DANCING FOR JOY
Erica Wagner on the most glorious music, exhibitions and festivals of the summer
I don’t know about you, but a really great musical always puts a spring in my step. So I’ m looking forward to Fiddler on the Roof, which is being staged this summer at the marvellous Chichester Festival Theatre, in a production starring Omid Djalili and Tracy-Ann Oberman (www.cft.org.uk, from 10 July to 26 August).
Or head north to Hull, UK City of Culture 2017: there’s so much to choose from this year, but I vote for a visit to ‘States of Play’, an exhibition of British and international artists that invites us to rethink and reclaim play, ‘the universal language that transcends all barriers’. Created in association with the Crafts Council, it’s free and at the Humber Street Gallery (www.hull2017. co.uk, from 6 July to 25 September). Meanwhile, at the Serpentine, Grayson Perry promises ‘The Most Popular Art Exhibition Ever!’ Perry’s investigation of what makes art ‘popular’ is bound to be a critical and, well, popular success (www.serpentine galleries.org, until 10 September).
But maybe you’d like to get up and dance? In which case, head to the country’s most innovative festival, Bluedot (www.discoverthebluedot.com,from7to 9 July), which takes place at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, right under the bowl of the extraordinary Lovell Telescope. This is the festival’s second year: head liners include Pixies, Orbital and Alt-J, alongside a truly stellar programe of scientific experiments and expert talks. I went last year and had the best time.
In London’s East End, the wonderful Museum of Childhood hosts ‘Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime In Stories’ (www.vam.ac.uk, from 22 July to 25 February 2018). Showcasing for the first time the notebooks and manuscripts that became classics such as War Horse, Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom and Farm Boy, the exhibition promises to be a huge treat for all the generations.
Which brings me to the matter of books to keep you smiling. This summer, I’m going to reach for Matt Haig’s new novel, How to Stop Time (£12.99, Canongate Books; published on 6 July), the story of Tom Hazard, who looks like an ordinary middle-aged man, but has really been alive for centuries; and Rachel Joyce’s The Music Shop (£14.99, Doubleday; published on 12 July), an unexpected love story from the author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.
Literature, culture, music – these are the joyous mechanisms by which we can re connect to our best selves. Seek out what moves you, and you are certain to feel your heart lift.
Spread a little j oyw ith a sma llb ut perfectly formed bouquet of peonies, ruscus, spirea and eucalyptus from the ethical florist Little Bud. (www.littlebudflowers.com)