A couple of things with a national scope, born out of Birmingham have been launched recently.
First up, Theatricalia is the work of the ever-impressive Matthew Somerville. It’s ‘a database of past and future theatre productions’ which makes it no less than IMDB for theatre.
Already it contains archives of plays and performers from the RSC, Bristol University Archive, the Royal National Theatre and Birmingham Rep (1913-1971). You can search by play, person or place and edit entries yourself to help the archive grow.
The potential for Theatricalia is a little mind-boggling.
Black Routes is a new UK wide touring network for African and Caribbean music, with Punch Records as one of the founding partners and chair.
Punch’s Ammo Talwar wrote an article in the Birmingham Post explaining the context for the project, particularly how it fits in with what’s happening in Birmingham at the moment.