Category Archives: Events & Activities

UK’s first Silver Pride this weekend – online

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Brought to you by Friends of Dorothy a Leeds charity that champions social inclusion for older LGBT+ people by hosting regular activities and events. A welcoming inclusive group that supports members to keep well, have fun and stay connected.

Over 2 days this weekend – 25th and 26th July

Join Friends of Dorothy, LGBT+ celebrities and friends for the inaugural Silver Pride UK; a culturally diverse and enriching programme of live performances, masterclasses and events to champion social inclusion and ensure elderly LGBT+ people are socially connected, celebrated and recognised for their contributions to culture and society. Everyone welcome!

They invite you to Rainbow up your life and come together for this fabulous, gargantuous, entertaining celebration of LGBT+ history.

A PRIDE-PACKED PROGRAMME OF: MUSIC, DANCE ,THEATRE, LITERATURE LGBT+ HISTORY, COMEDY, MASTERCLASSES, DEBATES, HOT TOPICS, LGBT+ WELLBEING, LIFE STORIES.

See the full programme and get free tickets here

All registered Silver Pride UK attendees will be sent a virtual programme and links to all of the main events and fringe events on the morning of the 25th July.  The event is free to attend but donations to Friends of Dorothy will be welcomed.

 

Poetry Reading from The Leeds Library and Clare Wigzell

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I am the Landscape with Clare Wigzell

Clare Wigzell (friend of Caring Together) will read her poems about Barbara Hepworth, her sculptures and the landscape from her chapbook, I am the Landscape. Clare will take you on a poetry journey around Yorkshire and Cornish scenery through Hepworth’s sculptures and touch on themes from Hepworth’s life. Slides of the sculptures and printed versions of the poems will be on screen to enhance your experience. There will be a short Q and A at the end.

All welcome- Wednesday 22 July 13.00 – 14.00

You will need to use Zoom to take part in this event and it is a free event but you will need to register and book.

To book your place, register here on Eventbrite and you will be emailed a Zoom link to the event on Tuesday 21 July.

 

The Good Book – from Slung Low@The Holbeck

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The Good Book, the first production from Slung Low’s new project Leeds People’s Theatre, is a dystopian drama set on the streets of Beeston and Holbeck. It features three professional actors, more than 100 members of the local community.

Film: The Good Book

“In a future Leeds, society is divided between loyalists of the powerful Queen Bear and radical followers of Galahad. Avalon is a young woman desperate not to take sides, but as civil war begins she must undertake a dangerous mission to rescue a precious relic from destruction”. (contains strong language)

It’s 30minutes long and can be watched from the link below – you might need to scroll down the page a bit – and turn the volume up on the video.

https://www.slunglow.org/tgb/

If you are missing The Shows Must Go On….

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Last week’s showing of Joseph was the last from The Shows Must Go On for a while as they take a break over Summer.  Hopefully they will be back in August.

In the meantime here are a couple of alternative musical theatre shows you can watch online for free.

Rogers and Hammerstein Carousel – Lincoln Centre Theatre – until 8th September  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxRMlv-mwxM

Carousel was hailed by Time Magazine as “the best musical of the 20th Century.“ The New York Philharmonic presents a stunning staged production of this iconic American work, featuring a star-studded cast including Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe, Shuler Hensley, Jason Danieley, Jessie Mueller, Kate Burton, John Cullum and New York City Ballet dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck.

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals – from Matrix Theatre, Los Angeles and by StarKid Productions.

For something a little different, this is a musical horror comedy. “Paul is an average guy. He likes movies, and pizza, and average guy things. He does not like… musicals.  Everything in Hatchetfield seemed normal until people began singing… Then, they began dancing… And now, a musical pandemic is sweeping the entire city.  People blatantly stating their inner most wants and desires in verse. Music inexplicably playing from out of nowhere. Random people performing impossibly choreographed dances. All perfectly normal on stage; all absolutely horrifying in real life.

Paul’s small world is about to come crashing down under the weight of unspeakable terror! Now he must run, run for his life, as something sinister spreads, and grows, and sings, and dances! The town of Hatchetfield is plunged into a musical hell in… ‘The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals!’

Availble to watch until further notice  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrxKX44qBJ0

Amadeus – National Theatre at Home

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Music. Power. Jealousy. Welcome to Vienna.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives determined to make a splash.

Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy it. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music and, ultimately, with God.

Amadeus is the National Theatre Showing for this week. Peter Shaffer’s iconic play had its premiere at the National Theatre in 1979, winning multiple Olivier and Tony awards before being adapted into an Academy Award-winning film.

Available to watch on YouTube from 7pm tonight until 7pm on Thursday 23rd July.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaEP2zn4bRE

The running time is 2hrs 50mins with a very short interval.  The BBFC age rating is 15 due to some strong language and moderate sex references.

Opera North – From Couch to Chorus

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Ever wanted to learn how to sing in an opera chorus? Now’s your chance!  Opera North are hosting a four-week series of Zoom workshops this July and August where you’ll be learning all the best singing tips and tricks from professional music leaders and singers from the Chorus of Opera North.

You don’t need to have prior singing experience or be able to read music – all they’re they’re asking is for is your enthusiasm. Whether you want to learn the basics of singing opera or experience what it’s like to be part of a chorus, this is the perfect opportunity to learn from the comfort of your own home!

You can learn more about the workshops and how to join here.

A chorus of singers on stage with their arms in the air

 

Gazing

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Adverse Camber Productions will be illuminating our summer nights over the next few months with ‘Gazing‘, a brand new online series starting at the end of July featuring a captivating mix of stories from some of the UK’s favourite storytellers and stargazing tips from astronomers.

Designed with an adult audience in mind, ‘Gazing’ will boast a programme of short films, podcasts, animations and livestreams exploring connections between life on Earth and the enormous possibilities of the Night Sky as we all look to the future.

Subscribe to Adverse Camber’s Facebook page or Youtube channel to enjoy the series as it unfolds. (You can unsubscribe at any time)

Kirkstall Abbey’s 1152 Club Online

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Kirkstall Abbey 1152 club, normally a fortnightly get-together for over 55s for a short talk and discussion on local history topics, has moved online. Every other Friday at 10am there will be a short talk and you can see the details for this Friday’s here: https://www.facebook.com/KirkstallAbbey/events/?

The talks will also be available afterwards on their YouTube channel and you can see previous talks here https://www.youtube.com/playlist…

 

End of Lockdown? written by Oliver Cross

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Dear all,
AS the national lockdown lurches its way towards a resolution, I realise that the reopening of pubs, restaurants and other places I miss is leaving me less filled with joy than I had expected.

Firstly because viruses can’t be wished away, however much we wish they could,  and second because I think I  might have become institutionalised, which first happened to me when  I was aged about six and which  I wouldn’t want to go through again.

I was admitted to hospital with a big lump under my chin which everybody called ‘swollen glands’, although nobody told me what glands were because it was none of my business.

It was decided that I would have to have the swelling, or maybe the glands, surgically removed, which I’m sure would now be done in a day, but which then required me to stay in hospital for what seemed like half of my short lifetime – maybe  a fortnight or more.

My mother explained to me later that this was due to an administrative oversight – the hospital forgot to discharge me and my parents forgot to ask for their son back.

I was the only child in a men’s ward, probably because, this, being the 1950s, the children’s ward was packed with victims of polio, TB, diphtheria, rickets and other diseases a lot more dangerous – to children at least.

This gave me a special status; I became, for the first and last time in my life, a kind of novelty or ward pet, particularly to the nurses, who must have welcomed treating a patient who felt perfectly well and asked for no more medication than a daily dollop of yeast extract, a thick, syrupy substance once  given to all children to ‘build them up’ and now almost certainly now banned under obesity guidelines.

When things got sorted out I remember sobbing uncontrollably on the way home from the hospital. I had become institutionalised; so used to living on the ward, that I couldn’t imagine life outside it.

Now I wonder whether my unease over relaxing the coronavirus rules is connected with this institutionalisation. Perhaps I have become, over the lockdown months, so comfortable with the present limitations that I’m frightened of moving on from them.

On the other hand, it could be that, having invested so much time and effort into the collective effort to stem the disease, I don’t want to go out into the great wide world and walk straight into a stray coronavirus particle.

Thank you Oliver, until next time….

Monday Mind Workout – Monday 6th July 2020

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Good morning

Today’s ‘Monday Mind Workout’ is themed around ‘News’, good luck!

  1. A miner from Tanzania became a millionaire last month after finding what?
  2. What did archaeologists find near Stonehenge?
  3. Barcelona Opera had it’s first concert for 3 months with an audience of who or what?
  4. Which team became Premiership Champions?
  5. Who was the ‘Forces Sweetheart’ who died recently aged 103?
  6. For their birthday on 23rd June, tiger cubs in Whipsnade Zoo were given a giant ice lolly made from what?
  7. What did India accuse Pakistan of sending across the border recently?
  8. Celebrity and Royal photographer Rankin has released a series of pictures featuring who or what?
  9. Mount Merapi volcano erupted on 21 June – where is it?
  10. Who suggested people could drink yards of ale to help social distancing when the pubs opened?
  11. Nasa have launched a competition to design what to be used on the moon?
  12. Scientist recently discovered which insects can quack?
  13. What was Boris Johnson photographed doing to show that he is “as fit as a butcher’s dog”?
  14. A man in Vienna was fined for doing what?
  15. How old would Glastonbury festival have been this year?
  16. Footballer Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for the government to do what?
  17. Which legendary band have threatened to sue Donald Trump if he uses their music at his rallys?
  18. What did ‘Henrietta’ the hen do?
  19. Which country did Poland accidentally invade in May?
  20. What was the name of the man who’s statue was toppled into the river in Bristol?
  21. Which iconic band are to be featured on a set of Royal Mail stamps?
  22. Swiss railway are trying to track down the customer who left a 3kg bag of what on a train?
  23. When is County Cricket due to start?
  24. Why did KFC refuse to serve Ian Bell at their Carlisle Drive Through?
  25. Which Yorkshire town did the Red Arrows fly over to mark Armed Forces Day?

King Regards, Lisa