Bristol's got talent
04 June 2008 - 05 July 2008
Venue: Auditions at the Redgrave Theatre - Cost: N/A

Wednesday 4 June (auditions)
Saturday 5 July (performance)

This music competition gives young singers the opportunity to star at the Prom on The Close. The winners - one boy and one girl aged from 13 to 19 - will sing on the same stage as world- renowned soprano Lesley Garrett at this year’s Prom, to be held on The Close at Clifton College on Saturday 5th July 2008. Youngsters from across the South West can submit a CD, audio tape or mini-disc showcasing their vocal talents. Full details are available from our website.

Bristol Shakespeare Festival 2008
17 June 2008 - 31 August 2008
Venue: Ashton Court / Brandon Hill / Queen Square / Bristol Zoo - Cost: Various

Once again the Bristol Shakespeare Festival takes over the parks and open spaces of Bristol during the summer months. This year, Shakespeare's Globe returns with two productions - Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter's Tale - performed in the derelict Old Bowling Green on Brandon Hill. Plus there's the usual bag of treats, from Henry V to The Merry Wives of Windsor, Pinocchio to Twelfth Night, and Much Ado About Nothing

Open air theatre is a liberating experience compared to indoor theatre. Grab your friends, bring a rug and a picnic, a bottle of wine or a few beers, warm clothing and a sense of humour, and join us for a play and a picnic in Bristol's beautiful parks this summer.

The Festival opens on 17 June with A Midsummer Night's Dream at Ashton Court. Check out www.bristolshakespeare.org.uk for the full details, or join the Facebook group for special offers. See you under the stars!

Festival Performance Diary

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Ashton Court Mansion
Heartbreak Productions
17 - 18 June, 7.30pm (£5 - £10 in advance, Tickets 0117 922 3686)

Peter Pan – Ashton Court Mansion
Heartbreak Productions
25 -27 June, 7.00pm (£5 - £10 in advance, Tickets 0117 922 3686)

Charley’s Aunt – Ashton Court Mansion
Heartbreak Productions
2 - 5 July, 7.30pm, Mat. 5 July 3.00pm (£5 - £10 in advance, Tickets 0117 922 3686)

Henry V – Ashton Court Mansion
Heartbreak Productions
9 - 11 July, 7.30pm (£5 - £10 in advance, Tickets 0117 922 3686)

Twelfth Night – Bier Keller, All Saints Street, Bristol
Roughhouse (Indoor production)
21 - 24 July, 7.30pm (£8 - £10, Tickets on the door / booking number TBC)

Romeo and Juliet – Old Bowling Green, Brandon Hill
Shakespeare’s Globe Touring
31 July - 3 August, 7.30pm (except 3 August, 6.30pm), Mat 2 August 2.30pm
(£10 - £15, under 10s free, Tickets 020 7401 9919)

Merry Wives of Windsor – Bristol Zoo Gardens
Illyria
6 August, 7.30pm (£6 - £13, Tickets 0117 974 7307)

The Winter’s Tale – Old Bowling Green, Brandon Hill
Shakespeare’s Globe Touring
13 - 16 August, 7.30pm, Mat. 16 August 2.30pm
(£10 - £15, under 10s free, Tickets 020 7401 9919)

Much Ado About Nothing – Queen Square
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
20 - 21 August, 7.30pm (£8.50 - £14.50, Tickets 0117 9020344 )

Pinocchio – Bristol Zoo Gardens
Illyria
31 August, 4.30pm (£6 - £13, Tickets 0117 974 7307)

TRADE IT?
24 June 2008 - 06 July 2008
Venue: Bristol City Centre on the Streets - Cost: £12/£9 concessions

Show of Strength

TRADE IT? THEATRE ON THE STREETS

Show Of Strength (SOS) invited 10 of Britain’s most exciting writers to create 10 minute dramas about trade. Trade yesterday and trade today. Join us on a walk of discovery and find unexpected performances in Bristol’s lost locations. From Catherine Johnson (MAMMA MIA!) and Sandi Toksvig, to new and emerging writers, these are diverse stories for 21st-century streets. We'll lend you an umbrella if it’s wet, pause halfway round for a drink and even give you a present to take home. TRADE IT? will be one of the most remarkable walks you will ever take.

TUESDAY 24 JUNE – SUNDAY 6 JULY at 7.30
& WEEKENDS 28/29 JUNE & 5/6 JULY at 2.30
NB: No performance Monday 30 June

Start: Horse & Rider statue, bottom of Christmas Steps, Lewins Mead. NOT Saturday matinees, see below

Finish: Temple Church Gardens/City Inn


ADVANCE BOOKING STRONGLY RECOMMENDED

Bristol Ticket Shop, BG29 The Galleries BS1 3XB

In person/by phone: Monday – Saturday 9.30-5.45

£12/£9 concs

0870 44 44 400 / 0117 929 9008

24 hr booking www.bristolticketshop.co.uk


DOOR SALES if available, 1 hour before shows from Lewins Mead meeting point – except accessible Saturday matinees from Temple Church Gardens only.

FFI parking, updates, etc www.showofstrength.org.uk


ACCESS

Umbrellas provided if wet, but dress for weather /walking – this is theatre on the go! First half unsuitable for wheelchairs, so Saturday matinees – with all plays included – are in one easy location: Temple Church Gardens, Temple Rose Street entrance (behind City Inn, Temple Way).
NB: unsuitable for under 12s.



Robin Belfield directs 8 Bristol actors in work by: Edson Burton; Jenny Davis; Madge Dresser; Sheila Hannon; Lucy Heywood; Catherine Johnson; Mustapha Matura; Rob Mitchell; Sandi Toksvig; Suzanne Worrica.


SOS has produced innovative theatre in unusual spaces since 1986. In 1998 we created the theatre at the Tobacco Factory.
The Wills’s Girls – cigarette factory workers in a cigarette factory – was a sell-out success two years running.

The Real Inspector Hound
01 July 2008 - 05 July 2008
Venue: The Alma Tavern Theatre - Cost: £7

This is the second production for 2008 from Angleterre Productions following ‘Scratchings’ at HALO in April.

This one-act play, actually a play within a play, involves two theatre critics reviewing a play who get caught up in a murder-mystery with the on-stage actors. A dead body is found at Muldoon Manor in Essex, the radio announces a madman is on the loose, and soon Inspector Hound shows up at the scene of the crime. But is he the real Inspector Hound?

Director: Simon Shorrock

Cast:
Josh Cooper - Moon
Sue Keeler - Cynthia Muldoon
Anna Charlett - Mrs Drudge
Simon Shorrock - Birdboot
Sean Duffy - Inspector Hound
Steve Wright - Simon Gascoyne
Ellen Turner - Felicity Cunningham
Ben Pavord - Magnus

Tickets just £7, available from:

www.almataverntheatre.co.uk

St Paul's Carnival
05 July 2008 - 05 July 2008
Venue: St Paul's - Cost: Free!

One of Bristol's most popular events returns to the city on Saturday 5th
July, with more colour, music, dance and delicious food than ever
before. St Pauls Carnival
celebrates all aspects of Bristol's African and Caribbean culture,
bringing together communities and strengthening the bonds between the
people of St Pauls and the rest of the city. Don't miss the colourful
floats and processions that parade through the streets, along with live
music, dance and traditional food from across the globe.

'The Country' by Martin Crimp
08 July 2008 - 12 July 2008
Venue: Alma Tavern Theatre - Cost: £8

Milagro Theatre returns to the West.
Following its successful production of ‘Playhouse Creatures’ in London which was featured as Critic’s Choice in Time Out Magazine, the Bath-based theatre company is bringing British playwright Martin Crimp’s blistering drama to the Alma Tavern Theatre in Clifton, Bristol in July.

Crimp, who is considered to be “one of the hottest properties in Europe (The Guardian)”, has a new play ,‘The City’, currently at the Royal Court Theatre in London, and has had several of his plays produced at the National Theatre where he is a long-time collaborator with National Theatre Associate Director, Katie Mitchell. It was on a training course with Mitchell that Milagro’s Artistic Director, Katherine Fenton, read the play and decided to produce it.

“ ‘The Country’ is a very intimate play which explores the unravelling of a web of shocking deceit which exists between three characters and I wanted to find a small intimate space where the action could be experienced up close by the audience. The Alma Theatre is perfect for this kind of drama because the small theatre space and proximity to the stage means that the audience is going to feel very involved!” says Katherine.

Tickets for the production are now on sale and can be booked through the Alma Tavern Theatre ticket line on 0117 946 7899 or online at www.almataverntheatre.co.uk.

Topless Mum by Ron Hutchinson
08 July 2008 - 12 July 2008
Venue: Tobacco Factory Theatre - Cost: £12/£8 conc

He chose us to tell his story because of our reputation for hard-hitting
investigative journalism and pursuit of the truth, no matter where it leads,
or whose toes we step on. The naked girls may have had a part to play too.

When a soldier returns home after serving in Afghanistan he tempts a
newspaper editor with personal photos that seem to expose outrageous
acts of brutality. But when their authenticity is questioned, how far can the
story be spun to stop the real truth leaking out?
A topical satire on tabloid journalism, this exhilarating new play by
the celebrated author of Lags and Rat in the Skull was premiered at the Tobacco Factory Theatre, Bristol in 2007, and returns after a national tour.

“This world feels urgently real ... affecting, vital drama” The Guardian

Theatre of Our Lives
12 July 2008 - 13 July 2008
Venue: Old Vic Theatre School Bristol - Cost: £140

An opportunity to explore the dynamic combination of dramatherapy and writing within a therapeutic framework.

the day will consider 3 life stages: Inciting Incidents, Antagonistic forces and Resolution. We will explore how the stories and scripts and characters of our everyday lives can be expressed, erased and reshaped and re-written, helping us to gain insight and healing to the past, and clarity to the present and future.

Suitable for anyone interested in the creative process as a healing tool or seeking to develop new ways of workikng with personal story and drama.

Vocal Works Gospel Choir: 12 July, Kingswood Theatre
12 July 2008 - 12 July 2008
Venue: Kingswood Theatre, Bath - Cost: £12 / £6 (students)

The fantastic Vocal Works Gospel Choir has a concert coming up on Saturday 12th July at Kingswood Theatre, Bath - and tickets are selling like the proverbial hot cakes!

So if you fancy experiencing a stunning show featuring fifty amazing singers from the region, plus the funky-as-you-like VWGC band, don't miss out - call the box office now...

Ticket Price: £12/£6 (students)
Bath Festivals Box Office: 01225 463362
Website: www.vocalworks.co.uk

"Time of My Life" by Alan Ayckbourn
22 July 2008 - 26 July 2008
Venue: At The Kelvin Players’ Studio Theatre, 253b Gloucester Road, Bishopston, Bristol - Cost: £8.00



Spanning the past, the present and the future "Time of My Life" by Alan Ayckbourn, is an entertaining look at marriage and family relationships and how these change over the passage of a lifetime. The three dimensions of time are skillfully interwoven throughout the story giving the audience snippets of what is happening to the Stratton family at various points. The show kickstarts with the family celebrating a birthday party at a restaurant. Gradually the dissatisfactions and personal rivalries of family members start to unfold. Belting home the message that families aren’t perfect and that often people simply don’t recognise when they are happy the play is a funny and truthful look at relationships from a playwright who describes himself as: "a self-confessed eavesdropper in restaurants".

Borderline
25 July 2008 - 26 July 2008
Venue: Tobacco Factory - Cost: £5.00

"If nobody gives you a full and complete diagnosis, then nobody has to take the blame, borderline he could've gone either way."


One man's journey from the euphoric highs of the dance floor to the desperate despair of the mental health ward - walking hand in hand with an illness he can't escape.
A provocative and punchy verse-driven drama exploring life, love, obsession and all the pills in between... A One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest for the ecstasy generation. Contains strong language and adult content.

Doctor Love
29 July 2008 - 02 August 2008
Venue: The Tobacco Factory - Cost: £12 / £8 concessions

A new musical, Doctor Love, with music by David Lyon, book & lyrics by A.C.H.Smith. Based on Molière’s L’Amour Médecin, its première will be staged at the Tobacco Factory Theatre in Bristol for five nights, July 29th-August 2nd, by an ensemble of some 30 performers, musicians, and dancers. The MD is Christopher Northam, the stage director and choreographer Vicki Klein.

Forgotten - A play based on compelling true stories of Bristols long-stay institutions
01 August 2008 - 02 August 2008
Venue: The Victoria Rooms, Clifton, BS8 1SA - Cost: Tickets £6/£3 concessions

'No Crime, but locked away for life...
The Misfits Theatre Company and acta's Reflectors group will be performing 'Forgotten' in August. This play is based on compelling true stories of life in Bristol's long-stay institutions. Researched by the Misfits, who themselves are people with learning difficulties, Forgotten charts the experiences of people locked away without a crime and celebrates the spirit of those who survived the system. The play is directed by Eve Houston, Tony Holdom and Neil Beddow and also features live music devised by the group with Musical Director Sarah Moody.

Little Red Riding Hood
13 September 2008 - 14 September 2008
Venue: Redgrave Theatre Clifton - Cost: £5

The St. John Ambulance Badgers are celebrating their 21st Birthday this year and to celebrate in style they are putting on their very first Pantomime – Little Red Riding Hood.

The children are the youngest section of the St. John Ambulance ages from 5 – 10, along with some adult and Cadet actors they hope to bring to you a most enjoyable event!