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).

Francesca Galloway has been dealing in Textiles, Haute Couture and Indian Miniatures for over 25 years. She established a textile department at Spinks in the 1980s before starting her own business in 1992. Major acquisitions have been made in the field of European, early Chinese, Central Asian and Islamic textiles by institutions, collectors and museums all over the world. Publications include Islamic Textile Design, 1980, and The Art of Textiles, 1989, both for Spink & Son Ltd. and the highly successful Post War British Textile Design, 2002.

Exhibition facts

Venue:
Francesca Galloway, 31 Dover Street, London W1S 4ND


Information:
tel. +4420 7499 6844

Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday, 10 am to 5 pm

Price range:
From £200 to over £10,000

Catalogue:
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated publication in two volumes entitled Neo-Classicism to Pop: European Textile Design 1790-1970 by Sue Kerry. Conceived as a reference book, it is a much needed design source with original and interesting research. Sue Kerry trained as a silk weaver and has spent much of her career in the British textile and wallpaper industry, as archivist for Warners among others.

Each volume will cost £35 or £60 for the two bound volumes.

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BLACK 4

at

The Hackney Empire

featuring

stars of music, stage, screen

Abrantee, Stephen K Amos, Richard Blackwood, Boy Blue Entertainment, Eastside Young Leader’s Academy, Mark Elie Dance Foundation, Jocelyn Jee Esien, Victor Romero Evans, Robbie Gee, Mohammed George, David Harewood, Wil Johnson, Kat, Janet Kay, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Eddie Nestor, Cyric Nri, Clarke Peters & Nicola Hughes from Porgy & Bess, Clive Rowe, Peter Straker, Carol Thompson, Upswing Aerial, Curtis Walker

Fundraiser
March 27, 2007

All profits from
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BLACK 4 will go directly to the community of Kwahu-Tafo in Ghana,
the ancestral home-town
of the late actor Gyearbuor Asante.

For more information or to make a donation visit the Friends of Tafo website at www.friendsoftafo.org

where

Hackney Empire 291 Mare St, London, E8 1EJ

when

May 27, 2007 at 7:30pm
how

Box Office: +4420 8985 2424

how much

Tickets £21.50 (US$44) - £13.50 (US$28)  

Pilot Theatre
in partnership with
York Theatre Royal

presents

Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads

at

The Hackney Empire

March 22 - 26, 2007

Gala Fundraiser
March 22, 2007

directed by

Marcus Romer

Pilot Theatre In partnership with York Theatre Royal Presents Sing Your Heart Out For The Lads By Roy Williams Directed by Marcus Romer.

As part of the 25th anniversary celebrations for Pilot Theatre Company, a touring production of Roy Williams' shocking and abrasive look at the world of football fans and endemic racism in the working classes in announced for the Autumn Season 2006.

First performed as part of the National theatre's Transformations Season, Sing Your Heart Out For the Lads is a play that tells a story about the underbelly of contemporary England. Set in a pub during the course of an England v Germany game it shows a group of football fans whose fervour and passion for England is overshadowed by a violent mixture of racism, boredom and unfulfilled dreams. As the game kicks off, so too does the atmosphere in the pub.

Marcus Romer's Pilot Theatre is dedicated to making work that focuses on the transition to adulthood that many of the characters in the play are making. The play tackles the sense that racism is an undeclared and endemic problem in the working classes in England, something that the rise of far right political parties in recent years seems to prove. The opinions and thoughts of young people within these communities is a clear indicator of what the future holds. Pilot Theatre's work listens and rather than moralise hopes to open the debate/encourage discussion (or similar).

Roy Williams is rapidly becoming one of the UK's most sought after writers, his plays have won several awards including the Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright and he is currently on commission from the RSC and is also writing a play with Damon Albarn for the National Theatre.Pilot Theatre celebrated its 25th anniversary last year with the launch of Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads and projects for this year include a new production of Look Back In Anger at Harrogate Theatre and Oldham Coliseum and the world premiere of the adaptation of Anne Cassidy's, multi award winning novel Looking for JJ.

Following the gala performance of Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads on March 22, footballers from Trinidad and Tobago are set to launch their own players union later this month at a fundraiser at the Hackney Empire, with prominent players and members of the Trinidadian communityin attendance.

T & T World Cup stars Brent Sancho, Ian Cox and Kelvin Jack will join representatives from the professional game and Trinidadian community groups at a fundraising performance of the acclaimed play, 'Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads', at the Hackney Empire on March 22, 2007.

All the funds raised from the evening will be used to set up a Trinidad and Tobago Professional Footballers Association based in Port of Spain. The union will seek to support aspiring young professionals from the Islands.

The evening will also feature a celebrity sports memorabilia auction and a post show panel discussion with the T & T players, playwright Roy Williams, cast members and Kick It Out.

where

Hackney Empire 291 Mare St, London, E8 1EJ

when

March 22 - 25, 2007 at 7:30pm
Matinees Thursday and Saturday 2:30pm

how

Box Office: +4420 8985 2424

how much

Tickets £16.50 (US$33) - £10 (US$20)   except for Gala performance

Photograph by Ronald Traeger, 1966(detail) Vogue ©The Condé Nast Publications Ltd

1960'S FASHION & TEXTILES and what's coming up......................................................

Sixties Fashion

through to 25 February 2007

The 1960s were a time of sweeping changes in society, politics and culture. Britain began to prosper again, and the young enjoyed a new freedom. As Time magazine famously explained to its American readers, 'London has burst into bloom. It swings; it is the scene'.  Fashion, together with pop music, became Britain's most spectacular export. Like music, it flouted the rules of propriety and gender. It plundered the past, invented the future and travelled the world to find new ways of dressing. Fashion designers ignited.

The V&A is open daily 10.00 - 17.45 and until 22.00 on Wednesdays and the last Friday of the month. The nearest underground station is South Kensington (Piccadilly, District and Circle lines). For general information call +4420 7942 2000  Box office on +44207 942 2211.

Leonardo: Experience, Experiment and Design
through January  7, 2007 the exhibition provides an unrivalled insight into the mind of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), featuring 60 superb examples of his drawings from British collections brought together for the first time. A number of Leonardo's notebooks are also part of the display. Together they give a vivid picture of Leonardo's thinking on paper across the realms of science, technology, art and design and of his experimental investigation of nature's laws. The drawings and manuscripts are presented together with several large-scale models of his designs and sophisticated computer animations to describe Leonardo's thought processes and illuminate his vision. Inspired by the exhibition,November 24, 2006 Friday Late is dedicated to inventions. The evening includes workshops, performances and debates and will feature some of the most successful inventions as well as some of the most famous flops.

At Home in Renaissance Italy
through January 7, 2007 the riches of the Renaissance interior, and its central role in the flowering of Italian art and culture, are the subject of this exhibition. Masterpieces by Donatello, Carpaccio, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Titian and Veronese, as well as exquisite treasures once in the Medici collections, demonstrate how works of art were originally conceived for affluent Renaissance homes. The exhibition focuses on the main rooms - the sala (reception room), camera (bedroom) and scrittoio (study) - of a wealthy urban interior. With displays of furniture, paintings, textiles, tapestries and decorative arts from the palazzi of Tuscany and the Veneto, the exhibition presents a fresh look at the Renaissance from the perspective of household life. 

Twilight: Photography in the Magic Hour
October 10 - December 17, 2006 Twilight's otherworldly and alchemical qualities have long attracted artists. This exhibition draws together works by contemporary photographers and video artists who have explored the visual and psychological effects of twilight. The exhibition includes bodies of works by leading photographers Philip-Lorca diCorcia and Gregory Crewdson, alongside emerging talents such as Liang Yue and Chrystel Lebas and will feature a specially commissioned film installation by Ori Gersht. Admission £5, Concessions £4. Bookings 0870 906 3883 or bookings.office@vam.ac.uk

Light and Sound Installation Volume
november 24, 2006 - January 28, 2007 PART OF THE PLAYSTATION SEASON 3D of Massive Attack, the group's long-time producer Neil Davidge and lighting designers UVA have collaborated with the V&A and PlayStation to create this audio-visual installation in the museum's John Madejski garden. Volume is a grid of vertical light columns which respond visually and with music to visitors' movements. The installation is part of a series of contemporary events supported by PlayStation this winter.

bringing the ocean to the land

for 28 days

around the corner from

Take Britain

June 5, 2006 - July 2, 2006

twenty-four/seven

Lia Ditton entered the single-handed Trans-Atlantic Yacht Race, the 2005 OSTAR, in order to live the subject of her art.

‘Absolute Solitude,’ One Woman, One Boat is about the relationship which developed between the skipper and her boat.

Lia completed her journey in 28 days and she is now re-enacting the time she spent on the ocean 'in dry dock' as her final piece of work as a graduate of the Chelsea schools of Art.

As the weather changes, sails will be hoisted or doused and appropriately trimmed to the conditions. The purpose this time is not to race faster, but to reduce the wind resistance of the anchored yacht.

Replace a seemingly endless expanse of ocean with a sea of people and the work is a static and very different re-enactment of Lia Ditton’s single-handed trans-Atlantic odyssey.

"Absolute Solitude, 1 woman, 1 boat"
is an art project.

Lia Ditton will live for 28 days non-stop in a 40ft by 28ft wide racing Trimaran suspended in inner-city London.

The work will be a static re-enactment of the single-handed trans-Atlantic journey Ditton undertook in 2005. 'Absolute Solitude' is about the relationship which develops between the skipper and her boat and will replicate on land the drama of Ditton's trans-Atlantic odyssey. Visitors will be invited to climb to a viewing platform and view the boat's 10ft by 6ft cabin and encouraged to interact with Ditton, who will follow the same 24-hour sleep pattern as if racing. A celebrated yachtswoman and artist, Ditton entered the 2005 Faraday Mill OSTAR, her first solo Trans-Atlantic Yacht race, in order to live the subject of her art and combine her two passions art and sailing. This time using the internet, the exhibition itself is trans-Atlantic, as visitors to Galerie Emourlot in New York will be able converse with Lia during the course of the installation using a unique new voice over IP (VoIP) Siemens Dual Dect C450 phone, installed by sponsor ProVu.

Commenting on the interactive art installation Lia Ditton said, "Inspired by the great William Turner, who tied himself to the rail of a ship in the throe of a storm to experience the subject of his painting, I wanted to communicate my experience by entering the Faraday Mill OSTAR last year to research the subject of my art. I'm hoping 'Absolute Solitude' will allow visitors to experience the excitement of crossing the Atlantic."

Similar to Ellen McArthur's B&Q Trimaran, Ditton's boat is now mounted in the Courtyard of Chelsea College.

Dancing Queens, jaw-dropping hits, score-board toppers – it can only be the

Eurovision & ABBA Tribute with BBC Concert Orchestra

for a one night stand

at

Hackney Empire

May 25, 7.30pm

The BBC Concert Orchestra celebrates 50 years of one of the greatest song contests on earth, Eurovision, with a special tribute to its most famous winners, ABBA. West End stars will sing the best hits generated over the last five decades.

Conducted by David Arnold and hosted by popular BBC Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce, the celebration focuses on the best UK entries to date. From the sixties we have Puppet on a String, Congratulations and Boom Bang a Bang. The seventies gave us what is considered to be one of Eurovision’s most successful winners on the score-board, Save All Your Kisses For Me, which was followed up with the smash hit Making Your Mind Up in the eighties. The nineties also brought us two more chart-toppers with Love Shine a Light and Just a Little Bit, and there’ll be plenty more from a repertoire of entries past. Whether revered or ridiculed, these songs have endured the test of time and enjoyed huge pop chart success, the testament to this being ABBA, the 1974 winners with Waterloo, which launched their hugely successful career.

Conductor:
David Arnold

Host: 
Ken Bruce

Guest Artists:  
Joanne Farrell, Zoë Tyler,
Alex Gaumond and Chris Manoe

Programme:

Eurovision & ABBA Tribute Concert

Hackney Empire, Mare St

Bookings: +44208 985 2424

Tickets are £20 (US$38)/£16 (US$30)/£12 (US$22)

and more shows to follow including:

Ellen Kent and Opera International

present

The Ukrainian National Opera of Odessa

in collaboration with

The Chisinau National Opera

Verdi 's Rigoletto

on

June 4, 2006 at 7:30pm

From two of the loveliest Opera Houses in Europe comes a stunning traditional production of Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto, by the Ukrainian National Opera of Odessa in collaboration with the Chisinau National Opera following its critically acclaimed visit to the Royal Albert Hall in 2003.

Based on a play by Victor Hugo, who wrote Les Miserables, Verdi has a libretto truly worthy of his talent. Rigoletto is a tale of a dissolute duke and a jester whose overwhelming love for his daughter leads to tragedy. The Ukrainian National Opera of Odessa in collaboration with the Chisinau National Opera offer some of the world’s leading talents including the soprano *Irina Vinogradova, soprano *Rosa Lee Thomas, who sang in Ellen Kent’s opera productions at the Royal Albert Hall, talented soprano *Elena Gherman and the young soprano Maria Tsonina, the talented soloist with the Chisinau National Opera who won the Vienna Opera House Young Opera Singer Competition. The leading baritone of the Chisinau National Opera, Vladimir Dragos, will sing Rigoletto alongside international Italian tenor Ruslan Zinevych as Duke, who sang with Pavarotti and a young 27 year old Ukrainian tenor Andriy Perfilov* who will be making his debut and is reminiscent of a young Placido Domingo.

******************  followed by

SHAMAN

Box Office Tel: 0208 985 2424

from June 12, 2006 to June 18, 2006

Making their UK debut, the remarkable dance group from Turkey, Shaman, really is a “Turkish Delight”!  The name Shaman - derived from an historical figure called “Saman” - can be traced to many Anatolian traditional dances and folk songs.

Arrays of colourful costumes supported by brilliant chorography of other branches of dances from all over Anatolia, folk songs, modern dance, bale, acrobatics, Flamenco, Hungarian, Caucasian, Georgian, Abhaz to Balkan are accompanies by sounds from rare ethnic stringed instruments and percussion.

A cast of 40 artists bring to life fairy tales, stories and legends which have been told a hundred of years.

Following the sell-out knock 'em dead mini tour of Autumn 2005, the Grumpy Old Women are back with a vengeance for 90 minutes of theatrical HRT.

Inspired by the ratings busting BBC TWO series and best selling Grumpy Old Women handbook, Grumpy Old Women Live, is a celebration of the pre, peri and post menopausal female condition.

More than just a typical baby-boomer grype....

BOX OFFICE +44870 060 6651
All Tickets £19/$34 (+ bkg fee)