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Week 1 : 2nd - 6th June 2010

Wednesday 2nd June

SOLD OUT COMEDY NIGHT: Rich Hall

8:00pm Corn Exchange £15 EN1 Reserved Seating

Star of the recent critically acclaimed BBC4 documentary, How the West Was Lost, Edinburgh fringe favourite and Perrier Award winner American comedian and writer Rich Hall is back on the road. Performing in his usual style as the grouchy, deadpan comic genius, Rich is a master of absurdist irony focusing on Americans and life across the Pond. He is well known in the United States for appearing and writing on The David Letterman Show - for which he won an Emmy Award. Rich Hall’s TV work includes Rich Hall’s Cattle Drive (BBC4), Rich Hall’s Fishing Show (BBC4) plus numerous appearances on BBC2 panel show QI, hosted by Stephen Fry.

'Now is the time to grab this chance to see the great man at work.’ The Guardian

festival fringe GYPSY FIRE

8:00pm Pizza Express FREE

Guitar duo Gypsy Fire produces a blend of Spanish, Latin and European Acoustic Gypsy Jazz. Guitarists Stuart Carter-Smith and Ben Travers will transport you to the magical atmosphere of Parisian café society. What better way can there be of spending an evening than eating good food and listening to great music?

Thursday 3rd June

ADAM WALKER (flute) & JOHN REID (piano)

8:00pm Town Hall £10 EN2 Reserved Seating

Described by Classic FM as ‘one of the top 5 international flautists’, Adam Walker made his debut at the Proms in 2008. In 2009, at the age of 21, he was appointed principal flute of the London Symphony Orchestra and received the ‘Outstanding Young Artist Award’ at the MIDEM Classique Awards in Cannes. In February 2010 he won a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award.

John Reid read music at Cambridge before taking a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he was awarded the Queen’s Commendation. His other awards include the Kathleen Ferrier Accompaniment Prize and the Gerald Moore Award. He was recently elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music

MARTINU Scherzo
MILHAUD Sonatine for flute and piano
BARTOK Suite Paysanne Hongroise
POULENC Sonata for flute and piano (1957)

Interval

PROKOFIEV Sonata No2 in D Op94

The artists appear under the auspices of the Young Concert Artists Trust

Friday 4th June

BBC RADIO 4 ‘ANY QUESTIONS?

Doors open 6:45pm to 7:15pm Corn Exchange FREE EN3 By ticket only

One of the BBC’s leading topical discussion programmes, Any Questions? is the programme that gives you the chance to influence national debate on topical issues. You can put a question directly to four leading public figures who are not notified of the questions before the programme. The names of the panel members will be published nearer to the broadcast.

Members of the audience must be seated by 7.15pm for the live broadcast after the 8pm news. Free entry is by ticket only. Tickets may be obtained in the same way as other Festival tickets but as numbers are limited they will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and will be restricted to two tickets per application. Each ticket includes a slip on which the owner may write a question for the panel. These questions should be handed in on arrival at the Corn Exchange between 6.45pm and 7.15pm. The questions that are chosen must be asked by the ticket holder in person.

festival fringe CLIVE GREGSON

CLIVE GREGSON 9:00pm Bear Hotel FREE

Clive Gregson has established himself as a leading singer-songwriter both in the UK and the USA, where he now lives. For seven years he formed a partnership with Christine Collister, which Rolling Stone magazine described as ‘the state of the art in British folk-rock’. Clive has also toured and recorded with artists including Richard Thompson and Nanci Griffith.

‘One of Britain’s most cultured singer-songwriters.’ TheTimes

Saturday 5th June

SOLD OUT ROHAN McCULLOUGH in ‘MY DARLING CLEMMIE’

7:30pm Wharf Theatre £9 EN4 Reserved Seating

by Hugh Whitemore (with grateful acknowledgments to Lady Soames) Directed By Gareth Armstrong

‘My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.’ Winston ChurchillThe remarkable, moving and highly entertaining story of the woman who married one of the truly great figures of the 20th century. Clementine Churchill was described by Lord Halifax as ‘The Guardian Angel of our country`s guardian’.

‘Compelling, intimately engaging and beautifully realised. An unforgettable evening.’ Roger Graef

BLUES NIGHT: BUDDY WHITTINGTON & RED EYE FLY

Doors open 8:00pm Corn Exchange £14 EN5 Reserved Seating

Red-Eyed Fly on stage 8.15pm
Buddy Whittington on stage 9.45pm

Lifelong Texan, Buddy Whittington is rightly regarded as one of today’s foremost Blues guitarists. He got his big break when asked by John Mayall to replace Coco Montoya as lead guitarist in the world-renowned Bluesbreakers in 1993 and spent the next 15 years touring the world receiving plaudits from fans and peers alike.

In the last two years he has embarked on a solo career, releasing his first album to critical acclaim. On this tour he is backed by members of Peter Green’s Splinter Group. Opening the show are Red-Eyed Fly from South Wales, a rockin’ four-piece rhythm and blues band whose up-tempo style have made them a popular act on the blues festival scene.

Sunday 6th June

JON CANNON

St John’s Church 3:00pm £8 EN6 Reserved Seating

Following last year’s sell out event, architectural historian and writer Jon Cannon returns to talk about ancient English churches and their relationship to medieval society and life. In this context, he will explain that they are not just wonderful works of architecture - but are ‘time machines’ to a lost world. He will use St John’s as a way of rediscovering this world, unpicking the story of the church up to the Reformation and giving a sense of its wider architectural significance.

Jon is the author of ‘Cathedral - the great English cathedrals and the world that made them’ (Constable, 2007) and recently he presented BBC TV’s ‘How to Build a Cathedral’.

HOW ANIMALS NAVIGATE: Air Cdre ‘PINKY’ GROCOTT

7:30pm Town Hall £8 EN7 Reserved Seating

The Monarch butterfly migrates 2,000 to 3,000 km using primarily a sun compass and magnetism, while turtles find the way back to their place of birth after 20 years. Just two of the extraordinary examples of animal navigation that Air Cdre ‘Pinky’ Grocott will be using to illustrate the many different techniques that they use to find their way around - from polarized light and magneto-reception to smell. A Past-President of the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN), Air Cdre Grocott has many years experience in both air and animal navigation. He is the Moderator of the RIN animal forum, a world-wide information exchange initiative.

festival fringe TOM HINGLEY

8:00pm Corn Exchange Merchant’s Suite FREE

Tom Hingley joined The Inspiral Carpets, one of the most influential bands to come out of Manchester, as lead vocalist in 1989. After six successful years the band split up in 1995 and Tom started performing as a solo artist. He has since joined a reformed Inspiral Carpets for sell-out UK tours, most recently in 2006/2007. Last year Tom released his third solo album ‘Thames Valley Delta Blues’. Acoustic support acts will be provided by local artists.

WHARF THEATRE

‘The Pillowman’ Wed 23 – Sat 26 June at 7.30pm by Martin McDonagh, directed by Chris Worthy

A darkly humorous adult tale of a storyteller!

‘Just So’ Wed 14 – Sat 17 July at 7.30pm (Sat matinee at 2.30pm) Music by George Stiles, book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, directed by Jemma Barnes

A Wharf Youth Theatre production, based on the stories by Rudyard Kipling