We are pleased to announce a broad range of activities just added to the diary. That nice Mrs. Barbara Nice is staging her comedy Jamboree on Saturday, a week later the Vintage Fair returns, then there’s a disco for young children and their families organised by Untied Artists and to cap it all we are excited to give advanced notice of a fantastic music double bill staged by Birmingham Jazz at the venue – music legend Harold Budd and The Necks – who we are very keen on.

Yes, our fantastic landlords have put a new roof on the Africa space. “So what” you may say. We say “so no more leaks of rain, no more leaks of light, plus INSULATION”. In fact the thickest insulation the roofer had seen in a goodly while. This photograph is a bit out of date, it’s on now waiting for you to admire it.

Next up The Name of Action: a site-specific installation @ A.E. Harris, created around five new films made by young people aged 15-18yrs. Each film, shot in diverse locations in and around Birmingham, combines simple but powerful imagery with a Shakespeare text, conveying fresh perspectives on the fears, frustrations, anger and fantasies of young people in the city. With the films screened simultaneously on the post-industrial surfaces of the factory, you are invited to make your own way through the spaces, viewing and re-viewing the contradictory forces and features shaping Birmingham’s next generation.

This piece is made by Theatre Ark, long term friends of @ A.E. Harris. Details of dates and times are to the right here.

Theatre Ark aims to facilitate the broadest learning of its young members in the field of theatre arts, to enable them, as young, active citizens of Birmingham and its surrounding areas, to find and develop a collective, artistic identity and voice in the cultural life of the city, and to work to express creatively and constructively their experience of being young people in these times.

Hold on something serious is happening!

Hold on, what’s up @ A E Harris? A net, that’s what’s up, but why oh why?

Thank you to everyone who came to Pilot last night. We were worried that Riot hysteria would prevent people from leaving their houses so it was great to be scrabbling around for spare chairs. Thanks also to the artists who came and did the thing they do for very little cash. We had three companies in rehearsing from the Monday and it was great to have them around. The venue is now closed for a couple of weeks whilst a radical improvement is made…

It’s fantastic having metal workers as benevolent landlords. Setting up the seating bank for Pilot Night tomorrow I found we had come up four legs short. The tech store threw up some scaff bars but they’re the wrong length, what to do? Easy, nip over the road and ask nicely, there’s a machine specifically designed for the job. Ten minutes later and the job is done.

We’re ready for another great Pilot Night.

People are starting to ask if we’re still on for Pilot on Thursday. The answer is yes, all’s peaceful. If there is any change we’ll tell you about it here.

Thank you.

In standard Pilot style 11th August brings a host of theatre companies from the West Midlands region and beyond to share with you their latest artistic doings in an early form. There is a mix of experienced and novice companies, addressing a broad spectrum of ideas, using a wide range of approaches and in the vast expanses of @ A E Harris, there is the chance for a couple of pieces to stretch themselves out.

Do come and see: Read the rest of this entry »

In standard Pilot style 11th August brings a host of theatre companies from the West Midlands region and beyond to share with you their latest artistic doings in an early form. There is a mix of experienced and novice companies, addressing a broad spectrum of ideas, using a wide range of approaches and in the vast expanses of @ A E Harris, there is the chance for a couple of pieces to stretch themselves out.

Do come and see: Read the rest of this entry »