Crafting & Grafting

Across two meteorologically fickle September weeks, Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter witnessed what could almost be called a happening. Not a common occurrence, it had done well to court a range of reactions from onlookers: bafflement, delight, flitting interest, scorn, intrigue. And that’s to say nothing of what the paying audience thought. This was Gem of a

History – what is it good for?

Everyone studies History at school but what do we learn? There are so many different histories – kings and queens, wars, political, social, Commonwealth, world. How does it help us? The philosopher Santayana said ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ Judging by the number of times history repeats itself, we’re

The power of collective strength

Google searches for ‘how can I join a union’ went up by 500 per cent at the end of June, driven by coverage of the rail strikes and by the growing number of planned industrial disputes fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis. My short play for GEM OF A PLACE – about women penmakers being urged

The Cheeky Back Kick

It’s been an exciting summer so far, Wimbledon, a mini heatwave, the Lionesses through to the Euros final, the Commonwealth Games kicking off in Birmingham, Prima Facie hitting the cinemas… who doesn’t love Jodie Comer? People often compare the funding of sports and the arts –  which gets most, which is perceived to be more

The show that almost went wrong

What could possibly go wrong, quipped our unflappable producer Julia as she signed up to her duties on Power of Invention back in 2019. Turns out, pretty much anything. The original plan was for a promenade show inside Soho House where the audience would meander through the house and encounter the industrial giants of the

Minted

Birmingham was riddled with forgers in the late eighteenth century. Some were so cocky that they even advertised on street signs.   Copper coins were in short supply. They were made by hand presses and so easy to forge that The Royal Mint didn’t bother making them. Its own study revealed that 92% of halfpennies were