The COWshop in the Custard Factory is, not to put too fine a point, a bloody busy place full of arty, crafty people beavering away making pretty things. Here’s some of the stuff going on:
Rogue Play sent me the January listings of what’s on at The Mixing Bowl Theatre in The Custard Factory. Must say Measure For Measure looks particularly interesting. Here we are:
Notes, Sunday 17, 8pm, £5. (Music): Jazz, reggae, piano blues, rock or pop…whatever your musical tastes you’re bound to find something that suits you at Notes. Each month Notes houses established artists as well as fresh up and coming talent – if you are a musician and want to perform either come along to the night and introduce yourself or email info@rogueplay.co.uk
South Birmingham College. New Performers. Wednesday 20th/ Thursday 21, 7pm. FREE. (Theatre): SBC Performing Arts students have been studying and rehearsing scripted plays. Their hard work will culminate in an exciting and innovative interpretation of a new play that explores what it means to be a young person in modern Britain.
Measure for Measure, by William Shakespeare. Adapted By RoguePlay Theatre, Monday 25till Wednesday 27, 7pm & 8.30pm . £8/£6 (Theatre): ‘More than our brother is our chastity ?’ RoguePlay Theatre gives Shakespeare’s enduring tale of loyalty versus hypocrisy a modern twist in this promenade adaptation. Led from space to space around The Custard Factory complex, the audience witness Isabella’s challenges and the consequences of her actions. Walk with the characters through the church, under the arches and meet over a cup of coffee.
Giggles, Friday 22, 8pm, £6. (Comedy): Up for a laugh and giggle? Well then, Giggles is the night for you. Each month The Mixing Bowl hosts Giggles comedy night, housing one MC and 3 fantastic comedy acts. With an aim to nourish up and coming new talent as well as showcasing established acts, Giggles is set to keep you laughing all weekend.
Rhymes, Thursday 28, 8pm, £5. (Performance) Birmingham’s premier platform for Performance Poetry and Spoken Word (film above): Every month ‘Rhymes’ plays host to at least three professional performance poets and upcoming talent, both local and national. ‘Rhymes’ nights have included music, live literature, stories and alter ego’s as well as an abundance of quality poetry. There is also a chance for you the audience to write and perform a poem in the form of The Wordbag Challenge. For the bargain price of a fiver you can enjoy an array of talent in the intimate setting of The Mixing Bowl Theatre. Come and get poetical!
The Rainbow have two options: Full on rockin’ party at The Street, The Warehouse, The Garden with G.L.A.S & TRMNL (tickets £30), or a more intimate affair at the Rainbow Pub & Courtyard with Enid Blight On in the bar and Wobble v Crunch in the Courtyard (tickets £10). Both are followed by the Ultimate New Year’s After Party in the Rainbow Pub & Courtyard from ‘5am till whenever’.
The Rainbow aren’t the only ones offering a choice – at The Irish Centre Frank Dempsey is in the Leinster Suite (tickets £10) whilst Recovered are in the Connaught Bar (tickets £10).
The Mucksavage (better known as An Craic Editor John McMahon) is DJing in The Spotted Dog, supported by landlord John Tighe’s witticisms.
Of course, I won’t be at any of these because I’ll be too busy talking to people in the new Coach Station on Bradford Street. You can hear me talking about this on BBC Radio WM’s Breakfast Show at about 8.45am tomorrow morning.
Whatever you’re doing tomorrow night, have a Happy New Year!
Matthews of Birmingham, the new restaurant at the Custard Factory that finally brings a touch of fine dining to Digbeth, is now open and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. I went there for lunch the other day and there were a few minor teething problems (the poor souls have no lids for their teapots) but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. I didn’t have pudding but my main course of chicken casserole was delicious – a really good bit of meat beautifully cooked.
Here’s artist Swifty putting the finishing touches to his shop installation at the Sauce Gallery in the Custard Factory earlier today, in time for the big bash launch that’s going on as I type. The Swifty Pop Shop brings to life his childhood memories of the 70’s village corner shop – with bad plastic toys, comic books, Subbuteo pieces and sweets to break your jaw by. Swifty also gives us a pop-art alphabet lesson in our A, B, C.
The Swifty Pop Shop is open until 10th January 2010.
An informal and fun workshop for beginners, lasting approximately two hours, making a long dangly necklace and matching earrings or bracelet.
It was a great bargain – £16 for tea, biscuits, tuition in pretty necklace-making and all the beads and twine we needed to make them. We started off gathering a bowl full of our favourite glass beads. Then, after a short lesson from Kate in how to arrange and thread them, we got cracking with our pliers, pins and beads.
Not being crafty by nature, I found the process a little fiddly at first but soon got the hang of it and found it incredibly relaxing and therapeutic. After a bit of practice, this is the sort of activity one could get used to of a wet weekend afternoon.
The time flew by, and by the end of the two hours we all had a nice piece of jewellery to show for our efforts.
Which was just as well, because my sister-in-law’s birthday was coming up and I was out of ideas. This is what she got:
The next dangly necklace workshop is next Sunday 13th December, in great time to make some lovely Christmas presents. See the Birmingham Bead Shop website for details, or contact Kate at kate@thebirminghambeadshop.co.uk, 0121 241 1413 or text 07709491680
Back in September, Michael Grimes (aka Citizensheep) kick-started a lively online discussion about small but significant changes the Custard Factory could make as ‘It’s looking run-down, and suggests no-one really cares anymore about promoting it as a vibrant space, and no-one really goes there (except for loud music at weekends).’
A couple of months on and it’s looking even more under the weather – the boardwalk is more patchwork chipboard than flooring and going to the toilet is still a cold and uncomfortable ordeal. The website isn’t regularly updated, which can make it hard to find out what’s in store there. Far worse, a few tenants have suffered break-ins recently (I’m aware of three over recent months – two studios and one ground floor shop unit).
I’m not just saying this for a pointless moan – the Custard Factory is a vital piece of Digbeth’s vibrant make-up and is home to some of the most exciting elements of local life – Capsule, Rhubarb Radio and 7 Inch Cinema to name but a few (let’s face it, I could never name them all). As a regular visitor, seeing it fall short of its brilliant potential for a long period can be really frustrating, especially with its sister development Fazeley Studios serving as an example of how good things can be.
I’m hearing great rumors about the forthcoming opening of Devonshire House on Digbeth High Street. I really hope its restoration rubs off onto the original Custard Factory complex, and we can see it return to its former glory.
If you pop into Yumm Deli early enough over the Advent mornings, you may be lucky enough to open one of their special Advent calendar envelopes and win the treat within.
Typographer, sleeve designer and artist Swifty will be setting up The Swifty Pop Shop at the Sauce Gallery in the Custard Factory from Friday 11th December – selling originals, one off prints, T-shirts, skateboards and stickers and the like.
The Pop Shop, which is being brought to Birmingham by Sauce Gallery and Punch Records, will feature Swifty’s Newsagents installation. This life size shop front was partly inspired by Peter Blake’s ‘Toy Shop’ and the artist’s fond memories of a local village newsagent in Lancashire. The Shop will also be home to the A-Z of Swifty Show, including pieces based around everything from Action Man to Zebedee from the Magic Roundabout.
