The 2011 Salisbury International Arts Festival runs from Friday 20th
May to Saturday 4th June and this year’s programme will reflect
a focus on the themes of China, Dance and Air, with events taking place
across the region in locations as diverse as Salisbury Cathedral, Old
Wardour Castle and Stonehenge.
Voalà
Friday 20 May, 9pm, Market Place, free
Argentinean company Voalà with aerial dancers and musicians
appearing in a spectacular performance above the heads of the audience.
Time for Tea
By Wet Picnic
Saturday 21 May, streets of Salisbury starting from the Guildhall,
12pm, 2pm and 4pm, free
An eccentric ensemble will sweep through the streets of Salisbury
to supply an explosive and surreal teatime for all
Whispers from a Rickshaw
By Metro-Boulot-Dodo
Saturday 28 May, starts from the Guildhall between 10am – 12pm,
1pm – 3pm and 4pm – 6pm
Sunday 29 May, starts from the Cathedral between 10am – 12pm,
1pm – 3pm and 4pm – 6pm
Free street theatre: take a ride in the ‘Whispers’ rickshaw,
and play a game of chance as you spin through the city streets, putting
on your headphones and immersing yourself in a world where secret
pockets hide intriguing objects that contemplate the nature of journeys
and destiny.
The Troll’s Kitchen
By Plunge Boom
Saturday 28 May, Guildhall Square, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm, free street
theatre
The public are invited to help chefs cook up a banquet for a greedy
troll. The hungry fiend needs lots of food so join in and forage for
ingredients before preparing a meal from the cock-and-bull-cook-book.
Shanghai’d
By Gracie Spoon
Friday 3 June, The Maltings, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm
Saturday 4 June, Chorister’s Green, 12pm and 2pm
Free street theatre; enjoy a cup of Oolong served in the traditional
manner and have your tea-leaves read, as Gracie entertains you with
stories from old China.
Heartbreak Soup
By Laura Lindow
Saturday 21 May, 2.30pm, Playhouse Studios, admission £6, ages
9+
Puppetry, music and humour are woven together in this magical tail
of a boy named Cuddy. Cuddy’s life is about to change as he prepares
to have a transplant. Sick of pills and doctors Cuddy tells tales
of playground games, fantastic islands and even a secret romance.
Circa
Saturday 21 May, 7.30pm, City Hall, £10 - £20, ages 12+
Australian company Circa pushes the limits of what circus can do,
and producing their own uniquely breathtaking, beautiful and sexy
performance.
The Festival
By Lone Twin Theatre Company
Tuesday 24 May, 8pm, Arts Centre, £13
A story of love and expectation, of family and companionship, of the
mundane and the extraordinary. Reflecting Salisbury International
Arts Festival’s theme of dance, each character in the piece has
a distinctive and witty dance.
The Vanishing Horizon
By Idle Motion
Thursday 26 May, 7.30pm, Arts Centre, £13
The story of the pioneers of aviation in the roaring twenties and
of one woman’s journey to discover her past, in a comedic journey
through crowded airports to another world resting above the clouds.
Hamlet
Shakespeare’s Globe
Friday 27 May, 6.30pm; Saturday 28 May, 1.30pm and 6.30pm
Trafalgar Park, £12.50 - £19.50
Directed by Dominic Dromgoole.
Hymn
By George Fenton and Alan Bennett
Sunday 29 May, 7.30pm, Salisbury Playhouse, £17.50
Commissioned by the Medici Quartet from composer George Fenton and
writer Alan Bennett, Hymn is a meditative piece in which Bennett
observes the role of music in his childhood, his father’s doomed
attempts to teach him the violin, and what hymns mean to him now.
Fenton’s music, performed by the Festival’s Resident artists
Medici Quartet, draws on musical references including Elgar, Delius
and several well known hymns, while Alex Jennings will play Alan Bennett.
As You Like It
Shakespeare’s Globe
Tuesday 31 May, Wednesday 1 June, Thursday 2 June, 6.30pm (gates open
at 6pm), Old Wardour Castle, £12.50 - £19.50
Snow Play
By Lyngo Theatre
Thursday 2 June, 11.30am, Playhouse Studio, £6, ages 2-7 years
C children will be able to play with snow as they experience what
it would be like if Winter came to stay in your house.
Fantastic Mr Fox
By Illyria
Thursday 2 June, Wardrobe Museum Gardens, 3.30pm, £7.50 - £10.50,
ages 5+
An adaptation of Roald Dahl’s story by David Wood. Mr Fox uses
his sharp wit to defeat the cruellest, meanest and most ruthless farmers
you could ever meet.
Mousehole Cat
By Puppetcraft
Friday 3 June, 12.30pm and 4pm, Playhouse Studio, £6
A puppet show for all ages inspired by an old folk legend telling
the story of the Cornish village of Mousehole. In Mousehole a storm
has been raging for weeks and the inhabitants are going hungry, so
old Tom the fisherman and his cat Mowzer set out in their tiny boat
to save the village.
Sticks, Stones, Broken Bones
Saturday 4 June, 3.30pm, Playhouse Studio, £6, ages 5 –
105!
A wordless shadow puppet comedy for all ages featuring flying ninjas,
UFO abductions and brain transplants! Household junk will be transformed
into shadow puppet cartoons.
