WHAT’S ON

WHAT’S ON in April

Abbey House and Gardens

The Roman Baths Photo by Rebecca Faith

Ralph Fiennes will direct and star in Four Quartets

DREAM SPACE BATH

n Throughout April The team behind National Lottery funded community project Dream Space invites you to explore a new online exhibition of more than 50 moving and thoughtprovoking poems, songs, spoken-word performances and reflections on the pandemic, the climate crisis, and racism in Bath. These are all presented through a series of short films, audio podcast episodes and a stories gallery. The exhibition is free to visit throughout April. thedreamspace.co.uk

BRLSI: EATING UP EASTER

n 8 April, 7.30pm BRLSI’s Geography and Adventure Group will show the award-winning film Eating Up Easter in a live Zoom event on 8 April. In the film, native Rapanui (Easter Island) filmmaker Sergio Mata’u Rapu will narrate to his son the modern dilemma of their people who risk losing everything to the globalising effects of tourism. Filmmakers Sergio and Elana Rapu will join the Zoom event with Tod Hardin, COO of Plastic Ocean International, to answer questions at the end of the 37-minute film. Tickets cost £5 for visitors and £2 for members and students. brlsi.org

LAURA LEXX: KNEE JERK

n 10 April, 8pm, online Star of BBC Two’s Live at the Apollo, Laura Lexx shines a light on how hard it is to be a good person these days Following a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, which earned her a prestigious Comedian’s Choice Award for the second year in a row, Lexx takes on society’s big issues: social media, mental health, climate change and conceiving. The performance will be streamed live via Zoom. rondotheatre.co.uk

MONKTON COMBE: EASTER REVISION COURSES

n 12–16 April, online Monkton’s Easter Revision courses will be running online this year, focusing on helping pupils who are studying for their GCSEs or IGCSEs. The courses, designed by Monkton’s experienced teachers, many of whom are themselves GCSE examiners, are there to offer individual guidance, support and assist with any challenges that may arise. Register your interest at monktoncombeschool.com.

CREATING SPACES 2021

n Until 31 May Rufus Pollard of Malmesbury Abbey House invites you to see its selection of sculptures in the gardens. Work includes figurative and abstract sculpture in wood, ceramic, glass, stone and bronze, all complementing the beautiful gardens with their long vistas, intimate corners, and the riverside walk. In addition, the Belvedere, a wood and glass space looking out on to the valley below, will display wall pieces, hanging sculptures and wood carvings. See website for opening times. abbeyhousegardens.co.uk; cotswoldsculptorsassociation.com

DAYS OUT AT LUCKNAM

n 12 April, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa Lucknam Park is reopening its doors with three luxury self-catered cottages alongside al fresco dining, spa days and a host of outdoor experiences to be enjoyed within 500 acres of beautiful gardens and parkland. lucknampark.co.uk

BOOKING AHEAD

THE ROMAN BATHS

n Reopening on 17 May The Roman Baths is set to reopen its doors to the public on 17 May, and staff are looking forward to welcoming the first visitors of 2021. The historic site has been closed since 31 December in line with Government guidance.Tickets from 17 May until the end of August are now on sale. All visitors must book in advance, and current guidelines mean that people can only visit with members of their household or bubble. romanbaths.co.uk

FOUR QUARTETS

n 25 May –5 June, Theatre Royal Bath Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in a world première adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets to welcome audiences back to live theatre. Compelling, moving and symphonic, Four Quartets offer four interwoven meditations on the nature of time, faith, and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. theatreroyal.org.uk

THE ARTS

There is a Candle in Your Heart by Mick Lindburg

DAVID SIMON CONTEMPORARY

davidsimoncontemporary.com; 37 High Street, Castle Cary BA7 7AW

MICK LINDBERG: FACES OF HOPE

6 March – 10 April 2021

Celebrating 15 years this March, David Simon Contemporary is pleased to present this refreshing solo exhibition. Mick Lindberg’s second solo exhibition with David Simon Contemporary has been nearly 12 months in the making. Over this period, the world has seen an extraordinary time, which has prompted the artist to explore the many ways in which we seek hope.

The unique work by this Swedish-born artist depicts narratives in an almost painterly manner, making use of pattern and texture from her archive of vintage and antique fabrics. At the same time, the quality of stitching and intricate layering of materials makes each piece an exquisitely finished accomplishment. The faces that appear in Lindberg’s compositions are engaging –this is an exhibition that will not fail to arouse an emotional response.

VICTORIA ART GALLERY

victoriagal.org.uk Bridge Street, Bath BA2 4AT

KURT JACKSON: BIODIVERSITY

Opening online on 29 March

The future survival of the planet’s fauna and flora is the zeitgeist, and the buzzword of this subject is biodiversity: the spectrum of life, the variety and range of different species of plant and animal to be found living in one place is referred to as the biodiversity of that location. It is used as a measure of how well or poorly natural life is coping, it is a mark of how ecological processes are faring.

With a series of paintings, sculptures and mixed media works this exhibition will aim to show what an amazingly biodiverse world we still live in and how this is changing. All these life forms have the same entitlement to live as we do and fundamentally they are all individually fascinating, extraordinary and beautiful organisms in their own right. By being aware of the life we share this planet with we can appreciate it and then conserve it.

Image: Strandline, 2019

THE HOLBURNE MUSEUM

holburne.org Great Pulteney Street, Bathwick, Bath BA2 4DB

GARDEN CAFE

Reopens on 12 April Although we may have to wait a little longer for The Holburne Museum’s doors to reopen, we can once again enjoy its Garden Cafe from 12 April. The cafe is run by Benugo and shares the museum’s opening hours, with the last order taken half an hour before it closes.

THOMAS LAWRENCE: COMING OF AGE 17 May

Thomas Lawrence: Coming of Age will be moving online this May. The Holburne Museum’s first virtual show will give fresh insight into the first 25 years of one of Britain’s greatest portrait painters and will include films, games and rarely seen images together with some of his most celebrated works.

CANALETTO: PAINTING VENICE 17 May

The Holburne Museum is gearing up to present the most important set of paintings of Venice by Canaletto, which will leave their home at Woburn Abbey – one of world’s most renowned private art collections – for the first time in more than 70 years.

RARE ISLAMIC METALWORK FROM THE COURTAULD 17 May

The Holburne Museum will show ten remarkable highlights from The Courtauld’s world-class collection of Islamic metalwork, which has rarely left London since their bequest over 50 years ago.

Dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, these objects are some of the finest examples of this intricate craft from modern-day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Turkey. n

Festival fever is back

The Bath Festival 2021 celebrates the best in music and books in a beautiful city. The diverse programme starts in May and ranges from talks and discussions to poetry, concerts and theatre. Here are some highlights of what’s to come

This year’s festival has adapted by dividing itself in two, and adding a virtual element. The festival from 17–24 May focuses on books and music and the Finale Weekend will take place on 7 and 8 August. As ever, events will showcase Bath for a global audience, in some of the city’s historic and glorious historic buildings. Those not able to gather in person can also enjoy The Bath Festival At Home selection of events at their own leisure, available from 28 May.

The Bath Festival is able to use the city’s historic buildings and they are adaptable for use, adhering to socially distanced rules with their spacious rooms and high ceilings. Audience and artists’ safety is paramount and Bath Festivals has been accredited with a Good To Go status by Visit England.

The live events during May will see some of the brightest talent from the worlds of music and books, along with discussions about the big issues of our time. Listen to best-selling authors and experts in their field sharing their experiences. Here are some highlights:

Dr Rachel Clarke, author of Breathtaking, an unflinching insider’s account of medicine in the time of coronavirus.

11am–12.15pm, 22 May, Bath Forum

Ted Hughes Award winner poet Hollie McNish, whose live readings are mesmerising. Hollie will be reading from her much-anticipated new collection: Slug...and other things I’ve been told to hate.

7.30pm, 22 May, Assembly Rooms

As 2020 saw huge numbers of us suddenly adapt to entirely new ways of working. Speaker, career coach and journalist Harriet Minter will be talking to Bath blogger Sarah Baker.

12.30pm Sat 22 May, Assembly Rooms

Comedian Tez Ilyas talks about his life as a young British Muslim growing up in a time of race riots, fear and prejudice.

8pm, Thurs 20 May, Assembly Rooms

Two series of guided walks, one to explore the influences on Mary Shelley that inspired her to start writing Frankenstein during her time in Bath, the other, commissioned by The Bath Festival, is a delicious Regency romp through the streets in the footsteps of the Netflix sensation Bridgerton. Various times, 20-23 May, meet

outside No. 1 Royal Crescent Hollie McNish

The Roman Baths provide the atmospheric backdrop for a concert from the internationally acclaimed vocal group The Gesualdo Six.

7.30pm and 9.30pm, 18 May, Roman Baths

Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason brings two of her celebrated musical offspring to perform as she talks about what it is like to raise such a remarkable family, following the release of her memoir The House of Music. 7.30pm, 22 May, Bath Forum

Much-loved entertainer Mel Giedroyc talks to Fran Beauman about her debut novel The Best Things, a big-hearted story of a family on the brink. 11.30am, 23 May, Assembly Rooms

The Bath Festival Orchestra, created to foster emerging talent in classical music, will play in Bath Abbey and at Green Park Station. The performance will be recorded by BBC Radio3.

7.30pm, 17 May, Bath Abbey

The Sunday Times No1 bestseller Caroline Hirons, skincare queen and beauty blogger, will be exploring the facts, the myths and the best way to get good skin on any budget. 7.30pm, 21 May, Assembly Rooms n

Tickets go on general release from 13 April; 01225 463362; thebathfestival.org.uk

Mel Giedroyc Tez Ilyas Adam Buxton