What's On

Theatre: John Peel's Shed

In 2002, John Osborne won a competition on John Peel's Radio One show. His prize was a box of records that took eight years to listen to. John Peel’s Shed is an ode to radio, those records and anyone who's ever sought solace in the wireless with a script edited by Joe Dunthorne (writer of the novel Submarine).

Follwing a five-star, complete sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year, John Osborne's debut storytelling hour partly adapted from his acclaimed book Radio Head (Radio 4's Book Of The Week) comes to  Rosehill as part of a nation wide tour.

"Shy and awkward but with a keen eye for a killer line and the significance of the trivia of daily life, Osborne sits somewhere between Tom Wrigglesworth and Daniel Kitson, which a very good place to sit. I could have listened for hours" – 
***** The Independent

"Beautifully-written, funny and poignant... Just as John Peel's records changed his life this lovely, simple, beautifully executed show has enriched ours"
***** The Scotsman

"One of the Top Ten Theatre Highlights of the Edinburgh Festival... Funny, perceptive and charming"
**** The Daily Telegraph

"One of the loveliest things you'll see all year"
**** The Herald

"Genius... A comic highlight"
The Guardian

"I heartily recommend John Peel's Shed. It is a gentle tale of one man's passion for obscure music and the radio which has been compared to the work of Daniel Kitson"
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

"John Osborne captures the intimacy of the medium, the startling human connections and priceless stories. Its an uplifting if occasionally twee story that makes a classic, nostalgic fringe piece"
Total Theatre

Music: The Houghton Weavers & The Tannahill Weavers

Appearing together for the first time, with an exciting exploration of British folk music are the Houghton Weavers and the Tannahill Weavers. 

The Houghton Weavers are a Lancashire band who bring a fine blend of comedy and contemporary and traditional folk music to the table. Noted for their popular television series 'Sit thi Deawn', along with a popular national Radio 2 series. They ensure a toe tapping sing along experience that will take you on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. 

The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland's premier traditional bands, Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies. Their music demonstrates to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. 

Talks: Oliver Messel exhibition talks

The Beacon and Rosehill are presenting an exhibition of the highly acclaimed Stage Designer Oliver Messel at the Beacon Museum in Whitehaven from 11 February-25 March 2012 which will open with a series of talks on Saturday 11 February.

England's most celebrated theatrical designer was without doubt Oliver Messel, a world in which he was pre-eminent throughout most of the 20th Century. His talents extended beyond the theatre and encompassed painting, film, interior design and architecture, all of which were inspired with his own enchanting vision of beauty, romance, wit and fun.

His stage career started with the great impresario of ballet, Serge Diaghilev in 1925, and his 1946 designs for The Sleeping Beauty are universally regarded as the iconic high point of that ballet's history. His stage and film career was widely celebrated both sides of the Atlantic, with award winning stage productions like The House of Flowers in the USA and films such as Suddenly Last Summer, starring Katherine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor.

His design for opera at Covent Garden and at Glyndebourne in the 1950's brought him into contact with Sir Nicholas Sekers, for whom he created the Coronation Silk collection in 1953. Messel extensively used Sekers Silks for costumes and for interior decoration. The "silk lined jewel box" of Rosehill, designed by Messel for Sekers, is one of the few remaining extant examples of his work in the UK and is much loved.

From 1966 until his death in 1978, Messel lived on Barbados where he went on to be a distinguished architect.

This exhibition at the Beacon follows the publication by Rizzoli of New York of a definitive book on Oliver Messel's work, and the talks on Saturday 11 February at the Beacon will be given by its editor, Thomas Messel (Oliver Messel's nephew) and his colleagues:

Thomas Messel 10.30am to 11am

Jeremy Musson (Architecture and Historian) 11am to 12.45pm

LUNCH

Keith Lodwick (Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum) 1.45pm to 2.45pm

Sarah Woodcock (Costume Historian) 3.00pm to 4.00pm

Tickets available from the Beacon on 01946 592302.

Theatre: Rosehill Youth Theatre presents The Sound of Music

The hills are alive here at Rosehill with The Sound of Music, join Rosehill Youth Theatre with their next production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic ‘The Sound of Music’. Staring Katie Rusman as Maria Von Trapp as she begins her journey as a governess falling in love with the strict Captain Von Trapp who will be played by Jack Riley. Featuring all the songs you know and love ‘My Favourite Things’, ‘Do Re Mi’, ‘Climb Every Mountain’, ‘So Long Farewell’ and many more! This is a musical packed show for all the family! Make sure you don’t miss it!

Film: The Iron Lady 12A

The Iron Lady is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century's most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world. She may have devided society and the film has certainly devided film audiences but this is the first major portrate of her on the big screen.

Theatre: Way Out West

Way Out West, by Paul Hodson (Meeting Joe Strummer; Teenage Kicks; Fever Pitch; Don't Shoot The Clowns) is a new play combining side-splitting comedy with heart-rending melancholy and ending with a very funny dance. What more could you want!

Two strangers meet in a busy bar.... and then it stops being normal.

Peter is convinced that he has met Simon somewhere before; Simon totally denies it. Pints are drunk; conversation covers the creation of the universe, the meaning of happiness, the chemical construction of pork scratchings and how they seem to know more about each other than complete strangers could, or should. And they both seem to recollect dreams in which they met Laurel and Hardy and...each other.

As the alcohol kicks in Simon and Peter find themselves lurching towards an unnerving philosophical and spiritual world, where it becomes a distinct possibility that they are Laurel and Hardy reincarnated?

But that's simply laughable, absurd and beyond comprehension isn't it?

www.the-future-is-unwritten.co.uk

Film: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 12A

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) has always been the smartest man in the room...until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large-Professor Moriarty and not only is he Holmes' intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may actually give him an advantage over the renowned detective. When the Crown Prince of Austria is found dead, the evidence, as construed by Inspector Lestrade, points to suicide. But Sherlock Holmes deduces that the prince has been the victim of murder-a murder that is only one piece of a larger and much more portentous puzzle, designed by Professor Moriarty. The cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead of Holmes as he spins a web of death and destruction-all part of a greater plan that, if he succeeds, will change the course of history. Also starring Jared Harris, Jude Law & Stephen Fry.

Comedy: Richard Herring

"What is l-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uhve anyway? Does anybody love anybody anyway?"

So asked the insane, Welsh, poet-philosopher, Howard Jones in 1983, but in the intervening 28 years no one has dared to answer his questions...until now.

Having sorted out religion (Christ on a Bike), politics (Hitler Moustache) and penises (Talking Cock), Richard Herring, the star of award winning podcast As It Occurs To Me and BBC Radio 4's Richard Herring's Objective seeks to define and destroy love. Before love destroys him. Again.

What is Love, Anyway? is a heart-warmingly honest and personal examination of the romantic (and not so romantic) adventures and misadventures of one of the UK's most prolific comedians, as well as a genuine attempt to define this mysterious, debilitating, evil and wondrous emotion.

Music: T-Rextasy

T.Rextasy are the only band to have been authorised and endorsed by Marc Bolan’s Catalogue Management, are now officially recognised as the world’s No.1 group dedicated to the greatest glam rocker of them all, Marc Bolan of T.Rex.  With their uncanny doppelganger lead singer and lead guitarist, Danielz, T.Rextasy perform a powerful and mesmerising presentation of Marc Bolan’s rock and pop anthems. 

With a career spanning over 17 years, T.Rextasy are now regarded beyond the boundaries of ‘tribute’ and are respected in their own right.  They are also the only band to have the blessing and support from Marc’s own family and Ex-T.Rex band members, including June Bolan (Marc’s wife), Gloria Jones (Marc’s Girlfriend), Rolan Bolan (Marc’s Son), Mickey Finn (T.Rex conga player), Tony Visconti (T.Rex producer), and others

They have toured worldwide playing at venues such as the gigantic Ariake Coliseum in Japan, and Wembley Arena in London. They also perform alongside artists such as Wizzard, Cockney Rebel, Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople), and Slade amongst others.   

In September 2007 T.Rextasy played to 40,000 at BBC Proms Night at London’s Hyde Park, and headlined at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London where special guests appeared alongside them including Marc Almond (Soft Cell), Gloria Jones, Shakin’ Stevens, and Tony Visconti. A DVD of the concert is now officially available.  

www.trextasy.com

‘They’re the closest you’re ever going to get to the real thing’
- Bill Legend (original T.Rex drummer)

‘T.Rextasy are a great tribute to my Dad.  They have my support 100%’ - Rolan Bolan

Film: War Horse 12A

DreamWorks Pictures' "War Horse," director Steven Spielberg's epic adventure, is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. "War Horse" begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land.

The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. "War Horse" is one of the great stories of friendship and war— a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is currently on Broadway. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.

Theatre: Harold Pinter double bill: The Dumb Waiter & The Lover

European Arts Company who performed the delightful and much enjoyed Chekhov's Shorts at Rosehill last year returns with a double-bill of Harold Pinter's classic short, black-comedies. 

In The Dumb Waiter, two hit-men are waiting in a basement room to do a job. Strange messages keep appearing via a serving hatch. Who are they from? Why are they waiting? And who is their next victim? Comedy and menace collide seamlessly in this classic Pinter one-act play from 1960.

In The Lover, Richard and Sarah have been married for ten years. Every morning he commutes into the city to pour over balance sheets and graphs while she shows her lover the hollyhocks.  Everything is not quite as it seems as fantasy and reality converge to dizzying effect.

These two witty dramas by the Nobel prize-winner still pack the same punch as when first written. Thrillingly powerful with an air of mystery, they will keep you on the edge of your seat. A rare and welcome treat for any theatre lover! 

European Arts Company provides sheer entertainment but also an excellent opportunity for seeing high-quality live theatre
International Herald Tribune

Film: The Descendants 15

Matt King (George Clooney) is a Honolulu-based lawyer and the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of pristine land on the island of Kaua'i. The trust will expire in seven years because of the rule against perpetuities, so the King family has decided to sell the land to Kaua'i native Don Holitzer for development. Just before family members are ready to formally endorse the deal a boating accident near Waikīkī renders Matt's wife, Elizabeth, comatose.

Matt and Elizabeth have two daughters, 10-year-old Scottie and 17-year-old Alex. Matt is not very close to his daughters and refers to himself as the "back-up parent." With Elizabeth in a coma at Queen's Hospital, he is forced to confront Scottie's inappropriate behavior with other children and Alex's drinking.

Matt learns that Elizabeth will never awaken from her coma, which means that under the terms of her living will she must be disconnected shortly from life support. He tells Alex, but not Scottie, that Elizabeth will not recover and must be allowed to die.

Music: Amanda Roocroft & Joseph Middleton

Amanda Roocroft has secured an international reputation as one of Britain's most exciting singers, in opera, concert, and in recital. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music and studies with Paul Farrington.

In concert she has appeared with leading orchestras throughout Europe and North America with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Mariss Jansons, Ivor Bolton, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Charles Mackerras, Valery Gergiev and Bernard Haitink.

She has performed at many of the world's leading opera houses and festivals including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Glyndebourne Festival, the English National Opera, the Welsh National Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Netherlands Opera and the Salzburg Festival where her roles have included Fiordiligi/'Cosi fan Tutte', Countess/'Le Nozze di Figaro', Donna Elvira/'Don Giovanni', Desdemona/'Otello', Amelia/'Simon Boccanegra', Mimi/'La Boheme', Eva/'Die Meistersinger', Elisabetta/'Don Carlos', Cleopatra/'Giulio Cesare', Jenifer/'The Midsummer Marriage', Tatiana/'Eugene Onegin', Ellen Orford/'Peter Grimes' and the title roles in 'Madama Butterfly', 'Katya Kabanova', 'Jenufa' and 'The Makropulos Case'. She won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera for her performance as Jenufa with the English National Opera.

A noted recitalist she has appeared at London’s Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, New York’s Lincoln Center, La Monnaie in Brussels and in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, Valencia and Lisbon.

Film: The Artist PG

The Artist is a 2011 French film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the 'talkies'. Most of the film itself is silent; it is shown in black and white, and has received wide praise from critics and many accolades. Jean Dujardin won the Best Actor Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered. The film was nominated for six Golden Globes, the most of any film from 2011, and won three; Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Original Score, and Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Jean Dujardin). On 17 January 2012 the film was nominated for twelve BAFTAs.