Spring 2024 Season Programme

April | May | June 2024

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A t o w

Just write!

M r R a B i g

I a t f b F

Poetry Short Story Flash Fiction

A a M

Novel Award

£20K fund prize

DEA DLI N E:

31st MAY 2024 www.bridportprize.org.uk

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Welcome to Bridport Arts Centre’s spring ‘24 season As the days begin to stretch out and our gardens and hedgerows start to flush with colour once more, there is a palpable sense of emergence from the fallow months of winter. I’m delighted to share with you our spring season, full of delights to tempt you from winter’s hibernation back to Bridport Arts Centre, which will be humming with energy and excitement.

Music is a strong strand throughout this programme, and I’m looking forward to the Marlow Theatre ringing with the musical offerings from Urban Folk Quartet, Lady Maisery, Ricky Romain and John Robertson, Duo Correa-Andrews and Chube. Our esteemed partnership with Classic Concert continues and I’m also thrilled to welcome the musicians of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra back to Bridport with three concerts, including Curious Creatures (presented specifically for families) and the incomparable BSO Resound, a disabled-led ensemble who are generating international acclaim for their ground-breaking performances and advocacy.

In April, the Arts Centre will host the 15th From Page to Screen film festival, a must for film lovers and bibliophiles alike. This year’s festival curator is screen-writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz, who has pulled together an exceptional programme exploring themes of memoire and future worlds. As we think to the future, May will draw our 50th anniversary year to a close and there will be an opportunity to celebrate, but also to contemplate what the next 50 years might hold for us all with our artist-in-residency project Future 50. Make sure you come and share with us your hopes and fears for the future during this time.

Alongside all these delights, we have offerings for dance enthusiasts, theatre lovers, comedy connoisseurs and for those of us who enjoy a wordsmith, we have with performances by local storyteller Martin Maudsley, poet Bassie Gracie and the return of our much loved Flash Fiction Story Slam evening.

I hope that you find something here to entice you through our doors, we can’t wait to welcome you!

Claire Tudge Director, Bridport Arts Centre

DIARY April to June 2024 APRIL SAMSARA (U)

£6, £5, £4

MET OPERA: ROMEO ET JULIETTE (ENCORE)

£17.50, £14.50, £10

HAGS: A MAGICAL EXTRAVAGANZA

£14, £11

MUSIC

URBAN FOLK QUARTET

£19, £17

2:00pm

MUSIC

BSO ON YOUR DOORSTEP | HOMELANDS

£12, £8

Mon 15th

7:00pm

SPOKEN WORD TAKE PART

FLASH FICTION STORY SLAM

£5

Tue 16th

7:30pm

FILM | EXHIBITION

EOS: JOHN SINGER SARGENT

£12, £11

Thu 18th

7:30pm

SPOKEN WORD

BASSIE GRACIE

£10, £8

Fri 19th

11:30am

MUSIC

CONCERTS IN THE WEST: THE GILDAS QUARTET

£14, £5

Sat 20th

7:30pm

SPOKEN WORD MUSIC

SING, SPRING, SPRUNG!

£12, £10

FILM FESTIVAL

FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

Thu 4th

7:30pm

FILM

Sat 6th

4:55pm

FILM | MUSIC

Tue 9th

7:30pm

MAGIC THEATRE

Sat 13th

7:30pm

Sun 14th

Wed 24th Sun 28th

MAY MUSIC

Fri 3rd

8pm

Sat 4th

7:30pm

FILM | MUSIC

Thu 9th

7:30pm

FILM

Sat 11th

8pm

COMEDY

Sun 12th

7:30pm

MUSIC

JAZZ: JOHN LAW'S RE-CREATIONS

£14, £12, £5

METROPOLIS WITH LIVE SOUNDTRACK BY PALOOKA 5

£12

IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE (15)

£6, £5, £4

METTLE: JESSICA FOSTEKEW

£17, £15

LADY MAISERY: TENDER

£18, £16

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MUSIC CONCERTS IN THE WEST: POCKET SINFONIA

£14, £5

Fri 17th

11:30am

Sat 18th

5:55pm

Thu 23rd

7:30pm

MUSIC CHUBE

£16, £14

Fri 24th

7:30pm

DANCE DASHAVATARA

£16, £14, £8

Sun 2nd

2:00pm

MUSIC BSO ON YOUR DOORSTEP | CURIOUS CREATURES & ADVENTUROUS ANIMALS

£12, £8

Tue 4th

7:30pm

FILM | EXHIBITION EOS: MY NATIONAL GALLERY

£12, £11

Thu 6th

7:30pm

FILM ANSELM (PG)

£6, £5, £4

FILM | MUSIC MET OPERA: MADAMA BUTTERFLY (LIVE)

£17.50, £14.50, £10

JUNEJUNE

FILM FESTIVAL FINE ARTS FILM FESTIVAL

Sat 8th Sun 9th Sat 15th

7:30pm

MUSIC GOLDBERG ROMAIN: VARIATIONS FOR PIANO & SITAR

£15, £12

Fri 21st

11:30am

MUSIC CONCERTS IN THE WEST: LARA MELDER

£14, £5

Sat 22nd

7:30pm

Sun 23rd

2:00pm

MUSIC BSO ON YOUR DOORSTEP | RESOUND: NIGHT DANCES

£12, £8

Fri 28th

7:30pm

MUSIC DUO CORREA-ANDREWS

£18

THEATRE CHARLIE CONNELLY: ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING!

K E Y : T H E AT R E F I L M COMEDY MUSIC F A M I LY S P O K E N W O R D EXHIBITIONS DANCE T A K E PA R T SUP

Event eligible for BAC Supporter 10% discount

£16

BOOKING ONLINE IS EASY AT WWW.BRIDPORT-ARTS.COM CALL US ON 01308 424 204 BOOK IN PERSON AT BRIDPORT TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE

APRIL

| Film

Samsara (U)

SUP Thursday 4th April | 7:30pm Every morning, a Buddhist teenager visits an elderly woman’s home to read her The Bardo Thödol, a guide for the journey between death and the next rebirth. On her last day, the young man whispers the book’s final passages in her ear, closes his eyes, and meditates alongside her, as she embarks on a transformative journey into what lies beyond.

MET Opera: Romeo et Juliette (Encore)

| Film

SUP Saturday 6th April | 4:55pm Two singers at the height of their powers—soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor Benjamin Bernheim—come together as the star-crossed lovers in Gounod’s Shakespeare adaptation, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium to conduct one of the repertoire’s most romantic scores.

Hags: A Magical Extravaganza

| Theatre

SUP Tuesday 9th April | 7:30pm Three fearless females are climbing out of their boxes, shaking off the sequins and investigating what really happened in a small town in North Devon 340 years ago. Packed full of magic tricks, physical comedy and live music, our magiciennes explore the witch-hunt mania that swept the country and sent hundreds of innocent women to the gallows.

Urban Folk Quartet

| Music

SUP Saturday 13th April | 7:30pm Urban Folk Quartet have ignited audiences across the world with their cross-genre, contemporary take on folk music for over a decade. Rooted in Celtic tune forms and traditional song, UFQ also take influence from Afrobeat, Indian classical, funk, rock and a whole lot more. Expect a groove-filled set of acoustic music, presented with infectious energy and humour.

| Music

SUP Sunday 14th April | 2:00pm Join an ensemble of BSO wind and brass in a programme celebrating place, connection, and home with music from the Upper West Side to deepest Somerset. For audience of all ages, relax into a programme journeying to New York with Bernstein, Amelie’s Paris with Yann Tiersen, and rural England with The Wellerman, amongst many more!

| Spoken Word | Take Part

Flash Fiction Story Slam

Monday 15th April | 7:00pm Flash Fiction is the art of the very, very short story where exciting things happen in a mere 250 words.

Come for a fun evening and be thrilled by talented writers telling tiny tales or register to take part by emailing Moira@bridport-arts.com.

MC’d by Declan Duffy with an esteemed panel of local judges.

Exhibition On Screen: John Singer Sargent

| Film | Exhibition

SUP Tuesday 16th April | 7:30pm Filmed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Tate Britain, London, the exhibition reveals Sargent’s power to express distinctive personalities, power dynamics and gender identities during this fascinating period of cultural reinvention. Alongside 50 paintings

by Sargent sit stunning items of clothing and accessories worn by his subjects.

Bassie Gracie

| Spoken Word Thursday 18th April | 7:30pm Bassie Gracie is a punk performance poet known for her musings as a musician, feel-good feminism and general silliness. Frequently found shoeless on the Monday of a music festival telling a 70-yearold geezer ‘punk was better in my day’. Her show combines jokes, anecdotes and rhyming couplets, intended to inspire, amuse and excite.

APRIL

BSO on your Doorstep: Homelands

APRIL

Concerts in the West: The Gildas Quartet

| Music

Friday 19th April | 11:30am The Gildas Quartet, praised for their ‘energy, verve and refreshing approach’ have performed at major venues including the Bridgewater Hall, Purcell Room, and live on BBC Radio 3. Their bold approach to performance was recognised by the International Chamber Music Competition, where they won first prize in the Audience Engagement Award 2018. | Spoken Word | Music

Sing, Spring, Sprung!

Saturday 20th April | 7:30pm Martin Maudsley and Lucy Roberts weave together an enchanting evening of spellbinding storytelling and magical music that’s full of the joys of spring. The performance draws on the March/April/May chapters of Martin’s recently published book Telling the Seasons, bringing to life the folklore, folksongs and traditions of spring.

MAY

| Music

Jazz: John Law’s Re-Creations

Friday 3rd May | 8:00pm Classically trained and now one of Europe’s leading jazz pianists, John Law presents his quartet playing well-known tunes from the world of jazz and pop, (and occasionally classical), featuring award-winning saxophonist Sam Crockatt. Alongside reinvented classic jazz standards the quartet plays intriguing new arrangements of a wide variety of well-known tunes.

Metropolis with live soundtrack by Palooka 5

| Film | Music

Saturday 4th May | 7:30pm Fritz Lang’s German expressionist science-fiction silent classic which sees Metropolis as a home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a carefree life. One of those is Freder Fredersen.

This screening of ‘Metropolis’ will be accompanied by a live soundtrack provided by ‘sci fi surf’ band Palooka 5.

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MAY

| Film

If the Streets were on Fire (15)

SUP Thursday 9th May | 7:30pm This is London from an exhilarating, rarely-seen perspective. With knife violence rising, social activist Mac creates BikeStormz, a movement for kids across the city to express themselves beyond any threats of violence. But as they come together through biking - they are challenged with the threat of arrest by the police and accusations of antisocial behaviour.

| Comedy

Mettle: Jessica Fostekew

SUP Saturday 11th May | 8:00pm A brand new stand-up show about passion, pace and purpose from the critically- acclaimed star of BBC’s QI, Live at the Apollo and C4’s Travel Man. Jess is a regular co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, host and creator of her own podcast about eating, Hoovering, and star and writer of BBC Radio 4’s Sturdy Girl Club.

| Music

Lady Maisery: Tender

SUP Sunday 12th May | 7:30pm Individually three multi award-winning artists, Lady Maisery form a unified voice, carrying stories of sisterhood, human struggle, the joy of living and the vitality of song with a fresh take on traditional music.

Their long-standing effervescent collaboration has been described as “adventurous and beautiful” with “a generosity of spirit and joie de vivre “ Concerts in the West: Pocket Sinfonia

| Music

SUP Friday 17th May | 11:30am Using both modern and period instruments, Pocket Sinfonia was formed to recreate the atmosphere of 19th-century living room parties, where the intimacy of chamber music performance could be applied to orchestral-scale pieces. Creations that are not merely smaller versions of great pieces, but are new and artistic in their own right.

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| Film

SUP Saturday 18th May | 5:55pm In her Met debut, Asmik Grigorian tackles the demanding role of Cio-Cio-San, the trusting geisha at the heart of Puccini’s tragedy. Tenor Jonathan Tetelman is the callous American naval officer Pinkerton whose betrayal destroys her. Acclaimed maestro Xian Zhang makes her Met debut conducting Anthony Minghella’s vivid production.

13th - 18th May - Join us to celebrate the end of our 50th anniversary year and look ahead as we imagine what the next 50 years might bring.

During this week there will be a series of events observing the end of our 50th anniversary year, including a display of archival materials from our past, showing the trajectory of Bridport Arts Centre’s history. We will be celebrating our founder Peggy Chapman-Andrews with a barn storming Peggy Party and imagining what the future holds for us all with an Artist in Residence community project in the Allsop Gallery.

Find out more information by popping into Bridport Arts Centre or visiting us at www. bridport-arts.com Chube

| Music Thursday 23rd May | 7:30pm Chube is a young fusion band based in Cardiff led by Ben Creighton Griffiths (Electric Harp/Keys) with Ashley John Long (Basses) and Jon Bradford-Jones (Drums). They draw their inspiration from a wide variety of artists and genres and write electroacoustic music that pushes the boundaries of their instruments.

Dashavatara

| Dance

SUP Friday 24th May | 7:30pm Dashavatara (Ten reincarnations) presented through the Bharatanatyam with English narration. A beautiful, ancient, internationally-popular Indian Classical Dance style. Performed by one of UK’s most talented and mesmerising dancers, Vibha Selvaratnam, Vishnu descends to earth to save the world from its own excesses to restore peace and harmony.

MAY

MET Opera: Madama Butterfly (Live)

JUNE

BSO on your Doorstep | Curious Creatures & Adventures Animals

| Music

SUP Sunday 2nd June | 2:00pm An ensemble of musicians from across the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra invite you to join them on a musical journey through the natural world, in a programme especially for families. Including Rimsky Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee amongst many others, all presented by a BSO presenter and suitable for all ages.

Exhibition on Screen: My National Gallery

| Film | Exhibition

SUP Tuesday 4th June | 7:30pm This film gives voice to those who work at the gallery.

From cleaner to curator, security guard to director, who identify the one artwork that means the most to them and why. An assortment of people from all walks of life who have a strong connection to the gallery make surprising choices of both well-known and lesser-known artworks.

Anselm (PG)

| Film

SUP Thursday 6th June | 7:30pm An experience like no other, renowned director Wim Wenders creates an expressive portrait of one of the world’s most prominent and important contemporary artists, Anselm Kiefer. Textual pleasures become vivid before our eyes, as we watch Kiefer roam through his enormous warehouse filled with his art, and the objects he uses to make it.

BABIGLOO MUSIC FOR BABIES 8 week programme Wednesdays, 10.30am – 11.15am 15 May to 10 July 2024 (excluding 29th May) For ages 0-12 months FREE (funded by The Youth Music Catalyser Fund)

Visit www.bridport-arts.com for more information

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Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th June Fine Arts Film Festival (UK) present a selection of the finest films made about art and the art world. FAFF also includes a free installation of XR films that attendees are invited to experience.

FAFF – the world’s largest art film festival – presents over 100 films from 32 countries with a selection shown at the Bridport Arts Centre many for the first time in the UK. This exciting programme will also feature, a short talk from renowned colourist Hugo Grenville after the film A Life in Colour.

The films presented are about how art is made, how artists think and work, and what makes creativity our most important skill, and our best hope for humankind.

Goldberg Romain: Variations for piano & sitar

| Music

SUP Sat 15th June | 7:30pm The duo will be joined live with special guest John Robertson on guitar (The Selecter, Grace Jones).

Goldberg Romain play two sets and present works off their debut album during the first set. They will be joined by John Robertson for the second set introducing new repertoire of their forthcoming next album.

Concerts in the West: Lara Melder

| Music

Fri 21st June | 11:30am Pianist, Lara Melda won the BBC Young Musician 2010 competition and she made her BBC Proms and Royal Albert Hall debut in 2023 as one of the soloists performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Andrew Gourlay in an evening devoted to previous Young Musician winners. She will be playing a programme of Beethoven and Liszt for us.

JUNE

| Film

Fine Arts Film Festival

JUNE

| Theatre

Charlie Connelly: Attention All Shipping!

SUP Sat 22nd June | 7:30pm As the shipping forecast reaches its centenary Charlie Connelly’s hilarious, informative celebration brings the broadcast vividly to life. Charlie explores its remarkable history, unlocks its mysteries and tells rip-roaring stories of his own adventures among the sea areas, ensuring the forecast will never sound the same again.

| Music

BSO on your Doorstep | Resound: Night Dances

SUP Sunday 23rd June | 2:00pm Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s award-winning six-piece disabled ensemble performing an exciting new programme of music reimagined and especially written for this unique chamber group of wind, strings, marimba and the LinnStrument. Repetoire includes Lucy Hale, Beethoven and Warlock amonst many others.

| Music

Duo Correa-Andrews

SUP Friday 28th June | 7:30pm Classical guitarist Francisco Correa presents music for flute and guitar by composers from his native Colombia, alongside his wife, British flautist and mezzo soprano Emily Andrews. These pieces mix classical and Colombian folk styles, drawing heavily on the rhythms and dances of central Colombia, but using more complex harmonies.

Become a BAC Supporter! Visit www.bridport-arts.com/Supporter/ BAC Supporter Benefits 10% discount off most events Invitation to gallery previews Invitation to our annual ‘Peggy Party’ Quarterly Supporters’ newsletter Programme direct to your door

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Priority booking on selected shows First to know about special events Acknowledgement of your support on our website and in the foyer

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EXHIBITIONS In the Allsop Gallery

Open Tues - Sat 10am - 4pm | Free Entry

Tue 2nd – Sat 13th April : Unlock your family’s creativity this Easter Holidays!

Join us for a series of hands-on Visual Arts workshops, delivered by artists from in and around Bridport. Try something new and dive into a world of imagination and artistic exploration. From painting to mixed media to messy play, there’s something for every budding artist this Easter. Visit www.bridport-arts.com more information and to book your place.

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Fri 17th May – Sat 15th June: Future 50 What will the next 50 years hold for Bridport Art Centre, for the town, for each of us? The Allsop gallery will be welcoming an Artist-in-Residence to respond to these questions and others with an impactful piece influenced and shaped by the ideas and view of the community. Visit us as Bridport Arts Centre and have your say…

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/ Wed 24th April – Sat 4th May: The Future We Make A companion exhibition to From Page to Screen exploring how filmmakers have interpreted and depicted the future.

Tue 18th – Thu 27th June: Sir John Colfox and Beaminster School A-level art exhibition The annual exhibition celebrating the diverse and wide range of work from Beaminster and Colfox sixth form students. Yr 12 students cover themes such as portraiture and mixed media. Yr 13 students will be exhibiting work relating to their Personal Investigations covering diverse subject matter from the more figurative starting points to structures, the manmade and natural environment, fragmentation and mythology. In addition to this Yr 13’s will also be exhibiting work responding to the theme: ‘Observe, Seek & Challenge’.

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