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Theatre Review: The Last Stand Of Mary Whitehouse at the Nottingham Playhouse

Today's youth might think Mary Whitehouse was some cartoonish figure-of-fun. A prude and a bigot, leftover from the Victorian era. Not at all. Known as the most dangerous woman in England at the time, she wreaked havoc. The Playhouse's brand new play shares the horror...  

Playwright Caroline Bird on writing The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse

The Playhouse continues its streak of consequential new plays with the upcoming The Last Stand Of Mrs Mary Whitehouse, starring Maxine Peake behind those infamous horn-rimmed spectacles. Caroline Bird speaks to Leftlion about how and why she wrote about the 'most dangerous woman in Britain'... 

"The power is with the people": standing up to knife violence in Old Market Square

After three tragic spates of knife violence rocked Nottingham, and were subsequently highly publicised, local campaigners organised a demonstration in Old Market Square to draw attention to the underlying, community problems that cause it. LeftLion went down to report...

Standing In This Place: Artist Rachel Carter tells us her inspirations behind a new sculpture for Nottingham's Green Heart park.

With just 17% of statues in the UK depicting women and only 2% dedicated to people belonging to ethnic minorities, there is a clear need for more varied representation in public art. Luckily, one local artist is looking to change this in Nottingham, whilst also representing the long and diverse history of our city’s textile industry. 

Standing In This Place, a sculpture by Rachel Carter will be erected in the Green Heart park in February. We asked Rachel to tell us more about the piece, how she became an artist, and what it’s like to work as a sculptor.

Can Tiktok superstar make it in stand-up comedy?

The Gen-Z internet sensation brings his fast paced stand-up and character sketch comedy to Nottingham. But deprived of his Tiktok medium will he be any good?
 

Seann Walsh moves from stand-up to drama in this new play at the Theatre Royal

Comedian Seann Walsh has made a name for himself in the world of stand-up. But will his move to acting be stand out?

The Thompsons on The Cold War, Broadmarsh and stand-up comedy

Nottingham's most opinionated greengrocers on... The Cold War, Broadmarsh and stand-up comedy

Live Review: Stone Soup Academy Presents... Stand Up To Knife Crime at Metronome

Stand Up To Knife Crime has become an essential annual fixture in the Notts music calendar, hosted each year by the fantastic Stone Soup Academy. Delivering an impactful evening of music, film and spoken word designed to unite, raise awareness and change perceptions surrounding knife crime in our community, the LeftLion Music team went along to support this important event...

Big City Reads book reviews: Stand Up Ferran Burke

Books can be the spark that makes us want to know more, and according to young reader Kelsi, Steven Camden’s “astounding” Stand Up Ferran Burke is one of them. Here’s Kelsi’s review, as part of Big City Reads - a campaign ran by Nottingham City of Literature to get thousands of free books in the hands and hearts of local young people.

Gig review: Average White Band at Rock City

We headed down to Rock City for a musicianship masterclass from Average White Band, as they visited Nottingham as part of their final tour...

LeftLion to Launch New Stand-alone Nottingham Events Platform

For over a decade we at LeftLion have run an online events directory offering a service to events promoters, organisations and venues across the city. We are delighted to let you know we’ll soon be seriously upping our game…

Standing in This Place: A New Statue Commemorating the Historical Women of Nottingham

In April of 2024, Rachel Carter & The Legacy Makers are due to raise a statue titled Standing in This Place in the rejuvenated Broadmarsh. It depicts two women hand in hand - a white female garment worker and an enslaved African woman. The project is still seeking fundraising so that it can stand life-size and do justice to its inspiration...

We Chat to NTU Graduate and World-Renowned Filmmaker Jeanie Finlay About Her Long-Standing Connection to Broadway Cinema

One of the most notable aspects of Nottingham is the rich film scene and array of fantastic independent cinemas available in the city. We chat to NTU graduate and world-renowned filmmaker Jeanie Finlay about her long-standing connection to Nottingham’s Broadway Cinema, how she got into documentary making, and her latest award-winning film Your Fat Friend…

How Nottinghamshire Bat Group Are Standing up for Our Misunderstood Critters

With Halloween just around the corner, we wanted to take a furry close look at one of our most feared and mythologised critters - bats. Angelena Efstathiou of Nottinghamshire Bat Group tells us about the work they do to better understand our local bats, and how you can help protect them…

How Nottingham’s Stone Soup Academy Are Using Comedy to Crack Down on Knife Crime

Though it may have fallen out of popular conversation, knife crime is still a major issue in Nottingham, according to Oliver Sillito from the city’s Stone Soup Academy. That’s why the free school is throwing a creative showcase on Tuesday 19 July to open up conversation and challenge standing perceptions about young people and crime…

Academic and Stand-Up Comedian Dr Claire Sedgwick on COVID-19's Impact on the Industry

Unpaid sets. No trade unions. Class inequalities. Even by the already difficult standards of the creative industries, stand-up comedy is a particularly hard industry in which to carve a career path. Dr Claire Sedgwick, an academic and stand-up comedian, explores how COVID-19 has only exacerbated those difficulties, and what the comedy scene is doing to keep the industry alive ...

My First Time... Ruining Christmas

The family is all together, the mince pies are coming thick and fast and Home Alone is on the box. What could possibly go wrong?

Hockley Hustle's Tommy Farmyard on Stand Out Moments, Being Eco-Friendly and Future Plans

Summer might be bowing out for another year but that doesn’t mean the festival fun is over just yet. We catch up with our mate Tommy Farmyard, one of the brains behind Hockley Hustle, to find out what to expect from this year’s edition of the much-loved community festival...

Vikki Stone is Putting on Her Stand-Up Song Show at Nottingham Playhouse

She’s serenaded the likes of Professor Brian Cox and Phillip Schofield, and now Vikki Stone is bringing her new stand-up show Songbird to Nottingham. We caught up with the award-winning comedian and musician to talk about her comedy inspirations, creative process and what she thinks of our fair city…

Stone Soup Academy is Standing Up to Knife Crime

Stone Soup Academy is a secondary school in the centre of Nottingham that works with troubled students, helping them do better both inside and outside of the facility. We spoke to Headteacher Kerrie Henton and Head of Engagement Oliver Sillito about its recent Stand Up to Knife Crime comedy event and how it engages its students...

The Thompson Brothers on Stand Up Comedians, Goose Fair and Pumpkins

Artist Tristram Aver is Raising Awareness of Austerity and Autism Through His Native British Trees Series

Tristram Aver is a father, artist and curator who recently used lino-printing techniques to create 1,000 prints in one day, all on his tod, to raise money and awareness for Autism East Midlands and The Woodland Trust. An extension of his Native British Trees series, the project delves into topics ranging from austerity and war, to sustainability and mental health. We sat down with Tristram beneath the yellowing Victoria Park leaves to find out what's rustling in his brain crevices...

The Last Fish Man Standing

Dave “The Fish Man” Bartram is a legend around these parts. Turning 72 this November, he walks from pub to pub selling various seafoods and tasty snacks from his basket, raising money for the charity Rainbows. He’s faced some adversity over the past year; he got mugged, broke his ribs, and as a result, discovered he had cancer. Looking back to our 2008 interview with Dave in issue #22, we sat down with him in The Bell for a catch up...