Newsroom University of Manchester

The University of Manchester awards three Honorary Research Fellowships

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 15:57:44 +0000

The three appointments are key figures in the 91ֱ��’s thriving cultural scene:

Dave Moutrey: Director of Culture and Creative Industries for 91ֱ�� City Council;
Julie McCarthy: Strategic Lead for Creative Health, NHS Greater 91ֱ�� Integrated Care / Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority;
Sameed Rezayan: Head of Learning, Factory International.

The appointments have been awarded an Honorary Research Fellowship in the Drama department at The University of Manchester. The Fellowships recognise the outstanding contribution and ongoing work that Dave, Julie and Sameed make to the vibrant creative and cultural industries sector in Greater 91ֱ��.

The research projects they will embark upon align with the research themes within the University’s ; Creative Industries and Innovation, Creativity, Health and Wellbeing, and Creative and Civic Futures.

Meet the international student dreaming big in 91ֱ��

Thu, 16 May 2024 10:00:00 +0100

Madi is an international student studying Theatre & Film at The University of Manchester. She has always dreamt of coming to the UK to study, and now she has been able to find her place in 91ֱ��’s thriving arts and cultural scene.

Madi is a part of Universities UK International’s #WeAreInternational: Transforming Lives campaign, dedicated to highlighting the contributions international students are making to the UK and their communities during their studies here.

“I’ve always had a deep love for drama and film. It was just a case of where to study it” she said. The opportunities to engage with arts and culture on and off-campus in 91ֱ�� appealed to Madi, who has gone on to launch her own theatre company with a focus on bringing communities together, donating ticket proceeds to help local communities. Madi has been recognised for her achievements, being nominated for Best Director at the National Operatic and Dramatic Association.

“Madi is an inspiration - she is a great example of someone knowing they wanted to do things differently, then taking the brave decision to study in a different country,” said Paul Govey, Head of Student Marketing at The University of Manchester. “91ֱ�� has been the perfect choice for her as she has also found a community that has embraced her and given her the freedom to explore her passions. She is a tour de force!”

As well as making a big difference in their local communities and beyond, international students bring a £41 billion annual contribution to the UK, meaning on average, each of the 650 parliamentary constituencies in the UK is £58 million better off – equivalent to approximately £560 per citizen. In the North West alone, international students contribute £3.04bn to the regional economy.

Jamie Arrowsmith, Director of UUKi said: “It’s never felt more important to acknowledge the important contributions that international students make to their university and local communities, and to the UK more broadly. It’s not just about the economic side of it – international students give back through cultural exchange, volunteering, and so much more. We’re proud to be sharing their stories through the latest phase of the #WeAreInternational campaign.”

Obituary: Professor David Mayer 1928 - 2023

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:53:32 +0100

The Department of Drama and Film in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures is saddened to hear of the recent passing of Professor David Mayer, Emeritus and Honorary Research Professor and a foundational member of the Drama department.

Having spent a brief term as Lecturer at the University of Bristol and in the English department at Warwick University, David came to the University of Manchester in 1972.

He retired in 1996 but continued to lecture across Europe and the US as well as authoring key academic works on theatre, performance and on early film and screen cultures.

David was co-editor of Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film from 2002 to 2008. He was Head of Department from 1991 to 1994 and was the recipient of numerous research grants and awards, receiving the Distinguished Scholar Award, from the American Society for Theatre Research, in 2012.

David’s enthusiasm for and scholarly expertise in early cinema history and practice shaped the original film teaching and research in the Department, as well as the international academic debates on early cinema and its relation to our understanding of theatre and performance, from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century in Europe and the US.

An avid collector of theatre and film memorabilia, David and his wife Helen Day-Mayer gave generous philanthropic donations to the John Rylands Special Collections at the University of Manchester, as well as to other archives and film related festivals across the globe.

David was a formidable intellectual, with an acute critical eye and acerbic wit, and he is remembered by those he taught and those whose research he supervised, as a generous, thoughtful and inspiring teacher, and an original and international agenda-setting academic. He will be greatly missed by those knew him at the University of Manchester and by the international scholarly community more widely.

Former 91ֱ�� student Meera Syal wins BAFTA’s highest award

Mon, 15 May 2023 16:44:28 +0100

The career of Manchester alumna Meera Syal was recognised by BAFTA on Sunday night, as she was given their highest Fellowship award at their glittering ceremony in London.

Meera, 61, has spent more than thirty years entertaining the nation through her work as a comedian, actor and writer, and has played many roles including Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite character, Granny Kumar.

She grew up in an Indian Punjabi family in the West Midlands in the 1970s, when offensive and stereotypical depictions of ethnic minorities were commonplace in television programmes such as The Black and White Minstrel Show, Til Death Us Part and Love Thy Neighbour. She decided to reject being the butt of jokes when studying English and Drama at The University of Manchester, where she became politicised and empowered after learning more about her history and culture.

Inspired by the likes of comedian Victoria Wood to lift the lid on modern British life through her own lens, she joined the cast of the BBC’s The Real McCoy in 1991, a predominantly Black comedy show featuring the likes of Ian Wright, Linford Christie and Richard Blackwood.

After writing the script for Bhaji on the Beach in 1993 with legendary director Gurinda Chadha and writing her novel Anita and Me in 1996, she then joined the cast of Goodness Gracious Me in 1998, which instantly became one of the BBC’s biggest comedies. The BAFTA-nominated programme featured sketches written by its British Asian stars who cleverly turned stereotypes on their heads, including the classic ‘going for an English’ where a group of raucous friends go out for a meal and mock their English waiter.

Fellow cast member and future husband Sanjeev Bhaskar joined Syal on her next venture, The Kumars at No. 42, where he played television presenter-wannabe Sanjeev and Syal portrayed his blunt grandmother. The comedy was a runaway hit, becoming one of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s favourite shows, as confessed on occasions where she met Syal. “She was really lovely about the show, and she clearly had watched it because she could quote bits of it,” she explains. “I think she was drawn to an older woman being the naughtiest person in the room.”

The show won an International Emmy for Best Comedy Series in 2003, and at one point the team even went to number one in the music charts after providing vocals to Gareth Gates’ charity cover of Spirit in the Sky. The show also earned five BAFTA nominations, including one each for Syal and Bhaskar for Entertainment Performance in 2003.

In the years since she has continued gaining plaudits for her writing and acting, and she recently appeared in Apple TV’s Roar, an anthology series based on short stories by Cecelia Ahern in which she plays a frustrated housewife who returns her husband to a shop to obtain a refund. She had already been awared both an MBE and a CBE for her services to drama and literature, and now she has received BAFTA’s highest honour, the Fellowship.

On a great night for The University of Manchester, as well as Meera’s award and Professor David Olusoga’s BAFTA Special Award win in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television, alumnus Joe Lycett took home the features award for his programme Joe Lycett Vs Beckham: Got Your Back At Xmas which covered the controversy surrounding FIFA’s decision to host the World Cup in Qatar last year.

Who Ya Gonna Call? (in event of emergency)

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 12:27:43 +0000

A one-man show about climate resilience, Who Ya Gonna Call? jumps headlong into some of the most difficult questions about our uncertain future - with the help of some buckets, some sand, a few old records, and a dash of black humour.

Who Ya Gonna Call? is part of the UK Climate Resilience programme, developed in association with the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission (YHCC).

This warm and welcoming one-hour performance gives the audience plenty to think about, and even invites the adventurous to help out directly. After all, nobody can act alone on the climate change, so this one-man show might sometimes need a little help.

Audiences can see the show for themselves at the Martin Harris Centre at The University of Manchester on 8 March 2023, and will ‘tour’ other spaces in due course.

Who Ya Gonna Call? has been designed to work flexibly in theatre spaces, community halls, or office settings and is the first presentation by Vesper Hill, a new social enterprise co-founded by Scott-Bottoms, which uses storytelling, performances and workshops to explore the human and mental health dimensions of our environmental crisis.

“Are we prepared for climate change?,” Scott-Bottoms asks. “Researching this piece, I was really struck by the fact that the people we’ve tasked with sorting this out are few and far between. And they feel pretty overwhelmed by it all. With Who Ya Gonna Call?, I want to tell some of their stories -- and to encourage audiences to see that we all have a role to play, in facing the future.”

To find out more about the upcoming performance of Who Ya Gonna Call? at The Martin Harris Centre and to register to attend,

MORE INFORMATION

Vesper Hill is a new social enterprise, founded in 2022. We aim to use interactive storytelling, performances and workshops to explore the human and mental health dimensions of our environmental crisis, and to build capacity and resilience in organisations and communities.

We offer a variety of performances and workshop programmes for different contexts. We can also be commissioned to make new work, tailored specifically to your needs. info@vesperhill.org

Storyteller Steve Scott-Bottoms is the co-founder of Vesper Hill, and co-chair of YHCC’s Adaptation and Resilience panel. He researched this performance by interviewing other panel members, from a range of professional backgrounds. In his day job, he is Professor of Contemporary Theatre and Performance at The University of Manchester. In addition to being the author of several books, Steve is a theatre director, writer, performer and facilitator.

Simon Brewis (director and co-deviser) is a theatre director and dramaturg who specialises in working with young people and community groups. He is the artistic director of Common Chorus Theatre Company.

University of Manchester welcomes Bressonian exchanges at two-day conference

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 17:52:25 +0000

Marking 40 years since Robert Bresson released ��’A��Գ� in 1983 - his final film, bookending a 40-year career - The University of Manchester invites critical thinkers, cineastes and creative practitioners to explore Bresson’s oeuvre and its impact on the wider industry in a very special two-day event.

Hosted by The University of Manchester’s Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama, Notes on Bresson is a conference organised in partnership with Richmond, The American University in London (RAIUL) and the UK Bressonian Practice-Based Research Group.

This open and friendly event has been curated to include presentations from thought leaders in cinema, lively panel discussions and intimate screenings, as well as plenty of networking opportunities here in the creative capital of the North of England. The conference encourages participation and debate, ensuring every delegate goes home with a fresh perspective on the great French filmmaker and a wider network.

Jonathan Hourigan, assistant to Robert Bresson on ��’A��Գ�, Lecturer in Screenwriting at University of Manchester and co-chair of the conference, says “It’s a great thrill to bring together so many scholars and experts on Bresson, along with filmmakers and artists influenced by him and to explore and celebrate his work in such depth.”

Tickets and more information about this event at and the event warmly welcomes postgraduate students of film studies, French studies and philosophy, in addition to academics, cineastes, filmmakers, artists and afficionados of Bresson and French cinema.

Prestigious awards for Drama’s Kwame Owusu and Misha Duncan-Barry

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 17:22:32 +0000

A recent graduate of the Department of Drama and a current MA Playwriting student have recently taken home prestigious industry awards.

Kwame Owusu has taken home the coveted Mustapha Matura award, which is part of the for his play Dreaming and Drowning.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be awarded the Mustapha Matura Award and Mentoring Programme,” said Kwame. “It is such an honour to be given this rare and generous opportunity to receive mentorship from a world-class playwright, alongside the championing of my writing that this award bestows. I’m incredibly excited to sharpen my writing technique over this mentorship period, and to expand my approach to storytelling and form with increasing boldness, ambition, and precision. This is a life-changing moment for me, and I feel genuinely delighted and galvanised for the future.”

Misha Duncan-Barry, a current MA Playwriting student at The University of Manchester, is also celebrating her Out for her performance in My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored (Red Ladder Theatre Company UK Tour).

Duncan-Barry’s recent theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream at HOME and Killing Christmas Eve at Oldham Coliseum.

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Funding awarded to researchers exploring the role of community assets in improving health outcomes.

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 09:15:00 +0000

The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has awarded researchers at The University of Manchester funding to partner with local communities to tackle health inequalities across the UK.

The award comes as part of a new wave of research projects announced to investigate the role of community assets such as parks and galleries in improving health outcomes. The projects are funded as part of the second phase of the £26 million, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities investment. This multi-year research programme is funded primarily by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and aims to use existing local resources to create a fairer and healthier society.

Building on previous success;
The first phase of the programme was and funded projects which looked at how to scale up small, local approaches to tackle health inequalities. This second phase is a consortia-building phase, which will fund 16 projects up to £250,000 each to facilitate cross-partner collaboration, incorporating relevant non-academic partners, including community groups and health system organisations.

These consortia will conduct new research and develop community asset hubs with the aim of coordinating large-scale projects for their communities as part of the final phase of the programme to be launched in 2023.

Organisations of Hope, led by Principal Investigator, , explores how creativity, culture and heritage address inequities in Greater 91ֱ��, with an initial focus on mental health and dementia. It will build a creative health coalition in Greater 91ֱ�� from a diverse group of organisations and individuals that represent communities, cultural organisations, charities, health and care providers and local government. The partners will work together to understand how existing creative health assets can improve health and wellbeing and increase equity by tackling the social determinants of health.

The initial group includes researchers from The University of Manchester and King’s College London; key staff from the Greater 91ֱ�� Integrated Care Partnership, its flagship organisation Dementia United and the Greater 91ֱ�� Combined Authority; as well as charities who work with communities like Cartwheel Arts, Action Together and 42nd Street.

For more information, please contact: simon.parry@manchester.ac.uk

Maxine Peake in ITV Hillsborough Disaster drama

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 10:16:20 +0000

Anne Williams, fought for justice for the 97 victims who were unlawfully killed in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster - including her son Kevin. After refusing to accept the coroner's original verdict of accidental death, the real-life drama tells the story of her determination to unearth the truth about what really happened.

Peake remembers seeing Williams campaigning on the news, the image of a bereaved mother who would not back down, and took up the first opportunity to play Williams on screen.

Anne aired on ITV on 6 January and all episodes are available for catch-up on .

In 2020, Maxine Peake became an Honorary Professor of Literature and Performance at The University of Manchester. As part of her role, she is an ambassador for and continues to work collaboratively with students and academics.

If you would like to catch up on Maxine in conversation with Professor John McAuliffe, celebrating both her appointment at The University of Manchester and International Women’s Day 2021, you can do so via the .

19 in 20: Conversations on Community, Creativity and COVID-19 in 2020

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 16:39:23 +0000

Researchers at the School of Arts, Languages and Culture were awarded a small grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on artists working in community and socially engaged art.

Dr Alison Jeffers and Dr MaoHui Deng, both lecturers in the School’s Drama department, facilitated conversations between artists which took place over Zoom. The conversations were then edited into eight short films now available to watch online.

Drs Jeffers and Deng said, “We think that the conversations capture some of the very mixed thoughts and emotions about what was going on in the middle of the pandemic. We’re interested in your responses and whether you think there’s anything that can be taken away from the experiences of artists and communities as we seem to be emerging from the worst aspects of the disease and from lockdown more generally. We’d be very happy to hear your feedback on these conversations and we’d love to know whether you will use them maybe in teaching, workshops or other settings. This is important to us because we really want to know what impact they might have had on your practice or your thinking.”

You can send feedback via the site below or email directly to or

Watch the videos and find out more about the project here: