The Class of 2021 presents: “The Online Graduate Showcase”

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Art, Dance, Education, Theatre

Usually, at this point annually Art Schools, Conservatoires and Universities up and down the UK are creating performances, curating galleries and tuning up instruments to show key industry contacts (and the rest of the world) what to expect from this year’s graduating class.

Well, it’s been a crazy year and here at The Arts Business, where we believe in education to creatives, we wouldn’t want your showcase to go unseen just because of the pandemic.

So, we have compiled a list of all of the online showcases we can find and plan to visit as many of them as possible throughout the month! By doing this I hope to promote the importance of digital and social media marketing to you soon to be grads.

Have we mentioned your showcase? If not let us know and we’ll add it to the list!

Also, if you want a shoutout we are all about sharing the love on our social media so send us a message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and we will get you sorted.

Your showcase should be the best part of your course! The pinnacle of everything you’ve learnt and the direction you want to take the creative industries! Let us help you share your work with the rest of the world!

Universities

Birmingham City University

Glasgow School of Art

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

Hereford College of the Arts

Leeds Arts University

Manchester Metropolitan University: Manchester School of Art

Norwich University of the Arts

Plymouth Marjon University

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

Ravensbourne University London

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Sheffield Hallam University

Solent University, Southampton

University of the Arts, London

University of the Arts, London: Camberwell College of Arts

University of the Arts, London: Central Saint Martins

University of the Arts, London: Chelsea College of the Arts

University of the Arts, London: London College of Communication

University of the Arts, London: London College of Fashion

University of the Arts, London: Wimbledon College of Arts

University of Brighton

University of Cumbria

University of Central Lancashire

University of Huddersfield

University of Portsmouth

University of Sunderland

University of York

York St. John University

Schools and Colleges

Drama Studio London

Performance Preparation Academy


Lin Lan | BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Birmingham City University

Grad Co

Alright Bab?

Welcome to the Grad Co! A showcase of work, created at a distance by the BCU Graphics Class of 2021.


SOUND SO | Scanned moving image | 2020 | Amaya Powers-Fernandez

Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow School of Art has created their own Graduate Showcase Platform during the Pandemic to exhibit the work of 2020/21 Graduates. It is being frequently updated so check back regularly! Check out the following courses:

Portfolio Preparation Course – Creative Practices 

We Lost You For A Moment There | Open Studio | Instagram

Alexander Byrne | Portfolio

Amaya Powers-Fernandez | Portfolio | Email | Website | Instagram

Aoife Hogan | Portfolio | Email | Instagram

Beth Fagan | Portfolio

Bianca Patania | Portfolio

Cecile Foglio | Portfolio

Coral Barnett | Portfolio

Emily Munro | Portfolio

Gaspar Benavente Jaldón | Portfolio

Inaya Berger | Portfolio

Iris Macklin | Portfolio

Jenny Hyde | Portfolio

Joanna Twaites | Portfolio | Instagram

Kirsty Prentice | Portfolio

Madeline Hodgeman | Portfolio

Martina Genovese | Portfolio | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Etsy

Mia Vidman | Portfolio | Instagram

Olivia Jamieson | Portfolio

Penny Gonlag | Portfolio

Rhona Millar | Portfolio | Instagram

Sam Camilleri | Portfolio

Scarlet Freeman | Portfolio | Email | Instagram

Tess Pirrie | Portfolio | Email | Instagram

MA Fine Art

Glue | Online Exhibition | 15th – 18th March | Instagram

The Thread Itself | Monday 15th March @ 5pm | Lydia Davies, Jess Holdengarde, Catrin Menai & Dominique Rivard

  • Kératine | Dominique Rivard | Instagram | Website | An intriguing soundscape accompanies this photographic storybook
  • Intangible Matter | Jess Holdengarde | Instagram | Website | A Hauntingly Beautiful Audio Piece which takes you to the Highlands of Scotland
  • New Sheets | Lydia Davies | Website | Juxtaposition of Audio and Video makes for strangely compelling viewing or reading in complementing publication and prints 
  • A Holding Place | Jess Holdengarde & Lydia Davies | The perfect accompaniment to Intangible Matter 
  • Still Nothing Happens | Catrin Menai | A video reflecting the endless monotony of lockdown. 

[untitled] | Monday 15th March @ 8pm | Delaney Tesch & Andrew Crane

Still Life | Tuesday 16th March @ 5pm | Brandon Hendrick, Xiaojia Ouyang & Ye Ji

  • The Uncanny Nest | Brandon Hendrick | Claustrophobic Still Life from Brendon Hendrick’s flat during isolation 
  • Hello There | Xiaojia Ouyang | The ocean will unite us once again
  • Dream A Dream | Ye Ji | Colours and Imagery combined with a unique soundscape to invoke the power of dreams 

Site/Sight | Tuesday 16th March @ 8pm | Qiushi Chen, Matthew Cosslett, Masaki Ishikawa & Edward Gwyn Jones 

Liquid Futures | Wednesday 17th March @ 5pm | Martha Panagiotopoulou, Fanming Dong & Wei Zhou 

Spit It Out | Thursday 18th March @ 5pm | Harry Hurlock, Yorgos Karras & Paige Silverman 

What’s At Hand | Thursday 18th March @ 8pm | Bing Chen, George Anastaplo & Julie Duffy 

  • Negotiations | Bing Chen | Instagram | Using different materials to make everyday objects: makes you question what you think you know 
  • The Card Piece | George Anastaplo | A live stream that makes the viewer reframe their memory. 
  • Ottilie | Julie Duffy | Instagram | Mesmerising Handography that would make Craig Revel-Horwood proud. 

Fashion and Textiles

GSA Fashion Showreel ’21 | Friday 19th March | Available Now

The Glasgow School of Art’s Fashion and Textile students, like designers across the world, have responded to the challenges of the ongoing pandemic by presenting their work digitally this year. In a 20-minute showcase 16 third-year Fashion Design 26 third-year Textile Design students unveiled their latest designs using a range of approaches from stop motion animation, collage animation, abstract animation to time-lapse, motion capture, digital puppetry, projection and more.

BA (Hons) Fashion Design

Rosie Ridley | Instagram | A Stop Motion Catwalk across Abbey Road 

Andrea Liu | Instagram | Avant-Garde Fashion pushed to the max

Andrew Comerford | Instagram | Menswear with a twist

Lydia Gough | Instagram | Simple and unique manipulation of fabric used to create stunning garments

Annie Banner | Instagram | A Collection Celebrating the women who have climbed Everest

Lisa Manastireanu | Instagram | Reusing past fashion and upcycling to give garments a new high fashion lease of life

Julia Knie | Instagram | Fashionable, Wearable Trash!

Catherine Tinney | Instagram | 80s style prints rejuvenated for the 2020s

Leeka Ndure | Instagram | Reinventing yourself through fashion design

Mannie Rosie | Instagram | RuPaul’s Drag Race Meets Vivienne Westwood on Crack!

Luukas Nuotio | Instagram | Fashion meets Performance Art

Scarlett Rhoda | Instagram | A subversion of the rights of womanhood, a beautiful thought-provoking collection

Hannah Scorah | Instagram | Reconceiving Elegance through garments of dramatic grandeur

Anna Rowland | Instagram | All in a day’s walk

Laura Porter | Instagram | Inspired by dark times and military wear

Brook Robertson | Instagram | The story of covid told through fashion and animation: Don’t Stay Down in the Dumps, It’s Time to Play

BA (Hons) Textiles – Print

Honor Anderson | Instagram | Print Textile reimagined as lace

Thomas Kinghorn | An exploration of the Highlands through AV

Rosanna Rose | Instagram | I would wear all of these prints! Loud and Proud!

Bethany Pringle | Instagram | Serious Art Deco Vibes off these bold prints and designs

Sarah Rhodes | Funky 60s inspired prints with metallic accents

Freya Celeste Walsh | Website | Instagram | Simple and Delicate Prints, and an excellent website to go with!

Marcus Carr | Instagram | Vibrant Prints for Sports and Streetwear

BA (Hons) Textiles – Knit

Emma MacKenzie | Instagram | Knitting taken to the next level 

Florrie Pollen | Instagram | Knitwear inspired by Landscape and Digital Design

Rosie MacDougall | Instagram | Lacy, tight fit knits made on a knitting machine

Flora Bruce-Gardyne | Instagram | Experimental Knitting used to create a new texture of stunning fabrics

Paul Williams | Instagram | Black, White and Turquoise combined with geometric patterns to create modern menswear

Emily Dickson | Instagram | High comfort, protective knitwear to reassure and empower those who wear it

Lucie Peslova | Instagram | Combining weave and knit to create new depth and textures in their fabrics

BA (Hons) Textiles – Embroidery

Millie Collins | Instagram | Decisive Embroidery and Mark Making to redefine textiles.

Arouge Salim | Cyclical inspired embroidery

Emma Campbell | Instagram | Sensory overload and Tactile Embroidery

Aya Fetah | Instagram | The 80s meets India… and I love it!

Daisy Dickson | Instagram | Sculptural Embroidery used to create clothing that makes a real statement

Sophie Allardyce | Instagram | Vibes of Historical England with a modern twist. Also, who’d have thought you could make electrical tape that awesome!

Ruby-Rose McGann | Instagram | Who doesn’t want to wear giant pom poms?! LOVE!

BA (Hons) Textiles – Weave

Holley Sweet | Instagram | Inspired by the beach find a little piece of freedom from lockdown in this collection.

Sandra McWilliams | Instagram | Loud, Colourful and Marvelous

Adele McCully | Instagram | Adele McCully has found a way to weave the nineties rave scene!

Abbey Elizabeth | Instagram | Fun and Energetic, Matisse Inspired Weaving.

Jordan Orr | Instagram | Running Routes made fashionable

Some of these brilliant students have accessories available to buy online. Take a look at the GSA Boutique.


BA (Hons) Acting | Theatre Festival

Guildhall School of Music and Drama

BA (Hons) Acting

Pieces of Us | on demand until 22 March

Pieces of Us is a kaleidoscopic series of short, stand-alone solo performance works created by Guildhall School students. Written, directed, and performed by the students in lockdown isolation across the world, these original performances will provide a unique and deeply personal snapshot of the diverse range of stories, artistry and lived experiences that exist within Guildhall’s student community. 

Please note that some of the Pieces of Us performances contain explicit language and adult themes. 

26 Minutes | Charlie Beck | Spotlight | A clever depiction of a night out gone wrong in Nottingham told from the perspective of three local lads from three very different lives.

A Love Letter to My Former Self | Connor McLeod | Spotlight | A darkly comic monologue with vibes that resonate with the opening of Trainspotting, simply but powerfully designed and portrayed.

Becoming Lola Enitan | Tara Tijani | Spotlight | Tara Tijani shows real versatility and depth in the piece showing two sides and two possible futures, or parallel worlds, of a woman who has been victim to abuse.

BLOB | Dolly Webb | Spotlight | Effortlessly reflects the pressures put on single women both by themselves and from society, showing the ups and downs of loneliness in a beautiful production.

Blue | Millie Smith | Spotlight | What is normal? Alice Simpson (played with perfect nuances by Millie Smith) makes us question this as she sits in a waiting room weighing up whether or not to have an abortion.

Bring Me the Head of Alfio Marullo | Noah Marullo | Spotlight | A theatrical performance from Noah Marullo of an imagined conversation between Steinbeck and his friend. With a bit of lengthening and workshopping I could see this being a hit at the Fringe!

Bute Street | Hassan Najib | Spotlight | WOW! A moving portrayal of Mahmoud Mattan, the last innocent man executed in Wales, exquisitely performed by Hassan Najib.

Can we dance now? | Genevieve Lewis | Spotlight | An apt piece for the pandemic, where cases of domestic abuse have risen dramatically, Genevieve Lewis delicately explores the aftermath.

Fever | Nia Towle | Spotlight | Ever tried to win a dance competition when your period has come to life and your archnemesis’ mum is on the judging panel? No?! Well then, watch the hilarity ensue.

half-self. | Zachary Nachbar-Seckel | Spotlight | Opening with a beautifully written and performed folk song we see an affray between two brothers in a therapists office… or are they?

High Road | Felix Newman | Spotlight | Watch the meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of a Tour De France Champion Cyclist performed with easy naturalism by Felix Newman.

Hoxton Hall | Aoife Gaston | Spotlight | An important piece of theatre during the #BLM campaigns, set in the 1970s and shrewdly showing us how in some ways we’ve come do far, yet in others, we’ve still got so far to go.

little finger | Hope Kenna | Spotlight | The portrayal of an acrophobic mother struggling with post-natal depression, living in a shed and trying to overcome issues from her past. Very moving.

Mashiach | Dan Wolff | Spotlight | What does being Jewish mean in the 21st Century? Dan Wolff tells us the facts in this semi-autobiographical, darkly comic monologue.

妈妈 (Mum) | Brandon Grace | Spotlight | When an overbearing mother doesn’t understand the cultural differences in her and her son’s life, she gets frozen out, but does absence make the heart grow fonder?

Pepper Spray | Levi Brown | Spotlight1984 meets Peep Show crossed with The End of the F***ing World. A little experimental, a little bizarre but completely genius.

Scotland – Yard | Umi Myers | Spotlight | The story of a radio DJ trying to figure out who she is, living in Scotland but with Jamaican heritage she starts to explore her ancestral roots.

SIX BLANKS | Sam Thorpe-Spinks | Spotlight | Juxtaposing images and footage from the fateful day in 1981 when the Queen was shot at during the Trooping of the Colour, Sam Thorpe-Spinks combines great design with noteworthy acting to bring the shooter’s story to life.

Soft White Underbelly | Lily Hardy | Spotlight | You don’t need words to tell a story. A woman running from abuse in the midst of the Corona Epidemic tells her story through action and emotion.

SPLIT | Isla Lee | Spotlight | Trying to navigate the cruel world of dating with a mother struggling from mental health problems, this is a moving, relatable piece of theatre.

Three Clowns | Sonny Pilgrem | Spotlight | A poignant film illustrating the mental health struggles of so many creatives in the industry through the art of monologue and mime.

When You See Me | Alyth Ross | Spotlight | The delusional and occasionally psychotic rantings of a woman’s obsession with a man whom she has never actually met.  

who, what, where? | Sheyi Cole | Spotlight | A funny mockumentary following a new artist on the rap scene and exposing his upper-middle-class roots. And I have never seen a Chicken Cottage that big!

Music

Guildhall Jazz Orchestra with Ivo Neame | Friday 26 March, 7.30pm | Ivo Neame: Composer/Piano |
Scott Stroman: Director

Click here for FREE link to the concert and more info. 

Guildhall Jazz Orchestra presents a programme of pianist, composer and Guildhall professor Ivo Neame’s original Big Band compositions and arrangements, including his newly composed suite The Rise of the Lizard People.

Guildhall Studio Orchestra | The Great British Songbook – The Beatles Reimagined | Thursday 1 April, 7.30pm | Malcolm Edmonstone: Director

Click here for FREE link to the concert and more info.

Guildhall Studio Orchestra draws upon the legacy of the Lennon and McCartney songbook in this performance broadcast from Milton Court Concert Hall.  The orchestra will perform reworkings of hits including In My LifeEleanor Rigby and Yesterday in concert.

Guildhall Big Band | A History of Big Band: 1930s & 40s – The Swing Era | Friday 9 April, 7.30pm
Matt Skelton: Director | Colin Skinner: Director/Saxophone

Click here for FREE link to the concert and more info.

For their third concert in their History of Big Band series the Guildhall Big Band welcomes band leader, arranger and saxophonist Colin Skinner as special guest director and soloist.  The performance will span the 1930s, 40s and immediate post War transition from the Swing Era.


Hereford College of Arts

2021 Graduate Show is coming soon.

For now, why not check out Glimpse: The Hereford College of Arts 2020 Degree Show.


Kate Abbey | MA Creative Practic

Leeds Arts University

MA Creative Practice: A Masters Programme designed for a range of Creative Practitioners

Kate Abbey | Lifestyle Photographer & Director | Instagram | Website

Hafifa Ahmed | Calligraphy Artist & Photographer | Instagram | Email

Lewis Arnold | Photographer & Surfer | Instagram | Website

Pat Bradbury | Experimental Image Maker | Instagram | Website

Alena Chalmovska | Spun Kids | Instagram | Email

James Dixon | Musician | Instagram

Holly Gee | Textiles Designer | Instagram

Evelyn Hewett | Oil Painter & Storyteller

Moon Hussain | Islamic Artist & Printmaker | Instagram

Sarah Kirk | Sculpture & Photographer

Chizem Kubilay | Visual Communication Designer | Instagram

Ruth Lafferty | Artist

Judit Mathe | Mixed Media Artist

Thomas O’Hara | Artist | Instagram | Website

India Stone | Performance Artist | Instagram | Website

Jane Wilson | Textile Artist | Instagram | Email

MA Curation Practices: A Masters Programme for those who wish to curate exhibitions in the commercial, education, arts and heritage sectors.

Alexander Anderson | RNA Gallery | Instagram | Website

Coralie Datta | Social Documentary Photographer

Sarah Evans | Art Teacher & Education Curator | Instagram

James Gray | Graft Collaborative | Website

Helen Hesketh | Artist Curator

Eleanor Kelly | Home Decorator | Website | Instagram

Lily Sherratt | Photographer & Curator

MA Fine Art     

Joel McDermott | Artist | Website | Instagram

Nataly Pérez Rivas | Sculptor & Textile Artist | Website

Alex Walker | Artist | Website | Instagram

MA Graphic Design

Ciaran Carr | Contemporary Sportswear Brand

Pin-Chu Chen | The Old Time | Website

Lyns Hirikul | Graphic Designer

Shannon Kenny | Memory Lane | STK Creative | Instagram

Yaling Li | Graphic Designer | Website

Jamie Patterson | Graphic Designer | Website | Instagram

MA Photography

James Palmer | Photographer | Website

Scott Stevens | Photographer

Helen Varey | Photographer & Makeup Artist | Instagram

For more info check out the Leeds Arts University Website.


MA Design: Illustration | Rhian Voyce | Women in STEM

Manchester Metropolitan University: Manchester School of Art

MA Design: Graphic Design and Art Direction

Sara Aldhubaib | Consolidated Culture | Website | Instagram | exploring the impact of western civilization on Kuwait as a society

Maria Fernandez De Osso | Redefining Mental Health | Website | Instagram | Positively impacting society

Vu Thu Ha Ho | Exploring Vietnam’s Splendid Culture

Anna Russell | Website | Instagram | editorial design and publishing

Tamer Sayegh | Website | Instagram | digital design, voxel art, user interface (UI) design and video game design

Christiana Vakali

Leyao Xia | Website | Instagram

Yifei Zhang | Instagram | About how the older generation holds onto cultural objects for an extended period

MA Design: Fashion Art Direction

Beth Case | Limbo Magazine | Instagram | Website | Combining 60s & 70s art, music, fashion and humour

Pedro Duarte | Following one’s creative instincts is the first rule of authenticity and good design

Aneri Gandhi | Instagram | Website | Outgoing, Optimistic, Outlandish.

Futoon Quisairy | MARIRA | Website | Instagram | expressing the untold stories of Syrian Refugees

Vasundhra Thakkar | Website | Bringing Art to Fashion

Diana Todorova | Fantasticom | Website | Instagram

MA Design: Fashion

Pinkal Lad | Website | Instagram | Fashion should be repaired, reused, recycled, and upcycled.

 

MA Design: Interior Design

Maria Alqahtani | The Refuge | A spiritual peace zone

Jianne Amante | Beehive Mill Reimagined | Instagram | Exhibition space to showcase sustainable garments

Simay Ayyildiz | Deansgate Locks | Behance

Uli Siregar | Website | Instagram | camouflage until you become a part of the space

Dou Tian | Creating interesting social environments for people in the city

MA Design: Craft

Louise Miller | Ceramicist | Website

 

MA Fine Art

Oliver Alonso | Website | Instagram | “Body is Obsolete” Sterlac

Archana Chaudhary | Instagram | a direct representation of women of a modern Indian society

Kristian Jones | Instagram | A focus on new media art and surveillance

Natalia Szulc | Instagram | Space and materiality focus

MA Design: Textile Practice

Joanne Columbine | Website | Anxiety portrayed in textile

Sarah Kostick | Website | Exploring Textile Reinforced Concrete

Eve Malam | Website | The view of our everyday is cut up

MA Design: Textiles for Fashion

Georgia Woodhall | Modern Medieval | Instagram

 

MA/Msc Design: Product and Furniture

Nonye Azikiwe | Ọ dị iche | Website | Instagram | Designing and exploring your own individuality

Catriona Brown | Linoleum Lamp Shade & Cork Bath

Grace Fussell | Instagram | Website | Blending elements from different historical and cultural styles

Sunwon Hong | An Airborne Bench

Tessa Steunenberg | Website | Instagram | Sustainable Product Designer

MA Photography

Michael Bennett | Website | Instagram | Giving a voice to the disabled and those we see as outsiders, foreign to the natural order

Fiona Sinéad Brehony | Website | Instagram | Interdisciplinary artist who interlaces moving image, text and performance

Rob Collins | Immersion, Flow and Presence | And how they are present in real and virtual worlds

Tim McConville | Website | Professional Photographer

Michael Swarbrick | Website | photographer working with film and installation

Lucy Tibbs | A Sign of our Times | Website 

David Walters | In the mind’s eye | Website | Instagram | The image that you see inside your head may well be a truer interpretation of your environment than the objects within it

Chun-Wei Wang | Website | Instagram | Photoless Photography

Lauren Wilson | Instagram | Website | printmaking, photography and conceptual art

 

MFA Filmmaking

Usman Ashraf | Behind the Wheel | Life Beyond Windows | Instagram | Exploring Social Issues like immigration 

Nolan Callecod | This Too Shall Pass | Instagram | A cine-poem from lockdown

Charlotte Landrum | Female Hysteria at its Finest | Website | Instagram | Interested in the kitsch and the surreal

MFA Design: Illustration 

Jou Chen | About Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer | Website | Instagram 

Chinatip Egkantrong | Instagram | Experimenting with text and data 

Edel Fernandez Vanaclocha | Carrot and the Leaf | Website | Instagram | Children’s book illustration

Jaya Katiyar | Instagram | 3D Illustration

Chang Meng | Master-Subordinate | Relationship between Mother and Daughter

Eunjin Oh | Website | Instagram | Opening up a dialogue on Korean Culture

Toby Pritchard | Block Therapy | Website | Instagram | The story of some adventurous blocks!

Rhian Voyce | Website | Instagram | the relationship between play and pedagogy within children’s illustrative narratives

 

MFA Animation

Adam Farish | Stop Motion Animator

Sam Rushton | Slime Universe | Website | Instagram

Joshua Wright | Instagram | Mixed Live Action and Animation Music Video


Norwich University of the Arts

The Norwich University of the Arts Graduate Showcase is expected to go live 22nd July 2021.

For now why not check out their Graduate Show 2020.


Plymouth Marjon University

BA (Hons) Acting / BA (Hons) Performing Arts Education

The Actors Wheel Festival | Twitter | Facebook

A student arts festival where students have not only devised and developed there own shows and companies but have explored web development, graphic design, social media management and video editing to promote their work.

Little Bird | Charlotte Elizabeth & Alexa Godfrey Evans

98228 | Holly-Eden Docherty | An audio adaptation of Leon Greeman’s An English Man in Auschwitz

Still Waiting for Godot | Mattia Centaro & Jake Venning | Whilst I was at uni, my course devised a sequel called Listening to Godot so I really love this idea!

Lost | Georgia Dudley | Exploring the concept of being and feeling lost in this bizarre world.

My Darling Pan | Twist Theatre | Abbie Roberts & Jacob Marriott

Pros Elysium | Keziah Chalkly, Breagha Mason, Annia Eldridge & Jazmin Price | How far would you be willing to go to find out who you are?

The Hidden Truth | Caitlin Cole-Irving & Casey Egerton

2020 Vision | Scarlet Gb Potter | A brave 12-hour improvised performance about the year that was 2020.

Encore Arts | Chloe Soby & Cecily Reid | Facebook | Instagram | A community theatre company grown in lockdown which puts students at the heart of their online drama and dance workshops.

It’s Freddie | Robbie Bond | A cross between Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project and Beckett’s Not I, It’s Freddie was a great take on the modern one-man play.

For more info check out the Plymouth Marjon University Website.


Please Don’t Tell | Once Upon A Time

Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

BA (Hons) Drama and Performance 

Please Don’t Tell | Once Upon A Time | Instagram | YouTube | Fairy tales reimagined by a Young Girl figuring out lockdown, told with simple but beautiful props, lighting and puppetry techniques from her bedroom.

Interactors | Audio Guide and Instructions found here | An opportunity to solve a mystery with accompanying audio guide and clues. Cleverly designed and following the trend of the creative industries to create more audio entertainment with Covid Measures.

Claes Horse Productions | Finding Yourself Without Hope | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | A unique perspective of the Scottish Referendum from the point of view of Glaswegian Teenagers of the time cleverly made within Covid Guidelines, complete with an excellent website and Social Media to boot. Watch the show on YouTube.

Deep Fake

Unidentified | Disconnected

Social Horizons | Parole Board

For more info check out the QMU Website.


Ravensbourne University London

2021 Graduate Show is coming soon.

For now, why not check out the Ravensbourne University London 2020 Degree Show. It looks AWESOME!


Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

BA (Hons) Contemporary Performance Practice

Into The New 2021 | 25th–28th March 2020 | Click Here to View the Trailer | A Festival of Contemporary Performance.

Till I Die | Indra Wilson | Instagram | 25th March @ 6.30pm | Exploring gender stereotypes in the slasher genre | BOOK TICKETS

Man, I miss the cinema! Indra manages to capture the novelty of cinema visits, which just can’t be achieved with Netflix! This darkly comic commentary of women in horror movies makes us reassess how women are depicted in the wider media through a clever balance of highly comedic and sinisterly serious moments.

Short/Long : Long/Short | Jack MacMillan | 25th March @ 8.30pm | Looking at the relationship with friends over the past months | BOOK TICKETS

An incredibly apt perception of life during the pandemic: never before has life passed so slowly yet so quickly at the same time. Originally intended to be a walk from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to Greenock in 10 days, best friends Jack MacMillan and Grant Swanson redesigned their project to meet corona guidelines showing us the sites of Edinburgh and beyond. It is inspirational to see the mental health benefits of a healthy lifestyle!  Have fun storming the castle lads!

The Unholy Knight | Miro Santeri | Instagram | Facebook | 26th March @ 5pm | A hooded character is journeying through a dark snowy forest, trying to claim something that was once lost | BOOK TICKETS

The Unholy Knight gave me some serious Assassin’s Creed vibes as we follow a lone templar discover what is true and what is legend.  An ingenious soundscape combined with voiceover and beautiful film work meant the viewer was fully immersed in the story.  Concluding with an awesome original rock song paralleled with mystical characters, evil potions and powerful symbols the piece came to an epic end! Genuinely brilliant!

Content Here | Althea Young | Instagram | 26th March @ 8.30pm | Binaries of reality and surreality, absence and presence overlap as objects become the main performers in a show that interrogates the relationship between art, artist and the act of living | BOOK TICKETS

Taking you into the world of the surreal, where inanimate objects appear more real than humans and the in-between is fully explored. It is a truly imaginative way to get the audience to rethink what they see in the world and ask themselves questions like: Is gender a construct? Is it hard to be an Artist? Does love have no boundaries?  Also, on a side note, as a theatre technician in a past life, that is one beautifully coiled cable!

Under My Duvet (until further notice) | Forest Wolfe | Ciaran Stewart | 27th March @ 3pm | Forest’s Website | Forest’s Instagram | Do you ever want to run away and hide? Just bury your head under your duvet? Block out the world? Come with me and we can do exactly that | BOOK TICKETS

Before this piece even began, I already felt connected to it. After all, who of us over the last year haven’t woken up and wanted to stay under their duvet until they are “empty and new and ready to continue.” Simple, yet beautifully staged with insightful AV, a gorgeous soundtrack and the odd duvet dance Forest makes us all feel a little bit less lonely and a little bit more connected.

As Real As Reality | Maria Monteiro | 27th March @ 6.30pm | Website | Instagram | The Real Cosmo | This is an audience within an audience within an audience, a screen within a screen within a screen, a reality within a reality within a reality | BOOK TICKETS

In light of the recent Megan and Harry Interview with Oprah there is no better time to take a satirical look at the talk show. Follow in the epic rise and catastrophic fall of chat show host The Real Cosmopolitan who interacts live on social media to enhance the show’s realism. An insightful production with excellent attention to detail even includes terms and conditions, advert breaks and influencer promotions as we get an insight into the dark world of showbiz.

6678… | Holly Worton | 27th March @ 8.30pm | Instagram | Do you remember when you were young? What music did you listen to? Who did you listen to it with? | BOOK TICKETS

When you’re stuck at home in lockdown, with limited contact to the outside world, surrounded by only your family for company, who better to pull into your production than your little brother! This sibling relationship is put under the microscope with dyed hair and festival lights Holly shows us that even when you’re all grown up, you’re never too old to enjoy a trampoline. Honest and Heartwarming theatre.

And When I Remember That I Have Forgotten | Minnie Crook | 28th March @ 3pm | Website | Instagram | i can see you there, forgetting slowly, who I am and where you are | BOOK TICKETS

Opening in a cabaret setting, we are part of Minnie Crook’s family reunion. We sit and relive memories through Minnie’s eyes, old fuzzy VCR footage manipulated with moving folk music and the slow-mo function turned on so that we might remember moments as she does. This humble offering evokes incredibly powerful emotions, and there is something about Irish dancing in a village hall that immediately puts a smile on your face. Brilliant.

We’re Not Really Strangers | Rachel Mclean | 28th March @ 4.30pm | I am a dwindling image on your phone as you scroll through Facebook | BOOK TICKETS

If you had an opportunity to confront your past selves what would you say? And how would you feel? Would you be a little bit less lonely? Rachel Mclean talks to photographic portraits of herself, discussing her lifetime spent alongside the ups and downs of mental illness. In this fearless monologue Rachel reminds us that it’s ok not to feel ok, and that however trapped you may think you are, there is always hope: “If I am brave enough to see the light, I am brave enough to be it.”

Mother’s Milk | Sally Charlton | 28th March @ 8.30pm | Instagram | Twitter | In a space cluttered with discarded costumes and glasses of milk, a single female body dresses, undresses, drinks and dances again and again in a choreographic attempt to embody the lineage of women that brought her into being | BOOK TICKETS

With an exploration into key moments in her personal history and a balletic milk sequence which I can only liken to Las Vegas Fountains of Bellagio, Sally Charlton analyses the importance of understanding where we come from with a shrewd look at the all-important mother-daughter and the often-overlooked grandma-granddaughter relationships.

BA Performance in BSL & English

I had no idea this course existed. What an excellent way to ensure equality in the performers and performances of the future!

Class of 2021 | Showcase | Click here to watch 

Amy Helena | Email

Emery Hunter | Email

Amy Murray | Email

Neil Shand | Email

Irina Vartopeanu

Claire Wetherall | Email

Benedetta Zanetti | Email

Enough | by Stef Smith | Irina Vartopeanu & Amy Murray | A high energy, energetic interpretation of this hilarious extract from Stef Smith’s Enough. A real ‘Girls on Tour’ vibe, but are they friends or enemies?

Laurie & Kate | by Emery Hunter | Emery Hunter | Beautiful and versatile monologue to be performed by stage or screen which has an element of truth to any viewer.

Boys | by Ella Hickson | Amy Helena & Benedetta Zanetti | Performed with delicate subtlety: after grief, can things ever be like they once were? Also, one of the best seagull impressions I have ever seen!

Speaking Tongues | by Andrew Bovel | Emery Hunter & Claire Wetherall | We’ve all heard that to get over someone you need to get under someone else! This discussion descends from sympathy to pure sass in the girl’s bathroom of a club!

My Angry Vagina | by Eve Ensler | Amy Murray | This well-known extract from The Vagina Monologues has been perfectly reimagined for any audience by Amy Murray with excellent facial expression and actions. I LOVED IT!

Miss Julie | by August Strindberg (trans. By Michael Meyer) | Claire Wetherall & Neil Shand | A naïve, innocent girl desperate for attention (playfully performed by Claire Wetherall) seduces a man (cool, calm and sexily portrayed by Neil Shand) who knows the game only too well.

Greenland | by Moira Buffini| Emery Hunter & Benedetta Zanetti | A mockumentary stylised piece with excellent comic timing, showing a relationship that begs the question: Should opposites attract?

Hoors | by Gregory Burke | Amy Murray & Amy Helena | Questioning the five stages of grief and climaxing in hysterical rehearsed crying this scene was hilarious from start to finish.

Beg | by Kate O’Reilly | Neil Shand | Cunningly staged and filmed with Neil Shand slowly advancing onto the viewer this monologue felt incredibly intense and claustrophobic as if there would be no escape.

a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun) |  by Debbie Tucker-Green | Benedetta Zanetti & Irina Vartopeanu | This felt like a scene pulled from the Academy Award-winning Birdman in its unique composition and stand out performances covering many different levels of a relationship.

When Our Daddies Come | Author Unknown | Claire Wetherall | The eerie soundtrack, disturbing voiceover and striking physical theatre combine to create an overwhelmingly effective piece about child abuse.

Glory on Earth | by Linda McLean | Whole Company | Showcasing everyone at their best the Class of 2021 show us we are never more alive than when we are afraid.


Holly Anne Wilkinson | BA (Hons) Illustration | The Pollinator’s seed Trail

Sheffield Hallam University

Art & Design Graduate Showcase 2021

 

BA (Hons) Fashion Design

Emma Saw | Bicycles were Ubiquitous

Olivia Creighton | Good Spouse Keeping | Instagram | LinkedIn

Marvin Luna | Odd Being

Amy Lynch | John’s Life

Megan Long | Are We There Yet | Instagram | LinkedIn | Website

Anna Taylor | False Identity

Jess Levick | South Avenue | Instagram | Website | LinkedIn

Joanne Mace | FIVE MPH

Alice Roy | Free ‘2’ Be | Instagram

George Auckland Down | Folly of Youth

Emily Bakewell | Reactor No.4 | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

BA (Hons) Fashion Management and Communication

Hannah Rigby | L’ART POUR L’ART | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Stef Radford | Behind Closed Doors | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Sally O’Callaghan | Bedroom

Vicky Shepard | The Mindful Accessory | Instagram

Alice Exley | Identifiable | Instagram | LinkedIn

Mihaela Alexandrescu | ITNOF STUDIO | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Georgia L Berry | Sta_Re: The Circular Fashion App | LinkedIn

Elia Moyes | Get your glad rags on | Facebook | LinkedIn

Amy Smith | ANAGLYPH/V-PPAREL | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Demi Holmes | Giving a Voice to the ‘Voiceless’

Macy Jayne Love | Bonafide | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Imogen Wilkinson | Dysphoria

Joanna Tillery | Regarder | Instagram

Emily Venezia Holt | ZIA Lingerie | LinkedIn

Sophie Rogac | Love Letter to my Room

Olivia Murphy | More Life | Instagram | LinkedIn

Harriet Crossley | Change Is Now | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Eleanor Clarke | Warpd

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Bethany Jazwinski | Vanity

Sophia Turton | Wish You Could Prevent This | Instagram

Beth Cummings | Page 6 | Professional Instagram | Personal Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

Kirsty Noble | Inherit the Earth | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Victoria Andrusyschyn | Ukrainian Duet | Instagram

Hannah del Herrera | Soul Retrieval | Website | Instagram

Sam Reed | Trinity  

Csenge Vojtonoszki | Alchymia | Facebook

Olivia Jenks | Conversation | Instagram

Em Kempster | Description Automatically Generated (With Low Confidence) | Website | Instagram | Facebook

Leah Bilson-Brookes | Untitled

Steven Wood | Chariots of Oxidised Memories

Anne Marie Russell | Silent Escape

Ammaarah Nazir | Holocaust vs Xinjian Concentration Camps | Instagram

Katia Greenwood | Gritty England | Website | Instagram 

Joseph Burdett | Dysphoric Nudity | Instagram

Molly Anderson | Night In | Instagram

Lily Grace Dodd | My Manifesto: a Collective Care Package

Petros Nikolaou | Never Forget | Instagram

Emily Butler | Your chances of being alive are 1 in 400 trillion

Elicia Agar | The Word Vomit Initiative | Website | Instagram

Jack Hinson | S.T.T.T.G Season 3 | Instagram | Twitter

Olivia Carlson | Enhance

Ellie Goodwin | Moments | Instagram

Luke Walsh | Bubble Gum Balls In The Shape Of Mi Dad

Thomas John Mills | Who do we want to become? | Instagram

Natassja Drobinski | The fat cat who came to tea

Daisy Mellor-Gunn | Head Full of Clouds, Lungs Full of Water

Molly Pemberton | Les Traducations | Instagram

Laura Kingston | The Female Experience: A Revolution | Instagram | TikTok

Shams Drury | No Tunnel, No Trespassing | Website | Instagram

Katherine Marszalek | Vocal Physiques | Website | Instagram | Facebook

Mia Dickerson | Untitled

Olga Young | We | Instagram

Arthur Kingsley-Hawke | Liminal.exe | Website | Instagram | Twitter

Hermioney Mills-Rogers | Tripping | Instagram

Kiran Mahmood | Puzzling Identities

Nicholas Pratt | PLAN | Instagram

Thomas Marriott | Agency and the Everyday | Instagram

Chloe Smith | Stretchmarks | Instagram | LinkedIn

Karl Karg | Fitness Cells | Website | Instagram

Lauren Jones | Glace d’isolement | Instagram

BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Gabrielle Kama Scott | The Future We Choose | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Isabel Alderton | Boris’s Lunchbox | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

Guilio Pipe | MIRACLES

James Abbott | Open Museum/Does This Cut It? | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Ben Dempsey | Our Displaced Future

Chloe Brooks | Understanding Periods | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Katie Boyle | Platfόrma | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Vicki Winstone | The Modern Butcher | LinkedIn | Website

Zlatina Tencheva | Eat Seasonal | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Tommy Caine | Onkalo Museum | Instagram | LinkedIn

Harris Whaley Murphy | Stay In Control

Jase Walker | Magnetic Exposure | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Cherise Wigginton | Find the Line | LinkedIn

Dawid Zawadzki | HAO2 | Instagram | LinkedIn

Ellie Wight | Anything exciting going on? No? | Website | LinkedIn

Hollie Clarke | The Anti-Depression Toolkit/Futureless Foods | Website | LinkedIn

Bria Anderson | The Colonial Countryside Project | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Jake Wharton | Unlocked Brewery

Charlotte Frankland | Memory Lane | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Becky Howell | Creative Mind | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

Leah McEwan | Material World | Instagram | LinkedIn

Louise Pinnegar | The Reimagination : of Invisible Cities

Nathan Reynolds | Bringing Baijiu West | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Elliott Stilburn | Momento | Instagram | LinkedIn

Emily Gower | EPIC Data

Evie Cobbin | The Street Signs Collection | Instagram | LinkedIn | Website

Zikun Zhang | Samsung Galaxy Packaging Design | Website | Instagram

Amber Rose Morgan | Brew: Tea In Yorkshire | Amber Rose Instagram | Xcluded Instagram | Website | Behance | Facebook | LinkedIn

Ginevra Minarini | Caffè Zine | Instagram | LinkedIn | Website

Henry Crompton | Showreel | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

George Brett | Document Your Culture | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Kalon Mitchell | The Poor Fetish | Website | Instagram

Beth McGahon | The Village | Instagram

Zac Mason | Silence is Golden | Website | LinkedIn

Qi Yuan | Music Communication in the Digital Age

BA (Hons) Illustration

Lauren Fenton | Bīru | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Lucy Jessica Coney | What A Waste | Instagram

Olivia Thomas | Creating a Brand | Instagram | LinkedIn

Adam Grant-Smith | Little Rat, Big City | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Alex Dearman | The Art of Keepers | Instagram | TikTok

Hannah Zoe-Louise | Nihon No Omatsuri | Instagram

Storm Meakin | 2 Metres Apart | Instagram

Jenny Broom | Zoom Boom | Instagram

Alex Foster | Reel Them In | Instagram

Sophie Benn | Tell Me Tiger | Instagram | LinkedIn

Tabatha Hardy | Ego to Eco/Tree Rug | Instagram | LinkedIn

Luca Testa | Film Fanatic | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Surrebia | Final Year | Instagram

Megan Cresswell | Floral Designs | Instagram

Ben Dransfield | Summer Haze | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Georgia Taylor | A Little Book of Happiness | Instagram

Hollie Rickwood | One-Man Zine Library | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Etsy

Maja Szumilas | Snotgirl’ Comic Series Cover Designs | Instagram | Twitter

Courtney Hickerman | Illustrated Plant Care Guides | Instagram

Kate Allen | Kachi Kachi Yama | Instagram | Facebook 

Hannah Bourne | Wallpaper | Instagram | LinkedIn

Amelia Rose Caine | Cats in Love | Instagram

Bryony Sharn | You’re A Star Sign, Baby! | Instagram

Charlotte Dales | That 70s Song | Instagram | TikTok

Evie Pernet | Moving Kiruna | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design

Kelsey Kyle | Inclusive School

Phoebe Hood | Crossing the Urban Utopia | Instagram | Website | LinkedIn

Millie Anne Cupit | The Old Testament | LinkedIn

Klaudia Kozlowska | Prefabricated Hotel | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Laura Foster | Collaborative Co-Working Space, Sellers Wheel, Sheffield | Instagram | LinkedIn

Oliver Cartwright | Water Brewery | Instagram | LinkedIn

Jessica Fisher | No Parking | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Luke Reynolds | Compact Living | Instagram | LinkedIn

Anna McNiven | Brutalism project | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Jade Crossley | Social Housing of the Future | Website | LinkedIn

Caitlin Maginess | Design for Dementia | Website | Instagram

Jasmine Williamson | The Centre for Sustainable Design | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Molly Ann Jarvis | The Plas Meini Estate Retreat and Spa for Stressed Adults | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Hina Syed | Walls Of Reverie | Website | Instagram

Emily Shaw | Emergency Action Plan | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Liv Dobson | What Lies Beneath? | Instagram | LinkedIn

Becca Horsfield | Residential care centre for people with Muscular Dystrophy

Jodie Burns | The Grain, the Blossom and the Vine | Website | Blog | Instagram | LinkedIn

Laura Host | Suaka Leisure Centre | LinkedIn

Sammy Gibson | The Cocoon | Instagram | LinkedIn

Harriet Bradbury | How can we design and adaptive reuse benefit animal welfare? | Instagram | LinkedIn

Yingyi Liu | AFG Plan | Instagram

Shola Jones | The Living Chimney

Jessica Coghlan | The Relocation of Student Services | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Oli Tom Scott | Sellers Wheel Apartment | Instagram | LinkedIn

Ingrid Rehnstrom | The Secret Garden | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

BA (Hons) Jewellery Materials and Design

Jiaxuan Zhong | Me & Boundary & Creation | Instagram | LinkedIn

Stacey Ho | Acknowledging Water Crisis through Contemporary Jewellery | Instagram

Zhiqi Zhang | Communication | Instagram

Tianyi Sha | Fetters And Connections In Love And Relationships | Instagram

Emily Duckering | Nurtured by Nature | Instagram

Xiaorui Wang | Hope | Instagram

Yozo Meng | 40g Sugar +/-

Danny Tang | Emotions in my Repetitive Life

Elley Witt | The Importance Of Memory | Etsy | Instagram | LinkedIn

Hanna Spellacy | Remnants

Mingchen Hu | Silver Secret Box | Instagram | Facebook

Darja Kalikas | Uncomfortable. Impracticical.

Aiyi Zhang | Malum (Forbidden Fruit) | Instagram | LinkedIn

Danqiao Wang | Protect Me? | Instagram

Ruby Sylvester-Jeyes | Presence and Absence | Instagram

Xiu Jiabao | Greetings from the Depths of Memory | Instagram

BA (Hons) Product Design

Luke Seaman | Minnie | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

Alice Watkinson | Dip | Instagram | LinkedIn | Website

Caroline Todd | Sous Chef Multi Cooker

Abi Ridden | Imperium | Instagram | LinkedIn

Ruby Woodhouse | AI13 by Bauxite

Jay Dennis | An Arm and a Leg | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn 

Rory Frost | Switch Off | Instagram | LinkedIn

Sam Lowe | For Life, Den Building Kit | Instagram | LinkedIn

Llinos Goodland | Design a Product to Promote Healthy Routine | LinkedIn

Calum Dalgliesh | Air Quality Monitor | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Tom Simms | Norman | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

Charles Powell | The BaseCamp SDS

Oscar Hannant | Enrich Composting Toilet | LinkedIn

Finlay Killowe | English Oak | Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Ben Hallcro | Project Iris | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook

Kieran Reeves | The Sheffield-Gue | Instagram | LinkedIn

Dylan Sykes | Pulp | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Ross Titherington | OKTA

Scott Padgett | Array | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Gosia Rusek | Playing with food

Ross Ferguson | FMP | Website | Instagram

Henry Williams | Optan | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Ben Cook | Glide Vinyl Recorder & Player | Website | Instagram

Danny Aitken | Favolaschia Pore in Porcelain | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Jasna Nickells | Etched Legacy | Instagram | Website

Hannah Whinnett | The Contour Transcript

Sam Guy | The Cooperation/Balance Bench

Trung Le-Hoang | The Ecohum Fridge | Instagram | LinkedIn

Alex Holmes | Loco | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Imogen Wells | The Hole: A Journey Through Solitude | Instagram | LinkedIn

Art & Design Graduate Showcase 2020

BA (Hons) Fashion Management & Communication

Autumn West | Visual Merchandising | Instagram

Emily Summerscale | RAWmag | Website | Instagram

Abbie O’Connor | CoFundaments

Imogen Thomas | Sum Space | LinkedIn

Olivia Walters | Wade | Instagram | Stylist

BA (Hons) Graphic Design

Nimisha Mistry | Optic Eye | Instagram | Designer

Sarah Twelves | Polarisation | Website | Instagram | Graphic Designer

Anna Gregory | Bold Magazine | Instagram | Facebook

Hannah Buckley | Made for the Community | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Michael Peters | No one is cool. Not even you. | Website | Instagram

Wesley Ashton Holmes | Every Sex Durex | Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Coralie Wells | In Plain Sight | Website | Instagram | Graphic Designer and Photographer

Rebecca Bull | Wardrobe Confessions | Instagram | Graphic Designer 

Michael Hargreaves | Existential Dread | Instagram | Graphic Designer

Maddie Barker | Route | Website

Emily Barker | Fulfil

Megan Tompkins | Invisible Disabilities | Instagram

Ben Malin | under one roof

Jason Wilcock | Creative Blocks | Website

Hexx Inkworks | Signwriting | Website | Instagram

Stephanie Dowd | Nourish | Website | Instagram

Aimee Brockley | Let’s Get Mad

Hope Spalding | Cut, Make, Trim | Instagram

Olivia Harding | Retrospect | Website

Alistair Wood | #OurGame

Chloe Tribe | Out of Context | Instagram

Alice Fraser | For the Love of Stuff | Instagram

Max Armstrong | The All Purpose Suit | Website

Tejaswini Pednekar | Rice Spice and Everything Nice | Website | Instagram

Andy Kellett | Crypto Cars | Website | Instagram

Izzy Harper | Sadgradz | Website

Daniella Devita | Anti Censorshit Club | Instagram

Alysha Harvey | The Printworks | Website | Instagram

Justice Southwell | Women of Sin | Website

Cat Spivey | Typography, Dance and Ritual | Website | Instagram

MA/MFA Graphic Design

Aish Kshirsagar | A Call to Embrace our Ugly

Charlotte Wasden | Growing into Creativity | Website | Instagram

Ebrima Touray | Tagz | Website | Instagram | Photographer, Film & Design

Shereya Hebli | Typeface as Graphic Identity | Instagram

Lauren Griggs | Don’t F**k It Up – A Game about Sex and Consent | Website | Instagram

Jessie Lin | Social Subconscious | Instagram | Behance

Yanjing Wang | Traitor

Qi Yuan | Music Communication in the Digital Age

Lisa Menke | Doin’ Alright | Website | Instagram

Diptya Ghosh | Redefining Wayfinding and Signage Systems During a Global Pandemic

Shi Yun | Social Puppet | YouTube

Charlotte Baker | My Family Tree

Erika Conschis | Correlating + collecting | Twitter

Layla Gharib | The Corridor School | Instagram | Twitter

BA (Hons) Interior Architecture and Design

Joseph Ngoma | Batik and Ankara Fabric Measuring Store | Website

Chloe Barlow-Huurdeman | Respite | Website

Rebecca Murray | Candyland | Website | Instagram

Paval Kaur Tara | The Hospice Retreat | Website

Chandni Soren | The Sewing Cube | Instagram

Imogen Brusce | Zen Hotel | Website

Hannah Morley | The Healing Centre | Website | Blog | Instagram

Jovita Pereira | The Spice Retreat | Website | Instagram

MA/MFA Interior Architecture and Design

Xunru Zuo | Fraud Exhibition | Instagram

Mayara Nazario | Little Home Interiors | Website | Instagram

Sushmanjali Konduru | Nature Café | YouTube

Shan Ye | Evolution of Residential Space

Shanmathi Subramaniam | Biophilic Office Design | Instagram

Ramachandran Kannan | Chettinad Architecture

Yanqiao Yang | Mobile Shared Community | Instagram

Camasamudram Madurima | Styles and Traditions: Knowledge from the Past Design for Tomorrow

BA (Hons) Product Design

George Hutchinson | ORCA | Instagram

Matthew Cross | Sidekick | Instagram

Alex Lewis | Saguaro 45L | Website | Instagram

Marcus Bowring | Guitar Mentor | Website | Instagram

Katie Galley | OROA | Instagram

Ricky Blair | Social Improvement Toolkit

Josh Ellis | RE-Charge | Website

Polly Leeman | Vuoro | Website | Instagram

Thomas Veryard | The Agricultural Chair

Mike Matthews | Ease | Website

Charlie Ransford | The Songbird | Website

Vilma Kairyte | HOLTEX

Joe Taylor | Slicer and Juicer | Website

Beata Harding | Steep Tea Set | Website

Tim Sutton-Brand | Phon | Website | Instagram

Emily Tavanyar | Crick•Hut | Website

Myles Taylor | STRUX | Website | Instagram

Matt Stoddart | Mycranium

Eleri Davies | GlobeJotter | Website | Instagram

Rachel Knight | 8.3 Billion

Joe Faulks | Smart Home Air Quality Monitor

MA/MFA Product Design

Kris Birtwistle | Magical Hat

Yutian Zhang | Anaesthetic for Modern People | Instagram

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Daniel Le Dain | Untitled

Lauren Mooney | Audrey

Joshua Wells | please be nice to me | Instagram

LR Chadwick | Ordained by Design

Rebecca Burke | Coping Mechanism | Instagram

Amy Foster | Safer Than the Land | Website

Jamie Fenny | Untitled | Instagram

Harry Nixon-Kneale | Date Night | Instagram

Alice Beech | Strategies | Website | Instagram

Catherine Gittens | The Orange Blob Project | Website | Instagram

Sigvaldi Friðarsonur | Nibiru Kills | Website

Katie Garner | Garms | Instagram

Cat Etheridge | Untitled

Rosie Rendles | Recent Paintings | Website | Instagram

Hannah Parker | Becoming

MA/MFA Fine Art

Lynne Barker | The Civic Tree | Website | Twitter | Instagram

Hannah Ravandi | Ego | Website | Instagram

Karis Hopkinson | Presence | Website | Instagram 

Phil Waterworth | Taking a line for a walk looking for a dropped kerb | Instagram

BA (Hons) Illustration

Emma Jones | Sheffield Modern | Instagram

Luke Almond | Rock the Void | Website | Instagram | Facebook

Jess Brown | Sadie Masochism | Instagram

Olivia Downton | Domestic Robotics | Website | Instagram | Twitter

Sophie Bexton | Using Art to Creative Positivity

Megan Budd | A Troll’s Tale | Website | Instagram

Casey Massey | Only Humans Cry

Holly Anne Wilkinson | Clownfish | Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Hannah Radcliffe | F is for Funeral | Instagram

Amy Hart | Editorial Illustration | Website

Eliot Robinson | Glints | Instagram

Tom Saxton | A Short History of Nearly Everything | Website | Instagram

Khozana Omar | Retail Window Displays | Website | Instagram

Eleanor R Mason | Illustrations | Instagram

Maya Dixon | Climate Change Campaign | Website | Instagram

Emma Stevenson | Onna Wo Suteru

MA/MFA Illustration

Kash Hothiyakumar | The Impacts of Social Media and Body Image Dissatisfaction Faced by Malaysian Women | Instagram

Sitong Zhou | LIE | Website 

Yutian Pu | Seagulls

Han Han | Girls Around Me | Instagram

Jun Guan | The Healing Power of Art | Behance

Hanna Lampe | Schattenklage | Instagram

MA/MFA Jewellery and Metalwork

Hui Hu | Dream Fragment | Instagram

Tianyao Wang | Love or Control?

Divy Chaturvedi | Out of the Ordinary | Instagram

Xueling Jin | Echo with Nature | Instagram

Yingxi Lyu | Keep Real | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Jingyan Tian | Doodle Jewellery | Instagram

Yutong Lu | Anxiety: Aggression and Resistance

Wanrong Xie | Can you hear me? | Instagram

Yining Liang | My Creator: Conscious Lines

Lingxuan Yan | Fascinating Aging

Qianjun Ye | Imperfection is also Perfection

Arno Chen | Their Hands | Instagram

Lanxuan Zhong | Silent Expression

Yuka Jourdain | Pray for Reconnection | Instagram | Website

Xu Jiaxin | “I’m fine” · Help me

Kaveree Yadav | Encapsulating the Aura of Flora | Instagram

Cho Ying Ng (Suzy) | Struggle in the Warning

Zanzhang | Change and Decoration

Larry Lin | Tea Rain | Instagram

Ji Jingzhuo | Fleeting Moments in the Digital World

Leslye Qun Zhang | Remote Habitants | Instagram

Qiutong Xu | Doomsday Glacier

Hengzhi Guo | Being Eliminated

Imogen Cheng | Let the Past Stay in Our Future | Instagram

Gaspar Wu | Out of Bounds: Exploring our Boundaries | Instagram

Bingqing Xia | Travel Bubble | Instagram

Debby Wang | Are You There? | Instagram

Zhu Tong (Aly) | Jewellery Atmosphere | Instagram

Jiayu Liu | The Protection and Restraint of Nature by Man-Made Objects

Kexin Sun | Boundary: Contemporary Superstitions | Instagram 

Cheuk Man Au | Connect Again

Dorothy Lu | Life is a Box: What is Inside?

Jinglin Mei | Emotion Guard: Hear the Supporting | Instagram

Zhou Chen | The Power of the World

Bhakti Maru | Bygones – The History of Two Cultures | Instagram

Amber Stephen | Round Pouring Vessel | Instagram

BA (Hons) Fashion Design

Jessica Anderson | Buy the ticket, take the ride | Website | Instagram

Alicia Tilney | Our Lasses | Instagram | Website

Maddi Hooper | What a Waste

Brittany Fowler | Graduate Collection

Lucy Mae Golding | Shadow Clan | Website | Instagram

Michelle Gan | A Woman’s Story | Website

Evie Ludlam | Just Like Dad

Madeline Hather | #HERSEXUALPOWER | Instagram

Amelia Ward | The Fight

Eliza Lunn | Rich Man’s World

Leah Jessica Parker | Glitch In Reality | Instagram

Rosie Coggin Levy | The Doll | Website | Instagram

Victoria Batey | Growing Up Northern | Instagram

Laoise Hamilton | A Vagabond Nobility | Instagram | Website

Tamara Ragoonanan | MUTANT-NATION | Website

Isobel O’Connor | You Get What You’re Given | Website | Instagram

Charlotte Tait | Aster Planetes: A Wandering Star | Instagram

Emily Dunnett | Chip Off the Old Block | Instagram

MA/MFA Fashion Design

Guan Songyuan | Another kind of aesthetic feeling | Instagram


Kateřina Jakešová | Creative Play Note | MA Visual Communication

Solent University, Southampton

BA (Hons) Fine Art

Agata Rygielsk | Final Year Project

Ella Rodgers | Objectifying Bodies: a household series | Website | Instagram

Gullu Kandrou | Love; Lost and Torn | Website | Twitter

Hayley Jones | Consciously Awake

Jake Morgan | Final Year Project

Jojo Lewis | Domestic Abuse in Lockdown

Karen Dobbins | Final Year Project

Carolyn NiChonbhai | Ripe Tomatoes Art Exhibition Proposal

Megan Georgia Smith | British Contemporary Artist | Website | Instagram

Rebecca Webb | Abattoir Livingroom

Samantha Miller | World of Landscapes | Website | Instagram | Twitter

Media Technology, Acoustics and Engineering | Graduate Show

MA Creative Direction for Fashion and Beauty

Meredith Howells | Reflection

Viivi Clark |Concrete | Nova

Gemma Sansom | Undress the Dressed

MA Critical Creative Practice

Mike Osbourne | Forgotten History | Website | Instagram

Suzy Merrifield | The Human Cascade | Website | Instagram

MA Visual Communication

Kateřina Jakešová | Creative Play Note | Website | Instagram

Elise Gunmaer | Sonder

Philip Layley | Nemophilist

Sarah Peters | Transparent Virtual Spirits

Johana Klementova | Music Artist Visual | Website | Instagram

Georgia Pullen | Padma: Your Yoga Journey

Georgia Papa | Visionaire

Jan Pavelka | 2 Metres Apart

Tanya Shrimpton | The Cursed Frogs: A Family Heirloom

Kelly Barker | Threads of My Belonging

Morgan Wyatt | Ascension: Tarot | Instagram

Magdalena Biesek | Relovey: Digital Upcycling App

Catarina Novais | PORTUS CALE | Instagram

Annkathrin Reich | Apocolypse – it’s only a glitch away

For more info check out the Solent University Website.


University of the Arts, London

The University of the Arts, London, has created their own Graduate Showcase Platform during the Pandemic to exhibit the work of Graduates across all of their colleges. It is frequently updated and gives you an amazing taste of the sort of creative endeavours taking place at the institution from the Class of 2020 and 2021.

It also has a fabulous intro video from the legendary Grayson Perry and is just an altogether great place to get inspired!


Rui Jie | MA Fine Arts: Printmaking

University of the Arts, London: Camberwell College of Arts

Including artist graduates from 2020 and 2021 check out the following courses:


Iphigenia Garani | BA (Hons) Performance: Design and Practice | Multimedia Designer

University of the Arts, London: Central Saint Martins

Including artist graduates from 2020 and 2021 check out the following courses:


Rushil Gaba | BA (Hons) Interior Design

University of the Arts, London: Chelsea College of Arts

Including artist graduates from 2020 and 2021 check out the following courses:


Hatije Kargin | BA (Hons) Animation

University of the Arts, London: London College of Communication

Including artist graduates from 2020 and 2021 check out the following courses:


Danya Vassanth | BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Development

University of the Arts, London: London College of Fashion

Including artist graduates from 2020 and 2021 check out the following courses:


Pip Terry | Waiting for Godot | Virtual Showcase | BA (Hons) Theatre Design

University of the Arts, London: Wimbledon College of Arts

Including artist graduates from 2020 and 2021 check out the following courses:


Sonia Srebic | MA Fine Art

University of Brighton

MA Fine Art

Layla Ali | Artist

Voytec Brodacki | Artist | Instagram

Jasmyn Fraser | Artist

Callum Konetsky | Artist | Instagram

Anna Kruger | Artist | Instagram

Sonia Srebric | Artist

Conor Statton | Artist | Instagram

Yang Yang | Artist

For more info check out the University of Brighton Website


Alexandra Weir | BA (Hons) Fine Art

University of Cumbria

UNMASKED


Preston Graphics 2021

University of Central Lancashire

Preston Graphics 2021

The BA (Hons) Graphic Design class of 2021 have taken matters in their own hands to produce an online showcase of their work. 26 students have 75 projects all of which are worth checking out! So what are you waiting for?


Piers Schofield | MA Graphic Design | Blue Israel

University of Huddersfield

 

Radar Showcase 2021


University of Portsmouth

2021 Graduate Show is coming soon.

For now why not check out the University of Portsmouth 2020 Graduate Show from the following courses:

For more info check out the University of Portsmouth Website


University of Sunderland

2021 Sunderland Creative Graduate Show


University of York

Music Courses

Virtual Showcase II | Friday 19th March | Now Available to stream onlineYouTube | Website

The students and teachers at the University of York have come together to provide you with a music-filled evening of entertainment. From Beyonce to Bach there’s something for everyone.

Improvisation around the note ‘E’ using Baroque and Easter themes | Nina Kümin | See at 14.01 | YouTube | Facebook

Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14 by Felix Mendelssohn | John Smith | See at 31.29 | YouTube

Innocence | Owen Russell | See at 48.38| Website | Twitter

Excerpt from Me, Myself and Mesha | Ben Eyes | See at 52.44 | Website | Facebook

isolation walk | James Redelinghuys | See at 57.35 | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Be Thou My Vision | Noah Lawson | See at 1:16.05 | Website | Instagram

For more info check out the University of York Website.


York St. John University

BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Creative Writing Showcase | Thursday 25th March 2021 | Tickets from Eventbrite

Beyond the Walls Anthology  | Thursday 6th May 2021 | More info coming soon

Creative Arts Students 

Creative Arts Degree Show | June 2021 | More info coming soon

For more info check out the York St. John University Website.


Drama Studio London

BA (Hons) Professional Acting

The Mab | Directed and Written by Steven Marmion | 6th April 2021 @ 7pm | 8th April 2021 @ 1pm | Get Tickets Here

A modern retelling of the story of Geraint and Enid from the Welsh canon of myths – The Mabinogion.

Tatterfest | Directed and Written by Alec Pedrick | 7th April 2021 @ 7pm | 9th April 2021 @ 1pm | Get Tickets Here

A devised play inspired by the original Norwegian fairy tale of ‘Tatterhood’.


Performance Preparation Academy

BA (Hons) Performance in Musical Theatre / 3 Year Professional Diploma in Musical Theatre 

Spring Awakening | 30th March-3rd April | Twitter

Our House | 6th-10th April | Twitter

For more info check out the PPA Website.


Have we mentioned your showcase? If not let us know and we’ll add it to the list!

Also, should we have made mistakes (there are a lot of links and one tiny person) please let me know in the comments so I can sort it out!

Dream: An Interactive Theatre Experience in your Living Room

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Entertainment, Technology, Theatre

Thank God this pandemic happened in the 2020s! Even 10 years ago we didn’t have the same level of technology we do now, where we can communicate through images, text and video to anyone from wherever we are in the world. Such is the beauty of the evolution of the Smartphone!

Utilising this wizardry alongside technology evolved from their 2016 performance of ‘The Tempest’ the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra, brings ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ directly to your home through VR.

Dream gives a unique opportunity for audiences to directly influence the live performance from wherever they are in the world. Audiences will experience a new performance environment easily accessed on their mobile, desktop or tablet via the dream.online website. The performance uses the latest gaming and theatre technology together with an interactive symphonic score that responds to the actors’ movement during the show.

The live performance is set in a virtual midsummer forest. Under the shadow of gathering clouds at dusk, lit by the glimmer of fireflies, Puck acts as the guide. Audiences are invited to explore the forest from the canopy of the trees to the roots, meet the sprites, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Peaseblossom and Moth, and take an extraordinary journey into the eye of a cataclysmic storm. Together with Puck, they must regrow the forest before the dawn.  When day breaks, the spell breaks.

The 50-minute online event will be a shared experience between remote audience members and the seven actors who play Puck and the sprites. Audiences can choose to buy a £10 ticket to take part and at key points in the play directly influence the world of the actors, or to view the performance for FREE.

At the moment, the only way for our artistic work to reach an audience is through the magic of the internet, and though no one is looking to replace attending artistic events in real life the creative industries are being forced to explore alternative options.  Now is the time to reach out to tech or design companies and create shared experiences that showcase both your work and theirs in a mind-blowing collaboration.

So, get researching tech and design companies in your area and reach out. If you’re Midlands based (like me) you have The Silicon Spa right on your doorstep! That is one of the largest hubs of video game designers in the UK hidden in the rural Victorian bath town of Leamington.

And don’t be scared!

If you have a great idea, reach out to these kinds of companies and figure out what’s possible. The worst they can say is no. And the best? Having cooperate sponsorship and starting a creative revolution from your home office!

Have you done any awesome work with companies like these? If the answer is yes tell us in our comments! We’d love to hear about them!

It’s Panto Time: Oh no it isn’t!

Posted 2 CommentsPosted in Creative Industries, Promotion, Theatre

Oh yes it is!

That time of year again, when usually I would be up to my armpits in dame wigs and glitter.

Alas with a countrywide lockdown keeping the theatres closed it won’t be the most traditional pantomime season…

But never fear!

I have been to ask the magic mirror on the wall and she tells me there will be a panto after all!

And I know what you’re thinking! There’s no way you’ll be able to keep up these panto puns for the whole post…

Oh yes I will!

With the help of the Good Fairy, I have scoped the country to find some awesome panto offerings throughout the UK, which will help you go from feeling like the back end of the pantomime horse to the star of the show in no time.

 

And hopefully, in the spirit of panto and with a sprinkle of pixie dust, I’ll help inspire your arts business to create some fun panto content of your own!

 

Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas

A star-studded Comic Relief, Christmas offering from the BBC with bonus illustrations from the legendary Quentin Blake and cameos from James Blunt, David Tennent, Sam Smith and Sir Mo Farah. Celebs adorn their own makeshift costumes and source their own random props to tell the story of Cinderella in true covid style, including a surprise Hollywood Mega-Star stepping up to play the panto horse!

Essentially, this is a rehearsed reading over zoom including lots of classic gags from the year like Button’s internet connection breaking up just at the moment he tries to declare his undying love for Cinderella, an interruption at the door for a Morrison’s delivery or people entering the scene on mute. It works because the cast was brought together on the same call and can play off each other, raising the banter to another level.

From the outtakes at the end, it is clear that the participants had a delightful time filming which you feel as an audience member. It goes to show you can have fun, make great content and raise money, all at the same time.

Check out the Comic Relief panto HERE!

 

My First Panto: Goldilocks and the Three Bears by The Garage

My First Panto clearly takes its inspiration from Children’s television, designed for the CBeebies target audience and tailor-made to keep toddlers and younger children engaged. It includes simple dance routines to join in with, engaging puppetry and simple, comic book style animation depicting great onomatopoeic words like splosh and splat, with brightly coloured cartoon-style sets and costumes.

You may think that restricting your work to a particular audience will limit your number of viewers, but by specifically devising and customising your work to fit a particular buyer persona your work becomes more appealing and stands out from your competitors. Another thing this show does brilliantly is utilise a small cast, which means that it is easier to create content whilst abiding by government coronavirus guidelines.

Check out The Garage’s My First Panto HERE!

 

Cinderella: The World’s First Interactive Live Stream Pantomime by PantoLive

Available until 31st January, PantoLive has created a fully interactive online panto, cleverly produced using CGI and green screen bringing the panto experience directly to your living room with the special touch of Chris Johnson who makes for an awesome and engaging Buttons.

A great little addition to this show is the interactive audience buttons including all of your classic panto responses:

  • BOO!
  • Aww
  • Cheer!
  • Clap!
  • Behind You!
  • Buttons!

You don’t need to be a tech wizard to encourage this type of interaction in your content. If you choose to stream your work on Facebook live, for example, you can ask your audience to get involved by pressing the like, love, care, wow, haha, sad and angry buttons! Don’t be afraid to get creative with technology which already exists!

Check out Panto Live HERE!

 

The Scunner That Stole Christmas by The Gaiety

An episodic panto designed especially for the local community, filled with classic lines, characters, shout outs and even a chase sequence! The main narrator, aptly named Fairy Handwash leads the action where cast roam around the county of Ayrshire looking for the lost panto ingredients of Joy, Adventure and Togetherness.

At the end of each episode, they even give ways for the audience to send in their contributions to help save Christmas. This is like a masterclass in how to create User Generated Content (UGC) for your Arts Business. By asking the kids watching the video to contribute, not only does it engage them in the conversation, it makes them feel a part of your business, hence boosting your brand visibility and authority. The great added bonus is that they also created videos for your social media, which as we all know, can be a time consuming and arduous task. Sending in your best panto jokes or teaching your finale choreography are just two great ways you might involve your audience!

Check out The Gaiety’s The Scunner that Stole Christmas HERE!

 

#Panto_Demic! By Conquest Theatre

A cancelled panto season has left the baddies of the fairy tale world at a loss of what to do with their lives! Join them on a pre-recorded zoom call as they discuss their options for future bad deeds and figure out if they can get back to their usual terrible plots whilst the pandemic rages on, complete with song and dance and for the bargain rental fee, from Vimeo, of £7.

The genius Unique Selling Point (USP) of this panto is the stand out storyline twist. From Disney alone with their successful franchise of ‘The Descendants’ where we see the offspring of the Disney baddies coming of age, or their best-selling board game ‘Villainous’, which allows players to pick their favourite Disney Baddie and win by completing their awful schemes, we know that this format can be successful. This is exactly what Conquest Theatre has done with their online panto offering!

Try to think of unique angles in your content which will appeal to viewers in a way that your competitors don’t.

Check out Conquest Theatre’s #Panto_Demic! HERE!

 

Jack and the Beanstalk by Ulster Theatre Company

The most traditional of online panto offerings comes from the Ulster Theatre Company. It is a pre-recorded show (like the live streams offered from the National Theatre) of Jack and the Beanstalk with all the features you would usually expect from a Christmas show, and a pantomime cow who can perform Riverdance.

Whilst we can’t get to the theatre you shouldn’t be frightened to pull material out of your archives. It isn’t just for the major companies like The Shows Must Go On and Shakespeare’s Globe. You can either present this content for free with a suggested donation or set it up to have a rental fee, like the Ulster Theatre Company has, charging £9.99 per household, much less than you would usually spend taking your family to the theatre and no less of the quality! A really great panto! It’s available until the 31st January 2021.

Check Out the Ulster Theatre Company performance of Jack and the Beanstalk HERE!

 

 

Cinderella ONeLINE and Short Cinders by Alliance Theatre

This is one of the most brilliant theatre endeavours I have come across this pandemic. Since Autumn, Alliance Theatre has been compiling performances from a cast of 350 participants from all across the globe to contribute to this wacky and brilliant retelling of Cinderella. Characters morph into other versions, with multiple community members playing their part, bringing to life everyone from Cinderella herself to the Pumpkin who longs to be her coach! They have also developed a completely different short retelling of Cinderella so there is no excuse to not get your panto on!

This is User Generated Content (UGC) used in the best possible way. What I really love about so-called amateur productions is the clear passion everyone contributing has in the success of the project. Basically, everyone is having a lovely time and that makes you have a lovely time watching it! Why not have a think about different ways you can use your audience to not only create great content, but have the best time doing it.

Check out both Cinderellas from Alliance Theatre HERE!

 

Goldilocks and the 3 Bearz by Basel English Panto Group

This is an awesome contribution from a small company across Europe in Switzerland who are introducing the very British Tradition of Pantomime to the local community of Basel with the opportunity for locals to take part themselves. And let me tell you they have definitely nailed the panto concept! The specially arranged dance routines and covers, including the disco classic ‘Love Shack’, really helped me to get my panto fix this year!

This can also act as a stimulus for your arts business. Are there any traditional art forms or shows that are performed elsewhere in the world that could be reimagined for the British stage? Get your research on and really push the boat it here! I assure you there will be groups all over Facebook with enthusiasts like yourselves just longing for a platform to experiment, from Japanese Noh Theatre, Indian Harikatha or the traditional Commedia Dell’Arte of Italy find your niche and have fun with it.

Check Out Basel English Panto Group’s Goldilocks HERE!

 

And I’m afraid that’s it for now, (oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is) but we would love to hear about any online shows you’re putting on this panto season! Just hit us up in the comments below and we will do our best to share them on Social Media!

APP OF THE MONTH: Inside Theatre

Posted Leave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Education, Theatre
Name Inside Theatre with funding from Innovate UK
Product Description Set to replace the traditional programme or playbill Inside Theatre has created an environmentally friendly and educational app where the possibilities are endless. And this is only Step One!
Availability Available from the Apple App Store.
Key Features ·       Develop your own magical fairy avatar with different outfit choices, patterns, textures and wing shapes and sizes.

·       Design your set in 3D adding set pieces like mushrooms, steps and platforms. Scale, rotate and pattern your set pieces to make them completely unique.

·       Create your own theatre lighting from a central bar, sidelights and face lights, change the colour and intensity of your LX to generate whatever mood best suits your costume and set design.

·       Select the perfect soundscape to complete your show choosing from Traditional, Magical, Modern and Natural.

·       Watch your performance in your living room through the amazing power of AR with a real actor recorded through motion capture playing Bottom!

·       Eventually, you will be able to interact with a theatre show before, during and after with loads of specialist content and interactive activities. This is just the first step: the before, learning about A Digital Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Prices and Plans The bargain price £1.99 and worth every penny! A great way to support the arts and keep yourself entertained during the next inevitable lockdown. And, if you’re a drama teacher it is a very reasonable price for a few lessons worth of activity!
Biggest Pro It covers all aspects of technical production to allow for a proper understanding of how theatre works, the only thing it’s missing is the stage manager 😉
Biggest Con It’s only new, so it’s a little slow and glitchy, but bear with it. Inside Theatre is set to get bigger and better and you could be there when it all began.

 

If you’re a live theatre lover who is desperately missing going to performances during this pandemic this is the next best thing! And keep your eyes peeled on Inside Theatre, we can expect some great things from these folks in the very near future.

The Shows Must Go On: Performances in the Pandemic

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Entertainment, Funding, Theatre

I’m a Theatre Girl. A bonafide Drama Geek.

 

I love it, everything about it.

 

The early arrival, the buzz in the foyer, the glass of wine served in a plastic cup to take into the auditorium, the usher guiding you to your seat, thumbing through the programme as you wait for the show to start, the dimming lights, the interval chatter, the overheard conversations of other show-goers opinions as you purchase your ice cream, the ice cream itself, the bows, the clapping, the cheering, the standing ovations.

 

I soak up the atmosphere.

 

It is and will always be the true love of my life.

 

If there’s one thing I have missed this lockdown it’s going to the theatre!

 

Thank God the Arts world has stepped up to bring The Shows Must Go On from Andrew Lloyd Webber.

 

I’m all about musical theatre! And this epic West End fundraiser has kept me going during this pandemic!

 

Last season saw West End Classics from The Phantom of the Opera to The Sound of Music and more modern classics like Hairspray.

 

And this season plans to give even more! It opened up with Fame followed by an all-star concert with Michael Ball and this weekend is set to be a West End Performance of Midnight Tango with Strictly stars Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone.

 

The completely awesome thing is that they are putting on real-life musical theatre shows with most productions that are currently on hiatus in the West End taking part.

 

Generally, an excellent fundraising idea which has also been utilised by companies like the National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic.

 

But this isn’t limited to theatre companies! The British Museum has released documentary-style films about specific exhibitions Art Galleries have done similar work, with Grande Exhibitions beginning to tour Van Gogh Alive at Birmingham Hippodrome, navigating the storm that is Corona Virus.

 

Have you got any pre-recorded shows or footage from an exhibition? Considering offering this as content with an option to donate to try and fundraise for your company during these turbulent times.

stage babies

Stage Babies: A Booming Business Idea

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Business Skills, Start Ups, Theatre

Guest Post by Producer & Designer Rachel Dingle

 

Stage Babies was born (eh) from several personal experiences.

I was working as a set and costume designer on a play in London and it was a huge job. Looking back far too big for one person to do on their own. But we did it and it was awesome. One of the characters was pregnant throughout the piece (the first bump I ever made!) and at the end she has a baby. It was barely onstage for a minute. It was essentially a kid’s toy and 100% the bottom of our priority list. But I could hear the audience reacting to it, and the ‘clearly just a doll’ was a hot topic in the loos at the end.

It took so much blood, sweat and tears to create that show – so it was so upsetting that something so seemingly insignificant can make such an impact, and take the attention away from what was a really good piece of theatre. And is what the audience were thinking about afterwards.

I also saw a drama school production of Ragtime, which is set over a few years and the baby didn’t grow and wasn’t the right skin tone. And it irritated me.

So I experienced this annoyance both as a creative and an audience member. And I thought I could do something about it.  Anytime a baby appears onstage (or in real life) it inevitably distracts people. Maybe it’s a human instinct? Who knows, but if it’s going to happen it should be a positive experience “Oh wow that baby looks really real!” rather than “That baby is so obviously fake…”

I got in touch with a really good mate who is also a professional props maker and we both said let’s do this. So we started Stage Babies with a couple of hundred pounds. We bought some fake babies, added better hair and weighted their heads, bodies and limbs. Made different types of pregnancy bumps – of different sizes and colours – and added weight to them too. It’s fascinating how it alters they way you move! It allows actors to just act rather than having to fake being pregnant too.

Since we started about four years ago we’ve hired our reproduction babies and pregnancy bumps to London fringe venues, off west end venues, school productions, NYT, drama schools, short films and most recently a music video for Loyle Carner.

It’s a little side hustle that makes a small but significant difference to people’s projects, and it also gives us the opportunity to network with so many amazing people. And we love that!

Check out our website www.stagebabies.co.uk

Find out more about Rachel at Show Up Productions.

La La Land: Fantasy vs. Reality

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Creative Industries, Music, Theatre

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

 

I don’t live in LA, nor have I ever been, but in the same way I’m sure that no movie about American High School has actually accurately depicted an American High School I am positive that La La Land does not accurately depict what life is like for an out of work actress and struggling jazz musician living in Hollywood.  Feel free to stop me if I’m wrong (those of you who are struggling actors in LA will know better) but Emma Stone seemed to swan in and out of mansion parties as if this is the normal way to network.  The production parties I’ve been to have mainly consisted of a theatre foyer with a dodgy catered buffet and box wine but who am I to judge?  Maybe life is that different across the pond.  Now, I’m not stupid.  I know that embellishment is added for the sake of entertainment.  I’m not here to pick holes…

 

Despite the mixed bag of reviews I received before finally getting round to seeing it myself and the poor singing and dancing that is bettered every year on Strictly Come Dancing aside, I think La La Land raises some important truths worth pondering over which tend to play out in our careers and businesses, wherever we may be in the creative industry.

 

I was mentoring a young actor, a year into her drama degree, who moaned that she was sick of her retail job and was looking for something, anything, even remotely associated with theatre, her chosen specialised field.  Isn’t this what Mia (Emma Stone) does?  What Seb (Ryan Gosling) tries?  What we all do?  Many of us start off in the arts working in bars or restaurants, front of house or box office.  So long as it is part of a theatre or gallery or festival or music venue we feel in the thick of the action and it’s ok for now.  And I commend these people!  The passionate dreamers!  Our dreams get a little more jaded as we age but we start off fighting!

 

The audition process illustrated in La La Land unfortunately can be faithful to real life, which is a shame.  When they are run by bored minds who no longer really care about the work they are involved in they leave hopeful actors worn out and weary, hope dying with every rejection, like Mia.  She tells us she has been ‘trying to make it’ for 6 years and basically can’t be bothered with it anymore; dejection and fear has settle in.

 

The general consensus across the creative industries is that no one gets into the arts for the money so the moment you stop really loving what you’re doing is the moment you should stop or at least change course.  Sometimes it’s the rebuffs, sometimes the lifestyle.  I used to work in stage management and found my decision pretty much came down to this: Do I want to have a social life or do I want my work to be my entire life.  The love wasn’t there any more, so I left.  But what can I say: lady theatre dragged me back, just down a slightly different path.

 

Obviously, everything works out in the end, in the film at least.  Mia becomes a Hollywood Star due to the unprecedented success of her one woman show and Seb uses the money he made in his modernised Jazz band to fund his dream jazz bar business.  Obviously not entirely realistic but very Hollywood (and with a dream ballet sequence, the likes of which haven’t really been seen since Oklahoma!, who is complaining)!

 

So what should you take away from this movie?  What is the moral?  Sorry to sound pessimistic but dreams don’t always come true, at least not in the way you think.  I think the moral is that your life has to adapt with your craft, sometimes we must compromise and other times we must evolve.

 

The speech that struck me was that of Keith (John Legend) who tells it Seb Straight:

 

“How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist?  You hold onto the past, but jazz is about the future.”

 

He has remembered something integral: art is a business.  To stay on top we need to roll with the punches.  He takes traditional jazz and gives it that contemporary, commercial twist for a new audience who, with any luck, will look into the origins of where this music came whilst continuing to carry it into the future with them, introducing a new audience and a new, evolutionary art form.

 

Seb makes his money in this band uses it to fund his dream bar.  Clearly, during his time spent with The Messengers Seb has learnt a few lessons, which are reflected in the bar set up.  The layout of his club takes us back to a 1940s feel of what jazz bars would have felt like, something which is fashionable at the moment, especially if you’re looking for that new hipster hotspot.  It serves fancy drinks in  fancy crystal, also super trendy, as opposed to the fried chicken sticks he originally longed for (now presumably reserved for the end of the night).  Then the jazz is the cherry on top.  He has nailed a business which gives him an outlet to perform the music he wants, whilst turning over (we hope) a profit.

 

You might be thinking this is a corporate way to analyse this movie, I prefer realistic.  So, look at Seb’s success, cut past the romance, the song and dance, the bright colours and remember to keep business and at the heart of your operation.  Drive your desire constructively to developing your values alongside the current climate with the aim of breaking even or making money so that you can reinvest it and do more work that matters to you and your viewers!  Adapt your mind set and progress with the times.

 

Your enthusiasm will always show in what you produce.  When things get tough, always remember your audience can see more than you think.  After all as Mia says:

 

“People love what other people are passionate about.”

 

What did you take from La La Land?  Any business strategies you think I’ve missed?  Or opinions your yearning to share?

Last night Some Am-Dram Saved My Life

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Creative Industries, Mental Health, Theatre

I know that this blog is primarily about how to apply business skills to your Arts Business, but I will from time to time bring mental health to the forefront of discussion because I think it should be openly discussed and it’s an important conversation.

The Arts Industry is rife with people who struggle with their mental health and (although I will admit that I have no scientific research behind this) I would argue that there are more individuals battling with invisible illnesses like anxiety and depression in this industry than in any other.

Sometimes working in the arts feels like a constant uphill climb.  We are encouraged to go out there and live our dreams, but we are never told how hard it is going to be.  The hours are long and the pay is often low.  Environments can be stressful, and experiences can bend you to complete breaking point.

 

Now please don’t get me wrong:

 

I love the arts!

 

And however much there are times I want to pack it all in and runaway forever Lady Theatre keeps dragging me back!  There is nothing like the creative industry.  The rush, the excitement and the passion!

 

A few years ago (without going into too much detail) both my personal and professional life began to crumble and I started to fall apart.  I went on long term sick leave with the diagnosis of depression and anxiety and vowed never to work in the arts industry again.

After a year of struggling I couldn’t even bring myself to open my laptop and the idea of searching for a new career made me feel physically sick but I knew I needed to do something, if only to appease my friends and family to show them that there was light at the end of the tunnel.

A neighbour had told me about a charity panto that would be taking place in February called: ‘Goldilocks and the Three Martians’.  

“They always need volunteers to help with props and set” I was told.  She passed on my details and found out the rehearsal times for me.

So one Friday, when I was having a good day, I decided to push myself to attend a rehearsal.  I was instantly introduced to the Head of Props who immediately gave me a copy of the script, talked me through all the things which needed making and invited me for a meal to meet the rest of the crew.

I went, I chatted. I was instantly enveloped into a family of different personalities who had one key thing in common: they LOVE theatre.

Now, a year later, I am the official stage manager of this year’s panto: ‘Sinbad goes Down Under’ and I have been involved in crewing, building and propping the entire amateur dramatics programme in the Solihull Area. 

More importantly, I have learnt how to manage my depression and I have remembered why I fell in love with the arts industry.

I used to be quite the cynic about amateur dramatics.  Basically, I was a bit of a snob.  I felt like there was a strong divide between “professional theatre” and “amateur theatre”.  To a point it is instilled in you at arts school that you are somehow better than that, above it.

But there is something beautiful about amateur dramatics though.  It is pure and innocent.  There is none of the economic politics.  Everyone is there because they love what there doing, whether that is onstage or off.  They have become an immediate community of likeminded friends. 

 

And they have reignited my desire for this industry and helped me find my way in this beautiful life. 

 

If ever you’re feeling lost in what is often an overwhelming world, I implore you to seek out the hobbyists in your industry!  They may not be the most professional, the most innovative or have the highest production values but none of that matters!  They are the most positive and passionate groups and they just might relight your fire.

The Escape Room Evolved: ‘Stab in the Dark’

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Creative Industries, Entertainment, Theatre

It is always important to keep up with the latest trends in any industry and in recent years the entertainments world had been taken over by Escape Rooms.

If you don’t know what an escape room is basically where have you been?  There are hundreds, if not thousands of these up and down the country.

The trend began in the Japan and the concept is simple: get “locked” in a room must solve a series of puzzles to escape.

These come in all shapes and sizes, at a variety of prices and in any possible theme imaginable!  Great for team building activities or just fun nights out with a group of mates they are generally popular little money spinners!

 

So, what happens when you take these to the next level?

Enter Show Up Productions.

 

From 1st October 2019 Show Up Productions will be launching the previews of their ‘Immersive Crime Scene Experience: Stab in the Dark’

Young Essex based entrepreneur Rachel Dingle has taken the concept of the escape room and turned it on its head:

 

It’s 1995. There has been a murder in a prestigious fashion store. You have been called in by the local police to help the investigation.

Spend an hour in the crime scene looking for clues and collecting evidence.

Take your findings to the police station where you can submit evidence for forensic analysis, speak to witnesses, and eliminate possible suspects.

Can you solve the case?!

 

This isn’t about speed.  It is experimenting with the concept that guests are specialist detectives brought into investigate and solve a murder with live, talented, multirole-playing actors to assist you on your journey.

This is a completely immersive, interactive event but, more to the point, by playing on the ever growing and continually popular Escape Room market Rachel has developed a completely unique theatrical experience.

If you’re in the Southend-on-Sea area go and check it out!  This is one not to be missed! Get your tickets HERE.

 

But could your company jump onboard the Escape Room train?

There are loads of ways you could play with the general concept of the Escape Room that would encourage a new audience to get involved with your arts organisation so put those thinking caps on.

Not only do these not have to break the bank but they could also be great money spinners and raise your profile:

  • KnowEscape currently have somewhat of a monopoly on the portable escape room.  Their travelling Escape Bus covers everything from personal parties to professional events across the UK.
  • Similarly, container entertainment has been growing over the last few years (meaning shows that are built into recycled lorry containers).  Darkfield do great things with containers, and although I know this isn’t strictly speaking an escape room, they are a fantastic example in simplistic theming and concept that can easily be toured.  They use surround soundscapes through headphones in the pitch black utilising your different senses to create horror genre environments.
  • Museums and Galleries are a great place to experiment with the Escape Room.  They have the existing space available to play with performative experiences and are generally only open during the day so contemplate evening openings in limited spaces to attract that 9 to 5, Monday to Friday working crowd in midweek!
  • Already running an escape room?  Have you thought about kid-friendly rooms, shorter in length and easier to solve.  You could run these in your existing rooms during half terms and holidays to boost those sales and increase your audience?  Doing this may even inspire the parents and guardians to come back and try these escape rooms for themselves!
  • Hit up the corporate market by expanding your escape room into full day experiences.  Companies love a team building daily excursion!  You could even incorporate some of the immersive aspects Show Up have thought about in order to expand!
  • Don’t have a venue? No problem, think about developing ‘escape cities’ or ‘parks’.  Online treasure hunts are growing and their biggest pro is that walking round a city is free! Remember though: this isn’t quite the same if you’re running tours or public treasure hunts as there is a certain amount of red tape that needs cutting and permission that needs gaining!

And this is only spin offs for escape rooms!  Every week brings a new fashion, so keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to the latest trends and think about how you could use these in your organisation!

How Theatre can Inspire Revolution: ‘First Time’

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Promotion, Start Ups, Theatre

Theatre has a unique ability to inspire audiences.  It can work particularly well when raising awareness about charitable causes.

 

Well, recent winner of a Best Show of the Fringe award from The Stage Nathaniel Hall does just that with his new one man show ‘First Time’ in collaboration with Dibby Theatre.

This autobiographical play explains how Nathaniel contracted HIV from his first sexual partner.  He cleverly uses a variety of storytelling techniques to portray the emotional rollercoaster he had been on from when he first received the news through his journey of coming to terms with his diagnosis.

 

A self-proclaimed activist Manchester based Nathanial aims to speak out for and with those who have previously been unheard or ignored.

 

It is a combination of his immense bravery in telling his own unique story, his natural ability to inspire others to come out and speak openly about their own experiences with HIV and his incredible fundraising drive to work alongside locally based HIV charities offering workshops and talks that have led to some unbelievable (and well deserved) National Press Coverage.

 

This has included editorials in AttitudeBuzzfeed, and BBC News.

 

In fact, flicking down his press page is basically like the perfect lesson in who to contact when developing a press release list for a show like this: the national news platforms, the local reviewers and papers, the LGBT community and theatre-based media companies across the UK.

 

What is particularly special about Nathaniel’s show is how in talking about his diagnosis he has begun the healing process of his mental health and finally he is looking forward to the future. He has used his story to encourage a revolution.

 

You can take inspiration from Nathaniel when developing your own work.

  • Could you get involved with charities that are relevant to the work you’re producing?  This could open up funding opportunities for your own show and help boost donations to the charities you are supporting.

o   ‘First Time’ has run after show parties to raise money for local HIV charities

  • Could you offer specialist workshops or talks to help others learn from the themes in your work?  Could you contribute to the community alongside your performance to help spread your message and could increase your ticket sales.

o   ‘First Time’ has run post show discussions about Rapid HIV Testing.

  • Could you use your work to raise awareness of and openly campaign for an important cause? If you found communities that would be helped with your work this could not only mean sponsorship for your performance but also opens new marketing outlets so that your show is reaching the right audiences.

o   ‘First Time’ aims to erase the stigma around HIV and campaigning for the UN Goal of zero new HIV transmissions by 2030.

 

We would love to hear about any work you’ve done like this.  Let us know in the comments!

 

Nathaniel J. Hall and Dibby Theatre will be touring ‘First Time’ soon so keep your eyes peeled on their website here to check out when where you can see this remarkable show.