AGENDA

The Agenda THE BEST EVENTS IN SUSSEX

COMEDY

Lucy Porter

3 MARCH, KOMEDIA, BRIGHTON Comedian, actress, writer, voiceover artist and podcaster Lucy Porter is set to embark on a national tour of her critically acclaimed show, ‘Wake Up Call’. This is a show about revelations, realisations and epiphanies. Subjects covered include bin collection schedules, the novels of Jean Rhys, cats, school fair booze tombolas, and the Scottish Enlightenment.

DANCE Spirit of the Dance

5-6 February CONGRESS THEATRE The international hit Spirit of the Dance celebrates 25 years as one of the most popular dance shows ever. This spellbinding high octane extravaganza takes dance to the next level with an explosive fusion of heart pounding Irish Dance and dazzling dance styles from around the world that have been specially choreographed for this anniversary show, including Flamenco, Salsa, Street Dance, Hip Hop, Can Can and American Tap. eastbournetheatres.co.uk

DANCE

Imagining Otherwise

17 February PAVILION THEATRE, WORTHING Imagining Otherwise is an immersive digital dance that explores the possibility of parallel experiences, and the multitude of choices that spring from it. Wendy Houstoun’s witty spoken text is interwoven with visually dynamic fl oor projections shaped by live performance. As the dancers move, their actions create visual traces that slowly slip into the background of the digital landscape. wtm.uk

DANCE

DADA MASILO

21-22 February BRIGHTON DOME South African choreographer Dada Masilo will stage the UK premiere of The Sacrifi ce at Brighton Dome. Combining the European heritage of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring with the uniquely rhythmic and expressive movements of Tswana, the traditional dance of Botswana, an all-South African cast deliver an exhilarating performance rooted in storytelling and healing ritual. Centred around the struggle of the sacrifi cial victim, the dance explores the power of community in a ecting change. brightondome.org

EXHIBITION Mapping Gender

18 February MUSEUM AND GALLERY, WORTHING Maps carve borders through landscapes. Clothes are maps for the body. Both are arbitrary constructs, omnipresent in our society, and have a real impact on people. Mapping Gender is a multisensory exhibition of dance, image, scent, sound and research. It’s an invitation to explore the parallels between cartography and historical clothing through a lens of non-binary experiences. wtm.uk

This Month’s Must See

HENRY V

28 FEBRUARY-4 MARCH CONNAUGHT THEATRE, WORTHING

Experience Shakespeare’s unnervingly relevant Henry V in a production that o ers a di erent perspective on England’s 15th century hero. Henry, the young and newly crowned king, is impatient to assert control over the people of England. Having received a humiliating gift from overseas, his bruised ego leads him to a military invasion abroad in a bid to expand his land. But at what cost? wtm.uk

PHOTO: LEIGH CLAPP

PLANT POWER

Where to enjoy snowdrops in Sussex this month

What is it about snowdrops? Every year they reappear with unfailing regularity, popping up just as winter has got to the stage when we all long for it to end, to tell us that there really is something cheerful about February. And despite their apparent delicacy, small white fl owers on short slender stems, they are unfailingly robust; often pushing through inches of snow and fl owering for weeks on end, showing none of the weathera ected temperamentality that makes growing so many plants a nail-biting exercise.

They also provide one of the most memorable links between gardens and our natural landscape. Because of their ability to spread or ‘naturalise’ over large areas if left undisturbed, especially in favourable sites such as typical native English woodland, they can produce spectacular carpets of white that are made all the more enthralling by the starkness that surrounds them.

With such enticement, it is not surprising that people will put on hats, gloves and wellies and head out to enjoy such heart-warming pleasure at a time of year when often they have been confi ned indoors for weeks on end. Over the coming weeks there are National Garden Scheme gardens opening in West Sussex, which will welcome you and enable you to enjoy one of our great gardenvisiting treats. Highlights include The Old Vicarage, Washington; Demans Garden, Fontwell; Mitchemere Farm, Stoughton; and Pembury House. ngs.org.uk