spare time you’re in Turkey. That was pretty magical.”

Working with Frankie Corio was also one of Thompson’s favourite aspects of the film, and much like co-star Paul Mescal (of BBC Three’s Normal People), she gave a beaming review of the young actress, who is currently only thirteen years old. “Frankie was phenomenal. She was so mature and was able to separate her character from herself,” a feat that is often difficult for young actors. “She played the role so well that you might think she’s just being herself in front of the camera, but it’s not like that at all,” Thompson continues. “She’s highly intelligent, she doesn’t miss a beat. Nothing goes over her head.”

As a viewer, it’s easy to agree that Corio’s effortless acting style really is something of a wonder, particularly in her scenes with Mescal, who plays a father struggling with depression. The chemistry between the two actors is profoundly affecting. However, there is also real beauty in the beats between Thompson and Corio, particularly when Laura shares a moment of kindness with Frankie, which temporarily provides respite from the character’s otherwise dark narrative.

“The way they casted it was really friendly, and the script was really beautiful,” says Thompson of joining the project. “Lucy is incredible. All the projects she’s worked on have been the same in that they have something special about them. So the fact that she was casting this meant I knew it was going to be great.”

If Thompson’s time in pre-production was beautiful, though, her time on set took things to a different level. Working with Wells - who, like Thompson, was experiencing feature films for the first time - “was a dream come true”, she explains. “Her language and the way she works with actors is really human, and the way she includes you means you always know what’s going on. You can see the vision that she wants for each scene. It’s incredible to watch how she works. What she produces is stunning.”

Stunning indeed. Like most who watch the film, Aftersun left its mark on Thompson when she saw the final product on the big screen. “It made me cry a lot,” she admits. “There’s a beauty to it in that it’s not forcing anything on you. It allows you to respond in a way that feels right to you. Every time I’ve watched it, I’ve responded differently, because it allows for that. Everyone did such a phenomenal job, from Charlotte to Greg [Oke], our cinematographer, to everyone working on the music. There’s so much heart and effort put into the film.” So touching is Wells’ debut, in fact, that it even made a certain cold-hearted LeftLion Editor shed a tear. That might be a greater achievement than picking up a BIFA.

“I was just focusing on how much I wanted to get it right,” Thompson muses. “There was a subtlety to doing that one small thing. To my character it’s nothing, but she can see where Sophie is at in her life. I just wanted to nail that sentiment.”

Moving to the audience, and to Thompson herself, the actor admits that the scene resonates with her personally. “Through my character you really feel like you’re thrown back into that teen era of your life, dealing with peers, boys, making friends, growing pains. That scene was an example of how impactful it can be when someone you look up to lets you in. When I was a kid and older kids would do that, it really made me feel seen.”

Overall, then, a glowing success for Ruby Thompson, who acts with great subtlety and emotion in Aftersun - adding a new dimension to protagonist Frankie’s story, one which celebrates the small kindnesses of adolescence and the impact a single moment can have. Likewise, this marks yet another roaring achievement for the Television Workshop; just one of many examples of the high calibre actors that Nottingham is producing. We can’t wait to see what comes next for Thompson and her fellow Workshoppers.

Aftersun is available to watch on MUBI

words: George White and Lizzy O’Riordan illustration: Bryony Loveridge

Rise of the Titan Rise of the Titan

First things first, how does it feel to become a real life comic book character? How did you feel when you got the call? I was in shock at first because it wasn't even a phone call - it was an email. I had to reread it a few times before I could get excited because I was thinking, ‘Am I reading this right? I don't want to get the wrong end of the stick here and get really hyped up for no reason.’ I felt like I'd done a good job with my audition but I was just hoping for a recall. I wasn't expecting to be offered the job at that point. So it was a real surprise.

What was the auditioning process like?

At first, it was actually quite tricky to figure out what they wanted, because there are two very different versions of the character out there. All of my auditions were done by self-tape so I had no real dialogue with anyone on the Titans side - there was no opportunity to ask questions or get a solid idea of what they wanted. So I just had to go on the limited information that I was given in the emails and the notes that I received. I was definitely more focused on what I needed to do to get the role, rather than thinking about the big picture of what it would mean for myself and my career if I then got the role.

I did a deep-dive into everything I could about both versions of Jinx. I did so much research and read loads of comic books to really figure out what I wanted to do with the character, and meld that with what I thought they wanted. Once I got the gig, it was a really collaborative process - on everything from what we were going to do with the hair to how I was going to portray the character on screen. There were lots of costume fittings and chats about Jinx’s background, where she comes from and where she would fit in the show. So while I was initially excited to join this great DC series, it wasn’t until I got to set that it all started to sink in.

Did you have any trepidation when signing on? Some actors talk about the challenge of constantly being associated with one particular character - was this ever a concern for you, even with you only being confirmed for four episodes?

While Titans isn’t quite the size of Superman, for example, it has been going for quite a few years, and has amassed its own following - so I did have a bit of anxiety about what the fans would think of me. I knew that there'd be judgement about my casting and I knew that comic book fans can sometimes be very passionate and opinionated. But people have been largely supportive and liked what I've done, and there's been a lot of love for the character. It’s the biggest show I've done so far, so I knew I was opening myself up to a wider audience, which is something that I've not been through yet - and that'll probably expand again when it goes on Netflix, because that’s a global platform. While that’s a bit nerve-wracking, though, the experience has been really positive.

Working on superhero productions is quite unique in that there’s more of a reliance on special effects and elements that actors themselves can’t see in real time. How did you find that process?

It's interesting. There were moments where it would be literally just me in front of the camera, with the director calling out actions that I had to react to, like, ‘Now you're going to fight these zombies over there. And now you're going to say this.’ I often just had to react to nothing and no one and hope that my facial expressions matched what they wanted and that my eyeline was in the right place. But, in truth, all of that is just part of being an actor. Whatever project you work on, you have to have a good imagination. At the same time, some of the stuff was practical - like when I moved the lasers in my first episode. That all happened; the lasers were there and they all physically shifted. So there were some really cool practical effects as well.

Finally, to take you back to before your time as a Titan, you trained at The Actors Workshop Nottingham. How did your time there prepare you for this career path?

How did you find joining a popular TV series when it was already four seasons in? Were there any challenges to that? The cast and crew were lovely and I really cherished getting to work with them. They weren't cliquey at all. They welcomed me wholeheartedly and I became good friends with some of them. They are a really lovely bunch; there are no egos and they seemed to love working with me and loved what I did with Jinx. So it was a great experience. I don't think I was too worried about that looking back on it, because starting any job is scary. Whether it's been going for a while and you have to join a cast that already knows each other, or whether it's a brand new cast all coming together, it's scary working with new people. So I was nervous, but when I actually got to set and did my first scene with Brenton [Thwaites], who plays Nightwing, I just had that feeling of, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I do. I'm fine!’

I started acting relatively late, and I hadn’t trained in it before. I didn't go to drama school. But I felt like this might be something that I wanted to do, that I could be really good at. The main problem was that it's really hard at 28 years old to know where to start. And it's also a very nerve-wracking thing to do and get used to at that age. So I needed somewhere that could help me become familiar with acting in front of audiences, and where I could meet like-minded people - and that’s when I found The Actors Workshop. I went pretty solidly for about a year and it was the perfect place to gain confidence. I'm still friends with a few of the people that I met there. It was a really great community.

Series four of DC Titans will arrive on Netflix later this year

After learning her craft at Nottingham’s Actors Workshop, Lisa Ambalavanar went on to join DC’s Titans as the beloved character of Jinx, achieving something every young kid and adult nerd dreams of - becoming a superhero. We hear all about life with magical powers…

I did a deep-dive into everything I could about Jinx. I did so much research and read loads of comic books to really figure out what I wanted to do with the character

interview: George White illustration: Animated AF!

It’s not often you get the chance to join a flagship Amazon Prime series, let alone one based on one of the most popular novels of all time - but that’s exactly what Marcus Rutherford, the Nottingham-born Television Workshop graduate, achieved. We sit down with him to chat all things The Wheel of Time Shadowspawn. Mystical powers. The Aes Sedai. To some fusty so-and-sos, it might sound like a load of old Trollocs. But to the almost 90 million people who have bought and devoured Robert Jordan’s seminal high fantasy novel The Wheel of Time, it’s the basis of one of the most ambitious, elaborate stories of all time. Launching a novel series spanning over a dozen volumes and countless pages, and exploring crazy concepts that completely redefined its genre, it’s become one of the most beloved fictional texts ever put to paper. So, when Amazon were looking for a title to rival HBO’s Game of Thrones and its subsequent series, there was really only one place to start.

For Marcus Rutherford, the Nottingham-born graduate of - you guessed itThe Television Workshop who signed on as Perrin Aybara, one of the show’s most prominent characters, getting the chance to join this epic universe of monsters and magic meant a refreshing switch from the norm.

“I’d started off my career by getting my foot in the door with quite - you could argue - stereotypical roles,” Rutherford explains. “You know, black guys from Hackney who grew up in broken homes, that sort of thing. And I decided I just wanted to be in a different sort of genre. One aim for my career is to avoid becoming someone who is known for just one thing. I want to become a real chameleon and constantly try different projects.”

Cue a switch from London Fields to Emond's Field. Far from the grit and mundanity of the English capital, the world in The Wheel of Time is outlandish, packed with axe-wielding beasts, ancient powers, death and destruction - and that’s just in the first episode. Put simply, it’s fantasy storytelling at its most fantastical. Yet the focus on character is just as important as the magic; something that excited Rutherford.

“It was really interesting to play a character who's a lot more reserved, quite quiet, in a show of such scale,” he says of filling the shoes of gentle giant Perrin. “A lot of the other characters are more confident, whereas his development is a bit slower, which I think is quite rewarding for the audience to see. It takes him a bit of time to come into his own, but he grows a lot in the first series, and will do so even more in the second.”

Not only are other characters more confident, though, but other cast members are largely more experienced - with everyone from X-Men’s Daniel Henney to The Alienist’s Michael McElhatton on the call sheet. Oh, and Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike - who “set the standard” for everyone else - of course. Like Perrin in the show, Rutherford was learning a lot as he went along, picking up tips and tricks from some of the best in the business.

“That was true both on and off screen,” he muses. “When you do the sort of indie films that I’d been doing, there’s not much money at stake - you’re mainly making it for the love of it. So you might be able to talk to the director

in detail, and have quite a few takes of certain scenes. But with something like this, there’s so much money on the table, and such a strict schedule, that shooting scenes can be quite tight. Learning to deal with that was a big thing, and the other cast members helped a lot.

“And then there’s also navigating the stuff away from the camera, like fan expectations. I saw some of the other cast just block it out, not look at the reaction, and navigate that side of the job in a way that was really interesting. So I used that as inspiration for myself too.”

For all the pressure of adapting such a popular product, the reaction to series one - which picked up over 6 million viewers in its first three episodes - has been a largely positive one. It was enough for Amazon to greenlight at least two more seasons, in fact, and audiences have connected with the small-screen characters everywhere from Rio to Rome - something that has taken some getting used to, Rutherford admits.

“It’s quite funny, because I could be in London or Nottingham and not necessarily get recognised, but then you’ll have people from Brazil or India who know you,” he laughs. “It’s really cool. It was big in America too. When we went to Comic Con in New York, it was nice to see the faces of people who've been watching. There’s so much analysis of viewership and tweets and engagement, but it’s only when you go to something like a convention and see people who are so passionate about this stuff - to the point where it’s like following a football team - that you really realise why we do this.”

Excitingly for these fans, Rutherford claims that the best is yet to come. Where the first eight episodes saw those involved finding their feet both on and off screen, the upcoming series will have a more confident group of characters doing more cool stuff than ever before.

“In series one, the naivety of our characters is at the forefront of the story. But in season two, there's a bit of a time jump. They’ve started to accept and have faith in the prophecy and their destiny, so there's more of a maturity to them. It's darker too, more real and a bit more brutal. The innocence of those kids we find in the village in episode one is long gone, and they’re becoming a bit more grown-up. I'm really excited for people to see it.”

Evolved characters heading on fresh adventures with “a big jump in the writing and visual effects”? If you haven’t already checked out this series, it’s about time you did.

You can watch The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime Video @marcus_rudda

words: George White illustration: Jim Brown

When we went to Comic Con in New York, it was nice to see the faces of people who've been watching

Major News

Spreading comedy across Nottingham, Major Labia are well-known for their theatre-based comedy shows and absurdist humour. Now the group, who originally met at The Television Workshop, are creating their first short film. Titled Witches, the project explores the dynamics of female surveillance and sexuality. We catch up with Siobhán Cannon-Brownlie, Gemma Caseley-Kirk and Narisha Lawson to chat about the upcoming release…

Major Labia is such a great group name. What’s the story there?

Siobhán: Major Labia is a group of performers. We came together initially to have discussions about being a woman in the industry and quickly that progressed into performance - comedy specifically. The name came about through wanting to find something that was quite light and funny, but there’s also a pun there on Labia Majora, which seemed fitting because we’re looking at those things we’re not supposed to speak about. It’s crazy the amount of people who have asked us which part the labia is, so it’s somewhat educational too.

You’re in the process of making your first film, titled Witches…

Siobhán: We all met through The Television Workshop, which is where we trained, so we had a background in film and television - and that’s always been an aim for us. We’ve always wanted to explore many different mediums, and now seemed the right time for us to make our first short film, especially since we’re backed by BFI.

The film centres around three ‘overlooked, under-laid women’. Can you tell us more?

Siobhán: Yes! So, that quote is part of our log line, which we’ve used to describe the film in a couple of words. But the story itself came from a place of wanting to explore feminism and how it’s been co-opted by capitalism and sold back to us devoid of its liberation. So, this film explores women who are taught by society to police each other, which is something we look at through the story of witches - told in a very light way.

Gemma: It’s a really interesting topic around women vetting other women, because that’s all within the context of a society led by men. I think we become distracted telling each other what we can and can’t do, and we’re being distracted away from the bigger issues of our rights.

How has this process been different so far to making theatre?

Siobhán: One of the biggest differences is just the amount of people involved! It’s been really exciting to collaborate with so many people.

Gemma: I also think that, creatively, you are just different. This narrative started off as a live sketch and we’d re-written it and tweaked it, through which we realised you have to work differently for a camera lens. Then, of course, the energy is totally different too. With live theatre you have a lot of energy to feed off, but the great thing about film is that you can send it even further. It lives for eternity, which is really different to theatre.

You did a bit of work over lockdown with filmmaker Georgianna Scurfield. How was that?

Narisha: It was brilliant. We love working with local talent. It’s really satisfying and I enjoyed it from start to finish. I feel really proud to be from Nottingham and to champion our creatives. We all met in Nottingham, we all trained in Nottingham and that stands for a lot. I always say that if you cut me I’d bleed Nottingham.

Siobhán: The revolutionary nature of the city really ties into what we’re doing too. Whether that’s the Luddites or Robin Hood, this city has a lot of things that we’re happy to carry forward with our comedy.

As for Witches, you put out a call for women and non-binary people to work on the movie in off-screen roles. Is this important to you?

It’s nice to see a film discussing women and sex. Hopefully we’re moving into an era where female pleasure and experience is central on screen…

Gemma: That’s definitely something we wanted to explore. We really did want to discuss what pleasure means and what it means to embrace pleasure. It seems ridiculous that there’s still so much shame attached to that for women.

Siobhán: I would love it if our film helped people feel more liberated. And though I do think we are getting there in the media in general, I also think that the amount of heterosexual sex scenes where orgasm is from penetration alone must be in the ninetieth percentile. Until we have real depictions of pleasure on screen, then we’re just talking about a liberation we haven’t yet achieved.

Siobhán: Very much so. Major Labia really aims to tell underrepresented stories, so we think it’s also really important to work with women and non-binary people. There are often less of those folks in those roles, so that’s why we want to prioritise them. The opportunities for women and non-binary people are still fewer, so we really wanted to collaborate with those people.

Amazing! Do you have any last comments or thoughts?

Siobhán: One of the reasons we’re really honoured to make this film is because this film was written by four of us, including our friend and collaborator Phoebe Frances Brown, who we sadly lost last year. I think we all feel a real honour and privilege in being able to bring this film to life. It wouldn’t exist without Phoebe’s creativity, dedication and passion. To be making a film written by Phoebe, that’s a very special thing for us - to carry on their legacy in our work.

interview: Lizzy O’Riordan illustration: Kathryn Cooper

Feminism has been co-opted by capitalism and sold back to us devoid of its liberation

Until we have real depictions of pleasure on screen, then we’re just talking about a liberation we haven’t yet achieved

Writer-director Leanne Davis shares how she channelled the experience of her mother’s early onset of dementia into her debut short film, A Last Resort – an offbeat yet ultimately uplifting tragicomedy set during a British seaside holiday…

How would you describe A Last Resort?

It's funny with shorts, because if you say what it's about, you can kind of give away the film. It deals with some really meaty topics such as death and terminal illness, but at the heart of it is a love story between a mother and a daughter.

I wanted to write this story pretty much since my own mum got ill, which will be about twelve years ago now, and she died in February 2020. I wasn't even a writer at that point, but I just wanted to make something out of everything that I felt. I wanted to write a love story to show that even in the darkness there is light, which is the backbone and the heart of all my work. I want to write stuff that’s hopeful, because life is shit and can be really painful and really dark and really bleak – but without hope, what is there?

My voice as a writer is to always undercut the darkness with some humour and light. When my mum was ill, that's how we got through it

When did you decide that you wanted to turn that story into a film?

I started writing a comedy drama when my mum was ill and that was going to be a TV show. That went to Amazon in America and we had big talks about big things, but they wanted to go in a very different direction – so because it was such a personal piece, we parted ways. I was like, ‘Maybe this will never get made as a TV show, so instead I’ll write it as a short film and then I can have the story that I want to tell encapsulated.’ We were due to shoot in April 2020, but my mum died in the middle of development, and we also had to keep pushing it back because of COVID. We ended up shooting it like a year-and-a-half later when I was eightand-a-half months pregnant with my second child – so it was kind of a now-or-never thing. It was really cathartic to be able to channel all that grief and pain into something that I felt was really positive.

Tragicomedy is something that I think Midlands filmmakers do really well, and this film is a great example of that. Was it difficult to strike a balance between the laughs and the emotional gut punches?

My voice as a writer is to always undercut the darkness with some humour and light. When my mum was ill, that's how we got through it – we just laughed so much once we got over the initial shock that came from the early onset of Alzheimer's. Ultimately, Alzheimer's is always written about either in a really bleak and depressing way or as a bit of a comedy trope, so with this film, I wanted to show it in all its messy glory. There were so many comedic moments throughout the years with my mum and her illness. It’s dark, but it’s how we cope.

What other inspirations did you draw from to create the tone?

On a Friday night, my dad would often go down to the pub with the lads, so my mum and I would stay in and watch sitcoms like Only Fools and Horses and Blackadder. In Blackadder Goes Forth, that final scene where they go over the top… How you can go between light and dark like that always inspired me. All my work is generally characterbased with a very British sensibility. I also went to Pinterest and started pinning pictures of aesthetics I liked, and that’s when I came across the photographer Martin Parr’s seminal work, A Last Resort, which is all of eighties Liverpool – and everything about it screamed my childhood. There are shots at the start of the film which are ultimately recreations of his work, and he had a massive influence on the aesthetics of the piece.

How did you find the experience of being a first-time director, overall?

I love writing, but directing gave me a voice that just takes that into new realms. I think the fact that I was pregnant made me feel so powerful. My body was doing one of the most miraculous things it will ever be able to do: produce life. While my body was being so creative, I was also being creative, so it just felt like every part of my being was. It was brilliant. Of course, there are a few shots in there that still make me go “Aaagghh!” and it kills me, but I'm told that's normal. I'm really proud of what I've achieved.

interview: Jamie Morris

illustration: Ilinca Sivoglo

FOOD AND

gOuRD StuFF

Hungry? Why not try The Hungry Pumpkin? A treasure trove of quality food nestled in the Lace Market, this small cafe has already gained a big following. Our new Food Co-Editor Julia Head stops by to find out why so many people are so in love with Nottingham’s own ‘Little Italy’...

Tucked away down a quiet stretch of High Pavement, you will find this gem, known to locals as 'The Little Italy'. As you step inside, you are transported to a busy Italian cafeteria with a cheery greeting from the owner, Marco Cartolano - who prides himself on his warm hospitality. You will be lucky if you can find a table here. Some die-hard patrons even opt for outdoor seating in the cooler months, just to get their Hungry Pumpkin fix.

As it did for many other eateries, the COVID pandemic halted the coffee shop's plans. However, Marco and his family used this time productively, and got to work on a number of renovations, while also installing a few personal touches to make it their own. The menu largely stayed the same as it was, but taking their heritage into account, a few delicious Italian twists were added in.

The Pumpkin now offers tasty dishes such as pasta, pollo milanese (my personal favourite), paninis, homemade soups, and cannelloni. They serve plenty of vegetarian options too, including traditional English-style breakfasts. Customers can check out their display fridge for daily specials. And thoughtfully, they also stock rare Italian goods on the shelves for customers to purchase and take home.

passionate supporter of other independent businesses in Nottingham as well, and a firm believer in making patrons feel welcome. These values are integral to his vision for the family-run business.

I wanted to chat with Marco to learn more about his story, the origin of Hungry Pumpkin, and a journey that started more than 1,500 miles away.

"I grew up in the small village of Buonabitacolo, not far from Salerno in the South of Italy,” he tells me. “I spent some time in Manchester before being offered a general manager position in Nottingham at Piccolino, where I worked for fifteen years. When I saw that Hungry Pumpkin was up for sale, I was ready for the adventure and jumped at the chance to buy it and create my own family-run business."

With three talented chefs in the kitchen, Marco stresses the importance of everything being of the highest quality. This means all items must be prepared fresh daily for their customers. And as a regular diner, I can personally attest to how tempting the selection is: the sandwiches are huge, the pasta is spot on, and the coffee comes hot. What more can you ask for?

Hungry Pumpkin's top-notch hospitality and warm atmosphere will be here to stay for a while. The Cartolanos have made all the changes they were planning to make. They've got a winning formula, which requires no further fine-tuning. Marco is a

"We would like Hungry Pumpkin to remain as most of our customers describe it: a small, cosy, lovely, and welcoming coffee shop in town. A friendly place where customers want to return,” he muses. “We feel strongly about supporting independents, therefore we will continue to source local produce where possible."

Molto bene! One of Nottingham's greatest independent venues itself, and a home-comfort to many Italians in the city, is here to stay. Some things are just ideal the way they are - and 'Little Italy' is undoubtedly one of them.

can find Hungry Pumpkin at 38 High Pavement, Nottingham, NG1 1HN

hungrypumpkin.co.uk

To Visit Works Social Tucked into Commerce Square, this co-working space transforms into a cosy little cinema every month - with an in-house bar offering beer and wine for each cult classic screening.

@workssocial

Broadway ain’t just a hub for cracking cinema, but also for cracking food. Head to their cafe and grab a fresh ‘za (and a pint of Ease Up) to take your moviegoing experience to the next level.

@broadwaycinema

Forget a Tango Ice Blast, The Blind Rabbit have your chill times sorted with their pint-sized mojitos, blended with tons (not literally) of refreshing crushed ice. Hey, it’s summer somewhere, right?

@theblindrabbitnotts

To Nosh Margherita - Broadway Cafe

To Sup Mojito - The Blind Rabbit

words: Julia Head photo: Richard Chung

You

We would like Hungry Pumpkin to remain as most of our customers describe it: a small, cosy, lovely, and welcoming coffee shop in town

Some things are just ideal the way they are - and 'Little Italy' is undoubtedly one of them

There's a new chicken shop in town, but this isn't your usual fair of chicken and chips - the brains behind the new culinary venture is Michelin star chef Alex Bond, who many will know from fine dining restaurant Alchemilla.

We highly anticipated the opening of this restaurant, which is an elevation of the casual dining scene in Nottingham - combining hip hop and food. Having never dined at Alchemilla before, it was a chance for us to sample Alex's dishes at a more affordable price.

As we adore pineapple (and yes, that includes on pizza), we ordered the Gochujang Buffalo and Pineapple Chicken, which was just perfect: crispy and juicy, with the perfect amount of spice and sweetness! This dish delivered and was everything I wanted it to be. We also ordered the Caesar Chicken which, for the most part, was nice, but unfortunately some of the chicken skin hadn't been crisped properly which meant it was soft and not very appealing.

SNAcK t O the

Though the nights are drawing out and the weather (hopefully) should be warming up soon, February, at least for me, is one of the year’s most miserable months. It’s cold, it’s been winter forever and there isn’t even Christmas or New Years to brighten things up. There is, however, one antidote to the February blues, and that’s a good pub lunch and a nice countryside walk. So, with this in mind, there’s no better spot than The Woodlark Inn - the traditional pub and microbrewery located in one of Nottingham’s cutest residential areas, the village of Lambley.

Snacks and cinema go together like Derby County and lower-league football. But if you’re bored of M&M’s and Fanta Orange, here’s where you can find some fresh takes on all your favourite cinema treats…

Popcorn - Pepper Rocks

The cocktails have a range of unique flavours: on recommendation from our server, we sampled the Bourbon Chicken cocktail, and as much as we can appreciate the complexities of such a cocktail, unfortunately it wasn't for us. Not because of any distinct chicken flavouring, but because it was too strong and bitter, and we were after something more easy drinking.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding the soft serve ice cream, which comes with interesting ingredients such as balsamic beetroot. We ordered a tub of the Banana, Raisin, Honeycomb and a tub of the Chocolate, Miso, Banana, Lime ice cream. In our opinion, the ice cream upstages the chicken and is just sublime, and we both commented on how we had never had anything like it before. We highly recommend the Chocolate, Miso, Banana, Lime soft serve!

Mollis is certainly an experience and another wonderful contribution to the Nottingham dining scene. With the bill totalling an eye-watering £85 (including tip) for two people, our expectation was that everything served would be perfect, which is maybe unfair of us. Saying that, we would still encourage everyone to visit and experience Mollis for themselves.

Julia Head

mollis.uk

198 Derby Rd, Nottingham, NG7 1NQ

Loved by locals, I’ve visited this dog-friendly pub many times before for a pint and pack of crisps, but it was only recently that I tried the full food experience, ordering a starter and main while out to dinner with friends. A sucker for calamari, my eyes were instantly drawn to this classic starter, and served with garlic mayo and lemon, it turned out to be a great choice. Gorgeously crispy, and not too greasy, it was great. Though, the real show-stopper lay in the main, which I ordered from the specials menu. A piece of slowroasted duck served on a bed of mashed potatoes and served with fresh cranberries and green beans, it was delicate, soft and rich in flavour. Really delicious.

A perfect place to spend a long weekend afternoon, or any day for that matter, the pub has a really friendly atmosphere, with a snug interior and a heated outdoor area. It’s also a great location for when the summer eventually comes around, at which time the beer garden becomes a brilliant sun trap. Definitely worth adding to your pub checklist, The Woodlark is a good’un.

Lizzy O’Riordan

woodlarkinn.co.uk Church Street, Lambley, NG4 4QB

The only thing more famous than Pepper Rocks’ trademark hot dogs is their abundance of top notch popcorn - which has accompanied many a cocktail down Pepper Street. Pop over to try out the ultimate snack and sup combo. pepperrocks.co.uk

FOOD AND DRINK

Pit Dog - Red’s True Barbecue

Speaking of hot dogs, Red’s True Barbecue whip up a surprisingly spicy version of the old classic. Topping a whole cheese and jalapeño sausage with pit beans, onions, mustard, ketchup and, yes, more jalapeños, this one will warm you up good and proper. truebarbecue.com

Nachos - Las Iguanas

If this is your snack of choice in a quiet movie theatre, we are nacho friend. But if you fancy the delicious dish in a more appropriate setting, we heartily recommend Las Iguanas’ hearty portion of the good stuff. Crunchy tortillas topped with cheese, peppers and guac - gorgeous. iguanas.co.uk

Bubblygum - The Alchemist

We all love a sweet treat when we head to the cinema, right? Well, how about one in a fancy glass, infused with apple, cranberry and lime? This bubblegum-flavoured treat will take you back to your childhood - especially as it’s completely alcohol-free. thealchemist.uk.com

To Follow

Greenhood

Coffee

Get your Instagram feed looking like an earlycareer Noah Baumbach movie by dropping Beeston’s beloved coffee shop a follow. It’s hood stuff.

@greenhoodcoffee

Want your Nottingham foodie business featured in the mag? Fancy writing for us? Email us at editorial@leftlion.co.uk

New York Cheesecake Chocolate - Studio Chocolate New York: the city that never sleeps. And the city that features in pretty much every film ever. Celebrate the Big Apple, and feel like royalty in the process, by grabbing a stash of these fancy cheesecake-flavoured treats from the artists at Studio Chocolate. studio-chocolate.co.uk

words: Gaston l'Omlette

ALL hANS ON DecK

interview: Addie Kenogbon photos: Adrian Vitelleschi Cook

Launched by the late Daniel Hanson and his wife Julie Hanson in 1989, Nottingham luxury dressing gown and fine garment design and manufacturer brand, Daniel Hanson, has garnered an elite following for over three decades. Its premium fabrics and exquisite designs have made it a household name in Hollywood, amongst royalty and around the world. We catch up with Associate Julian Hanson and his mother, Managing Director Julie Hanson, to find out more about this special family-run business...

For over three decades, Daniel Hanson's iconic garments have made a name for themselves amongst royals, nobility and celebs, but what makes them so timeless?

Our garments are not made to be transient - trends fade and move on, but quality does not. We believe that our clothing should survive us, be handed down to the next generation, and refurbished and repaired rather than discarded. What we create is very simple and beautiful, a high-quality product - often designed specifically for the wearer – which is carefully thought about and more likely to reflect the home interior than yearly changing outdoor wardrobes. This is a point which narrates the permanence and timeless sensations of home and how we dress and behave there… It’s different to the outside world.

Daniel Hanson's exquisite garments have been worn by the likes of Elton John in John Lewis' Christmas advert, but can you mention any other famous names who've worn your pieces?

My favourites over the years might be the actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones (garments produced for the 1999 movie Entrapment) and Halle Berry. We also like it when there are musicians like Mick Fleetwood and Ozzy Osbourne - but those were orders from a few years ago. More recently, on the shoot of our DH22 campaign, we worked with Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand) and produced a pair of complementing gowns for him. Regarding the direction of imagery we produce, I only want to work with artists who I know personally, not models. The atmosphere of working together is sincere, there is no acting within our photoshoots.

We have plenty of celebrity customers, and we do a lot of bespoke work for them, but it is always paid for. We abhor a celebrity culture that expects to be given things for free. As such, we do not involve ‘influencers’ in our business. If you see a celebrity wearing one of our garments it’s because we have forged a relationship with them. The design and manufacture of our products are how we and our amazing staff earn their living, and our self-worth is vested in being paid for what we do.

Can you tell us more about the design and manufacturing process?

Firstly, all our products are made-to-order, including our fabrics which we order very small runs of, from the world’s best fabric producers all around the world. We employ only naturally deriving textiles which generally come from animal and plant fibres - cashmere, silk, wool and linen. Exquisitely patterned, pure, woven silk jacquards are the statement pieces – each of us usually falls in love with a different new cloth upon its arrival.

A small team of just six create all our work - Chris, Jenny, Jayne, Nicholas, Rebecca and Steve. Each item

is produced in-house at our premises on Nuthall Road. For a bespoke customer, their order would be individually cut to bespoke measurements, each step of the way consulting with them to guide and decide upon design decisions. These include pure silk lining colours, trim choices and, of course, personalised touches including embroideries and embellishments. Garments are finished and packed as the final quality control, often by one of the Hanson family.

The brand returned to Nottingham in 2004, but what is it about the city that makes it so special?

Nottingham is unpretentious and full of real people, plenty of whom practise creative and productive works quietly and without boast. Many of our staff have worked with us for over twenty years. We have wonderful, deep roots, and proper connections with individuals in this city which colours and brings to life our activities here, at work and at home. We are also close enough here to have strong links in London, which is key for us because a great deal of our customers are international.

What have been some key highlights of the Daniel Hanson journey so far?

There have been so many, starting from when Daniel met with the then Harrods nightwear buyer on a train in London and discussed his vision for “the world’s best luxury dressing gown”. In 1989, Harrods bought the debut collection, financed in part by Julie Hanson’s personal savings (the banks all laughed them away)!

The first 300 or so gowns produced were cut on the kitchen table at Cromwell Street. In 1992, the business expanded into ‘Radford Mill’ on Ilkeston Road and occupied a shop/showroom on Canning Circus close by. In 1997, Sir Elton John first purchased from Daniel Hanson. Then, in 2005, The Independent called Daniel Hanson “The Sistine Chapel Ceiling of Dressing Gown Luxury”.

Hundreds of Daniel Hanson outfits were made for the 47 Ronin film. Can you tell us more about that?

Daniel was contacted in 1998 by English costume designer Penny Rose, regarding some garments for Entrapment - she had found our gowns in Neiman Marcus in Los Angeles and ever since had stayed in close contact. Penny called upon Daniel’s expertise for several projects over the years, and enlisted Daniel’s help for a huge portion of the garments shown in the final film.

Looking back, I could feel his passion and energy for that project was enormous; I think he loved the pressure and all the deadlines. During that time, our small workforce operated in shifts to make sure all the

pieces could be turned around quickly enough to be on set as they were needed. He designed around 265 individual pieces, some of which were replicated 12-30 times, so there were a lot of garments.

In addition to your limited-edition collections, you also do bespoke pieces. Can you tell us one of the most interesting bespoke pieces you've created?

A sizable portion of the business is now bespoke work directly designed with the customer. It’s personally connecting and very satisfying. One such piece was a gown made for Michael Jordan in the late nineties after one of the very many NBA wins. It was commissioned for him by one of the American department stores. It took around 5.5m of cloth to produce a single gown for him (the average yield is 3.5m).

We have plenty of celebrity customers, and we do a lot of bespoke work for them, but it is always paid for. We abhor a celebrity culture that expects to be given things for free

Can you tell us about any current or upcoming collections?

Nick [Hanson] has been working on a truly unique set of very special artisanal creations. They’re wonderful, oneof-a-kind pieces that are gallery worthy. We’re working on a release plan for them presently but it’s likely that September 2023 will see those out in the world. In the very near future, we’re excited to be working with Harrods’ women’s department again this season, on a new set of limited edition kimono, due in-store around spring, all being well. The cloths have just arrived to us for those styles, and we’re all very excited about the new designs we’re about to make.

What else does 2023 have in store for Daniel Hanson? New collections, a perfectly colourful spring summer collection of waxed cotton, one-of-a-kind matching paired pieces. A delightful new look book, silk jacquard kimono, a few cottaging jackets, maybe even something for the kids. Expect the unexpected, but no need to change the handwriting!

danielhanson.co.uk

t he ReeL De AL

For as long as film adaptations have existed, there’s always been someone in the corner talking about how the book was so much better. How the film didn’t tell the story accurately. How this is for people who couldn’t be bothered to read the real story. And while, yes, there have been a fair few film flops over the years, that doesn’t mean that cinematic versions are a bad thing. Nor does it mean that the screen version should have to stick to the novel's story totally faithfully - just look at Stephen King’s 1997 The Shining mini-series and you’ll see that it doesn’t always work.

Rather, a great film or TV adaptation should lead us further into the story, instead of just recreating it. Because, after all, if you wanted the original story, you could have just read the text. And, though this might sound like sacrilege to some book lovers, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to keep to the plot entirely.

A great film or TV adaptation should lead us further into the story, instead of just recreating it

Just take Mike Flanagan’s 2018 horror series The Haunting of Hill House, for example, adapted from Shirley Jackson’s 1959 gothic horror novel of the same name. To the dismay of the book's original fanbase, Flanagan completely rewrote large sections of the story, diverting so far from the plot that it’s almost unrecognisable. Yet it’s still a great adaptation, because it captures the supernatural vs the psychological, it explores how space holds evil and the search for home. In short, it covers all the same themes as Jackson did - making it the perfect pairing to the book.

And that (in my humble opinion) is what a good adaptation should do. It should work with the book, rather than trying to replace it or copy it. It should lead to deeper reading, deeper watching, and a richer understanding of the story.

Thanks to the ‘double closet’, bisexual people are much less likely to come out than gay and lesbian people in the LGBTQIA+ community. They’re also at a higher risk of anxiety and depression in comparison to the larger population. That’s why bisexual activist Vaneet Mehta decided it was important to write his brand new book Bisexual Men Exist, the piece of nonfiction that aims to bring solidarity to the multisexual community. We catch up with him about the new book, alongside bisexual representation on screen…

This is a book that started with a hashtag. First tweeted in 2019, and then resurfacing in 2020, Vaneet Mehta posted to Twitter a very simple statement: #bisexualmenexist. And before long, the website was lit up with men sharing their stories of bisexuality, their feelings of erasure and their pride in their identity. “There were multifaceted reasons behind why I started this conversation,” Vaneet says. “It was partly in response to bigots, partly to celebrate bisexuality, and also to help those who, like me five or six years ago, couldn’t see themselves online. I wanted to create a narrative that showed we exist. So, the book was really an extension of all that.” A kind of guidebook, Bisexual Men Exist therefore has very similar aims as its hashtag predecessor. To help bisexual (and other multisexual people) understand their identity within the structure of monosexism - the false idea that people are either gay or straight.

A particularly interesting subject for our screen-themed magazine, Vaneet’s book delves into the importance of bisexual representation in film and TV. “When you don’t see yourself represented in the media, it can be really hard to accept and understand yourself,” he says. “A lot of the bisexual people I spoke to in the research for this book didn’t even know that bisexual was a word when they were growing up. So, despite having these feelings from an early age, they didn’t have the language. Traditional education in school has failed us in the past when it comes to queer narratives, and representation in the media has the chance to fill in that void. But so often that has failed too when it comes to bisexual narratives.”

Whether ignoring bisexuality altogether or presenting it as invalid, many multisexual people, including the likes of Vaneet, grew up watching media that was a hindrance to them accepting their identity. As he writes in the first chapter of his book, bisexual people on screen are either presented as actually gay (Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer), just experimenting (Blaine kissing Rachel in Glee),

morally villainous (Kathryn in Cruel Intentions), or greedy (Todd in Scrubs). And, most often, they aren’t represented at all. “That had a massive impact on me. It made me think you had to be either gay or straight,” Vaneet muses. “The media holds up the structure of monosexism, and that can make it really scary and confusing to even explore your sexuality if you don’t feel you fit into either category.”

To

Nottingham has its fair share of

You’ve

Perhaps unsurprisingly, bisexual and multisexual people are out to their friends and family statistically less than their gay or lesbian counterparts. They may think it’s easier to stay closeted, they may be afraid of the judgement from the straight and the LGBTQIA+ community, but also, as Vaneet notes, many people have so heavily internalised the binaries of ‘gay’ or ‘straight’ that they don’t know how to accept or spot their own multisexuality. They, like the media they consume, are quick to dismiss their own identity. “That was my story,” Vaneet says, “and even when I did come out in my mid-twenties, people still told me I was gay. Everyone always wanted to tell me I was something else.”

So, though not the only factor, the media is definitely a good place to start in making bisexuality less taboo. “I think it would just be great to see our narratives on screen,” Vaneet asserts. “It would be even better if the characters were played by bisexual people too, so you can have narratives outside of the media itself. Like on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, when Rosa Diaz came out as bisexual and the actress Stephanie Beatriz did many interviews about her own bisexuality. That was great. But really, I’d just love bisexuals on screen to be normal people, and that doesn’t always mean their story has to be about coming out or trauma. I’d love for us to have the same opportunity as cis straight people, to be a witch or a vampire or something else in which we just happen to be bisexual, where our identity doesn’t play a massive part in the storyline. It’s just normal.”

Bisexual Men Exist is available from Five Leaves Bookshop or any other good bookstore. Vaneet will also be talking about his new book at Five Leaves on Sunday 19 February vaneetmehta.wixsite.com/home fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk

To Read

A

@badbettypress

interview: Lizzy O’Riordan photos: Elliot Baggott and Vaneet Mehta

words: Lizzy O’Riordan

Do Visit BÜK

great independent bookstores, but one you might not have heard of is BÜK - the bright orange shop located in Arnold. Worth a visit, they’re open Tuesday to Saturday.

Once Upon

Time in Hollywood

definitely heard of books being adapted into films, but did you know that Quentin Tarantino actually created a novel based off his 2019 film? Apparently it isn’t half bad.

To Follow Bad Betty Press

Having recently moved up to Nottingham from London, Bad Betty Press are brilliant independent publishers of new poetry - they even won the 2022 Michael Marks Publishers’ Award.

Bisexual and multisexual people are out to their friends and family statistically less than their gay or lesbian counterparts

If you’ve taken a stroll around Nottingham at any point of any day of any week, you may have spotted Rich Bell with his camera, capturing everyday moments and celebrating them as something more than that. We hear all about his work, motivations and YouTube channel - which brings his stunning photography to screens across the county…

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you do…

I’m a street photographer from the North East of England, and I love to capture moments out on the street in and around Nottingham. For me, street photography is somewhat of a meditative experience. The world is alive with many wonderfully simple, spontaneous moments going on around us all the time. My work is about stopping and taking the time to celebrate and capture them. That is the really wonderful thing about photography - it allows you to almost pause time, and I think street photography is the perfect expression of that.

I’d say you’re pretty prolific - you’ve always got new work to show. How do you manage to stay active and motivated?

Thank you! it’s something I love and, honestly, it can be an addiction. I really like to create a lot and it's taken me a long time to find my voice in my work, but I think you can only find that by being out and taking photographs. But the thing that keeps me motivated is the people and wonderful streets here in Nottingham. I think what street photography has taught me is to see the world differently, and it's given me a new appreciation for what is going on around me. What once would have passed me by could be a wonderful image, and every time I go out, something new reveals itself.

You’ve got a YouTube channel. Tell us about that…

I’d been posting my work to Instagram for a few years, trying to post new images every day, but I often found that I'd be sharing images that fit the format rather than my favourite scenes, and that I had stories to tell beyond just a single image. So at the beginning of 2021, I decided I would start to make short films about street photography in Nottingham. I set up a YouTube channel called Life Work & Dreams, and it really breathed new life into my work and gave me a platform to talk about my work in a very different way. I work to create one film a month around a different subject matter or theme. I think YouTube is a wonderful platform to express yourself creatively and simply. I have started to grow a great community around my work there.

I know you’ve been in LeftLion before; I first heard about you from your interview with Tom Quigley last year. Back then, you were talking about your excellent photo book entitled Life, Work and Dreams. Your YouTube obviously shares the same title - remind me about that book and tell us a bit about its inspiration…

The book came about initially as a way for me to reflect on where I was as a street photographer and celebrate how far I’d come, and write the honest story of how I got into street photography but also act as almost a line in the sand for me internally, so that I could push myself further in the future and always reflect back on my work until that point.

When I was trying to come up with a name for the book, I wanted something that captured not only the spirit of the images I’d made, but also the daydreams and thoughts I’d have out on the street while making photographs, and Life Work & Dreams seemed to fit that perfectly. As my works evolved into the YouTube stuff, the name seemed to fit and became the brand for my work moving forward.

Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects, books or videos you’re working on?

I’ve been working on a year-long project entitled Tuesday. The concept started really simply with the idea to create a collection of images that were connected by the day of the week they were captured. These wouldn’t be confined to just street photography but moments of everyday life, with the hope of having 52 images at the end of the year.

It has evolved into something really special, charting everything from the street, being stuck at home with COVID, life in Nottingham, moving house, and the birth of my daughter. None of this I could have imagined when beginning the project back in January. I'm just in the process of selecting the final images with the hope of making a book and film later this year.

interview: Nathan Langman photos: Rich Bell

The world is alive with many wonderfully simple moments going on around us. My work is about taking the time to celebrate them

One of the East Midlands’ finest bands, Leicester lot easy life are about to embark on a grand arena tour, bringing them to their dream local venue - Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena. We chat to lead singer Murray Matravers as they rehearse for that very show…

How are rehearsals going for the show as you adapt your production to the bigger venues?

It's going really well. It’s a bit daunting starting rehearsals; we have three weeks of them and today is day one, so we’ve got time and we’ve got the setlist down. It’s not like it used to be, and it’s scary doing anything for the first time, and we’ve just got a bigger PA. There’s lots more lights, a lot more people in the crew, and we’ve got a brass section now. We even have an arctic truck - which we never had when we played The Bodega! A lot has changed, but it's still pretty much the same show, just with lots more lights.

With yourselves being from Leicester, how does it feel to play like one of the East Midlands’ biggest venues? I'm sure that you probably grew up going to gigs at the Arena… I know, right? It's mental. I mean, we can't quite believe it. Sam, who actually lives in Clifton, sent us a photo the other day outside Motorpoint, and it had a big poster of us. It's literally what I think is the biggest venue we could play. And this will be local, obviously - so many friends and family will be there. It’s going to be a really special night for us.

ill it be the most nerve-wracking one of the tour for you? 100%. I'm always nervous playing in front of friends. So, yeah, we'll be petrified! And the hardcore Leicester fans, they're actually really annoyed that we're playing Nottingham and not Leicester, so there’s also that to deal with!

ou're touring your most recent record, Maybe In Another Life, which is quite personal and vulnerable. How did the records come about? Did the pandemic influence the lyricism?

Yeah, I think so. It's been such a crazy journey being in easy life that we took the time to reflect. I think the album, because of that, was a lot more introverted than our previous music. It was really important and cathartic, and a lovely experience to actually work out how we all feel. We were so busy, I never really got the chance to think about any of those things. I don't know what we're going to do with the third one. I don't know if that'll be even more introverted, and even more depressing. Maybe not. Who knows? You can only write what you feel.

It's quite a visual album, so how do you plan to translate the messages of the songs on tour and bring them to life? We have our lighting designer who is an absolute genius. He's actually been at the studio all day with loads of LED strips, sellotaping them to various bits of the set. I don't know what he's designing, but it looks complicated, and I think it's going to be fun. The set that we've built is based around being in your grandma's living room. Inside of the vinyl package of the second record, we had this wallpaper print, and this little mantelpiece motif, with little pictures of us hanging up. And we've taken that and built a house out of it. The set design is wicked, and it's all new for us.

We've never played big enough stages to warrant bringing in a set. So, it’s something new and it's really exciting. It's a bit of a stress, though; you can't just turn up with your amp and a microphone anymore! It's a totally different thing, but playing at bigger venues is actually easier, because you don’t have the bells and the whistles to hide behind at Rough Trade. If one of us makes a bum note then no one really cares, because at least the lights look good!

Are there any surprises fans can expect on tour whomaybe artists who guested on the album, like Kevin Abstract?

I don't think Kevin Abstract is going to be coming. He's a very busy man. I begged him, but he's got cooler people to hang out with. But I don't think people would have seen an easy life show like this before. It feels a little more accomplished than what we've done before. Usually, we just all jump around in our boxers and run around the stage.

There'll still be that energy, but I think with it being a slightly bigger show, there will be things you'll be seeing for the first time even if you've been to a bunch of easy life shows. I think this will be the best one. I'm also going to try to jump off really high things. The last tour, I was climbing on balconies and jumping off them, and that was really terrifying. But it was a lot of fun. So I'm going to try and do more of that. And I'm trying to break the world record for the highest stage dive.

What do you think is next for easy life?

To be honest, Motorpoint was a dream venue for us - that's obviously the local big arena. There's also Ally Pally that we're playing on this tour. After that, I don't really know. We obviously want to do a lot of festivals in the summer. And we're going to America in April, which will be fun. But in terms of the UK, I really don't know. I suppose we'll just keep playing the Motorpoint Arena until we're grey and old!

easy life play at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on 17 February

interview: Amrit Virdi

There’s lots more lights, a lot more people in the crew, and we’ve got a brass section now. We even have an arctic truck - which we never had when we played The Bodega!

He’s played at the Theatre Royal. He’s played at the Albert Hall. And, in a fitting tribute to his local roots, he’s played at Clipstone Headstocks. It’s safe to say local pianist and composer Chris Miggells is having a career that very few can match. We hear all about the Mansfield man’s special hometown concert, his upcoming album, Synesthese, and more…

Tell us about how you started out as a pianist?

I got piano lessons at the age of twelve - it was my parents’ idea to keep me out of trouble! I fell in love with the instrument, especially when my uncle lent me a Casio keyboard. It enabled me to lose myself in my own little world making music.

Later my neighbours gave me a spare upright piano. With that my passion just grew and grew. When I was fifteen, I got work experience in a recording studio, giving me the chance to play on their grand piano and work with bands. This really encouraged me to keep playing and develop it into a career.

I was listening to Stone Giant travelling through the natural beauty of Sherwood Forest. In this setting it sounded particularly cinematic. What inspired this new work?

The Grand Canyon. That was the first time I’ve been that far away, and seeing an extreme example of the wonders of nature really shook me up, I was awestruck. When I looked at it, I just heard a soundtrack that went along with it.

You’ve made a film for Stone Giant. Is that the first time you’ve explored that creative field?

Yes, this is my debut film. I’ve recorded performances before, but this was the first time I really found inspiration for a film. We recorded at Clipstone Headstocks, which is a real landmark in Nottinghamshire. The 200-feet-high headstocks, the tallest in Europe, they’re a real piece of history. My grandfather worked and broke his back in the mines. It’s been a real part of me, growing up in the Ollerton, Clipstone area and the mining community there.

The headstocks were going to be pulled down, but Stuart Mills thankfully helped save it. Stuart’s been putting on events like music festivals in the headstocks and he kindly showed me around. The Power House room is like a cathedral of iron, I was instantly inspired. The look of the room is incredible, with all the machines and the history, and the sound in there is unreal. I had a vision of bringing a piano into the space.

All excited, I came back into work at Sherwood Phoenix and I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I’ve been to an abandoned coal mine, and we’ve got to put a piano in there as it sounds insane!’ The team were so supportive and got on board. We fixed this massive iron crane onsite to pull the piano up through the floor to get it into the space.

We took the lid off the piano, so the sound was going straight up into this cavernous area. Stone Giant has got a lot of space in-between the chords and the room developed its own tempo. Hitting each chord, letting that circulate and coming back to the piano - the vibe was right, and we recorded the piece in one take!

So where can people see the Stone Giant film? It’ll be up on my YouTube channel soon. But one of the big things from recording of the film was that Stuart, the owner of the headstocks, has invited me to reprise this as a concert in the Power House. That’s never really been done before, a pianist taking a grand piano to an abandoned coalmine and bringing people into experience it.

Clipstone Headstocks’ Power House room is like a cathedral of iron, I was instantly inspired. The look of the room is incredible, and the sound in there is unreal

Tell us about your debut album… Synesthese is a word I made from the term synesthesia. This is the neurological condition for experiencing one of your senses through another. It feels like a sort of crossing of the senses, if you can imagine seeing colours or shapes when you hear sound, or maybe you’re watching something extraordinary and hearing an internal sound which moves along with it.

This is the most fitting description I could find to characterise what I feel has been influencing my music. When I have a vivid experience, I’ll internally hear a soundtrack in my mind to accompany it, evolving with every moment. Being able to express this with my piano led me to create the album.

Watch the Stone Giant film and find out more about Chris Miggells on his website and YouTube channel, and look out for the forthcoming concert date at Clipstone Headstocks

@boredmarsh

@expressofficeportico

@djchris_sims

Express Office Portico We combine eighties synth-pop with noughties indie to create modern nostalgic bops. Come see what the fuss is about at The Bodega on Thursday 2 March!

Chris Sims

Housebound celebrates deep, soulful house music for those who know. Come check me out, alongside house legend Neil Pierce and local talent El Johno, at Hidden Warehouse on Saturday 11 March!

Bored Marsh

Born out of lockdown demo sharing, and inspired more by the decades we lived through than the decade we live in. If reverb-soaked alternative rock is your thing then look no further.

interview: James Hickford photo: Callum Parkin

Bram Bancroft

Lordly Ones (Single)

Falling into the genre of slowcore, Bram Bancroft’s new single Lordly Ones is a vibe-heavy existential track that feels more akin to a trip than listening to a regular song. Focusing mainly on the instrumental, the listener is taken to a psychedelic place full of sadness and occasional joy. Scattered with mellow vocals that muse on the meaning of life, the song is expansive and subtle. Perfect for lovers of Air or Salvia Plath, you can listen to this single from Tuesday 21 February. Lizzy O’Riordan

Distant Blue

Cheshire Smile (Single)

Nottingham-based alternative rockers Distant Blue released their latest single, Cheshire Smile, in January. It is a hard hitting and riotous song; think of early Arctic Monkeys on steroids and you're getting somewhere near their sound. Hard bass lines and harder drum beats are perfectly partnered with the heavy guitar riffs and vocals that drift in and out of extreme screams. If you like your music hard and heavy then this is definitely for you. Bassey

Katie Keddie

Help Me See (Single)

Us Notts lot truly have it all. Top rock artists. Top rap artists. And, in Katie Keddie, a top acoustic artist. The PhD student has established herself as a real multi-hyphenate, showcasing her impressive musical - as well as academic - ability during January’s BBC Introducing gig at the Metronome. Her latest single, Help Me See, is a mesmerising one, layering warm vocals on top of a properly relaxing tune. If you’re wanting a calming song to soundtrack your studies, this is it. George White

The Dream at the End of the World Radio Silence (Album)

Simon Waldram and Clarke Blacker have teamed up again to create their second album of ambient noise and psychedelic space rock; six tracks of experimental layered sounds that demand your attention. I described their first album’s sound as “as vast as the universe” but this release has taken it to a new level, from the mighty beats in the track Thru a Red Filter through to total immersion for over seventeen minutes in Radio Silence. To go bigger than the universe we need another dimension - and Radio Silence might be the answer!

Bassey

Yazmin Lacey Bad Company (Single)

The smooth, soulful R&B and jazz-infused tones of Yazmin Lacey’s latest single Bad Company are the perfect Sunday soundtrack - but if you want to listen to it on any other day of the week, I promise I won’t judge you. The bad company that Yazmin sings about is her inner demon, as the lyrics see her go on a journey of making peace with every part of herself: the good, the bad, and the ugly. This song is definitely not either of the latter. Gemma Cockrell

Over the past few months, the small gallery space at Broadway Cinema has been presenting a series of art exhibitions under the new art project OTOKA. We talked to its Artistic Director Candice Jacobs about her ideas and plans for the future…

What is your background in the arts?

I co-founded the art studios One Thoresby Street and for around twenty years, I have used contemporary art as a way to put on some of the best parties and amazing art exhibitions in Nottingham - which I believe have helped to set the tone, construct the communities, build the careers and establish the energy around the art and the artists that continue to exist here today.

I’ve always been inspired by artist-led DIY attitudes towards art and try to bring that essence into everything I do. I currently work as a lecturer teaching at Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Art.

What is OTOKA and why did you set it up?  OTOKA is the Slavic word for island, and like an island it is solid in its grounding which is built up from years of sediment (experiences and memories) that each contribute to what now exists both beneath and within its surface. Like an island, its mass is surrounded by liquid, a liquid form of modernity - a metaphor written by Zygmunt Bauman that describes the condition of constant mobility and change that he sees in relationships, identities, and global economics within contemporary society. As an island, OTOKA can provide all that I need in order to become a self-sufficient body, I just need to know what to look for and how to use it.

When I came back to Nottingham from London last year because of COVID, I also became a mother and started to see the city that I used to live in with fresh eyes. The city centre was empty, so much of what used to exist was no longer there. But, as sad as this was, because of what I had done in the city before, I saw this as an opportunity - what if I could take on these empty spaces and move from one to another, island hopping, where, instead of worrying about losing space (which happened with One Thoresby Street), I could respond to each space differently and broadcast directly into people's homes through OTOKA’s website, which would also act as an artwork. So, much like the internet, I wouldn’t need to be fixed in a location, I could always be transient, fluid and nomadic, following people around in their pockets, occasionally manifesting into physical space as and when they became available.

What are your plans for OTOKA going forward?

Throughout February and March I will use OTOKA and its takeover of Broadway Gallery as an open studio and workshop space that morphs into a public gallery that stays static for a moment of realisation as final experience; where the audience clamber through a crystalline structure shining with hints of neon into glistening pools of screens that move around to track and trace the bodies and words that flow through dying exotic waters.

Tell us about the exhibitions that have been on display at Broadway Gallery…

Over a four-week period across November to December, I used OTOKA to host four exhibitions in the Broadway Gallery built around the broad theme of the intrinsic and unequal relations between data, technology and people, to provoke questions about our digital lives and futures, how sustainable or desirable they are and what alternative worlds we might want or need to create.

I worked with Framework for Practice, a partnership between Nottingham-based Will Harvey and Ryan Boultbee, to use scaffolding as a display strategy that could minimise the environmental impact of our activities.

I’m hoping to work with a collective of art organisations around the city called Art NEST who are addressing their carbon footprint, and with the Green Hustle and the Green Light in the City partnership, to gather their financial paper waste. I also want to work with individuals - new mothers and people who identify as mothers or who are in the position of care, and their children, through a series of workshops led in collaboration with musicians, the creator of the Femme Fatale Gals zine and Nottingham’s youngest board member of UNESCO City of Literature, Khaya Job, during February half-term. Through this, we will build a giant paper mache crystal sculpture together and chat about how fluidity, liquidity and stability are connected to the economy, climate and the internet to ask what effect this is having on our wellbeing and sense of self. Our conversations will be transformed into a series of neon text works and a poetic form of text that sits within VR films embedded within the sculptural installation.

The exhibitions brought artworks from 2018 Turner Prize-nominated artists Forensic Architecture, Tara Kelton from India, Ben Grosser from America and Yuri Pattison together in the city, with additional online artists' works from Nottingham-based Joey Holder, Lumen Art Prize winner Libby Heaney, and artist and author of New Dark Age, James Bridle. The art is supplemented by podcast interviews and a PDF Reader featuring essays by leading academics in the field of digital privacy.

That sounds really exciting. How might people get involved with the project?

You can get involved in the workshops that we’ll be doing at Broadway Gallery during February half-term by emailing OTOKA or by booking online through Broadway’s website. Alternatively, you can follow @ otokapresents on Instagram.

My solo show All that is fluid melts into air, featuring the collectively-made paper mache crystal, will open in March.

interview: George Dunbar photo: Azhar Duhovich

I will use OTOKA and its takeover of Broadway Gallery as a workshop space that morphs into a public gallery - which stays static for a moment of realisation as final experience

Long-time LeftLion collaborator Andy The

chats us through his cinematic cover…

What was the inspiration behind the cover?

I knew that the topic should be film-orientated. Usually, everything I draw is set within a fantasy world and doesn't really show much technology similar to what we have in the "real world", so I thought it would be cool to introduce that element as it's something I haven’t done before. I really liked the idea of a wizard being interviewed by a small camera crew out in the mountains.

This is my third cover for LeftLion and it's always a pleasure working on these - so if you have grabbed a copy, that's amazing

What was the biggest challenge that you faced in creating the piece?

Blending in a topic I wouldn't usually consider. I don't really draw a great deal of machinery or technology, so it took some work to find a design language for the camera crew and their equipment that would fit within my fantasy-style worlds.

What other projects are you working on at the moment?

I have a few that I'm desperately trying to make progress on, but it's always a matter of finding the time! They’re most notably my trading card game and a book based on the world I am creating. I have also started to learn animation more seriously. It seems like Netflix just won't get back to me on making a series - so I'll have to start work on it myself, or at least create some small clips!

What are some of your favourite films?

My all time favourite film is the original Alien, without a doubt. I'm a huge huge sci-fi fan and I don't actually watch many fantasy films. But I guess my style is heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli, which I love - Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away being my favourites.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell the LeftLion readers?

I really hope you like the cover I created for the legendary LeftLion magazine! I think it's my third cover for them and it's always a pleasure working on these - so if you have grabbed a copy, that's amazing. Hopefully I can do more in the future!

@andy_the_illustrator

As an artist who flew all the way from Romania to follow his passion in art and animation at Nottingham Trent University, and who now makes his living at a print shop, Radu Secareanu sees his unique designs printed on hoodies, mugs and coasters every day.

Ever since he was a child, Radu was encouraged by his parents to be creative. He spent his time drawing and practising and quickly realised that creativity was the path for him. “Going into arts was a no-brainer, it was what I loved and what I dreamed of doing,” says the 23-year-old. “Art always found its way into my life, and I followed it wherever it took me.”

You can do so much with just a pencil and a sheet of paper. What amazes me the most is the infinite possibilities they offer.

But where does Radu find inspiration for his art? The answer is a simple one. “Everything beautiful around me,” he smiles. “I am an observer. I enjoy looking at the finer details in objects and surroundings. I think people are always in a rush and ignore the little things, like the sculpted handrails at the train station you go to every morning, or the intricate wood grain on the vintage table at your local cafe. Those are the things that make life whole and once you start noticing them, you will appreciate them so much more.”

For Radu, both illustration and animation are effective storytelling tools, and he uses both to explore the themes that excite him. “You can do so much with just a pencil and a sheet of paper. I think what amazes me the most is the infinite possibilities they offer. You could give the same story to 100 people, and you will receive 100 different visual interpretations of it.”

He studied animation, both 2D and 3D, at university, but focused mostly on 2D animation and character design. At his current job, he uses all his illustration skills and even has an illustration book published by an independent author, and created a booklet for a children's educational programme. The talented multi-hyphenate’s proudest artwork is an animated street film that he created for his final year project. It consists of an autumn shot of a row of houses during the golden hour, including small puffs of smoke rising from the chimneys as an old car slowly passes the empty street. It is, as he admits himself, detailed, colourful and diverse.

As a free-spirited creator, Radu is lifted by challenges, thriving in dynamic and unpredictable environments. “The subjects I work on are so different from one another that I sometimes have to explain myself twice to strangers,” he laughs, adding that he wishes to become a freelance artist one day, with no strings attached to anything apart from his passions and art, being challenged on a daily basis with interesting stories. With his impressive skill set, undeniable drive and striking style, we have to say it’s a dream that will likely come true.

raduanimations.weebly.com

To Visit Patois Banton

Patois Banton is a new exhibition by artist, writer, and curator Cedar Lewisohn, and is on show until Saturday 11 March at the Bonington Gallery. Stop by to see a ton of great stuff. boningtongallery.co.uk

To Do Krapp’s Last Tape

This Krapp certainly doesn’t stink. In fact, Krapp’s Last Tape is a properly poignant show delivered by Nottingham legend Kenneth Alan Taylor. A must see, we’d say.

Weds 15 – Sat 18 February, Djanogly Theatre

To Follow Payta Easton

Spoiler alert: Payta is putting together our cover for issue 157, and it’s going to be top notch. How do we know? Because all of Payta’s art is top notch. Drop her a follow and we’re sure you’ll agree.

@payta_

Illustrator

We sit down with Radu Secareanu, the Romanian-born, Nottingham-based artist and animator bringing vibrant colours and unique ideas

to life…

words: Marta Tavares illustrations: Radu Secareanu

gReeN ScReeN

In need of wild inspiration? Here’s four nature-focused films to check out, recommended by Jack Harris at Grow Notts…

The Felling

The Felling follows a grassroots, community-led battle to save thousands of trees across Sheffield. Without locals’ intervention, the trees would have been lost needlessly by an imposing and seemingly blinded Sheffield City Council and their multinational corporate partners. Despite the sobering reality it unveils, the spirit of community shines, leaving a sense of hope and belief for what can be achieved when the power of the people is unified towards a meaningful cause.

Screening info at fellingfilm.com

release,

The Age of Stupid

A premonitory climate change tale surrounding an archivist living in a dystopian and shattered world of 2055, and his bid to explore how this came to be. Searching through global archives of footage, he begins to reveal the unnerving truths of an ignorant, relentless society on a path parallelled emblematically to our very own.

Showing Saturday 25 Feb at mammothcinema.uk

Fantastic Fungi

A stunning and enlightening journey encompassing the magic of fungi. A beautiful painting of the alchemistic possibilities they hold in providing solutions to some of today's most prevalent issues alongside the synchronous and symbiotic mechanisms behind it.

Currently available on Netflix

Biggest Little Farm - The Return

A sequel to the widely acclaimed 2018 release, The Return revisits an incredible story of regeneration, inspiration and possibility at Apricot Lane Farm. A previously desolate landscape transformed into a utopic symphony of regenerative farming practises thanks to the dreams and determination of the Chester family, this provides an insight into the farm’s continuous movement towards modelling a truly sustainable framework for farming.

Currently available on Disney+

From documentaries to experimental films, cinema has a long history of being political, of acting as a force for empowerment. And here in Nottingham we have our very own activist film house - Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema. For this special screen edition of LeftLion, we speak to founder Patrick Hort about why he’s dedicated the famously small Broad Street film spot…

Nottingham film buffs will surely already know the tiny cinema formerly known as Screen 22 and Screen Room, tucked away opposite The Lord Roberts pub on Broad Street. If you hadn't heard, it's recently been transformed into Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema, and as per the tin, it’s got big ambitions.

The building also serves as home to Savoy Systems, owner Patrick Hort’s company that builds and manages point-ofsale software for independent cinemas. I first got to know Patrick via an interview at COP26 in Glasgow, where he was protesting alongside Extinction Rebellion (XR). As we take a seat - no popcorn in hand on this occasion, unfortunately - I get to know a bit more about his journey into avid environmentalism.

“In the nineties it felt like we could just do what we wanted and everything was fine, it was all under control. But by the time Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth came out in 2006, I was starting to wake up to the fact that a really big problem was coming down the road. Because it was presented in scientific terms, and I have a degree in physics - so that registered with me.”

For a while, Patrick felt that the upsurge in media and political interest, along with making incremental changes like cutting down on flying and meat eating, meant “we’d have a nice transition to a greener economy and a world where we don’t pump CO2 into the atmosphere”. But it wasn’t long before he began to lose hope, adding that “we were clearly still going in the wrong direction, and I was getting quite depressed about the situation”.

“XR struck me as the only thing that was offering any hope at that point,” he continues. “While I didn’t like the road blocking element, it did feel like the only way to get any media attention. Nothing changes unless you piss people off.” He feels that while XR have opened minds and shifted the dial, their “We Quit” pivot is a relief - they say they’re now dropping such disruptive tactics in favour of coalition-building and mass-mobilisation. “On 21 April 2023 we’re trying to get 100,000 people to go to the Houses of Parliament, and not leave until something changes.”

It was partly this discomfort with the negative side of protesting that birthed the idea for a climate action cinema. But why film? And can such a small cinema change enough minds?

“It’s clearly not going to change billions of minds, or those of politicians in Downing Street, but I’m motivated because I think that most people resonate with stories, and that’s what cinema’s all about. Obviously it’s a small place, but it is known to a huge proportion of Nottingham, and having that full name, Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema, getting around

and in the national listings, might help motivate people to act in environmentally-minded ways.”

Patrick hopes it’ll be more than a space for showing films, an aspect which he says is “still a work in progress”. There are already a raft of flyers on offer in the foyer pointing people towards groups they can get involved with, and there’s a dedicated events space upstairs too, which he’s offering out to the community.

We got people together with a film, but then they actually went away and did something that may well lead on to greater things.

That’s the ultimate ambition

One of the eight films coming up at the cinema at the time of writing is Bank Job, directed by a couple who set up a rebel bank that raised £40,000 through selling artwork banknotes, using half to set up social projects, and the other half to buy out £1.2 million worth of bad mortgage debt which they then cancelled. There’s an emphasis on inclusive system change here; it isn’t all nature-focused, or about their guests making a few lifestyle tweaks.

Patrick is an avid home sustainability improver, and is keen to share his knowledge. The Sunamp salt-based heat battery he’s got two of is news to me. At home, he says, “We’ve got a heat pump installed, but I’m sure we can eliminate some draughts and improve our insulation, so we’re going to get a thermal imaging camera to help. That’s something I hope we can lend out and share expertise in via the cinema.”

A recent success and demonstration of the cinema’s potential was their showing of We the Power - a documentary on community energy, and the talk that followed, which introduced an organisation called the Schools Energy Cooperative. “One of the guys that came along is on the board of seven academies, and the idea of working with the SEC is now going through feasibility. The City Council have been in touch about it too. So I was like ‘wow, something’s actually happening here’.

“That’s the ultimate ambition. We've got people together with a film, a chat, and a few free glasses of wine - that’s what made an evening of it, but then they actually went away and did something that may well lead on to greater things. That's the kind of model I want to try and reproduce.”

words: Adam Pickering photo: Frazer Varney

A sequel to the widely acclaimed 2018

The Return revisits an incredible story of regeneration, inspiration and possibility at Apricot Lane Farm

t eNSION F ORMuLA

Hey February, I’ve had some feedback about last issue’s Mini Meditation and how much some of you enjoyed the practice, so I thought I’d give you another that can help you relax before you sleep.

A body scan meditation will help you feel at home in your body and can be a brilliant tool to bring awareness to anything that needs addressing.

When you get into bed, lay down, get comfortable then begin your breathing exercise. Do this for a few minutes and once you feel calm, bring your attention to your feet. As you inhale, visualise the energy flowing to them and as you exhale, visualise any aches and tension leaving and allow your muscles to relax fully (wiggling your toes can help anchor into your body if you’re struggling). Move your attention to your legs when you’re ready, repeating the practice for a few minutes and working your way up and through each body part.

yOu’LL NeveR wAtch ALONe

doing it

Focus on the exhale, that’s where the relaxation is.

You may feel weight in the body part as you breathe out, like you’re sinking into the bed. That’s good, it means you’re letting go.

We can hold a lot of tension in the face, especially in the jaw, which can result in teeth grinding, movement and premature ageing. You may not even realise you’re doing it. When you relax the facial muscles, allow your mouth to fall open and release the stress that is held here.

When you’ve worked through your whole body, continue visualising the tension leaving you and, if you stay where you are, you’ll drift off into a peaceful sleep.

So for this month’s affirmation:

I AM AT PEACE IN MY BODY

Until next time, my loves - be safe, no fear and stay blessed.

Sitting in a room full of people with at least one thing in common… Can there really be such a thing as going to the cinema alone? With the Lonely Cinema Club, Emma Carys wants to showcase the inclusivity and empowerment that film can offer, and prove that cinema is a place of untapped community - especially in Nottingham…

“I always liked film,” says Emma Carys, the brains behind Broadway’s Lonely Cinema Club. “It's the only thing that gives me the Christmas Day feeling, still. There’s a lot of cult following in film, people create communities”.

Emma is a firm believer in cinema being a place of togetherness, and wants to fight the stigma around going to the cinema alone - believing embarrassment should never be the reason for missing out on something that could bring you joy. “There's always people in the cinema. If you want to watch a movie and your friend doesn't, just go!”

Film has a multitude of mental health benefits, including improved concentration and a deeper understanding of relationships. Its quality of escapism can provide a space of relaxation which can calm worries and improve your mood.

A passion for empowering people to embrace their love of cinema, and experience the benefits of film, was in part inspired by Emma's reflections on her time striving to enter into the film industry in London. Emma studied at a London film school, leaving early to begin working with a top costume designer. Alongside exploring her passion, she experienced a colder side of the industry - in exclusivity, nepotism and a lack of true diversity.

“I got called all sorts of names for having an accent. Everyone at my university knew each other, they were all from the south. I don't think that competition should be deemed a bad thing, but you've got to fight in your area to be accepted. There's a lot of talk about diversity on-screen, but if you've not got anyone behind the screen who is diverse, then you're never going to get real diversity in the industry.”

Worlds away from her university experience is the support Emma experiences at Nottingham’s famed Broadway Cinema. “In Nottingham, they don't care where you're from; they want to train you to do your best and they’re rooting for you. They just appreciate you being there.”

Broadway has massively impacted Emma's path as she was able to access an eight-week Build Your Own Film Night programme, which, thanks to subsidies from the National Lottery, cost just £3.50.

“It's the first opportunity I've seen outside of London. I didn't quite understand the sheer quantity of things they run. I didn't realise a cinema had those facilities. I just thought you had to go to university. On this course, there were people coming from Loughborough or Birmingham. I don't think I realised how important Broadway is to people in Nottingham. It’s amazing.”

This Broadway course played an important role in the conception of the juxtaposingly-named Lonely Cinema Club, which aims to promote unique films, encourage connection, and empower people to go to the cinema alone. The new group will hold its first event, a screening of short films, in March.

“The night is going to be called Alone Together and it's going to explore all varieties of loneliness. Afterwards, upstairs in the Meze, there will be drinks and nibbles so people can chat about the films in an organic way”.

Emma has devoted large chunks of time sifting through the archives to bring a diverse catalogue of shorts to the first Lonely Cinema Club event. Through this research, she has uncovered countless ways in which the feeling of loneliness can manifest. “Some people feel empowered being alone, some people feel alone and have found a community of people from that. It is going to be sad but happy as well.” So remember, when you’re plonked in front of the big screen, in a room full of fellow film fans, you’re never truly alone.

@lonelycinemaclubnotts

We can hold a lot of tension in the face, especially in the jaw. You may not even realise you’re

Some people feel empowered being alone, some people feel alone and have found a community of people from that

words: Rose Mason

We might be miles away from Pinewood Studios and the red carpet shenanigans of Leicester Square, but Nottingham has a rich cinematic history of its own. Often shining a light on sections of society that big-budget titles ignore, we take a look at how our city has changed cinema over the past century and a bit…

Often referred to as the first real motion picture ever made, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory - made by the iconic Lumière Brothers - marked a crucial changing point for the early development of cinema. Along with others such as Georges Méliès, they shaped the early days of the moving image. Following on from the popularity of "the factorygate film", Mitchell and Kenyon, a Lancashire-based motion picture company, aimed to recreate the acclaimed Lumière style right in the heart of industrial northern England.

One of these - with the original title Workers Leaving Thomas Adams Factory - was made in 1900 and showcased hundreds of workers leaving the Nottingham-based lace factory situated on Stoney Street. Another short followed the workers onto the streets and filmed them as they made their way home; most of them peering up at the camera, awe-struck and trying to figure out what was going on.

Representation of working class life in Nottingham continued in the early 1900s (and throughout most of the 21st Century) with more silent shorts such as 1902’s Tram Rides through Nottingham, which follows an Edwardianera tram as it makes its way through the hustle and bustle of the centre, and Scenes on the Trent, which looks out at the River Trent as a boat full of people passes over it.

Throughout the first half of the century, Nottingham’s on-screen representation was mostly limited to topics that cover daily life in Nottingham (at least in terms of what is still available to watch now). Over in Long Eaton, J.H. Poyser, along with the Co-operative Film Club, was making short films covering all aspects of life in the small town. However, one of the only lasting remnants of their work is a newsreel from 1936 featuring a children’s outing to Skegness.

In the postwar era of Britain, a new type of cinema was developing. Directors Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and more would all go on to adapt a variety of kitchensink novels which would form something now called British New Wave: a cinematic movement characterised by its dedication to realism and focus on politically motivated “angry young men”. Visually, it took elements from American film noir, with images often drenched in shadows, capturing the harsh reality of working class existence in postwar Britain. One of the most popular films

from the movement was Karel Reisz’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, a Nottingham-based release that follows the life of an angry and rebellious factory worker who lives for nothing but the weekend. The film was most likely one of Nottingham’s first big on-screen credits, with the film winning a BAFTA for best British film and actress.

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was one of Nottingham’s first big on-screen credits, with the film winning a BAFTA for best British film and actress

Despite being made around sixty years since the images of factory workers in Nottingham were captured on celluloid, Saturday Night feels like it could’ve been taken from the same short film; with the film capturing working class existence in an incredibly realistic way, but not in a necessarily bleak way. Written by Alan Sillitoe, and adapted from his original novel, the film is an accurate encapsulation of Sillitoe’s own life; with the house that the central family reside in being his own family home. Many of the film’s locations have since been redeveloped or just downright demolished, but there are still snippets of Nottingham that look just as they do now - such as Derby Road or Nottingham Castle.

At the end of the 1960s, Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, My Beautiful Laundrette) created a documentary on St Ann’s, highlighting the gross poverty in which the inhabitants lived. The documentary talks about how crowded and dense the suburb was (around three times more than anywhere else in Nottingham) and how many of the houses were either rotting with damp or near collapse. Despite being less than sixty minutes long, Frears’ documentary is incredibly detailed and manages to capture the shameful neglect that parts of the UK suffered through in the postwar period. While the film remains a bleak viewing, allegedly the airing of the documentary did help to get

the families featured in it rehomed, and eventually led to redevelopment work in St Ann’s.

Throughout the nineties and into the noughties, Nottingham’s screen presence was largely dominated by Uttoxeter-born director Shane Meadows, who moved to the city when he was twenty. Meadows is best known for the film - and subsequent television shows of - This Is England, which centres around a group of young skinheads in 1983. Although the film is not specifically set in Nottingham, many of the residential scenes were shot here, in areas such as St Ann’s, Lenton and The Meadows - and even places such as Wilsthorpe School in Long Eaton. This Is England remains Meadows’ most acclaimed and popular work so far, helping to launch the careers of actors such as Stephen Graham and Nottingham’s own Vicky McClure.

Prior to This Is England, however, Meadows had already created a myriad of features and a vast amount of short films. Most of them are low-budget, naturalistic dramas that capture the day-to-day lives of people in areas around Nottingham. His films often invoke a sense of dedicated realism, feeling like they are genuinely capturing a real life event rather than a heavily scripted one. While his films are indeed scripted, he often works with his actors and helps them to bring improvised actions and lines into scenes, and sometimes changes them on the fly to get unexpected reactions from other actors. This style of directing is very reminiscent of people like John Cassavetes or the UK’s own Mike Leigh; with the focus of the film not relying on contrived drama but something more spontaneous and humanistic.

Recently, Nottinghamshire has found itself appearing on Landscapers, Sherwood and Without Sin. As a city, its cinematic legacy seems to be rooted in accurately capturing a realistic portrayal of working class life and living in the various suburbs. Whether it is the early silent topicals or Shane Meadows’ kitchen-sink dramas set in locations that are often forgotten in big budget filmmaking, Nottingham has remained a persistent force in British cinema - and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

Oliver Parker

wALK

We’ve teamed up with the National Justice Museum to put objects from the past into the hands of people in the present. This month, we took stills from two 1940s films to Stewart Terry of Broadway Cinema.

These stills are from government-funded documentaries centred around juvenile justice and youth crime prevention, one of which was directed by famed British filmmaker Jack Lee

These look like stills or behind-the-scenes shots, maybe of a film being made. In terms of the era, it looks like forties or early fifties?

[After learning what they are] Wow, so it’s really educational. Usually, when I see black and white, it’s Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, so it was hard not to instantly think of that. It’s amazing that the stills are so well-maintained and the quality is still beautiful.

I’m thinking it might be from a documentary, maybe around children's homes, social work or social deprivation? Maybe a documentary on postwar street kids?

This guy in the right picture looks like Barry Keoghan from The Banshees of Inisherin. Then the kid in the window on the left looks like Sean Connery. One went on to be Bond and the other will likely have an Oscar nodnot bad for them!

Queen Street 1931, pre-Corner House

photo: Frazer Varney

Queen Street now, post-Corner House

WEDNESDAY 1 FEB

�� Lizzie Esau & George O’Hanlon

Rough Trade

£10.50, 7.30pm

�� Chinese New Year: Brush Painting Workshops Lakeside Arts £7.50, 6pm

�� Crisis Rock City £9, 10pm

�� APOCALYPTICA & EPICA Rock City £29.50, 6pm

THURSDAY 2 FEB

�� Federico Albanese: Metronome Piano Sessions Metronome £5 - £15, 7pm - 11pm

�� Fatherhood Nonsuch Studios Free - £10

�� Overload The Bodega Free, 9pm

�� Mardy Bum Percy Picklebackers Nottingham Free, 9pm

�� Jackie Treehorn productions present Night and the City Mammoth Cinema £6, 7pm

FRIDAY 3 FEB

��

The Clementines

The Angel Microbrewery & The Chapel 7pm

�� The Thinking Drinking Pub Quiz Metronome £16, 8pm

��

SATURDAY 4 FEB

�� Rob Lamberti – Celebrating the Songs and Music of George Michael

Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall

£23.50 , 7.30pm

�� Rescued Rescue Rooms £5, 9pm

�� Nottingham Panthers vs Sheffield Steelers Motorpoint Arena Nottingham £12.40, 7pm

�� Oompah Show Bierkeller £20, 7pm

�� saturday afternoon – unplugged Peggy’s Skylight Free

SUNDAY 5 FEB

�� Plastic Mermaids Rough Trade £10, 7pm

�� Chinese New Year: Tea Ceremony and Guzheng Lakeside Arts £5, 1.30pm

�� Buffy Revamped Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £29.50 , 7.30pm

�� ME REX The Bodega £8, 7pm

�� me & mr jones quartet [jazz / blues / soul] Peggy’s Skylight £6

MONDAY 6 FEB

TUESDAY 7 FEB

�� Dance and Movement Workshops with Cool Company Nottingham Contemporary 10am

�� Pressure Rescue Rooms Free, 10pm

�� Bodega Quiz The Bodega 7.30pm

�� Pete Donaldson Blues Band The Bread And Bitter Free, 9pm

�� Gently Tender The Bodega £10, 7pm

WEDNESDAY 8 FEB

�� Crisis Rock City £9 , 10pm

��

Indie Wednesdays

The Bodega £5, 11pm

FRIDAY 10 FEB

�� Diana: The Untold And Untrue Story

Nonsuch Studios £12, 7.30pm

�� An Audience with Kenneth Alan Taylor (BEM) Lakeside Arts £30, 7.30pm

�� Typographic Poster Making Workshop

The National Justice Museum Free, 10am

�� Jockstrap Rescue Rooms £12.50, 6.30pm

The Get Up

Percy Picklebackers Nottingham Free, 11pm

SATURDAY 11 FEB

�� Belinda Carlisle

Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £27.50 - £62.50, 7.30pm

�� Dylan Rescue Rooms £15, 7.30pm

�� Horn in Hand Quiz

The Horn in Hand £0.50, 7.30pm

�� The Loft Movie Theatre presents Commando Savoy Cinema £6.95, 8.30pm

�� Black Star Riders Rock City £34, 6.30pm

�� Titus Andronicus The Bodega £16.50, 7pm

TUESDAY 14 FEB

�� Family Theatre: What Happened to You?

West Bridgford Library £3 - £6, 3.30am

The Winter’s Tale - Nottingham Shakespeare Company St Peter’s Church (Ruddington) 7pm

�� Headsticks Rough Trade £12.50, 7.30pm

�� Kid Kapichi Rescue Rooms £12, 7pm

�� The Big Quiz Malt Cross £1, 7.30pm

��

RAYE: Live + Signing Rough Trade £14.50, 6pm

��

The Big Foxy Quiz Fox and Grapes £1, 8pm

�� young gun silver fox Peggy’s Skylight £15

THURSDAY 9 FEB

�� Schumann Quartet Djanogly Recital Hall £22, 7.30pm

�� Diana: The Untold And Untrue Story Nonsuch Studios £12, 7.30pm

�� Cocktails and Crime: Rest in Peace

The National Justice Museum £23.99, 7pm

�� Priestgate The Bodega £10, 7pm

�� saturday afternoon –unplugged Peggy’s Skylight

�� Sing-a-Long-a Encanto Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £18.50 - £18.50, 1pm

�� Stone Broken Rescue Rooms £17.50, 6.30pm

�� Peggy’s House Band play Blues & Ballads: Valentines Special [Jazz] Peggy’s Skylight £12

WEDNESDAY 15 FEB

��

The Girls Bathroom - Live Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £25 - £87.50, 7.30pm

�� The Needle Exchange Rescue Rooms Free, 10.30pm - 3am

�� You Me At Six Motorpoint Arena Nottingham £36.97, 6pm

�� Mardy Bum

Percy Picklebackers Nottingham Free, 9pm

SUNDAY 12 FEB

�� Morgan & West: Unbelievable Science Lakeside Arts £8.50, 1pm

�� Jazz Jam Malt Cross Free

�� Sunday Piano Series - Petr Limonov Royal Concert Hall £12, 11am

�� Krapp’s Last Tape Lakeside Arts £12, 7.30pm

�� Crisis Rock City £9 - £12, 10pm - 2am

�� Charity Quiz The Embankment £2, 7.30pm

�� milk The Bodega £10, 7pm

THURSDAY 16 FEB

�� ALLSORTS: Chronic Insanity

Open Mic Night Nonsuch Studios £10, 7.30pm

�� In-conversation: Cedar Lewisohn & Joan Andrea Hutchinson Bonington Gallery Free, 7pm

�� WRAP Café

Nottingham Contemporary Free, 6pm

�� Pale Blue Eyes

The Bodega £9, 7pm

SUNDAY 19 FEB

�� Kendal Mountain Tour 2023Best Of The Fest PT.1

Broadway £10, 7.30pm

�� Avatar Rock City £21, 6.30pm

�� Sunday Afternoon Jazz with ‘Pat McCarthy Quintet’ – [Classic 50s Jazz]

Peggy’s Skylight £10

MONDAY 20 FEB

THURSDAY 23 FEB

�� Grace Campbell: A Show about Me(n)

Lakeside Arts £15, 7.30pm

�� Othello Broadway £16, 7pm

�� Battle of the Beers Kean’s Head

�� Basment Craics Barley Twist £2, 7.30pm

FRIDAY 24 FEB

SUNDAY 26 FEB

�� University Philharmonia

Trent Building, University of Nottingham £16, 7.30pm

�� Panchiko Rescue Rooms 7.30pm

�� The Skints & Gentleman’s Dub Club Rock City £23.50, 7pm

�� same moon in the same world –alex hitchcock & ant law [new jazz] Peggy’s Skylight £8

FILM

The Loft Movie Theatre

Bringing cult and classic movies to the big screen, The Loft Movie Theatre is a Nottingham staple @ loftmovienotts

Fortune and Glory Film Club

A LGBT+ inclusive immersive DIY Film Club in Notts for fans of cult & genre cinema

@fortuneandgloryfilmclub

Jackie Treehorn

A Film club operating from Mammoth Cinema

CJ Tudor and Tim Weaver In Conversation Waterstones £5, 6.30pm

��

FRIDAY 17 FEB

�� Movie Club

The Embankment Free, 6pm

�� easy life

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham £25.10, 6.30pm

�� Rob Green Rescue Rooms £22, 6.30pm

�� Live Music Fridays

The Playwright 38

�� Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis 2023 Tour Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall £32, 8pm

SATURDAY 18 FEB

�� Kris Barras Band Rescue Rooms £20, 7.30pm

�� The Big Quiz Malt Cross £1, 7.30pm

�� Horn in Hand Quiz

The Horn in Hand £0.50, 7.30pm

TUESDAY 21 FEB

�� WRAP Live! in conversation with Emilie Pine Metronome Free, 7pm

�� FUBUNATION: The Ruins Series Lakeside Arts £8, 7.30pm

�� Pressure Rescue Rooms Free, 10pm - 3am

�� Gojira Motorpoint Arena Nottingham £38.79, 6pm

�� Captain Hotknives, Mollie Cule and Mike Mckinnon The Embankment £7, 8pm

�� Bug Houses Workshop

The National Justice Museum Free, 10am

�� T.O.N.E.S x WeAreiDyll Afro House | Soulful House I Amapiano The Angel Microbrewery & The Chapel £3, 10pm

�� sam kelly’s station house Peggy’s Skylight £12 - £17

SATURDAY 25 FEB

�� Learn the principles of seed sowing STAA on St Ann’s Allotments £25, 10am

MONDAY 27 FEB

�� Rebirth of Cool

The Bodega Free

�� The Big Quiz

Malt Cross £1, 7.30pm

�� Horn in Hand Quiz The Horn in Hand £0.50, 7.30pm

�� hubris Rough Trade Free, 7pm

TUESDAY 28 FEBRUARY

�� Beautiful Evil Things Lakeside Arts £16, 7.30pm

@jackietreehornprod

Cult Film Club

A film club ran by Works Social, Cult Film Club is a cosy pop up cinema in the co-working space @workssocial

The Nottingham Horror Collective

This local horror zine also runs scary film screenings

@thenottinghamhorrorcollective

Nottingham Cinema Meetup

An informal film club that meet to watch great movies at Broadway cinema, then discuss in the cafe bar More details on meetup.com

Notts Bad Movie Club

�� Ray Bradshaw: Deaf Com 1 Nottingham Playhouse £17, 7.30pm

Lampshade Making @ Ruddington Village Debbie Bryan £48, 10.30am

��

�� Workshop: City of Dreams Lakeside Arts £8, 10am

�� The Avion

The Angel Microbrewery & The Chapel £8, 7.30pm

�� Dry Cleaning Rock City £19.50, 7pm

WEDNESDAY 22 FEB

�� The Endling Nonsuch Studios £10, 7.30pm

�� Jazz Steps: Beatles Songbook

West Bridgford Library £12 , 7.30pm

�� Make a Silver Ring @ Ruddington Village Debbie Bryan £98, 11am

�� Aardman Model Making Workshops Nonsuch Studios £12 , 10am

�� Scott Bennett: Great Scott Metronome £15, 7pm

�� Frank Turner Rescue Rooms £30, 5pm

�� Dayglow Rock City £17.50, 7pm

�� She Drew The Gun The Bodega £14, 7pm

Dedicated to showcasing the worst films, this group shows bad movies only

@nottsbadmovieclub

Kino Klubb

Screening Cult Cinema, Kino Klubb is ten years strong

@KinoKlubb

Short Stack

Showing the best short films by local makers, Short Stack is a bimonthly short film showcase @shortstackfest

BEST OF JANUARY

Coach Party

When: Thursday 2 February, 7pm

Where: The Bodega

How much: £12

Having supported Wet Leg at Rock City back in November, Coach Party are back in Nottingham this month, playing at iconic venue The Bodega. Made up of Jess, Steph, Joe and Guy, this female-fronted band are making a name for themselves with songs like Everybody Hates Me, Weird Me Out and Feel Like A Girl. Capturing the angst of being in your twenties, their songs are ones you’ll definitely find yourself singing along to. These lot are going places.

The Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz

When: Friday 3 February, 6.45pm

Where: Metronome

How much: £16

Consider yourself a thinker? Maybe a bit of a drinker? Well stop bothering innocent pub goers with your big thoughts and head on down to the Thinking Drinkers Pub Quiz. Hosted at Metronome, the quiz comes with five free drinks as you’re led through the questions by two of the world’s leading alcohol experts. A chance to learn a lot, laugh a lot, and enjoy a night of the very best booze, this is a great way to start the month of Feb.

Light Night

When: Friday 3 FebruarySaturday 4 February

Where: City Centre

How much: Free

Back for its fifteenth year, Nottingham Light Night is once again returning to the Notts in the first week of February. Setting our city ablaze (not literally) with the most beautiful light exhibitions, you’ll be in for a chance to enjoy some stunning displays, alongside taking part in a whole series of activities across various venues.

The perfect antidote to a dreary winter’s eve, this is a great way to get out into the city centre for a free night out.

Buffy Revamped

When: Sunday 5 February, 7.30pm

Where: Theatre Royal

How much: £29.50

If you’re nostalgic for the nineties, this is the perfect event for you. Coming to the Theatre Royal for one night only, Buffy Revamped is a spin-off from the original cult TV show, but with a twist. This time, instead of focusing on the titular character, the play will focus almost solely on fan favourite Spike. Created by comedian Brendan Murphy, expect plenty of retro pop culture references. Already a smash hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, this will be a lot of fun.

Tour of Nottinghamshire Archives

When: Thursday 9 February, 11am

Where: Nottinghamshire Archives

How much: £3

Almost all of human history is archived away somewhere, tucked into a little box or perfectly preserved in a filing system. World history, local history, it all has to be stored somewhere, and for Nottinghamshire that place is (unsurprisingly) the Nottinghamshire Archives. This month, you have the chance to explore our local archives, touring the search rooms and storage areas, alongside learning all about the conservation process too.

I Talk With My Hands

When: 9 February - 29 March

Where: City Arts

How much: Free Informed by artist Zoe Milner’s experience as a deaf person, I Talk With My Hands is the conceptual installation artwork that’s at City Art’s Window Gallery this month. Aiming to widen deaf representation, the work uses hand-drawn typography to teach the public about British Sign Languagewhich is Zoe’s first language. Hoping to inspire the deaf community and other disabled people, this display will be up for the majority of February and beyond.

Easy Life

When: Friday 17 February, 6.30pm

Where: Motorpoint Arena

How much: £25

Having recently released their brand new album MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE, indie pop band Easy Life are heading to the Motorpoint Arena this month. Playing songs including GROWING PAINS, BASEMENT, and DEAR MISS HOLLOWAY, alongside brand new single ANTIFREEZE, it promises to be the concert that fans have been waiting for. Supported by Sad Night Dynamite, it’s going to be the best night for indie and alternative music lovers.

Dayglow

When: Thursday 28 February, 7pm

Where: Rock City

How much: £17.50

Last but not least for the music lovers, coming all the way from Austin, Texas, Dayglow will be playing at Rock City toward the end of this month. Considered an ‘innovator’ in the pop music scene, the 23-year-old artist combines a psychedelic sound with funky synths to create a pure feel good feeling. With tracks from his latest album People In Motion including Second Nature, Radio and Then It All Goes Away, it’s going to be a quality set list.