This year’s Brighton Festival all set to take flight

BRIGHTON Festival returns to the city for three weeks this May.

Once again there are clear themes running throughout the programme: art and nature, crossing places and taking liberty.

Art and nature will see a focus largely on birds and in particular the world famous West Pier starlings.

Crossing places will explore the meeting of poetry with theatre and dance while taking liberty will focus on equality and freedom and this year’s general election.

Ali Smith takes over from choreographer Hofesh Shechter as the guest director and the author will make a number of appearances herself throughout the three weeks.

Of particular note she will explore liberty in the show On Liberty (May 4), billed by festival organisers as a flagship theme for the event.

It celebrates the Human Rights Act by bringing together a collection of writers and performers, including Smith, to highlight the role of the act in protecting us.

Born in Inverness in 1962 and now living in Cambridge, Smith has written many books including award-winners The Accidental (2005) and How To Be Both (2014). She was made a CBE in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list.

Speaking ahead of the launch, she said: “It’s tremendously exciting to have been asked to help programme the 2015 Brighton Festival.

“I’ve always loved Brighton’s sense of fun and friendliness, its vibrant open-mindedness, the way the rest of Europe is so close, it’s almost visible.

“It’s a city that’s always known how to live on the edge, a place full of endless energy, argument, possibilities, light. Brighton is always itself, and always uniquely welcoming.”

Established in 1967, the festival has become one of Europe’s leading events for artists and audiences.

It takes place in venues across Brighton, Hove and beyond from May 2 to May 24, featuring 396 performances across 150 events, including 42 exclusives, premieres and commissions.

In 2013 it achieved a new record audience reach of 468,000.

Andrew Comben, chief executive of Brighton Dome and Festival, said: “Ali Smith has been a wonderful inspiration to us all in programming the festival. Working with her has taught us to think differently about how we programme and the work that we bring.

“She has also brought an incredible range of artists to the festival who respond to the world in a particular way. I look forward to welcoming audiences to experience another exciting and innovative month of events.”

Over the three-week festival, many of Smith’s ideas, interests and passions are explored in a programme which spans music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, literature and debate from a wide range of national and international companies and artists: from a rare UK appearance by 86-year-old legendary film maker and artist Agnès Varda to rising stars Kate Tempest, George The Poet and Hollie McNish. Never one to be conventional, Varda recently dressed up as a potato at an awards ceremony.

Her illustrated lecture on May 3, called Screen Talk, takes place at the Duke Of York’s Picturehouse.

Elsewhere, a marathon violin performance takes place at All Saints Church on May 4.

Solo violinist Isabelle Faust plays Bach pieces from 5.30pm until 9.45pm, with a half-hour break in the middle.

A different sort of marathon occurs at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange with The Apple Family Plays. The Brighton Festival exclusive and European premiere, takes place early on in the programme with four full-length plays, which are linked, running on May 2, 3 and 4. They centre on the fictional, liberal Apple family of upstate New York and explore politics, change and family dynamics in the 21st century.

A festival spokesman explained: “They are standalone but you can see them back-to-back.”

Another exclusive for the festival, and a world premiere, is Glow, a show for babies, toddlers and their carers to explore “the joyful elements of life”.

Glowing globes, live music and dance combine to create a playful show at The Old Market on May 6 and 7.

One eye-catching production is an outdoor theatre adventure in Stanmer Park based on stories by Angela Carter.

Called The Company of Wolves, participants can choose either a walking or running course between May 7 and 9. It promises a “spine-tingling outdoor experience” for the “fleet of foot” and “eagle-eyed”.

Variety of free events

FREE events once again make up a large part of the programme as festival bosses aim to be inclusive.

A fusion of art and science takes place at Circus Street Market throughout the three weeks from May 2 to 24.

Called Gauge, the UK premiere incorporates an on-site weather station.

The market space will be transformed into a playground of investigation into weather, water and scale, developed by Australian artists and academics.

The production company behind it describe it as a “sonically orchestrated environment activated by both the weather and the people within it”, offering audiences a hands-on encounter with an array of contemporary and historical apparatus.

Also running throughout the festival (May 2 to 24) is Nathan Coley’s Portraits of Dissension.

Occupying The Regency Town House, this new commission by the British artist is themed on architecture in a “state of renewal and destruction”.

At the University of Brighton Gallery for the entire Festival, 86-year-old outspoken French feminist Agnès Varda will stage her own exhibition – with free entry.

The festival also stretches outside of the area traditionally thought of as the creative centre.

The Without Walls Weekend visits Woodingdean’s Central Park between noon and 5pm on May 3 and then Saltdean Oval over the same times on Bank Holiday Monday, May 4.

Bees! The Colony, a combination of walkabout promenade performance and installations, is one of six free events across the weekend.

Also free of charge are Reliquary, a surreal spectacle, and Hold On, a rope performance by Stefano Di Renzo which blends circus skills and physical theatre.

Another free highlight is set to be Ear Trumpet. Labelled as a “playful installation”, it features music recorded “in the field” by composer Robert Lee. Go to Queen’s Park on May 16 and 17 between noon and 2pm or 3pm-5pm.

Elsewhere on May 16, Preston Barracks in Lewes Road will be thrown open to an evening outdoor performance.

Periplum 451, which starts at 9.45pm, combines “immersive sound and sensory theatre” to depict a society where literature is outlawed and acts of violence are rewarded.

Tying in with the festival’s liberty theme, it focuses on book-burning as a well-known counter to freedom of expression.

Down at The Level, Southpaw Dance Company will put on their newest work for two evenings: Carousel.

Featuring a fully-functioning merry-go-round as the centrepiece to an “edgy story” with “enigmatic characters”, it combines music and drama to create dance theatre on May 22 or 23 at 9pm.

Finally, Fleeting takes advantage of a period of time called the gloaming – somewhere between daylight and dusk. The free installation takes influence from the starlings that frequent the Sussex sky and, taking place between the two piers on the beach, is aptly situated.

Fleeting glimpse of starlings

BIRDS are a pivotal theme of this year’s Festival.

From the programme cover to an ingrained fascination among several artists taking part, the winged creatures are prominent.

The focus begins with The Children’s Parade on May 2, with the youngsters urged to adopt the theme Taking Flight.

The annual opening parade will see more than 80 schools and community organisations make their way through the city centre in what the organisers call “a cavalcade of sound and colour”.

Expect birds, butterflies, gliders, griffins and more.

It starts at 10.30am in Kensington Street.

From a fun take on flying things to a homage to observing them, a bird-watching musical experience will be held across a number of early mornings.

Sam Lee’s Nightingale Walk, taking place on May 13, 14 and 15 as well as May 19, 20 and 21, sees the Mercury Prize-nominated folk singer perform traditional songs to the nightingales as they sing back from the thickets of the countryside.

The walk takes bird enthusiasts on a walk as dawn breaks.

For those not as keen to listen through the night, Lee features in a multi-screen film installation called Dawn Chorus.

Put together by Marcus Coates, it features singers who uncannily recreate birdsong and bird movement, and runs at Fabrica throughout the festival.

At the end of the three weeks, two bird enthusiasts – authors Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson – will discuss their fascinations.

Introduced by festival guest director Ali Smith, who also has a penchant for birds, this discussion will explore their influence on human existence and will highlight urgent conservation issues.

Getting ready for debut

BEFORE Adrian Bunting, inset below, died, he left £20,000 for the construction of an open air theatre in Dyke Road, Brighton, pictured left.

Just days before the 47-year-old died in 2013, he brought together his friends and asked them to turn his dream into reality in his memory.

The friends formed Brighton Open Air Theatre (Boat), raised another £30,000, and, almost two years on, the stage is nearly set for its debut show.

And what a show: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet will be performed by the Globe Theatre On Tour from May 13 to 16.

Steve Turner, chair of the Boat committee, said: “It’s fantastic and a phenomenal thing to open with.

“We are actively looking for performers to take part in this type of environment.

“We are over the moon that the construction is gathering pace.

“It has been a struggle with lots of hurdles to overcome but we are on the final stretch now.”