Category: People

  • From Student Marketer to Marketing Graduate: My Journey with Theatre in the Mill

    From Student Marketer to Marketing Graduate: My Journey with Theatre in the Mill

    Introduction 📱📸✍️

    I got involved with Theatre in the Mill in my second year through a unique project called “Migration to Bradford,” where I focused on understanding my heritage and history while creating a beautiful piece of work. Unknowingly, Theatre in the Mill was offering a position a semester later. Shabina personally reached out to me, and I jumped at the opportunity to be an assistant for the theatre, handling various tasks ranging from administration to marketing. I was over the moon! I started with the expectation and contract to stay just until the end of the year.

    However, it ended up being almost a year! And that’s not the end. I’m now working towards being a freelancer for the theatre!!!

    Highlights
    Learn about favourite moments 👇

    The highlights certainly include selling out amazing workshops, events, and showcases. Watching the numbers grow has been both thrilling and inspiring, as it demonstrates diverse individuals collaborating and coming together. It was rewarding to see my flyers displayed on campus, included in lecture slides throughout the university, and to build connections with ambassadors and society leaders. A significant achievement was when the theatre was offering numerous events and opportunities, resulting in an impressive reach of 50,000 views that month—truly astonishing!

    What I Learned

    Various skills include navigating websites, designing attractive flyers for our projects, productions and workshops, and adjusting budgets to be creative and tell stories through assets and communication channels. Working at Theatre in the Mill has strengthened both my creative and professional skills. I’ve learned to manage website content, design engaging promotional materials for productions, projects and workshops, and create impactful campaigns within a budget.

    Most importantly, I’ve discovered how powerful storytelling can be in connecting with audiences across different communication channels.

    Looking Ahead 📈

    This experience has given me the confidence and practical skills to begin my career in marketing and communications. I’ll take everything I’ve learned at Theatre in the Mill into future opportunities, continuing to tell meaningful stories, think creatively and support organisations that make a positive impact.

    Thank You And Closing Statement

    As I graduate with a First-Class BSc (Hons) in Marketing from the University of Bradford, I’m incredibly grateful that Theatre in the Mill became such an important part of my university journey. It gave me real-world experience that complemented my classroom learning and helped me build confidence in content creation, digital marketing and communications.

    To everyone at Theatre in the Mill—thank you for trusting me with your stories, welcoming me into your team and supporting my development throughout the year. It has been a privilege to play a small part in sharing the incredible work that happens here.

    Although my time as Student Marketer has come to an end, my time as a freelancer has just begun.

    Here’s to new beginnings, continued creativity and whatever comes next.

  • Sudha Buchar Residency Blog

    Sudha Buchar Residency Blog

    Learn about Sudha’s experience being a resident at Theatre in the Mill👇

    I believe in synchronicity. While filming in Bradford for local writer, AA Dhand’s VIRDEE in 2024, little did I know I would soon be invited to deepen my love for this vibrant and unique city. The stars aligned and being ‘Artist in Residence ‘at Theatre in the Mill, marking Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 was a timely gift. I am grateful to TIM’s Artistic Director Dr Shabina Aslam and Bradford 2025’s Creative Director Shanaz Gulzar who envisioned my role to include sharing my canon, while drawing new inspiration from creative encounters. 

    Shabina generously calls me ‘a quiet revolutionary’, a quality I hadn’t recognised in myself but saw in spades in everyone I met. The warmest of Yorkshire welcomes awaited at every turn; from sharing stories of resilience and activism over masala tea ‘cooked’ on a ‘chula’ at an allotment; to parathas and wellbeing sessions at Women Zone community centre; to tai chi and sewing circles at the beautifully restored Manningham Mills. I even went to my first Shisha lounge with artists and colleagues. Yes, I did partake, sparingly but don’t tell my sons! I participated in an ‘Ark’ workshop hosted by Yorkshire Women’s Forum. The premise being that if there was a biblical or metaphorical ‘flood’, what would you take on your Ark and what would you leave behind. I’m afraid mothers in law and husbands were left to flounder in the surging waters, along with unpaid bills and domestic expectations! Among the things taken on board were faith, books and seeds to plant a new life!  

    There are many highlights; a 25th anniversary reading of Balti Kings, co-written with Shaheen Khan, as part of the annual World Curry Festival, performances of my solo show Evening Conversations and a community reading of The House of Bilquis Bibi, my adaptation of Lorca’s, The House of Barnada Alba set in Pakistan.  

    I enjoyed the cultural offerings of Bradford 2025 including the inimitable Angelique Kidjo performing live for BBC proms & the incredible outdoor artworks in the Wild Uplands Sculpture Trail near the Bronte Parsonage at Haworth; most memorably Meherunnisa Azad’s beautiful pink marble butterflies by the water. The taxi driver who drove me there inspired one of the ‘pen portraits’  for It’s Our Time. His story, like that of many others, spans many generations from rural Azad Kashmir to enriching the fabric and landscape of Yorkshire.  

    ‘There’s no place like Bradford. Once you’re here. You don’t want to go anywhere else. People used to take the micky 

    You need a visa to go there!’- Tanu Patel, Yorkshire Women’s Forum.  

    My character Jyoti Virdee may not grace our screens again as the BBC are not proceeding with the second series of VIRDEE, but I will certainly be back on the LNER soon, tto explore the next phase of It’s Our Time, inshallah!  

  • Drama Society at the University of Bradford 

    Drama Society at the University of Bradford 

    New Drama Society

    One of the newly formed societies in the University of Bradford, Drama Society, is the creative hub for students to grow their confidence and improve the power of storytelling

    The society heavily leverages collaboration, forged with Theatre in the Mill that allows activities to be run in a professional theatre, that boasts of world class theatre facilities. This partnership connects students directly with local and international art facilitators and directors, sharing knowledge about theatre practices, performances, and creative expertise. Other partners include the Student Union of Bradford University as well as Peace, Nigerian Students and Sustainability Societies.

    Learn More 👇

    The hub has been in full operation since early 2026, with activities that are open to students and staff. The society, which is currently being led by Ifenla Oligbinde, Rosa Elizabeth Bautista Gutierrez (Lily) and Jiya Constancia Windsor, is positioned to inspire, support, and develop a love for drama, performance, and collaborative theatre-making across the university community.

    In the last few months, the Drama Society has delivered a number of successful and engaging events that reflect its vibrant programme which includes: Character Development Workshop, which helped students explore physicality, emotion, and motivation, giving performers deeper tools to build believable characters; Introduction to Theatre and Devised Workshop sessions, which broke down performance basics and built confidence in a supportive setting; and OPEN MIC, a relaxed platform for students to perform monologues, poetry, music, and short scenes, celebrating artistic voices across disciplines. In coming weeks, the society is planning a Script-reading on the Bhopal Disaster, the gas incidence of 1948 and written by Dr. Sudhir at the PSID Department here in Bradford and Vaginal Monologues ( a short selection from a feminist classic) by Eve Ensler.

    Recently, in commemoration of International Women’s Month, the Drama Society staged three compelling monologues designed to invite women to engage in conversations often avoided or suppressed by society, religion, culture, and deeply internalised shame. 

    The VAGINA MONOLOGUE is the infamous work by Eve Ensler, drawn from her interviews with approximately 200 women. The performance was directed by Dr. Shabina, Director at theatre in the Mill, adapted to resonate with contemporary audiences from the University of Bradford comprising staff and students, using theatre as both a mirror and a catalyst for change.

    One interesting thing about the performance was when the audience was invited to read some texts in the monologue. This made it a wholesome experience, a forum theatre that turned the audience to spec-actors. The performance was impactful, leaving participants with moments to reflect, respond, and confront their personal biases about issues raised in the monologues.

    Ifenla.

    To connect or collaborate with the Drama Society, kindly reach out via email: dramasociety@ubu.bradford.ac.uk Follow us on IG: ubu_drama_society