The openly gay ex-rugby player talks homophobia, bullying, and his upcoming Beauty and the Beast panto gig. Since retiring from playing rugby you’ve proven yourself an able and natural interviewer – how hard was it to adapt to that aspect of your career? I don’t think it’s been that hard. I like spending time with […]
Archive | Leisure
A Homotopian Rent Party
Sam Bennett During the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, poor African Americans – paid low wages yet asked for disproportionately high rent – would host house parties and collect money from guests in order to keep a roof over their heads. These bashes, which have inspired the Darren Pritchard-directed Rent Party, would see the likes of jazz […]
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“If I Sound Angry…”
Linda Bellos OBE talks racism, Thatcher and trans with Sam Bennett “My growing-up years were spent as a socialist and not-very-good musician,” Linda Bellos tells me. Though “very much into classical music”, she realised by the end of the sixties she wasn’t going to make it as a professional clarinettist. “It was a rational recognition […]
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A relationship with Grindr…
Sam Bennett My first attempt to get through to Erik Ransom takes me to his answerphone, which concludes with him advising callers to “have a decadent day” – hands down the best sign-off I’ve ever heard. I tell him so when he rings back shortly after, and that I wish we’d arranged the interview for […]
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Review: Careys Manor and Spa
Amidst the daily humdrum and routine mediocrity of life, there are occasional flashes of excellence that make one feel as though all is as it should be. In the preposterously beautiful village of Brockenhurst, embraced on all sides by the New Forest, sits the sort of Victorian manor house that makes one seek synonyms in […]
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Review: The Terrace at the Montagu Arms
The New Forest, with its abundant ferns, alarmingly wild animals and peculiar artificiality, strikes me as almost prehistoric, as if 14,000 acres of pastureland had been carved out of a staged imagining of the Mesozoic era and lain across the Hampshire-Wiltshire border. Proclaimed as a royal hunting forest by William the Conqueror, this quasi-Jurassic Park […]
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FREE events ahead of Bianca Del Rio in Birmingham
Following the success of a host of free activities over Pride weekend curated by Town Hall Symphony Hall for the local LGBTQ community, THSH are delighted to present two free pre-show foyer events ahead of Bianca Del Rio’s main hall concert on Monday 30th July. The events begin at 6pm with a performance from Soprano […]
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From Russia to Rainbows
Placebo co-founder and bassist Stefan Olsdal talks parenthood, bigotry and mental health with Sam Bennett Did Stefan Olsdal always feel accepted as a gay man in rock ‘n’ roll? In the early days of Placebo, he says, and during their heyday, “I was struggling with my sexuality, I was not completely comfortable in my own […]
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An Interview with Céline Gittens
Now a principal dancer with the prestigious Birmingham Royal Ballet and after performing in the handover ceremony for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Céline Gittens discusses the current climate for black and mixed heritage dancers and how Birmingham has become her home. How did you first come to Birmingham? I was 18 years old and having […]
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Recording Memories: Rose and Rosie
“This online culture doesn’t always have to have negative connotations. Some creators really do try to make a positive difference to the world, and that’s certainly what we’re trying to do.” Married British comedy and entertainment duo Rose Ellen Dix and Rosie Spaughton have gained popularity through their online videos, amassing over 160 million views […]
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