Introducing - The Mighty Heart Theatre

Love my hair and face and thunder calves.

I don’t love anything about myself.

I like being small but I want to be much thinner.

Compassion, compassion.

I love that I am smart. I love my brain.

Hello, we are Mighty Heart Theatre & these are some of the quotes taken from our anonymous surveys (of which we had over 100 responses) which have gone towards creating When I Feel Like Crap I Google Kim Kardashian Fat .

To give you a bit of context… last year over dinner a girlfriend of mine said “when I feel like crap I google Kim Kardashian fat” …after which my jaw hit the floor, I paused in awkward silence, laughed it off & then got out my phone & wrote it in my notes app. I knew that it was going to be a trigger for a new piece of work. I did not know what/how/when. Fast forward 4 months & we have complied a mountain of material from interviewing self-identifying women & conducting anonymous surveys!!

Creating this work has been a huge eye opener both as performers but most importantly as women. To quote one of our anonymous surveys “women are cruel sometimes. Women can be cruel”. Within this piece of theatre we do not claim to hold the answers, instead we’d like to share the stories & open up a conversation about the pressure of unattainable perfectionism & how this has seeped in to our culture.

We are also testing ourselves as performers. Certain aspects of the piece will unfold on the night with new material being used each performance to keep the work alive & to give a voice to as many of the stories as possible. It will be different every night! This as you can imagine is a flippin scary prospect as performers! Will it work? Who knows but we’re going to have fun trying it out!

We are so proud that we are presenting this work as part of Wonder Women Festival 2015. Without the urgency & deadline of this festival it’s quite likely that this piece would still not have been created yet! Our verbatim theatre performance (*verbatim theatre is a type of documentary theatre in which plays are constructed from the precise words spoken by people interviewed about a particular event or topic) explores what it means to be a woman in a world obsessed with body image & celebrity culture & the effect this is having on our self-esteem & lives.

Please join us to celebrate the festival & raise a glass to our own Wonder Women. We proudly present this performance as part of Wonder Women 2015 with support from Unity Theatre Trust & Arts Council England.

Performances take place at Gullivers NQ on Oldham Street M4 on Monday 30^th & Tuesday 31^st March both at 8PM. 

Tickets are £4.95 and can be bought via WeGotTickets here: https://www.wegottickets.com/ 

*trigger warning: content includes stories on disordered eating. 

@theatremighty www.facebook.com/mightyhearttheatre

Manchester Women's Aid and the Pankhurst Trust present: A Living Library!

Manchester Women's Aid and the Pankhurst Trust present:

A Living Library!

A SICK!Festival Event

March 19th 2015 2-5pm - FREE

Manchester Central Library, St. Peter’s Square, Manchester M2 5PD

Come and borrow a living book. Discover personal stories of survival.

Life doesn't always go according to plan and any one of us can find our lives affected by domestic abuse. Volunteer Living Books will make themselves available to be 'borrowed' by members of the public for open conversation about their lives and experiences.

What is the RISE Living Library?

The RISE Living Library was developed by RISE - the Brighton & Hove national award winning domestic abuse charity.  Launched in  2010, the event aims to promote dialogue, reduce prejudice and encourage understanding about domestic abuse. The simple format creates an opportunity to speak to survivors and those who work to support people affected by domestic abuse.

Living Books include survivors, refuge and outreach workers, the police and others speaking one on one with interested members of the community. Each 'reading' lasts up to 15 minutes.

RISE Living Library has been described by readers as 'beautiful, inspirational and moving'.

"I was just passing and didn't have the time to build up expectations. It didn't matter. It is so inspirational and beautiful. I feel grateful people wanted to share their experiences."

"Great to really put the person into the story. I really loved it!"

Manchester Women's Aid and the Pankhurst Trust are delighted to be holding their first RISE Living Library as part of Manchester's inaugural SICK! Festival!

The event is free - all you need is curiosity and an open mind.

STILL WE RISE Exhibition (9 - 22nd March) & performance (14 March 12pm - 2pm)

STILL WE RISE

Exhibition (9 - 22nd March) & performance (14 March 12pm - 2pm)

People's History Museum, Manchester

Last week a Channel 4 undercover investigation evidenced the state sanctioned abuse of women in Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. These are issues that asylum seeking women have been speaking out about for years.

Over the past year SHUT DOWN YARL’S WOOD demonstrations led by Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and Manchester Migrant Solidarity (MISOL) with Safety4Sisters have taken over some of the main squares in Manchester, as women fight to get their voices heard.

Come and hear directly from women who have experienced the horrors of Yarl’s Wood, and their ongoing fight for justice and sanctuary.

Reserve your place for the performance on 14 March using Eventbrite

Exhibition curated by Jenny White of Warp & Weft

Part of the Wonder Women Radical Manchester programme

Manchester Roller Derby Celebrate 5th Birthday with Big Bash

Reblogged from http://manchesterrollerderby.com/2015/02/manchester-roller-derby-celebrate-5th-birthday-with-big-bash/

It’s been five years since Manchester Roller Derby burst onto the scene with their all-inclusive approach to Roller Derby, and to celebrate they’re hosting a unique double header on Saturday 7 March.

MRD’s Kerried Alive and Sirenide block Sheffield’s Beat Monkey – Photo by Shirlaine Forrest

Boy, girl, whatever else - Manchester Roller Derby never wanted it to matter, which is why we’ve trained co-ed since our inception, and why our All-Stars are the undefeated champions of it in the UK. So, we’re celebrating our 5th birthday the only way that seems right - with a co-ed roller derby double header.

Our All-Stars will face their toughest challenge to date in Crash Central – a mixture of Crash Test Brummies, a frequent match up for MRD’s Men’s A Team New Wheeled Order, and Central City Roller Girls, who have only ever faced MRD’s ladies as their B-team.

Manchester’s Co-Ed B-Team – the Furious Engines – will be facing a side from the Wirral – the Savage Animals are a mix of the Wirral Whipiteres’ ladies The Savage Lillies and best frenemies of Choas Engine – The Pack Animals.

All the details for the days events can be found at our facebook event. You know the drill, get your tickets HERE to save some serious ££, they’re £7 in advance but £9 on the door. Any derby fans under 10 years old can enjoy the action for free.

Thursday Lates: In Emergency Break Glass, The Feminist Takeover

Thursday Lates: In Emergency Break Glass, The Feminist Takeover
Manchester Art Gallery, 5th March 2015. 5.30-8, events begin at 6pm.

To Launch the Wonder Women Radical Manchester program of events for International Women’s Day 2015

From suffragette smashing windows in the gallery to a breathtaking exhibition of female surrealists, Manchester has a rich heritage of stereotype-smashing women. Yet society, and the art world, is still dominated by men.

‘In Emergency Break Glass’ brings together the North’s best emerging female contemporary artists, performers & creatives to challenge the male-dominated artistic canon, respond to the gallery’s artworks and inspire attendees.

Curated by The Feminist Takeover team (made up of feminist artists, curators, writers and researchers, protagonists from No More Page 3, For Book’s Sake, Mighty Heart Theatre and Stirred Poetry), The Feminist Take Over Thursday Late launches the Wonder Women’s week of events for International Women’s Day 2015.

This Thursday Late will run from 5pm-8pm, with events beginning in the Atrium at 6pm. Audiences are invited to tour the new contemporary exhibition that we have installed within the permanent collection. Live performances are scheduled all evening throughout the gallery and within the Feminist Takeover hub in the Atrium, and audiences are welcomed to explore the issues for themselves via the interactive arts & artist discussions that will be occurring throughout the evening in the Atrium.

By giving self-identified women a voice in the context of Manchester Art Gallery we aim to encourage discussion and explore the issues around the representation of women within the gallery, the art world and the wider society. 

This is an emergency.

Join us in smashing patriarchy with art!!!

Artists & performance line-up to follow.

Anti-capitalism and fashion – marking International Women’s Day

The Working Class Movement Library will celebrate International Women’s Day on Saturday 7 March at 2pm with a talk by Tansy Hoskins about her book Stitched Up: the Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion.  Ballad singer Jennifer Reid will perform alongside the talk.

Winner of the ICA Bookshop Book of the Year 2014, Stitched Up delves into the alluring world of fashion to reveal what is behind the clothes we wear. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, the book explores consumerism, class and advertising to reveal the interests which benefit from exploitation.

Tansy dissects fashion’s vampiric relationship with the planet and with our bodies to uncover what makes it so damaging. Why does ‘size zero’ exist and what is the reality of working life for models? In a critique of the portrayal of race in fashion, the book also examines the global balance of power in the industry.

Stitched Up provides a unique critical examination of contemporary culture and the distorting priorities of capitalism.  Alongside this Jennifer Reid’s songs, drawn from the Library’s vast collection of songbooks and songsheets of protest and rebellion, will form an apt commentary.

This event is part of Wonder Women: Radical Manchester.  It is free, and open to all.

STILL I RISE: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

An evening of spoken word, music and comedy on an all-women platform

Celebrate International Women's Day with a fantastic evening of all-female talent, from spoken word and poetry, to theatre and music, hosted by Freedom from Torture and the Lesbian Immigration Support Group.

Inspired by the late Maya Angelou, Still I Rise highlights the talents and struggles of women from across the world. It will include a theatre performance by the women of the Lesbian Immigration Support Group and poetry readings by clients of Freedom from Torture. A £4 donation is suggested.

Special Guests TBA!

This event has been supported with a grant from Manchester City Council.

Thanks to robhelsby.com for the artwork.

Further information available on the website here

Reclaim the Night Manchester 2015 - Light up the city, fill it with noise

Reclaim the Night March

Thursday 26 February, 19:00
Meet at Owens Park, Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield

Reclaim the Night After Party

Thursday 26 February, 20:00 – 02:00
Club Academy, University of Manchester Students’ Union, Oxford Road

Key Information

On Thursday 26 February, we Reclaim the Night and raise our collective voices against street harassment, violence against women, rape culture and victim blaming.

The march starts at Owens Park, Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield at 19:00. A neon parade will head down Wilmslow Road towards the University of Manchester Students’ Union. The march will be led by a women’s-only block, open to all self-defining women, and followed by a mixed march open to all genders.

The evening continues with the Reclaim the Night After Party, a festival of the finest women speakers, performers and DJs at the Students’ Union Club Academy.

This year is going to be bigger, brighter and louder than ever. Bring your glow sticks, bring your friends and bring your voices.

Light up the city, fill it with noise

The Twitter hashtag for Reclaim the Night Manchester 2015 is #ReclaimtheNightMCR

Inspirational women at first National LGBT Festival

This Valentines Weekend, Manchester is hosting the first National Festival of LGBT History.

Pop down to Central Library on Saturday and People’s History Museum on Sunday to hear about the lives of some fantastically inspirational women.

All events are free, no tickets required.

Saturday 14 February Central Library

Christine Burns MBE was a leading figure in the campaign for trans rights for 15 years, helping secure the passage of the Gender Recognition Act in 2004. She also chaired the North West Equality and Diversity Group for many years and helped organisations develop equality strategy. Her widely praised books ‘Making Equality Work’ and ‘Pressing Matters’ are based on the various aspects of her work 10:30 - 11:00, Space 2

Historian Helena Whitbread will explore the live of Anne Lister 1791-1840 who is often dubbed the first ‘modern lesbian’. She was a Yorkshire landowner, industrialist, traveller and diarist who lived in Shibden hall, near Halifax. Her diaries were half written in code, and when the code was cracked it revealed Anne’s sexual exploits with other women, beginning in adolescence and continuing throughout her adult life. Helena Whitbread will also be available to sign copies of The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister. 14:40 - 15:10, Space 2

Razia Aziz highlights her Spiritual Journeys

 “During a half century which has taken me from Lagos to London to Brighton to Lewes, from a girls’ public school to Cambridge to company director, from an Indian Muslim heritage to the mixed blessings of the distinctive UK brand of 21st century diversity, from an ambition to be a professional singer to body work practitioner to Interfaith Ministry, I have often pondered upon the meaning and significance of my gender identity and sexuality in pursuit of an answer to the question we all ask at some point in our life: “What’s it all for?” 15:20 - 15:50, Space 3

Sunday 15 February - People’s History Museum

Sheila Standard discusses her experiences at Greenham Common, a personal reflection of one of thousands of women discovering the power of working together, singing, being silly, the wit and repartee, fear and bravery, that goes with bringing fences crashing down, to the mockery of militarism. A women’s movement that conflicted and then embraced sexuality, and stood up to the hateful press, and “respectable society”, embracing freedom, and our right to struggle against the holocaust. 11:30 – 12:00, Changing Exhibition Space

Dr Sonja Tiernan will explore the lives of Esther Roper and Eva Gore Booth. This formidable lesbian couple who lived together in Rusholme from 1890s and who defended working class women’s rights including those of mill workers, barmaids and flower sellers. They also established Urania, a pioneering covert journal on gender and sexuality

In the People’s History Museum foyer Warp & Weft’s Jenny White has put together a display on the lives of Esther and Eva, including Helen Davies’ craftivist crochet mask of Esther Roper which was used to yarnbomb a man statue in Manchester Town Hall. 14:00 – 14:30, Coal Store

Dr Kate Cook will speak about her involvement in the 1990s struggles to end rape and about the involvement of lesbian feminists in the movement against violence against women and girls. 14:00 – 14:30pm, Archive space

Prossy Kakooza will talk about how she rebuilt her life in the UK after experiencing abuse and torture in Uganda. “Many LGBT people like myself run from persecution to seek asylum in nations like the UK thinking they’ll immediately be safe. But most times seeking asylum makes you enter what feels like another form of persecution with having to prove your sexuality to the immigration system. When I asked for asylum, on many levels, it felt like jumping from a frying pan into a fire. In a series of such intrusive and embarrassing questions, I was asked to prove I was gay. How on earth was I or anybody else supposed to do that?!” 14:50-15:10, Coal Store

Linda Bellos will explore some of her historic achievements. Actively involved in community politics since the mid 1970’s, she came out as a lesbian in the late 1970’s and joined the Spare Rib Collective in 1981. She helped organise the first Black Feminist and the First Black Lesbian Conferences. She argued strongly against the notion of a ‘hierarchy of oppression. In 1987, as Chair of the London Strategic Policy Unit, she was responsible for introducing Black History Month to the UK. She has become a leading authority on equality and human rights law and its practical application across the public sector. 15:30-16:00, Coal Store

Cath Booth will be discussing Lesbians and Gays Support the Printworkers (LGSP): a group in London supporting workers sacked by Murdoch in 1986, following closely in the footsteps of LGSM during the miners’ strike. The group took part in marches and actions throughout the year of the strike, making alliances with sacked strikers and other support groups. They produced regular bulletins, badges and posters, and monitored virulently anti-gay articles of the Sun. 15:30 - 16:00, Archive Space

CALL FOR ARTISTS In Emergency: Break Glass! - NoMorePage3 takes over Manchester Art Gallery

No More Page3 Manchester is calling for North West based artists, working in any medium, to respond to the issue of the representation of women, for the Thursday Lates to launch Wonder Women Manchester's month of events for International Women’s Day 2015. ‘In Emergency Break Glass’ brings together the North West’s best emerging women creatives to challenge the male-dominated artistic canon, respond to the gallery’s artworks and inspire attendees. This is an emergency. Join us in smashing patriarchy with art!

We are prioritising self-identified women in this call out as we aim to address the lack of representation of women as art creators, in Manchester Art Gallery and in wider society.

We are looking for spoken word, sonic, performance-based and visual pieces -any format is encouraged. The artwork must have an element of responding to the issues we aim to address. For those also interested in responding to specific pieces in Manchester Art Gallery please specify the piece.

The event will run from 5pm-9pm in Manchester Art Gallery as part of the exciting Thursday Lates series of events on Thursday 5 March. Artists will be encouraged to be present throughout the whole of the evening and there will be installation time also to consider.

The requirements are that the piece of work is self-contained and that materials used are appropriate to the art gallery. Material costs are the responsibility of the artist, but there is a small fund to cover expenses.

To apply please send;

Name

Contact Information

Address including Postcode

Information about your practice

Three examples of previous work (Website, jpeg, word, pdf).

Details of your proposal for this event (the work cannot interfere with the current exhibiting collection, must be freestanding and cannot attach to any of the gallery walls etc). Please provide as much detail as possible here, the format of the work (visual, installation, performative etc). Are you available on the Thursday 5 March to install your work?

Which of the issues we are addressing does your piece respond to? or which Manchester Art Gallery piece are you responding to if any? 

For those interested in responding to specific pieces in Manchester Art Gallery, this is a list of potential sources of inspiration, however you are free to choose any piece, or respond to the issues we are addressing in any way. Possible works to respond to: 

The Sirens by William Etty

The Storm by William Etty

Dressin Gallery 6 (A Highland Romance)

Jane Hamilton,Countess Cathcart with her daughter Janeby by Sir Joshua Reynolds

The Mirror by Walter Sickert

Or visit http://www.manchestergalleries.org to see the collection
Closes Sunday 15 February 2015 

If you have questions or are interested in submitting send your information to: anne.kershaw@icloud.com

This has also been posted on Arts Council England Arts Jobs