Pick of the Week: 18 - 24 May

The HE Festival 
Clarendon College does it all. Whether you’re well into your make-up and fancy taking up a Beauty Therapy Diploma, or you’ve got a passion for the arts and are well up for taking it to the next level with an acting degree, they’ve got a little sommat for you all. This month, they’re showing you what they’re made of, with a festival of works directed and choreographed by second year FdA and BA students. It’s completely free to go and have a goose, and you’ll more than likely be watching the early works of the future Shane Meadows. Performance times will vary, between 1pm and 8pm, so keep checking their Facebook page for more details.
Monday 18 May - Wednesday 10 June, various times, free, NCN Clarendon

Poetry is Dead Good #10 
Birthdays all over the shop this week, eh? The word obsessed folk at Poetry is Dead Good are turning one and what one-year-old doesn’t deserve a bit of a party. Get your best birthday rhymes at the ready, there’ll be an open mic portion in the evening, which you can sign up for when you get there, and music from the lyric loving Ashmore and Motormouf. Oh, and poetry, some of that too. Yes, poetry will include Rhetoric Literary Society, Georgina Wilding and John Berkavitch. Plus a pretty special guest, we’ve heard. It’s going to be proper, and won’t cost you a bean to get in.
Tuesday 19 May, 7.30pm, free, JamCafe

People’s Assembly Meet-Up
After the build up to the general election - the weird Milliband crushes, the pictures of politicians with food, shit eating grins on front pages and the usual media farce, it would seem that we are a nation divided. Some of you are right narked off that the Tories are back in business, and others are skipping to work with their true blue badges - not the parking kind, they might not be around much longer… Nottingham People’s Assembly are one group who are, to put it mildly, rather concerned by the potential austerity cuts that have been proposed. Speakers on the night will include the author of Chavs and The Establishment, Owen Jones; author of Getting By and housing activist, Lisa Mckenzie; Guardian journalist, Frances Ryan; and the NUT General Secretary, Christine Blower. We bet they’ve got an interesting thing or two to say. Pop along if you want to be part of the conversation.
Tuesday 19 May, 7pm, free, Friends Meeting House, Clarendon Street

NTU Fashion Design Catwalk Show 
“Oooh, look at them with their fanceh get ups.” That’s what you could be saying while wearing oversized sunnies, just like Anne Wintour, when you’re sat watching the NTU fashion show. With the university’s rather good track record for fashion graduates who have gone on to make their mark in the industry, you’d be daft to miss this if you like your clobber or your art - or both. The show is a one-off special, which will not only include the runway show, but you get to see the students’ product exhibitions and have a nosey inside the rather imposing looking Newton Building. Not bad for a Thursday night’s entertainment.
Thursday 21 May, 6pm and 8pm, £6 - £10, Newton Building, Nottingham Trent University

Scratch Electric
Nottingham Contemporary and I’m Not From London have started a project to rejuvenate the primary role of the electric guitar. The artistic lead for the project, Adrian Lee, is kind of a big deal having composed, directed and performed for Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC and Royal National Theatre to name but a few. It’s all kicking off with a gig of epic proportions, inclusive of electric guitar quartet Ludi, a question and answer session with special guest Adrian Utley of Portishead, plus a thirty-piece orchestra made up of fresh-faced guitarists and bassists who’ve been cutting their teeth in a programme of workshops in the run-up to the event. It’s set to be a massive celebration of active participation, community spirit, and mightily loud guitars. Sniffed at, it shan’t be.
Thursday 21 May, 6pm, £5 - £10, Nottingham Contemporary

Wanderlust 
The all-female powerhouse that are The Gramophones are back with a bleddy big bang this year, bringing a much needed slice of woman power to the male-dominated world of theatre. Their new production took the Leicester Curve by storm at Inside Out Festival, and they’re bringing it to the Playhouse to satisfy all you gals and guys. The performance will be a collection of verbatim stories the women have picked up on their adventures, gathering information for their latest piece of theatre. From hitchhiking across Nottingham in mobile libraries, to picking the brains of elderly folk, they’ve gone all out in true, adventurous Gramophone style. There’s even a bit of live music thrown in for good measure. Lovely.
Friday 22 - Saturday 23 May, 4pm and 8pm, £9/£11, Nottingham Playhouse

Bama Lama Sing Song
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that we all love a bit of a sing song. We love shouting along to Don’t Stop Believing at the top of our lungs, but we don’t always want to be the laughing stock that gets up on stage at karaoke. The solution is simple, group karaoke. The Bamalama band play all your favourite rock hits with a massive screen with the lyrics on, so no singing the wrong verse. Everyone gets to have a good ol’ fashioned singalong, and there’ll be so many people there you won’t have to hear your own voice. Win win.
Friday 22 May, 8.30pm, £6, Rescue Rooms

Milk Race 
No, despite what you might think, this won’t involve anyone legging it from Parliament Street to the train station balancing a carton of semi-skimmed on their bonces. Although, that’s not a bad idea for office forfeits... Back to the point. The Milk Race is only the most prestigious cycling event in the British calendar. Originally set up by the Milk Marketing Board who, despite their love for the owd cow-juice, have now disbanded. The race still prevails in full glory though, and they want you to register in your thousands. Families and the cycling elite are all welcome to race in two separate events, just to make sure your toddlers on their trikes don’t show up the so-called professionals. It’s only a fiver to enter, and it’s dead good for you.
Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 May, £5/£8, City Centre

Dot to Dot 
Like a massive child’s puzzle, Dot to Dot has had the musical loving folk of Notts running from venue to venue for a decade now. Not to sound like your nan or aunty, but hasn’t it grown? Not only have the number of stages increased, Bristol and Manchester are now in on the act too. Always a mixture of “Brilliant, so and so is on” and “You ‘eard of them before?”, let the day take you to new and unexpected aural corners. This year our very own Saint Raymond is headlining the Rock City stage, which has a line-up that is heavy on Nottingham acts including Amber Run, The Gorgeous Chans and April Towers. Elsewhere, the likes of Fat White Family, The Wytches, Honeyblood, Nothing But Thieves and Prides will not be alone in making a lot of noise. Get down, it’s a birthday to celebrate and a bargain to boot.
Sunday 24 May, 1pm, £25, Rock City, Rescue Rooms, Stealth, Spanky Van Dykes, NTSU

For the motherload of everything else going on this week check out our comprehensive Nottingham events listings.

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