Maggie and Pierre by Linda Griffiths with Paul Thompson Directed by Eduard Lewis Finborough Theatre Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 June, 3, 4, 5 July 2016 http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions/2016/maggie-and-pierre.php 0844 847 1652 Young Maggie Sinclair is a hippie spirit, born out of love and lots of dope. Pierre Trudeau is nearing 50 and soon-to-be elected Prime Minister of Canada. Reason and passion collide as they fall in love, live together in the spotlight, and break up in a public way. This one-woman play centres around the pressures of fame under the media spotlight.

Fright at the Museum Friday 28 October 2016, 6 – 9 pm The American Museum in Britain is participating in the national Museums at Night initiative with a special late-night opening in celebration of Halloween. The Museum is the perfect venue for such an event. Visitors will be led around the Manor House by a guide, and told stories along the way. Tales of the Museum’s own sinister past as well as interesting and peculiar happenings experienced in more recent years will feature in this fascinating tour. Anecdotes from staff members who have been working — or live — in the Manor House will be shared along with ghostly American folklore tales such as Bloody Mary from Pennsylvania and The Birth of the Jersey Devil. This tour is a unique and thrilling event for those who enjoy experiencing a spooky atmosphere in a historical setting. The stories featured aren’t suitable […]

Speaker: Emily Gee (Historic England) & Dr Stephen Tuffnell (University of Oxford) Lecture and film screening: 28 October 18:30-20:00 ‘Little America’: a screening of the documentary, ‘Little America’ (2016), exploring the history of the US Embassy at Grosvenor Square, examining its role as a physical representation of the Special Relationship and a site of protest. Commissioned to mark the Embassy’s departure from the Square as it moves to Nine Elms, it features oral histories from numerous British and American diplomats, journalists, politicians and activists, including Tony Blair, William Hague, Jack Straw, Jon Snow, Justin Webb, and the current ambassador, Matthew Barzun . The historical and architectural importance of the building, the only example of Eero Saarinen work in the UK, will be explored in a short introductory talk by Emily Gee (Historic England). The event is free to attend, but you must register in advance. https://littleamerica.eventbrite.co.uk For additional information please contact IHR.Events@sas.ac.uk.

Royal Academy of Arts, America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. 25 February – 4 June 2017 With all eyes on America at the moment, this show could not be more timely. Bringing together 45 truly iconic works, it paints an electrifying portrait of the great social changes like immigration, industrialisation and urbanisation, which shook America in the wake of the Wall Street Crash. Artists in the exhibition range from Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe and Edward Hopper to Thomas Hart Benton, Philip Guston and more. Perhaps the most celebrated work of them all, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, has never been to Europe until now. Tickets can be booked here.

Royal Academy of Arts, America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s. 25 February – 4 June 2017 With all eyes on America at the moment, this show could not be more timely. Bringing together 45 truly iconic works, it paints an electrifying portrait of the great social changes like immigration, industrialisation and urbanisation, which shook America in the wake of the Wall Street Crash. Artists in the exhibition range from Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe and Edward Hopper to Thomas Hart Benton, Philip Guston and more. Perhaps the most celebrated work of them all, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, has never been to Europe until now. Tickets can be booked here.

'The Living Library', bringing to life local readers' memories of reading, at the Omnibus Theatre, Clapham, London UK, 9-13 May. This live art event comprises a series of storytelling, dance, sound art and participatory artworks spaced throughout the building's theatre and common areas. Audiences will explore individually as well as sharing group experiences, choosing what they are interested in, much like a library. (Omnibus Theatre is itself an old library, so the perfect space for it!). The piece stems from the project Memories of Fiction: An Oral History of Readers’ Lives (Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project based at the University of Roehampton). The project team, including Shelley Trower, Amy Tooth Murphy, and Sarah Pyke, interviewed Wandsworth libraries' reading group members and LGBTQ+ readers about their life stories and their experiences of books, reading and libraries. The artworks draw on this research, exploring topics including first encounters with books, memories of libraries and their vital and varied roles in people's lives, and […]

The sixth of a series of film discussions exploring important movies by African American filmmakers. I am Not Your Negro (2016, dir. Raoul Peck, 95 min) Introduced by Dr. Nigel Hatton (University of California, Merced.) Phil Bertelsen and Rachel Dretzin, award-winning filmmakers and executive producers of Netflix docuseries 'Who Killed Malcolm X?'  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-rai-goes-to-the-movies-i-am-not-your-negro-2016-dir-raoul-peck-tickets-139975332989

Sorry to Bother You (2018, dir. Boots Riley, 102 min) + Blindspotting (2018, dir. Carlos Lopez Estrada, 96 min) Introduced by:  Dr. Brittney Edmonds (Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison Brandi Thompson Summers, Assistant Professor of Geography, UC Berkeley Denzel Whitaker, award-winning actor and filmmaker https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-rai-goes-to-the-movies-sorry-to-bother-you-blindspotting-tickets-139993226509

The Watermelon Woman (1996, dir. Cheryl Dunye, 90 min) Introduced by:  Dr. Terri Francis, Associate Professor and Director of the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University Sarah-Tai Black, Film programmer and arts curator Grace Barber-Plentie, Marketer for the British Film Institute https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-rai-goes-to-the-movies-the-watermelon-woman-1996-dir-cheryl-dunye-tickets-139997697883