FRE
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artsbeatblog.com
June 2018
Creating an impression
Our top tips for Buxton Festival Crime writers make a killing Celebrating the arts in Derbyshire and the Peak District
ART . CRAFT . DESIGN 10am to 5pm
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JULY 12-15
A chance to meet over 250 Artists, Photographers, Craft Makers and Designers selling and demonstrating. Hands-on-workshops and Art Material offers, all set in 60 Acres of Nottinghamshire Countryside.
Painting Jewellery Textiles Ceramics Sculpture Glass FREE CAR PARKING COACHES WELCOME REFRESHMENTS AVAILABLE ADVANCED TICKETS NOW ON SALE
THE LARGEST OUTDOOR PRACTICAL ART & CRAFT EVENT IN THE COUNTRY Patchings Art Centre, Oxton Road Calverton, Nottingham. NG14 6NU - 0115 9653479 festival@patchingsartcentre.co.uk | www.patchingsfestival.co.uk
DANCE CONSORTIUM PRESENTS
“Tutu delicious!” THE SUNDAY TIMES
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“If you’re looking for a happy night out, it’s hard to beat the Trocks” THE TIMES Box Office 01298 72190 buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
SATURDAY 13 OCT 2.30pm & 7.30pm www.DanceConsortium.com
A great place to meet up with friends and family
Gallery – Tea Rooms Workshops – Shops full details on our website
Ferrers Gallery – Ferrers Frames – Green Man Ceramics – Janet Gibson Jewellery Kevin Shepherd Artist – B&J Blacksmiths – Crinoline Upholstery – CODE Leather Goods The Victorian Model Workshop – Paint a Pot Craft Studio – Simon Price Furniture Staunton Hardwoods – Country Cottage Crafts – Russell Lister Artist and Craft maker Michelle Holmes Embroidered Textiles – Rituals Retreat – Tip Top Hair Design Breadfirst Deli – Staunton Stables Tea Room Most of the workshops and shops are open 11-5pm Tuesday to Sunday. Closed Mondays. Please check website for individual opening times. Telephone 01332 864863. Staunton Harold, Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire. LE65 1RW
www.ferrerscentre.co.uk
www.facebook.com/ferrerscentre
contents
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21 In conversation
Music
9 Artist Mary Wardle takes a close look at the natural art all around us 30 Geometric creations are revived from Jim Tarpey’s student project 32 COVER STORY: Martin Hyde wants to evoke emotion with his work
45-50 Six pages of all the best of classical, folk, jazz, pop and rock
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Stage 51-55 Theatre, dance, comedy and storytelling on a stage near you artsbeat June 2018
editor’s letter
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30 Festivals 21-23 Check out our suggestions for a cultural day out in Buxton 42 The Wardens return to Ashbourne for the annual Streetfest frolics 56 Timber – a new National Forest festival puts the spotlight on trees artsbeat June 2018
This magazine has become the centre of my life in the last five years. I could describe it as just a job – and it’s true, it’s how I earn a living – but it is also much more than that. Like anyone working for themselves you have to put everything you have into the business if you want it to be a success. What makes it different for me, and all the creative people I now work with, is that we then need an appreciative audience to reassure us that we are getting it right. That’s why I was so humbled and extremely thankful to George Gunby and the organisers of Amanda Penman the Belper Arts Festival for recognising what I do by presenting me with one of the first two Andy Potter Arts in the Community Awards in memory of the BBC Radio Derby presenter who died last year. As always though, I need to say that artsbeat would not exist without the support of all those people who advertise in the magazine every month. Without them it would not exist at all. Please note the editorial and advertising booking deadline for July/August is June 10. email: advertising: advertising@arts-beat.co.uk editorial: editor@arts-beat.co.uk telephone: 07872 066719 post: 19 Nottingham Road, Belper DE56 1JG website: artsbeatblog.com While every effort is made to ensure listings are accurate and up-to-date, readers are advised to check with the venue before travelling, as no responsibility can be accepted for changes to programmes, errors or omissions. artsbeat2
@artsbeat
Putting Derbyshire first: artsbeat is published by Penman Publishing, 19 Nottingham Road, Belper and printed by Buxton Press
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artsbeat June 2018
JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY
Printmaker Mary Wardle’s imaginative practice knows no bounds
T
he doors to the garden were flung open so we could bring the outside in as we talked about Mary Wardle’s life and loves. She is a philosopher, writer and artist, but if you were forced to pick just one word to describe Mary, for me it would be poetic. There is a gracefulness to her gestures and each word she utters is charged with the emotion of someone passionate about all that exists around her. Mary’s life is centred on her work as a printmaker, artsbeat June 2018
Mary Wardle
photographer and garden designer and her loves are quite clearly nature and her 21-yearold son.
It is Adam, her son, whom she credits with bringing out the artist in her and it is the constantly evolving landscape that inspires her work. Mary’s home is tucked away in The Dale, Wirksworth. Many thousands of people will have wandered around it over the years, as she opens it up for the town’s festival and also the celebration of its hidden gardens. Sharing is important to her and is key to what she does. “I get great joy in existence and I have some skill in being able to express visually what I
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ST JOHN STREET GALLERY Contemporary Fine Art
‘
I enjoy experimenting and am open to anything and everything
my place A solo exhibition by folk artist Sue Prince June 15th-July 7th There will be a preview evening on June 15th from 5pm-8pm Sue will talk about her work on June 21st from 7pm-8pm
An Ashbourne Festival fringe exhibition encompassing stories about people and their places y paintings y prints y glass y sculpture y ceramics
50 St John Street, Ashbourne, DE6 1GH 01335 347425 Monday to Saturday 9.30am-5pm enquiries@stjohngalleryandcafé.co.uk www.stjohngalleryandcafé.co.uk
Sponsors of the Ashbourne Festival Art Prizes
am experiencing, and I want to share it,” she explained. Mary was born in Derbyshire but admits that as a teenager she wanted to move away as soon as she could, and found herself in Canada by the shores of Lake Ontario where she studied philosophy. On her return to England and the orchards of Kent she added a degree in Landscape Architecture and then embarked on a career in horticulture and garden design. Creating gardens is a passion she has had since childhood when she was spellbound by the magical transformation of a packet of tiny seeds into a rainbow of flowers. Even though printmaking is now her primary occupation the drawing board in her sunfilled living space is hosting half-finished plans for new gardens and I express surprise that she is still continuing with that work. “I can’t stop,” she said emphatically. “I need the physical. I need to be outside. I need to be out making and exploring. “Over the years I have gone for interviews for various office jobs but that is not a life for me. I know I am always going to work independently in artsbeat June 2018
The colours and textures of nature and human intervention spark Mary Wardle’s creative imagination
some form and now I want to combine the printmaking and gardening,” she said. When aged 42 Mary was unexpectedly blessed with her son and she had to rethink her life’s journey. She had reached the stage when she thought she wouldn’t be a mother and the happiness he has brought her revealed itself as her eyes lit up at the mention of his name. “It was Adam who made me an artist. While I was caring for him as a baby I had one day a week to myself and I went out walking with a sketchbook amid the rich geology of the limestone uplands near my artsbeat June 2018
then-home in Macclesfield,” she explained, adding: “It was there that I also saw my first collograph print and became fascinated by the technique.” Mary is largely self-taught as an artist and works with found objects, metals, paper, textiles or even foliage. She says with a broad grin that she tests the materials to their limits and only the welfare of her press constrains her experiments. “My printmaking celebrates the rich surface textures and colours that saturate the places and spaces I explore on my adventures. I enjoy experimenting and am open to anything and everything.”
She uses photography to take notes of moments that, as she puts it: “fall in on us, sometimes like quiet angels, other time as pyrotechnic eruptions.” Her poetic prose accompanies both the photographs and prints on occasion and especially in the books she has created. n Mary has been invited to exhibit at the 2018 Ashbourne Festival. The organisers wanted her to showcase her photography but, as yet, the artist is undecided about exactly what she will be revealing to the public. Whatever it is it will be captivating that’s for certain.
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Outdoor drama with Derby’s Oddsocks theatre company
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PLAY PARK
he ever-popular outdoor theatre and cinema season will return to Markeaton Park Craft Village in Derby this summer. This year Oddsocks, the city’s own production company, will be kicking off the season with their new sci-fi adaptation of The Tempest from June 14-16. Audiences will experience the Shakespeare play like never before as they are transported far off to a distant universe, where they will find Prospero, an ageing astronaut, his fearless daughter Miranda and madcap aliens. Oddsocks will then return to the park from July 24-26 with their Mods and Rockers’ take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – retelling the trials and tribulations of two star-crossed artsbeat June 2018
lovers to a soundtrack of wellloved foot-tapping tunes. After five popular Christmas shows at the Guildhall Theatre, Babbling Vagabonds are back in Derby with an outdoor theatrical experience with A Wild Walk: The Golden Thief of Markeaton Park. Audiences can pit their wits against riddlers, puzzle makers and a tricksy wolf on the outdoor theatrical walk. This interactive experience, from July 27-31, takes about an hour to complete and is ideal for families with young children. The outdoor cinema will this year be showing the 80s favourite Dirty Dancing on August 3, followed by the classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show on August 4. Squashbox Theatre will be
showing Stones and Bones, a show about archaeology and fossils, and Curious Creatures, featuring such wonders as performing fleas, skateboarding snails and gymnastic gerbils, from August 9-11. In Stones and Bones they will be introducing children to their stone-age ancestors, showing them a volcano erupting before their eyes and even giving them a glimpse of a dinosaur or two. Both shows involve slapstick comedy, puppets, songs and crazy characters. Refreshments will be available at the Orangery for all the events. Tickets for the outdoor theatre and cinema season can be bought at the Information Centre, the Market Place centre, by telephone on 01332 255800 or at derbylive.co.uk
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Church Farm Art Gallery CHURCH STREET, BASLOW, NR BAKEWELL
Professional framer for 21 years offering expert advice. Artists’ range of moulding available.
A tiny gallery packed with work featuring flora, fauna, landscapes and seascapes We also offer a framing service with a wide choice of mounts and mouldings
n Fine art prints & cards n Fine art photography n National Railway Museum posters Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm, closed Wednesday 22 Market Place, Wirksworth, DE4 4ET
Tel: 01629 824994
wirksworthframing.co.uk
OPEN THURSDAY-SATURDAY 10.30AM-5PM WHEN CLOSED RING THE BELL TEL: 01246 582334
www.churchfarmgallery.co.uk
EXHIBITION BY TOP DERBYSHIRE LANDSCAPE ARTISTS JAMES PRESTON, COLIN HALLIDAY AND PHIL DYKE
June 21st until July 7th Meet the Artist Thursday, June 21st from 6pm drinks and treats
Open: Thursday to Saturday 10.30am-5pm Sunday 11am-3pm 3-5 Town Street, Duffield, Derbyshire telephone 01332 840845 mobile 07432 524 083 email jill.underwood59@gmail.com
www.duffieldartgallery.co.uk 14
artsbeat June 2018
arena
All the latest news from the Derbyshire arts community Grand Tour takes in the Sitwell Brothers in Art
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he Sitwell ‘Trio’ – Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell – are well known for their influence on early 20th century modern English literature and The Arts but this season at Renishaw Hall and Gardens it’s the two Sitwell brothers who share the limelight as part of the hall’s participation in The Grand Tour Season 3. Brothers in Art explores their passion and patronage for art and will feature a fascinating exhibition of contemporary work by Derbyshire artist Louise McNiff, as well as inspired poetry and prose from Sheffield Hallam University’s creative writing students. There will also be three in depth Brothers in Art tours of Renishaw Hall led by archivist, Christine Beevers. Louise’s work, commissioned by Renishaw Hall specifically for this season, traces the footsteps of 20th century artist and Sitwell friend, John Piper. “I am exploring the unique spirit and atmosphere of Renishaw Hall, through the Italianate gardens and beyond, using print, collage and mixed media techniques on paper and fabric,” she said. “Tracing John Piper’s footsteps, my focus will be on the relationship between the structure and symmetry of artsbeat June 2018
Work from the sketchbook of Louise McNiff inspired by Renishaw Hall
the architecture and gardens, set against the backdrop of the untamed landscape that surrounds it.” Louise’s art will be complemented by writing from six of Sheffield Hallam University’s creative writing students, who used the Piper collection to explore what they and the artist saw and felt about the house, gardens, and the literary history of the Sitwells. The current owner of the hall Alexandra Sitwell, the great neice of the trio said: “I am thrilled to be hosting a new series of hall tours looking at their incredible art collection,
as part of The Grand Tour season. It’s even more pleasing that here at Renishaw we are featuring a new contemporary art and writing exhibition this season, by artists and writers who have been clearly enthused by Renishaw and our John Piper collection.” n The Brothers in Art tours take place on May 27, July 1 and September 16. Prebooking is essential on 01246 432310 or email enquiries@ renishaw-hall.co.uk The exhibition of art, writing and the brothers’ legacy will be on display for the entire 2018 season.
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n arena Young Artist 2018 CHESTERFIELD College and the Derbyshire Times newspaper have joined forces to find Derbyshire’s Young Artist of the Year for 2018. Budding young artists aged nine to 18 have been asked to create a piece of artwork across a range of categories on the theme of What’s Most Important To Me. Entries will be exhibited as part of the annual Chesterfield College Arts Festival, taking place in June and the winners will be announced at the official opening on June 7. Prizes of creative materials will be awarded to the winners and an opportunity for the older age categories to work with one of the resident artists in West Studios giving them an insight into developing their passion for art into a business.
Valley of voices BELPER Arts Festival organisers have revealed a major new event for 2019 – Voices of the Valley. The event will bring together choirs, groups and individuals from the Derwent Valley for a weekend of song. Festival co-ordinator George Gunby, said “I put out an email asking if anyone would be interested and the response has been extremely positive. There is a wealth of singing talent along the Derwent Valley and Voices Of The Valley will be a chance for them to shine a light on all types of song. “The format hasn’t been finalised and I’ll be contacting choirs during June to hear their ideas. It won’t be a ‘one size fits all’ event.” If you are interested contact George by email on nonnel@ sky.com
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TALENTED young dancers are being invited to sign up to take part in juvenile chorus auditions for the 2018 pantomime at Buxton Opera House – Dick Whittington. The invitation to audition on June 9 is open to anyone aged between nine and 15, from the Midlands region. Choreographer Lily Howkins will be holding weekend sessions in October and November before intensive rehearsals begin on
Inspiring shoes
Join the chorus November 17. Two teams of ten children will then share performances. Applicants can download a registration form from buxtonoperahouse.org.uk or telephone the Learning and Participation Officer Lucy Jones on 01298 72050. Parents should email info@ scenethreecreative.co.uk if they have any questions about the audition process. THE Creative Crafts Group of Derby U3A have just had a banner they made displayed at the Pickford’s House museum in the city. The banner was inspired by their visit to the museum last year to see the exhibition of Vivienne Westwood’s shoes. Seventeen members appliqued shoe shapes onto fabric, decorated them and joined them together. The University of the Third Age is a movement aimed at educating those in their third age of life. The Derby group can be contacted on 01332 242504.
artsbeat June 2018
n arena Dancing all day BAKEWELL International Day of Dance will be showcasing up to 25 groups in a variety of dance styles from around the world on June 30. The dancing will take place in six outdoor venues around Bakewell, from 11am to 4.30pm. It is free and there will be plenty of opportunities to join in. There are also hour-long workshops, costing £3, throughout the day. Visit bakewelldayofdance. co.uk for more information.
Tramway art HEAGE artist Geoff Futter has been invited to work as the artist-in-residence at Crich Tramway Museum this year. He says he will be working enplein air as often as possible and has already produced two paintings (see one left). Geoff, a member of the Belper Art Group, will spend about three days a week at the museum chatting to visitors about his work and will also be holding workshops with children.
Portrait prize THE winner of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ 2018 Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture is James Hague from Derbyshire. He will receive a £10,000 prize and gold medal for the painting Mette, right. The artist won the BP Portrait Award in 1996 with a self portrait and as part of that prize he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Sir Michael Caine, which is now part of artsbeat June 2018
the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection and regularly on display. Hague, born in 1970 studied Fine Art at the University of Northumbria and completed an MA in painting at the Royal College of Art in 2006. The Ondaatje Prize is sponsored by Sir Christopher Ondaatje and the Ondaatje Foundation and is awarded for the most distinguished portrait of the year. An exhibition of all the work at the Mall Galleries in London has just finished.
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Open seven days a week 34 Union Road, New Mills, SK22 3ES Go to thepulsecafe.co.uk for more information
Award-winning traditional Peak District pub serving breakfast, lunch and dinner Telephone 01298 83288 Mobile 07866778847
see www.peakpub.co.uk for details
art afloat Expert-led hands-on workshops aboard narrowboat Birdswood Tues 5th June
INSIDE OUT: Art on the iPad & iPhone Liz Wellby explores digital art on iPad and iPhone using Brushes XP.
Mon 25th June
IMPRESSIONIST STYLE Ruth Gray teaches acrylic techniques for impressionist painting.
Mon 16th July
MAKING YOUR MARK Ruth Gray explores various creative techniques of mark marking with a range of drawing materials.
ÂŁ65 inc canal cruise, materials, drinks, lunch. 10 am - 4 pm. Maximum 8 people per session.
Details/bookings: call 07552 055 455 or email sales@birdswood.org 18
artsbeat June 2018
n arena Prestigious award A PARTNERSHIP project involving Derby-based Sinfonia Viva, the Orchestra of the East Midlands, has won a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award – the highest recognition for live classical music in the UK. The project entitled Classically Yours, involving Sinfonia Viva, Orchestras Live, East Riding Council and Manchester Camerata orchestra, has won the Audiences and Engagement category of the RPS Music Awards – recognising outstanding initiatives that engage new and existing audiences with classical music. Viva’s involvement in the project included workshops in nurseries and then a performance of its Flutter and Fly family concert.
Grant aid for show DERBY-BASED 1623 Theatre Company has been awarded a grant of £30,000 from Arts Council England to make a new show Queer Lady M, and an accompanying artists’ development programme. Queer Lady M is a one-person show that explores the affinity between Shane Gabriel, a gender-fluid working-class artist, and his idol, Lady Macbeth. The show is all about celebrating LGBTQIA identity, particularly gender fluidity. Shane said: “The show will invite audiences to think about their own identities, as well as their idols and how helpful it is to have them. “I’m hopeful that the show will lead to further acceptance of all our unique identities and contributions to society.” artsbeat June 2018
IN ANOTHER Place is a ground-breaking region-wide collaboration by ten venues with one collective aim – showcasing stunning pieces of art to new audiences. A variety of arts organisations across the East Midlands have commissioned artists to create an original piece of artwork to be displayed on billboards in locations where you wouldn’t normally see art – from industrial estates and high streets to residential areas and shopping centre car parks. A map will be provided in the
Ten Billboards project brochure so people can find the other venues while they are exhibiting the work until July 1.Taking part in Derbyshire is QUAD at Derby and the billboard will be at the junction of London Road and Bateman Road. Each venue will be also offer a range of activities including talks, family workshops and exhibitions. Details of each venue’s activities can be found at inanotherplace.co.uk
Painting unveiled A SPECIALLY commissioned painting was unveiled at Melbourne Assembly Rooms to launch a series of village events, entitled Melbourne Remembers, planned to commemorate the 100 years since the end of the Great War. Swords into Ploughshares by artist Michael Cook takes its theme from the Book of Isaiah and is a powerful image of the casualties of war with reference to the market gardening history of the village.
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Summer at Renishaw Hall & Gardens
Visit the Café, serving morning coffee, lunch & afternoon tea
Summer events 2018:
JUNE 10th - Vineyard Tour & Taste JUNE 13th - Eckington Classic Car Show JULY 1st / JULY 22nd - Vineyard Tour & Taste AUG 5th - Plant Fair AUG 19th - Food and Craft Fair Explore the acres of award-winning gardens, including: water features, formal terraces, specialist plants, a new display of roses, stunning woodland flowers.
The Peacock at Rowsley The Peacock at Rowsley is a luxury boutique hotel and restaurant, located right at the heart of the Peak District. On Sundays, guests can enjoy a dedicated lunch menu including Derbyshire rib of beef from £28.50 for two courses and £38 for three, served from 12-2pm.
Visit the historic hall: home to the Sitwell family for almost 400 years. Public hall tours on Fridays throughout season & Fri, Sat, Sun in August. Group tours available all year. Gardens & Café open Wednesday to Sunday and BH Monday until October.
Autumn opening: Thurs, Fri & Sun - Oct to end Nov (see website for info)
Call 01629 733518 or email reception@thepeacockatrowsley.com
ALL CREATURES Showing throughout June
paintings & drawings by Michael Cook ceramics by Mary Johnson sculpture by Paul Smith & three owl pictures by John Rattigan
Manger Gallery The
Application Deadline Saturday 30th June
Kings Newton, Derbyshire To view the work telephone Michael Cook on 01332 862365 or go to www.mangergallery.co.uk
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artsbeat June 2018
REVOLUTIONARY OPERA
South American uprising is backdrop for rare Verdi masterpiece
A
revival of your work in New York and collaborating with Placido Domingo at Covent Garden are career pinnacles in any opera director’s career – but for Elijah Moshinsky, Buxton is now the really exciting place to be. The award-winning Verdi specialist, who has won acclaim around the world for his productions of the composer’s greatest works, is about to tackle his least well-known – Alzira – for this year’s Buxton International Festival. It will be its first major UK staged production, and the last in the Festival’s trilogy of early Verdi operas, which started with Giovanna d’Arco ( Joan of Arc) in 2016 and continued with Macbeth last year. “If audiences liked Giovanna and Macbeth, they’ll like this,” said Elijah. Alzira is based on a play set in 16th Century Peru by Voltaire, but the opera skips over the French iconoclast’s high-brow discussion of the contrasts between the Catholic Spanish conquerors and their Native American subjects. “The play is very brainy,” said Elijah, but the opera is visceral rather than intellectual. “Alzira is a Mafia drama, very Neapolitan, with people who have temperaments which switch from good to bad instantly. “Something special is going on here. This is the only place in the world that Alzira will artsbeat June 2018
Director Elijah Moshinsky, left, is staging Alzira which features Australian soprano Kate Ladner, below
Picture by Jeff Busby
be presented, so Buxton is at the centre of things,” said Elijah, who has seen his work featured in a revival at the New York Metropolitan Opera House and has worked with the biggest names in opera in Covent Garden and the Royal Opera House. “Buxton is no less than these (opera) houses by any means,” he said. “To me it’s much more interesting to do something original in Buxton.” And he says “the fantastically eccentric” Buxton Opera House is the perfect setting for Verdi: “It approximates much
more the theatrical conditions under which these operas were first presented. They were performed in small, intimate opera houses all over Italy.” Alzira will be brought upto-date in a quite literally revolutionary way: “We have stolen everything from Che Guevara to El Salvador to set it in a modern South American revolution. That gives it the conflict and political structure required.” For artsbeat’s pick of the twoweek festival turn the page. n Details of all events can be found at buxtonfestival.co.uk
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Buxton International Festival: artsbeat Saturday July 7 Ease into your festival days with brunch in town, followed at noon by a recital by pianist Joanna MacGregor who has an exhilaratingly wide repertoire. Her programme includes works which demonstrate her unique talent for reinventing the concert recital and exciting the heart and intellect with equal force. You’ll then just have time for a coffee at the Pavilion Arts Centre before joining former ITN newsman and Classic FM presenter John Suchet as he talks about Giuseppe Verdi the subject of his latest book at 2pm.
Amazing sculptures by
Jasper Lyon Elegant bronzes by
Sue Riley Local scenes by 2016 Derbyshire Life Painter of the Year
Peter D Watson
Ingleby Gallery 17th June - 1st July
Preview Sunday 17th noon - 4pm
Ingleby, Nr Melbourne, Derbyshire DE73 7HW Telephone Gill Watson 01332 865995 e-mail gillwatson@ingleby-gallery.co.uk website www.ingleby-gallery.co.uk Open Wednesday to Friday 10am - 4pm Saturday and Sunday noon - 5pm
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John Suchet
Following another short break you can then seamlessly drift into a concert by flautist Ashley Solomon. From 4.30pm you will have the chance to have some refreshment before the opera at 7.15pm. Having heard all about Verdi earlier in the day now is your chance to head for the Opera House for a performance of Alzira which is set in 16th century Peru. Your other option is to skip the opera, spend longer on dinner and wait to see Barb Jungr and John McDaniel perform the songs of The Beatles at 9pm. artsbeat June 2018
offers some suggestions about how you can catch the best of the action Sunday July 15
Sara Dowling
Thursday July 12 It will be worth an early start at 10am to be able to listen to the acclaimed journalist Daniel Trilling talking about his book Lights in the Distance, a portrait of the European refugee crisis seem through the eyes of those experiencing it first hand. After a short break you will need to head to St John’s Church for an 11.30am concert by the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet who are making a return to the festival. After lunch you have the choice of more music with the Victoria String Quartet at 2.30pm or watching the awardwinning film based on the life of Mozart, Interlude In Prague, which will be on at Buxton Cinema at 2pm. Both finish at 4pm giving you a chance to take a walk and have dinner before the opera Tisbe at 7.15pm. The theme is the story of Pyramus and Thisbe which is best known to us through Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The jazz alternative is very tempting, as Sara Dowling is known to leave her audiences spellbound with her immensely emotional vocals. artsbeat June 2018
This year the festival has joined forces with the British Academy to revive the spirit of the revolutionary Georgian Coffee House – the social network of its day. A series of talks curated by Peter Hennessy will feature a dynamic mix of speakers exploring how we look at history, ourselves and even reality itself. You can join Hennessy and Ferdinand Mount as they discuss Prime Movers – 12 provocateurs of history and life – at 9.30am. If you fancy a Sunday lie-in then you could start your day with a concert at noon by one
Tony Robinson
of the UK’s liveliest musicians, Madeline Mitchell, on violin. After lunch you can then enjoy the day’s opera – The Daughter of the Regiment a co-production with Opera della Luna at 2pm. The headline event of the day is a specially commissioned appearance by Tony Robinson and his friends Frances Pryor and John Gater as they share the secrets of how the TV switched a nation on to archaeology. Digging Up The Past can be seen at the Opera House at 7.30pm.
Alexei Watkins
Saturday July 21 Mark Cocker is an author, naturalist and environmental teacher who grew up in Buxton, the town he credits with inspiring his love of nature. It will be well worth going to hear him in conversation with Mike Monaghan at 10am, discussing why when we claim to love nature we relentlessly despoil it. Two young men tipped for future stardom are French horn player Alexei Watkins and pianist Alex Woolf, who in 2012 was the BBC Young Composer of the Year. Watkins is a virtuoso horn player who demonstrates the instrument in its many varied guises from poetic to powerful. You can see them at the Pavilion Arts Centre at noon. After lunch, head back to the centre to hear a piano recital by Christian Blackshaw who thrilled audiences last year. He will perform Schubert’s Moments Musicaux D780 and Piano Sonata in A minor D784 along with Schumann’s Fantasie in C major, Op 17. Your after dinner choices are the fourth of the festival operas Mozart’s Idomeneo or the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.
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LEABROOKS GALLERY
Rock ‘n’ Roll!
Gillian Woolley Swift
Making A Better You
June 2nd-29th
Mixed media work focusing on impressionistic land and seascapes Open: Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm Wednesday by appointment Sunday 11am-3.30pm
01332 281 411 www.central-osteopaths.co.uk
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Leabrooks House, Leabrooks Road, Somercotes 01773 602961
www.leabrooksartscomplex.com
Prints
Originals
Framing
artsbeat June 2018
gallery
artsbeat previews this month’s stand-out exhibitions St John Street Gallery, Ashbourne
M
y Place, a solo exhibition by folk artist Sue Prince, is being staged as part of the Ashbourne Festival Fringe. It about where Sue lives and her place as a folk artist. Her folk art is like folk music only in paint; encompassing stories about people and their places, work, love, conflict and society. So far this year she has focused on two aspects – Ashbourne’s Shrovetide Football event with its astonishing bustle and energy crammed in the Georgian streets, and the works of Iona Opie who died last year.
Exhibitions and galleries
Ashbourne Festival Summer Art Exhibition, Town Hall Ballroom Submitted work by local professional and amateur artists and the work of invited artists including, painters Val Hudson and Liz Salter; sculptor Sue Allanson, photographers Daniel Shiel and Mary Wardle (you can read more about Mary on page 9), the Parkwood Pottery and paper artist Maggie Cullen. The exhibition is on from June 23-30, 11am-5pm. Ashford Art Group Exhibition, Old School, Ashford in the Water For nine days throughout Well artsbeat June 2018
Iona and Peter Opie wrote The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. The familiarity of many nursery rhymes conceal their sometimes sinister roots. Sue makes her egg tempera paint and creates her work on linen and cotton canvas, where the texture plays an important part.
In 2017 Sue created a new Ashbourne Treasure with the help of over 170 Ashbourne residents, The Ashbourne History Painting can be seen at the Library and other public places. The exhibition runs from June 15-July 7 and Sue will be talking about her work on June 21 at the gallery from 7-8pm.
Dressing Week, until June 3, from 10am-5 pm. Admission free. Art Café and Gallery in the Gardens, Pavilion Gardens, Buxton The downstairs gallery showcases the work of more than 40 artists and craftspeople from the High Peak Artists group. In the café there are selected works by gallery artists: Jill Kerr, Kathy MacMillan, Susan Johnson, Kate Pheasey, Pentimento Ceramics, Sarah Myatt and more. Opening hours: as Pavilion Gardens. Please telephone to check before your visit 01298 23114. Go to galleryinthegardens.co.uk for details. The Art Room, Wilkin Hill, Barlow n Steel and Stone featuring
sculptors Jason Heppenstall and Andrew Vickers, May 26-June 3, 11am-5 pm. n Room with a View, June 5-June 10, 11am-4.30pm, featuring the work of local artists including Angus Stokes, Brenda Williams, Ingo Herrmann, Eddie Hallam, Lesley Nason, Neil Hodgkinson, Patricia Lane and Carl Longmate. Astound, Nicholson Gallery, Leek Contemporary art exhibition by the students of Leek School of Art for their undergraduate end-of-year degree show, until June 9, 10am3.30pm daily except Sundays and bank holidays. Banks Mill Studios, Derby n June 1-29, Green Door
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n gallery Duffield Gallery, Duffield A SPECIAL exhibition by three of Derbyshire’s top landscape artists, James Preston, Colin Halliday (work pictured) and Phil Dyke, from June 21-July 7. There will be a Meet the Artist event with drinks and treats on June 21 from 6pm. The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday 10.30am-5pm and on Sundays from 11am3pm. For more details go to duffieldaartgallery.co.uk Printmaking Studio’s first ever Derby Print Open. More information can be found online at: www.derbyprintopen. org For more details go to banksmill. co.uk. Baslow Pottery, Ivy House, Nether End, Baslow The gallery displays original work from more than 20 local artists. Wednesday to Saturday, 10.30am5.30pm and 11am-5pm on Sundays and bank holidays. More details at baslowpottery.co.uk. Buxton Museum and Art Gallery n Hill is the story of one Derbyshire hill near Wirksworth told in photography, moving image, sculpture, poetry and song. On
Cromford Gallery, Cromford
THE featured artist for June is Sheffield-based artist Mark Beresford. Originally a watercolourist, Mark’s most recent discovery of oil now provides the perfect medium to capture mood and
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until June 6, it will showcase the work of photographer Kate Bellis, sculptor Sally Matthews, a film by film-maker Gavin Repton, poetry by Lucy Peacock and a song by Carol Fieldhouse. n The Derbyshire Open 2018, Saturday June 23-August 31. Chatsworth House, Chatsworth n Chatsworth Renewed; Sowing Colour by Natasha Daintry and Linder Sterling Exhibition, all until October. n RHS Chatsworth Flower Show June 6-10. Chesterfield Museum and Art Gallery, Chesterfield Reincarnated Rubbish: Endangered
and Extinct – a creative recycling exhibition by artist Vall Hunt, from June 16-September 30. Chesterfield Art Club, Cavendish Village Hall, School Lane, Beeley Exhibition by members of the Chesterfield Art Club in conjunction with the Beeley in Bloom Open Gardens weekend, June 23-24, 10am-4.30pm. Church Farm Art Gallery, Church Street, Baslow The gallery is a showcase for both professional and talented amateur artists. Owner Norman Tomlinson, exhibits his own work, and others such as Caroline Appleyard, David Alderman, Mike Connley and
atmosphere of sea, land and city subjects. He likes to pursue subjects that evoke atmosphere, light and accommodate a ‘soft edge’ Apart from the city and the Peak District he also likes to paint the Isles of Scilly – the white sands, blue seas and sheer tranquility of these beautiful islands. artsbeat June 2018
n gallery Manger Gallery, King’s Newton ALL Creatures is the title of the exhibition at this gallery throughout June and it will feature paintings and drawings by Michael Cook, the gallery owner, ceramics by Mary Johnson and the dreamlike and contemplative sculptures by Paul Smith, (his work entitled Doe is pictured). There will also be three owl pictures by artist John Rattigan. Judy Tomlinson. Open ThursdaySaturday 10.30am-5pm. Go to churchfarmgallery.co.uk for details. Cromford Gallery and Studio, Market Place, Cromford The featured artist in Mark Beresford, see left. The gallery is open WednesdaySunday 10am-5pm. Go to cromfordstudioandgallery.weebly. com for details. The Derwent Gallery, Grindleford A Walk in the Peaks, until July 29. Paintings are in a variety of media by the gallery’s artists including work by Ken Burton, Kristan Baggaley and Tim Hulley. Open 11am to 4pm Thursday to Saturday and 1pm-4pm on Sundays, telephone 01433 630458. Derwent Wye Gallery, Rowsley Abstract Reflection, showcasing a major collection of work by an eclectic group of British artists, Preview May 26 from 10am-2pm exhibition continues into July. Telephone 01629 733310. Déda, Chapel Street, Derby n Ashbourne artist M D Hyde. Expressive acrylic paintings about life as a person living with depression, Until July 28. You can read more about Martin on page 32. artsbeat June 2018
n To celebrate its 40 years as a city, members of Derby City Photographic will be depicting Derby’s renaissance as a centre of commerce, culture, heritage and education. Combining framed pictures with audio-visual, the images will showcase Derby until July 28. More details at deda.uk.com Derby Museum and Art Gallery The Art of Industry: From Joseph Wright to the 21st Century, until June 17. For more details go to derbymuseums.org Dovedale Arts Festival, Izaak Walton Hotel, Thorpe Visual Art Exhibition June 8-10 with paintings by Kit Allsopp, Anne Lever, Caroline McAdam Clark, ceramics by Jane Rye and Bridget Whitehouse, collages by Kate Scott and prints by the Society of Wood Engravers and Suzanne Cooper. For details go to dovedalearts.co.uk Duffield Gallery, Town Street, Duffield Special exhibition by three of Derbyshire’s top landscape artists, June 21-July 7. See more details on page 26. The gallery has work by artists including James Preston, Phil Dyke, Steve Slimm, Lynn Smith, Colin Halliday, Kim Sharratt
and Paul Raymond Gregory. Open Thursday-Saturday, 10.30am-5pm and Sundays, 11am-3pm. For more details go to duffield artgallery.co.uk Ferrers Gallery, Staunton Harold Estate, Ashby de la Zouch Woodlands, until June 17, inspired by woodlands and all that reside in them, artists and designer-makers will be working in various mediums to portray their interpretation of the theme. Go to ferrersgallery.co.uk. Gallerytop, Rowsley Print – Wood Engravings by the Society of Wood Engravers and more, June 11-30. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am5pm and Sunday 11am-4pm. More details at gallerytop.co.uk The Gallery, High Street, New Mills The gallery is run collectively by 30 artists and showcases a variety of work including paintings, jewellery, silk scarves, ceramics and feltwork. Open 10-4pm. Closed Wednesday and Sunday. The Green Man Gallery, Buxton n I Went to the Woods and The Properties of Water –Two new photographic collections by Caroline Small exploring the many moods of woodland and water, until June 23.
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n gallery Ingleby Gallery, near Melbourne A NEW exhibition, from June 17-July 1, features the elegant bronzes of Sue Riley and amazing sculptures by Jasper Lyon, both Normandy artists, together with paintings of Derbyshire scenes by Peter Watson, whose work is pictured, right. The sculptors, will be present at the preview on June 17 from noon-4pm. n Passion for the Peak – Julie Knowles, Margaret Jefford and Patricia Lane, until June 20. Free entry. For more details go to the gallery’s facebook page or thegreenmangallery.com Hadfield Open Art Show, Hadfield Hall and The Craft Barn The eighth Hadfield Open Art Show is on June 9 and 10 with a preivew evening on June 8. Entries have been invited from artists across Glossopdale and they will be submitted on June 5. For more details go to hadfieldhall.wordpress. com Hall of Frames, King Street, Belper Original and limited edition artwork from a variety of artists. More details at hallofframes.co.uk The Harley Gallery, Welbeck Form and Function is a new exhibition by Adam Frew taking inspiration from the dramatic coastal and rural landscapes of the potter’s home near the Giant’s Causeway on the north coast of Northern Ireland. More details at harleygallery.co.uk Ingleby Gallery, Ingleby Sculptures by two Normandy artists, Sue Riley and Jasper Lyon, and the paintings of Derbyshire Life magazine’s Landscape Artist of the
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Year 2016 Peter Watson. Sue Riley creates pieces in bronze resin which are a delight to the eye of exquisite small feminine forms. Jasper Lyon’s sculptures are much larger with some even life-size animals as well as producing tableaux for museums. The exhibition is on from June 17July 1 with a preview from noon-4pm on June 17. The gallery is open on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10am-5pm and weekends from noon-5pm. Go to ingleby-gallery.co.uk for details. Isla Fine Art Cards and Gifts, 4b The Colonnade, Buxton As well as fine art cards and gifts there is a gallery space at the shop in the heart of Buxton and there will be regular exhibitions during the year. Go to Isla–Fine Art on facebook for more details. Jarva Gallery, Market Street, Whaley Bridge The gallery exhibits about 90 per cent British designers’ and artists’ work. Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 9.30am-5pm, Wednesdays 9,30am-3pm, and Saturdays, 9.30am-4pm. For more details go to jarvagallery.com. John Connolly’s Ormscliffe Gallery, Bolsover
More than 300 original paintings are on show at his personal gallery in Bolsover. Go to connollyart.com for more details. Leabrooks Arts Complex, Somercotes Rock ‘n’ Roll! by Gillian Woolley Swift, June 2-29. See facing page. The gallery is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm and 11am3.30pm on Sundays. Wednesdays by appointment only. Details at leabrooksartscomplex.com The Makers, 47 Church Street, Ashbourne Art and gifts made by UK artists, designers and makers. Currently exhibiting work by Long Eaton artist Joy Pitts who turns clothing labels into works of art. The Marlow Gallery, The Close, Church Square, Melbourne Contemporary paintings, ceramics, sculpture and glass. Email Emily Daley at studio@themarlowgallery. co.uk or call 07980550812 to book an appointment to view. For details go to themarlowgallery.co.uk The Manger Gallery, Kings Newton, Melbourne All Creatures, featuring the work of Michael Cook, ceramicist Mary artsbeat June 2018
n gallery Johnson and sculptures by Paul Smith. There will also be three paintings by John Rattigan. Go to mangergallery. co.uk for details. Northend Nostalgia, North End, Wirksworth The photography of Sheffield-based Brian Adams, part of the Four Sea Quartets project, until July 7. Open Thursday to Saturday 10am-4pm. The Old Lock Up Gallery, Swift’s Hollow, Cromford n Michael Porter, until June 16. n Constructed depth: Fragments and contraditions by photographer Aly Jackson, June 30, 3pm-5.30pm and continuing until August 11. The gallery is open 11am-5pm Friday and Saturday and 11am-4.30pm on Sundays. Go to The Old Lock Up Gallery on Facebook for details. Purple and Grey, Fresh and Unframed, Tansley Village Hall All artists are welcome to show their new and unframed artwork June 29-30 at Tansley Village Hall more details available at purpleandgrey. co.uk QUAD Derby A new exhibition by Mark Neville, entitled Battle Against Stigma which aims to address the stigma of mental health problems in the military, until June 24. Go to derbyquad.co.uk for more details. The Richard Whittlestone Wildlife Gallery, Pilsley, near Chatsworth The gallery is open 10am-5pm Tuesday to Saturday. More details at richardwhittlestone.co.uk Rob Wilson Art, Lockside Mill, St. Martins Road, Marple The gallery is open to visitors every Friday, 10am-4pm. Go to robwilsonart.co.uk for more details. Smallprint Company, Friary Street, Derby n Prints and Bookarts: Peter Knight, until June 16. n Daniel Dytrych, portrait photography, June 23-July 21. More artsbeat June 2018
Leabrooks Arts Complex GILLIAN Woolley Swift’s new exhibition, tantalisingly called Rock ’n’ Roll!, will be on show, June 2-29. This stunning collection of mixed media work, focusing on impressionistic land and seascapes, combines a unique vision with a mastery of colour and technique. She makes use of different coloured sands, pumice, sea-worn slate and even pebbles to create her fascinating work. details at smallprintcompany.com St John Street Gallery, St John Street, Ashbourne My Place by Sue Prince, see more details on page 25. The gallery is open 9.30am-5pm, MondaySaturday. For more details go to stjohngalleryandcafe.co.uk Tarpey Gallery, High Street, Castle Donington Starting Point by Jim Tarpey, May 31-June 17 with a launch event from 2-5pm on June 2. Read more about Jim’s work on page 30. The gallery is open Thursday to Sunday 10am-5pm. More details at tarpeygallery.com Two Birds Gallery, Borough Street, Castle Donington Art, photography, jewellery and design from a wide range of local and UK based artists. They also offer a selection of craft workshops for all ability levels. Open Monday to Friday, 9.30am-5pm and 9.30am4pm on Saturday. U Choose Smoothie Art Gallery, Ilkeston Work by more than 20 local artists can always be seen at the
gallery. For more details go to uchoosesmoothie.co.uk V21 Gallery, 21 Cornmarket, Derby, Above The Book Cafe Go to v21art.space for details of any exhibitions in this new gallery. Read more about the duo behind the enterprise on page 24. West Studios, Chesterfield Chesterfield College Arts Festival, Monday, June 18-Friday, June 29. Join Chesterfield College in celebrating the fantastic work their students have produced by coming to the arts festival. West Studios will have the photography groups displaying their work in the studio. Go to chesterfield.ac.uk or email hello@weststudios.co.uk for more details. Wirksworth Framing Company, 22 Market Place, Wirksworth A family-run framing business that exhibits work by a mixture of local artists and prints by nationally renowned artists. Work by Iain Mackay, Richard Pett, Ian Daisley, Sam Toft, Alex Clarke and Thomas Joseph. Go to wirksworthframing.co.uk for more details.
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JIM’S GOING BACK TO HIS (SQUARE) ROOTS Exhibition of new work derived from a project started in the 1970s
I
t may have taken him 40 years to get there, but gallery owner Jim Tarpey has finally found the time to create enough work to stage an exhibition of his own. This year he has allowed himself the luxury of dedicating his time to working on a series of intriguing paintings and reliefs and they will be exhibited at the Tarpey Gallery in Castle Donington until June 17. “The work derives from a project I originally started in the 1970s although all of it has been done this year. After 46
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‘
I’ve used rules of mathematics to explore rhythm and sequence years working in education I decided it was time to develop my own work and have recently built a garden studio which has given me the space to do so,” he explained. Jim is father to Luke Tarpey and partner in the contemporary fine art gallery his son manages. “When we first moved here my intention was for the barn to be
a studio, but Luke put forward plans for a gallery space that would support emerging artists in the region. I was in a position where I felt able to support him in that aim so we decided to give it a go. “I am delighted that the gallery has become so successful as a result of Luke’s vision and I have been particularly proud to see artists like Mandy Payne who first exhibited at our Midlands Open competition go on to succeed.” Jim, who was born in South London, and lived in Surrey and Essex before heading for the Midlands, began his artsbeat June 2018
Jim Tarpey
project, entitled Starting Point, while studying for a diploma in art and design. He then studied for a B Ed in Fine Art and began his career in education leaving, the project on the shelf. It would be fair to say that his tutor at the time Jean Spencer was a big influence on his style and he is clearly a huge admirer of her work. She was the youngest member of the Systems Group who developed canvases and constructions organised in arrangements free from painterly accident. Such was her influence on the art world that following artsbeat June 2018
her death in 1998 Nicholas Serota wrote a forward for a retrospective exhibition of her work at The Yarrow Gallery, Oundle School in Northamptonshire. Like Jean’s work Jim says his paintings lie on the boundary between reason and emotion, logic and intuition, order and expression. “Applying the Bauhaus theatre concept whose plots consisted of nothing more than the pure movement of forms, colour, space and light, I have constructed a matrix using both paintings and reliefs,” he said. “The series involves a matrix
system of cubes or squares moving across a grid. Paintings and reliefs are set within a stage on which experimentation with coloured light and shadows creates movement across the grids. I have used the rules of number and mathematics to explore rhythm and sequence, accentuated by the fall of light and shadow on the pure white or neutral surfaces of my reliefs.” n The exhibition runs from May 31-June 17 and there will be a special launch event on June 2 from 2-5pm. For more information go to tarpeygallery. com
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EMOTIONAL RESCUE
Artist mixes melancholy and optimism in his engaging paintings
M
artin D Hyde hopes that viewers of his paintings will have some emotional reaction to his work, even if they don’t fully understand it. “I believe once an artwork is completed it’s meaning then becomes the domain of the viewer. It’s important for them to put their own interpretation on the work even if it differs from my original intention,” he said. It was, therefore, with some hesitation that I agreed to meet him at his current exhibition at Déda, in Derby, so we could see it together and it was with relief that I found I could relate to the work and understand what he is trying to achieve. The body of work which has taken him two years to pull together from his rented studio in Ashbourne, represents feelings and emotions.
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Martin, who is married to Emma and has two young sons, was diagnosed with cyclic depression at the age of 30. “My work is about life as a person living with depression, those around me and my place in the world. The highs, the lows, love, loss, mood, isolation, place and belonging. “I try to balance some of the sadness and melancholy found in my work with an optimism and hope for the journey to well-being. “My work also deals with the fragility of wellness and the recurring emotional journey to maintain this. “Through my paintings I want to bring better understanding and acceptance of the issues surrounding people with depression and the difficulties for those who love them, based on my own experiences,” Martin explained.
Outwardly he seems a happy, confident artist and for many years only he and Emma, who he has known since their teenage years, knew he was suffering. He explained that one of the key moments in his journey was when he decided to be honest with his friends and family about his illness. “I don’t have to make excuses any longer and it makes life a lot, lot easier. I used to see the depression as a curse but now I see it as a gift, and a curse.” The artist studied Design at Stafford University and for some years was a successful designer and illustrator. He started painting following the death of his grandmother at a time when he wanted to express himself through his work with abstract symbolism. For several years after that he was not a well person and as artsbeat June 2018
The Barely Breathing Man, right, Cotton, top, and Trickle Down Economics, above
a result he says that about five years ago he started a daily art diary. The images from that project now inform his current abstract expressive paintings. Having run his own freelance design business in the past he has set about life as a painter in an business-like fashion and is working on building his credibility as an artist with a good deal of success. In 2017 his painting Drifters was short-listed in the prestigious Ashurst Emerging Artist prize, a national art competition held in London, and another painting has been used by the folk band LAU for their 2017 album. artsbeat June 2018
‘
I have decided that this is what I’m going to do. Whatever it takes He had a two-month residency at Artcore in Derby and as a result he was invited to exhibit at Déda. In his younger days along with Emma he used to perform in a band and jokes that until he was 30 he thought he would make it as a musician. “Now I have decided that this is what I am going to do. Whatever it takes I am
Figuratively speaking: Leisure
going to keep going with this work,” he said revealing the determination which has got him this far. n For more details the Déda exhibition, which is on until July 28, go to mdhyde.com
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Cromford Studio and Gallery Featured artist for June
Mark Beresford
Showcasing the best in local Art & Design
Moody sea, land and city subjects in oil Open: 10am-5pm Wednesday to Sunday Market Place, Cromford, DE4 3QE 01629 826434
DERWENT GALLERY A Walk in the Peaks
Walking Back From Froggatt Edge by Tim Hulley
Open Thursday-Sunday 11am-4pm
Main Road, Grindleford, S32 2JN Tel 01433 630458 www.derwentgallery.com
19 Borough Street Castle Donington Open: Tues - Fri 9:00 - 5:00 Derby Sat - 10:00 - 4:00 DE74 2LA Tel: 01332 987350 email: info@thetwobirdsgallery.com
John Connolly Art Commissions, workshops and one-to-one tuition
Ormscliffe Gallery and Studio
open by appointment at other times 16 Langwith Road, Bolsover S44 6HQ 07967-316622 email: john@connollyart.com
www.connollyart.com 34
artsbeat June 2018
have a go
Brush up on your skills – or try something entirely new All aboard for Artafloat on the Cromford Canal
O
ne of the most novel ways of learning a new skill must be aboard Birdswood narrowboat on the Cromford Canal. The ArtAfloat programme, launched last year, aims to provide hands-on practical art skills tuition by skilled professional artist-tutors while offering a unique duck’seye view of a scenic part of the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site. Six workshops are planned for this year with artists Ruth Gray, Liz Wellby and Lucy Gell, covering landscape painting, drawing, iPad art, linocut, monoprints and drypoint etching. There will be plenty of oneto-one guidance as only eight people can take part in each workshop.
Workshops and Courses
Art Afloat, Birdswood narrowboat, Cromford Canal n Read more about the courses on offer above. To book email sales@ birdswood.org or telephone 07552 055455. Anne Alldread Textiles n Regular felt making workshops in Belper covering a variety of felting techniques, from the basics, to creating a beautiful scarf, cushion or artsbeat June 2018
There are two workshops this month – Inside Out, art on the iPad, with Liz Wellby on June 5 and Impressionist Style with Ruth Gray on June 25. Birdswood is a converted historic working boat, a 1938-built butty boat retaining its traditional boatman’s cabin. It is crewed by volunteers. and all profits from workshops and scheduled public cruises go to restoration charity Friends
of the Cromford Canal to further the long-term objective of re-opening the 15-mile 1794-built canal to navigation and as a public amenity. They are recruiting volunteers so if you want to help out get in touch. Go to birdswood.org for more information. You can also follow them on Facebook or telephone them on 07552 055 455.
wall hanging. Or you can join in at the weekly textile groups on Monday, 2-4pm and Wednesday 10am12.30pm, to try tapestry, weaving, collage, mixed media, printing, design and much more. A small friendly group with an emphasis on enjoyment while creating. For details call 07817745705, email annealldread@yahoo.co.uk or visit annealldread.com Artcore, Charnwood Street, Derby n Art For Life, Wednesdays, 1-3pm. n Our Stories aims to bring together people from migrant communities
in a series of art-based workshops, every Tuesday from 10am-noon. For details email info@artcoreuk.com or call 01332 384561. Chesterfield Branch Embroiderers’ Guild n First Thursday of each month except August, 7pm-9pm The Saints Parish Rooms. St Mary’s Gate, Chesterfield S41 7TH. Go to embroiderers guild.com for more details. The ClayRooms, Derby Road, Ashbourne n Raku Workshop with Andy
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Anne Alldread
textile artist and felt maker
n Felt making workshops n Weekly textile group n Fashion accessories n Textile art works n Interior accessories n Commissions
BOBBIN LACE MAKING
one-day workshops and weekly evening classes
To book contact annealldread@yahoo.co.uk For more information go to www.annealldread.com
6 Friar Gate Studios, Ford Street, Derby Telephone 01332 742533 or visit the website for more details
www.louisewestlacedesign.co.uk
June and July Events network
at The Harley Gallery
13 June
learn
Guest Artist Workshop Jenny Oldknow Lunch & Learn Workshop
27 June 11 July
create
Derbyshire SAA Art Group
exhibit
Fresh and Unframed Exhibition
6, 20 June 4, 18 July 29, 30 June
see website for information or email us purpleandgreyinfo@gmail.com
v
purpleandgrey.co.uk
The Old House
Studio
Printers of Artisan Stationery
Workshops, Events & Gallery www.smallprintcompany.com The Smallprint Company, 2-3 Friary Street, Derby DE1 1JF hello@smallprintcompany.co.uk
pitchblue Wirksworth
creative workshops, weekly courses, celebrations, holidays and events.
Art Courses in the Peak District
2018 Dates Now Available Robert Dutton, Richard Holland, Joe Francis Dowden, Tim Fisher, Paul Talbot-Greaves, Carol Hill, Paul Dene Marlor, Judith Selcuk, and many more p Top UK Artists and a variety of media p Enjoyable interactive workshops for all abilities p Small classes maximum ten students p Two-course lunch provided p B&B accommodation available For information on all workshops please visit the website, telephone 01457 857527 or email: info@pennine-art.uk
www.pennine-art.uk 36
www.pitchbluecreative.com pitchblue
pitchblue@outlook.com
Caroline 07736 423352 Roz 07742 440165
artsbeat June 2018
n have a go Mason June 2, 10- 4pm, go to theclayrooms.co.uk for more details . Cromford Studio and Gallery, Market Place, Cromford n Watercolour tuition is available for small groups or on a one-to-one basis, all abilities welcome. Call 01629 826434 for more details. Derbyshire Adult Education, derbyshire.gov.uk/coursesearch n Various courses available at different venues including the Derbyshire Eco Centre, near Wirksworth and Sharp’s Pottery at Swadlincote as well as libraries and other centres. To book a place call 01629 533290, email swadlincote. ace@derbyshire.gov.uk or go to the website link, keyword ‘masterclass’. Glossop Branch of the Embroiderers’ Guild, Glossop Cricket Club, SK13 7AS n Meetings are last Wednesday of the month, 1pm to 3pm. Go to glostitchedup.blogspot.co.uk for details. Green Man Gallery, Hardwick Hall, Buxton n Life drawing, a weekly session for artists at any stage with a professional life model, Tuesdays, 7pm-9pm. Contact Curtis Bollington 07880 535615. Over 16s only. n Young Yoga with Kerry Allsop for age 8 to 11, every Monday, 4pm to 4.45pm. Booking: kerryallsop@ icloud.com n Arabic Dance, every Tuesday, 1.30pm-2.30pm. n Adult Dance Classes: For information or to book, call Catherine Farrimond, on 01298 70984. n Every Tuesday in term time – Changing Faces with Funny Wonders. A weekly creative session for young people (11 to 18) with community arts company, Funny Wonders. n June, 2, 9, 16 and 24, Funny Wonders’ Carnival Project, free workshops for 11-18-year-olds. Make ‘gigante’ puppets and banners for the Buxton Carnival parade, artsbeat June 2018
2pm to 4pm. More information at funnywonders.org.uk or email hello@funnywonders.org.uk. n June 10, Water Wonderland Drop-In Workshop, a family-friendly workshop where you can share fun ideas, design and make colourful water creatures to parade with or wave during the Buxton Carnival. For further information and booking for other courses contact hello@ thegreenmangallery.com or 01298 937375 unless otherwise stated. Green Door Printmaking Studio, Banks Mill, Derby n For more details and to book online, visit: greendoor-printmaking. co.uk or call 07919 823 097. Haddon Hall, near Bakewell n Learn the art of archery on various dates until August in the Chapel Fields at Haddon with advice from the historic home’s master bowman. All abilities welcome. Go to haddonhall.co.uk for more details. Helen Jagger, sustainable textile design n Drop-in sessions at St Ann’s Catholic Rooms, Buxton, Fridays, 9.15am-11.45pm. n Buxton Campus, Buxton, Tuesday evenings in term time, 7pm-9pm. Contact the college on 08000 740099 to book. Guidance with a range of sewing projects. Go to helenjagger.co.uk for more details. High Peak Stitchers, Glossop Cricket and Bowling Club, North Road, Glossop n Meetings first Wednesday of the month, except January, from 2pm4pm, visitors entrance is £4, May 2, Using wax crayons to colour flowers on fabric, stitch and chat. June 6, Rowena Lovett talking about the Leek Embroideries. Leabrooks Artists Forum, Leabrooks Arts Complex, Somercotes DE55 4HB n Artists sharing information, ideas and enterprise. The meetings take place on the first Saturday of every month from 10.30am-1pm.
Beverages and cake cost £3.50, if required; everything else is free. Painters, sculptors and potters who have experience of exhibiting are invited to join the group. Go to leabrooksartscomplex.com for more details. Kirstie Adamson, magazine collage, Banks Mill, Derby n Seascape workshop, July 14, 10am-3pm. Go to kirstieadamson. co.uk for more details. Louise West Lace Design 6 Friar Gate Studios, Derby n Evening classes in bobbin lace making, Tuesdays 6-8pm. n One-day workshops for a maximum of ten students, £30. Go to louisewestlacedesign.co.uk for booking details. Matlock Artists Society, All Saints Church Hall, Smedley Street n The club’s Portrait Group meets the first Wednesday of every month from 9.30am-noon. Everyone welcome, £5 to include light refreshments. For details contact Doreen Andrews 01629 824640. n At the same venue, on the second Thursday of every month, the society invites all keen to paint/ draw in a happy, relaxed group to go along. This is a self-help group with no tutor, 9.30am-noon. For details 01629 584708. The Old Lock Up Gallery, Swifts Hollow, Cromford n Photography, Aly Jackson, June 24. n Sketchbooks, Rachael Pinks, July 25. For more details go to theoldlockupgallery.wordpress.com The Old House Studio, Woodhead Road, Torside, Glossop n Art courses in the Peak District. Top UK Artists including Carol Hill, and Tim Fisher, and a variety of media. Workshops, which are enjoyable and interactive, for all abilities. Small classes, maximum ten students. Two-course lunch provided. B&B accommodation available. Carol Hill will be there with
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n have a go a watercolour en plein air course on June 6 and 7. For more details visit pennine-art.uk Tel: 01457 857527, email: info@pennine-art.uk Pam Smart, Art Workshops in the Studio with a View, Buxton n A full day workshop from 10am-4pm with materials and refreshments. For details go to pamsmart.co.uk Pitchblue Creative, Coldwell Street, Wirksworth n Full day workshops from 10am3.30pm with lunch, a half day is until 1pm. You can choose one day or two. There are also regular weekly courses: Textiles and Felt-making on Tuesdays, Big Brush Painting on Wednesdays, Textiles, Afternoon Crafts and evening Sip and Paint on Thursdays. Go to pitchbluecreative. com for details. Pauline Townsend Silk Painter n Workshops for beginners and improvers in Buxton. Workshop schedule available on the website: silkpainter.co.uk Purple and Grey – courses for emerging artists n Purple and Grey Derbyshire Art Group meet on selected Wednesdays of each month 10.30am-12.30pm, at Tansley Village Hall. Go to purpleandgrey.co.uk for details. QUAD, Derby n Happy Families Animation, June 9, from 11am-1pm and 2pm-4pm, iPad animation workshop. n Happy Hours are free after-school creative workshops for ages five and above to look at what makes us happy, June 12 and 14, 4.30pm5.30pm. Go to derbyquad.co.uk for more details. Richard Holland, Landscape Artist n Commissions taken and available for workshops and demonstrations. n Two day oil workshops at Caudwell Mill, Rowsley, in August. n Regular one-day workshops
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held at The Venue, Ashbourne and Tansley Community Hall near Matlock. n Weekly oil and watercolour classes in the Mansfield, Matlock and Selston areas. Contact Richard on 01629 583359, email richardo2244@yahoo.co.uk or visit richardhollandlandscapeartist.co.uk Small Print Company, 2-3 Friary Street, Derby n Beginners’ Bookbinding, June 9, August 25 and October 13. n Create a Letterpress Print, May 26, June 23, July 21, August 18, September 22, October 27 and November 24. Details of various other courses at smallprintcompany. co.uk StraightCurves, 104 Saltergate, Chesterfield n A range of arts and crafts workshops and courses for all ages and abilities from accessible studios in Chesterfield. There are also regular events see details below. Book online at straightcurves.co.uk 01246 807575 info@straightcurves.co.uk n Woolly Wednesdays – every Wednesday, 10am-12.30pm and 6.30-9pm. All arts and crafts are welcome at this session. n Little Creatives – every Friday and Monday 9.45-11am. Little Creatives is a workshop designed especially for pre-school children and their parents. n Book Club – 7-8pm on the third Thursday of the month, refreshments included. St John Street, Gallery, Ashbourne n Sue Prince, Introduction to Egg Tempera Folk Art, June 5. n Louise Jannetta, Woods In Summer, June 6. n Dave Gelder, Jewellery workshop, June 11. n Ruth Gray, Street Scenes Simplified, June 12. n Maggie Robertson, Working With Collage, June 14. n Valerie Dalling, photography
workshop, June 20. To book, phone 01335 347425 or email enquiries@ stjohngalleryandcafe.co.uk. More details can be found on the gallery website: stjohngalleryandcafe.co.uk Sumacdesigns, Banks Mill Studios, Bridge Street, Derby n Clay workshops. Three separate workshops – flowers, bowls and tile panels. Every day between 12.45pm and 7.30pm. Each session is an hour and a half. For more details email Sue on sumac_53@msn.com or go to sumacdesigns.co.uk Parkwood Throwing Courses, Parkwood Centre, Alfreton Park, Alfreton n Eight week throwing courses Thursday evenings from 7-9pm; three hour taster sessions from 6pm-9pm and weekend throwing courses, Saturday and Sunday from 10am-5pm. Go to parkwoodthrowingcourses.co.uk for details. Allison Turner Designs, 26 Derby Road, Long Eaton n Card Making – every Tuesday, 1pm-3pm n Scrapbooking – Thursday evening 5.30-7.30pm fortnightly. For more details of many other courses go to allisonturnerdesigns.co.uk West Studios, Sheffield Road, Chesterfield n Tutored Life Drawing Class by Wallspace Visual Arts, held the first Tuesday of the month. Contact John King on john@wallspacevisualarts. co.uk or phone 07795 804793. n Creative Mash and Critique Night, June 12, 6pm – 8.30 opportunity for creative and digital entrepreneurs and small businesses to present, chat and network. For more information go to www. weststudios.co.uk For more information call west studios on 01246 500 799 or email hello@weststudios.co.uk or go to weststudios.co.uk for details. artsbeat June 2018
COUNTY MAKING A KILLING Jo Jakeman, whose debut novel Sticks and Stones is due on bookshelves soon
Crime writer Tony R Cox investigates Derbyshire’s deadly attraction
W
hat is it about Derbyshire that nurtures such strong, current productivity in crime fiction, the most popular genre? Crime fiction exists only where there is a belief in the power of good over evil, where the hero will always defeat the villain. Why is Derbyshire such a special county for authors who love a good murder? I asked the opinions of several authors who base their novels in and around the county or live here: Sarah Ward, who has had three crime fiction novels published; Steven Dunne, whose Reaper series continues artsbeat June 2018
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In the world of crime fiction murder and death are core factors to reap plaudits; Roz Watkins, whose A Devil’s Dice has been optioned for a TV film and was The Times’ crime book of the month for April; and Jo Jakeman, whose debut, Sticks and Stones, is about to be published. I have just had my third thriller, Vinyl Junkie, published by Fahrenheit Press. The answer, it seems, is a combination of two factors: the disparity of the landscape and the people. In reality murders are infrequent; in the world of crime fiction, murder and death are the core factors. They share
Tony R Cox
the same element of the human psyche: killing can be brutally physical, accidental or coldblooded – the reader still ends up with a dead body. Derbyshire is unique. Nowhere else has a Dark Peak and a White Peak, Dales, heavy
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Derbyshire provides light and shade reflecting good and evil engineering and industry, ex-mining areas, flowing meadows and hills, a network of major rivers and canals, grand country houses and is, of course, the home of the Industrial Revolution. The people have been shaped by this terrain. Derbyshire is composed not of amorphous masses and commuters, but of close-knit communities, even in Derby and larger towns. Perhaps Sarah summed it up: “Derbyshire is a safe community and when something horrible happens that community clings together.” And Roz echoes this with her belief that personal life will inevitably weave its way into fiction, with one of her experiences being an unpleasant incident in which she thought her dog had unearthed human remains. Stephen Booth, the ‘godfather’ of Derbyshire Noir with his Cooper and Fry series, has mined the geography, culture and heritage of the county, and probably deserves an award for promoting tourism. Steven Dunne has a deep affection for the county: “Derbyshire is the perfect home for a dark thriller because it provides a compelling contrast between a busy modern city like Derby and the peace of the Peak District, and my detective, DI Brook, moves between the two. “The contrast provides light and shade, reflecting good and evil and the two sides artsbeat June 2018
Three-book deal for former attorney Roz When Roz Watkins began writing her crime novel she had barely written any fiction since school. She had left her job as a patent attorney and was busy renovating and running two holiday cottages at her home in Alderwasley, in between talking her dogs out for long walks. She says that as her mind relaxed stories with fiendish plots just popped into her head. “Once I started I found I couldn’t stop but I never dreamt I would get published. “I had no idea how to write
a novel so I decided to teach myself from books and the internet and went on a creative writing course in the evenings while my partner studied German,” she said. The turning point for Roz was the Festival of Writing in York where she had a one-toone with a book doctor who passed her first chapter on to
her agent Diana Beaumont. Now she has a three-book deal in the UK and there is even talk of a television film. Roz will be joining Stephen Booth and Stuart Gibbon to share their crime-writing secrets at QUAD in Derby for Derby Book Festival on June 2.
Steven Dunne
Stephen Booth
Sarah Ward
of the human psyche but, interestingly, their roles are interchangeable, the Peaks being equally capable of brooding menace.” Jo Jakeman supports this analysis: “As a writer it’s easy to be inspired by the landscape and the people of Derbyshire. As readers, it’s nice to read about places you know, but, equally, for those who don’t know Derbyshire, these books
paint such a good picture (albeit, with so many dead bodies).” My Simon Jardine thriller series feeds off my experiences as a cub reporter on the Derby Telegraph in the 70s. I hope to capture the places and activities, and my characters embody the constant evolution. By using crime fiction as my vehicle I can transport the reader into an era that isn’t
just violent murder, but a time of love and happiness as well as drugs and greed. Derby was a microcosm of life: it was a bustling large town, but it comprised, and still does, separate and diverse communities. Why Derbyshire Noir? Probably because a beautiful, exciting county attracts the very best authors. It’s as simple as that.
artsbeat June 2018
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The Neville Staple Band will be kicking off Ashbourne Festival on June 22
PICTURE: John Coles
SPECIAL GUESTS
Festival line-up announced for event’s 20th anniversary year
T
his year is the 20th anniversary of the Ashbourne Festival and to mark the special year the organising team have pushed the boat out to bring some top names to the Derbyshire Dales market town. Among them are the world famous percussionist Evelyn Glennie, folk legends The Unthanks, television’s popular scientist Dr Alice Roberts, The Specials’ founding member Neville Staple, Cajun Roosters, author and poet Simon Armitage and comedian Tom Wrigglesworth. There will also be local performers joining the line-up including The Derbyshire
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Singers, The Peakland Players, The Ashbourne Writers Group with Poetry in the Garden, Ashbourne Singers and Chameleon with Derby A Cappella. Neville Staple is kicking off the festivities at the Empire Ballroom on June 22 and artsbeat June 2018
bringing it to a close on July 7 will be Evelyn Glennie with Trio HLK at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School. In between there will be plenty of events to suit all pockets including the tenth annual International Streetfest which is totally free. Over the weekend of June 23-24 a dozen crazy acts from around the world will be entertaining crowds on the streets of the town. You can expect to see a mix of silliness and daring from the likes of Indian magician Jaardu; Bruce Airhead from Australia, Mighty Mike, an old fashioned strongman act from Canada; the circus hula hooper Toni Smith from New Zealand; and the UK’s own whip wielding showgirl Able Mable. And, of course, there will be Ashbourne’s favourite daft duo The Wardens. Apparently there are complaints if they aren’t included in the line-up. The special anniversary event is the amazing Our Game installation of 5,000 terracotta figures made by the people of Ashbourne in association with the Clayrooms to celebrate the town’s Shrovetide Football artsbeat June 2018
event. The project can be seen from June 16 until mid September at St Oswald’s Church, Mayfield Road, Ashbourne. There are also a series of fringe events such as Teddy Bear Parachuting from St Oswald’s roof on June 23 and an exhibition by folk artist Sue Prince, which you can read about on page25. n For details of all the events and to buy tickets go to ashbournefestival.org
Pictured clockwise from top left are: The Cajun Roosters, Able Mable,The Unthanks, Mighty Mike, and Jaadu. Opposite page Tom Wrigglesworth
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artsbeat June 2018
music
artsbeat’s essential guide to Derbyshire’s best live tunes Performers will make city buzz at annual festival
I
t’s June, so that must mean that Derby’s Furthest From the Sea arts organisation is about to stage its main event of the year. The crew of musicians poets, dancers and artists, whose mission is to see the arts transform people and communities, have a day of fun lined up for the city with their festival on June 19. The Market Place and Cathedral Quarter will be buzzing with music, dance and theatre performances, all celebrating the wealth of artistic talent in the county. As usual they will have a pirate theme (the clue is in their name) and there will be plenty on offer for families and children – hula hoops, juggling, giant bubbles, facepainting and more. The headline act of the day is Derbyshire’s own David Gibb who is bringing his show Climb That Tree to Derby. The award-winning songwriter and storyteller was so frustrated at the lack of high quality music available for children he set himself the challenge of writing an album of songs aimed at families. The result was his first Letters Through Your Door which has now been followed by Climb That Tree. You will be able to join David
artsbeat June 2018
Songwriter and storyteller David Gibb will be at the festival to entertain with music for little people, big people and everyone else in between
on a musical journey through his hilarious and often surreal imagination, where bears live in the cupboard under the stairs, wolves are roaming the corridors at school, and trips to the moon are a regular occurrence. The day will also see improvised comedy from MissImp and new work from emerging artists Smoking Guns Theatre, whose roaming street theatre project is named The Eccentric Director. Derby poet Jamie Thrasivoulou will be holding a poetry workshop and performance poet Sophie Sparham will be
holding writing workshops. The entries to the FFTS schools arts competition will also be exhibited. Everything for the annual festival is free, but donations can be made in support of the not-for-profit organisation which is funded by the National Lottery through Arts Council England with other support from the University of Derby, Derby City Council and The Cathedral Quarter as well as FFTS Events Ltd. For full details of what is going on and information about the organisation go to furthestfromthesea.co.uk
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n music Rock and Pop
Alstonefield Village Hall n Jon Allen – BBC Radio 2 playlisted singer promotes his new album, Blue Flame, May 26, 8pm. Tickets £15 on-line at WeGotTickets. com, or call 01335 310322/email avgconcerts@gmail.com. Buxton Opera House, and Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton n The Little Mix Experience, June 3, 3pm. n Killer Queen, June 8, 7.30pm. n Bla Bla Bla, Buxton Local Artists, a night of live music from some of the area’s top bands, Jnue 10, 7pm. n Dave Finnegan’s Commitments, June 15, 7.30pm. n Mark Anthony as Prince, June 21, 7.30pm.Details at buxtonoperahouse.org.uk Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Woodside Festival, Woodside Farm, Pit Lane, Shipley A day of live music, art, wild activities and good food and drink; all in support of local wildlife, June 16. This festival is about being entertained while getting closer to nature. The line-up includes The Tin Pigeons, Alex Blood and the Diggers, Strizzy Strauss, Scribble Victory, The In-Here Brothers, Charlotte Evans, Jamie Joseph, The Rogue Embers and Left Hand Drive. For tickets go to woodsidefestival. com or the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust website and shops. Dubrek Studios, Becket Street, Derby Ganglions, Bear Makes Ninja and Possum, June 29. Go to dubrek.co.uk for more details. Guildhall Theatre, Derby Sensation, ABBA Tribute Band, May 31 and June 1. For tickets to go derbylive.co.uk Queen’s Head, Belper n Celebrate Our NHS with Robb Johnson, June 9, nIntarsia featuring Jo May and
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receiving a paid gig at next year’s festival. As well as the music, there’s plenty to do; guided walks with the promise of an ice cream stop en-route, various EXILE Music Festival is probably the best kept secret activities for the children including storytelling, games in Derbyshire. Nestled in a beautiful wooded and a fancy dress parade. Several traders will be present valley, on privately owned land, this family friendly music to tempt you with their wares. festival takes place from June As usual Oxfam will set up 22-24 and features an eclectic their pop-up shop – a real Aladdin’s Cave of things you group of performers such as absolutely can’t do without. 3 Daft Monkeys (pictured), The bar is hosted by The Katie Spencer, The Herron Brothers, Loscoe State Opera, Fishpond at Matlock Bath, so festival-goers can be assured Annette Oakes and The of a well-stocked, bar. Idolins to name but a few. The festival is at Sabine Hay, “Exile Introduces” is Exile’s off Oldfield Lane, near Darley new initiative to showcase Dale. young, upcoming musicians. For more details of where The six competition finalists and how to get tickets go to will perform on the Sunday exilemusicfestival.co.uk afternoon, with the winner
Friendly festival for whole family
Sarah Matthews, June 22. For more details go to queensheadbelper. weebly.com The Venue, Derby n Tony Christie, June 8. More details from livemusicderby. co.uk
Folk and Jazz
Alstonefield Village Hall n Natalie Duncan, jazz/soul singer
and superb pianist, returning by popular demand, June 23. Tickets online at WeGotTickets.com, or call 01335 310322/email avgconcerts@ gmail.com. Belper Folk Club, Old King’s Head, Days Lane, Belper Every Tuesday at 8.30pm. For more details check out their facebook page or go to belperfolkclub.co.uk Buxton Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre Woody Mann, June 21, 7.30pm. artsbeat June 2018
n music A classical treat for music lovers GLOSSOP Music Festival returns this June for a three day celebration of worldclass classical music. The festival is launched on Thursday, June 21, with a free pop-up concert at Pico Lounge, featuring some of the musicians that will appear during the festival. Friday, June 22, sees a great friend of the festival, pianist Viv McLean, perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A major, and Matthew Truscott and Jan Peter Schmolck – lead violinists for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Orchestra of St John’s respectively – taking on Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. This concert is followed directly by a late night recital by Matthew Wadsworth on lute and theorbo, while Matthew Truscott stays to accompany on violin. On the morning of Saturday, June 23, the annual Family Chesterfield Jazz Club, Chester Street, Chesterfield More details at chesterfieldjazz. wordpress.com Chesterfield Folk Club, Chesterfield Library Theatre, New Beetwell Street, Chesterfield Vikki Clayton and Pete Morton, a fabulous double-header to end the current season on June 8. Vikki first came into folk music in the early 1980s with the folk/rock band Ragged Heroes. With a voice that sounded so much like the late Sandy Denny’s, Vikki was asked to join Fairport Convention; a liaison which lasted for a long period. Pete is the ever-popular singerartsbeat June 2018
Concert this year takes on a different slant, as the virtuosic actor, cellist and baritone, Matthew Sharp will perform his acclaimed one man show Tommy Foggo – Superhero. The show is a magical, multimedia interactive adventure; a tale of a life saved by music. Closing the festival that evening, Matthew Sharp performs the wistful Cello Concerto by Edward Elgar; a piece made famous by Jacqueline du Pré in the 1960s. Matthew will be songwriter from Leicester and his performances are always exciting to watch. More details at chesterfieldfolkclub.org Chesterfield Canal Trust Festival Concerts As part of their festival this summer, the Chesterfield Canal Trust is delighted to be putting on two evening concerts. On June 29 it will welcome the Swing Commanders and on June 30 it will present Some Antics and Judy Dunlop and Jon Scaife. Both concerts start at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from canalrivertrust.org.uk Derby Jazz, various Derby venues n Miles Ahead, jazz workshops for
accompanied by the Glossop Festival Orchestra. The concert also includes Schubert’s Symphony No 8, which, despite being unfinished with only two movements, offers us a “complete, essential, and mysterious symphonic experience” (Tom Service, The Guardian). Tickets for the 2018 festival are available from glossopmusicfestival.org.uk and from Bay Tree Books on High Street West, Glossop. children, University of Derby, Pybus Street, June 10, free. n Play Jazz, jazz workshops for adults, University of Derby, Pybus Street, June 27. Go to derby-jazz.co.uk for details. Derby Theatre The Big Chris Barber Band, June 27, 7.30pm. For tickets go to derbytheatre.co.uk Green Man Gallery, Buxton n The Sunday BuskStop, May 15. Free gig featuring local troubadour, Charlie Moritz, with soup, bread and cake for lunch. Free entry; donations invited. noon to 2pm. n Harp and a Monkey, June 30. See more details on page 49.
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n music Magic of music at Haddon Hall HADDON Hall has recently announced its programme of musical recitals to be performed in the hall, through until August. Music has always been of great importance at Haddon. In its Medieval and Elizabethan existence, music would have been an integral part of daily life, creating ceremony and entertainment for its household and guests. But in 1703, the family left and the hall fell silent, unlived, untouched and unaltered for 300 years, garnering the name of the Sleeping Beauty. With the arrival of its new family, Lord and Lady Edward Manners, it was decided that the best way to reawaken the hall and bring life to the home was through music. Now a vital part of the hall’s events calendar, Music at Haddon is becoming increasingly recognised on both a local and national level for its significance and for its quality, with Booking at the gallery, by phone 01298 937375 or online at wegottickets.com Sir William Hotel, Grindleford Open mic/acoustic music night, 8.30pm, normally last Friday in the month. See Sir William Open Mic Night facebook page for details about the next event. The Old Hall Hotel, Hope n Singers and musicians in the bar, 8pm, every second and fourth Wednesday of the month. n June 13, Railcar 49.
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musicians now requesting the opportunity to perform. Music at Haddon is an unusual experience for both the visitor and musician. Instead of formal ticketed performances, Haddon hosts informal recitals, which are included in the visitor admission fee. It is up to the musicians to select where they wish to play and what they play. With such interest from the musicians themselves to perform at the hall, this year sees more performances than ever before, carefully selected by the former Director of Music for n June 27, Rosie Arnfield, Go to folkandblues.wixsite.com for more details or call 07913331078. Tideswell Theatre, The Institute, Tideswell Brought to the village by Tideswell Theatre, Cenote is a duo consisting of Carol Fieldhouse (songwriter, vocals, piano and guitar) and Nigel Corbett (violin, bouzouki and guitar), June 9. Tickets from Tideswell Post Office and Litton Shop, and online at ticketsource.co.uk/ tideswelltheatre or 0772 9983005. More information about the music at
Derbyshire, Philip King. The full programme includes the likes of the North East Derbyshire Musical Centre String Quartet, harpist Sophie Rocks, The Sitwell Singers, the flautist Kirsten Sheldrake, De Mowbray’s Musicke, choirs, Lute players and singers. Recitals are held at 1noon and 2pm on selected days, allowing visitors to make the most of the event. On June 10 you can listen to the Cantabile Choir and on June 17 the B Natural Choir. For full details of all the musical events go to haddonhall.co.uk carolfieldhousemusic.com Village Folk, The Lawns Hotel, Chellaston, Derby n Kim Lowings and The Greenwood, June 9. Details at villagefolk.org
Classical Music
Bakewell Town Hall, Bakewell String Quintets and Sextets, Strauss, Mozart and Brahms, May 27, 7.30pm. More details at bakewelltownhall.co.uk artsbeat June 2018
n music Songs recalling The Great War FOLK experimentalists, Harp and A Monkey, pictured, return to The Green Man Gallery, in Buxton, on June 30 with a show telling the untold stories of World War 1 through original songs. There will be a pre-show talk on War Art by Dr Martin Purdy. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Booking is advised at the gallery, by phone 01298 937375 or online at wegottickets.com
The Little Mix Experience will be performing at Buxton Opera House on June 3 and again at The 3aaa County Ground, Derby, on July 19
Buxton Opera House, Buxton n Coffee Concert, All Saints Brass, June 1, 1pm. n Annual Gala Concert from the Peak District Music Centres, June 17, 2pm and 7pm. n The Kinder Children’s Choirs of the High Peak, In the Mood, June 23, 7.30pm. Details at buxtonoperahouse.org.uk artsbeat June 2018
Chapel Ladies Choir, Buxton Methodist Church Concert on June 30 at 7.30pm. The guests on this occasion will be Saddleworth Male Voice Choir. Tickets will be available from Hall’s Mica Hardware Store, in Chapel. For details go to chapel-en-lefrithladieschoir.co.uk
Chapel Male Voice Choir Long Way to Tipperary – Celebrating 100 years of the founding of the choir by returning servicemen, and the end of the Great War, A series of three free concerts held across the High Peak. The first is at All Saints Church, Glossop on Saturday June 30 at 7.30pm. The choir will perform an evening of songs , popular at the time of the conflict. (Part-funded by the National Lottery.) Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir, Chesterfield Parish Church (the Crooked Spire) Summer Concert entitled A Summer Celebration on June 30 at 7.30pm The programme will include works from John Rutter’s Anthems, European Sacred Music and Great Oratorio Choruses. They are delighted to welcome celebrated organist Jonathan Scott who will be joining them for this concert. Tickets can be obtained from choir members and Chesterfield Visitor Information Centre in Rykneld Square, 01246 34577718 and chesterfieldtheatres. co.uk. Tickets are also available online atchestphilchoir.org.uk and at the door on the evening of the concert.
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n music Arena stages parade of hits FASTLOVE, a show that is packed with crowd pleasing George Michael anthems is coming to Derby Arena on June 28. From the Wham classics of the new pop revival to the chart-topping success of the 80s album Faith, plus the awesome tunes of the nineties and noughties, this is a spell binding experience that can’t be missed. The audience will be getting up (to get down) to all their favourite songs including Careless Whisper, Freedom, Faith, Jesus to a Child and many more. Later in the month on June 29 Derby LIVE invites music fans to the arena for the biggest party of the year as the unstoppable Magic of Motown show steams into town. Derby Cathedral, Derby Summer Lunchtime Concerts, beautiful music in a beautiful setting all for free, 1pm-1.45pm every Friday. n Hannah Gobbett, clarinet, June 1. n Derby VoiceBox, June 8. n G-Mizz, Percussion, June 15. n Derby Arts Festival, June 22. n Adrian Lord, piano recital, June 29. n Luca Luciano, clarinet recital, July 6. n Gareth Stevens, Strig Quartet, July 13. n The Come and Sing Duruflé Requiem, June 23. More details from derbycathedral.org Derwent Singers Golden Jubilee Celebrations Concert July 7, 7:30pm, Derby Cathedral. A feast of exciting music from the baroque, with period instruments
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Fastlove, a tribute to the music of George Michael
Prepare yourselves for 40 back-to-back classic Motown hits, glittering costume changes, dazzling dance moves and outstanding musicianship in this explosive concert experience. Celebrate the sound of a generation as the timeless music of Marvin Gaye, – strings led by Nicolette Moonen, and cornetti-sackbut group The Six. Featuring Handel’s brilliant, fierce and dramatic Dixit Dominus, J S Bach’s joyous virtuoso double-choir motet Singet dem Herrn – and the unknown quantity, music from the Latin-American Baroque. Only recently come to light this vibrant colourful music, rhythmic and dance-like, with instruments and percussion, sounds remarkably modern. The four pieces, by Araujo, Padilla, Salazar and Zespedes, are guaranteed to send you dancing out of the cathedral. Tickets can be purchased at ticketsource.co.uk/ date/483542 Glebe Field Centre, Crich Award-winning ladies a capella group Ignite are performing at the Glebe, Crich, at 7.30pm on June 22.
Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jackson 5, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and many more are sensationally recreated by an exceptionally talented cast and band. For tickets go to derbylive. co.uk The concert is in aid of CHIKs, the local charity supporting families in Aduwa, Kenya, who are fostering homeless children. Also performing is Ukuladies +1 a popular women’s ukulele band which has evolved from the Fishpond Choir. Tickets £10 from the Glebe or 01773 857894, Deirdre 01773 853722 or Heather 01773 856212. Sitwell Singers Songs for the Summer with Tom Corfield on the organ, June 23, The Moravian Church, The Settlement, Ockbrook. Tickets £10 under 16s free available from sitwellsingers. org.uk, 01332 662519, Foulds music shop or on the door. A mixed programme of songs – some secular, some sacred, some silly – including works by Chilcott, Lennon and McCartney, Franck, Sullivan, Mendelssohn and more. artsbeat June 2018
stage
Catch the best shows and performances in the county Don’t miss your seat in this year’s departure lounge
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eparture Lounge is a fantastic summer festival of fresh and thrilling theatre with a bumper line-up of shows, workshops and talks coming to Derby Theatre from July 19-22. Performance highlights of the festival include A Self Help Guide To Being In Love With Jeremy Corbyn by Jess Green and the Mischief Thieves, an award-winning theatre company with a lyrical, powerful and humorous look at modern politics and Major Labia’s Vulva the Revolution, a frank frolic about love, life and labia from East Midlands’ Theatre Company who delight audiences with their ‘fanny funnies’. It’s definitely worth making sure you are in Intu in Derby for a performance of Town Choir by Theatre Replacement. It is a site-specific musical piece during which writers type out observations of the world unfolding around them, and in that same moment, a town choir receives these observations via a large screen and sings them out to the public. You can also get hands on with Dante or Die’s User Not Found, which will see audience members handed a smart phone and a pair of headphones to become a fly-
artsbeat June 2018
We Are Ian is being performed by In Bed With My Brother
on-the-wall of the life of a man facing the dilemma of whether or not he should delete his online legacy. Fever Dream’s Wrecked, is a gripping piece of site-specific theatre (in the Derby Theatre car park) where audience members are invited into a stolen car seconds after it has crashed, a powerful, intense and individual show experiencing the aftermath of a car accident. There will also be the chance to see Open Wound by Cheeky Chin, a Londonbased collective of theatre takers of East Asian origin; I’m Sticking with You by Pebble Gorge, a 15-minute, table-top performance which explores some of the feelings that have been running high in the UK since Brexit; and We Are Ian by In Bed With My Brother, a ‘mad-fer-it’ show which transports audiences back to 1989 and into the frenzied world of drugs, beats, bucket hats, acid parties. . .and
throwing two fingers up to Thatcher. Workshop, discussion and participatory highlights for 2018 include the return of the panel discussion which will focus on leadership in the arts. Chairing the discussion will be British freelance theatre critic, journalist and blogger, Matt Trueman. The panel of provocateurs will include: Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of London’s Young Vic; Sarah Brigham, Derby Theatre’s artistic director and chief executive; Jenny Sealey, artistic director of highly-acclaimed theatre company Graeae, who boldly place D/deaf and disabled actors centre stage; and Natalie Ibu, who is artistic director of British African theatre company, Tiata Fahodzi. n For full details of the Departure Lounge programme and to buy tickets go to derbytheatre.co.uk
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n stage Six wives reveal just how horrid Henry could be SIX women with one thing in common – Henry – the man they all had the misfortune to have married. The Regina Monologues is a modern retelling of the story of the king by Rebecca Russell and Jenny Wafer and is being performed by the Derby Shakespeare Theatre Company from June 21-23. The play, which has been described as ‘extremely funny and tear-to-the-eye poignant’, gives us a real insight into what each wife might really have thought of their situation. It puts it in a modern context and is constructed so that
it’s not just a series of six monologues spoken one after the other. Each wife takes a turn to reveal another bit of their story until all the tales reach their climax at once Director Niamh Mourton, who was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Eagle Awards, said: “Rehearsals are going really well,
Theatre
Belper Arts Festival n Marde Hen Productions present an evening of new writing, Mixed Up!, May 31-June 2, at the Strutts Centre, Belper. It contains strong language and scenes of a sexual nature, tickets from ticketsource. co.uk/mardehenproductions n Derwent Theatre presents Diva, a play by the Belper Arts Festival co-ordinator George Gunby, which is set in a changing room and tells the story of a Hollywood superstar Virginia Wilson returning to England. It is at The Unitarian Chapel, Field Row, Belper, on June 9, at 7.30pm; The Playhouse, Hasland, Chesterfield, June 23 and The Medway Centre, Bakewell, July 14. Tickets from belperpartsfestival.org Buxton Opera House, Buxton and Pavilion Arts Centre n The Kite Runner, based on
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Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong will be at Derby Theatre from June 11-16
Khaled Hosseini’s international bestselling novel. May 29-June 2 at 7.30pm with a matinee at 2.30pm on the Wednesday and Saturday. For more details go to buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
with scenes really taking shape and lots of story progression. “The actors are really embracing the complexities of each of their characters – all very different personalities with very individual back stories. “They’re taking on the challenges that come with a monologue-centred production like this. The actors are on stage all of the time and in character all of the time on and off script. “The mood changes swiftly: It’s a very powerful and passionate play full of the highs and lows of life,” added Niamh. The play will be performed at Shakespeare House, 93 Kedleston Road, Derby at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm. For tickets call 07870539522. Chatsworth Players, Chatsworth House Theatre, Chatsworth Noel Coward’s hilarious Blithe Spirit in Chatsworth’s unique and atmospheric family theatre from June 20 to 23. The Chatsworth Players were formed to perform in the theatre after it opened a decade ago and stage two classic performances every year. On Friday evening you can also enjoy a pre-show black-tie dinner at Chatsworth. Book early – these shows sell out quickly. Call Lindsay on 01629 810113 or go to chatsworthplayers.com Derby Theatre, Derby n Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. The stage version by Rachel Wagstaff is being presented by Birdsong Productions Ltd in association with The Original Theatre Company. Marking the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, Birdsong tells the story artsbeat June 2018
n stage of the passionate and dangerous affair between a young Englishman Stephen Wraysford and the beautiful Isabelle Azaire, June 11-16. n The Selfish Giant, for families, June 9, 12.30pm and 3pm. n Kubla Khan, a multi-sensory pleasure dome of a show for people aged three to 19 in three distinct versions: for those with profound and multiple learning disabilities; those on the autism spectrum and for those who are deafblind, all sessions are on June 16 and 17. Check for full details with the theatre. n The Wizard of Oz, a CS production by Centre Stage Theatre Arts, a Derby based musical youth The Chatsworth Players will be performing Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward in theatre company, June 21-23, the breathtakingly opulent Chatsworth House Theatre from June 20-23 7.30pm with a matinee at 2.30pm on the Saturday. Selector 90s, June 10, 8pm. n Watson Players, Five Blue n Scratch That Itch, hosted Haired Ladies Sitting on a Green n Barbara Nice, June 22, 8pm. by Derby Theatre and In Good Park Bench, a comedy by John A More details at derbytheatre.co.uk Company, June 23, 6pm. Go to Penzotti, June 20-23. Guildhall Theatre, Derby derbytheatre.co.uk for tickets. n Grace The Lighthouse Girl, songs n People’s Theatre Company Derby Theatre Studio and music by Phil Baggaley and present There Was an Old Lady who directed by Daniel Ellis. Following n The Classic Project, Arch 468 Swallowed a Fly, a family show, June the success of The Same Sky and presents a Theatre in the Mill 3, 2pm. Silver Darling this brand new musical commission written and performed n Kaleidoscope Players present brings to life the remarkable and by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, June Return of the Forbidden Planet, moving story of Grace Darling. It 1, 8pm. features a 12-piece band, June n The Bee Project, by Laura, Ryder loosely based on Shakespeare’s The 27.30.Tickets from derbylive.co.uk Tempest and the sci-fi classic film and Co, June 8, 8pm. n Patrick Monahan: Rewind Forbidden Planet, June 14-16. Matlock Gilbert and Sullivan Society The Sorcerer, Medway Centre, Germaine adds to Bakewell, June 7-9. For tickets go to the medwaycentre.co.uk or the conversation telephone Nic Wilson on 01629 812276. GERMAINE Greer is one of the leading voices in the Dance feminist movement and Buxton Opera House, and Pavilon an outspoken writer and Arts Centre, Buxton academic. The Royal Ballet presents a live Her ideas have created screening of Swan Lake at Buxton controversy ever since her first book The Female Eunuch. Cinema, June 12, 7.15pm.For more She will be the Guildhall details go to buxtonoperahouse. Theatre, Derby on June 8 at org.uk 7.30pm, to talk about latest Déda, Chapel Street, Derby book Women For Life On Earth n Silk Road, presented by Agudo as part of the Derby Book Dance Company, June 7, 7.30pm.A Festival. universal and personal story of East Tickets from derbylive.co.uk meets West in the 21st century. artsbeat June 2018
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n stage Historic setting for period drama BUXTON Drama League opens up the great archives of British social history with the latest production Telling Lives, which will also be the first play to be performed in the newly reopened Pump Room in Buxton. Telling Lives, by Eric Northey, is a drama-fiction based upon the lives of the patients and staff who were at Prestwich Asylum on the eve of the First World War, researched from records of the asylum in the Lancashire county archives. The play uses Brechtian techniques, with song, dance and actors doublingup roles to break down the barriers between doctors and patients, the mad and the sane, actors and audience. It also uses blown-up photographs and the testaments and words of patients, doctors, nurses and administrators as discovered in the archives. Despite being set during a particular time in our history, Telling Lives raises questions about our current attitudes towards mental ill-health. It follows the fortunes In collaboration with the Indian dancer Mavin Khoo, Agudo weaves his Flamenco roots with a unique contemporary style. More details at deda.uk.com
Comedy
Buxton Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre, Buxton n Buxton Buzz Comedy Club, June 1, 8pm. Headlining is Andy
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The Pump Room in its heyday and inset Lily Handley who inspired the writing of Telling Lives
of young, idealistic Dr Perceval as he tries out his new methods to find a cure for madness through measurement. Central to his task is Lily Handley. Eric said: “When she was 21 she had a baby out of wedlock and that sad fact sealed her fate. Her photo looks directly at the viewer, making real contact with us, in a kind of wistful appeal.’’ Director of Telling Lives is Terry Naylor,said: “I found Telling Lives a truly inspiring, challenging and stylistically unusual piece. It grips the audience from the start.” And the play is so relevant:
women still have their children taken from them and poverty drives mental illness everywhere. “I am really excited to be working with such a talented cast from Buxton Drama League to bring this remarkable play to life at such a prestigious venue as the Pump Room, very fitting as the original asylums were built to very grand proportions indeed. Buxton had Wye House, erected by the Duke of Devonshire for the ‘incarceration of the middle and upper classes’.” Telling Lives is on from July 4-7, at 7pm. For tickets go to buxtonoperahouse.org.uk
Watson and he will be joined by Paul Thorne and Howard Walker. More information at buxtonoperahouse. org.uk
n The Old Bell, Derby, June 29, Russell Hicks, Ben Briggs, and Joby Mageean,with compere Tony Cowards n Blessington Carriage, June 4, headlining the night will be the quietly confident, appealing and quick-witted Ben Briggs who takes his audience on a hilarious journey with his amazingly funny stories. The support is the genial Andy Barr with his unique tales and personal
Cabaret Boom Boom, Medway Centre, Bakewell Live fun returns to Bakewell on June 22 at 8pm. Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets at medwaycentre.co.uk Funhouse Comedy Club, various locations
artsbeat June 2018
n stage experiences; he draws the audience into his world. Also appearing will be the refreshingly honest Calum Stewart, with his self-deprecating deadpan humour and the cheeky, likeable Jim Bayes telling his well crafted jokes and silly stories.Compere for the night will be the lively and likeable Spiky Mike. Book tickets for all shows at funhousecomedyclub.co.uk
Spoken word
Buxton Opera House, Buxton Joss Naylor and Steve Chilton, Lowepro Buxton Adventure Festival talk, June 19, 7.30pm.For tickets go to buxtonfestival.co.uk Derby Theatre, Derby n Ken Clarke MP in conversation with Alan Johnson, June 1, 7.45pm. n The Mozart Question, narrated by Sir Michael Morpurgo, June 9, 7.30pm. n An Evening with England’s World Cup Winner Sir Geoff Hurst, June 17, 7.30pm. n Dan Snow – The History Guy, June 25, 7.30pm. For tickets go to derbytheatre.co.uk
Join Barbara’s game of chance THE Edinburgh Fringe’s favourite housewife Barbara Nice aka Phoenix Nights’ actor and comedian Janice Connolly brings her playful life-affirming show to Derby Theatre on Friday, June 22, at 8pm. The event includes the chance to win a prize off Barbara’s table. She will definitely put a smile on your face and a spring in your step with this show about chance and luck. Tickets from derbytheatre.co.uk artsbeat June 2018
Silk Road will be presented by Agudo Dance Company at Deda in Derby on June 7 at 7.30pm PICTURE: Danilo Moroni
Derby Poetry Society Pat Winslow reads her own poetry, June 8. Monthly meetings on the second Friday of the month. Room 3, Friends’ Meeting House, Derby, 7.30pm. Contact Gina Clarke on 01773 825215 for details. Guildhall Theatre, Derby n The Adventures of Andy Kershaw, June 2.
n Professor Robert Winston, June 7, 7pm. n Mark Beaumont, June 7, 7.30pm. n Germaine Greer, June 8, 7.30pm. All speakers are part of the Derby Book Festival. Go to derbylive.co.uk for tickets. Matlock Storytelling Cafe, Imperial Rooms, Matlock A Spell In Time, an acclaimed British-Bulgarian storytelling company that brings the power and magic of Bulgaria’s myths and folk tales to UK audiences will be presenting A Bear’s Son on June 1. Performers are: Moni Sheehan, storyteller, and Ivor Davies, musician. Always the first Friday of the month. Doors open at 6.30pm with stories at 7.30pm. More details at matlockstorytellingcafe.co.uk Scrivener’s Bookshop, Buxton n Book Club, first Wednesday of every month 7-8pm. Everyone welcome. Call 01298 73100. n Storytelling Sundays: these free meetings are held on the second Sunday of the month, from 2-3.30pm, at Scrivener’s Books, 42 High Street, Buxton.Telephone 0129871622.
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FOREST FESTIVAL
Timber will shine a spotlight on trees and the natural environment
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imber is an extraordinary new festival where music, forests, arts and ideas will weave together an exhilarating weekend in the heart of the National Forest. Festival-goers will be able experience the transformative impact of forests with artists, musicians, scientists and thinkers. The programme includes plenty of music around the campfire and on three main stages. There will also be sound installations,
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storytelling, soundscapes and DJ sets in the woods. Writers, artists, poets, scientists, philosophers and educators will re-imagine what woodlands and trees mean to us, how we live in nature and will examine our relationship with the world around us. There will also be some fantastic circus, theatre, comedy and dance within the woodland playground and you will be able to get hands-on learning new skills and crafts. Torchlight processions, light projections, fire gardens and
luminous installations, will be lighting up the forest after dark. The festival, organised by the National Forest in association with Wild Rumpus, is taking place from July 6-8 at Feanedock, a 70-acre native broadleaf woodland site on the Leicestershire/Derbyshire border. The environment and sustainability are at the heart of the event. n For more information about tickets, and how to get there, go to timberfestival.org.uk artsbeat June 2018
attitude
Comment and opinion from reviewers and readers Belper Players always pay attention to detail
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hen you have young actors with the talent of Joseph Riley, pictured centre, among your ranks it must be tempting to chose a production so you can match them to a character they were born to play. I have no idea if that’s what Belper Players did when selecting Billy Liar as their spring show, but the leading role definitely had that young man’s name written all over it and he clearly relished the part. Whether he was lumbering about in his dressing gown dishevelled and sleepy-eyed, wooing the ladies with his sexual charm or weaving his way through a maze of fibs and fabrications, Riley was excellent. That’s not to say this was a one-man show. He might have been the central character, but surrounding him were a strong team of actors, not least the brilliant Mik Horvath who gave a tremendous performance as feckless Billy’s exasperated, hard working father Geoffrey. He and Verna Bayliss as the long-suffering mother Alice, were a good solid post-war middle aged couple struggling to understand the flawed hero in their midst. Billy has three girls on the go. He has two of them fighting over one engagement ring and artsbeat June 2018
a third wanting him to run away and get married. Lou Jenkins perfected the part of the frigid, orange-eating Barbara who dreams of the perfect home and family while Brianna Undy’s feisty and ferocious Rita came across as a girl you definitely wouldn’t want to mess about. Mollie Middleton is another young actor to watch in the future. She did a good job of bringing out the tenderhearted side of Billy’s old flame Liz. What is always impressive about a Belper Players production is the attention to detail and the set design. Everything from the newspaper Geoffrey was reading to the Tetley’s ashtray and Dionne Warwick singles on the sideboard were carefully chosen. They were using a newly created studio at The Strutt Centre in Belper and director Jane Wilton had made the whole occasion a totally
immersive experience for the audience from the minute they began to walk up the stairs to the auditorium. The Players even extended their efforts into the bar during the interval with extra entertainment and members of the cast in character. The rest of the cast not mentioned so far were Lisa Benson as Florence Boothroyd (grandma) and Andrew Barlow as Arthur Crabtree. Taking part in the extra curricular activities were children from Propbox Theatre, Isabelle Graham, Isabella Margiotta, Bella Stevens, Thomas Dickinson, George Dickinson and Oscar Harrington; John Briscoe as Cliff the Compere; Tracey Wilkinson and Tina Hampton as the Sounds of the Sisters and Roger Whiting, John Taylor, John Briscoe and Jeremy Crane as Shadrack and the Shovellers. The set design was by Barry Brown and lighting and sound by Jamie Vella. AP
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n attitude Classical music reviews by Mike Wheeler Derby Chamber Music: Martin Cousin, Multi-Faith Centre, Derby University Pianist Martin Cousin has played for Derby Chamber Music before, as part of the Aquinas Trio, with DCM patron, cellist Katherine Jenkinson, but this was his first solo recital here. He began JS Bach’s English Suite No 6 with a tendency to over-romanticise the Prelude’s opening section, but the allegro had a well-maintained sense of momentum. The concluding Gigue was kept spinning purposefully. Cousin mined a vein of stark, overheated intensity in Chopin’s Sonata No 2, with a keen ear for the first movement’s dialogue between the frantic and the lyrical. He faced the weird, rushing finale head-on, bringing it as close to Skryabin (and mature Skryabin, at that) as I’ve ever heard. The barn-storming opening to the first movement of Brahms’s Sonata No 3 was delivered with power and vehemence, balanced by the love-song second movement. There was a headlong dash and fire to the waltz-fantasy Scherzo, and just enough hint of a funeral march in the fourth movement Intermezzo for us to get the link with the third movement of the Chopin. Brahms goes out in a kind of baroque carnival, with chorales and Bachian counterpoint driving the finale forward to a close, poised equivocally between
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Sheku, Isata,and Braimah Kanneh-Mason
joy and defiance, boldly presented by Cousin in all its ambivalence. Kanneh-Mason Trio, St John’s Church, Derby The three senior KannehMason siblings – Braimah, violin; Sheku, cello; and Isata, piano – were in Derby for a concert celebrating their individual and collective talents. The puppyish ebullience of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in E flat, Op 1 No 1, suited this youthful ensemble down to the ground. But they were attuned to more introspective moments, as well as alert to Beethoven’s musical humour in the finale. Braimah and Isata found a vein of fragility in Rachmaninov’s Vocalise, before Isata struck a balance between impetuousness and singing lyricism in the first movement of Chopin’s Sonata No 3. The trio came back together to start the second half with the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 2 in C minor. There was a nice
feeling of subdued tension to the opening, and they broadened out for the second theme without making it sound forced. Isata seemed in full command of the hair-raising virtuosity of ‘Scarbo’ from Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit, and was then rejoined by Sheku for a wistful account of the Sicilienne once attributed to 18th-century composer Maria Theresia von Paradis, but almost certainly by 20th-century violinist Samuel Dushkin. Sheku’s own transcription of Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry pays its dues to a whole range of solo cello music, from JS Bach onwards, and deserves to be taken up by other players. Finally, all three were back on stage for two of their own transcriptions. Deep River, from Samuel ColeridgeTaylor’s 24 Negro Melodies, had nicely-judged sense of yearning. Monti’s Czardas was soulful in the opening, and they pitched into the fast section at a good, impetuous, rip-it-up tempo. artsbeat June 2018
n attitude Book reveals the importance of our librarians Are we shaped by the libraries of our childhood or by the librarians who ran them? Salley Vickers answers that question in her new novel – The Librarian. In 1958 Sylvia Blackwell, the eponymous librarian, has moved to the small, conservative town of East Mole. Some people pass on no love of reading to their children: it is for children who risk losing out that Sylvia works, such as the doctor’s precocious daughter, and Sam, the son of Sylvia’s working class neighbours, and the twins who seem to do nothing but shout. For Sam reading could open up the world of the mind and the world of education, too, as he is grammar school material, in
Powerful play is a story of survival Mountains: The Dreams of Lily Kwok is a compelling story of survival and determination that considers the desire to understand family history – however painful it may be. The play, by award-winning writer In-Sook Chappell, is based on Helen Tse’s bestselling novel Sweet Mandarin and tells the extraordinary tale of the women behind the famous Manchester artsbeat June 2018
Review by Les Hurst of Scarthin Books, Cromford
a time when only a grammar school offered escape. Sylvia meanwhile has adult interests including a relationship with an older man whose intentions might not be good. Can she keep her reputation when gossip can be devastating? And at a time when Lady Chatterley’s restaurant of the same name. Brought up in England by her Chinese family, Helen, played by Siu-See Hung, has always felt that a part of her story was missing. Determined to fill in the gaps and discover who she really is, the Cambridge-educated lawyer heads out to Hong Kong to visit her mother’s birthplace for the first time. She thought she would feel at home there but instead feels lost and out of place. Emotionally she conjures up her now-dead grandmother Lily Kwok (Tina Chiang)
Lover still has to be smuggled into the country, what books might the library contain that could only be loaned to those faultless in the community? And what sanction might a librarian face who lost such a work from the stacks? Salley Vickers works it all out. In a coda set much later some of the children, long grown-up, discuss Sylvia and the effect she had on them. Salley Vickers had her own Miss Blackwell when she was a young reader, though, as someone who was more influenced by the school book cupboard and book box, The Librarian had a double-benefit for me: to understand a woman such as Sylvia in her time, and to understand what our librarians do for our children still. Open libraries will open us as well. The Librarian, by Salley Vickers Viking £16.99 and together they step inside her family’s past and unearth tragic secrets and shocking realities that will change Helen’s life forever. On her journey, which skips backwards and forwards through time, the pragmatic Helen encounters murder, the wartime invasion by the Japanese, racism and poverty. The powerful play, directed by Jennifer Tang, at Derby Theatre, was both touchingly intimate and disturbingly brutal but it certainly enabled the audience to empathise with the extraordinary life of Lily Kwok. AP
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n bookshelf
n When I Hit You: or A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife By Meena Kandasamy (Atlantic Books, £6.99)
Seduced by politics, poetry and an enduring dream of building a better world together, a young woman falls in love with a university professor. Marrying him and moving to a rain-washed coastal town, she swiftly learns that what for her is a bond of love is for him a contract of ownership. As he sets about bullying her into his ideal of an obedient wife, and devouring her ambition of being a writer in the process, she begins to push back – a resistance he resolves to break with violence and rape. This book has been shortlisted for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction
n The Little Library Cookbook, By Kate Young (Head of Zeus, £25)
Paddington Bear’s marmalade, a Neopolitan pizza with Elena Ferrante, afternoon tea at Manderley... Here are 100 delicious recipes inspired by
Bookshelf this month features a small selection of the many titles that will be talked about at the Derby Book Festival. Go to derbybookfestival.co.uk for more details of all events
cookery writer Kate Young’s well-stocked bookshelves. From Before Noon breakfasts and Around Noon lunches to Family Dinners and Midnight Feasts, The Little Library Cookbook captures the magic and wonder of the meals enjoyed by some of our bestloved fictional characters. Kate will be judging a Derby Bake Off competition by catering students from Derby College who will be preparing some of her recipes at the Engine Shed Restaurant in the Roundhouse, Derby on June 5.
n The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock By Imogen Hermes Gowar (Vintage Publishing, £12.99) Already hailed as this year’s Essex Serpent, The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock is also on the shortlist for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. It’s an autumn night in 1785. Merchant Jonah Hancock waits anxiously for news of
his ship, but a knocking at the door brings him instead a curio beyond his imagining: a sea goblin, a monster, a mermaid. As the whisper of his find spreads across London, Jonah finds himself swept into an ambitious, topsy-turvy world of collectors, voyeurs, brothels and courtesans and into the path of Angelica Neal, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
n Sticks and Stones By Jo Jakeman (Vintage Publishing, £12.99)
Imogen’s husband is a bad man. His ex-wife and his new mistress might have different perspectives but Imogen thinks she knows the truth. And now he’s given her an ultimatum: get out of the family home in the next fortnight or I’ll fight you for custody of our son. In a moment of madness, Imogen does something unthinkable: she locks her husband in the cellar. Now she’s in control. But how far will she go to protect her son and punish her husband? And what will happen when his ex and his girlfriend get tangled up in her plans? Sticks and Stones is a deliciously twisting psychological thriller. Jo Jakeman is a Derby Book Festival volunteer who was inspired by one of the previous debut authors at the event in 2016.
Bookshelf is sponsored by Scarthin Books, of Cromford 60
artsbeat June 2018
cinema
This month the focus turns on New Mills for a feast of film Second season a must-see treat for all cinema fans
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he High Peak Independent Film Festival, launched last summer, is returning to New Mills Art Theatre this month. The four-day festival will showcase local, national and international talent and will include 60 shorts and feature films from the UK, USA, Norway, Iran, and France. It will also be staging some British and International film premieres, including the awardwinning French feature film The Portrait. The film, directed by Christophe Leclaire, is set in the early 20th century, when Lazar, a taciturn woodsman, played by Nicolas Gruber, pictured, asks the disenchanted portraitist Arkadi to immortalise his child. The execution of this portrait will unsettle both men while revealing their inner fears and change their outlook on life. The High Peak festival, which runs from June 14-17, will also see the return of filmmakers and actors, who won awards at the 2017 event, including young filmmaker Olivia Maiden, best documentary winner Debbie Howard, best actor Farid Zarrinbal and best student film producer Chloe McMahon. Special events being staged artsbeat June 2018
The Portrait is showing at the High Peak Independent Fim Festival this month
over the weekend include: a ten-hour film making challenge; a panel discussion on Women in Film and Television; a talk by Film Festival Doctor Rebekah Louisa Smith and, on the Friday, evening musical entertainment from Tideswell Band. The brass band will be presenting all your favourite film tunes in A Night at the Movies. On the festival’s last night there will be a prestigious
awards ceremony, open to anyone who wishes to attend. The festival also promises to hold some great networking events and parties over the weekend. Festival director, Nicole Pott, said: “We have been working hard to make sure that the High Peak Independent Film Festival of 2018 keeps our values on supporting new talent and we have worked to make our festival greater than our successful inaugural year.� To find out about full film festival schedules and how to get tickets, go to highpeakindie.com or find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram under @highpeakindie. Ninety per cent of all profits will go to the restoration of New Mills Art Theatre.
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contemporary fine art and creative hub
Original paintings, drawings, prints, ceramics, photographs, textiles, mixed-media, jewellery and other locally made unique gifts for sale. A varied programme of exhibitions, workshops, art events and live music. Large workshop space for hire. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs.
10:30 - 16:30 10:30 - 16:30 10:30 - 16:30 CLOSED
Fri. Sat. Sun.
10:30 - 16:30 10:30 - 16:30 11:30 - 16:30
Hardwick Hall, Hardwick Square South, Buxton SK17 6PY 01298 937375 07977 956707 thegreenmangallery.com hello@thegreenmangallery.com
Great Dome Art and Design Fair
Over 50 Artisan Stalls Handmade Products Original Artwork Unique Gifts Free Talks and Demos Artists’ Postcard Raffle
13th July - 15th July 2018 Fri 6.30pm - 8.30pm Sat-Sun 10am - 5pm Devonshire Dome, Buxton Derbyshire SK17 6RY peakdistrictartisans.co.uk
This June in the Studio at Derby Theatre The Class Project
The Bee Project
Friday 1 June, 8pm
Friday 8 June, 8pm
A show about belonging, tribes, families, class mobility, social mobility and being a Thatcher’s child.
A show filled with movement, glitter and friendship.
Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions) Age Guide: 11+
Patrick Monahan: Rewind Selector 90s
Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions) Post-Show discussion Age Guide: 12+
Barbara Nice
Sunday 10 June, 8pm
Friday 22 June, 8pm
From award-winning Patrick, inspired by his Irish/Iranian/Teesside teens in the 90s.
Edinburgh’s Fringe’s favourite housewife, an evening of proper good fun guaranteed to put a smile on your face and a complimentary raffle ticket.
Tickets: £12.50 (£10.50 concessions) Age Guide: 14+
Box Office 01332 593939 Book Online derbytheatre.co.uk
Tickets: £14.50 (£12.50 concessions) Age Guide: 14+