10 Things To Do in Nottingham This Week

When was the last time you sat round with all your mates and had a good owd game of poker? Get down to The Nav Inn – every Monday there are some right friendly faces chucking in a few bob and having a right good time. That’s right, you can expect a Redtooth-sponsored game of the good stuff, with fifteen minute blinds and only a quid for a 20,000 starting stack. Beginners are properly welcome, and there’s even a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas! Just watch out for the resident gothic mannequin Egor – he’s been known to shove a few aces up his sleeve.
Monday 6 March, 7.30pm, £1, The Navigation Inn, event link

At one time, the British Empire presided over a quarter of the earth. A lot of that empire building involved colonising far and foreign lands, as well as their people. Recent polls show how badly taught our colonial past is, with the public found to be generally proud of the British Empire. Coinciding with the current exhibitions at NC and NAE, the Contemporary are putting on a series of sessions focusing on the studies of Frantz Fanon, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham. Fanon was a mid-twentieth century academic, whose work on the struggles of decolonisation has remained deeply influential and inspirational. Fanon offers insights into colonialism from a psychological and psychoanalytic perspective, theorising colonialism as a form of violence and alienation. Four more sessions take place up until April, two of which are happening this month. They won’t cost you a penny, but do make sure you book.
Tuesday 7 March + Tuesday 21 March, 6.30pm, free, Nottingham Contemporary, event link

This month, Broadway are hosting a screening of Ben Wheatley’s new flick Free Fire, followed by a Q&A with the director himself. Wheatley is one of the UK’s hottest directors (pun intended or unintended depending on your reaction), and a proper film buff to boot. Free Fire is a shooty, action film set in seventies America, starring the likes of Brie Larson and Cillian Murphy. As Wheatley tends to do best, the film starts tight and tense, and becomes a mad tazmanian-devil chaos of a spectacle. Turning the most rational viewers, into “Argggggggggh!” machines. This isn’t one to be missed for the silver screen team, even if the film is rubbish – which it won’t be – then the Q&A will be worth it alone. He’s the sort of director that will be able to name the Icelandic translation for Nicolas Roeg’s fifth feature film. Well maybe not, but his head is full of film knowledge.
Tuesday 7 March, 8pm, £4.50 - £8.40, Broadway Cinema, event link

One of the most frustrating things in life can be reaching a stale mate in your career. You’ve got all these high hopes and big dreams, but you’re just not sure what to do to make them a reality. Clear your Wednesday evening and get yourself down to Trent Student Union for the Nusic Academy Workshop. The experts on all things local and national in the music scene are coming together to impart their shining pearls of industry wisdom upon you. Radio 1 and 1Xtra producer, Kate Holder, Radio X’s New Music DJ, John Kennedy, and Eleanor Goodman – Metal Hammer Features Editor – will be on hand to advise you on how best to get media exposure for your music. There’s also gonna be an advice fair of sorts, with local music maestros including BBC Introducing, DHP Local Team and the Nottingham Music Hub all in attendance. The event is free, so pop a copy of your demo in yer backpack, book a ticket online and fill that head top with knowledge.
Wednesday 8 March, 6.30pm, free, Nottingham Trent Student Union, event link

This month sees a worldwide celebration of all things female, with the theme for this year’s big day being #BeBoldForChange. Equality is a funny owd thing – just when you think you’re making progress, a powerful, Tango’d gopher attempts to validate misogynistic attitudes. Now, it’s more important than ever that women everywhere unite to shout up and fight for a more inclusive, gender-equal world. In Notts, we’re doing exactly that. And we’re doing it in style. First things first, we’ve got Reggae Takeover representing the legendary Soom T at Spanky Van Dykes on Friday 3 March. On the day itself, you can catch Cultural Vibration’s epic presentation of Phenomenal Women – Christine Belle, Coleen Francis, Shylaah and Yelitza will all be on hand to guide you through celebrations with comedy, live music, and even some special guests. On top of that, you can dob over to Sobar, where the poetics will be popping off at Women Say… Stuff 2, thanks to our local DIY Poets. Expect the likes of Sparklechops, Mina Minnai and Clare Stewart in all their wordy goodness. It’ll be all female performers on the evening, with the chance to get stuck in to the open mic, and everyone is welcome to come along.
Wednesday 8 March

Gawd, aren’t we lucky? This month we’ve got the chance to get stuck into a five-day festival surrounding all things dance. That’s right, Dance4 presents the infamous NottDance, with 2017’s programme co-curated by choreographer Matthias Sperling, and it’s all about looking to the future – asking questions about everything from being an artist in a post-referendum society, to when we stop being children. NottDance ain’t just about showing off your best slidey disco knees, no. There’ll be the chance to catch the best in contemporary movement art, as well as get involved in discussions, Q&As, exchanges, the lot. And with workshops available for professional dancers as well as people who’re looking to explore the art form for the first time, there’s summat for everyone. Breakfast conversations with artists, collaborations between choreographers and the public, three-minute wonders, performance installations, research sessions. Ooft. It’s a lot. You can find stuff cracking off at Backlit, NCN Lace Market Gallery, Nottingham Castle, Nottingham Contemporary, Lakeside, Playhouse, and even Wollaton Hall. Do make sure you check out their guide for the full programme – you’re bound to find something that’ll whack a spring in your step.
Wednesday 8 - Sunday 12 March, various venues across town, event link

Life can all gerrabit much sometimes, can’t it? One bloke who’s cracked the code is Zen Master Daizan Skinner Roshi. After spending twenty years living in monasteries both in the UK and Japan, he was the first Brit to become a Zen Master in the Rinzai tradition of Zen Buddhism. Now, he’s back in the motherland delivering his collated knowledge of how to be proper chill. Over the course of two days, you can get involved with a talk and workshop hosted by one of his students, David Mokuren of Being Now. The talk starts at 7pm on the Friday, and is completely free with no booking required, acting as an introduction with some basic meditation. The following day, there’s the chance to take part in a deeper, more detailed workshop all day. On top of all this, an eight-week mindfulness course starts on Thursday 23 March. Make sure you check the website for more details.
Friday 10 - Saturday 11 March, £30/£45 for Saturday’s workshop, Om Studios, event link

A one man show about God might not sound like everyone’s cuppa char. But, this week, as part of Dance 4’s NottDance Festival, Lost Dog Theatre Company are bringing you the story of – well, literally everything. Starting from the very beginning of the creationist story, one bloke is gonna talk, dance, and poem you through everything from the moment God got bored of being by his tod and decided to make the universe, all the inside goss from that fall out between the main man himsen and his right hand pal, Lucifer, right up to the moment Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden. All told in a proper joke manner, like. Dunno about you, but we’re definitely intrigued. Book your tickets online and we’ll see you at the bar for a post-show discussion.
Friday 10 March, 8pm, £10 - £12, Nottingham Playhouse, event link

It seems that once the creative seed has been sown in this city, little pockets of performance pop up around every corner. This week, a team of third year theatre design students, Nikki Charlesworth, Amy Duran and Rachel Rolley, have teamed up with charity 28TooMany to create a moving piece of verbatim theatre to tell the stories of women affected by FGM – female genital mutilation. The charity campaign to end FGM in the 28 African countries in which it is currently practised, and have used survivor’s stories to create the production. It’s bound to be both moving, upsetting and inspiring in equal measure, and following the show, representatives from the charity, alongside the show’s creators, will be holding a discussion.
Saturday 11 March, 7.30pm, £3/£6, City Arts, event link

Nottingham Contemporary’s latest exhibition, The Place Is Here, is a political statement. Comprised of work created in the eighties by black artists, many of whom were members of the BLK Art Group, much of the work on display is a direct response to Thatcherism, as well as the racist attitudes that were so prevalent at the time. Today, we still see the same notions of history repeating themselves. So join one of Nottingham’s literature greats – Panya Banjoko – in dissecting the work, and putting it back together in the form of a written piece. Perfect for beginners and intermediates alike, everyone’s welcome, and it’s absolutely free.
Saturday 11 March, 2pm, free, Nottingham Contemporary, event link

For the full motherload of goings-on this week, check out our What's On section.