Live Brum: mac Events

An Instinct for Kindness, 23 May 2012

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:38:01 +0000

23 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

Last year, Chris Larner accompanied his chronically ill ex-wife to Switzerland’s Dignitas clinic. He came home with an empty wheelchair and a story to tell.

This moving, bittersweet show reflects on the circumstances, morality and humanity surrounding the journey. Through a candid, poignant and sometimes comic performance, Chris explores both the profound personal implications and the wider ethical issues that surround the contentious topic.

Capital Theatre Festival: Online Collaborative Playwriting , 24 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:45:26 +0000

24 May 2012 - Workshop at mac

Caroline Jester leads this fun and interactive workshop exploring new practices and processes for developing new plays. Using RepWrite, Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s revolutionary online playwriting zone, participants will be able to learn about collaborative tools and techniques and apply these newfound skills to write short plays.

The interactive playwriting zone will enable writers to work collectively to develop multi-authored plays, creating characters, dialogue and storylines with real-time support from a professional dramaturg.

The workshop is a fantastic opportunity for writers to try out new ways of working and collaborating with others to create exciting new drama.

Caroline is Dramaturg at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and has taught on the MPhil in Playwriting at Birmingham University and various undergraduate programmes. She is the co-author of Playwriting Across the Curriculum, published by Routledge in 2011, and has worked as a freelance dramaturg, director and workshop leader.

Networking: On Call , 24 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:46:55 +0000

24 May 2012 - Workshop at mac

FREE

“On Call” is a chance for companies and individuals to meet informally with established producers and enablers, for some impartial advice and exchange about ideas and projects.

Capital Theatre Festival: TV Drama Shoot Demo , 24 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:49:07 +0000

24 May 2012 - Workshop at mac

FREE

Making great TV drama is a lot harder than it looks! Come along and see how it’s done on Thursday 24th May as part of Capital Theatre Festival.

Birmingham City University students will team up with the Screenwriters Forum to demonstrate a TV Shoot. We’ll be filming a short dramatic script to demonstrate how different styles of direction and acting can change the way a TV Drama scene looks and feels.

Site-Specific Performance: 5x5, 24 May 2012 - 26 May 2012

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:23:37 +0000

24 May 2012 - 26 May 2012 - Theatre at mac

FREE

Foyer Students from University of Birmingham’s MPhil Playwriting Studies course present five short plays inspired by society, community and current events performed in site-specific spaces within the MAC building.

From the clearing out of the family shed, to a mother waiting for her son’s return, to a world where drugs are legalised, 5x5 explores questions, concerns and the ethics of modern-day society. Performed within an hour, these five short plays give a taste of Birmingham’s new writing talent. Come and follow the journey through the space and experience five different perspectives from the one same city.

Panel Discussion: Thinking Digital, 24 May 2012

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:24:55 +0000

24 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

FREE

It what ways can writers, artists and practitioners effectively and creatively harness social media and digital technologies? How does online collaboration, interaction and audience participation enrich a theatre-making process? This discussion offers an in-depth look into the creative possibilities of new media.

Capital Theatre Festival: Digital Edge , 24 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:51:10 +0000

24 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

Six writers and theatre practitioners will pitch their ideas for digital theatre projects in front of a live audience and panel of judges. The pitches will explore the relationships between virtual and live spaces. A unique and lively event where contestants find innovative and imaginative ways to win over both the judges and the audience.

Supported by North West Playwrights and Edge Hill University, the two winning pitches will each receive dramaturgical and financial support to develop their project towards a live showing at the Rose Theatre, Edge Hill, in Autumn 2012.

Capital Theatre Festival: Calyx , 24 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:52:28 +0000

24 May 2012 - Theatre at mac

In January 2012, we invited submissions from playwrights, devisers, writer-performers and theatre-makers of any designation working with the spoken and written word. Three exciting and innovative new plays will be selected and premiered during the Festival.

Capital Theatre Festival: Without A Hand To Hold , 24 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:54:21 +0000

24 May 2012 - Theatre at mac

Boz and Cank are friends who share a flat. One works days as a hospital porter, the other works nights as a security guard. They look out for each other, as friends are supposed to do. But while Boz likes the fun of their routines Cank can not remember the last time he laughed and has not seen or felt the sun for years…

Capital Theatre Festival: Writing For And With Devising , 25 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:57:33 +0000

25 May 2012 - Workshop at mac

With over twenty years experience as writer working within a devising company, James is well placed to lead an exploration into the wide range of roles a writer can take when a play is being devised. Real life experiences will illuminate areas including: writing as inspiration; writing to order; working with actors and documentary material; writing for and from improvisation; aligning form with content. Finally the limits of devising will be discussed in relation to The Just Price of Flowers, a show that resisted being devised and had to be written.

Networking: On Call , 25 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:47:06 +0000

25 May 2012 - Workshop at mac

FREE

“On Call” is a chance for companies and individuals to meet informally with established producers and enablers, for some impartial advice and exchange about ideas and projects.

Panel Discussion: New Writing vs New Work, 25 May 2012

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:26:02 +0000

25 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

FREE

A lively and topical discussion about the practices and processes of developing new work. Where are the crossovers between the traditional models of “new writing” and the collaborative nature of devised theatre? Is it even useful to preserve a distinction between the different ways of making and sharing work? An expert panel of practitioners and producers share their experiences.

Mark Steel's In Town, 25 May 2012

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 09:30:15 +0000

25 May 2012 - Comedy at mac

Following his highly acclaimed, Sony Award winning and Writers Guild Award winning Radio 4 comedy show Mark Steel’s In Town, and the publication of a book of the same title, writer and stand-up comedian Mark Steel is back on the road.

Bringing an element of Mark Steel’s In Town to each live performance, means Mark will write material shedding light on the quirkiness and interesting aspects of every town and city he visits, allowing each show to be unique - something local audiences up and down the country will devour and enjoy. Mark is committed to performing a routine about the history of every town he’ll perform in. However, he may regret making this promise!

Capital Theatre Festival: Without A Hand To Hold , 25 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:54:42 +0000

25 May 2012 - Theatre at mac

Capital Theatre Festival: High Jump , 25 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:59:46 +0000

25 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

In 2012 Talking Birds will be 20 years old. Perhaps less widely known, 2012 is also London's Olympic year and so, to celebrate both those things, we are embarking on a year long project called Decathlon - ten artworks, each inspired by the decathlon's ten sporting disciplines. It is designed to involve a wide range of people as participants and audience...without them having to don shorts or get out of breath. The High Jump is one of them.

Earlier this year, Talking Birds, in association with Capital Theatre Festival and Writing West Midlands, put out a call for submissions for 5 minute pieces (stories, monologues, plays) which engaged with the high jump, either metaphorically, or literally. The plays or stories needed to be completed - not part-works, or works in progress - but fully realised in, and embracing, the 5 minute form.

Capital Theatre Festival: Cuddles , 25 May 2012 - 27 May 2012

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:01:20 +0000

25 May 2012 - 27 May 2012 - Theatre at mac

Tabitha makes a lot of money and likes weak men. She keeps Eve safe in one room, completely under her control. Eve thinks that Tabitha is the best sister she could ever have. She gives Eve books, plays with her, and hoses her down when she’s dirty. Sometimes she even takes her for walks. But do either of them know what the other is truly capable of?

Networking: Red Teapot, 26 May 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:03:24 +0000

26 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

FREE

If you are a theatre-maker, working in the West Midlands at the moment, what are the things you feel the sector should be talking about? We'll be asking this question via twitter in the weeks leading up to the festival - and will be using your suggestions to provoke the discussion and help shape the calls for action drawn up at this informal networking event, hosted by www.redteapot.co.uk

Panel Discussion: Fringe Benefits, 26 May 2012

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 12:27:02 +0000

26 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

FREE

In these straightened times, what are the avenues for new work and new writing? How can writers build relationships with theatres, both regionally and nationally? Is self-producing an option? How does that impact on efforts to build a sustainable career? A valuable and informative insight into the artistic policies of producing theatres and regional festivals.

Capital Theatre Festival: Rehearsed Reading, 26 May 2012

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 10:07:33 +0000

26 May 2012 - Spoken Word at mac

In February 2012, Capital Theatre Festival ran a 6-week Writing for the Stage course at mac birmingham. The workshops provided twelve local writers with a comprehensive introduction to the tools and techniques of playwriting.

Writers were encouraged to develop their own ideas for a one-hour stage-play as the course progressed. Four of the writers were selected for one-to-one mentoring and their resulting works-in-progress can be seen in two rehearsed readings, performed by regional actors.

Double Drum Quartet, Keith Tippett & Julie Tippetts , 26 May 2012

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:41:05 +0000

26 May 2012 - Jazz at mac

The Deep Joy Quartet is the double drum quartet featuring Miles Levin and Mark Sanders behind saxophonist Paul Dunmall and bass player Paul Rogers that gave a brilliant performance at the tribute to the late Tony Levin at mac birmingham in June 2011. The quartet comes together again for this concert and a short tour. They are joined at mac by the wonderfully imaginative 'COUPLE IN SPIRIT' duo between pianist Keith Tippett and vocalist Julie Tippetts. Contemporary jazz at its absolute best and most varied.