Manchester Jewish Museum

Jill Abram Presents
The Manchester Minyanaires

When

Where

Manchester Jewish Musuem's synagogue

Fee

Full £10
Under 30s £9
MJM Members £9
Personal Assistant £0

An intimate evening of poetry and conversation. Part of our Synagogue Scratch season.

According to orthodox Jewish law, a Minyan (quorum) of ten men is required to speak prayers in public. There are no rules for women speaking poems, so meet the Manchester Minyanaires!

Join Aviva Dautch, Jill Abram and Kitty Martin for an intimate evening of poetry and conversation about their Manchester Jewish roots.

During this performance you will find out why you can take a poet out of Jewish Manchester, but you can’t take Jewish Manchester out of a poet!

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

When Jill Abram says she is Jewish, she puts the emphasis on the second syllable. She grew up in Manchester, travelled the world and now lives in Brixton, London. She has performed her poems, which have been widely published, across London and beyond. Jill’s debut pamphlet, Forgetting My Father, is published by Broken Sleep Books. Jill writes as well for the page and mind as she does for the ear and audience, making her work appeal to both, those who think they don’t like poetry, and those who know they do.

Actor and poet Kitty Martin grew up in the countryside, and stayed with her grandparents in Salford whenever she could. Her grandma, Rebecca Casket, talked about her life for Manchester Jewish Museum’s Oral History collection. Alongside poetry she works as a workshop leader, communications coach, and as an actor/theatre maker. In 2022 she won Imtiaz Dharker’s inaugural Chancellor’s Poetry Prize. Her poems have been published by NCLA, Royal Society of Literature, iamterrifed.com and performed by the Lions part and Spare Tyre theatre companies.

Aviva Dautch is the Executive Director of Jewish Renaissance. Her writing life under lockdown and how it brought back memories of living in a hoarded home in Salford during her childhood were the subject of a BBC Radio 4 poetry programme. Her poems have also been featured on Woman’s Hour and Front Row. In April 2022, Aviva curated the Poets for Ukraine fundraising gala which featured Harriet Walter, Meera Syal and Nicholas Hytner, alongside many British poets, showcasing work by Ukrainian poets from the frontline and the diaspora.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The age guidance for this event is 16+.

The doors to the museum will be open from 6PM on the day of the performance. The museum Cafe will be selling food as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Please note, that food and drinks cannot be taken into the synagogue space, so if you’d like to use the Café before the show, please allow yourself additional time.

The performance will begin at 7pm and last for 75 minutes with no interval.

Please note, that this event takes place at our historic synagogue with on-side seating. The synagogue will have seating areas for those with accessibility needs to enjoy the performance. Please e-mail tickets@manchesterjewishmuseum.com ahead of the event to arrange for any additional accessibility needs. READ MORE ABOUT ACCESS

How to get here

We encourage you to use public transport when travelling to the museum. We are located on Cheetham Hill Road, just 15 minutes’ walk from Manchester’s Victoria train station and 30 minutes’ walk from Manchester City Centre. You can get here by bus (135 or 41), Metrolink or train. Unfortunately there is no on site parking, however there is free parking on all streets around the museum. READ MORE ABOUT GETTING HERE

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