Women & Work

This event will be held at the Kitchen Garden Cafe on York Road, Kings Heath.

We are extremely excited to have Janice Connolly BEM from 'Women & Theatre' hosting an event on their book "Women & Work", a book of 14 monologues by 14 female playwrights which reflects and celebrates women's working lives. There will be live performance and discussion inspired by this unique body of work, which was developed from research with local women, drawing upon the experiences of young women, retired women, and those who have seen massive changes in their sectors over the last 40 years.

Janice Connolly BEM - Current Artistic Director: Janice is a founder member of W&T and has been Artistic Director for over 20 years. She has written, directed and performed in many projects for the company. Janice is a trained teacher and has worked both in mainstream education and as an education project worker for Barnardo's. In 2017 Janice was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Community Arts in the West Midlands. She is also a successful performer in her own right and has featured in series such as Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights (Channel 4), Dead Man Weds (ITV), Thin Ice (BBC) So Awkward (CBBC), Man Like Mobeen (BBC) Doctors (BBC) as well as appearing twice in Coronation Street. Her theatre roles include Glitterball (Rifco Theatre Company), A Taste of Honey (New Vic Theatre, Stoke) and Tartuffe and Anita & Me (The Rep, Birmingham). Her alter-ego, Mrs. Barbara Nice is a well-loved comedy circuit headliner as well as a Birmingham Icon.

Adaya Henry - Incoming Artistic Director: Adaya is W&T incoming artistic director, she is a multidisciplinary artist with nearly a decade’s experience of working in theatre, film and spoken word. She has been hailed as an ambassador for the city after being at the forefront of the #WMGeneration campaign and Be Bold Be Brum campaign with self-written spoken word pieces. For the last two years she has been working with MAIA, an arts and social justice organisation, where she has produced, facilitated and designed events and programmes rooted in world building and imagination. She has had commissions from Create Central,  Birmingham Live, Shout Festival, HomeGrown31 and Tinker Taylor Video Agency and was a guest on Sky Arts show Life & Rhymes with Benjamin Zephaniah. Adaya has had an extensive acting career performing at venues such as The Belgrade, The Other Place, Birmingham REP, The Albany and a number of site specific pieces of work. She has been in a number of short films and appeared on Doctors and The Archers.

Vicky Pritchard - Associate Director: Vicky is a theatre artist/practitioner and actress born and bred in Birmingham. Before working with Women & Theatre, Vicky has been a freelancer working with companies across the West Midlands and the UK. She specialises in community theatre and engagement projects, including theatre in education, theatre for young people in hospital settings and working with neurodiverse young people and adults with Open Theatre Company. Vicky studied Drama & English at Newman University as well as undertaking acting training with the National Youth Theatre of G.B., The Royal Shakespeare Company, Birmingham Young REP, Vamos Theatre Company and Geese Theatre Company. She is also experienced in project management, marketing, and producing. Vicky is also a board member for Fantastic Journeys, a theatre company that provides music, dance and storytelling workshops for Children and Young People with Additional Needs.

Women & Work: 14 Monologues by 14 writers. Women & Work brings together monologues from three Women & Theatre productions written by fourteen female writers. Developed from conversations with inspirational women of different ages and backgrounds from across Birmingham. This accessible collection includes a rich and varied selection of contemporary monologues to be read, shared, debated, and performed. Featuring an in-depth introduction by Women & Theatre’s Artistic Director, Janice Connolly BEM, this unique body of work reflects and celebrates women’s working lives spanning 1984-2019: For the Past 30 Years portrays the lives of six women who have been working for years in different sectors, including Probation, Health and Business. Starting Out explores and exposes the reality for young women entering the world of work in 2016. Prime Time presents diverse experiences of women of retirement age. Women & Theatre is an award winning theatre company, that have been making deep work about things that matter since 1984.