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Is this Uni any good? Don’t ask the students…

Steve
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Is this Uni any good? Don’t ask the students…

In December, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) released a document[1] aimed at students to explain what the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is, writes PHD student Arte Artemiou. In it we see statements claiming that the TEF will “give students clear information about what teaching quality is” and to “encourage a stronger focus on the quality of teaching in higher education”.

arte
Arte Artemiou

These statements seem to be misleading and considering this is a document for students, that’s worrying. Dr. Andrew Gunn, a researcher in higher education policy, has said[2] that the TEF “is assessing everything that goes on before admission – from outreach, choosing candidates and interviews – to the actual teaching environment and then everything that students do after graduation.”

So not simply teaching excellence but the “entire teaching function of a university”.

Are these aims possible using the metrics that the TEF has set out? These metrics are: the National Student Survey (NSS), retention rates, graduate employability, and a 15-page narrative statement on the institutional context of the university. The 15-page narrative statement will be used as the deciding factor of whether a university can be upgraded or not after a provisional rating is given according to the other three metrics. All of this is being measured so that a university can charge future students more money depending on whether they achieve bronze, silver, or gold (although this is thought to be in line with inflation).

The NSS

Research[3] into the 2014 results of the NSS found that “students are happiest on degree programmes where high proportions of staff have the following characteristics: white, full professors, holding doctorates, and on fixed-term contracts” at universities that either rated research highly or had a high proportion of professionally qualified faculty found that which has very little to do with teaching excellence. As a result, the researchers questioned whether students, when completing the NSS, failed to see the impact that research may have on their studies and the potential that going to a more ‘elite’ university may instil expectations which are not found at non-elite universities, thus increasing the dissatisfaction scores of the NSS.

These findings and musings call into question the validity of the NSS as a metric for teaching excellence, let alone for the teaching function of a university. Even the Chair of the TEF’s assessment panel has admitted[4] to the inadequacy of the NSS stating that, “I do not think student satisfaction is an accurate proxy for teaching quality”, yet in the same breath claims that this doesn’t mean we mustn’t use the NSS. He argues that we must discover how the data it provides could be used “effectively”. Surely claiming that the NSS can’t be used as a useful metric but also claiming we should still give the results validity in some way is contradictory?

Retention rates

Research[5] into retention rates at universities found that those from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to leave before completion of their studies and those who went to universities with lower UCAS requirements were more likely to withdraw from their courses. According to the research, there were universities effectively challenging these trends, with those achieving low UCAS entry points and coming from disadvantaged backgrounds remaining at university at various interventions but low UCAS points and socioeconomic status isn’t the fault of universities so why is it a metric of teaching excellence?

Other research[6] indicates that the problem is not with universities but with secondary schools. If students were better prepared for the pressures and expectations of university they would either:

  1. a) not attend because it was not something they wanted to do, or
  2. b) already be developing the skills required to engage with undergraduate studies.

The very nature of ‘paying’ for an education (which is, in fact, borrowing money from taxpayers) has had a negative impact[7] on poorer students’ choice of university which could be also affecting retention rates as it isn’t their first choice.

Also, research[8] has shown that some courses are not worth the cost when compared to graduate earnings. Inevitably, students may not feel their ‘education’ is worth the amount of money they are borrowing to pay for and stop attending these courses. This is not solely the fault of universities but of the policymakers (like those who created the TEF) who are pushing an ideological vision of what education must be in the U.K.

Graduate employability

Research[9] into whether there are too many graduates in the UK found that graduates are filling jobs that were originally filled by school leavers; whether their degree is relevant to the position or not. This inevitably creates a false hierarchy of ‘educated’ vs the uneducated amongst employers, considering both will need to be trained in a graduate-irrelevant job. I am a firm believer that education – knowledge – must not be commodified or turned into a means to an end (i.e. a job). Knowledge and education must be made available to all. The argument that there are too many graduates for graduate related jobs is true, hence the mismatch of skills required and degree obtained – but this doesn’t mean the answer is to limit the people going to university or to funnel more people into university. It means we need to address the role of the university. It must be a centre of knowledge and learning, not an attempt to mark a step on career progression. There is a pressure on the education sector that need not be there: a notion that university will better the lives of those who attend and that we must fit as many students as possible into university for them to ‘better themselves’ (i.e. graduate relevant jobs). It isn’t working[10].

15-page contextual narrative

This doesn’t need much attention. One simple point: giving universities the ability to colour their function in a way that will inevitably paint them in a positive light, even if that isn’t the reality, is like giving someone a test and then asking them why they believe they should pass.

What’s your point?

Most of the issues with satisfaction scores, retention rates, and graduate employability come down to the idea that education is a commodity to be bought and sold to further careers rather than having a right to exist on its own merit.

These metrics of ‘teaching excellence’ are heavily influenced by factors that the metrics don’t account for. If a university doesn’t meet a student’s lived experience of education, for example, then they may be dissatisfied and/or drop-out.

Therefore, the metrics for the TEF make no sense in regards to teaching excellence no matter how you spin it (even by changing the definition of ‘teaching excellence’). We shouldn’t be making the best of the metrics, as the Chair of the TEF assessment panel said regarding the NSS, but we should be trying to figure out what higher education needs to be and how to measure teaching excellence.

In conclusion

The NSS is subjective and insufficient, drop-out rates are affected by background and scores in secondary school, and employability can be factored down to whether an employer believes a degree is a good thing (regardless of job relevance).

And this information is being used to charge more money to ‘learn’?

Think about that.

1] http://www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/tef/guidance/

[2] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/teaching-excellence-framework-is-about-much-more-than-teaching

[3] https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2712412

[4] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/tef-limit-use-flawed-nss-scores

[5] http://www.smf.co.uk/publications/staying-the-course/

[6] https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/317276/RR353__The_link_between_secondary_school_characteristics_and_university_participation_and_outcomes_FINAL.pdf

[7] http://www.educationopportunities.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/DoesCostMatter_ANEONReport.pdf

[8] https://www.ft.com/content/f326e3f4-00b6-11e6-99cb-83242733f755

[9] https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/11/huge-increase-in-number-of-graduates-bad-for-uk-economy

[10] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/26/university-graduating-non-graduates-career-skills

 

Putting the ! in Northamptonshire

Steve
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Putting the ! in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is Britain’s Best Surprise – it’s official – the tourism campaign declaring it to be so has been launched with some fizz and a bang.

20170327_100025The fizz was Sparkling Blush from New Lodge Vineyard at a Boughton House reception and the bang was a firework display and marketing messages beamed up onto the National Lift Tower in Northampton.

We were expecting the fireworks at 7.30pm, but perhaps it had been overlooked that the clocks had gone forward and it was still daylight. About an hour later they started going off. Surprise! The projections will be repeated every night this week.

The reception at Boughton House was less of a surprise but remember, this campaign is not for us, it is for the people who don’t know us, the people who drive past Northamptonshire on the M1 or streak past on a fast Virgin train to Birmingham.

Boughton House
Boughton House

Front and centre of the effort are the county’s stately homes which are declared to be Britain’s best statelys. There is a surprising number of them when they are lined up in front of you and there is plenty of history to go with them, whether it is the recent history of Althorp or the more distant heritage of Fotheringay, Holdenby or Ashby St Legers.

James Lowther, the former creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi and the Chairman of M&C Saatchi, is the mastermind. He was tasked with coming up with something for Northamptonshire by the Lord Lieutenant David Laing. The county council, Royal & Derngate, Corby Cube, Northampton Borough Council, the University of Northampton, the food and drink sector and the county’s churches and gardens are all on board.

The official press release states:

So why is Northamptonshire Britain’s Best Surprise?  Of course, there’s the stunning countryside, with its country parks, world class gardens, the Nene and Welland rivers and Grand Union canal. In this countryside sit the most magnificent historic houses in the country as well as some of the best Anglo Saxon, Norman & Gothic churches anywhere. It contains the birth place of Richard III, was the scene of Mary Queen of Scot’s execution, the cradle of The Gunpowder Plot, the place of Charles I’s imprisonment, as well as the Civil war battle that put him there, Naseby… arguably Britain’s most important battle.

But most surprising is that amongst all this beauty and history sits a very 21st century county. The place where 80% of the world’s F1 cars are built and the Grand Prix is held, where some of the country’s best artisan food and drink is made, and where the award winning Royal & Derngate produces some of the country’s best theatre.  The place that makes the most prestigious shoes is also the inspiration for the international hit film and musical, Kinky Boots.

To enjoy all this you can stay in luxurious 16th century hotels or enchanting B&Bs and also enjoy a series of established food and literary festivals at Althorp, The Nene Valley Festival and Oundle Music Festival as well enjoy great sport at Silverstone, The Saints and The Cobblers.

Untitled design (1)

2There are campaign posters at Euston and St Pancras and the pink exclamation mark campaign logo will adorn displays at gateway points around the county such as stations and attractions.

An extensive campaign website, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, also contains details of county amenities www.northamptonshiresurprise.com.

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Hilarious, mind boggling, frightening

Steve
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Hilarious, mind boggling, frightening

Computer Aficionado James Sheppard explores the world of virtual reality via an Occulus Rift headset…

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James Sheppard

A wondrous new computer technology that will open your mind to the digital advances of our age, generating images, sounds and other sensations that duplicate a real environment around you.

And enable your friends to jump scare you to an ignoble death.

My first time with VR was full of all the normal excitement, trepidation and wonder: I was like a dog learning how to open a cupboard door to the doggy treats slyly hidden away. A puppy in Narnia you might say. But in place of Mr. Tumnus, was a grouchy old fellow who had only just got over dial-up not being a thing anymore, and he was angry about it. How dare technology advance without warning! Back in his day you could hear the internet working, like giant cogs in a Victorian machine. Where’s the steam, eh? Where’s the hard work and elbow grease?

Well as I found out, VR is hard work in lots of different ways. Navigating an imaginary world that no one else can see, but is as real to you as the pint of coffee you need to function in the morning, is hilarious, mind-boggling and frightening all at the same time.  Add a space that needs to be explored to be understood, and you can cancel those Wednesday spin classes you love and hate in equal measure.

Walking around a giant green room, a Occulus Rift Headset trailing wires behind me like a wedding train, I felt quite comfortable wandering around an illusory lab. I thought of myself as a mad scientist, a bit like Emmett Brown, shouting at Marty for messing up the space-time continuum again. I could pick up objects in this world, mix concoctions able to create giant fire-breathing mutant space hamsters, and then with the fickleness of a feline with a ball of twine, drop them ignorantly on the floor and generally cause havoc.

Then I found the robot dog.

Not realising that I squeaked in excitement, I threw myself at this pretend pixel effect, giddy with delight. My friends watching thought I had finally gone mad whilst I squealed: “It’s a Puppy!!” I could pet it, rub its belly, and even scratch it behind the ear to make its back leg reverberate like a speaker at a drum and bass night. Any dog lover and technophile would be speechless in gushing pleasure; It’s cute and the pinnacle of modern science? I want seven!

Whilst rolling around on the floor with my new friend, my old friends decided it was time I experienced something else. Something light hearted, whimsical and showcasing the best and brightest of this flagship technology. Something I would enjoy being completely immersed in.

Now I’m sure we all know, you should never trust your closest friends. They’re cantankerous, conniving, scheming conspirators of the worst degree. And they had just plotted a surprise for me.

With one button press, the environment around changed into a dank dungeon interior, flickering torches aligning the walls. What light was dimly playing around my view presented me with a single door. Apparently, I had been stranded in a labyrinth and had to get out. Easy I said; it’s just a game. I’ve got a lantern and a map, I’ll be fine. And off I blundered into the horrifying depths of some computer coders idea of a nightmare. If I ever find out who they were, they’re off my Christmas card list for life.

A few meandering corridors later, I’m thinking a lot of myself; I had found a room with a chair in it, a few interesting barrels contained some oil to keep my light going, and despite the ambient sound effects having me turn around every two seconds, I hadn’t jumped out of my skin yet.

Then I found the statue.

It was your standard gothic gargoyle. It took up all my vision rearing out of its alcove, not quite intimidating but still suspect nonetheless. It wasn’t moving, it didn’t appear to be alive, so I decided to investigate a chest on the other side of the room. Maybe it held the key out of this oubliette of oddities? So, off I went, sparing a cursory glance behind me.

The statue had moved.

When I say moved, it was stationary and unmoving, but no longer in its tucked away nook. I wish it had stayed there. I wish the shiver up my spine had stayed comfortably away. I wish my friends sniggers at my incoherent blabbering had stayed silent in their throats. It’s not easy trying to explain a fantasy figment of your imagination trying to scare the spots off you to people that can’t see it; just ask the kids from Elm Street.

Believing that chest may be my saviour, I scamper towards it the gargoyle leaving my vision for no more than half a second.

That half a second is enough.

In a horror version of Benny Hill, this statue chases me around the room but never moves. I’m screaming my lungs out asking for help, my friends are laughing so hard they sound like hyenas, and the wires are tangled around me like some deadly snake. I tear off the headset gasping for reality, cold sweat drenching me like a flood.

And the despondent Mr. Tumnus? He just winks at me and says:

“New technology, old tricks.”

He’s off my Christmas list too.

Can Northants fight like underdogs?

Steve
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Can Northants fight like underdogs?

On the 20th August, 2016, the Northants Steelbacks won their second domestic T20 title in four years, writes Alex Stockton. After a superb campaign, the men from Wantage Road ran out deserved winners in a tense final. Throughout the tournament, Alex Wakely’s men once again proved that their “underdog” tag was not only misguided, but irrelevant. While their T20 triumph undoubtedly topped the bill, the Steelbacks also experienced some success in 50-over cricket, reaching the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup. It took the brilliance of Kumar Sangakkara to halt their charge in that competition. Northants also enjoyed a reasonable season in red ball cricket, despite promotion never looking likely. All things considered, 2016 was a successful year for Northants, and if nothing else the county’s claim for a little more TV coverage has been staked.

Fast forward to now, and the county are preparing for another season. It should go without saying that there will be expectation on them to perform in the game’s shortest form, but the club will hope to make some progress in four day cricket, too. The last time Northants were promoted ended in disaster, after they were relegated back to Division Two without winning a single game. This time, if the county can secure another promotion, they will be hoping to make it count.

They could well do that, too. Northants have not one, but two players in the England Lions squad in Ben Duckett and Graeme White. If those two can stay fit, and provided they don’t play too many games for the national side, then Northants can expect to reap the rewards, with both playing all three formats. With Wakely back in form last season, and with Rory Kleienveldt as consistent as ever, the nucleus of the squad is very solid. A welcome addition would be a top-class overseas player. Whether or not the county can afford a very top-end player is a matter for another debate, but should they be able to secure the services of an international star, that would certainly help the cause. For example, Kent’s acquisition of Kagiso Rabada last summer was a fine piece of business.

That said, whether or not the club’s finances are capable of maintaining a Division One spot is uncertain. It could be argued that, given the recent financial instability of the club, Division Two is a better place for Northants. The upkeep of a Division One side is generally higher than that of one in the second tier. While higher attendances might generate some revenue, they can’t be relied upon, and players often require higher wages. Thankfully, however, the club was stabilised last season, and all seems to be in order for now. Perhaps moreso than last season, therefore, the club can commit to trying to finish in the county championship’s top two. It won’t be easy, with Durham and Nottinghamshire hot favourites to bounce straight back to the top flight, but the underdog tag has suited Ripley’s men before.

Moving away from the professional game, the 2017 Northants Cricket League looks set to be an interesting one. Old Northamptonians won their first title for some time last season, breaking up the dominance of Peterborough and Finedon. Bearing in mind that Rushden won the title in 2015, there are now five or six teams who should be able to compete for the ultimate prize ach year. That can only be healthy. For a number of years, the two aforementioned powerhouses entered what many felt was a two-horse race at the start of every season. A bit of increased competition from the likes of ONs, Rushden and Rushton can only be a positive thing.

Throughout the leagues, though, there will be a sense of optimism for many. I played a lot of cricket in Division Five last year and I can honestly say that the competitive nature of the game is still there. I’ve played in the prem, Division One, and Division Five and everyone always wants to win, which is hardly surprising. Throughout the leagues there are a large number of sides who, on their day, are probably capable of beating a team three tiers above them. Availability and what’s on offer at tea perhaps become more pertinent the further down the leagues one gets, but the game is generally played in the same spirit across the county.

Some of the most interesting cricket to be involved in is also on offer at the bottom end of the league system. Many clubs who field fourth or fifth teams give their youth an excellent chance to experience adult cricket, and that can make for some really exciting contests. Twelve year old opening bowlers coming up against 6’4 opening batsmen is a fascinating spectacle, and one that is readily available in the lower leagues.

All in all, cricket in the county seems to be in good shape following last season. Winter nets across the county will have started up by now and, before too long, the ritualistic first cutting of outfields will be upon us. My nose is twitching just thinking about it.

Rehearsing for summer

Steve
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Rehearsing for summer
ImageIt’s been a busy couple of weeks for us at Warts and All Theatre here at Delapre Abbey, writes Chris Elmer-Gorry. The March Sunday Artist Shindig at Foodies.rocks with Brigitte Aphrodite, proved extremely popular! We’ve been darting around Northampton to talk about project ideas with various organisations and ways we can provide theatre and drama for schools and colleges. There’s lots of interest, so that’s always really inspiring!
We are also looking forward to our next shindig at Foodies.rocks, where we welcome Sarah Brigham from Derby Theatre and James Dacre from Royal & Derngate. We’ll be discussing and debating all things regional, with a focus on East Midlands Theatre! Book your free tickets here (https://goo.gl/n82wW4)
We have now began rehearsals with all of our groups for the Summer Productions at Delapre Abbey which will be announced over the next few weeks. -we’re busy putting finishing touches to all of the marketing material- which is looking great! More about this in my next post for The NeneQuirer…
It’s crazy to think about how much we’ve grown in the last 7 months. But everyone at Warts and All Theatre is feeling very excited for the future! We now have over 60 participants, from eight years old to adult, attending our weekly workshops at Delapre Abbey and across Northampton.
There’s still some opportunities to join- especially through our Bursary Scheme. We have free places available in our 8-11 group which runs from 5.15-6.45pm on a Thursday evening. So if you think your little one might enjoy an opportunity to play, grow and learn new Drama and Theatre skills- get in touch.( hello@wartsandalltheatre.co.uk)
Our Bursary scheme is there to allow anyone to take part- regardless of your financial circumstance!
Image-4Over the next couple of weeks we will be putting the plans together for our Summer Productions, confirming the next three months of our Sunday Artist Shindigs and getting ready for our exciting Easter Holiday Project at Delapre Abbey… and of course completing the obligatory funding applications for some of our projects over the next three years…
The Mystery at Delapre Abbey is our Easter Holiday Project for 7-13 year olds. Our holiday projects are high quality and professionally led week long projects. They are an affordable way for children and young people to engage in drama and craft activities over the school holidays. Our Easter holiday project runs from  3-7th April and participants will explore a good old mystery themed week of activities, from code cracking to treasure hunting. The week ends in a performance to parents and guardians. It will be really fun for everyone involved!
It’s also worth mentioning (apologies for the hard sell!) that there is an earlybird booking discount which works out to be only £17 a day- that’s from 9-4pm (So like £2.43 an hour! We think that’s pretty good!) So make sure you book in advance to get the best deal! More information on that event can’t be found here.(https://www.facebook.com/events/642145262660954/?ti=icl)
Hopefully we will see you or one of your family members at a Warts and All Theatre event over the next few weeks. Say hello if you do!
Right! Time to get back to the ‘to do’ list! Next up, logistics and schedules! -It’s all good fun. Honest.

The jewel in the Crown Room

Steve
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The jewel in the Crown Room

Before I met the real Tim Pigott-Smith OBE in the Crown Room of the Royal Theatre at Northampton’s Royal and Derngate, I whiled away a few minutes meeting the famous Tim Pigott-Smith in my imagination.

This is the TPS who first took centre stage on our TV screens in The Jewel In The Crown (1984) but whose career now spans countless television and movie roles from Dr Who to James Bond and Escape to Victory.

He’s a dab hand at the flawed authority figure: in a single sideways glance he can describe icy English stand-offishness with underlying flickers of lonely self-doubt.

A. Single. Glance.

Had he wished to he could have carved out a career as one of Hollywood’s off the peg Brit bad guys. It adds a touch of irony to the fact that he is in Northampton to play one of the great American roles: Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman.

In my imaginary conversation with him Tim is turning that chilling gaze on me: “Haven’t you done your research?”

Deservedly as it happens, because a bit of research reveals a much more complex and talented performer than the Hollywood roles require.

His theatre credits speak of a massive range, he directs, and he has written some children’s books (The Baker Street Irregulars) and his memoir, Do You Know Who I Am?, comes out while Death of A Salesman tours following its run at the Royal. He’s one of those actors you think you know because he is such a familiar face but in fact, forget everything you think you know…

Far from the pomposity and emotional remoteness of his best known characters, Tim is an engaging and friendly man. He strolls in apologising for keeping me waiting and for the slight growl caused by his sore throat (“you just get on with it, otherwise you don’t work”).

His skin was pale but in a glowing rather than an unhealthy way and he had a way of grinning mischievously at times that he might well have had since he was 12 years old.

I asked him how he came to be involved in this production of Death of A Salesman.

“Well my wife Pamela is playing my wife in Death of A Salesman. I had stayed in touch with the director Abigail Graham since we worked on Enron together and she said she wanted us to do it. She thought Pamela and I would be ideal, so we spoke to James Dacre, who has been making such a great success of running the theatre here,” Tim explained.

The play is at the Royal throughout April and then goes on tour. For Tim and Pamela, the chance to work together is also a chance to spend time together as they are usually hostage to wherever work takes them.

Tim’s latest success playing Charles III saw him spending several months in New York during the play’s run on Broadway.

“Pamela couldn’t make it to the opening but she came out for Christmas, so it was all right,” Tim smiled, but he was clearly delighted to teamed with his wife for this production.

“It’s completely natural for us to work together. We have acted together, I have directed her. We go home and we can run through it. I do have to be careful about the cast reporting back to her, you know: have you seen what the leading man is doing?”

He deployed that twinkly eyed boyish giggle. The sense of mischief is not just for fun. He looks for the different or new way of doing things in his work.

“It’s quite a bold production. Willy remembers things from his life in a very vivid way and we are experimenting with how we depict that. I didn’t think it would be worth doing unless we brought something new to it. I saw a very dry and dated version a few years ago.
“It is about the danger of the capitalist dream and what happens when you can’t let go of the idea that everything is always going to get better. This idea that anyone can be a success, even be the President – which seems to have come true in a ghastly way!” Tim laughed.

Death of A Salesman will be staged in American, so to speak (indeed there are two American cast members) and Tim summons up the accent with ease. It’s reassuring. We’re not going to feel uncomfortable watching him.

For someone who spends a lot of his professional life on the road Northampton is not a completely unfamiliar environment.

Tim said: “I was born in Rugby and lived in Leicester and Stratford so I’m a Midlands boy, although like a lot of actors we live in London now for work reasons. We are staying in the area during the play because it’s over an hour to get back home. Northampton is a lovely place, there are some amazing buildings here like the Guildhall and All Saints church.

“My mother came to stay with her uncle here early in her life. He was Charles Halliwell, I think he was a headmaster.”

Quite rightly, with so much material to draw upon, Tim has written a memoir.

“It’s called Do You Know Who I Am? It works two ways… you have the obvious meaning but it’s also a question I am asking for myself.”

The role call of names he could be dropping is immense. The classic football movie Escape to Victory featured Bobby Moore, Pele, Michael Caine, Silvester Stallone and a host of Ipswich Town players.

“It provided me with a few stories for the memoir,” Tim smiles. Despite the glamour of the famous names, however, you get the impression that right now – in rehearsal for a new play with a team of fellow actors around him – is where Tim really likes to be.

In a rehearsal room you find out what you can do. You stretch your muscles.

He said: “I didn’t really want to be a Hollywood actor. With film you bring what you know to the screen, whereas in a rehearsal room for theatre you find out what you can do. You stretch your muscles.”

  • Death of A Salesman runs from April 8 until April 29 at Royal & Derngate.
  • DoaS is the first 2017 Made In Northampton production
  • The cast is Tim, Pamela Miles, Geff Francis, Sujaya Dasgupta, Ben Deery, Michael Marcus, Amelia-Rose Morgan, Mitchell Mullen, Thom Tuck, Connie Walker and Michael Walters
  • it is directed by Abigail Graham
  • the set is by Georgia Lowe but will be put together by the R&D team

Would you look at these credits:

Theatre includes: Death of a Salesman (Royal & Derngate), King Charles III (Almeida Theatre / West End / Broadway – Nominated for a Tony Award and Olivier Award for Best Actor); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Theatre Royal, Bath); Stroke of Luck (Park Theatre); The Tempest (Theatre Royal, Bath); King Lear (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Educating Rita (Trafalgar Studios); Enron (Chichester Festival Theatre /Royal Court / West End – Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor); A Delicate Balance (Almeida Theatre); The Iceman Cometh (Almeida Theatre / Old Vic / Broadway); Little Nell (Theatre Royal Bath); Pygmalion (Theatre Royal, Bath / Old Vic); See How They Run; Jane Eyre; Benefactors (West End); Hecuba (Donmar Warehouse); Antony and Cleopatra; Mourning Becomes Electra; Mary Stuart; The Tempest; Cymbeline; A Winter’s Tale; Entertaining Strangers; Coming In To Land; NT 50 (National Theatre); The Bengal Lancer; A Christmas Carol; The Picture of Dorian Grey (Lyric Hammersmith); Heritage (Hampstead Theatre); Old Times; The Alchemist (Birmingham Repertory Theatre / National Theatre); Retreat (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond); Amadeus (Compass Theatre); Julius Caesar (RSC Stratford / Barbican); Sherlock Holmes; (RSC Aldwych and Broadway); Coriolanus; Cymbeline; Titus Andronicus; Woman Before Woman (RSC); Traps (Royal Court); Hamlet (Prospect Theatre); As You Like It; Major Barbara; School for Scandal (Bristol Old Vic).

Television includes: King Charles III; Decline and Fall; Lewis; Rory Bremner’s Election Report; Houdini; 37 Days; The Bletchley Circle; The Great Train Robbery; The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (3 series); Wodehouse in Exile; Miranda; Downton Abbey; The Hour; The Little House; On Expenses; Money; Foyle’s War; Midsomer Murders; Holby Blue; Poirot; North and South; Eroica; Pompeii; The Vice; Inspector Lynley Mysteries; Bloody Sunday; The Innocents; The Glittering Prizes; The Wilderness Years; Hannah; ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore; Eustace and Hilda; The Lost Boys; Wings; Fame is the Spur; Jewel in the Crown (BAFTA, Press Guild and TV Times Best Actor Award); The Traitor; The Challenge; Life Story; The Chief; The Life and Times of Christopher Columbus; Bullion Boys; Shadowy Third.

Film includes: Victoria and Abdul; 6 Days; Whisky Galore; Jupiter Ascending; Red 2; Alice in Wonderland; Quantum of Solace; V for Vendetta; Alexander; Johnny English; Gangs of New York; Bloody Sunday; The Four Feathers; The Remains of the Day; Aces High; Joseph Andrews; Sweet William; Clash of the Titans; The Day Christ Died; Escape to Victory; The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Richard’s Things; Laisser-Passer; Dead Man’s Folly.

Directing includes: Company by Samuel Beckett (Edinburgh Festival / Donmar Warehouse); Hamlet (Regents Park); The Real Thing (National Tour). Artistic Director of Compass 1989 – 93.

Women with Soul by Dave Ikin

Steve
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Women with Soul by Dave Ikin

To mark International Women’s Day the Women with Soul Show on NNBC 106.9fm invited a group of inspiring women from Northamptonshire to celebrate with them at a networking evening live on air at the St John’s studio. The NeneQuirer asked veteran Northampton photographer Dave Ikin to cover the event. His pictures are in the gallery below. Find out more about the night on the NNBC website here.

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Bri is turning tears into glitter

Steve
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Bri is turning tears into glitter

Brigitte Aphrodite kicks a glittery platformed heel through the cosy convention of generic job titles by needing at least half a dozen words to describe what she does. Punk feminist showgirl poet singer comedian… maybe… ish.

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Bri and Quiet Boy take to the stage

I think I know what I’m expecting as I make my way to a seat in the cellar of Foodies.Rocks for the gig/Q&A organised by Warts and All Theatre. The unmistakeably sparkly Brigitte is moving amongst the audience members applying glitter to cheekbones and chatting casually. It seems like a good laugh is on the way with maybe some thought provoking awkward moments thrown in. But there is something about the glitter I can’t quite put my finger on…

Brigitte introduces herself and then her tall dark and handsome guitar wielding sidekick – Quiet Boy. They make quite a couple on the cosy stage. She is a little explosion of gothy glamour: silver platforms, black sequins and a spray of raven hair. Correspondingly Quiet Boy’s grey shirt and black jeans let him fade into the shadows Brigitte is bursting from. They work beautifully well together.

Briefly we are left to ponder the nature of the relationship between Bri and Quiet Boy and in a different kind of show it might almost have been a running gag through the whole performance – a comical story within a story with repressed and overt sexual tension.

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Bri combines gig and theatre

But in this show she announces reassuringly: “actually he’s my long term partner Gaz” and you get the impression that honesty is being taken seriously tonight.

Brigitte tells us she is going to ease us into her performance which contains some parts of her show My Beautiful Black Dog – a more elaborate examination of her life and mental health – which has been touring and was a success at the Edinburgh Fringe. Black Dog, we are warned, takes the audience on a journey of highs and lows that it would not be responsible to inflict on us without the main show’s support system in place (it includes a chill out space where people can reflect on their feelings). They would try to keep this taster compassionately light.

Bri is a witty and accessible poet, firing out cleverly chosen but familiar language, veering in and out of song to suit the moment. Her poems report her feelings in an unfiltered and uncontrived way and avoid the temptation to tie everything up in a neat poetic knot with a moral, solution or analysis. It’s in this way she leads you step by step through a dismal wander in a shopping centre deep into the heart of a spectacular panic attack.

And by the time we are there with her it is spectacular: the theatricality of Brigitte Aphrodite is in full bloom with her hair thrown over her face and wide wild eyes staring beyond the audience as though the fourth wall had never been broken. Meanwhile Quiet Boy interjects with jagged guitar chords and echoing vocals: the embodiment of rock and roll backing singer empathy.

Creshendorius is a song that deserves special mention as Bri inflates the room with full lunged joy and the awkward moment does come as the boys are invited to stand up and shake their bits in a song about shimmying.

At the end of an emotional number Brigitte asks us if we are all right. The stage lights are catching on her glittery cheeks and for a second it looks like she has been crying. We must all look like we have been crying but we haven’t because we have got Brigitte looking after us, turning tears into glitter.

  • Bri and Gaz returned to the stage after the gig for a Q&A session lead by Chris Elmer-Gorry of Warts and All Theatre, they talked about future plans for My Beautiful Black Dog which include a tour
  • At the Q&A it was revealed that the origin of the glitter is that Bri had been obsessed with it since childhood when she would rub Christmas cards on her face to get the glittery effect
  • You can find out more about Brigitte Aphrodite here

The toughest test of all

Steve
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The toughest test of all

As winter nets at clubs around the county continue to progress, some of the pre-season cobwebs should be starting to shift themselves, writes Alex Stockton. For some, though, February marks not the start of indoor nets, but simply another month closer to the start of the season. Young cricketers up and down the country who train with their county or district sides will already be well into the swing of things. In fact, some of them have probably been netting since October.

Whether or not such lack of respite has a positive effect is a matter for some debate. Certainly, it is good to encourage young players to play a lot of cricket. As long as they’re enjoying it, they’ll continue to improve, after all. That said, young fast bowlers can often do more harm than good by netting too much. Stress fractures and muscle strains are all too common for young quicks, and these issues could come as a result of year-round training. An injury can really take it out of you at such a tender age, and I speak from personal experience.

In terms of my cricketing background, I have been luckier than most. At fifteen, I broke into the Northants age group side as a handy opening bowler, and played a number of matches alongside the county’s recent breakthrough act, Ben Duckett. Phil Rowe, the current 1st XI bowling coach at Northants, was our head coach, with Steven Crook also working with us. “Crooky” was an outstanding guy to have around, and Phil is the best coach to have ever worked with me. That season was the real deal for me, as an aspiring professional cricketer. I played competitive games against Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire to name but three, and there was a real sense of professionalism in the group. I also got my first taste of two-day cricket, which remains the closest I have come to playing in a test match. Strapping on my bowling boots and hearing “we’re going to declare soon, lads, get yourselves warm” was so satisfying that I couldn’t help but crack a smile. Call me Jimmy Anderson and give me the new ball.

I had a great season for my local club, too. Towcestrians’ first XI were in Division 3 of the county league, and I helped them to win the division and secure promotion. I was very much the youngest of a young bunch who, to all intents and purposes, had a seriously bright future ahead of them. My debut, against our promotion rivals Peterborough, saw me take two wickets and hit around 30 runs in a convincing win, and I never looked back from that point. I stayed fit and I bowled well throughout the season. Without really having to think about it, I was able to run in and hit my areas, and everything was pointing towards a very bright future in cricket.

At the start of the 2011 season, though, something went wrong. In an attempt to show one of my friends what I’d done to tweak my bowling action, I damaged the oblique muscles down my left side, and wasn’t able to bowl again for some time. This wasn’t a minor injury. Even bending down to pick up a plate from the drawer was excruciatingly painful, and I had to rest up for a while. There were around four weeks until the start of the season, and everyone at Towcester was telling me that I should sit out for the first couple of games, or play them as a batsman. Despite this, I played in the first game of the season. I bowled two overs for around 16. There were a couple of wides, and I sprayed the ball. My left side wasn’t strong enough to stop me pulling the ball, and it didn’t come out right at all. After that, I told myself I had to change something in the next game I played, and I pushed everything down the legside. Already I was starting to panic a little. My action had gone, and so had my head.

In hindsight, though, this was not an injury that occurred at the start of the season. That year, I’d begun netting in October. That meant I’d basically spent seven months running in on a hard, indoor surface and hurling down cricket balls. That’s longer than a cricket season. By the time early May came around, therefore, it was not only unsurprising that I picked up a niggle, but I feel that it might have been inevitable. To be clear, this isn’t me blaming Northants cricket for my injury. It is quite likely that, had I not spent so long in front of coaches’ eyes, I would not have been picked for the side, nor would I have been half the bowler I turned out to be. There is undoubtedly a risk, however, that young fast bowlers could do themselves a lot of damage over strenuous winter training programmes. I wasn’t even the worst case. One of my team mates was widely regarded as the quickest bowler in the county. The season before my injury, though, he slipped a disc in his back. After that, he was nowhere near the same bowler. Luckily for him, he was a seriously good batsman, meaning he could still play high-level cricket after his injury. As far as I’m aware though, he hasn’t bowled too many balls in anger since we last bowled in unison.

Since, my action has never once snapped through like it did in that breakthrough season for me, and now I find myself infuriated every time I bowl. I should be bowling quicker, I tell myself, but it just won’t happen. Now, I can run in and hit an area, and I swing the ball well, but it’s more as a tidy line and length bowler than as someone who has genuine pace. Whether or not there is still some psychological baggage from hurting myself, I don’t know, but I can’t quite generate the same whip I used to be able to with my body. Perhaps it’s a case of too much time spent not trusting my body and not letting loose.

Granted, there were other plenty more factors at play that stopped me making it as a cricketer. I still stand at 5’10, after I stopped growing at 15. That said, players like Dale Steyn and Malcolm Marshall have never had an issue being under six feet tall. I wasn’t the most competent batsman back then, either, meaning there was lot riding on my ability to stay fit as a bowler. All in all, it would still have been very difficult for me had I not picked up an injury. When something like that happens, though, it’s difficult to not wonder what might have been.

It’s hardly the end of the world that some 16/17 year old kid didn’t quite make it as a professional sportsman. It happens all the time, all over the world, anyway. At its worst, though, this sudden loss of confidence really took it out of me. At the tender age of 17, I had to go from knocking on the door of a professional cricket academy to not quite knowing where I was, to being dropped completely. That wasn’t easy. I had put a lot of pressure on my performances and built myself up over a long period of time. It didn’t take half as long to be knocked off that lofty position of self-confidence and self-belief. While now, at the age of 22, I can appreciate the ability I had and the chances I had to play in some great games, it seemed quite tough on me as it was all happening. My advice to anyone going through anything similar is just to let loose. Have a real go, and if you fall short, you mustn’t linger. Enjoy the game, because the longer you spend fretting and getting worked up about it, the less time you’ve got to take a step back and just appreciate what you’re doing. These days, I relish fielding and waiting to bat just as much as I do knocking someone’s middle stump over, and that’s not a bad place to be.

I should also acknowledge that I still absolutely love the game, and that my experiences with Northants only helped that. Yes, it’s frustrating when I bowl and, yes, I’d love to have continued to press on from where I was, but it has not put me off. I play for Stony Stratford now, and enjoy every match I play in. It’s certainly better when I can get wickets or runs, but I’d be as happy now to play a game in Division 12 as I would to play one in the premier league. This article is just a warning note to any prospective young fast bowlers out there. If you feel a niggle, don’t ignore it, and if you feel over-worked, give your body a chance.

Disclaimer: should you come calling, Northants, I’ll still bite your hand off.

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