Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
The hottest tickets in town
With more than 200 events taking place at the festival, here is a guide to some of the hottest tickets in town from platinum-selling musicians to award-winning feats of physical daring. Ten years ago, Newton Faulkner was known for his ginger dreadlocks, great beats and virtuoso guitar playing. Now touring his sixth album, Hit the Ground Running, singersongwriter Newton (Wednesday) mixes his acoustic folk roots with gentle harmonies and drums in a diverse set of new songs that he will be performing at the Marlowe Theatre. Driftwood is a circus show, but there certainly won’t be any clowns. Through acrobatics, aerial gymnastics and physical theatre, Casus offers an exhilarating hour of entertainment,with super-human feats of performance, body-balancing and joyful use of hula hoops. Arriving at the festival all the way from Australia, the performance (November 2-4) has been described as “breathtakingly beautiful and eye-wateringly difficult”. For all of you budding ballerinas, Ballet Black (October 19) will be delighting audiences with bold and captivating choreography. This exciting ballet company comprises entirely of international dancers of black and Asian descent and they will be performing a triple bill, one of which will be the timeless classic, the story of Red Riding Hood – with a bit of a twist. With his recent appearances on Mock the Week and The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, Tom Allen is rapidly becoming a household name in stand-up comedy. You’ll find it impossible not to love this sharply dressed, well-spoken, disparagingly camp 30-something from Bromley. Tom’s Festival performance (October 31) promises an evening of astute observational silliness. Over the course of her 30-year career, Mary Black has taken Irish music to new heights, demonstrating a range and delicacy that has touched the lives of thousands of fans both sides of the Atlantic. Famous for the crystal purity of songs like Moon River and Song for Ireland, expect plenty of serene and achingly beautiful songs from the Emerald Isle and beyond (October 22). Earlier this year Jo Harman featured on Radio 2’s playlist and received the backing of Rag ‘n’ Bone man, who described her as “one of the finest singers this country has to offer”. Her super-size voice ranges effortlessly from blues to gospel to pop, and has at its core a modern sensibility found in the classic, timeless music of past generations. You will love her. Le Gateau Chocolat (October 27) is a bit of a sensation in cabaret comedy; he will utterly woo you with his baritone depths and incredible operatic range. In this show, Icons, Le Gateau Chocolat explores relationships with our icons – the people, the moments, the books, the relationships that have come to shape us, or the ideal we aspire to. From Kate Bush to Whitney or from Elvis to Wagner, expect an emotional evening of shapeshifting and nostalgia. In 2016, Newton Faulkner (Wednesday) was cast as a lead role in American Idiot, a West End play written by Green Day. A dream come true for Newton, who at the age of 13 played bass in a Green Day cover band.