INTRODUCTION TO CLOWN WORKSHOP

There is a clown that lives inside each of us. This clown is full of life - it is beautiful and hilarious. To be a clown is to embrace the freedom and joy of your own glorious foolishness.

The clown reunites us with our innate curiosity and allows us to befriend parts of ourselves that we judge or stifle. It invites us to rediscover wonder.

This introductory workshop is a chance to invite your clown out into the world. To adventure into a space of curiosity and chaos, delight and discovery, freedom and expansiveness To experience presence through laughter and play, and to revel in your own imperfectly perfect uniqueness.

Susanna Hamnett fell in love with the open-heartedness of the clown over thirty years ago when she began studying and working with master clowns John Turner and Michael Kennard in Toronto, and it has infused her theatre work and teaching ever since. 

This workshop is suitable for anyone 18 and up. No previous experience of clown or theatre is needed. It is limited to 16 participants.

Please note that this is a repeat of the May workshop. If you have already taken this workshop and are interested in exploring in more depth, Susanna will be offering a course of four shorter evening sessions in November.

You can read more about Susanna’s work here: www.susannahamnett.com or find her on FB (Susanna Hamnett) and Instagram (@susannahamnett).

Once you have signed up for the course, you will receive an email with more information about what to wear and what to bring with you.
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email Susanna directly at susannadayhamnett@gmail.com

THE NUTSHELL JAZZ CLUB: Rosie Frater-Taylor

Following a buzzing year playing high profile UK shows and gracing the stage with luminaries and Jazz-Fusion guitar legends John Scofield and Lee Ritenour plus tour support for Snarky Puppy’s Michael League and Bill Laurance, Vibrant crossover guitarist virtuoso/singer-songwriter Rosie Frater-Taylor appears at The Nutshell.

Rosie’s latest high profile fan is superstar – Seal, who describes Featherweight as his Top album of the year.

Rosie will be playing songs from current album ‘Featherweight’ and showcasing unashamedly harmonic and rhythmically rich new material from her soon to be released new album in 2026.

One of the most electrifying forces in contemporary crossover music, Rosie FraterTaylor is a virtuoso guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of remarkable emotional depth. Equal parts dedicated student of jazz guitar and admirer of iconic singer-songwriters, she seamlessly weaves rock, alt-pop, neo-soul, new-school jazz, and folk into her singular sound.

THE NUTSHELL JAZZ CLUB

Join us on the third Thursday of every month* for an evening of Jazz, bring your own food and drinks a plenty in an intimate cabaret style setting.

In partnership with Winchester Jazz Festival and Alex Western-King we will host some of the UK’s best Jazz musicians on The Nutshell stage.

*please check dates as due to holiday season we will occassionally shift from the third Thursday!

WINCHESTER COMICS FAIR

The Winchester Comics Fair returns to the Nutshell for its fifth year to showcase the thriving indy UK comics scene!

Come along and find comics, prints, postcards, and more from over 40 of the UKs best comics makers, artists, and writers. You will be able to explore a huge range styles and themes in a welcoming, inclusive and laid back environment.

The Winchester Comics fair brings independent comics makers, artists, and writers from all over the UK.

NUTSHELL NETWORK: CREATIVE CO-WORKING

As part of our commitment to fostering creative exploration and connection, we are opening our doors monthly for creative co-working 🖤

After the summer break, our creative co-working is back! With our refreshed venue and new foyer space, it really is the perfect spot to get all your creative thoughts and plans in order.

We envisage a shared workspace throughout our ground floor area which will be available for use by those working in the creative industries. WiFi available throughout so bring your laptops, notebooks and stationary for a day of planning!

The Plan
The use of a spot in our ground floor studio is FREE >>> plus we will be serving Roasting Party barista coffee (local Winch represent 🤘🏻) availbale for purchase at our new ground floor cafe. Sweet treats will be available too - payments taken at our Box Office.

Need More Space?
Have a bigger working group in need of a larger space to test out ideas? On Creative Co-working days we will be offering our performance studio for hire at a reduced rate of £10 per hour. Bookable in person on the day and first-come, first-serve. Please pay at the Box Office for this.

The Bigger Picture
We want to meet more creatives who are based in Winchester and grow our network! Come join us every month 🖤 the group may start small but big things are most definitely on the horizon.

What is a Scratch Night?

The Nutshell Scratch Night is an evening dedicated to the development of brand-new, untested performance work. It provides a crucial platform for artists to put initial creative thoughts and ideas in front of a live, supportive audience to see what truly works.

These informal nights are about taking a risk and trying out something bold and innovative that may one day develop into a fully formed piece. It’s an evening of experimentation, shared experience, and supportive feedback, giving artists the confidence to make the leap knowing there are peers and audiences there to catch them.

Call for Submissions

We are seeking proposals for performance-based work in its early stages, including new writing, comedy, spoken word, and music.

• Format: We will select six proposals. Performances must be up to 20 minutes in length.

• Eligibility: Your proposal must be for a new idea or a work-in-progress and must not have been previously performed locally.

• Technical Requirements: The work should have basic technical requirements and must be suitable for The Nutshell space. Please note the restriction on rigging (max working height is 3m; no ground rigging).

THE NUTSHELL COMEDY CLUB: OCTOBER

We welcome the return of our super stand-up comedy club to Saturdays. Enjoy the comedic skills of Roger Monkhouse, Cerys Nelmes, Samantha Day and local comedy legend Mike Cox! 

Do note that line ups are subject to change.

Roger Monkhouse is one of the regular writers on Channel 4’s hugely popular comedy panel show ‘8 Out of 10 Cats.’ 

A consummate stand-up who exerts a masterful control over any audience. A highly original and quirky performer, his trademark stage-prowling style and curious, inimitable manner have established him as one of the hottest names on the comedy circuit. Supremely confident, with audience banter down to an art form, he’s happy to improvise freely but has no shortage of first class material in his armoury. Roger is widely regarded as a master of observational comedy with routines that are universally and unfailingly hysterical.

Mike Cox has been performing comedy since 2011 and quickly made his mark on the comedy scene with his sharp witted observational style which saw him crowned South Coast Comedian of the Year in 2014 and the Not So New Comedian of the Year in 2022.

Mike also made the final of the prestigious Amused Moose Laugh Off in 2016 and British Comedian of the Year 2023.

Samantha Day  has six children. Three of them are stepchildren, which means that they have been brought up properly, by someone else, and are therefore nice.  But her three are a lot better at shoplifting.

She is 53, but looks younger because she's had a lot of work done. Some people have said that that makes her a bad feminist. They don't know the half of it.

For nearly thirty years, Samantha was an accountant. She gave it up when, despite her best efforts, she only managed to sleep her way to the middle.  

Cerys Nelmes has had a very colourful and eventful life which she loves talking about to make people laugh. She performs her comedy in a story telling style with a West Country charm that is easy to warm to.

Cerys is making waves in the tv industry as one of the best female TV warm up artists, most recently working for Gordon Ramsey/Studio Ramsey, and alongside George Lamb on Football Tonight for BT Sport and also working for ITV and Channel 4.

Cerys is also a Guest Comic aboard Cruise Ships all over the World.

PLAYTIME! Ratty’s Birthday

Play-along theatre adventures for 2-6 year olds and their grownups.

It’s Ratty’s Birthday, we are all invited to her party, but will she get everything in time? It could be Mayhem! But we are all hoping for a little bit of Magic at this party...

Join Ratty and friends for a fun, relaxed participatory theatre session. There’ll be silliness, play-acting, games and music in this play-along theatre adventure... Expect to play, move, watch and laugh.

Ratty has a lot of ideas but sometimes things don’t go according to plan....can you help her by playing along and working together? A fun and gentle introduction to theatre with play-along storytelling, original music, puppetry, theatre games, movement, and lots of imaginative play.

Sessions last 1 hour, and are created for ages 2-6 and their grown-ups. Younger and older siblings welcome!

The Last Baguette makes entertaining, accessible and eccentric work for family audiences.

Warning – this session contains balloons

SESSION THEME: Ratty’s Birthday

The Shivers, by emma + pj

A fox, a pigeon, and a secret agent are on a mission to save the world, but everything is not what it seems. The evil Miss Information and her deadly sleepy agents are on the attack, and now all the colours are wrong, and all the sounds are upside down. When true is false and real is fake, will our superheroes be able to untangle the lies and figure out who to trust?

Featuring ingenious live video, explosive dance moves, and a cast of unforgettable characters, The Shivers is a pulsating adventure about learning to trust your instincts when something doesn’t feel right… when it gives you the shivers. 

This high-octane action-comedy opens the door for grown-ups and children to talk about misinformation, fake news, and keeping safe online.

“What’s the last thing you saw online that made you question whether it was true or not?”

Join The Shivers company and The Nutshell after the show, as we open a conversation between you and your young person(s) reflecting on what they’ve just seen. At The Nutshell, we believe that theatre is the start of a great conversation, and engagement doesn’t, and shouldn’t end once the production is finished. Our friends from The Shivers are going to stick around and answer questions from the audience, and importantly, ask some questions in return.

After the show is over, there’ll be a 5-minute break for the company, before they join us back in the theatre for a group conversation.

This will be a relaxed session exploring the key themes of the show, and what resonated for you as audiences. Families are free to come and go as they please.

Details: 3pm to 3:20pm, Free to ticketholders

Created by acclaimed duo emma + pj and developed through workshops with local children and teachers in the London Borough of Camden.

You can download our Creativity Pack here to access creative activities and prompts for young people inspired by the show. The resource was developed by Peter Laycock (Creative Peter) in collaboration with emma + pj.