Buxton Book Weekend 2017

Book Weekend 24–26 November 2017

Authors and public figures with great stories to tell

Box Office: 01298 72190

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Facing The Music – A Life In Musical Theatre

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‘ She received a standing ovation… we will probably never see stars of this like again’ – Canal St Online

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PATRICIA ROUTLEDGE

In conversation with Edward Seckerson

Friday 17 November 7.30pm Buxton Opera House Tickets: £18, £22 Box office: 01298 72190 buxtonfestival.co.uk Don’t miss this chance to see Dame Patricia Routledge as she chats to broadcaster Edward Seckerson, and presents rare and treasured recordings from a very special part of her career.

While Patricia Routledge is best known for her iconic role as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, she trained not only as an actress but also as a singer and had considerable experience and success in musical theatre, both in this country and the USA, winning Tony and Olivier Awards for her performances in shows such as Darling for the Day, Candide and Carousel.

A unique evening in the presence of a true national treasure.

Friday 24 November JOHN HIGGS Watling Street – a timetwisting road trip gets to where England is now 2pm–3pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50

JAMES HAMILTON The maverick artistic genius of Gainsborough 12 noon–1pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Thomas Gainsborough lived as if electricity shot through his sinews and crackled at his finger ends. James Hamilton reveals Gainsborough in his many contexts: the easy-going Suffolk lad, transported to the heights of fashion by a natural talent; the rake-on-the-make in London; the top society-portrait painter who earned huge sums by bringing the right people into his studio; the charming and amusing friend of royalty who kept clear of the aristocratic embrace; the gentle and empathetic family man, whose volatility that could lead him to slash his paintings. James Hamilton transforms our understanding of this extraordinary talent and of the century that bore him.

John Higgs invites you to journey along one of Britain’s oldest roads, from Dover to Anglesey, in search of the hidden history that makes us who we are today. Long ago a path was created by the passage of feet tramping through endless forests. Gradually that path became a track, and the track became a road – of witches and ghosts, of queens and highwaymen, of history and myth, of Chaucer, Dickens and James Bond.

Along this route Boudicca met her end, the Battle of Bosworth changed royal history, Bletchley Park code breakers cracked Nazi transmissions and Capability Brown remodelled the English landscape. This is not just the story of a route across our island, but an acutely observed, unexpected exploration of Britain and who we are today. This is the story of Watling Street.

Sponsored by

Poetry Competition Prize Giving 4.30pm–5.30pm / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: Free

Join the winners and runners-up of this year’s Buxton Poetry Competition, including readings of the winners’ work, in a wonderful celebration of the creative talent of young writers and experienced poets.

Triple Treat – Book three or more Book Weekend events at the same time and receive a 20% discount (not including Crime Lunch or Patricia Routledge)

Friday 24 November

TONY ROBINSON

In conversation with

Mike Neary

A life of drama without ‘a cunning plan’ 7.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £17.50 Whether as Baldrick in Blackadder or as the presenter of 20 seasons of Channel 4’s Time Team, over the last few decades Tony Robinson has emerged as creator of a worldwide comedy icon, Britain’s foremost face of popular history, and an awardwinning writer of children’s books and television. Tony presented 20 seasons of Channel 4’s archaeology series, and played Baldrick in Blackadder. Now Tony looks back on a life lived without ‘a cunning plan’, from appearing in the original cast of Oliver!, to acting opposite John Wayne, to receiving a knighthood for public and political service. With his trademark irreverence, Tony looks back on a lifetime in and out of the public eye.

Box office: buxtonfestival.co.uk or 01298 72190

Saturday 25 November VINCE CABLE

In conversation with Mike Neary Brexit, Britain and Open Arms 10am–11am / Pavilion Arts Centre / Tickets: £10.50 LibDem leader Vince Cable returns to Buxton with his electrifying debut novel, an explosive thriller firmly set in the post-Brexit world. Open Arms circles from Whitehall to the slums of Mumbai in a sweeping tale combining unrivalled political detail with international intrigue, desire, and the quest for power. Vince Cable served as Business Secretary in the Coalition Government of 2010 and in 2017 was re-elected as an MP, and was elected unopposed as leader of the LibDems.

An outspoken communicator on economics, he will also talk about the turbulent political times in which we now find ourselves and his own return to frontline politics in what promises to be a fascinating insight into the world we live in.

TIMOTHY BENTINCK

In conversation with

Robbie Carnegie

35 years as Radio 4’s David Archer 12 noon–1pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 What’s it like to be one of the most recognised voices in Britain, but for your face and name to be less well known?

Timothy Bentinck has played the part of David Archer in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers since 1982. He is also the Earl of Portland and the voice of ‘Mind The Gap’ on the Piccadilly Line. Now, with wry, selfdeprecating humour, Tim recounts his enormously varied life – a successful actor in TV, film and theatre, a voice specialist working in every vocal medium, a sometime HGV truck driver, US tour guide, a computer programmer and website designer, an inventor with UK and US patents, farm worker, house renovator and crossbencher in the House of Lords. Expect an articulate, funny and thoughtful account of how to survive an insecure life.

Triple Treat – Book three or more Book Weekend events at the same time and receive a 20% discount (not including Crime Lunch or Patricia Routledge)

Saturday 25 November SIMON HEFFER

In conversation with

Mike Neary

1880–1914 – Three decades of decadence which made modern Britain 4pm–5pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50

ALISON WEIR Heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers – England’s medieval queens 2pm–3pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £10.50 Britain’s bestselling historian and historical novelist, Alison Weir tells the story of England’s Norman queens.

From Matilda of Flanders, who supported William the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066, to the turbulent life of the Empress Maud, who claimed to be queen of England in her own right and fought a bitter war to that end, it is a chronicle of love, murder, war and betrayal, filled with passion, intrigue and sorrow, peopled by a cast of heroines, villains, stateswomen and lovers.

Simon Heffer tells the story of the three decades leading up to the First World War, a period when Britain became more affluent, more confident, and more decadent than ever before. It is the tale of the great political struggles of the last Victorians, from Gladstone’s battles over Irish Home Rule, to the Suffragettes’ revolutionary cry of ‘Votes for Women’; of the growth of the British Empire into the most expansive territory in world history; of the birth of a radical Labour movement, whose calls for a more equitable society and the remarkable individuals – politicians, writers, and thinkers – who made this a time of such dizzying social transformation.

Box office: buxtonfestival.co.uk or 01298 72190

Saturday 25 November JEREMY VINE Anecdotes and observations from the man who’s heard it all 7.30pm–9.30pm Pavilion Arts Centre Tickets: £17.50 If you listen to Radio 4, Brexit was a shock.

If you are a Radio 2 listener it wouldn’t have surprised you at all. Jeremy Vine has been presenting a BBC Radio 2 show since 2003 – he calculates he has taken more than 25,000 calls on topical subjects – big issues and small ones: on life, love, lollipop ladies and poisonous plants. But what have the callers told him? Where Jeremy’s callers once expressed a kind of resignation, now they tend to give him their views expecting to be heeded. They have not called in to entertain the audience. They expect to take the wheel of the car and drive.

Punctuated by vivid anecdotes and laugh-out-loud moments, Jeremy Vine explains what it’s like to hit a button and hear – totally unvarnished and unspun – the voices of so-called ordinary people.

Stories of revolution and refuge

Idomeneo Mozart

Alzira Verdi

Priority booking for Friends of Buxton Festival opens 26 February 2018 Public booking opens 26 March 2018

Sunday 26 November

THE CRIME WRITERS LUNCH Featuring Val McDermid on killing people for fun and profit, Denise Mina on Glasgow’s 1950s serial killer, Sarah Ward on her Derbyshire detective 12 noon–3pm / Old Hall Hotel / Tickets: £40

Dare you risk joining us for three hours of murder at the Old Hall Hotel, with a slap-up meal in the company of three of Britain’s greatest queens of crime?

Val McDermid has sold over 15 million books to date and is translated into over 40 languages. She is perhaps best-known for her Wire in the Blood series, and her novel, Place of Execution was set in and around Buxton. Her most recent novel Out of Bounds was a number one bestseller and her brand new novel Insidious Intent was published in August.

Multi-award-winning Denise Mina – described as ‘one of crime fiction’s most acute observers of contemporary society’ is the author of 12 novels. In her latest novel, The Long Drop (which has already won the William McIlvaney Award for Scottish crime writing and the Gordon Burn Award) she blurs the lines between fact and fiction to take on the case of notorious 1950s Glasgow killer Peter Manuel.

And crime comes closer to home as Sarah Ward talks about bringing detective fiction to the Derbyshire Peak District in novels including In Bitter Chill and her latest, A Patient Fury, featuring Detective Constable Connie Childs.

Box office: buxtonfestival.co.uk or 01298 72190

Murderous Menu Antipasti board to share (no theft please!)

Roasted ‘terrifying’ topside of beef ‘punished’ with Yorkshire pudding and gravy ‘The butler did it’ baked skate wing with ‘Poirot’ caper & lemon beurre noisette ‘Criminal’ creamy tomato & basil linguini ‘incriminated’ with crispy ‘Morse’ mozzarella Warm ‘assassin’s’ apple & pear crumble served with ‘Miss Marple’ custard Baked ‘villainous’ vanilla & dark chocolate ripple cheesecake with bitter chocolate ice cream ‘Gripping’ glazed lemon tart with ‘Rebus’ raspberry sorbet Coffee with petit fours