Tuesday 31 May 2016

Half Term Fun at the Leeds Big Bookend Festival - 2 free events

There are two free events coming up this half term at the Leeds Big Bookend Festival:


 

Half Term Fun at the Leeds Big Bookend Festival - 2 Free Events!
www.bigbookend.co.uk

Bookends! A ‘Make-Your-Own’ Bookends Workshop with Artist Claire Evans
Bookends! A ‘Make-Your-Own’ Bookends Workshop with Artist Claire Evans, Saturday 4th June, 2pm at The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds

Come and join artist Claire Evans in the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery to make and decorate your very own bookends to prop up all those books you might be enjoying during the festival!

Draw inspiration from your favourite stories to theme your bookend – from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory through to Harry Potter to The Gruffalo!

This is a family friendly workshop for
children aged 5+ and their adults. There will be additional activities available for younger siblings.

A £5 refundable fee will be charged when booking. This will be returned upon arrival at the event. Cancellations within 48 hours of the event will not be eligible for a refund. Places are limited so be quick!

To reserve your place, please book here or contact the Gallery by email:
gallery@leeds.ac.uk or telephone: 0113 3432778.
 
Fantasy Fun with the Rainbow Factory, Saturday 4th June, 1.30pm at Central Library, Leeds
 
Farsley’s storytelling wonderland the Rainbow Factory will be entertaining and inspiring our young festival goers this year on the same weekend that it celebrates its first anniversary.

In keeping with the centre’s Fantasy theme – which lasts from May to mid-June – its talented staff will be bringing stories to life through theatrical performances and mini workshops, inspired by some of the most popular children’s fantasy tales.

Suitable for
children U10 and their adults, this is a free, drop-in session in the Children’s Library.
 
To download the full programme for the Leeds Big Bookend Festival 2016 and for all events and ticket information, visit our website, www.bigbookend.co.uk
Copyright © 2016 The Big Bookend, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

info@bigbookend.co.uk

         

             







     

The Big Bookend · Virtuoso Legal · 31 Harrogate Road · Leeds, West Yorkshire LS7 3PD · United Kingdom

   

Monday 30 May 2016

Seven Artspace Leeds 31 May - 5 June 2016

Coming up at Seven Artspace Leeds:


 
 
     

Swipe Right Or Left @ Seven

On Tuesday 31, 8pm, it's Café Psychologique - Swipe Right or Left : Relationships in the Age of Tinder. This month’s topic is introduced by Steven Mayer, Clinical Psychologist in Training and Olivia Solomon, Psychology Researcher. Hosted by Chris Powell, Group Analyst, chat and think over a drink. £4 on the door.

On Friday 3 June, 8pm, look forward to the Dave Hanson & Band – ‘Almost Horizontal’ Album Launch. Dave Hanson, former guitarist with The Dunwells, introduces new music with a laid back blues vibe, inspired by his love of JJ Cale, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton and The Black Keys. It was this time spent travelling across America and meeting new people that has given Hanson the rich tapestry of experiences to write about and the inspiration for this new album. £7 adv / £9 on the door.

On Saturday 4 June, 7pm is Urban Sprawl – LSMMCXVI, a Sci-Fi satire in which, “The year is 2116. 100 years have elapsed and “everything is different, everything is the same.” LSMMCXVI is presented by Urban Sprawl, Yorkshire's only homeless theatre company.  £7  / £5 conc.

And on Sunday 5 June, 6.30-7.30pm, In celebration of the bicentenaries of the birth of the Bronte children, Mewl Music presents Tracking The Brontes, a musical whistle-stop tour with the four Bronte siblings and their father to some of the places they knew, featuring original songs by Eddie Lawler. Songs performed by Eddie and soprano, Charissa Hutchins. £5 adv / £6 otd. 

Tickets for most events are found at  www.ticketsource.co.uk/sevenleeds/events Where not sold out, tickets are always available on the door.

Every £ spent at Seven helps support high quality arts in a local setting. We look forward to seeing you at Seven very soon.
Copyright © 2016 Seven Arts Leeds, All rights reserved.
       
Our mailing address is:
Seven Arts Leeds
31(a) Harrogate Road
Chapel Allerton
Leeds, West Yorkshire LS7 3PD
United Kingdom

       


Sunday 29 May 2016

Me Before You preview film review


IMDB says: A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man she's taking care of.

Thanks to Showfilmfirst, my daughter and I went to see a preview showing of Me Before You at the Leeds/Bradford Odeon this morning.

In this Thea Sharrock (The Hollow Crown, 'As You Like It' at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre) directed and Jojo Moyes (novel and screenplay) written film, Sam Claflin (Love, Rosie, Snow White and the Huntsman) stars at Will Traynor, a man who lived life to the full before his accident and Emilia Clarke (TVs Game of Thrones, Futurama) as Lou Clark, a generous woman who never thinks of herself, as his carer.

Will had everything before the accident, a job he loved with his best friend Rupert (Ben Lloyd-Hughes: Divergent, Insurgent), an active social life of extreme sports and a beautiful girlfriend, Alicia (Vanessa Kirby: About Time, Jupiter Ascending), but now he has a life he hates.  His parents, Camilla (Janet McTeer: Maleficent, Tumbleweeds) and Stephen (Charles Dance: The Imitation Game, Last Action Hero), have hired a full-time trainer Nathan (Stephen Peacocke: Hercules, TVs Home and Away) and adapted their home's annexe for their son but he is a shell of his former self.  Having hired carer after carer, who leave because of Will's behaviour, they had become desperate, but then, so is Lou.  Her parents, Bernard (Brendan Coyle: The Raven, TVs Downton Abbey) and Josie (Samantha Spiro: From Hell, TVs Bad Education), need her to have a job because they need the money, and her sister Katrina 'Treena' (Jenna Coleman: Captain America; The First Avenger, TVs Doctor Who) wants to go to Manchester University.

 

The compassionate Lou hates her new job to begin with, Will's inability to be nice, not having anything to do and knowing that he really doesn't want her there, but she perseveres and soon they broker an uneasy truce.  Her colourful taste in clothes and sunny personality begin to get under his skin and slowly he begins to show glimpses of the man he used to be, despite finding out that his ex-girlfriend and best friend have got engaged.

Following the awkwardness of attending the wedding and an uncomfortable birthday meal with her family, including grandad (Alan Breck: Sick, The Library) and her selfish boyfriend Patrick (Matthew Lewis: Harry Potter, TVs Happy Valley), Lou finds out that Will is planning to go to Dignitas in Switzerland once six months since the accident have passed, so she resolves to show Will what living life could really be like.

Emilia Clarke in Me Before You (2016)

This is a beautiful little film, with deft emotional touches for such a controversial subject.  Lou is a joyous character, played with warmth by Clarke and though her scenes with Lewis make you want to scream at her to do something about his controlling behaviour in their relationship, you still want her to see it for herself and grow, both in terms of what she will say and do.  And although Will should be a despicable character because he is more selfish than Patrick, a sarcastic and sometimes cruel man, you know that he is the catalyst that she needs to start really living her life, not just following the wishes of everyone else. 

It is a lovely touch that her clothes reflect her personality and by the end of the film, you don't see the clashing colours and fussiness, because they are Lou and a perfect metaphor that she is sunshine in Will's drab world, the light to his dark and you know that this is what he sees too, even if he doesn't want to. 

Yes, this is a tearjerker as expected, but it is also full of warmth and heart.  At one point in the movie, Will asks 'Can I take you somewhere?' and this film did, it took us to somewhere real.

 9.5/10                                                                                              



Trivia: This is Thea Sharrock's movie directorial debut, Clarke and Dance both star in TVs Game of Thrones but have never shared a scene together and Clarke convinced Lewis to shave his legs for the part.

Emilia Clarke in Me Before You (2016)

#MeBeforeYou  #Showfilmfirst  #EmiliaClarke  #SamClaflin

Emilia Clarke in Me Before You (2016)

Saturday 28 May 2016

Jonathan Geldart, Notes from a Beijing Coffeeshop, 4 June

Coming up in June as part of The Leeds Big Bookend, Jonathan Geldart Notes from a Beijing Coffesshop:


 

China Comes to the Leeds Big Bookend Festival 2016. We Are Crossing City Limits! 
www.bigbookend.co.uk

Jonathan Geldert, author of Notes from a Beijing Coffeeshop
Meet Author, Jonathan Geldert  on Saturday 4th June, 12.30pm at Central Library, Leeds as he shares his Notes from a Beijing Coffeeshop

Join Jonathan Geldart as he transports us to a Beijing coffeeshop where we learn about the country today through the stories of its people – in particular, some of the extraordinary women he met, many of whom struggle for independence and recognition.

Women’s rights and empowerment is a recurring theme in his latest book. Through sharing interviewees experiences of marriage (both women’s role within a marriage and the pressure on single women to marry), being gay in China, and women’s attitude towards work, Jonathan gives the reader poignant insights into what life is like for the Chinese women he met, many of whom are going against what society expects from them.

Jonathan will be joined by Ellen Wang from the The Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds.

This is a free event. To book your tickets and read more, click here.

To download the full programme for the Leeds Big Bookend Festival 2016 and for all events and ticket information, visit our website, www.bigbookend.co.uk
 
Get Creative at Belong/ 归属感 Gui Shu Gan. A Free Bilingual Creative Writing Workshop, Sunday 5th June, 11.30am at Central Library, Leeds
 
Definition:verb 1a:  to be suitable, appropriate, 1b :  to be in a proper situation or place.

What does it mean to belong? How do we find our own proper situation or place?  Cantonese and Mandarin speaking writer, M.W. Sun
孙培德 will work with Leeds writer, Mary Cooper, to lead a workshop exploring ideas of belonging, identity and home.

Write in English, Chinese or any language of your choice. This workshop is part of the From Shore to Shore 飘洋过海 project and is supported by the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds.

This is a free workshop open to anyone – whether you speak one language or many – but booking is essential as places are limited.

Reserve your free place
here.

什么让我们有归属感?怎样找到属于我们的地方?

孙培德是一位中文作家.她和利兹作家Mary Cooper主持写作工作坊,讨我们对家,身份和归属感的构想.

欢迎你参加工作坊,可用中文,英文或其他语言写作.

这工作坊为漂洋过海项目的一部分.
 
 
Copyright © 2016 The Big Bookend, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

info@bigbookend.co.uk

      

 







       

The Big Bookend · Virtuoso Legal · 31 Harrogate Road · Leeds, West Yorkshire LS7 3PD · United Kingdom