On Saturday 31 August 10am to 1pm, the Kent Sport Physiotherapy Clinic would like to invite members, non-members and local runners to the fifth informative running workshop. In this workshop, we will be looking at strength and conditioning.

The workshop will be split in to two sessions:

• First session: We will re-visit running drills as there is always room for improvement.
• Second session: We will look at strength training exercises to improve running performance and reduce risk of injury. For those who wish to practise with weights, this will be available too.

Where: The Pavilion, University of Kent, Canterbury campus, CT2 7SR.

Who: Open to members and non-members. All abilities welcome.

Cost: £10 per person with complimentary tea and coffee on arrival and £5 off your next sports massage or physiotherapy session.

Payment: Must be made before the event by visiting reception at the Sports Centre or the Pavilion.

To register: Either email your application form to: physio@kent.ac.uk or mail / drop it off to the Physiotherapy Clinic.

What to bring: Running gear if you would like to complete parkrun first, plus additional running attire that is both comfortable to sit in during the lecture and then straight into the practical elements.

For more information, please visit our Website.

Last Fleet Theatre, a theatrical company formed by a trio of Kent graduates, is currently performing a show at the Camden Fringe.

The show is entitled Is This The End For Captain Space? Captain Space has always compared herself to the likes of earth legends Han Solo and Captain Kirk, only much cooler, and with better hair. She has spent her life traversing the galaxy, righting wrongs and having high concept adventures. But when she finds herself in danger, she is forced to ask: ‘Is this the end for me?’

With only the ship’s computer for company, Captain Space faces her greatest challenge yet… herself! Will she be content with all those unsaid goodbyes, unresolved arguments and loves still lost? It is an intimate two-hander exploring love, loss and loneliness in a science-fiction world. 

It stars Isobel Hamilton, who recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre in July 2019, along with Fergus Macdonald, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and English and American Literature in 2014. The play is written by alumnus Richard Yuill, who graduated with a BA (Hons) in Drama and Theatre in 2014.

The show is currently running at the Actors Centre in central London until Saturday 10 August, starting 6.15pm. There will be a 2.30pm matinee on the final Saturday. Tickets cost £12/£10.

For full details, please see the page here.

We’re pleased to announce that a plethora of School of Arts’ students and alumni are performing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Every year thousands of performers take to hundreds of stages all over Edinburgh to present shows for every taste. From big names in the world of entertainment to unknown artists looking to build their careers, the festival caters for everyone and includes theatre, comedy, dance, physical theatre, circus, cabaret, children’s shows, musicals, opera, music, spoken word, exhibitions, and events. The Festival runs from Friday 2 August to Monday 26 August 2019.

Performances by School of Arts’ students and alumni include:

• Birth, by Theatre Re, features BA (Hons) Drama and Theatre (2015) alumna Claudia Marciano.

Following a sell-out run at London International Mime Festival 2019, Theatre Re presents a powerful, poignant and uplifting visual theatre piece with live music exploring the bond between three generations of women, their shared loss and the strength they discover in each other. Emily is eight months pregnant when she reads her grandmother’s journal. As she delves into her family history, her sense of reality shifts, unveiling a legacy of unspoken tragedies and unconditional love.

Birth will run from Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 August at Pleasance Courtyard. Tickets for the show can be found here.

• Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy, by Wound Up Theatre, features MDrama (2015) alumnus Elliot Liburd.

Radicalisation, disenfranchisement and the rock band Queen. Dean joined the army, ‘Danny’ joined ISIS. One’s from London; the other, Leeds. Bismillah! is their hour together in an Iraqi cell. Discussing Islamophobia, Wetherspoons and the increasing price of a standard meal deal, which circles an awful truth – they just want to go home. Fresh from a national tour, Pleasance run and sell-out 2018 VAULT Festival run, the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award-shortlisted show returns, with its hilarious and compassionate look at modern Britain.

Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy will run from Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 August at Underbelly, Cowgate. Tickets for the show can be found here.

• Boulder, by Half a String, is directed and designed by MDrama (2013) alumnus Peter Morton.

In this reimagining of the Greek myth, a beautiful mechanical puppet is doomed with the hopeless task of pushing a colossal stone up a hill. Trapped in an endless cycle, the man wrestles with his pointless existence, cursing the futility of life. Award-winning Half a String fuse transforming sets, puppetry and hand-drawn animation, all accompanied by live cello, atmospheric voices and original music.

Boulder will run from Thursday 1 to Saturday 17 August at Pleasance Courtyard – Forth. Tickets for the show can be found here.

• Genesis: The Mary Shelley Play, by Artists Collective Theatre, features BA (Hons) Drama and Film (2016) alumnus Luke Harding.

Lake Geneva, early summer, 1816. Genesis takes place in the living room of Diodati, Lord Byron’s villa, and the bedroom of Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s villa. It stunningly portrays the nights of intrigue and titillation that inspired Mary Shelley to produce Frankenstein, exploring social stigmas that maintain a chokehold over human desires, even amongst the libertine upper classes. Genesis has a dark intensity that builds to a hair-raising finale and has received critical acclaim across Canada. The Edinburgh Fringe is its UK debut.

Genesis: The Mary Shelley Play will run from Thursday 1 to Monday 26 August 2019 at C Cubed. Tickets for the show can be found here.

• Gut Buddies, by Bacterial Factory, features Theatre Making alumnus Niall Fallon.

Come and join Brian and Karl in the intestines for a ridiculous physical comedy. Pick your side between the white blood cell and the parasitic worm, in their cartoonish fight for their habitat.

Gut Buddies will run from Friday 2 to Sunday 25 August 2019 at Sweet Novotel. Tickets for the show are available here.

• Knee Jerk is a new show from MDrama alumna Laura Lexx.

Star of Live at the Apollo, Laura Lexx is a ‘bouncy, bubbly stand up star’ (Telegraph) shining a hilarious light on how hard it is to be a good person these days. Can you change the world without offending anyone? Her sell-out 2018 show Trying was ‘a masterpiece’ (VoiceMag.uk) and earned her a prestigious Comedian’s Choice Award. Now, Lexx takes on society’s big issues… but come for jokes, not answers. It’s sure to be ‘stomach-achingly funny’ (Entertainment-Focus.com) and ‘another skilfully-constructed hour from an underrated performer’ (Fest).

Knee Jerk runs from Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 August 2019 at Gilded Balloon Teviot. Tickets for the show are available here.

• Talk, by Parrot Theatre Company, is directed by PhD in Drama by Research student Kasia Senyszyn.

Bethlem Royal Hospital, 1854. The criminal wing for the insane. Two doctors set out to reform patient treatment. They prefer conversation over punishment; they offer care, rather than restraint. But the Commission for Lunacy has other ideas. Two patients get caught in the crossfire as their radical plans unravel. Based on the life of Richard Dadd, this thought-provoking and stylish performance asks whether talk can provide a cure? Following a sell-out run at Marlowe Theatre, Parrot Theatre Company brings you an accessible production, captioned for those with hearing loss.

Talk runs from Sunday 11 to Saturday 17 August 2019 at C Cubed. Tickets for the show are available here.

• That’s What I Go to School For is a stand-up show by MDrama (2008) alumnus Tom Houghton.

Tom was sent to all-boys boarding school at age six. A world where ‘day kids’ are shunned and girls? None existent. But when in his second last year the school decided to go co-ed, everything was to change. The total Fringe sell-out, star of Comedy Central’s Roast Battle and ultra-privileged Tower of London resident, Tom Houghton lifts the controversial lid on the incubators responsible for producing many of our country’s leaders. With a little help from 00s pop sensation Busted.

That’s What I Go to School For runs from Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 August 2019 at Pleasance Dome. Tickets for the show are available here.

• The Noise Next Door have two shows at the festival this year: The Noise Next Door’s Really, Really Good Afternoon Show…Through Time and The Noise Next Door’s Comedy Lock-In. The group is made up of alumni Tom Livingstone (MA Contemporary Performance Practice, 2008), Sam Pacelli (MA Stand-Up Comedy, 2008), and Robin Hatcher (MA Stand-Up Comedy, 2013), with filmmaker Matt Grant (BA (Hons) in Film, 2003).

The Noise Next Door’s Comedy Lock-In takes places from Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 August 2019 at Pleasance Courtyard. Tickets for the show are available here.

The Noise Next Door’s Really Really Good Afternoon Show Through Time! takes places from Thursday 1 to Sunday 25 August 2019 at Gilded Balloon Teviot. Tickets for the show are available here.

• Brace of Spades is a cabaret and variety show by BA (Hons) Drama and Theatre (2015) alumnus Tom Brace.

Following a sold-out run at last years Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Tom Brace returns with a brand-new magic show for the whole family! Featuring Tom’s unique blend of comedy and magic, the show promises to have a little something for everybody.

Brace of Spades runs from Thursday 1 to Monday 26 August 2019 at Pleasance Dome. Tickets for the show are available here.

We wish all our student and alumni performers the best of luck with their shows.

Kasia Senyszyn, who is studying for a PhD in Drama by Research in the School of Arts, supported by the Alumni Postgraduate Research Scholarship, has organised as special free preview of the play Talk, to be performed in the Lumley Studio at 7.30pm on Wednesday 31 July 2019.

Talk, by Mark Wilson, is a moving, brutal look at the introduction of psychotherapy in the early 20th century. It is a tale about the importance of being able to tell your story, and of empathy, kindness and humanity. The team thought that this was the perfect platform to raise issues of accessibility and communication.

The performance has been developed as project, ‘Talk on Tour’, which has included adapting the play, working with the playwright alongside access practitioners and D/deaf and visually impaired members of the local community to develop the accessible strategies.

The production is funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and contributions are welcomed. For more details, please see the page here, where you can see a video of Kasia talking about the project.

The resulting performance will run at the Edinburgh Festival from Sunday 11 August until Saturday 17 August, with prices varying from £5.50 to £9.50.

For details of the Edinburgh performances, please see the page here. 

For details of the Kent preview, please see the page here.

The preview is free; please email info@parrot-theatre.co.uk to reserve tickets.

Kent students who are currently taking part in Success Accelerator, an alumni mentoring scheme for first year undergraduates looking to enter a City career, had a fantastic opportunity to network with city professionals during a networking event in London.

Students from the School of Economics, Law and Mathematics, Actuarial Science and Statistics, took part in a how-to-network session, delivered by the Careers and Employability Service and Jayne Instone from Kent Law School. Here they received tips on how to network, as well as opportunities to practice their elevator pitches and initiate conversations. This was a great chance for the mentees to overcome any worries in networking, before heading over to a networking event at Radical Company.

The students connected with mentors on the programme, along with other business professionals, keen to share their advice and expertise. This included partaking in some ice breaker exercises, which enabled the students to meet with professionals from a range of career backgrounds, including those within Fund Management, Financial Analytics and Actuarial Consultancy. This was a great opportunity for the students to generate professional contacts and build their confidence when networking. We would like to thank the Kent Opportunity Fund for contributing towards the funding of this programme, and enabling us to host incredibly valuable events such as this.

We look forward to seeing what activities our mentees will be involved in over the summer and autumn term!

Last week, sustainability champions from across the University celebrated the first year anniversary of the FutureProof project at a garden party held at the Kent Community Oasis Garden.

FutureProof is the University of Kent’s response to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides a framework, challenging and supporting each University department to review their impacts against the SDGs and working to create positive change.

FutureProof, which launched in June 2018, aims to inspire individuals, departments and the whole University community to take action in ensuring that our estate, our curriculum and our students are ready for the future.

The Sustainability Champions are key to the project’s success as they act as catalysts for change in their departments and conduits for sustainability information across the University. As part of their role as champions they lead on their own projects and the celebration event was the sustainability’s team way of saying thank you to them for all their hard work.

The event highlighted case studies from the year, which can be read in full in the Futureproof report

Projects have included a tripling of recycling rates in Biosciences, education for sustainable development projects at the Business School and a wellbeing project at the Medway campus.

To celebrate, the sun came out for a delicious vegan BBQ prepared by chef Ben Elsbury (from Kent Hospitality), games with prizes to be won, and a refreshing mocktail bar with fresh herbs from the garden.

In its first year FutureProof has held 6 workshops at both the Canterbury and Medway campuses with an overall attendance across them of 124, recruited 65 sustainability champions from 43 different departments, and supported 20 sustainability projects from across the University.

For more information about FutureProof please visit www.kent.ac.uk/sustainability or email sustainability@kent.ac.uk

The new Kent Union Co-op located in Park Wood is opening Thursday 25 July at 10.00.

Students, staff and visitors are welcome to attend the opening. There will be free samples given out, and you can search for the Golden Tickets across campus to win gift cards on the day!

Students with an NUS Totem card will receive 10% off Co-op branded products, plus another 5% off if they become a Co-op member (only £1 to join).