26 | August 8, 2013 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
The critical list: more hot tickets Round-up
Theatre
ɀ CATCH a rare chance to speak to war ar veterans. The IWM Duxford is hosting a five-day Meet the Veterans event where you’ll get to speak to people who survived the Second World War, the Malayan Conflict, the Korean War and contemporary conflicts including Northern Ireland, the Falklands War, Iraq and Afghanistan. You’ll get to ask questions, learn about life in the Forces e and what it was like growing up on the Home Front. It’s on Sunday, August 11, and Tuesday, August 13, to Thursday, August 15, from 11am-1pm; usual admission charges apply.
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ɀ LOCAL historian Bridget Holmes will be describing the life and work of a rather enterprising doctor in a talk at the Museum of Cambridge (formerly the Folk Museum). As part of the museum’s ‘Hale, Healthy and Hearty’ programme, Medicine and Mesmerism: The story of Dr Tubbs will take a peek into the world of Tubbs who used mesmerism to perform operations in the days before anaesthetics. Ouch. The talk starts at 7pm on Thursday, August 15, and tickets cost £6 from (01223) 355159. ɀ PACK a picnic and settle in for a morning of time travelling at Wandlebury Country Park. On Wednesday, August 14, from 10am12.30pm, help discover evidence of the past around the site, get mucky making Celtic style artefacts and miniature wattle panels (it’s like fencing), plus try out making full-scale wattle panels. Go on – it’ll definitely use up some energy. Suitable for over-5s, tickets cost £6.50 per child and adults go free. Book on (01223) 243830. ɀ THIS weekend it’s the fourth annual Greenstage Free Festival in Horningsea. Featuring more than 40 folk bands and singer-songwriters, the three-day festival (tomorrow until Sunday), is on at the Plough and Fleece pub. Chow down on burgers from the barbecue, try a guitar, tai chi or percussion workshop, listen to some live music – and it’s all for free don’t you know. For more details, call (01223) 860795 or visit www.cluzionmusic.org.uk. ɀ FOODIES: Prepare to feel legshakingly hungry; Fitzbillies’ Tim Hayward will be chatting about his book, Food DIY in Ely tomorrow. It’s the writer and presenter’s first book (he’s a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme and runs Fitzbillies bakery with wife Alison), and it’s beautiful. You’ll be able to grill Tim in person when he’ll be discussing a host of nifty cookery tricks, from how to make your own butter and cheese, to spit roasting a whole lamb. It starts at 7.30pm and tickets cost £6 from www.toppingbooks. co.uk.
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HIS summer we have already been treated to outdoor performances of The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Cymbeline and Much Ado About Nothing (check out our reviews on cambridgenews.co.uk/whatson), and now we’re into the second half of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival’s programme. Here’s what to expect:
Richard III, St John’s College Gardens SINCE his mortal remains were dug up in a Leicester car park last year, Plantagenet hunchback Richard III has gone storming up the list of interesting royals, so it’s timely for the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival to tackle the history play that bears his name. And by history play, of course, I mean loosely-based-on-history play, because Shakespeare’s tale of this country’s “worst king”
Cambridge Shakespeare Festival: Part II contains about as much truth as your average boasting contest. Anne Neville, for example, is sketched as a woman so insubstantial she literally steps over the body of her first husband to get to the body of her second. (Even Richard seems surprised his woo-ing worked.) Freeing the eponymous antihero from his historical inspiration can work wonders, and here Andrew P Stephen creates a monarch who is part mischievous imp and part slow-boil deviant. His hunched manner, wobbly gait and bald head called to mind Gollum; particularly on the occasions he broke the fourth wall to address the audience directly. And in a piece so short of comic relief that its main laughs come during the murder of the Duke of Clarence, Stephen also prompted some giggles. Hannah Dunleavy
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Homerton College Gardens WE had wine, we had popcorn, we had sunshine. That is pretty fairy tale-like in itself, don’t you think? Then you add in Homerton College gardens as a venue – think spongy green lawns, mullioned windows, discreet statues whiffing of class – and you begin to really understand the charm of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. Plus, to the spiralling notes of a recorder, out rush a cast so enthusiastic, so giddily skittish (which is exactly what you need for a mischievous performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and basically, you have it nailed. A tale of love, magic and laughter, muddled by some rather dubious potions for twisting and skewing hearts thanks to the creepily impish Puck, director Ant
Stone’s interpretation is a true Shakespearean romp. And it’s funny to boot. The lovers waft in and out, screeching out affections and hatreds with equal mirth, rushing about in bare feet and floaty outfits, suitably caught up in the imaginary branches of the Bard’s forest. While they are convincing (particularly the tangle-haired Hermia, played by Mabel Wright), and entertaining (Helena Payne as the lovesick Helena brings gangly, physical comedy), the true laughs come from Bottom (Eddie Beardsmore), despite being an ass, the star of the play within the play. It will definitely have you chuckling. Ella Walker ᔡ Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, various Cambridge University College gardens, Monday, July 29 – Saturday, August 24 at 7.30pm. Tickets £15 from www. cambridgeshakespeare.com.