Theatre Royal Bath Productions

present

Alan Bennett's


enjoy  credit: Nobby Clark  


Starring Alison Steadman
and David Troughton

at
The GIELGUD THEATRE

through May 2, 2009

the review

Alan Bennett's unique imagination lends itself to 'slice of life' dramas and Enjoy is no exception.

Just as he drills down into the characters he portrays, he also exposes the idiosyncrasies of the British Working Class and their obsession with the middle classes.

In a manner which can only be Alan Bennett, the playwright manages in a single breath to blend laugh-out-loud humour with pathos, sadness, joy, frustration;  all combined with a sharp and incisive look into the depths of the people he creates.

Alan Bennett is better than any other playwright at exposing his creations through his original powers of observation.  He is the consummate witness to events

In real life, Alan Bennett would sit on the wall of the house opposite to where I lived.   his presence was silent and he displayed no emotion; nor did he say anything.

When a young woman flew over the handle bars of her bike one icy  winters morning in North London, and slid ungraciously down the road face down, Alan Bennett did not move.

As I went to help the woman, her nose grew large and red and swollen and her lower lip began to bleed.  The local GP got word of the accident and he equally unglamorously lumbered down the road to see if she was okay.  Bennett watched on silently, and this passion of his to observe human nature is mirrored in Enjoy:

A working class family plan their enforced move from terrace house to modern flat.   The elderly married couple agree to be observed by what we believe to be public officials; but the reality is not as is appears.

Bennett layers on the layers of who is watching who in this play, but like so much of his work, there is a dark message. Most of us live a life of resignation and acceptance mixed with a heavy helping of despair, combined with a 'just get on with it' attitude   which  mirrors  everything that is British.  And as the audeince laughs at the characters on stage they also laugh at their own, often ridiculous way of life.

Alison Steadman steels the show, but a stellar performance by the rest of the cast - including a couple of truly memorable cameos - makes this a must for all fans.

Following Peter Hall's Bath summer season and a record-breaking regional tour, Alan Bennett's Enjoy triumphantly comes to London's West End for a limited run.

Famously remembered as Alan Bennett's first theatrical failure when it premiered in 1980, director Christopher Luscombe has   re-visited the play to universal critical acclaim.

Starring Alison Steadman and David Troughton, the show is set in the playwright's home town of Leeds and focuses on an ageing couple, Wilf and Connie, living in the city's last back-to-back. With the demolition of the area in progress, they are soon to be re-housed in a new maisonette with a waste disposal unit and non-slip vinyl flooring! When a sociologist comes to observe them in their daily life, normality takes a decidedly atypical turn.

who's who

credit: Nobby Clark


The fabulous Alison Steadman is best known for her memorable role as the monstrous Beverly in Mike Leigh's 'Abigail's Party'.  She also starred in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, for which she won an Olivier Award.

Her films include 'Shirley Valentine' Clockwise', 'A Private Function' and Mike Leigh's 'Life Is Sweet' and 'Topsy Turvy'. Television work includes 'Fat Friends', 'Selling Hitler', 'The Singing Detective', 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' and 'Pride and Prejudice' and recent appearances include 'The Worst Week of My Life', 'Gavin & Stacey' and 'Fanny Hill'.

David Troughton is one of the UK's most experienced classical actors.  His numerous credits for the RSC and National Theatre range from Henry IV, Caliban and Bottom to Hook in Peter Pan. Television credits include 'Casualty 1907', 'New Tricks', 'Doctor Who' and 'A Very Peculiar Practice'.

Alan Bennett has been a household name for more than forty years. His numerous plays include The History Boys, one of the biggest theatrical sensations of recent years; Habeas Corpus; Forty Years On; Single Spies; The Madness of George III; Talking Heads and The Lady in the Van.

The cast also includes Carol Macready, Josie Walker and Richard Glaves.

Complicite/Simon McBurney

present Shun-kin
 
Photocredit,Tsukasa Aoki


co-produced by barbicanbite09  at



The Barbican
through February 21, 2009

Shun-kin is inspired by two works by one of the most important Japanese writers of the twentieth century, Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. Written in 1933 when Japan was opening its arms to Western influence, the short story, A Portrait of Shunkin, is a tale of masochistic longing. In the same year, Tanizaki wrote In Praise of Shadows, his essay on Japanese aesthetics. Both stories were shaped by Tanizaki's own fantasies and idealisation of a bygone era. Shun-kin moves between the neon glow of Japan and the vanished world of the Meiji era and uncovers moments of light in a world of darkness. McBurney and Complicite tell a tale of devotion, passion and power, where beauty is unforgiving and love is blinding. Emerging from traditional Japanese culture this powerful production reveals how close beauty and violence can be. Shun-kin is performed by an entirely Japanese cast in Japanese with English surtitles.

Photocredit,Tsukasa Aoki

Original music is by Hidetaro Honjo, design is by Merle Hensel and Rumi Matsui, costume design is by Christina Cunningham, lighting design is by Paul Anderson, sound design is by Gareth Fry, projection design is by Finn Ross for Mesmer and puppetry is by Blind Summit Theatre.

Under the artistic direction of McBurney, Complicite is one of the world's leading theatre companies. Its last show, A Disappearing Number, was seen at the Barbican during bite07 and subsequently won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, Critics' Circle Drama Award for Best New Play and Evening Standard Award for Best Play. It played to capacity houses and is being revived at the Barbican this October. The BBC Radio 3 version of A Disappearing Number is broadcast on Sunday 21 September at 8.00pm. Other recent work includes a world tour of Measure for Measure (co-production with the National Theatre) and a revival of A Minute Too Late (National Theatre). The company is currently developing its first original screenplay with the American writer Jonathan Safran Foer.

Actor, writer, director and co-founder of Complicite, McBurney has devised, directed and performed in over 30 productions for the company. Other directing credits include Pet Shop Boys meet Eisenstein (Trafalgar Square) and Strange Poetry (with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Walt Disney Concert Hall), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino in New York and Lenny Henry's So Much Things To Say. McBurney's production of All My Sons with Katie Holmes, John Lithgow and Diane Wiest opens on Broadway in October. As a film actor, he has appeared in numerous movies including The Duchess with Keira Knightley, The Golden Compass, The Last King of Scotland, Friends with Money, Bright Young Things, Eisenstein, Onegin and the soon-to-be-released Boogie Woogie and Hippie Hippie Shake.

Venue:
Barbican Theatre

Dates and times:
through 21 February 2009, 7.45pm
Also 2.30pm on 14 & 21 February
No performances on Sundays

Tickets:
£10.00 - £40.00
(£2.00 off all prices 30, 31 January and 2 February)
Various discounts available

Running time:
110 minutes no interval

Barbican box office:
+44845 120 7550

open hours:
9.00am - 8.00pm Monday - Saturday
; 11.00am - 8.00pm Sundays and Bank Holidays

The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv

present

Plonter 
Plonter, The Company photocredit Gadi Dagon

at

The Barbican Pit

January 27-29, 31 and February 1-5, 7

Plonter follow the paths of families living in Israel and Gaza before and after the border walls were constructed to prevent suicide bombings in Israel.

It's a tough subject to address on stage and each member of the cast of the show takes on a number of roles in a performance of short, interlinked scenes.

As you enter the theatre members of the audience are ID checked.  Bags are not allowed in.  This sets the scene for a single act play that highlights an almost insoluble problem:  two different societies causing death and destruction upon each other.

The characters are in some respect stereotypes.  They express their ignorance of each others' culture and their fear and suspicion of the unfamiliar. 

The concrete partitions on the stage represent the conflict.  Children plan suicide bombings; children on both sides become innocent casualties; and young Israeli soldiers are portrayed as victims of a war where neither side can win until there is peace.

What makes the play interesting and complex is the focus on the family.  As the family units break down - divided by different opinions - the true but less visible legacy of an enduring war is given  a voice.

Despite some difficulty in watching the action while reading the subtitles, this production often reveals some of the more ludicrous aspects of war as well as the more enduring,  while at all times placing the conflict in its social context.

Plonter is a revealing exposé of some of the subtleties of war and the young actors certainly do the subject justice.   An achievement which deserves to be seen by as large an audience as possible.

Don't miss out!

Raida Adon, Irit Kaplan, Yaniv Biton, photocredit Gadi Dagon

Jewish and Arab actors come together in a theatrical presentation of life either side of the border roadblocks

Plonter marks the first appearance in London for 23 years by Israel's largest theatre company, the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv. The Cameri was founded in 1944

Created over six months by a company of young Israeli Jewish and Arab actors working with writer/director Yael Ronen, Plonter presents the conflict from the perspectives of both sides. The play premiered at the Cameri in 2005.  Since then, it has played at festivals around the world. .

Plonter depicts the pain and frustration, as well as the humour, found in contending with everyday life in the region. It reflects the current political reality, taking audiences into the turbulent, tangled, complex and surreal existence of living either side of the border roadblocks. The same actors play Israelis and Palestinians, weaving together stories of family life on both sides, each suffering in their own way by the conflict.

Plonter is performed in Hebrew and Arabic with Arabic/Hebrew and English subtitles. With over 150 actors the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv is Israel's largest theatre company and is based in the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Centre.

The performance lasts 75 minutes with no interval.

Performance times: 7.45pm except Sunday 1 February, 5.00pm

In Hebrew and Arabic, there are subtitles in Arabic/Hebrew and English

Post-show talks on January 29 and 30, 2009 and February 5, 2009

Tickets; £15.00 (US$21)

Box office: +44845 120 7550

Age guidance: 15+

In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War

at

The Imperial War Museum

30 September 2008 – 6 September 2009

It informs and engages visitors with a great mix of artifacts, art, videos, film, interactive exhibits and much more.

While the subject is both chilling and emotional, the statistics speak a thousand words - and the feeling as you go round this exhibition is a mix of sadness and pride.

Yes - it may be somewhat sentimental about the forces who go to war to protect the rest of use; but it also acts as a sharp reminder of the current conflicts and what many soldiers experience.

Of course, nobody says it better than the First World War poets and there is plenty of verse to be read which sums up the whole history of the event in a manner that few can emulate - including myself.

A great reminder of the past and a really inspiring take on the War.

And don't miss a whole series of events which go alongside In Memoriam.

The First World War was the beginning of what Winston Churchill later described as ‘the woe and ruin of the terrible twentieth century’. The Great War was truly a global war, fought not just on the Western Front, but also in Russia, the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa. Casualties were on a scale never seen before. Massive artillery bombardments caused terrible loss of life and destruction. The use of aircraft and submarines in large numbers and the first appearance of tanks on the battlefield brought new dimensions to conflict. When the fighting had finished in November 1918, the First World War had claimed the lives of 21 million people worldwide.

For Britain, supported by its Empire, the war also meant huge social change, with its men conscripted for the first time in history and women taking their places in factories and fields. The First World War still exerts an extraordinary hold upon the public imagination and this exhibition seeks to further our knowledge and understanding of that terrible conflict.

****************

Featuring fascinating and previously unseen material, this exhibition will use the experiences of over 90 individual men, women, servicemen and civilians to illustrate the different aspects and key events of the Great War and its aftermath. Much of the material will be drawn from the Imperial War Museum’s own collections that were established during the First World War.

Among the personal stories and items on display are: · The watch and ‘King’s Shilling’ given to Edward Packe who enlisted in the Army in August 1914; · The Victoria Cross awarded to Jack Cornwell who was mortally wounded at the Battle of Jutland and the second youngest recipient of the VC; · The smashed aircraft windscreen of British flying ace James McCudden who had shot down 57 aircraft by the time of his death in action in 1918; · The Military Cross awarded to Wilfred Owen that was worn by his mother until her death; · The paint box and brushes used by Official War Artist John Nash who, with his brother Paul, served on the Western Front; · The torn tunic worn by Harold Cope who was seriously wounded at the Battle of the Somme; · The cross that marked the grave of Prime Minister’s son Raymond Asquith; · The diary kept by Florence Farmborough who was a nurse on the Russian Front; · An extract of Geoffrey Malins’s film The Battle of the Somme, that was viewed by at least half the population when it was screened in 1916; · The illustrated album of Herta Dobinger, a 13 year old Austrian, who recorded the experiences of life on the Austrian home front; · The camisole worn by Margaret Gwyer who survived the sinking of Lusitania; · A wreath tossed into the car carrying Prime Minister Lloyd George after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

Admission to In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War is free.

To compliment In Memoriam a selection of works from the 1918 Hall of Remembrance scheme will be displayed in the adjoining Singer Sargent Gallery. Created by the British War Memorials Committee of the Ministry of Information, the scheme was designed to commemorate all aspects of the war effort, including the home front. However, the Hall of Remembrance was never completed and the collection of paintings was given to the newly founded Imperial War Museum. Among those paintings on display will be John Singer Sargent’s Gassed (1919), the intended centerpiece of the Hall, Percy Wyndham Lewis’s A Battery Shelled (1919) and Paul Nash’s The Menin Road (1919).

The official book to accompany the Imperial War Museum exhibition In Memoriam: Remembering the Great War will be published by Ebury Press in September 2008. Written by respected historian Robin Cross this lavishly illustrated narrative of the Great War uses letters, diary entries and eyewitness accounts to tell the personal stories of those involved.

Hampton Court Palace
Flower Show

copyright: ©BBB WorldWide2007

    july 8 - 13, 2008

I particularly liked the Holiday Inn Garden and the Porsche Garden.....but it is the judges who ultimately decide the winners and losers of this particular contest.

Unlike the 208 Chelsea Flower Show, the gardens at Hampton Court are much more accessible and far less elitist.   The show is a haven for gardeners and fans of indoor/outdoor spaces. 

Check out some of the fantastic ideas on display.  You may just find out that copying some of the  designs is the greatest form of flattery.

and the winners of the show gardens are:

Gold Dorset Cereals Ltd GW18 Show garden

Gold Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants DM4 Show garden

Gold Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts GW6 Show garden

Gold Porsche GW16 Show garden

Silver-Gilt

Silver-Gilt Flora Anglian Home Improvements GW9 Show garden

Silver-Gilt Flora APL & SGD GW2 Show garden

Silver-Gilt Flora Cedar Nursery DM3 Show garden

Silver-Gilt Flora Homebase GW4 Show garden

Silver-Gilt Flora National Year of Reading GW5 Show garden

Silver-Gilt Flora Winchester Growers DM2 Show garden

Silver

Silver Flora Boardman Gelly & Co GW15 Show garden

Silver Flora Burghbad Bathrooms – Designed by

David Cubero & James Wong

GW20 Show garden

Silver Flora Domoney Ltd GW17 Show garden

Silver Flora Dorset Water Lily Company GW23 Water garden

Silver Flora Libra School with Gill Lomax & Steve

Pearce

GW3 Show garden

Silver Flora World of Water GW21 Water garden

Bronze

Bronze Flora Copella Fruit Juices Ltd GW8 Show garden

Bronze Flora Dial A Flight GW14 Show garden

Bronze Flora Lesley Faux & Garden Friendly

Brothers

GW10 Show garden

Bronze Flora Floral & Hardy Gardens GW1 Show garden

Bronze Flora Send a Cow GW12 Show garden

Bronze Flora Southend-on-Sea Borough Council in

partnership with Metal

GW11 Show garden

RHS members can be re-admitted to the show for the sell-off on production of an RHS membership card, receipt or ticket stub. Non-members will need to present a receipt or proof of purchase for items to collect.

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Awards

Show gardens, water gardens, small gardens, conceptual gardens, flowers and ornamental plants are awarded in the FLORA medal range.
Exhibits of fruit are awarded in the HOGG medal range.
Exhibits of vegetables are awarded in the KNIGHTIAN medal range.
Exhibits of special scientific or educational Interest are awarded in the LINDLEY medal range.

Panels of selected RHS judges - all experts in their field - complete the judging of gardens, floral exhibits and other horticultural exhibits before the show opens to members on the Tuesday.
All exhibits are judged using standard criteria - they are not judged against each other. There is no limit to the number of medals the judges can award.
Four medal grades are available for award for horticultural exhibits at the Royal Horticultural Society's shows, and these are used by RHS Committees and judging panels who recommend awards for exhibits.

copyright: ©BBB WorldWide2007

The full list of all the winners will be available July 8, 2008.  The awards are: Gold, Silver-Gilt, Silver and Bronze

Exhibits of pictures, photographs, floral arrangement, floristry and Inspiring Spaces are awarded in the GRENFELL medal range.

Special awards are also given at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show

Tudor Rose awards will be given to the best Gold Medal exhibits in each of the following three categories: Show Gardens; Water Gardens and Floral Marquees.  There are also awards for the Best Small Garden, Best Conceptual Garden, Best Plant Plot, Best Inspiring Space, Best Exhibit in the Festival of Roses, Best Exhibit in the Plant Heritage Marquee and the Best Scarecrow.
Certificates of commendation are given to gardening sundries exhibitors whose stands reach a high standard of presentation. These certificates are awarded for excellence of presentation and are not an RHS endorsement of the products or services on display.

where

Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey

when

Charity Gala Preview on July 7, 2008 between 6-11pm
For tickets  or call +44845 370 0128.

flower show 8 – 9 July: RHS members only
10 – 13 July: All are welcome, members and non-members

what time

8 – 12 July: 10am – 7:30pm (Afternoon entry from 3pm)
13 July: 10am – 5:30pm (Afternoon entry from 2:30 pm)

how much

tickets: tbc.
All tickets must be bought in advance

how to book

Ticket hotline: +44870 842 2234 Show information: +4420 7649 1885

Manolo Blahnik's design
celebrates
the 2008 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

    may 20 - 24, 2008

Is perhaps Chelsea Flower Show a reflection of our times?   Last year's vivid palate of purple and mauve exuded confidence and a style reminiscent of a classic Greek drama.

In sharp contrast, 2008 is the year of tranquil simplicity with reflections from large tranquil pools of water and a great deal of green planting.  Colour is absent in may of the structural gardens which dominant at this year's show.  'Do not stand out or make a large visual noise. These are challenging times and we should reflect in quiet corners and hidden outdoor spaces.'

Today's designs do not challenge the eye.   The soft textural use of friendly tactile material give a secure warmth to the show gardens of Chelsea and are - in my view - well-formed without 'shouting' that there is some thing new and witty in the making.

My favorite was the garden designed by Dairmuid Gavin and Terence Conran.  The Oceanico Garden is one of the most playful on show with undulating topiary covered by frivolous daisy shaped umbrellas to protect the planting and shade the visitors seated at the discreet table and chairs.

But how did the show garden fare?  See below.

Gold

Gold Savills plc MA18 Show garden

Silver-Gilt

Silver-Gilt Flora Ruffer LLP with Clare Agnew Design RHW39 Show garden

Silver

Silver Flora Studio Lasso Ltd RS1 Show garden

Bronze

Bronze Flora North East England @ Home Garden RHW42 Show garden

No award

No award Simply Italian UK Ltd MA8 Show garden

One of the world's most famous shoe designers has created an image for the world's most famous flower show. With a career spanning over 30 years, Manolo Blahnik has become one of the world's most influential footwear designers. He opened his first shop in London's Chelsea in 1973 and now has a following of loyal devotees to his shoes, which spans the globe. The lines and silhouette of his distinctive handwriting remains instantly recognisable, and his sketches, used at the outset of Blahnik's design process, are as coveted as the shoes themselves.

Blahnik's beautiful illustration of the daylily (Hemerocallis 'Grace & Favour') is the official 2008 RHS creative for the flower show that is renowned for setting the latest trends in the gardening world. The bold flower with deep burgundy petals was chosen for its striking beauty, as well as for being a flower that is representative of a traditional English garden, and for flowering in May when the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is held. The bloom used in the final illustration was grown by Pollie's Perennials and Daylily Nursery, in Hampshire, who hold a national collection of Hemerocallis.

Manolo Blahnik says: "I grew up in a house surrounded by gardens. They have always been an important part of my life - and my work - so when the Royal Horticultural Society invited me to design the poster for the next Chelsea Flower Show, it was an offer I couldn't refuse. It is a privilege for me to be working on such an institution of an event, as well as an honour to be taking part in one of the most important dates in the Chelsea calendar."

Previous artists who have created an image for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show include, fashion designer David Downton and fashion illustrator Anne Penman-Sweet and these designers are always part of the fabulous gardens on show at Chelsea.

copyright: ©BBB WorldWide2007

where

The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, SW3

when

May 20 - 24, 2008
20-21 May, RHS members only

what time

daytime

how much

tickets: £15.00 (US$32) / £46.00 (US$95)
All tickets must be bought in advance

how to book

box Office: +44 (0)870 247 1226

costa acosta

carlos in cuba

coming soon

For his second programme at the London Coliseum, Carlos in Cuba, Acosta joins forces with the Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, the company which starred in Acosta’s legendary Tocororo, a dance created by Acosta himself based on his life story.

This evening features contemporary Cuban works, followed by Tocororo Suite – a version which contains all the highlights of the original show, and features 18 dancers and a full live Cuban band.

where

London Coliseum
St. Martin's Lane, Trafalgar Square, WC2

when

March 31 - April 3, 2008

what time

evening performances

how much

tickets: £15.00 (US$32) / £75.00 (US$155)

how to book

box Office: +44 (0)844 412 4310

opera

on the

run .........at Jermyn Street Theatre

January 15, 2008 to February 2, 2008

Opera on the Run returns to London to present The Perfect Picnic, a unique piece of opera theatre set to the music of Mozart and with an effervescently comic new libretto.

The Perfect Picnic is a wonderfully light hearted evening of entertainment combining elements of theatre and opera to produce a quintessentially British tale of love and misunderstanding at a deliciously al fresco summer opera gala.

Newly redundant accountant David Sterling and his long-suffering girlfriend Sarah Primrose mysteriously receive tickets to an opera gala at which, it transpires, David’s ex-wife and rising opera star, Rachel, is performing. When Rachel’s new boyfriend, the flamboyant celebrity TV designer Michael de Haughton-Tours, lays eyes on Sarah his attention is transferred immediately from the stage to the stalls. It is during the Picnic interval however that events unfold with more drama than the opera itself.

Neither opera nor play, neither musical nor music theatre, The Perfect Picnic paves the way for Opera on the Run’s unique brand of opera theatre which fuses genres and melds music and drama in a manner hitherto unseen in the West End. Combining sultry singing, clever comedy and deliciously delightful drama, it’s an English summer’s picnic in the middle of winter and, as such, blurs the boundaries between the seasons at the same time.

Opera on the Run’s previous productions include A Comedy of Arias, a modern story told through lyrics set to popular opera arias, Spaghetti Opera which served up a veritable cocktail of opera favourites, and most recently Turning Heads at the Edinburgh Festival, a boisterous comedy of male manners centred around a wild weekend in Amsterdam.

produced by Opera on the Run
written and directed by Ian Bloomfield and Tim Armstrong-Taylor
music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The cast features Cheryl Enever as Rachel Sterling, Lynn Marie Boudreau as Sarah Primrose, Tim Armstrong-Taylor as David Sterling, Ian Bloomfield as Michael de Haughton-Tours, and Clare Kinson as Puck.
The cast are accompanied by Kelvin Lim at the piano.

where

Jermyn Street Theatre, Jermyn Street, London SW1

when

Tue 15 Jan – Sat 2 Feb 2008

what time

Tue – Sat 7.30pm, Sun 3.30pm

how much

tickets: £16.00 (US$35) / £14.00 (US$30) concs

how to book

box Office: +44207 287 2875

Christmas


2007

at

the Coliseum

London Premiere of The Snow Queen

Hampson's The Nutcracker

Deane's Swan Lake

Following a record breaking season last year, Christmas 2007 sees English National Ballet break with tradition by opening its Coliseum season with Michael Corder's glittering new production of The Snow Queen (December 11-16, 2007). The Company's traditional showing of family favourite The Nutcracker follows with Christopher Hampson's flamboyant production returning for its seventh consecutive season (December 19, 2007 - January 6, 2008). The season finale brings Derek Deane's proscenium arch production of Swan Lake back to London for the first time since 2001 (January 8-19, 2008).

The 2006/2007 Christmas season broke all previous box office records with performances of The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland and Giselle selling 85,818 tickets over a six week season at the London Coliseum.

The Snow Queen is Michael Corder's third new work for English National Ballet; his other works for the Company are his acclaimed production of Cinderella premiered in 1996, and the recently performed Melody on the Move created in 2003. The Snow Queen is the first new full length ballet produced by English National Ballet in over 10 years.

The music for The Snow Queen is arranged by Julian Philips from Prokofiev's ballet The Stone Flower and other Prokofiev works. Julian's original works include Strange Seas, commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia and later performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and Out of Light commissioned by BBC Proms and premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in 2001. The production is designed by Mark Bailey whose previous collaborations with Corder include Melody on the Move in 2003. Mark's recent projects include Hamlet for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and An Ideal Husband for Theatr Clwyd.

Based on Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, The Snow Queen is a touching, gothic fairy tale which will be lavishly retold by English National Ballet. The Snow Queen tells the story of young friends, Kay and Gerda. Kay catches slivers of the Snow Queen's shattered magic mirror in his eye and in his heart, and his character begins to change. As Kay is spirited away to the Snow Queen's palace, eternal winter descends on the village. Gerda searches the world over to find her friend. This fantastic journey finally takes her to the Snow Queen's Palace which is inhabited by her magical court of wolves, white foxes, ice maidens and sprites. Gerda's love for Kay releases him from the spell, the slivers of mirror fall from his eye and heart and the Snow Queen's curse of eternal winter is broken.   Andersen's fairy tales have inspired plays, ballets, films and many works of art. The Snow Queen was first published in 1844 and has since been translated into more than 80 languages.

Continuing the season in traditional style, English National Ballet presents The Nutcracker, choreographed by Christopher Hampson, and designed by Gerald Scarfe. Hampson/Scarfe's ballet is colourful and vibrant and offers an eccentric retelling of this classic Christmas ballet. Clara, her Nutcracker doll and the magician, Drosselmeyer, take us on adventures in the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of the Sweets. Clara battles with a Mouse King, flies on an origami bird and falls in love with a handsome Prince. English National Ballet's Nutcracker is the ideal Christmas treat for all the family, and has proved hugely popular with audiences since its premiere in 2002.

To round off the season, the Company presents Derek Deane's Swan Lake. Arguably the most popular ballet ever created, Swan Lake tells the story of Prince Siegfried's powerful love for the Swan Queen, Odette, and their battle against the evil magician, Rothbart. Derek Deane's traditional production brings the romance and high drama of the grand Russian ballet tradition alive. Swan Lake is set to Tchaikovsky's magnificent score, which features some of the most beautiful music in the classical ballet repertoire.

This Swan Lake was originally produced for English National Ballet by Derek Deane in 2000, based on a reworking of his 1997 in the round version. The in the round production has recently enjoyed full houses at the Royal Albert Hall and has delighted audiences of over 400,000 in the ten years since its premiere. Excerpts from this production were featured in Concert for Diana in Wembley Stadium on 1 July. The proscenium arch production was last seen in London in 2001.

English National Ballet is delighted to be performing at the Coliseum with its full Company of 64 dancers and full orchestra. The international line up of dancers includes popular husband and wife partnership Agnes Oaks and Thomas Edur, as well Daria Klimentová and Dmitri Gruzdyev; Elena Glurdjidze and Arionel Vargas; Erina Takahashi and César Morales, and Fernanda Oliveira.

The Snow Queen

11 - 15 December 7.30pm

12, 15 December 2.30pm

13 December 2pm (Schools), 16 December 3pm

(Pre performance talks on 13 December 6pm, 16 December 1.30pm)

The Nutcracker

19 - 22, 26 - 29 December, 2 - 5 January 7.30pm

19 - 22, 26 - 29 December, 2, 3, 5 January 2.30pm

23, 30 December, 6 January 3pm

(Pre performance talks on 20, 29 December, 2 January 6pm)

Swan Lake

8 - 12, 15 - 19 January 7.30pm

10, 12, 16, 19 January 2.30pm

13 January 3pm

(Pre performance talk on 17 January 6pm)

VENUE DETAILS

London Coliseum, St Martin's Lane, London, WC2N 4ES

Ticket info

Box Office: +44870 145 0200

Ticket prices: £10 (US$22) - £60 (US$130)

CHILDREN IN FOCUS:
THE 4TH EUROPEAN PSYCHOANALYTIC FILM FESTIVAL

November 1-4, 2007

the review:

Dipping into a room of psychoanalyst analyzing films gives a unique spin on the subject - particularly effective during a discussion related to an Israeli weekday drama which takes a close look into the role of the psychoanalyst.  And fascinating stuff as the Director, Nir Bergman describes his surprise that the TV audience did not realize that all psychoanalysts go to therapy.

The daytime drama which is more like a reconstruction than a soap opera apparently mesmerized the viewers.  Perhaps the ultimate drama, Bergman creates a three dimensional 'agony aun' column set on 'the couch'.

While the Israeli TV audience gained a unique insight into the methodology of one of the country's best analysts, the HBO version which is coming out in the USA will use N. American talent to showcase their take on therapy.

Does this programme do a better job of explaining the breaddwon of family relationships than TV soaps such as Eastenders?  Perhaps -  but it is also more painful to watch.

(Please note that the review of Alice will follow.)

Childhood is on the couch at the 4th European Psychoanalytic Film Festival which takes place at BAFTA’s headquarters in London from 1-4 November 2007. With a programme of screenings, panel discussions and lectures, Children in Focus will bring together film-makers, psychoanalysts, critics, academics and film-lovers for an in-depth look at cinema from a psychoanalytic perspective.

A unique opportunity to see films from across Europe, the Festival brings together cinema that explores different aspects of childhood, from an insight into the first few months of life (Laid Down) to the experience of a child prodigy (Vitus) and the consequences of childhood actions (Caché). It will also look at the impact of child abduction as portrayed in Alice, a Portuguese film made in 2005 about the disappearance of a four-year-old girl which has a particular resonance in 2007.

The Festival also features speakers such as writer and academic Laura Mulvey (UK), scriptwriter and director Nir Bergman (Israel), film historian, academic and broadcaster Ian Christie (UK), director Elissavet Chronopoulou (Greece), director Marco Martins (Portugal), screenwriter Philipe Blasband (Belgium), director Fredi Murer (Switzerland) and editor, director and musician Michael Hudecek (Austria).

Festival Chairman, Andrea Sabbadini, says:
“This is the first time we have chosen a theme for the Festival. Children in Focus will explore the portrayal of children in cinema with all their ambiguities, imagination and innocence.
"We are interested in characters and how unconscious motivations can affect people’s behaviour,” says Sabbadini. “This is what makes the psychoanalytical view of cinema so fascinating.” Although it has a psychoanalytic slant the Festival has a broad appeal and is open to anyone with an interest in film and contemporary culture and there will be the opportunity for the audience to participate at open panel discussions.

The Festival is supported by eminent director Bernardo Bertolucci who has been its Honorary President since it began in 2001. “Since I started to know psychoanalysis I found that I had, in my camera, an additional lens,”says Bertolucci, “ it's not Kodak, it's not Zeiss, it's Freud. It's a lens which really takes you very close to dreams”.

Laid Down: Dir Emily Cooper, UK
Caché [Hidden]: Dir Michael Haneke, Austria
Tomas est Amoureux [Thomas is in Love]: Dir Pierre-Paul Renders, Belgium
Vitus: Dir Fredi M Murer, Switzerland
A Song is Not Enough: Dir Elissavet Chronopoulou, Greece
La Maison de Nina [Nina's Home]: Dir Richard Dembo, France
Alice: Dir Marco Martins, Portugal
The Third Man: Dir Carol Reed, UK

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Established in 2001 and held every two years, the European Psychoanalytic Film Festival is a unique forum for creative dialogue between psychoanalysts, film makers, academics, critics and the public. This year’s Festival is the first to be programmed around a theme, Children in Focus. The Festival will screen and discuss films from many European countries, and for the first time Belgian, Greek, Austrian, Portuguese and Swiss cinema will be represented at the Festival. The 2005 Festival was attended by over 350 people from a range of backgrounds and interests and from many countries including Brazil, Japan and Canada.

BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, the leading Italian film director, is Honorary President of the European Psychoanalytic Film Festival. He is also Honorary Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society. Born in Parma in 1941, his films include: Before the Revolution, The Spider's Strategem, The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, La Luna, The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty, Besieged and The Dreamers.

ANDREA SABBADINI is Chairman of the European Psychoanalytic Film Festival and of the Screening Conditions series of films at the ICA. He is a fellow of the Institute of Psychoanalysis, current honorary secretary of the British Psychoanalytical Society, honorary senior lecturer at University College London and the Book Review editor of The International Journal of Psychoanalysis. He has published extensively in psychoanalytic journals and edited Time in psychoanalysis (Feltrinelli, 1979), The couch and the silver screen (Brunner-Routledge, 2003) and Projected shadows (Routledge, 2007), and co-edited Even paranoids have enemies (Routledge, 1998) and Psychoanalytic visions of cinema/ Cinematic visions of psychoanalysis (in Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 2007).

PROGRAMME SUMMARY

THURSDAY 1 NOVEMBER, Royal College of Medicine
19:00-21:00 Registration and welcome reception
21:00-22:00 Screening of Laid Down (Emily Cooper), introduced by Emily Cooper and Peter Fongay

FRIDAY 2 NOVEMBER, BAFTA
08:30-19:00 Film screenings, discussions, lectures and panels
21:00-22:40 Special film event: The Third Man (Carol Reed)

SATURDAY 3 NOVEMBER, BAFTA
18:30-17:45 Film screenings, discussions, lectures and panels

SATURDAY 3 NOVEMBER, London Aquarium
19:30-24:00 Festival party

SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER, BAFTA
10:00-13:00 Short film screening followed by plenary discussion chaired by Laura Mulvey, Andrew Webber and Andrea Sabbadini
13:00-14:00 Farewell refreshments and close

Students £240 one day £150 half day £80
Others £290 one day £170 half day £90
No tickets available for single events.

UP AND OUT

A video By Christian Marclay

October 13, 2007 
at the Prince Charles cinema

Artprojx & White Cube present

In association with the Swiss Cultural Fund in Britain

the UK premiere of

Up and Out

A video by Christian Marclay (1998) 107 mins

Screening in the presence of H E The Ambassador of Switzerland Mr Alexis P. Lautenberg.

Christian Marclay introduces the UK premiere of Up and Out.

Marclay’s feature length video collage in which Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 masterpiece Blow Up is overlaid with the soundtrack of Brian De Palma’s 1981 thriller Blow Out, itself a homage to Antonioni. The images and soundtrack make a beautiful pair not least because of the fate shared by the films’ protagonists. The photographer in Blow Up (played by David Hemmings) and the sound-effects specialist in Blow Out (played by John Travolta) are both forced into forensic roles, as are the viewers of Up and Out who must use their wits to piece the images and sounds together.

The films combine to produce a mesmerizing, hybrid third reality. Marclay accompanies the images of the original with the soundtrack of the homage, resulting in passages of amusing dissonance and surreal synchronicity. Marclay’s simple yet audacious gesture questions how and why audiences suspend disbelief for the things they hear so much more readily than for the things that they see.

The Swiss Cultural Fund in Britain is delighted to support the UK’s first ever screening of Christian Marclay’s work Up and Out, 1998.

Saturday October 13, 2007 - 10am-12 noon

Pre-screening brunch in the bar - 9.15am-10am

7 Leicester Place

London WC2

Box Office: 020 7494 3654 (open 1-9pm) www.princecharlescinema.com

Tickets £10 (US$22)

£5 (US$11) for artists, curators and students

FREE TICKETS for Frieze VIP, Swiss Cultural Fund

NORWICH LONDON GRAND PRIX

at Crystal Palace

August 3, 2007

The highlight of the international athletics season comes to an end at Crstal Place on August 3, 2007.  Carolina Kluft - Olympic heptathlon champion and regarded by many as one of the world’s greatest athletes, will competing at the event in her build up to the World Championships later in the month in Osaka, Japan.

The Swede lines up against reigning 200 metres Olympic champion, Veronica Campbell, as well as last year’s European gold medallist Kim Gevaert of Belgium.

Kluft said: “I really enjoy competing in the UK, so the chance to line up against some of the best sprinters in the world can only help me as I look to reach the peak of my abilities in time for the World Championships.”

The 24-year-old is just one of the major draws of the Crystal Palace meeting, which is traditionally the highlight of the British athletics season.  Another is Tyson Gay, the fastest man in the world this year over 100m.  He is already confirmed on the start list along with world and Olympic 400m champion Jeremy Wariner and British world medal hopes Marlon Devonish and Nicola Sanders.

Ten of the Best of Men's and Women's competition

MEN’S

100m

All eyes will be on Tyson Gay, the fastest man in the world this year. The American has been in scintillating form this season, with his sights set on the sprint double at the World Championships. Joining him on the start line will be Olympic silver medallist Francis Obikwelu and in-form Briton Marlon Devonish, who won the 100 and 200m at the World Trials last weekend.

400m

World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner returns to the track where he enjoyed an impressive victory last year, clocking 43.99 seconds. He faces new UK champion Andrew Steele, no doubt relishing the chance to take on a world class field including world number two Lashawn Merritt, 4x400m gold medal winner at the 2005 World Championships, and European Cup silver medallist Tim Benjamin.

1500m

Andy Baddeley looked in superb form two weeks ago at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Sheffield, where he held off world silver medallist Bernard Lagat convincingly to cross the line in first place, setting a new personal best of 3:34.74 in the process. Lagat will be out to make amends tonight, whilst a host of other Brits will be chasing the qualifying time for the World Championships.

2 Miles

London athlete Mo Farah, the European 5,000m silver medallist and winner over the same distance at last weekend’s World Trials in Manchester, faces a tough battle against World Championship 5,000m bronze medallist, Craig Mottram. The Australian is the third fastest ever over the distance, clocking 8:03.50 minutes when he stormed to victory in the USA in June.

Triple Jump

European Indoor champion Phillips Idowu will be hoping for plenty of support from the home crowd when he steps out in Crystal Palace this Friday. The 28-year-old laid his marker for the season, leaping 17.35m to win his first Golden League meet in Oslo in June, but has suffered injury since then. He’ll have to watch out for Aarik Wilson, the in-form American who clinched victory in Sheffield two weeks ago.

WOMEN’S

200m

World, Olympic and European heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft, the golden girl of world athletics, faces a tough field in the 200m. A host of top sprinters line up in London including double European gold medallist Kim Gevaert, reigning Olympic champion Veronica Campbell, former 100m world champion Torri Edwards, and double UK sprint champion Jeanette Kwakye.

400m

European Indoor champion Nicola Sanders has adapted superbly to the flat after changing disciplines last year. The 25-year-old, who retained her outdoor title at the trials last weekend, faces a real test ahead of the World Championships, with World 200m champion Allyson Felix, Olympic relay bronze medallist Novlene Williams, and 2006 World Athlete of the Year Sanya Richards – winner here last year - on the start line.

800m

Yet another stellar line up in the women’s 800m, with trials winner Jemma Simpson heading a strong home contingent including Britain’s fastest this year, Marilyn Okoro, World Junior relay gold medallist Jenny Meadows, and European bronze medallist Becky Lyne, who makes her final attempt at a place in the team for Osaka.

Pole Vault

World, Olympic and European champion Yelena Isinbayeva makes a welcome return to the track where she has set no fewer than three world records. Also lining up is her Russian compatriot and great rival Svetlana Feofanova, who has set ten world records, and Britain’s Kate Dennison, who cleared 4.20m last weekend to win UK Championship gold.

3,000m

Britain’s Jo Pavey, who retained her national 5,000m title last weekend, faces a strong field including American Shalane Flanagan, GB Steeplechase record holder Hattie Dean and her compatriot Helen Clitheroe, with both Brits looking for a good showing ahead of Osaka.

You will also be able to see some of the following Great Britain and Northern Ireland athletes  who have been selected to be part of the Team for the 2007 IAAF World Championships in action at Crystal Palace.

Men

100m Marlon Devonish (Coventry Godiva) Craig Pickering (Marshall Milton Keynes)

400m Martyn Rooney (Croydon Harriers) Andrew Steele (Trafford AC)

800m Michael Rimmer (Liverpool, Pembroke & Sefton)

1,500m Andy Baddeley (Harrow)

5,000m Mo Farah (Newham & Essex)

Marathon & World Cup Peter Riley (Leigh Harriers) Daniel Robinson (Stroud & District AC)

3,000m s/chase Andrew Lemoncello (Fife AC)

110h Andy Turner (Sale Harriers Manchester)

400h Dale Garland (Channel Islands)

High Jump Martyn Bernard (Wakefield Harriers) Germaine Mason (Unattached)

Pole Vault Steve Lewis (Newham & Essex)

Long Jump Greg Rutherford (Marshall Milton Keynes) Chris Tomlinson (Newham & Essex)

Triple Jump Phillips Idowu (Belgrave Harriers)

4 x 100 Marlon Devonish (Coventry Godiva) Tyrone Edgar (Newham & Essex) Mark Lewis Francis (Birchfield Harriers) Craig Pickering (Marshall Milton Keynes)

4 x 400 Tim Benjamin (Cardiff AAC) Martyn Rooney (Croydon Harriers) Andrew Steele (Trafford AC) Robert Tobin ( Basingstoke & Mid Hants)

1,500m Wheelchair David Weir (Velocity Wheelchair Racers)

Car-parking available, or take the greener option and arrive by train, bus or ferry.

Hampton Court Flower Show
July 3 -8, 2007

What makes this show so different from Chelsea is the amount of space that allows you to really see the gardens from all aspects.

My favorite was without question the fabulous Infinity Garden: circular in design with a pebble path, circular running track and a circular swimming channel the imaginative venture was designed by Liat and Oliver Schurmann.

The theme of 'gardens with a purpose' was also illustrated by The Growing Together garden inspired by the ancient symbol the "Vesicle Piscis' where two circles merge.

This garden also merged with the University of Essex Centre for Sports and Exercise Science in the shape of  Dr Murray Griffin.  He was there to study the impact on well being, when individuals are in a balanced and harmonious environment such as this garden.

And of course the Environment and Carbon Footprints also played a role in the gardeners' quest to improve society; which included a 25 minute fashion show illustrating just how design can be improved by incorporating fresh flowers into what you wear.

All this was perhaps best encapsulated in the very entertaining and inventive garden sculpture of Anthony Samuelson who suspended a classic 1966 T-Series Bentley - covered in planting -  vertically over a black watery pool .

Thank goodness Hampton Court is here to entertain us!

A recent Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) report uncovered the cold hard, concrete, facts about Britain's urban front gardens and now garden designers at the world's largest annual flower show have been inspired to offer 'green' solutions to the modern front garden.

A survey conducted by MORI for the RHS, revealed that the need for car parking spaces is squeezing out plants and front lawns as paving takes over - but inspiration is at hand for visitors to this summer's RHS-run Hampton Court Palace Flower Show ( July 3-8).

Designer Alistair Kirk Bayford will be creating '23 Green Terrace', a small garden illustrating an alternative to a paved front garden. The garden caters for a small car which can be parked on a reinforced grass area sheltered by a cantilevered green roof which maximises the biodiversity of the space. Rainwater can be harvested from the roof for use in the house and garden and is stored in a tank under the car. Bands of granite and thyme run alongside native hedging and a vertical 'green' wall planted with a mixture of geraniums, salvias and alliums.

'Full Frontal', a small garden from Hadlow College, will also prove that your front garden can provide car parking without becoming a hard surfaced desert. The garden surface is made up of a wire grid with below-ground planting to provide a damp, shady microclimate and allow water to seep into the ground. Above ground, the grid rises and provides climbing support for plants and shelter for birds. The planting scheme will be wildlife-friendly, drought-tolerant and durable to help withstand the urban setting.

Leigh Hunt, RHS Horticultural Advisor, commented, "It's great to see designers taking up the 'green vs paving' challenge. Unlike soil, concrete cannot absorb rainwater and the excess run-off caused by paving can increase by as much as fifty per cent, contributing to localised flooding and other environmental problems. These gardens at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show provide people with attractive, sustainable designs and real, practical solutions to the space problem in urban areas."

Leigh and the rest of the RHS Advisory Team will be on-hand to answer visitors' gardening questions every day of the show.

'Must see' at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2007

Conceptual Gardens Back after its debut in 2006, tomorrow's big names in garden design will be creating innovative and challenging gardens with 'wow' factor in their first appearance at an RHS flower show.

Festival of Roses This marquee holds Britain's largest annual gathering of roses in full bloom from the UK's best rose growers. Around a dozen new roses will be launched at the show and visitors can be some of the first to see the Rose of the Year 2008.

Water Gardens A unique feature of the show, these tranquil water gardens reflect the show's location beside the River Thames. The water garden exhibitors will also be selling aquatic plants.

Inspiring Spaces These plots offer creative container planting solutions to problem areas in the garden such as an awkward corner or small front garden.

Daily Mail Pavilion Be transported back to the 1950s English countryside! RHS Gold Medal winning designers such as Tim Sharples and Rosie Hardy will be creating show gardens around the theme of a Kentish smallholding.

For tickets to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show call 44870 842 2227

July 3-4, 2007 are reserved for RHS members and their guests, with all welcome 5-8 July.

Ticket info: Tickets range from £13 (US$26)  - £30 (US$60) with children aged 5-15 £5 (except Tues 3) and under 5s free throughout the show.
Full-day or afternoon only tickets are available.

Car-parking available, or take the greener option and arrive by train, bus or ferry.

Abrantee, Stephen K Amos, Richard BlackwoodPipes, 1977 for C.L.O.T.H & Finlandia, screen- printed cotton

FRANCESCA GALLOWAY LTD

NEO CLASSICISM TO POP: European Textile Design 1790-1970
Part I: Twentieth Century Textiles 6 June to 14 July 2007

Cavallo, 1959 British, by Mario Marini for Edinburgh Weavers, cotton and rayon damask

Neo-Classicism to Pop is a two-part exhibition of over 200 European textiles collected over a twenty-year period by Francesca Galloway, one of the leading dealers in the field. The textiles have been chosen not only for their beauty and elegance but also for their relevance to the history of textile design. The first exhibition, devoted to Twentieth Century Textiles, will be shown in Francesca's new gallery at 31 Dover Street, London W1, from Wednesday 6 June to Saturday 14 July 2007.

This exhibition will present a rotating selection from over 100 furnishing textiles and designs that will range from a spectacular printed hanging designed by the Wiener Werkstätte artist, Dagobert Peche, between 1911 and 1918 (fig. 1), to a series of four dramatic woven, silk and metal wall coverings Les Colombes designed by Henri Stephany for the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes (fig. 2). The Art Deco period is well represented by the works of Raoul Dufy (figs. 3 & 4), Alberto Lorenzi (fig. 5), Robert Bonfils (fig. 6), Alfred Latour (fig. 7), Emile Alain Seguy and Paul Dumas.

Although the majority of pre-Second World War textiles are of French origin (fig. 8), the exhibition also includes some rare British furnishing fabrics from the 1930s, in particular the iconic and very elegant Magnolia Leaf by Marion Dorn, woven in off-white and silver viscut by Warner & Sons in 1936 (fig. 9). During this period, Britain attracted talented European designers, such as Jacqueline Groag and Marian Mahler who had trained with Josef Hoffmann at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule. They became highly influential in creating a 'New Look' that took hold of Britain after the austerities of the Second World War. 'The Festival of Britain,' held in 1951, was epitomised by Calyx which launched the career of its designer, Lucienne Day (fig. 10) and is now considered to be a landmark of post-War design. So great was its success that several versions were produced as well as contemporary copies, all of which will be included in this exhibition.

Two great textiles from the 1950s - Seaweed designed by Ashley Havinden in 1954 for Arthur Sanderson and Grecian by Alec Hunter in 1956 for Warner & Sons - bridge the gap between the spirit and elegance of the inter-War period and the new 'contemporary' look of the 1950s (figs 11 & 12).

Britain maintained its pre-eminent position in textile design throughout the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. This was because firms like Edinburgh Weavers, Heal & Sons and Hull Traders and museums such as the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (the centre of the British textile industry) worked hard at integrating and promoting great design, often by well-known artists, with industry. Among the artists who worked with Edinburgh Weavers were Marino Marini, Victor Vasarely and Alan Reynolds (figs. 13-16). Britain was not alone in applying art to industry. An elegant example of Op Art is the work of the German artist, Wolf Bauer, whose 1969/70 designs for one of the leading American manufacturers, Knoll Textiles, is a highlight of the exhibition (fig. 17).

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