WOW Sept 2012

PLAY WOW 1

Cushions hand stitched by prisoners in the Fine Cell Work project. Exhibition and sale 15 September, see page 23. www.finecellwork.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS Robert Flood is a life-long Medway resident. He runs a Rochester based events company called Feet on the Ground which provides technical support for live events.

He is a passionate music fan with a love of the Medway scene and a local history buff who is a member of the City of Rochester Society.

Sam Froudist is a writer and bunting enthusiast.

She co-runs bunted!, a bespoke bunting business, and is a card carrying member of the Rochester Vintage Society. You can find her blogging over at hellosamgoodbyesamantha.com.

Russ Grooms is a freelance project manager, music leader, consultant and MD of Hand on Hearts Arts, the company he runs with his partner Laura from a house on a hill in Rochester. russellgrooms@gmail.com.

Cover image: Fotolia.com Photograph of the Editor by Rikard Österlund

Nick Walker is an events director, film critic and filmmaker. His flagship Medway project, The Other Cinema, is a weekly event held every Thursday at the Chatham Odeon. Nick also set up the Screen Classics programme at the Central Theatre, Chatham. He writes, directs and produces short films and is the editor of Film Essay, for cinéastes wanting to write about film culture.

Nick has worked for The Guardian and the London Film Festival. Currently he is Events Director at Film Education and Director of National Schools Film Week.

www.wowkent.co.uk

WELCOME TO WOW! A guide to the best of What’s On Where in Medway, Maidstone and the accessible beyond After an inspiring summer, prepare to be inspired all over again by every manner of arts experience from September on in!

There are independent film screenings galore (personal highlight: the lifeenhancing ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ in Rochester Cathedral – see Film); music projects, gigs and album releases a-humming; and an exciting number of projects, groups and studios starting up at grassroots level all over the Medway towns and Maidstone.

Special congratulatory mention goes to the consortium bid team who successfully secured almost one and a half million pounds to develop arts provision for Medway and Swale. Quite brilliant.

It’s just great to be back.

Emma Dewhurst editor@wowkent.co.uk If you use WOW to find something, go somewhere or use a service, please mention us!

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/WOWMedway

@EmmaDewhurst7

News STEPPING STONE STUDIOS are running a bi-monthly FILM NIGHT (11 & 18 Sept).

All who attend will have the chance to contribute ideas to the Studios’ MAIDSTONE FILM FESTIVAL, planned for November 2012. Watch this space.

Also at Stepping Stone Studios, ORIGAMI – a one-off workshop on Sat 15 September, 12 noon to 4pm.Learn about the Japanese art of paper folding. Create your own mythical and fantastical origami creatures. Drop in, children welcome. £4 (£3 members)

IT’S A JUGGLE JUGGLEZ run a community based, non-profit making juggling club based at Rainham School for Girls, twice a month on Friday nights 8-10pm. All ages & abilities welcome. £2.50. This month: 7 & 21 Sept. For further info contact Pat on 07758 800521 or check out jugglez.org

SIGN UP, SIGN UP! Great congratulations are due to the local consortium who put together the successful bid to secure £1.4 million funding for arts provision for Swale and Medway from the Arts Council’s Creative People and Places programme.

Creatives, interested parties and local people of all descriptions can sign up to receive updates at creativepeopleplace.info

‘A RADIANCE’ POETRY LAUNCH – Sat 8 September, 7.30pm The Good Intent, John Street, Rochester, ME1 1YL Bethany W Pope will be reading from her new collection, ‘A Radiance’, published by Kent-based publishing company Cultured Llama. Medway writer Philip Kane and Maria C. McCarthy will also be reading, and there will be Open Mic spots for poets from the floor. Music from Didi Bergman, Bob Carling and Fran Broady.

AN ELIZABETHAN GENTLEMAN IN THE MEDWAY TOWNS is an eclectic look at the Medway Towns by local writer and musician Porlie Eidolon. The text is illustrated with a series of evocative photographs taken by Eidolon on his iPhone. This book is available to download from Amazon.

ART COMPETITIONS FOR THE YOUNG… Nucleus Arts are running an art competition for 12-17 year olds. Entry guarantees exhibition space in the Nucleus Maidstone Gallery and shop for one month, during which time the public will be asked to vote for their favourites.

Entrants may paint, draw or sketch their entry on the theme of 2012. Work must be no bigger than A3 and must be framed, to be delivered to the Gallery no later than 5pm on 22 September.

First prize, £100 Hobbycraft vouchers and all winners will be further exhibited at Hobbycraft Maidstone, who have donated the prizes.

To register go to nucleus-arts.com AND FOR THE SLIGHTLY OLDER… Online magazine Creatabot have launched their new yearly competition with the brief ‘Gadgets and Gizmos’.

The competition is open until November 2012 and entries will be judged by a selection of the website’s writers, including Mark Young, Alice Stansfield, Luke Crook, and George Langridge.

As much art work as possible will be put on exhibition in Strood Library, Kent, for the whole of December and other entries will be promoted at other creative events in the UK during 2013.

The competition, entitled “Creatabot Creatives Competition” (CCC) has 6 categories: Short Film, Photography, Fine Art, Literature, Music and Mixed Media.

Entries should be sent to natasha@creatabot.co.uk by 1 Nov 2012. creatabot.co.uk

CREATIVE WRITING Monday, 7-9pm, 24/9/12 for 25 sessions. Fees: a £173; b £124. Rochester, code: R091002412A. This Monday evening class, in particular, has established a very good reputation, with a particularly high proportion of “graduates” from the course going on to achieve publication (including WOW’s Editor).

CREATIVE WRITING FOR BEGINNERS Tuesday, 1.30-3pm, 25/9/12 for 12 sessions Fees: a £68; b £50 Rochester, code: R091001112A

If your child speaks French… and would like to learn more… Petite Ecole Kentoise is a charity running Saturday morning French lessons for bilingual children.

Lessons take place in Tonbridge and near Ashford. petite-ecole-kentoise.co.uk If you or your child would like to learn French… La Marelle offers classes in Gravesend and Dartford. lamarelle.org.uk

Time and Tides CELEBRATORY EVENTS:

arts project has been making quite a splash SAM FROUDIST talks to Project Manager, Nicola Waddington Not being a born and bred Medway lass, the history of this area holds a certain appeal to me, almost as if having knowledge of what came before me somehow means I will one day attain that most elusive of titles: a local. The Time and Tides project, delivered by Icon Theatre in partnership with Medway Council, was created to facilitate the engagement of local people with community history.

With specific focus on the villages of Cuxton, Upnor and High Halstow, the project has had several strands. The cultural history of these areas remains largely unexplored, and project manager Nicola Waddington was keen to record “the informal history: the customs, dialects and stories”, and transform these into something that would capture the imagination of current residents.

After some well-attended taster workshops earlier this year, core groups in each village were established and given basic interview training, and sent forth into their communities to ply elderly members of the

community for information (read: juicy gossip). Waddington tells me it was important for the project to include an “intergenerational history element”, blending historic recollections with more contemporary views on the area. I have no doubt that the goings on in the past were equally, if not more scandalous and exciting than they are now!

The interviews were then transcribed, and in collaboration with the Oral History Society, used as a foundation for All Hallows Youth Theatre to transform into pieces of verbatim theatre. Their aim for the theatrical creations, Waddington says, was to explore “the artistic representation that you can create from heritage” - an exciting take on a subject many assume to be inherently unexciting. Performances will be filmed and shown at a series of events to celebrate the culmination of the project’s different strands.

It is evident that this has been an enthusiastically received project of enormous scale. It also looks as though the project has had a lasting effect on the High Halstow community, with a Village History Group already in the making.

UPNOR Sat 29 Sept 1.15pm Includes tour by Jeremy Clarke Exhibition runs 29 Sept to 13 Oct CUXTON Cuxton Social Club Sat 20 Oct 2pm Exhibition runs 20 Oct to 1 Nov HIGH HALSTOW High Halstow Village Hall Fri 2 Nov 7.30pm Exhibition runs 2-16 Nov OTHER EVENTS: Talk & Presentation on THE MEDWAY QUEEN The Last Estuary Pleasure Steamer Tues 11 Sept from 7pm The Pier Hotel, Upnor CUXTON CHURCH TOUR Led by the Vicar Sat 29 Sept 3pm Cuxton Church, Cuxton

It’s not too late to get involved, so if you have any stories, memories or photographs of the villages or wider Medway, Icon Theatre would love to receive them! These can be submitted online at timeandtides.org,uk or directly to Icon Theatre at The Brook Theatre, Chatham.

Time and Tides is funded by The Heritage Lottery Fund

A local history and community

Rochester’s friendly Designer Florist Same Day Delivery Funerals & Weddings Unique plants and gifts Online shop at sweetpeaandolive.co.uk

Maggie Osborn Studio at Nucleus Arts, Chatham

Rochester-based bespoke bunting by the metre. Your fabric or ours.

Email Sarah or Sam: buntedlifestyle@yahoo.com Tel: 01634 322 385 bunted.wordpress.com

DANCE & THEATRE CLASSES FOR 2 YRS+

Annual Shows Regular Examinations Drop in classes from £3.50 Laura Dudman Tel: 07939 241105 www.CaterpillarDanceSchool.co.uk www.LatinEssence.co.uk

For more information/to express interest contact Sam Froudist: 07401 362621 sam@hellosamgoodbyesamantha.com

Sailing Charter - Static Venue - Winter Tea Room

September 3hr and Full Day Sailings still available.

Final sail 28th September October Winter Tea Room begins (Thurs-Sun 1030-1600) Homemade cakes and freshly made light lunches.

Please visit the website for full details.

www.edithmay.com Tel: 01634 365343

is o n a

This month’s highlights kick off with Adam Ant bringing his new band ‘The Good, The Mad and The Lovely Posse’ to the Central Theatre in Chatham on 8 September. Having jumped on the reunion bandwagon a couple of years ago, his shows have met with a great audience reception and this appearance at the Central is a warm-up to a North American tour before heading back to the UK for an 18 date autumn tour. A few tickets are still available at the time of writing.

On the same evening, promoters TEA bring Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard to the Beacon Court in Gillingham. Described by Jarvis Cocker as “the best lyricist in the US today”, and by NME as “the Big Apple’s best kept secret”, Lewis and his incredible band arrive in Gillingham straight from performing at the Isle of Wight’s Bestival. Lewis is a leading light in what’s known as the anti-folk movement and his visit to Medway is a real coup for the good folks at TEA. Kent based record label State are releasing albums – yes good old vinyl records – featuring two of Medway’s finest on 10 September. First up, Medway stalwart Allan Crockford’s band The Galileo 7 release ‘Staring at the Sound’, his second album of self-penned tunes. As a member of some of the best bands to come out of the local scene, Allan’s contributions have been often overlooked, but over

Los Salvadores - Gareth Arnold

ROB FLOOD PREVIEWS TWO NEW ALBUM RELEASES AND A WHOLE HOST OF GIGS

ROLL

the last three or four years he’s been honing his great talent for writing hook laden pop-psych songs and hopefully the release of ‘Staring at the Sound’ will mean we’ll get to see The Galileo 7 playing locally soon.

Glenn Prangnell has been a regular on the Medway scene as long as Allan (and that’s a bloody long time).

Following a lengthy sabbatical, he returned to writing and performing a couple of years ago, as Groovy Uncle. For his next release, Groovy Uncle takes the back seat as backing band to an incredible vocalist called Suzi Chunk.

Glenn has always written great melodies and ‘Girl from the Neck Down’ is no exception, featuring a whole raft of new tunes as well as a couple of blasts from his past. But I’m sure Glenn won’t mind me saying that the standout feature of this album is Suzi’s Dusty-esque vocal, which really brings his songs to life.

Back to the live music, Steve Cradock is appearing at the Royal Function Rooms in Rochester on 26 September. Although best known as an Ocean Colour Scene founder member and Paul Weller’s long serving guitarist, Cradock released his second solo album ‘Peace City West’ last year and is touring acoustically throughout the summer.

Duotone - Tom Oldham

TICKETS…TICKETS…TI CKETS… Adam Ant: Central Theatre, 170 High Street, Chatham ME4 4AS Tel: 01634 338338. medwayticketslive.co.uk Jeffrey Lewis: The Beacon Court Tavern, 128 Canterbury Street, Gillingham ME7 5TP. Tel: 01634 545545. beaconcourttavern.co.uk/teaconcerts.co.uk Steve Cradock - Jade Wright

His set is a mix of old and new, OCS and solo, with wife Sally on keyboards and Andy Bennett on guitar.

Support comes from Len Price 3, Maker and Peter J Weller (no relation).

To cap things off, Light Vessel 21 are hosting a great folk line-up on 29 September. Duotone brings together acclaimed cellist Barney MorseBrown and percussionist James Garrett to create a stunning collaboration that takes in folk, baroque and experimental loops. Support comes from local stars of the new folk scene, Los Salvadores.

Steve Cradock: Royal Function Rooms, 12 Star Hill, Rochester ME1 1XB Tel: 01634 242731. wegottickets.com Duotone/Los Salvadores: Lightship LV21, Pier Approach Road, Gillingham ME7 1RX lv21.co.uk/wegottickets.com For Galileo 7 and Suzi Chunk records, check out staterecs.com

maritime

jazz FESTIVAL

The annual MARITIME JAZZ FESTIVAL (19-23 SEPTEMBER) is a highly thought of affair. This year it takes Film & Television as its theme

Festival founder ROAN KEARSEY- appear, dedicating their LAWSON runs us through the performance to the American highlights jazz-inspired compositions of Michel Petrucciani, following WEDNESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER the release of their latest CD SIMPLY ITALIAN RESTAURANT, (Universal/EmArcy Label) ROCHESTER HIGH STREET: dedicated to the great French Music 8pm pianist.

The Festival opens with award‘The ultimate swing singer’ and winning vocalist and BBC Wales Universal Records artist Shane TV presenter Tina May offering Hampsheir completes the night, a mix of great easy listening and jazz standards. She will be joined complete with big band and at piano by French pianist James dancers.

Hayes plus Vibes Master Roan SUNDAY 22 SEPTEMBER Kearsey-Lawson, with BBCBRITANNIA THEATRE, DICKENS signed bass player, Neil Francis.

WORLD, CHATHAM MARITIME: Great food, great music!

Doors 7pm SATURDAY 21 SEPTEMBER BRITANNIA THEATRE, DICKENS WORLD, CHATHAM MARITIME: Doors 7pm Actor and musician Dorian Ford (‘Mrs Henderson Presents’) is joined by trumpeter Matt Gough and band. Noted for his wonderful lyrical playing style, also on stage is the equally cool Matt Gough on trumpet, Roan Kearsey-Lawson on Vibes and Chris Nickolls on drums and Syd Lawrence’s bassist, Andre Messeder.

On the same night, Tommaso Starace and his Italian quartet

BBC1 Presenter Rob Smith comperes a day jam-packed with jazz. First up is the funky New Orleans Street Band Blew Tubes, featuring Ray Butcher joined by effervescent jump jive saxophonist Tracey Mendham. This six piece band is a rhythmical and historical jazz treat.

The rest of the evening is devoted to a mix of Latin, Brazilian and Swing music with Steve Rubie giving us his Brazilianinfluenced flute and percussion playing; Jonathan Gee on piano; Larry Bartley on bass and Roan Kearsey-Lawson on drums.

Wrapping it all up is the Festival Big Band, with the sound of Sinatra from crooner Ryan Sanders and his big band.

Saxophonist Jim Hastings, who backed both Tony Bennett and Sinatra, provides authentic support.

SUNDAY 23 SEPTEMBER ROFFEN CLUB, NEW ROAD, ROCHESTER: Doors 12.45pm For the Festival’s final fanfare, a full roast lunch is served to the sounds of British jazz legend Tommy Whittle and vocalist Barbara Jay, with full band.

It’s a fantastic line-up of international and local talent: with venues spread between Chatham Maritime and Rochester, no one will be far from some world-class jazz this September!

Meal, bar and reception at all venues. Come and support!

For the full programme visit www.maritimejazzfestival.co.uk Roan Kearsey-Lawson is a percussionist and Vibesman par excellence. As well as the Maritime Jazz Festival, he founded and runs the 144 Club (144club.co.uk) which brings world-class musicians to Rochester on a regular basis.

CINEMA IN THE NAVE

‘A Matter of Life and Death’ is this year’s heavenly classic Filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger always shared the writing, directing and producing credits, but their division of labour hinted that Powell concentrated on the directing while Pressburger wrote and produced. Of all the films they made together, ‘A Matter of Life and Death’, released in America as ‘Stairway to Heaven’, was Powell’s favourite. Playful and profound, witty and carefully crafted, it distills the greatest of Powell’s artistic gifts and celebrates, with an occasional self-conscious wink, the possibilities of film.

The 1946 classic was made when Britain had just emerged from World War II – exhausted, deeply scarred and desperately in need of light, cheerful entertainment. The film was originally suggested by a British government department to improve relations between the Americans in the UK and the British public, following Powell and Pressburger’s contributions to this sphere in ‘A Canterbury Tale’ two years earlier. There was a degree of public hostility towards American servicemen stationed in the UK prior to the D-Day invasion of Europe.

They were viewed by some as latecomers to the war and as “overpaid, oversexed and over here” by a public that had suffered three years of bombing and rationing, with many of their own men fighting abroad.

The film’s premiere, in aid of the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund, at the Empire, Leicester Square in London was held in the presence of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and became the first ever Royal Film Performance.

‘That lovely’ and iconic academy-award winning British actor David Niven and American actress

Kim Hunter (cast on the advice of Alfred Hitchcock and who would later become forever linked to the role of Stella in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’) were brilliantly cast as the two lovers brought together by circumstance. The supporting actors, Marius Goring and Roger Livesey (both Powell and Pressburger regulars) add gravitas and continuity to the film.

Visually ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ is stunning.

The heavenly scenes are an Orwellian vision which Powell directed their frequent collaborator in cinematography, the award-winning Jack Cardiff, to shoot in pearly grey monochrome. The movie is also filled with technical tricks, as when “real life” freezes while spirits leave their bodies. The huge escalator linking this World with the Other, called “Operation Ethel” by the firm of engineers who constructed her under the aegis of the London Passenger Transport Board, took three months to make and cost £3,000 (in 1946). “Ethel” had 106 steps each 20 feet wide and was driven by a 12 h.p. engine. The full shot was completed by hanging miniatures…

The film has as its subtext the jockeying for power between Britain and America that took place after World War II. British critics sniffed that the film was too pro-American. It is surely one of the most audacious films ever made - in its grandiose vision, and in the cosy English way it’s expressed. The story, as it develops, is both awesome and intimate, suggesting that a single tear shed for love might stop heaven in its tracks.

Nick Walker The film screens Friday 21 September in Rochester Cathedral. See Film listings.

“It’s different to what I’m used to, but in a good way”

the Orchestra of new experiences Orchestra ONE is a very special free music project funded by the Rochester Bridge Trust in partnership with Kent Music and Rhythmix, one of the UK’s leading music charities.

Every semester, the Orchestra ONE project holds free workshops and all day-rehearsals leading to a performance. The music is composed and performed by young people of all abilities on a wide range of instruments and voices. The only requirement for entry is a passion to play music, regardless of ability, style or instrumentation. Freed from the constraints of the classroom, young people are given the opportunity to explore, express and create musically with an ‘anything goes’ ethos.

As project number three (led by legendary jazz saxophonist Pete Wareham of Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland) gets underway, I caught up with Nicola Adams (15) from Fort Pitt Grammar School, Emily Miller (15) from Strood Academy and Ryan Cottee (14) from the St Augustine Academy in Maidstone, to find out what they’ve been up to.

“We’ve been composing and improvising lots of pieces which have been improving our confidence,” says Nicola. “And we’ve mixed a range of different pieces and styles together,” adds Emily.

I asked them whether they’d done anything like this before. Nicola is first to offer her thoughts.

“I’ve done lots of music groups but none based on improvisation and composition. At the others [Medway Schools Wind Band and Medway Towns Music Centre with Kent Music] it’s all written down music that you have to follow but with this,

nothing is written down and you make it up as you go along. It’s different to what I’m used to, in a good way.”

“I’ve done Orchestra ONE twice,” says Emily, “and since then I’ve learnt beats on the drums.”

I ask Emily if she was a drummer before. “No, but I would class myself as a drummer now if any one asked!” she beams.

Ryan, another newcomer, tells me “I’ve done concerts in schools and shows outside of school but Orchestra ONE is more fun because we’re learning new stuff like African music, which I’ve never done.” With Music Education moving into a more outcomes based model, I was interested to know whether the group felt that they were improving musically. Ryan explained “I’ve learnt new chords and have learnt more on other instruments. Anthony [another attendee] taught me some violin and I’ve learnt some drums.”

Emily adds “We don’t have a proper drum kit at school. I’m hoping Mum and Dad will buy me a drum kit which will help me get better.”

As well as improving their playing skills, Orchestra ONE appears to be having an effect on the participants’ ability to compose music, too.

“I wrote my own song in the week using what I’ve learnt here,” Ryan proudly tells me. “I’ve always found it really hard and wanted to write my own song but never knew how to,” Nicola agrees. “I was doing my A-Level composition over the holiday and got to the point where I was seriously stuck as to where to go but the things that we’ve done here just really helped me to develop the ideas and keep it going.”

At the mention of an A-Level, Ryan recoils in shock, so I ask him how he feels about the mix of abilities in the group. “It’s kind of scary ‘cos I’m self taught and I’ve never had a lesson.

If I’d known that [some young people have obtained Grade 8 on their instruments] from the start, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it and I would’ve been really unconfident. It’s a bit weird knowing that I’ve managed to keep up but it makes me feel good about myself.”

Finally the question comes to Nicola, who offers her thoughts on the range of abilities: “I don’t think it matters ‘cos everyone’s doing the same thing and keeping up, so if we can all play the music, why does it matter what standard we’re at?”

There is no doubt that the young people at Orchestra ONE are having fun, learning new skills and making friends. The question, so often asked of creative community outreach projects, of whether the end product is ‘high quality’ seems to miss the point. Orchestra ONE makes me wish I was a child again, experimenting, exploring and creating without fear of criticism. Is it ‘high quality’? In my mind, there’s simply no way it can’t be, we just have to close our eyes and listen.

The Orchestra ONE project is open to all young people between 10-18 (no audition required).

Rehearsals are free to attend with an option to complete an Arts Award.

The next Orchestra ONE performance is on 16 December, venue tbc. Entry is free. Email orchestraone@kent-music.com for updates on forthcoming workshops, rehearsals and concerts.

Find out more on www.kent-music.com/local-music-group/ orchestra-one-orchestra-of-new-experiences. www.facebook.com/ORCHESTRAONE @KentMusic

FILM CINEMA IN THE NAVE Rochester Cathedral, ME1 1SX

Powell & Pressburger’s classic A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946) Fri 21 Sept, 7pm for screening at 7.40pm. Free drink and introduction. Tickets £8, £7 concs. Tel: 01634 810074, or on the door. See Nick Walker’s article MAIDSTONE FILM SOCIETY Hazlitt Theatre, Earl Street, Maidstone ME14 1PL 01622 753922

A diverse range of world cinema.

Licensed bar. Fixed rate parking in Fremlin Walk after 7pm.

Yearly subscription rates: Adult £24; Couples £42; Senior/Student £19; Guest per film £3.50. maidstone-film-society.org.uk MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (15) Mon 10 Sep, 8pm Dir: Simon Curtis Michelle Williams was Oscar nominated for her portrayal of the blighted star. 99 mins ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (15) 2011 Mon 24 Sept, 8pm Dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkish drama. Winner of the Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. 150 mins

With N or NW (PG) 1937 (B & W short) Dir: Len Lye medwayfilm.org.uk SCREEN CLASSICS Central Theatre, 170 High Street, Chatham ME4 4AS 01634 338301

A big-screen celebration of cinema classics introduced

by Nick Walker. £7, concs £5, includes free drink. medwayticketslive.co.uk MILDRED PIERCE (PG) 1945 Mon 17 Sept, 7.30pm Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott See Nick Walker’s article.

111 minutes THE OTHER CINEMA Chatham Odeon Cinema, Maritime ME4 4LL 0871 22 44 007

A weekly showcase of quality films from around the world, with a post-show discussion led by Nick Walker over a free glass of wine. £8.25/£6.25. theothercinema.info TWO DAYS IN NEW YORK (15) Thu 6 Sept, 7.45pm Dir: Julie Delpy Cast: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock Delpy’s eccentric French family come to visit and mayhem ensues. 96 mins

MEDWAY FILM SOCIETY Brook Theatre, Chatham ME4 4SE 020 7638 0012

World cinema programme on 16mm prints. Single shows £6.50 (concs £5.50).

Membership available IN THE WHITE CITY (Not rated) 1983 Friday 28 Sept, 7.45pm Dir: Alain Tanner Cast: Bruno Ganz Ganz superb as a Swiss engineer who jumps ship in Lisbon.

108 mins

MOONRISE KINGDOM (12A) 2012 Thu 13 Sept, 7.45pm Dir: Wes Anderson Cast: Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand Set on the coast of New England in 1965, a search is mounted to find two young runaways.

94 mins

FREE MEN (15) 2011 Thu 20 Sept, 7.45pm Dir: Ismael Ferroukhi Cast: Tahar Rahim, Michael Lonsdale Little-known story of Muslim agents who joined the French Resistance. 99 mins THE ANGEL’S SHARE (12A) 2012 Thu 27 Sept, 7.45pm Dir: Ken Loach Cast: Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw, Gary Maitland Scottish comedy drama in Loach’s Cannes Jury Prize winner. 94 mins SELECT RELEASES JUL/AUG: ANNA KARENINA (Cert tbc) Keira Knightley stars; Tom Stoppard screenplay. Rel 7 Sept HOPE SPRINGS (12A) Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones star. Rel 14 Sept TO ROME WITH LOVE (Cert tbc) Woody Allen’s homage with stars.

Rel 14 Sept UNTOUCHABLE (Cert tbc) Feel-good award-winner about an unusual friendship.

Rel 21 Sept Showing at the following: ODEON CHATHAM 0871 224 4007. odeon.co.uk ODEON MAIDSTONE 0871 22 44 007. odeon.co.uk ROCHESTER CINEWORLD 0871 200 2000. cineworld.co.uk THE ROYAL CINEMA Box Office: 01795 591211. royalcinema.co.uk SHOWCASE BLUEWATER 0871 220 1000. showcasecinemas.co.uk/ bluewater

: r i o N m l i F s 1940

S E T A G I T S E V N I R E K NICK WAL

E C R E I P D E R MILD

This is a post-war film noir mixed with typical soap opera-style elements of the woman’s melodramatic picture or “weeper,” including a strand of a murder mystery, often told by flashback. The family melodrama was significantly modified from its original source, due to pressures of the Production Code regarding its sordidness - namely, the incestual behavior of the dissolute playboy character named Monte.

on great significance when Joan cut her adopted daughter Christina and son Christopher out of her will. Christina wrote a tell-all book called ‘Mommie Dearest’, published in 1978. The book cast Joan in a negative light and was cause for much debate, particularly among her friends and acquaintances, including Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Crawford’s first husband, who suggested he didn’t recognize the woman portrayed in the book.

Directed by Academy Award-winning Hungarian émigré, Michael Curtiz, who had previously given the world ‘Passage to Marseille’; ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ and of course most famously ‘Casablanca’, and based on the 1941 novel by American noir crime author James M Cain, the film comes with tremendous credentials.

Crawford was in fact not present at the awards ceremony and allegedly feigned illness that night.

Meanwhile she listened to the show on the radio.

When she won, she ushered the press into her bedroom, where she finally accepted her Oscar.

Together with Raymond Chandler and William Faulkner (who contributed to this script, even though his additions were not used) Curtiz is responsible for some of the better stories, including ‘Double Indemnity’ (screenplay by Chandler) and ‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’.

Curtiz reluctantly began filming with ‘hasbeen’ star Joan Crawford, who had developed a reputation for being mannered and difficult, and had not made a film for more than two years prior to the film, but was pleasantly surprised when she delivered one of the best performances of her career.

Joan Crawford stars in the titular role of a long-suffering mother alongside Ann Blyth, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as Veda Pierce, the scheming, ungrateful daughter. Crawford went one better, winning an Academy Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role; a role that was to take

The story is told in flashback as Mildred Pierce is questioned by police about the murder of her second husband. The character goes back to the time she separated from her first husband and how she struggled to fulfill her ambitions for her children. The gripping and cynical film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Eve Arden and Ann Blyth, both with the only nomination of their careers), Best Screenplay (Ranald MacDougall), and Best B/W Cinematography (Ernest Haller, who had previously co-won the Color Cinematography Oscar for ‘Gone With the Wind’ in 1939).

Mildred Pierce artfully fuses the bourgeois self-hatred of classical noir with the commodity fetishism of domestic melodrama. It is rare to see a film every bit as good as its novel. This film is one example that lives up to that hype.

‘Mildred Pierce’ is being shown in the Screen Classics season at Central Theatre, Chatham on Monday 17 September at 7.30pm

MUSIC THE BEACON COURT TAVERN

LIGHTSHIP LV21

128 Canterbury Street, Gillingham ME7 5TP 01634 545545

Pier Approach Road, Gillingham ME7 1RX

TEA CONCERTS present JEFFREY LEWIS & THE JUNKYARD Sat 8 Sept, 7.30pm.

See Music Preview. £8.50 advance, £10 on door. Tickets via wegottickets.com, seetickets. com or from Sound and Image, Chatham and The Deaf Cat Cafe, Rochester.

DUOTONE with support from LOS SALVADORES Sat 29 Sept 7pm. Cutting edge folk. See Rob Flood’s music preview. £10 lv21.co.uk/wegottickets.com

THE BROOK THEATRE Old Town Hall, Chatham ME4 4SE 01634 338338

FOLK AT THE BROOK: TIM EDEY & BRENDAN POWER Wed 19 Sept 8pm. £10 MEDWAY SCHOOLS’ WIND BAND CONCERT Wed 26 Sept 7pm. £4 medwayticketslive.co.uk

MARITIME JAZZ FESTIVAL 19-23 Sept World-class jazz over four days. Evening gig at Rochester’s Simply Italian opens the Festival; evening jazz at Britannia Theatre, Dickens World at Chatham Maritime on Fri 21 and Sat 22 Sept and Sunday lunch with music at the Roffen Club to close on 23 Sept. See preview article for artists. Tickets from £14. Tel: 01634 365453. maritimejazzfestival.co.uk

ADAM ANT & THE GOOD, THE MAD AND THE LOVELY POSSE Sat 8 Sept 7.30pm. Old tracks and new stuff. £29.50, £27.50 medwayticketslive.co.uk THE COMMAND HOUSE Dock Road, Chatham ME4 4TX 01634 828 181

THE MUSIC ROOM Pizza Express Maidstone, 32 Earl Street, ME14 1PF 01622 683548

THE CHILLBILLIES Fri 14 Sept.

Toe-tapping jazz, soul, funk and classic grooves. Doors 7pm, Show 8pm. £14

44 TWO SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB

DONN BARCOTT BAND Veteran excellence second Thursday of every month. Next gig, Thu 13 Sept. 8.30-11pm. Licensed bar and food available. Special cabaret guests.

292 High Street, Rochester ME1 1HS

STUART TURNER AND THE FLAT EARTH SOCIETY, RAND MARSH and THE BARON VON MARLON 31 Aug, 8pm. Free ONE MAN TEAM DANCE, THEO and CHAIRS MISSING Fri 14 Sept 8pm. Free SKY:LARK!, KIND EYES and SPITE HOUSE Sat 29 Sept 8pm.

Free

Dock Road, Chatham ME4 4TX 01634 365352

DIRTY VIBES Sat 15 Sept, 2pm. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll at its most vulnerable’.

Featherby Road, Gillingham, ME8 6AN 01634 405037

NAGS HEAD

RAFA CLUB

CENTRAL THEATRE 170 High Street, Chatham, ME4 4AS 01634 338338

ALISTER ATKIN Sat 22 Sept Folk-pop balladry. Doors 7pm, Show 8pm. £12 ELAINE DELMAR Sun 30 Sept.

Jazz standards, with Brian Dee on piano and Simon Thorpe on Double Bass. Doors 6.45pm, Show 7.15pm. £15 pizzaexpresslive.com

BLUES AND SOUL SESSIONS presents: JO HARMAN & CO Sat 15 Sept. Upcoming blues gospel and soul singer, nominated for Best Original Composition at the British Blues Awards 2012.

Doors 7pm, Show 8pm.£15

DEREK NASH BAND Frid Sept 21 8.30pm Saxophonist and his band. £10 ROCHESTER 144CLUB The Roffen, 41 New Road, ME1 1DX

ALEX GARNETT Wed 6 Sept Saxophonist supreme Doors 7.15pm for bar and food; show 8.15pm Non-members £12 (£22 with food) TOMMY WHITTLE & BARBARA JAY Sun 23 Sept (see Maritime Jazz Festival preview) Doors 12.45pm, 1.15pm Music and food served. £25 with roast lunch 144club.co.uk ROYAL FUNCTION ROOMS 12 Star Hill, Rochester ME1 1XB

STEVE CRADOCK with support from Len Price 3, Maker & Peter J Weller Doors 7pm. £12 01634 242731 or wegottickets.com

AT THE MAN OF KENT ALE-HOUSE ROCHESTER SEPTEMBER 2012 Wed 5th Moveable Feast Thurs 6th Dave Ferra Blues Band Wed 12th Band of Two Thurs 13th Hobo Jones & The Junkyard Dogs Wed 19th Scarlet Jacks - Greg McDonald & Gemma Gaynor Thurs 20th Pass the Cat Wed 26th We Ghosts Thurs 27th Kingsize Slim Every Sunday Jam Night 6-8 John Street, ROCHESTER, ME1 1YN 07772 214315 www.themanofkent.com

STEPPING STONE STUDIOS 2 Museum Ave, ME14 1QX

PLUGGED OUT – ACOUSTIC SESSIONS by local bands Fri 7 Sept. £4 DODGY JAMMERS JAM NIGHT Every Wednesday, for musicians to improvise and play together in a relaxed environment steppingstonestudios.co.uk

SING! JOIN THE HAZLITT CHOIR

with BBC Presenter & Musicians from Film & TV

THIS HIGH QUALITY COMMUNITY CHOIR IS NOW TWO YEARS OLD, WITH SIX SUCCESSFUL CONCERTS UNDER ITS BELT. The choir meets every Wednesday from 7-9pm.

It takes up to 100 members per term to sing songs from musicals and other fun material.

Only £4 a session (£40 per term, payable in advance).

If you are interested in joining, contact natalieprice@maidstone.gov.uk

Dickens World, Simply Italian & Roffen Full Programme, menus and information

www.maritimejazzfestival.co.uk

Tickets from £14 via web site or via 01634 365453

T H E AT R E BILLABONG CLUB (COMEDY) Victoria Street, Rochester ME1 1XB

DOUGLAS DUNLOP Thu 27 Sept. Observational comic with TALLAH KHOSRAVIAN Doors open at 7.30pm, comedy at 8pm. £9 in advance or with a flyer or £12 on the door. Tickets in advance from the Billabong Club,or the Dot Café at 172 High Street, Rochester or from wegottickets.com

50% reduction on all Festival shows right up to Christmas. hazlittartscentre.co.uk THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY Sun 23 Sept 2.30pm The People’s Theatre Company bring this favourite nursery rhyme to life. Age 4+ 75 mins. £9.50, concs £8.50. Family ticket (2 adults, 2 children £32)

& Sat at 2.30pm. Classic black comedy, fresh from West End success (some cast changes). £17-£33, concs available. marlowetheatre.com

THE ORCHARD

THE BROOK THEATRE

HORSEBRIDGE ARTS & COMMUNITY CENTRE 11

Home Gardens, Dartford DA1 1ED 01322 220000

Old Town Hall, Chatham ME4 4SE 01634 338338

Horsebridge Road, Whitstable, CT5 1AF 01227 281174

CABARET OF CURIOSITIES Fri 21 Sept 8pm Indoor circus and cheeky burlesque. Adult content: Over 16s only. £11 COMEDY CLUB: LEE HURST – Too Scared to Leave the House Mon 1 Oct 8pm. Hurst ponders the imponderables with his latest stand-up tour. Strictly 18s and above. £13.50 medwayticketslive.co.uk

SHE WRITES Wed 12 Sept, doors 7pm, show 7.30pm As part of the Whitstable Biennale Satellite, She Writes presents short plays by women on the theme of ‘What is Art?’ In the bar. £5, concs £4. she-writes.blogspot.com COMEDY CLUB: HOLLY WALSH AND GUESTS Fri Sept 28 Relaunch of popular monthly club with Holly (8 out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week) Walsh Doors 7pm, comedy 8pm. £8, £6. horsebridge-centre.org.uk

LITTLE VOICE Mon 17-Sat 22 Sept 7.45pm. Wed & Sat Mat 2.30pm. Written and directed

by Jim Cartwright, this awardwinning Olivier comedy combines music and theatre. Beverley Callard stars as ‘the voice’, with Joe McGann. £24.50-£29.50, concs available. orchardtheatre.co.uk

HAZLITT THEATRE, Earl Street, Maidstone ME14 1PL 01622 758611

THE GREAT BRITISH MUSICAL IN CONCERT Sun 16 Sept 4pm and 7.30pm. MC’d by Connie Fisher and featuring some of the best loved musical hits alongside those yet to be discovered, this is the launch event of the Hazlitt Music Theatre Festival, a major feature of their autumn season.

The theatre has been working with Perfect Pitch (perfectpitchmusicals.com) on supporting, commissioning and developing new musical work since 2008 and this Festival, due also in part of large audience demand, is both a showcase of that work and a celebration of the best in musical theatre. £17.50 and £15.

There is also a £50 (concs £45) Season Ticket, giving a

THE MARLOWE THEATRE, The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS 01227 787787

CIRQUE DE SOLEIL: SHANGHI Mon 17 & Tue 18 Sept 7.30pm.

Spectacular Chinese circus show. £14.50-£29, concs available.

COMEDY: SANDI TOKSVIG LIVE! MY VALENTINE Fri 21 Sept 7.30pm Much-loved comedian, novelist and broadcaster. Toksvig will be signing copies of her novel ‘Valentine Grey’ after the show. £18.50 (booking fee applies if booked via internet) THE LADYKILLERS Tue 25-Sat 29 Sept, 7.30pm. Mat: Wed, Thu

MEDWAY LITTLE THEATRE 256 High Street Rochester ME1 1HY 01634 400322

DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER Thu 27 Sept to Sat 6 Oct, 7.30pm.

Bonkers French farce. £8, Mon £5 mlt.org.uk MEDWAY LITTLE THEATRE are presenting THE NATIVITY, the first part of Tony Harrison’s masterly adaptation of the Mediaeval Mystery Plays for their Christmas production from 6 to 15 December.

OPEN AUDITIONS will be held at the theatre on 4, 6 and 11 Sept, from 8pm. Many parts are available, for both men and women. If selected, you will be expected to become a member of MLT. STEPPING STONE STUDIOS, 2 Museum Ave, Maidstone ME14 1QX

COMEDY NIGHT: 29 Sept, acts as yet unconfirmed. See website for details. steppingstonestudios.co.uk

HAZLITT MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL

2012

Sat 20 October 8pm £18 Concs £16

Musical Theatre MICHAEL XAVIER WeekendWorkshop Sat 29 & Sun 30 Sept £75 Concs £60 Ages 16+ THE HAZLITT ARTS CENTRE AND THE HAZLITT YOUTH THEATRE PRESENT

HON K!

Sun 16 Sept 4pm & 7.30pm £17.50 Concs £15

Tues 30 Oct - Sat 3 Nov 7.45pm £9

CONNIE FISHER

Book a Hazlitt Musical Season Ticket and save 50%

E X P A N D YOUR CREATIVITY

WITH CREATABOT’S NEW WORKSHOP

ONLINE CREATIVE MAGAZINE CREATABOT ARE HOLDING A UNIQUE, NEW WORKSHOP AT NUCLEUS ARTS CENTRE IN CHATHAM HIGH STREET ON 26 SEPTEMBER.

this, some people are not even aware quite how much is going on and being planned.

Creatabot aims to help people get even more involved”

The workshop is entitled ‘Expand Your Creativity’ and covers a number of topics which it is hoped will inspire and support local creatives. Subjects to be discussed include event organising, use of social media, writing press releases and opening pop up shops.

The workshop runs from 7.30pm to 9.30pm and costs only £5 per person.

Director of Creatabot, Natasha Steer, is presenting the workshop. She said “Medway is fast becoming a unique place of creativity, exciting events and future thinking projects.

Some people are not aware of how to utilise

Pre-booking is essential via the website (www.creatabot.co.uk) or in person at Rochester Coffee Co, Nucleus Art Centre, 272 High Street, Chatham, ME4 4BP (opposite Iceland).

VISUAL ART ART CLASSES… ART CLASSES Stepping Stone Studios, Museum Street, Maidstone ME14 1QX

Two great classes for the autumn: Painting Club: Stretch a canvas, draw and begin to paint: Two week course, 1 and 8 Sept with Emma Whittall. The group will continue to work together after the course. £25 Life Drawing: Every Thursday, 7pm Email: info@ steppingstonestudios.co.uk THE DEAF CAT COFFEE BAR & GALLERY 83 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX

Open all week 9.30am-5pm JAIME RICHARDS Sept 3-16 thedeafcat.com FRANCIS ILES, 103 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX

ROWLAND HILDER OBE PPRI RSMA (1905-1993) To 22 Sept.

Original Watercolours, Oils and Sketches including previously un-released pieces. “I have spent over fifty years painting the land, the sea and the sky, and I feel pure and simple exhilaration with each new painting I begin.” Rowland Hilder CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS: Michael Chaplin, Jon Gubbay and Terry Watts. Fri 28 Sept to Sat 27 Oct. See The Artist’s Space. www.francis-iles.com GUILDHALL MUSEUM High Street, Rochester ME1 1PY 01634 848717

A WORLD MADE REAL: Dickens and Victorian Life To 28 Feb 2013. Open 10am-4.30pm (not Mon) An exhibition relating objects in the Museum to social themes in Dickens’ novels. Free HORSEBRIDGE ARTS CENTRE 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable CT5 1AF 01227 281174 Open 9am-

6pm , Sun 10am-6pm. Free

WHITSTABLE BIENNALE Contemporary art festival exploring performance and film.

1-16 Sept NICK ELDRIDGE 16 Sept-2 Oct. Architect and printmaker. horsebridge-centre.org.uk

6-8pm, all welcome nucleus-arts.com NUCLEUS ARTS ROCHESTER 75 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX 01634 780932

NUCLEUS ARTS MAIDSTONE 2-4 Granada House, Gabriel’s Hill, Maidstone ME15 6JR 01622 690337

NO.1 SMITHERY The Historic Dockyard Chatham, ME4 4TZ 01634 823800

BILLY CHILDISH: FROZEN ESTUARY and other Paintings of the Divine Ordinary To 30 Sep Daily 10am-4pm. Adults £16.50, Children £11, concs available.

Includes unlimited return to all Dockyard attractions for one year. Accolades have been flowing for this culminatory exhibition of Childish’s 2011 Residency at the Historic Dockyard, including paintings, books, and works relating to his life in Medway. thedockyard.co.uk

Gallery shops with artworks, cards and jewellery by local artists.

ROCHESTER ART GALLERY & CRAFT CASE Medway Visitor Information Centre, 95 High Street, Rochester ME1 1LX 01634 338319 Mon-Sat 10am-

5pm, Sun 10.30am-5pm.

SUSIE MacMURRAY (supported

by Agnew’s Gallery, London) To Fri 14 Sept. Former classical musician who retrained as an artist. Drawing, sculpture and architectural installations.

STEPPING STONE STUDIOS, 2 Museum Avenue, Maidstone ME14 1QX

New mixed media arts space with regularly changing exhibitions, classes and more. steppingstonestudios.co.uk TURNER CONTEMPORARY Rendezvous, Margate CT9 1HG 01843 233000 Tues-Sun 10am-

NUCLEUS ARTS 272 High Street, Chatham ME4 4BP 01634 812108

Gallery opens 9-5pm, closed Sunday Free FIONA SPIRALS Ripping Landscapes: Thames, Medway, Mud and Marsh. Layered collage. To 6 Sept THE VINES GROUP 22 Sept-4 Oct. Featuring Roy Sparkes, Carole Bealing, Margaret Huntley, Ron Horsfield, Veronica Mitchell, Dilly Mead, Joan Parker, Jill Rowberry & Ann Thompson. Preview Fri 21 Sept

6pm plus Late Night Live to 10pm one Friday every month.

Closed Mon (except Bank Holidays) TRACEY EMIN: She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea To 23 Sept. Emin’s first major solo show at TC. Sunley Gallery: Brazilian artist MARIA NEPOMUCENO’s Tempo para Respira. 14 Sept to March 2013. A spectacular installation inspired by South American craft techniques, uses brightly coloured ropes, beads and found objects. Free turnercontemporary.org

PRINTMAKING STUDIOS Fine art printmaking resource for Medway towns Please come and see what we’re doing in the Old Coal Shed by the river, behind the excellent Cafe Moroc, 375 High St, Rochester

Workshops running in relief, etching and silk screen printing www.coalshedpress.co.uk

FINE ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, 3D, FASHION AND TEXTILES, GRAPHIC DESIGN, FILM AND MEDIA, THEATRE STUDIES

visual and performing arts STUDY AT GCSE AND A LEVEL

www.rochester-college.org STAR HILL ROCHESTER ME1 1XF 01634 828115

YEAR 7 TO SIXTH FORM ISC ACCREDITED

T H E A R T I S T ’ S S PA C E LATE SKIES OVER WESTMINSTER

BY JON GUBBAY

Jon Gubbay has had eight one man shows in London and is featured at the Alexander Miles Gallery beside Tower Bridge. As well as exhibiting regularly at Francis Iles Gallery, his work has been shown for many years at The Battersea Affordable Arts Fair.

He works in acrylic, with an emphasis on contrast, luminosity and strong but subtle use of colour.

Contemporary Artists with Michael Chaplin and Terry Watts.

28 Sep – 27 Oct Francis Iles Gallery, 103 High Street Rochester, ME1 1LX.

FRANCIS-ILES.COM

EDITORIAL: editor@wowkent.co.uk 0845 388 2243 (local rate from BT landlines)

Distributed locally to Medway households and public pick-up points throughout the Medway towns and Maidstone.

FREE LISTINGS: listings@wowkent.co.uk

Current print circulation: 5000 copies.

ADVERTISING: advertising@wowkent.co.uk DESIGN: A Stone’s Throw astonesthrowdesign.co.uk PRINTING: The Colour Factory Ltd, Sittingbourne, 01795 470 825, www.colour-factory.com PUBLISHER: Emma Dewhurst

Excellent discounts for series bookings available to all advertisers. All ads also appear in the e-edition of the magazine at wowkent.co.uk Copy/listings deadline for Oct issue: 19 September 2012 ©WOW Kent magazine.

Francis Iles is a member of the Own Art scheme to make purchasing art more affordable

All rights reserved. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that details in this publication are accurate, we cannot accept responsibility for such. Readers are advised to check listings information to avoid disappointment.

Views expressed by contributors and advertisers do not necessarily reflect those of the editor and publisher. wowkent.co.uk

Please mention WOW Medway if you use our advertisers’ services or attend an event you found in our listings facebook.com /WOWMedway @EmmaDewhurst7 WOW Medway is printed on 100% recycled paper

FINE CELL WORK An Exhibition and Sale with a difference

Bishopscourt, 24 St Margaret’s Street, Rochester, ME1 1TS Saturday 15 September 10am-4pm “Of all the aesthetic projects offered down the years to capture the imagination and tame the frustration of prisoners, fine needlework is one of the oddest. Yet it has worked, and borne fruit, and perhaps after all it is not surprising. Prisons even at their best are stark and utilitarian places. The chance to create a piece of ‘unnecessary’ beauty and send it out into the world is at once a defiance of that environment, and a good use of the time spent there.” Libby Purves If you visit just one exhibition in September, make it this one. A superb mix of highly-crafted cushions, patchwork quilts, bags and gifts are on display and for sale – all hand-stitched by prisoners in British prisons, most of whom are male.

The prisoners are taught by volunteers from Fine Cell Work, a social enterprise that trains convicted prisoners in paid, skilled, creative needlework undertaken in the hours spent in their cells to foster hope, discipline and self-esteem.

One ex-offender and Fine Cell Work stitcher, Carl, is now working full time, has a new partner in his life and has regular contact with his children. His is just one of many stories of prisoners helped by this unusual work.

There will be a talk on the day about the Fine Cell story, at 2pm.

Free. Refreshments served all day.

If you would like to be involved in Fine Cell Work, visit www.finecellwork.co.uk

. .. g n i k o o b w o N

WOW ARTWORK August 2012_WoW advert 17/08/2012 15:45 Page 1

Sat, 8 Sept, 7.30pm

Adam Ant

and The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse Eighties icon Adam Ant is back, serving up a great mix of familiar tracks and new material with style and passion. From £27.50 Tues, 9 Oct, 7.30pm

Rhod Gilbert

The Man with the Flaming Battenberg Tattoo A regular on Live At The Apollo Rhod is back on the road…and he’s mellowed. Will he get his girl and live happily ever after, or will it be microwaved baked potato for one again? £25.00 Thu, 11 Oct, 8pm

Junk

Bins, bottles and brooms are just a few of the props Junk use to create this lively and hilarious show. From crazy dance routines to harmonised singing and drum beats this utterly enthralling show is set to be the next big thing. From £17 Fri, 12 Oct, 7.30pm

The Christians Enjoy the velvet-smooth soulful tones of Garry Christian and one of the top soul-influenced bands of the 80s' new-wave music scene. The band made their name with an endless string of soul-inspired hits including Ideal World, Born Again, Words and Father; as well as their charity cover of the Isley Brothers Harvest for the World. From £16 Wed, 19 Sept, 8pm

Tim Edey and Brendan Power The duo’s powerful blend of acoustic guitar, button accordion and harmonica is infectious. £10, concessions folk mailing list members and Theatre Loyalty Scheme members.

Fri, 21 Sept, 8pm

Cabaret of Curiosities

Enthralling indoor circus, dancing, cheeky burlesque, music and much more.

Warning: adult content, not suitable for under 16s. £11, concessions cabaret mailing list members.

www.medwayticketslive.co.uk 01634 338338