Get in the mood for Fringe benefits
SEVEN MILES OUT
AUGUST will be a busy month for us as the whole of the Old Town comes together for the Fringe Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
We hope you can join us for three days of music, art, dance, street food and craft ales in the Market Place at the end of the month.
In the meantime, we are delighted to welcome back Twang! this Friday, hosted by the Stockport Ukulele Players. The Players will also be running another brilliant ukulele workshop on the Sunday afternoon of the Fringe Festival.
Twang! is completely free and you are welcome to bring along any instrument to play during the ukulele singsong and in the Open Mic.
We’d love to hear from local musicians who would like to get up and share their talent with us. We know you’re out there, so just come along from 7.30pm this Friday and bring your instrument.
Our Saturday Sessions night, curated by the wonderful Kamey McNamara of Community Music, is becoming one of the most popular evenings of the month, which is down to Kamey’s great knack for bringing musicians together.
This Saturday we have more great talent to showcase starting with All My Ghosts, an acoustic folk/rock duo, Sophie Blackwell performing solo keyboard songs, The Whistle Blowers playing original songs and an unforgettable finale from Manchester’s infamous Gaz Stanley and The Piccadilly Rats. The Rats will be playing cover songs in their own inimitable way, and feature one of our most loyal supporters, Martin ‘Pinball’ Gray, on drums.
Saturday Sessions kicks off at 7.30pm and are completely free to attend. We hope you can join us.
For more information on our up coming events visit sevenmilesoutarts.co.uk.
Rosemary Barratt
STOCKPORT PLAZA
ON Tuesday, August 9, The Plaza in Stockport hosts a live screening of Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict (Beatrice and Benedict) from Glyndebourne’s 2016 Festival.
Love conquers all in Berlioz’s sparkling operatic take on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
From Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, to Hermione and Ron in the Harry Potter series, the age-old premise of verbal sparring to mask true feelings of love or passion is employed to magnificent effect in Béatrice et Bénédict.
Berlioz selected the sunniest and funniest elements of Much Ado About Nothing and set them to ravishing music to create this witty love-hate duel.
The opera’s overture explodes with a buoyant sense of fun and elegant wit and there are several splendid numbers for the female characters, especially the sublime Act I duet-nocturne, described by one critic as a “marvel of indescribable lyrical beauty”.
Conducted by Robin Ticciati and seen through the unique vision of director Laurent Pelly, Berlioz’s comic gem makes its long-awaited Glyndebourne premiere at this year’s festival.
Sung in French with English subtitles, it is performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Chorus.
Tickets for the Glyndebourne live screening of Béatrice et Bénédict, which starts at 6.30pm at The Plaza on Mersey Square, can be booked in person at the Plaza box office, by calling our booking line on 0161 477 7779, or by visiting the website on www.stockportplaza.co. uk
Ted Doan
NK THEATRE ARTS
THIS Friday night sees the final event of the season take place at the Forum Theatre, when dozens of young people from throughout Stockport will come together to deliver their performance after a week of music, dance and drama at The Forum.
Kicking off at 6.30pm, ‘Heroes and Villains’ will be performed, which is a great chance for children to come along dressed as their favourite goody or baddie and witness the battle between good and evil.
This is also a wonderful chance to see what goes on in the NK weekly workshops sessions throughout the year, and if your child is a budding performer, why not bring them along to the show.
Entry for the show is by donation only.
We will be kicking off all of our workshops again after the summer break with sessions in drama, musical theatre and dance for anyone aged five years or above.
If you want to have a virtual walk around the Forum Theatre then why not visit our website www.theforumtheatre.co.uk, where you can visit one of our studios or even stand on the stage.
You can also find out more about the work of the company or ask any questions you may have via the website.
Darren Stannage
‘Berlioz’s opera has been described as a marvel of lyrical beauty’