If you like explosions, or want to know what chemicals make up a fart, then the Rude Science live show may be right up your street. Especially if, like us, you have kids in the 6-14 age bracket.
The Rude Science show came to the Victoria Theatre in Halifax last weekend, and so we took our nine-year-old along. It was hosted as part of this year’s Halifax Comedy Festival, which runs until Sunday.
Rude Science is hosted by Stefan Gates, who has hosted and guested on a number of BBC TV shows, for both kids and adults. He’s also the author of a number of books – we picked up his Rude Science(sponsored link) and Insects: An Edible Field Guide(sponsored link) from the foyer after the show, and had them signed. Oh yes, I should mention that Stefan has a thing for ‘eating the science’ and this includes various substances used during the show.
The show is very well put together, considering that it incorporates highly flammable materials and lots of different cameras (including infrared) and smoke machines. Certainly, there were only one or two minor balloon-related technical hitches. And whilst it wasn’t quite a sell-out crowd, there were very few of the 1500 or so seats remaining empty at the Victoria in the showing that we saw.
Rude Science is well targeted at upper primary and lower secondary school aged kids, and has a good balance of being funny, engaging and educational. Our nine-year-old really enjoyed it. The show remains on tour for the rest of this week, with it being half-term – it’s in Hull tonight, Guildford on Thursday, Chelmsford on Friday and Reading on Sunday. At each venue, there’s usually a lunchtime and afternoon slot, and, with an interval, the show runs for around two hours. It’s then back on the road for February half term.
Seeing as it’s UK City of Culture this year, and theatres are places where you can see cultural things, how many theatres are there in Bradford? I think there’s eight, and here’s a list.
By the way, I’m defining Bradford as the area within the A6177 Bradford ring road. That means that I’m not including the theatres and arts centres in Ilkley, Bingley and Keighley that are in the wider City of Bradford district. And I’m defining ‘theatre’ as anywhere with a stage and seating that can be used for performances.
1. The Alhambra Theatre
Probably the best known theatre in Bradford is the Alhambra Theatre in the city centre. Opening shortly before the First World War, and extensively refurbished in 1986, it seats 1456 people and is where most major shows take place. It’s Grade II listed, and next month it’ll be hosting the touring production of Matilda, Tim Michin’s musical adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel. Earlier this month, it hosted the annual CBeebies Pantomime which will be on TV and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.
The last show we saw here was Unfortunate, last year, but we may well go to see Matilda as it’s a favourite in our household. It’s a Grade II listed building.
2. The Studio
Right behind the Alhambra Theatre is The Studio. As the name suggests, it’s a ‘black box’ studio theatre with a movable seating rig. This can seat up to 200, and is used for smaller productions and stand-up comedy. We saw George Egg here 10 years ago, but haven’t been to another show since.
3. Theatre in the Mill
Okay, disclosure alert: The Theatre in the Mill is run by my employer, the University of Bradford. As the name suggests, it’s in part of what was the Phoenix Mill, and now forms one of the university buildings. Like The Studio, it’s a black box studio theatre with movable seating, and seats around 100 people. Its programme of events includes stand-up comedy – both performances and workshops – film screenings and shows. I’ve also been to a number of student shows here over the years, but as Bradford isn’t really a performing arts university, there currently aren’t many of these.
4. Siobhan Ullah Performance Space
Next door to the university is Bradford College, which is home to Bradford Arts School, and in turn, the Siobhan Ullah Performance Space. Although it’s primarily used by the college students, it can also be used for events and seats 125 people. Again, it’s a black box studio theatre. It’s named after a former performing arts student of the college who sadly died of an asthma attack, aged just 18. I haven’t been to this theatre before.
5. Bradford Live
Back down towards the city centre, and next door to the Alhambra is Bradford’s newest and biggest performance venue, Bradford Live. It only opened this summer, and seats over 3000 people. It’s hosted in what was the Victoria Theatre, and later and Odeon Cinema which closed in 2000, and laid empty for almost a quarter of a century. Indeed, it survived a plan to demolish it in the late 2000s, and has now undergone a huge amount of restoration. It’s not currently a listed building.
As the name suggests, Bradford Live is more about live events and will be hosting a number of bands in coming months. Ocean Colour Scene are playing next month, as is CBeebies entertainer Justin Fletcher, and the Kaiser Chiefs are playing their first album in full in the new year. But there are some shows that you would typically expect in a theatre playing there too, such as Bluey’s Big Play, which I’m sure we’d be dragged to if our nine-year-old was a bit younger. We haven’t yet been here.
6. Bradford Arts Centre
Okay, technically the Bradford Arts Centre is even newer than Bradford Live, having opened under its current name as recently as this month. Previously, it was known as Kala Sangam, with a focus on South Asian arts. Its new name reflects its broader remit and engagement across all of Bradford’s populations. It’s located at what used to be Bradford’s crown post office at Forster Square, around the back of the Broadway shopping centre and next to Bradford Cathedral. The building is Grade-II listed.
There are several spaces in the arts centre, including a 200 seater studio theatre. We’ve been once, to see a pantomime that a friend was in about 10 years ago.
7. Bradford Playhouse
A few years ago, I used to volunteer at the Bradford Playhouse, and so it’s come up on here a few times. It was at risk of closure in 2014, but is now flourishing and is now fully accessible, following a successful crowdfunder early this year. The theatre offers two spaces: an art deco main auditorium seating up to 265 people, and a smaller black box studio theatre, seating up to 40 people. It hosts a mixture of professional shows and performances by amateur dramatic societies and dance schools. The building isn’t listed, but it was registered as an Asset of Community Value for five years in 2014.
8. St Georges Hall
Like Bradford Live, St Georges Hall is more of a live events venue than a theatre, with stand-up comedy and live bands. It’s also the oldest on this list, having opened in 1853. At one time, over 3000 seats were squeezed into the space, but nowadays its seating capacity has been reduced to 1335, or 1550 for standing events. It’s Grade II* listed, and was renovated between 2016 and 2019. The last show we went to see was a recording of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in 2014.
I think that’s quite an impressive list of theatres, actually, considering Bradford’s size.
For anyone who can’t manage stairs, the building is essentially a no-go. There are stairs up to the main entrance, and once you’re inside, more stairs up to the seating or down to the bar. There is no lift, nor has there ever been one.
As regular readers will know, accessibility is something that is important to me and I include a section in all my newer days out reviews. Installing a lift at the Bradford Playhouse will open it up to many people who can’t manage stairs – not just wheelchair users, but others with mobility issues, and parents with prams. That way, more people can enjoy shows there, and it makes the venue more attractive to producers who currently may be deterred by its lack of accessibility. It would be fantastic if the funding target could be met, and the work completed before the end of Bradford’s year as City of Culture ends in 10 months time. I’ve already contributed; if you can, please contribute as well.
Our toddler is approaching 17 months old now, and yet last night was the first time that Christine and I had a child-free night out, as a couple. We’ve struggled to get childcare in place, and our toddler is still breastfeeding before bedtime. Thankfully, this time we managed to arrange for a friend to look after them.
Though not quite a sell-out, the Victoria Theatre in Halifax was very busy. Tickets for ISIHAC recordings tend to only cost around £5, and so it’s a relatively cheap night out. Though each show is only around 30 minutes when broadcast, significantly more is recorded, and two episodes are taped at each recording.
These two episodes will be broadcast in July, I believe. Watch out for Susan’s lovely singing voice (although her vocal range did prove a limiting factor in the Pick Up Song round), and some controversial moves in Mornington Crescent. Sadly, you won’t get to see John’s facial expressions as he sings One Song To The Tune Of Another, such are the limitations of radio.
When we got home at about 10:30pm, our toddler was still awake but very, very tired. Suffice to say they were still asleep when we put them in the pushchair to go to the childminders this morning. Apparently they’d been perfectly happy whilst we were out. Hopefully, if our finances improve and we can get childcare again, then we’ll be able to have a few more nights out.
After seeing Frisky & Mannish on Friday, Christine and I went to another comedy gig on Sunday. This time it was to see Susan Calman, a diminutive Scottish lesbian and stand-up comedian on her tour ‘Ladylike’, at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. Hebden Bridge is something of a lesbian capital and so it was not surprising that the gig had sold out a few weeks ago.
I’m familiar with Susan Calman through her work on BBC Radio 4 – she is a regular guest on the weekly panel show The News Quiz, and has presented two series of her own show Susan Calman is Convicted. On TV, she’s appeared on Have I Got News For You and a few other programmes, mainly in Scotland. She’s been top of my list of stand-up comedians whom I have yet to see live so last night was a chance to fix this.
And I’m pleased to say it was really worth waiting for. Calman is a fantastic observational comedian, with all of her material drawn from her own life and experiences. It helps that she has an interesting story to tell – about her height, her sexuality, her career change and her three cats, each of whom has its own theme song.
Her tour continues into next year and whilst a number of dates are already sold out, hopefully there will be a gig near you with tickets still available. If you want to hear someone who is charming, inspirational and, most of all, hilariously funny, then find the time to go and see her when you can. Tour dates are on her web site.
Now, to make time to see Bethany Black and Chris Addison, who make up the rest of my list of comedians to see live.
Last night, the long-running BBC Radio 4 show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue came to Bradford, for the recording of the final two episodes of its 61st series. On the air since 1972, it has featured mostly the same participants throughout all 400+ episodes.
Unlike some TV and radio recordings, the tickets for ISIHAC were not free – but not expensive either; our restricted view tickets were £5 each, and others were £7.50. Although each episode of ISIHAC is broadcast in a 30 minute slot, the recording takes around three hours, with an interval. This is mainly because two shows are recorded at a time. If you’re a listener, the second, fourth and sixth episodes usually start with the host, Jack Dee, announcing that it is their second week at whichever location they are recording. In reality, the week is compressed into a twenty minute interval.
As you’d perhaps expect, a lot more is recorded than broadcast, and some bits have to be re-recorded at the end if the producer wasn’t happy with it. There was also a reference to the Tour de France having happened, as it’ll be broadcast in six weeks’ time, whereas in reality it’s still a couple of weeks away.
It was a really enjoyable experience, with the usual rounds of Uxbridge English Dictionary, One Song To The Tune Of Another, Sound Charades, Late Arrivals, Swanny Kazoo, and – of course – Mornington Crescent. As it was the last episode to be recorded in the series, ‘bog standard’ rules were played on this occasion. Christine wasn’t familiar with the game so I had to give her a quick overview of the rules, and there was controversy when Tim Brooke-Taylor tried to play Turnham Green after Parsons Green.
The guest was Andy Hamilton, along with the regulars of Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. These three are all in the 70s now and I’m sure this will be the only time I will have been able to see all three of them together. Sadly I didn’t have a chance to see the show when former presenter Humphrey Lyttelton was alive, as he sadly passed away aged 86 in 2008. But we did get to see the lovely Samantha, who, as always, was keeping the teams in check, and the state of the art laser display board.
There are usually two series of ISIHAC recorded each year – this being the first – so there will be another series being recorded in the autumn. I would definitely recommend going to watch it.
