8 Things To Do In Nottingham This Week

Beeston Tales: The Rising Cost of Cabbage
Back in our glory days, story time was the best half an hour of the school day. You and all your bezzie mates sat cross-legged on a threadbare carpet, closing your eyes to see the story come to life in your mind. Where did those days go, eh? You can relive ‘em this week, in honour of the Beeston Tales second birthday. They’ll be telling a whole heap of tales about incarceration, and feeding you all up with cabbage. Sound like a party? We reckon so. Alys Torrence will be bringing The Rising Cost of Cabbage, fresh from her critically acclaimed run at the Soho Theatre, and for £12, you can splash out on a ticket and some tapas to go along with it. Bleddy brilliant news. Happy Birthday, Beeston Tales.
Wednesday 14 December, 7.30pm, £5/£6/£12, The White Lion, Beeston

Bras Not Bombs
Women – there’s a lot to be said for the feeling you get when a bra fits just right, believe us, we know. Since February this year, the innovative folk behind this here event have been fundraising, collecting and sending thousands of bras and pants to refugee camps across the globe so that women who have been forced to flee their homes can have that feeling too. This Thursday, Rough Trade will play host to yet another bra swap, in which you’re invited to bring clean, wearable bras and new underwear to donate to the cause. There’ll be brand new designer underwear available for you to buy, with all the funds raised going towards purchasing appropriate underwear for women and girls in the camps. There’ll be poetry and live music and everyone is welcome.  
Thursday 15 December, 7pm, free entry, Rough Trade 

The Wonderful West End
Christmas is all about getting cosy in front of the fire and getting stuck into a classic musical on the telly with the family. Do summat different and get yourselves over to the Theatre Royal to hear your favourite showstopping tunes performed by some of the West End’s most incredible stars. Michael England – who was the conductor and musical director for the live television broadcast of The Sound of Music – will be directing the likes of Anna O’Byrne (Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady), Jacqui Scott (Grizabella, Cats!) Scott Davies (Phantom of the Opera) and Olivier Award winner, David Thaxton, in a proper glamourous evening. Expect to hear songs from Les Miserables, The Lion King, Guys and Dolls and Wicked, to name but a few. We expect there’ll be a couple of Christmas crackers thrown in there for good measure an’ all.
Thursday 15 December, 7.30pm, £16 - £26, Theatre Royal

Be
Wolfgang Buttress is King of the Bees. Last year, he completed a project where he designed and created a huge sculpture, The Hive, while at the same time live-streaming signals from a beehive in Nottingham. Elements combined, he made a soundscape over at the World Expo in Milan, in effect masterminding a fully fledged choir of the little honey monsters. If you missed out on this incredible feat, fear not, your Christmas wishes have been answered. The album, Be:One will be played in all its sweet glory this year at St Mary’s Church. Nottingham’s honey bees have been warming up their vocal chords and are ready to duet with the St Mary’s Church Choir in a one-off performance, using a state-of-the-art 3D surround-sound system. There’ll be visual imagery from The Hive Project projected all over the place an’ all. Proper buzzing for this one.
Friday 16 December, 6.30pm, £19 - £33, St Mary’s Church

Vintage Pop Up Cinema: LeftLion Screens Robin Hood
We’ve been left out in the cold when false promises of drive-in movies and pop-up water slides have appeared on our Facebook newsfeeds. We have to be honest, we had the same, sneaking suspicion about this here pop-up cinema, but hoorah! This is a Christmas miracle. It’s all 100% legit. The Vintage Pop-Up Cinema Co. are taking over the Grade II listed 14 St Peter’s Street, whacking up a cinema screen, and installing a bar with a heap of gourmet cinema snacks and premium food. Oo-er. This week, there’s a special LeftLion screening of Disney’s Robin Hood, and seeing as it’s Christmas, we’ve decided to give away a pair of tickets. All you have to do, is email us at win@leftlion.co.uk with your name, phone number, and the animal you’d be if Disney were to turn your life into a film. Easy as pie.
Saturday 17 December, 3.30pm, £9.75, 14 St Peter’s Street

Santa Paws Dog Grotto
Bleddy hell, we haven’t half heard it all before. If your poochy pal is partial to a bit of Yuletide spirit, and gets rather jealous when your actual human children are carted off to perch on a stranger-in-a-beard’s knee all in the name of Christmas, then let your canine wallow in misery no longer. The folks at the Jerry Green Dog Rescue are bringing Santa Paws to town. For one weekend only, Great Danes and Shihtzus alike are invited to visit the dog grotto, tucked away in Sherwood Forest. It’ll set you back two pound for the poodle to see Mr Paws, but with all proceeds being donated to the Jerry Green Dog Rescue, it’s going to a good cause. Plus, you won’t have a proper mardeh dog pooping in Aunt Jillian’s lap as revenge, like last year.
Saturday 17 - Sunday 18 December, £2 per pooch, Sherwood Forest

Christmas Covers Party
Fifteen years ago, a star appeared over Nottingham. Hovering over the city, it was disappointed at the lack of festive joy and spirit felt by the Scroogey inhabitants of Hoodtown. The star huffed and puffed with all its might, and blew a sprinkling of stardust over The Maze. Instantaneously, the inhabitants of the tavern were imbued with the spirit of Christmas and sought to spread the joy across the city. Alas, the Christmas Covers Party was born. After it hit its adolescent years, it moved out of home and shacked up at The Bodega. So, this year, get your Christmas jumpers on and head over to Pelham Street to catch the likes of Grey Hairs, Wolf Club, We Show Up On Radar and Alice Short indulge their festive spirits with covers of the best Crimbo and pop songs about. Plus, the night is right in the spirit of giving, as it’ll be raising money for both Nottinghamshire Hospice, as well as Zephyr’s Nottingham – a charity supporting bereaved families following the loss of a baby, child or pregnancy. Last year £1,627 was raised, so it’s time to dig deep and smash the previous amount, like the vocal chords to the windows.
Saturday 17 December, 7.30pm, £7/£8.50, The Bodega

Christmas Steaming Extravaganza
‘Tis the season to be jolly and all that jazz. The kiddos are getting proper riled up and ready to go, but misbehaving is strictly off the cards because you now have the added “Santa doesn’t visit naughty children” threat. And if that isn’t a cause for celebration, we don’t know what is. Take the excited little boggers over to Wollaton Hall to burn off some energy. Take ‘em to see the steam engines, have a go on the tombola and let ‘em spend all their pocket money on raffle tickets. Plus, Mr Claus himself will be there, along with a fair few of his elves, so you can pay him a visit in his grotto, too. Think face painting, a museum trail and the University of Nottingham brass band. All in all, a pretty tip top family day out.
Sunday 18 December, 11am, £4 - £10, Wollaton Hall