Fest’s best bits as it celebrates its 40th
LICHFIELD FESTIVAL DIRECTOR DAMIAN THANTREY
A JEWEL in the crown of West Midlands culture, Lichfield Festival (July 7-17) is celebrating its milestone 40th anniversary.
There’s a nod to the ‘80s in several of this year’s events along with stunning headline acts and trademark mix of music, drama, dance, comedy, literature and family events.
It’s a chance to try something new, enjoy a picnic on the cathedral lawn, entertain the children, and generally soak up the festival vibe.
And to round off this special year with a bang, the free Festival Fireworks display returns to Beacon Park after a 10-year absence on Saturday, July 16.
Here, Lichfield Festival director, Damian Thantrey, picks out his personal highlights...
KATIE ARNSTEIN: STICKY DOOR Fri July 8, 8.30pm, The Hub at St Mary’s
Lichfield’s own multi-talented actor, writer and comedian Katie Arnstein is back home for Sticky Door, the third instalment in her autobiographical trilogy It’s A Girl. The Guardian loved it – and her – at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, describing her as “an incredible performer who seems primed for greatness”. Comedy and songs woven into great storytelling from a warm and wonderful West Midlander!
SPEM IN ALIUM: 40 VOICES / 40 YEARS Sat July 9, 7.30pm, Lichfield Cathedral
As a 40th anniversary centrepiece, what could be more appropriate than Tallis’s choral masterpiece Spem in Alium, written for 40 individual parts. We’ve also invited Thomas Hyde (whose comedy overture Les at Leisure went down a storm at the 2018 Festival) to write a 40-voice piece to complement it, set to a specially written text by stellar author Alexander McCall Smith. Vaughan Williams’s Mass in G minor gives us a chance to mark the composer’s
150th anniversary.
JONATHAN GEE QUARTET Sat July 9, 8pm, The Hub at St Mary’s
Jonathan Gee is such an imaginative composer and has worked with many legendary performers, including Kylie Minogue, Midge Ure and Annie Lennox. He’s joined by an ace team of jazz/pop solo musicians for this bespoke show featuring great 1980s songs and music, from Prince to Pat Metheny, Sting to Spandau Ballet (whose frontman Tony Hadley,
incidentally, opens this year’s festival). Look out too for Chaka Khan, Kate Bush and a certain special ‘80s ‘classic’ by
Joe Dolce…
DAY OF DANCE Sun 10 July, from 12 noon, Beacon Park
There’ll be lots to enjoy throughout our Day of Dance, part of Lichfield Dances, in association with Lichfield Fuse Festival. Five dance experts will give inspiring workshops offering a fantastic chance to try your hand (or feet) at all sorts of dance styles from Indian, street dance and African to hip hop and tap. It’s free, and open to absolutely everyone regardless of age or ability, just turn up and have a go!
CHARLES COURT OPERA: PATIENCE Sun July 10, 1.30pm & 7.30pm, The Hub at St Mary’s
Who doesn’t love a Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera with their tongue-twisting lyrics, wonderful music and improbable plots? This one involves unsuitable love matches, a village milkmaid and a hoard of military suitors adding to the mayhem. Charles Court Opera have been coming to Lichfield Festival for many years and their productions are always cleverly-crafted and superbly performed.
NATIONAL YOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA: BASIE & BEYOND Tue 12 July, 7.30pm, Lichfield Cathedral
The NYJO is a hot-house for new talent, whose former members include Amy Winehouse. Their heritage programme salutes a master jazzman, the legendary Count Basie, who kept the spirit of swing alive as jazz transitioned from the dance floor to the concert platform. Expect to hear his influence on artists such as Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy Jones in this fabulous tribute too.
AYANNA WITTER-JOHNSON Wed July 13, 7.30pm, Lichfield Cathedral
Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a unique artist and, against the backdrop of Lichfield Cathedral, this show will be very special. A classicallytrained, MOBO-nominated, singer-songwriter, cellist and pianist, Ayanna has toured with Courtney Pine and Andrea Bocelli. She weaves classical, jazz, reggae, soul and R&B into her music. You’ll soon be able to catch her alongside Whoopi Goldberg in the new Amazon TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys… so get to see her at Lichfield while you can!
WALKING TO JERUSALEM: JUSTIN BUTCHER Fri July 15, 3pm & 7.30pm, Lichfield Guildhall
In 2017, Justin Butcher organised a pilgrimage of over 3000km from London to Jerusalem to mark three major anniversaries in the Palestinian struggle. More than 100 walkers took part. Nine walked all the way. Based on the book he wrote on his return, Butcher brings their story to life in a playful and inventive blend of stand-up and theatre, tracing the ups and downs of their path to Jerusalem.
JESSICA WALKER 80S CABARET Sat July 16, 4pm, The Hub at St Mary’s
This is a real throwback to the 1980s, the days of big hair and shoulder pads. Singer Jessica Walker is a long-time Festival favourite, and she and pianist Joseph Atkins have created a cabaret of ‘80s music specially to celebrate the festival’s 40th anniversary. They’ve picked out songs by Dolly Parton, Annie Lennox, Barbra Streisand and Kate Bush, back topping the charts again with Running Up That Hill.
STEVEN ISSERLIS TALK: THE BACH CELLO SUITES Sun July 17, 2.15pm, St Michael’s Church
Internationally-renowned cellist Steven Isserlis appeared frequently at the festival in its early days, and back in 1988 he performed the complete Bach Cello Suites, a pinnacle of the cello repertoire. He’s now written an acclaimed book on the subject, delving into the history and emotional journey, which he’ll discuss in this talk, illustrating it with examples live on stage. It’s a great set-up for his late evening recital in the Cathedral (9.15pm) which closes the festival.
Lichfield Festival runs from July 7-17. Visit www.
lichfieldfestival.org
How many youngsters did you audition for the Bugsy Malone tour?
Probably about 100 and then we whittled it down to 21. We have three teams of seven for the tour and adult ensemble members for the chorus who do every performance.
The first day of rehearsals, when 21 kids walked through the door, I did get ‘I remember this’ moment from when we did first did Bugsy at the Lyric Hammersmith.
It’s a great show that Alan Parker created and one of the great things is the enthusiasm of the kids. They really love being here.
Alan’s groundbreaking film came out in 1976, but he regularly turned down permission for professional productions. How did you manage to change his mind?
(Laughs) I think I was lucky, we both had the same agent and he agreed to meet me... though not necessarily like me.
We went to a pub. I didn’t get him drunk, we only had a few drinks, but we had a great conversation.
The Lyric Hammersmith, which I ran at the time, was known for its work with young people in west London from all different backgrounds.
It was really diverse and I think Alan really responded to the vision we had for Bugsy Malone and for it to open the new theatre. We did the show originally in 2015 and it ran for eight months.
Alan was really pleased with the work. He was a really warm and supportive presence and he came often to rehearsals. He was great.
It is very sad that he is not with us any more and is not around offering his encouragement. I felt lucky to have met him. His wife Lisa is very supportive of the tour now as well.
The movie launched the careers of Jodie Foster and Scott Baio and was famous for its splurge guns. How have you managed to create that splurge on stage?
In the movie, when you see people being splurged it is not by a gun, the guns were vicious, it is Alan and the production team throwing pies at people.
I couldn’t do that so we looked at lots of options and machines and essentially what we have now are paintball guns, but we don’t use pellets. It’s a mix that’s a little like Angel Delight.
The whole theatre ends up smelling like Angel Delight by the end of a performance. We create enough mess to satisfy the audience, but not to much that we cannot clean everything up, especially when we do two shows a day.
Do you remember the first time you saw the musical?
The first time I saw it was on VHS when I was 11 or 12, I am in my early 50s now. We’d rewind and watch some scenes again and again.
I meet so many people now who say ‘I was Tallulah’ or ‘I was Fat Sam’ in a school production. Even kids from drama school. It just works so well as a piece of theatre.
This is the first Bugsy Malone tour. When did the idea for it start?
We were talking about it in 2018, before the pandemic, or maybe even a little earlier. It’s been a long time coming.
We are really pleased the producers did not give up on us and we’ve been able to make it
work. It feels like a really good post-pandemic offering with lots of joy.
It is based in the gangster era of the 1930s and the Depression and there’s that edge as well. It is never saccharine or cute.
The characters are singing about their dreams, while caught between everything happening around them. It is a show for everyone – children and adults who have grown up with this great story and it still resonates with them now.
It can energise an audience and hopefully this is the perfect show to welcome people back into theatres. It really does appeal to everyone.
Did your interest in drama begin at an early age?
It began when I was at school. I had a really good drama teacher and there was a group of us who sort of gravitated towards that. I did theatre studies at O level and then did English at university and did a lot of drama when I was there as well.
I became interested in directing there and was trying to be a director when I left.
It’s been a long journey but I’ve managed to pull it off. I worked at [Richmond’s] Orange Tree Theatre as a trainee director and that was great training and experience. I did a lot of assisting, a lot of painting directing as well, and it’s been a culmination of a lot of things.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You have to have perseverance and hang in there.
You are currently Associate Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe. What is next for you?
I’m working on The Tempest and spending my time between that and Bugsy Malone. (Laughs) It’s a bit different from Bugsy.
It’s just great theatres are opening and audiences are coming back.
■ Bugsy Malone is at the Birmingham Rep from July 27 to August 14.