Pick of the Week: 14 - 20 September

Just our type of exhibition - Alan Kitching

Much Ado About Nothing
The course of true love never has run smoothly. Particularly in Shakespeare’s world. Whether the young lovers are doomed to die in each other’s arms or caught up in a severe case of mistaken identity, the bard refused to pen a straightforward love story to satisfy teenage girls for centuries to come. For that, we applaud him. Centered around Hero and Claudio whose marriage is meddled with by the dastardly prince, Don Jon, it’s one of his most complicated love stories. Beatrice and Benedick – the bickering couple who appear to be as bad a mix as oil and water, eventually gerrit on in the heat of the moment. It’s a right good laugh, and one of owd William’s more accessible plays. Test your memory of school english lessons, pull yer finger out, and get down to the theatre for some classic drama at its best.
Until Saturday 19 September, £10/£12, Nottingham Arts Theatre

Out of Focus
The beauty of being in a city with a university that has a pretty heavyweight arts department is that we are treated to exhibitions that see people pushing their practices forward. This latest one is the product of completing students of the photography MA course at NTU. With no subject out of bounds, there’s a diverse range of digital and analogue photos that are easy on the eye. Artists featured in the show include Asyraf Bokhar, Tom Greenhalgh, Tomas Havelka, Atieh Javadian, Vajihe Javadian, Tianqi Lou, Zixin Wang, Weijing Zhang, and Shuai Zuo. Pop down and have a gander, it’s on until the end of the week.
Until Sunday 20 September, free, Bohunk Institute

End of the Summer School: The Three Ecologies
We’re right on the learning tip this week, it must be all those back to school vibes in the air. Although we don’t like this series of events pointing out that the summer is racing to an end, we do like that they’re getting stuck right in with some fascinating topics that are all free to attend. The three-day school will look at the theories and struggles at the point where mental health, social justice and the ‘natural’ world meet. There are workshops and seminars which you can pick and choose from with speakers who range from academics to artists - this is a cracking chance to consider and discuss the world we live in.
Monday 14 - Wednesday 16 September, 4pm and 7pm, free, Nottingham Contemporary

PubhD #20: Chemistry, Mathmatical Physics and Biomedicine
Have you got a thirst for knowledge? Do you sit and ponder what it’s all about? You’re not alone, and thankfully some of those like-minded folk have gone and put themselves through a PhD to understand stuff better. They also want to get it off their chest and share it with you in an easily digestible way - as Einstein may or may not have said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” This month’s session includes a Chemistry PhD student whose research is concerned with understanding how we can influence the way stem cells grow using artificially developed materials, a maths student who wants to talk about gravity and black holes, and a biomedicine student who is researching language and listening difficulties in children. Just what the doctors ordered.
Wednesday 16 September, free, 7.30pm, Vat and Fiddle

Priests, Babe Punch and White Finger 
Ignore what your parents and teachers told you, there’s nowt wrong with having a bit of a mid-week moment where you let your hair down and enjoy some loud music as it’s meant to heard - live. It’d almost be considered rude not to stay til the bitter end when Priests have come all the way from the US of A to bring the noise, and to give you a measure of what to expect, local punky racket makers Babe Punch and White Finger will be warming up the audience beforehand. No age restriction, bring your own, and a rather reasonable blue note to get you in. What’s not to like.
Wednesday 16 September, 8pm, £5, JT Soar

Word!

Write Minds 
What do you get when you cross poetry with drag artists, live music, DJs and a good cause. Something pretty darned fun to do on a Thursday night, that’s what. The folks from Mouthy Poet, NG64, I’m Not From London, Shady Cow and Dirty Filthy Sexy have all put their noggins together to raise money to help those who have experienced self harm and suicide, and to celebrate and promote self expression and creativity. Poetry on the night comes from the likes of Kat Lawrenson, Chris McLoughlin, Anne Holloway and Jim Hall, and there will be live performances from Hayley Green, Cab B, Kane Ashmore and Raphael Blake.  Only one thing for it, go down and be inspired, be entertained and be yourself.
Thursday 17 September, £6/£8, The Maze

Penny Sessions: Creative Textiles
Inspired by local businessman and philanthropist Samuel Morley’s penny lectures, where he offered education at a reasonable cost, Backlit have organised a series of free workshops. One of the sessions is creative activities with textiles using skills such as sewing, bookmaking, and creating gloves. They are running on Thursdays throughout September and the beginning of October and are led by artists Phiona Richards. There’s quite a few of these sessions going off over the coming months, so if this one’s not for you, delve a little deeper.
Thursday 17 and 24 September, 1 - 3pm, free, St Ann’s Valley Library

The Kissing Skull Festival
Back in the eighties and nineties the underground goth scene was a force to be reckoned with, and one album that rose out of it was The Kissing Skull, the industrial goth debut release from Midnight Configuration. The epicentre of Nottingham’s part in the goth scene was, and still is, Nightbreed Records, whose founder Trevor Bamford is also a member of the aforementioned band. Twenty years after this epic release, they’re celebrating with a one-off reunion of the band and a performance from label mates 13 Candles who will be playing Come Out of the Dark in its entirety. Join them on the dark side.
Saturday 19 September, 7pm, £4/£5, The Chameleon

Sweet history

Jamaica Hidden Histories: Sugar Was King 
You’ve got a bit of time to catch this exhibition, but why hang around, that’s what we say. As part of a two-year project to uncover and showcase historical, cultural and economic links between Jamaica and Britain, this exhibition explores the impact sugar has had on localised domestic culture in Britain and Jamaica. There are visual and print oral testimonies of Nottingham-based Jamaican elders sharing their memories of traditional sweets and treats, as well as a collection of archive photos. There is also work from notable Jamaican-born artists from Nottingham - Esmel May and Lorna Holder. We guarantee you that the minute you leave you’ll nip to the corner shop for a quarter of lemon sherberts.
Until Sunday 1 November, free, New Art Exchange

Alan Kitching and Monotype: Celebrating Five Pioneers of the Poster 
A master in the field of typography and design, Alan Kitching began his trade in the sixties when design was becoming king. In this exhibition he has looked at five seminal designers - who were all, coincidentally, born in 1914 - from around the world and has created five monograms that reflect their individual styles. Alongside the monograms, there are also displays of the five designers works and background on each of them so that you can see the roots and inspiration behind the monograms. A treat for typographiles, and anyone who has any appreciation for the art of design.
Saturday 19 September - Friday 23 October 2015, free, Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University

Autumn Classic Ride
How do we put this delicately… cycling fashion isn’t the most attractive of attire. We get it, it’s practical and you don’t want to be sweating on or mucking up your good clobber. But every now and again it’s nice to make the effort. Nottingham Classic Ride are organise events where they encourage anyone with a bike to join them for a day of cycling and showing off. They invite all to join them for a leisurely Sunday ride in their finest threads - no lycra or hi-vis - with a stop offs at The Plough, Bikeworks and Dr Bike. Plus there will be BikeLab’s epic soundsystem to bring some lovely noise to the proceedings. As Freddie once sang so passionately, “Get on your bikes and ride!”
Sunday 20 September, 1pm, free, The Plough, Radford