April | May | June 2024
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 FromPagetoScreen 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 Future50 . 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
MAY
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.
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.
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.
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.
BSO on your Doorstep: Homelands | Music
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!
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.
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.
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.
Concerts in the West: The Gildas Quartet | Music
Sing, Spring,
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
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 Tellingthe Seasons , bringing to life the folklore, folksongs and traditions of spring.
Jazz: John Law’s Re-Creations | Music
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.
| 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.
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.
Mettle: Jessica Fostekew | Comedy
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 TravelMan . 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
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
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.
MET Opera: Madama Butterfly (Live) | Film
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.
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.
JUNE
BSO on your Doorstep |
Sunday 2nd June | 2:00pm
Music
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
BABIGLOO MUSIC FOR BABIES
8 week programme
Wednesdays, 10.30am – 11.15am
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.
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.
15 May to 10 July 2024 (excluding 29th May)
For ages 0-12 months
FREE (funded by The Youth Music Catalyser Fund)
Visitwww.bridport-arts.comformoreinformation
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 ALifeinColour .
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
Sat 15th June | 7:30pm
SUP
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.
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.
BSO on your Doorstep | Resound: Night Dances
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.
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.
