We are rather flattered to recently have appeared in a new publication – A Community Lovers Guide To Birmingham. There’s no great mystery to how this came about, it’s edited by Stan friend and Podnosh boss Nick Booth. It’s a small, attractive book built around a series of short essays telling stories of socially engaged projects that have taken place in Birmingham over the last few years. Amongst these are those we thought we were familiar with (unlit we learned more from the book) are Created in Birmingham, the 4am Project, Social Media Surgeries and the delicious Change Kitchen; others we knew nothing of (but now do) are Saheli Women’s Group, Loaf, Urban Harvest, Friends of Cotteridge Park and Big City Talk Plan.

It takes an hour or so to read, so long as you spend some time gazing at the lovely photos and of course being all about generosity and openness and making things happen you are welcome to read it on-line: and we recommend you do.

I had never heard of SCUDD (standing conference of university drama departments) before I was asked to speak at their conference in Wolverhampton University’s glistening new Drama Department building (Walsall Campus). (more…)

Chris. Dugrenier – ‘Elan Vital’ Trailer from kate rowles on Vimeo.

‘Fresh’ from a month in Perth with Stan’s Cafe performing Of All The People In All The World Chris Dugrenier is shortly to be seen at Camden Peoples Theatre in London as part of their excellent Sprint Festival with her new solo show Elan Vital. The ideal thing to see if you are not at the ‘World Premiere’ of The Anatomy of Melancholy at Warwick Arts Centre or the ‘World Premiere’ of Talking Birds‘ new show We’re Only Here Today at mac birmingham (notice the feverish activity on the West Midlands theatre scene).

Stan’s Cafe associate artist Bernadette Russell spent 366 days conducting random acts of kindness last year. Here adventure reached national papers and Time Out in London. Now she is making a show about her experiences and is keen on getting other people’s input. (more…)

I have a fondness for The Public Theater in New York. I won’t pretend to know it at all well, but I was introduced to is as the hub for Under the Radar, a festival we performed in four years ago and I loved its atmosphere. It is substantial without be overwhelming, it has a slightly faded grandeur that allows it to feel both important and welcoming. It programs a range of exciting work – I saw The Wooster Group’s Hamlet there – and has a fantastic location at 425 Lafayette St., Manhattan. Yesterday I came to realize that these are evidence of the thing that actually makes my like The Public Theater so much – it has heart. (more…)

This morning we welcomed Ian Francis – Flatpack‘s impresario in chief to Stan HQ. We are plotting a collaboration for 2014 and following our conversation he sent over the link to this video, which I like very much. Hopefully come March 2014 you will be able to see why.

Long standing perceptive followers of these pages will have noticed that since the emergence of a dedicated @ A E Harris website we have kept a fairly strict demarcation, as to what news goes where, however, on this occasion it seems apt to announce on both sides of the velvet curtain that Reckless Sleepers a company as old as both the hills and Stan’s Cafe will be performing at our home in the coming months. (more…)