Category Archives: Events & Activities

Lots of things to give us entertainment and food for thought from Leeds Playhouse

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Here’s a little round up of theatre performances and short videos that our friends at Leeds Playhouse have been sharing for you to see at home.

We are looking forward to the day when we can come back and visit the theatre.

Reasons To Be Cheerful

Celebrating the infectious music of Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Graeae’s Reasons To Be Cheerful is a punk rock musical and gritty coming of age tale, which leaves audiences shouting for more.  Graeae is a theatre company championing deaf and disabled actors  – a force for change in world-class theatre – breaking down barriers, challenging preconceptions and boldly placing Deaf and disabled artists centre stage.

Watch Reasons to be Cheerful

Available to watch until 3rd August. Film captioned & audio described versions also available.  Please note that this contains language and themes that some may find offensive.

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Northern Ballet’s Dracula  Returns to the Quarry Theatre…sort of.

Watch Dracula 

Northern Ballet and BBC Four have partnered to bring you this sold out show, so if you didn’t catch it last year, take this opportunity.   Step into the world of Dracula – if you dare.

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Windrush: Movement of the People

Watch Windrush

Windrush: Movement of the People is a stunning original dance piece created by Phoenix Dance Theatre. If you missed the premiere at the Playhouse in 2018, now’s your chance to catch it. With dynamic choreography by Sharon Watson and original music by Christella Litras it’s a beautiful narrative piece for dance lovers and a perfect option for drama fans too.

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Wannabe

Wannabe is a hilarious, heart-warming docu-drama about a group of women who form a Spice Girls tribute band. From Breach Theatre, the team behind It’s True, It’s True, It’s True, ‘stop right now’ and take minutes out to spice up your lockdown life with this pocket sized docu-drama.

Watch Wannabe

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Nine Lives

Fleeing from his home where a fresh wave of homophobia threatens his life, Ishmael has sought sanctuary in the UK and arrives in Leeds … can he find a place to call home again?
This powerful and intimate drama was originally commissioned at the Playhouse and features Lladel Bryant of the Pop-Up Theatre company, it’s written by Zodwa Nyoni and directed by Alex Chisholm.

Watch Nine Lives

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Strung Out – Refugee Week 2020

Phosphoros Theatre created a 40 minute film, exploring friendship, refugee identity and not giving up. Filmed and performed under lockdown by refugee actors Strung Out.  This short film takes a bold, sideways look at expectations, friendship and what it means to let go.

Watch Strung Out

National Theatre at Home – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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This week National Theatre at Home is giving you the chance to watch Shakespeare’s most famous romantic comedy.

A feuding fairy King and Queen cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddle with mortal lives in the forest, to hilarious, but dark, consequences.

The Bridge Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is streaming from 7pm  tonight until 7pm Thursday 2 July 2020. — The running time is 2 hours 40 minutes with a very short interval. The BBFC rating is 12A with infrequent strong language.

Click on the picture to watch from 7pm tonight

What would it take for your city to delight you?

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As we emerge from lockdown, what do we want from our city? Do we want to return to ‘business as usual’ or is this an opportunity to think differently and create  the kind of place where we really want to live and where everyone  flourish?

This question will be explored in a partnership between two cities, Liverpool and Leeds. Each city will host one conversation, with a panel of speakers to explore the topic. There will be opportunities for participants to ask questions and raise issues with the panelists.

The Leeds event will take place on Saturday 27th June and includes the four speakers below

If you want to take part in either of the  the events you can book your free place below to join the conversation.

Liverpool Saturday 20th June – 7pm

Leeds Saturday 27th June – 7pm

Engage Liverpool are also going to live-stream it on Facebook and then post it to their YouTube channel.

Whether or not you would like to join the live events, they would still like to hear what you think. Please do get in touch using the survey linked below.

Share your thoughts here…

The organisers had this to say in their press release:

“For an hour on Saturday evening from 7pm on the 20th and 27th June, we’ll hear stories and ideas from each city in turn, looking at exciting and delightful grassroots projects that add significant value to their communities and the city at large.

Over the series we’ll talk about how we scale these ideas and the role of active citizens within them. But we’ll also have space to talk about things that don’t exist yet, but we wish did, and ask what are the areas of the city that we wish would delight us and how we might get there. We’ll hear a broad range of ideas from each city and various communities within them that will spark discussion and ideas.

Each session will be chaired by representatives of both cities and we will draw threads for the things we have in common, and the things that make our cities uniquely delightful.

We will, of course, talk about the Pandemic we’re all facing and what we’re learning during it and what effect it is having on our cities. Are there any new things that are happening right now that we want to carry forward with us into our post pandemic cities? Do we want to go back to business as usual? Are our city leaders aware of these things?

We are building a community of enquiry around this question. We want the challenge of our city leaders and our citizens to go beyond a merely functional city, although we want that too, to how can cities inspire and delight the people that live in them and what role will we all play in this?”

 

Happy Summer Solstice! (And a very special eclipse)

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Today is the day of Summer Solstice 2020.  And the sun seems to have returned to Leeds for this day with the longest daylight hours of the year.

The actual moment of the solstice this year is 10.43pm (this is the moment when the northern hemisphere is most tilted towards the sun).  Normally thousands of people gather at Stonehenge to celebrate and watch the sunset and the sunrise closest to the solstice.  As this is not possible this year, English Heritage have decided to set up a live stream meaning that for the first time people from all over the world will be able to be part of this.

The live stream will start on Saturday, June 20 at 9.26pm and continue until sunrise on Sunday, June 21, which is 4.52am – https://www.facebook.com/events/581183132524229/

If you don’t fancy staying up all night or getting up extremely early it will be available to watch back later.

This weekend also sees an annular eclipse – known as a ring of fire eclipse because a little bit of the sun will still be visible around the moon creating the visual effect of a shining ring in the sky.

You may be able to spot a 'ring of fire' eclipse this weekend ...

It won’t be visible in the UK but there is a live stream you can watch – starting from 6am on Sunday morning (so perfect if you are up early to watch the sunrise)

https://www.timeanddate.com/live/eclipse-solar-2020-june-21

The Shows Must Go On goes to Neverland

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This weekend The Shows Must Go On flies to Neverland and premieres Peter Pan from 7pm tonight (Fri 19th) until 7pm on Sunday 21st June.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUun-2hatcY

Alison Williams stars as Peter Pan and Christopher Walken stars as Captain Hook in the 2014 production of the classic Broadway musical that will entertain anyone who refuses to ever grow up. Telling the beloved story of Peter Pan, the mischievous little boy who ran away to Neverland. Get ready for show-stopping stars, stunning costumes, extravagant sets and delightful music that will have everyone singing along.

Note: This is a three hour event, but it does promise to take you on a magical and musical journey to the second star to the right.

Peter Pan was originally due to to be shown on Friday June 5th but the organisers decided to cancel that week’s event in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

National Theatre at Home – Small Island

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This week with National Theatre at Home you can see Small Island,  the sell-out production of Andrea Levy’s novel.

NT at Home Small Island - photo of Leah Harvey inset into a photo of the sea

Streaming  from 7pm  tonight – Thursday 18 June, until 7pm  Thursday 25 June.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pac-Furijsw

Embark on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, from the Second World War to 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury, in this moving stage adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Orange Prize-winning novel. Hope and humanity meet stubborn reality as Small Island traces the tangled history between Jamaica and the UK and our characters dream of a better world. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer, and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots, in three intricately connected stories.

A little warning: Please note that, as part of depicting the experience of Jamaican immigrants to Britain after the Second World War, some characters in the play use racially offensive terms.  BBFC rating is 15 due to some strong language, discriminatory behaviour, occasional sexual references and mild violence.  The running time is 2hrs 55mins with a very short interval and it is subtitled.  The performance also includes some strobe lighting

 

Poetry Corner take 2: ‘Imagine’ by Lemn Sissay

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Dear all

Caring Together is also proud to be supporting Refugee Week this week too. I was chatting to Karen this morning who let me know Refugee Week 2020 this year is inspired by the theme ‘Imagine’.

The week is about inviting you to do one or more of their eight Simple Acts that can all be done at home. It can be chatting together as Karen and I have done this morning, or read a book, watch some talks on YouTube. It is a collective movement to imagine a better world.

I found this small yet moving poem on the below website.

“The poet Lemn Sissay once described his wonderment at the thought that everything around us was imagined first. Everything physical – the camera he was looking at, the microphone he was talking into – started as an act of imagination. He wrote a poem”:

I will not limit myself
I will not be afraid
If it were not imagined
How else could it be made?

sourced: https://refugeeweek.org.uk/simple-acts/

final-refugee-week-leeds-1 – Copy

Thank you for sharing your inspiring thoughts and words of wisdom this morning Karen.

The Refugee Week Logo | Refugee Week

Did Anybody Know A Ballet Rave was a thing?

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No? We didn’t either, but it is and you can watch it on YouTube this week.

Bjork Ballet by Arthur Pita and the San Francisco Ballet is a Ballet Rave featuring the music of superstar Bjork, and described as an imaginative spectacle that will make you want to jump up and dance.

The Guardian says: ” Visually, the work is a cacophony of glamour, craziness and fairytale ”
” Björk Ballet is a wonderful watch – surprising, mysterious and a ridiculous amount of fun ” 

Available until 19th June – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98yI2LT26lw

Poetry Corner: My Lockdown poem – written by Luke Hazelgrave

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We are proud to be supporting Learning Disability Week this week. It is a great way to raise awareness of learning disability across Leeds and the UK
Leeds Learning Disability Week logo - Connect in the North
Luke Hazelgrave who lives at Parkwood View in Specialised Supported Living Service has written a lockdown poem. Luke originally recorded himself reading the poem which he then shared to try and keep spirits up.
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I’ve written a poem about lockdown; a strange time for my generation.

It helps me express myself in this current situation.

I understand that lockdown is to keep me safe and sound,

But it makes me sad that I can’t have my family around.

The virus still scares me but I think I’ve been quite brave.

I like clapping for the NHS when having a shower, and having a good old wave.

I miss their smiling faces now that staff are wearing masks,

I’ve been kept busy by helping with household tasks.

I’m really missing sports but most of all rugby,

I’m really missing cuddles

Now that people can’t hug me.

I can’t wait to leave the house, further than the front door.

I can’t wait to go out to dance on the dance floor.

I really miss my family and I really miss my friends.

I can’t wait until this lockdown finally ends.

The lockdown is something I’ll remember forever.

We’ve all been so strong, let’s get through this together!

Luke Hazelgrave

The return of football and where you can watch some games for free

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I suspect there will be a sharp divide between those who think that the return of football is good news and those who think exactly the opposite.

But, for those who are excited about this – Premier League games start tomorrow and the Championship resumes on Saturday 20th. (Leeds United kick off away at Cardiff on Sunday 21st). All matches will be played without fans present to be broadcast on TV.

Although Leeds will have a crowd of sorts for their home games as they have offered all season ticket holders the chance to send in a photo to be made into a cardboard cut-out to occupy their usual seat.  It’s intended to be of the person who holds the ticket but that’s not compulsory so they may have acquired a few unlikely celebrity supporters when they play the first home tie against Fulham on Saturday 27th June.

Many of the games are only available on a paid subscription channel but a third of the Premiership and FA cup games will be available to watch for free, in a variety of different ways:

BBC will show four Premier league games and four FA cup games including the final

Amazon Prime will be showing four league games – you normally have to pay for an Amazon Prime membership but they have said you will not need membership to watch these games – these will be internet streamed instead of on TV

Sky are making 25 of their games available free on the Pick channel this is free to watch and is on:

Freeview 11                                 Freesat  144                           Sky 159                                    Virgin 165

 

Sadly, it doesn’t appear at the moment that any of the Championship games are being shown for free.

For a full list of all the upcoming games in both leagues and where you can watch them visit,  www.live-footballontv.com

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