Nominated for best show at Buxton Fringe 2015, Jacques Brel: A Life a Thousand Times (Une Vie a Mille Temps) is returning to the Derbyshire spa town “revised, rewritten and rejuvenated”.
The biopic of Belgian songwriter and actor Jacques Brel, written by Simon Pennicott of Stockport-based Far West Theatre, incorporates Brel’s songs interspersed with his words about love and life.
Born in 1929, Jacques Brel became the most successful chansonnier of his generation, influencing artists such as Rod McKuen, David Bowie and Scott Walker. The show includes hidden gems as well as Brel classics.
Pennicott said, “the reaction to our run at Buxton in 2015 was so incredible that it was a very easy decision to come back again this year—but the show isn’t the same. It’s been rewritten and improved, with new songs and cast, and with lots of time and effort expended on it. Last year we impressed audiences. This year we want to blow them away!
“We continue to receive invaluable support from the Brel estate and it’s our great hope that we can take the show on from Buxton to London, Edinburgh and wider into Europe.”
Far West Theatre takes its name from Brel’s 1973 film Le Far West, a tale of adults who decide to go in search of their childhood dreams, however impractical that might seem.
Jacques Brel: A Life a Thousand Times will be staged in the Green Man Gallery, Buxton on Friday 8, Wednesday 13, Sunday 17, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July, all at 7PM.