Summer of fun at the Drum, Birmingham

The Drum, the national centre for Black British arts and culture, is dedicated to developing and promoting contemporary art and culture of British African, Asian and Caribbean communities. Through its various initiatives, The Drum, located in Aston, Birmingham, will continually strive to become a centre of national and international renown; firmly rooted within its local community.

A Mother Speaks: Theatre Birmingham

Here are some of the highlights of this summer……

Nubian Readers’ Book Club
Come along to the Nubian Readers’ Book Club and enjoy reading and reviewing a variety of books written by African, African American and African Caribbean authors. Created in support of The National Year of Reading, these lively group discussions provide you with an excellent opportunity to express your likes or even dislikes of a variety of writing styles.

The Drum’s Youth Theatre presents Our World explores how young people aged 11 – 19 living within the Ladywood area view themselves and how they engage with other young people from different cultural backgrounds who also live in the area.

Rise and Fall of Chugeial Joshi

The Rise and Fall of Chugenlal Joshi
Noted as the Alf and ‘Silly Old Moo’ Garnet of the British Asian community, The Rise and Fall of Chugenlal Joshi is a vibrant, hilarious and poignant view of the lives of the increasingly elderly community in this country. A bi-lingual production (Gujarati and English).

Comedy Summer Series
An international special for midsummer, increasingly hot rising US star Roy Wood Jr (Last Comic Standing, Def Comedy Jam, The Letterman Show) hooks up with Canadian jetsetter Marc Trinidad and New York’s nerdily funny Marc Theobald (Chappelle Show). Adding a little local flavour as host is John Simmit.

The Drum Visual Arts Seminar – Where is the elephant in the room.
This seminar examines ‘The elephant in the room’ a report that was commissioned by Arts Council England, West Midlands in order to map the opportunities and barriers facing the region’s African, Caribbean and Asian visual arts sector. The lively debate will focus on the issues that visual artists currently face in their day to day lives.

Notebenders Big Band

Sounds of Motown is a musical journey featuring the greatest hits from this era. Come to the Drum and sing along with your old favourites in an unmissable night led by the young and talented APAA students and the CBSO Berkeley Salon Ensemble.

Notebenders Big Band
Enjoy a sultry night of Big Band music with the up and coming Notebenders Big Band. Inspired by the legendary Jazz musician Andy Hamilton MBE, the Notebenders have drawn in musicians from all ages, nationalities and communities within Birmingham.
Luciano is noted as one of Jamaica’s most influential reggae singers, his music imparts sentiments of spiritual salvation, Rastafarian edification and African repatriation. ‘The Messenger’ brings his conscious lyrics to The Drum stage.

My Bum is Genetic Deal With It.

My Bum is Genetic Deal with it
Written and performed by Napo Masheane, My Bum is Genetic Deal with it is a comedic satire told in the voice of a young Black woman in new South Africa who embarks on a journey to discover, understand and own her own image of African beauty. The captivating monologue follows her quest to recruit women around the world to join her new political party, Booties In Movement (BUM), with the hope of encouraging them to take a stand and tell their stories of having and loving an African body.

For full details of programming see www.the-drum.org.uk

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