There are a number of brilliant projects that are being ran across Hall Green helping children, families and older adults in our constituency. This edition of the Hall Green Community Newsletter we are shining a spotlight on the work of Women and Theatre who are currently running their virtual Community Comedy Club for over 50s and Carers in Kings Heath and Brandwood and surrounding areas.
We spoke to Jo Gleave who is the Lead Artist Practitioner with Women & Theatre; Jo gave us a background on the charity who have been running for over 35 years, founded by current Artistic Director Janice Connolly. Since their start Women & Theatre have diversified in staff and their work however they remain a women-lead organisation.
One of the goals of Women & Theatre is to create work about “things that matter ”, and through this they have worked with a number of diverse groups of people across Birmingham including bereaved young people, older adults, carers and those in probation. Much of the art that the charity performs is based on the lived experiences of the participants of their workshops, and a lot of time is spent researching specific subject matter, conducting interviews and getting to know the people whose stories they tell.
An example of this is ‘Phyllis’, a show written and performed by Women and Theatre that presents the story of a woman and her family navigating the complex system of older peoples care. To develop the show Janice and colleagues undertook a series of interviews and meetings with Health and Social Care workers as well as older adults who had experience with Adult Social Care and Health Services to paint an accurate picture of what the experience is like.
The venues that Women and Theatre deliver their workshops and stage performances at are just as diverse as the content of their work, having even used a swimming pool previously as a performance space. People living in Birmingham can get involved with the charity in a variety of ways, often they will approach or be approached by existing groups to deliver sessions or put on performances, otherwise the group put call-outs for participants for their projects. Participants in Women & Theatres performances vary from trained actors to amateurs who have never performed in front of an audience before.
In the middle of June the charity began their virtual Community Comedy Club for over 50s and Carer’s in South Birmingham, a project which has been funded by Birmingham City Councils Prevention and Communities team. I asked Jo what it is like working with older adults through the Community Comedy Club: “It’s been great, they have all been really open and engaged. Many of them have never tried anything like this before; some have never performed before and just wanted to try something new.” When asked how often sensitive subject matter is explored through comedy Jo told me that “comedy can always be used to try and find the humour in tough situations” and there are plans to explore isolation in lockdown and the wider impact that the Coronavirus pandemic has had on participant’s lives at an upcoming workshop session.
Like almost all charities the Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way in which Women and Theatre work. Unfortunately some planned projects have been postponed but the charity have been creative in ensuring that some planned projects can still go ahead. Like many they have took their work online and have enlisted the help of local digital skills charity DigiKick to help support participants that might not be confident with using the internet to get involved. Another barrier that can impact people’s ability to take part in online projects is digital poverty and lack of access to tablets laptops and smart phones, Women & Theatre plan on working on ways that they can get this technology to would be participants. But while this period has been challenging there have also been some positives, “I think when we return to some normality we will continue elements of our online work as it has been beneficial for people who cannot leave their homes to attend in-person sessions”.
Jo has worked with Women and Theatre since 2018 having held a number of Arts and Theatre roles in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. One of the highlights of working for Women and Theatre for Jo is working with new people: “It is great to meet new people, find out what they can do creatively and watch a person’s confidence grow through the duration of a workshop. When People start they are quite nervous but over time come into a new confidence.”
Jo is an “adopted Brummie”, having moved to the city to study Theatre at University. Jo was impressed by the arts and culture scene in Birmingham and decided to make the city her home, “the arts environment in Birmingham is so supportive, everyone wants to help each other out, it’s not competitive.” When asked how the theatre and culture scene in Birmingham compares to that of other cities such as London and Manchester Jo tells me that it is Brummies can do attitude that sets us apart, “I think in Birmingham we don’t shout about our creativity we just get on with it!” Theatre is just as big a part of Jo’s life outside of work as it is in, in her downtime she enjoys watching theatre performances and going to the cinema.
Women & Theatre have recently started a podcast called ‘Women and Work’ which features three different women’s stories in relation to work; For the Past 30 Years,Starting Out and Prime Time. This unique and important body of work, developed from research from local women, presents the experiences of young women, retired women, and those who have seen massive changes in their sectors over the last 35 years.. The podcast is part of a listening club hosted through Facebook with online discussion, further demonstrating the charities commitment in engaging with their audience creatively through lockdown.
We would like to say a big thank you to Jo for taking the time to speak to us. To learn more about Women and Theatres projects visit their website Here.
Slingshot