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Dateline: 24th August, 2008 News from the North West
Kendal's Mintfest returns as Lakes Alive finaleKendal's international festival of street arts, Mintfest, will once again end the Lake District's outdoor summer events programme next weekend. The opening event on Friday 29 August replaces the cancelled Bani Obashwe tour date with a real life silent movie, Cliffhanger!, from Bash Street Theatre, followed by Dutch theatre company Tuig's Salto Vitale and fireworks from Pa Boom, all in Noble's Rest Park. Nicole and Martin from Switzerland will present their own take on Hansel and Gretel in Gooseholme Park and the Northern Belly Company invites you to exotic belly and Arabic dancing at Maltroom at the Brewery. On Saturday, there will be twenty acts performing at six sites around the town centre of Kendal, music from around the world at the Brewery Arts Centre in Rhythms of the World, bizarre puppets and Victorian-style side shows at the Gardens of Delights in Abbot Hall Park and Cabaret Heaven at Maltroom at the Brewery. Rhythms of the World and Gardens of Delights will continue on Sunday, plus Nicole and Martin's Musicians of Bremen and a candlelit walk to the castle at dusk with the Singing Mountain Choir. Full details are on the Mintfest web site, and tickets can be obtained from the Brewery Arts Centre.
Melvyn Bragg story at Theatre by the LakeTV presenter Melvyn Bragg's novel The Maid of Buttermere is to be brought to the stage of Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, where the story is partly set, next Easter in an adaptation by Lisa Evans as part of the theatre's tenth anniversary celebrations. Bragg, a patron of the theatre, has previously had his work on Theatre by the Lake's stage when it produced his musical written with composer Howard Goodall of his novel The Hired Man in 2004. The Maid of Buttermere is based on real events in the Lake District in the early nineteenth century. Bragg said of this production, "I'm delighted that Theatre by the Lake is to bring this story to the stage, one which has intrigued residents of Cumbria and visitors to the county for more than 200 years." According to artistic director Ian Forrest, "This is Cumbria's Gone With The Wind. We hope our stage version will capture the hearts of our audience. It's a wonderful way to celebrate our tenth anniversary."
Queen musical tour opens in ManchesterThe Queen and Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You, now in its seventh year at the Dominion Theatre in London, will kick off a regional tour next year with a twelve-week season at the Palace Theatre in Manchester from 20 March 2009. Despite being ridiculed by the critics, the show has continued to fill the cavernous Dominion where it will continue to play during the tour and is currently booking until October 2009. Writer Ben Elton said of the show, "This show is all about legend. We take the legend of Queen and create our own fantastical story of young kids battling the mighty corporations who want to suppress their individuality and their love of music." Queen drummer Roger Taylor said of Elton, "He has a great fertile mind that never ever stops churning out ideas. He’s written a fantastic idea for the sequel. I counted 23 more hits he can put in it." Tickets go on sale for the Palace Theatre run on 15 September. The tour will go on to visit Sunderland Empire, Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Hippodrome and Edinburgh Playhouse.
Studio Salford announces new seasonNew writing venue Studio Salford at the King's Arms in Salford has announced its next run of productions. Alistair McDowall's Daisies transfers to the Studio from a run in the 24:7 Theatre Festival in September, followed by Vista Theatre Company's Halfway which was nominated for two awards at this year's Buxton Fringe. Mediamedea presents Science-Fiction Ruins My Life by Laurie Rea and Cathy Crabb, which tries to reveal the human side of sci-fi fans. Ross Andrews's MEN Award-winning The Judgement of Mr Jenkins has been developed and extended with support from Oldham Coliseum and appears at Salford Studio in November. In December, Tatty Band presents Death of a Lily, a musical set in Berlin with songs by Brecht and Weill, Jacques Brel, Cole Porter and others, promising "an impressionistic trip through the world of a troupe of cabaret performers, stuck in a never ending cycle that spirals them into the depths of despair and hopelessness."
NW productionsAt the Lowry in Salford, the Potted Potter crew, Dan and Jeff, switch their sights to the high seas in Potted Pirates, recounting everyone's favourite pirate legends, from Long John Silver to Jack Sparrow, from 28 to 30 August. Also at the Lowry, fifty performers from over fifteen countries including jugglers, acrobats and high wire artists perform in Le Grand Cirque from 27 to 31 August. On Platt Fields on Manchester, Nicole and Martin from Switzerland present their Tall Tales, using Grimm's fairy tales as the starting point for performances that include puppetry, circus, storytelling and song. They will perform Hansel and Gretel on 21 and 22, The Fisherman and his Wife on 23 and 24 and The Musicians of Bremen on 25 August. Ticket bookings are through the Contact Theatre's box office. Over thirty local actors directed by Brookside's Neil Caple will perform The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare in a free, ticketed performance at Birkenhead Park on 29 and 30 August. Reporter: David Chadderton Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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