By Sally Churchward. Image: Michael Warley. Handcuffing himself to a puppy farm was not the first time Will Young had taken direct action about something he felt strongly about. Previously he tied himself to a tree in protest against the building of the Newbury bypass. A long-time activist, Will...
Features
Remembering JPF Goodman – a poet’s life
By John Bruce. JPF – John Peter Frederick – Goodman 16/3/1960 to 7/9/2023 I’m sure there are people reading this who knew JPF far longer than I did, and who know more about him, but these are my reflections on a friend and poet who died recently. We met...
Interview: Uri Agnon on his new show, Antisemitism: a (((musical)))
Antisemitism artwork by Lily Ash Sakula New show Antisemitism: a (((musical))) comes to Southampton on November 1st. Creator, Uri Agnon, a PhD student and outreach fellow at the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish non-Jewish Relations at the University of Southampton talks to Sally Churchward about its background...
City vigil for Gaza
by Charlie Hislop More than 250 local people attended a Vigil for Gaza in Southampton on Tuesday night, on the day that the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres called for a ‘humanitarian ceasefire’ (October 25). More than 5000 Palestinian civilians, including more than 2000 children have been killed...
The Full Monty, Cast Q&A, Mayflower Theatre
A new production of award-winning smash hit play, The Full Monty, starring TV favourites, Danny Hatchard (EastEnders), Jake Quickenden (X Factor, I’m A Celebrity…), and Bill Ward (Emmerdale, Coronation Street) is heading to Mayflower Theatre from Tuesday 7 to Saturday 11 November. We caught up with the cast to...
Interview: Ashley Banjo of Diversity talks about starring in this year’s Mayflower panto and more
Photos by Stuart Martin. This year’s Christmas pantomime at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Britain’s Got Talent winners and street dance sensations, Ashley Banjo and Diversity, alongside panto royalty, Christopher Biggins. Diversity shot to fame in 2009 when they won Britain’s Got Talent...
Heritage: why are people from Southampton called Sotonians?
By Martin Brisland. Photo: Mike Daish. Do you regard yourself as a Sotonian? Do you live in Soton? Have you ever wondered where these words come from? They are thought to have been first used by a former Southern Daily Echo editor Clarence Firbank Carr (1892-1979). Echo journalists found...
Interview with Punk Rock Factory – from online fun to TikTok stars, now selling out a venue near you!
By Nick Mabey. Punk rock, Disney songs and sausages; in the words of Maria Von Trapp, these are a few of my favourite things. And so it was I keenly put my hand up to interview Peej Edwards, singer and guitarist with South Wales on-line-turned-live band Punk Rock Factory,...
Photos: Black Businesses, Art and Music Festival – Southampton
Photos by Charlie Hislop and Anita Foxall. More than 50 black-led organisations in Southampton and Hampshire-based organisations teamed up to create Southampton’s first ever Black Businesses, Art and Music Festival, held on Sunday 1st October, the first day of Black History Month. The idea was conceived by The United...
Interview: Katherine Barbour, Southampton’s first Green councillor, on her first months in office
Words and pictures by photographer Chris Moorhouse. Five months after Katherine Barbour was elected as Southampton’s first Green councillor, Chris Moorhouse asks how it’s going. Her smile at being elected in the early hours of the morning of May 6th was an abiding image of this year’s local election...