Week 3 : 14th-20th June 2010
Monday 14th June
festival fringe 'LA FAMIGLIA È MORTA! VIVA LA FAMIGLIA!’ EMANUELE D’ONOFRIO
Family conflicts in Italian cinema
8:00pm Bear Hotel Ballroon FREE
Emanuele recently completed his PhD in Film Studies at the University of Manchester. He works as research collaborator in the Italian Department at the University of Bristol and as a freelance lecturer in Italian cinema.
Looking at films from the last 60 years, such as Fists in the Pocket (Bellocchio, 1965), The Best of Youth (Giordana, 2003) and Mid August Lunch (Di Gregorio, 2008), his talk will illustrate how the recurring use of the family theme in Italian films tracks social and ideological evolutions in the country.
Sponsored by The Bear Hotel 
Tuesday 15th June
THE MUSEUM LECTURE : ALISON SHERIDAN
8:00pm Town Hall £8 EN17 Reserved Seating
A GREEN TREASURE FROM THE MAGIC MOUNTAINS: the life story of the magnificent Neolithic axe head from Breamore, Hampshire
Nearly 6,000 years ago, a green polished stone axe, made of Jadeite, was brought to Britain from a remote valley in the Italian Alps. This beautiful axe, made of a stone harder than steel, may have taken over a thousand hours to create. Alison Sheridan, Head of Early Prehistory at National Museums Scotland, has been working as part of a multi-national team researching these enigmatic symbols of power. She will be telling the remarkable story of this axe, one of the treasures of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes.
In collaboration with The Wiltshire Heritage Museum 
CHILDREN’S THEATRE : SHAKESPEARE 4 KIDZ
10:00am Rowdeford School £6 Adult £3 Child EN18
Is your child/grandchild/pupil a budding actor? Perhaps they have heard of William Shakespeare but think his plays are too difficult to understand? Wrong! Bring them along to the Shakespeare 4 Kidz workshop on ‘A Midsummer Night`s Dream’, at the new Performing Arts Centre at Rowdeford School.
Let them discover what one of the Bard`s funniest and best loved plays is all about. They will be involved in the story under the direction of the company’s talented workshop leaders. There are lots of super characters - the King and Queen of Fairyland, fairies, hilarious workmen and Puck the mischievous sprite! Suitable for children aged 4 - 7. Only 75 places so book early.
Sponsored by Martin Walker 
Wednesday 16th June
SOLD OUT CAFÉ SCIENTIFIQUE with STUART CLARK
Where is mankind going next?
7:30pm IsolaBella Restaurant £15 EN19
Dr Stuart Clark will talk about where man might next explore to further our knowledge of the solar system. One place is Phobos, a tiny moon of Mars, which may hold clues as to whether life ever began on the Red Planet. Stuart holds a PhD in astrophysics, is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and devotes his career to presenting the complex world of astronomy to the public through writing and broadcasting.
Currently Senior Editor for Space Science at the European Space Agency, he writes for New Scientist, The Times, BBC Focus and Sky at Night – and you’ll hear him on Radio 4. His books include the award-winning The Sun Kings.
Price includes a pasta supper and a glass of wine
festival fringe JONATHAN GEE plays and sings Billy Strayhorn and other songs from the American Songbook
9:00pm Bear Hotel Ballroom FREE
Jonathan Gee, heard last year in Devizes playing the music of Thelonious Monk with Tony Kofi, returns with his solo show singing the songs of Duke Ellington’s main collaborator Billy Strayhorn, a genius in his own right. In addition, Jonathan will perform his personal favourites from the great American Songbook (including compositions from Jerome Kern and Cole Porter). A winner of the ‘Most Promising Newcomer’ at the British Jazz Awards, he was acclaimed by the The London Evening Standard as ‘ dazzling , inventive and original’.
Sponsored by The Bear Hotel
Thursday 17th June
8:00pm Town Hall £12 EN20 Reserved Seating
SOLD OUT THE NAVARRA QUARTET with ALEXANDER BOYD
Magnus Johnston violin
Marije Ploemacher violin
Simone van der Giessen viola
Nathaniel Boyd cello
Since being so well received at the 2007 Festival the Navarra Quartet has appeared at major festivals and venues in Europe, Bahrain, the USA and Australia. It has added many awards to its first prize in the Florence International Competition, including the 2008 Outstanding Young Artist prize in Cannes and second prize in the Melbourne International Competition.
For the second half of the concert the quartet is joined by Australian pianist Alexander Boyd who graduated with the highest distinction at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has performed worldwide and recently toured Australia with the Navarra. He now lectures at Birmingham University and is on the piano staff at the Guildhall.
HAYDN Quartet in G minor, Op.20 No.3
BEETHOVEN Quartet in B flat Op18 No6
Interval
SCHUMANN Piano Quintet in E flat, Op.44
The artists appear under the auspices of the Young Concert Artists Trust
Sponsored by Wansbroughs 
Friday 18th June
SOLD OUT TUTORED BEER TASTING by JEFF EVANS
7:00pm Wadworth Visitor Centre £10 EN21
Beer writer Jeff Evans will taste and describe in detail several of the famous beers of this independent brewery.
Wadworth’s head brewer, Brian Yorston, will then explain how he achieves the different tastes. There will be a chance to sample the beers. Numbers limited to 25.
Sponsored by Wadworth 
FOLK NIGHT : IAIN MATTHEWS
8:00pm Town Hall £12 EN22 Reserved Seating
Since the mid 1960s, Iain Matthews has established himself as a major force and innovator on the British folk scene. First as a founder member of Fairport Convention, then forming Matthews Southern Comfort and Plainsong. During this period he had a massive European hit with Joni Mitchell’s song ‘Woodstock’. After being based in the USA for 28 years, he now lives and works in Holland where he continues to perform and produce critically acclaimed concerts and CDs. In this concert Iain will be playing old favourites as well as his more contemporary songs from his recent CDs. This is a rare opportunity to see one of the legends of British Folk.
BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Doors open 6:00pm Corn Exchange £6 EN23
Tonight the winners of heats held during April and May compete in the final of Sheer Music’s popular Battle of the Bands competition, now a Festival favourite. Hot young local bands show their talent in the hope of winning studio time worth £200.
Headlining tonight is Le Chat Noir, a hard-rockin’ transatlantic duo formed in 2006 after drummer Eileen Spruce moved to England from Los Angeles. It has performed 300 gigs in eight countries - with full throttle live performances leaving stages soaked with sweat and littered with broken drumsticks. Its third album ‘Postcards From The Dark Highway’ was released in 2009.
In conjunction with Sheer Music
Saturday 19th June
8:00pm Town Hall £10 EN24 Reserved Seating
JACK GIBBONS plays GERSHWIN
Acclaimed by The Daily Telegraph as the Gershwin pianist of our time, Jack Gibbons’ virtuoso performances never disappoint. He plays the composer’s own flamboyant and fiendishly difficult show tunes with sparkle, power and a rare control of the music’s rhythmic vigour. Hear him play favourites that dazzled 1920s and 1930s New York – including ‘I got Rhythm’, ‘The Man I Love’, and ‘Fascinating Rhythm’, before his sparkling transcription of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ from Gershwin’s own celebrated piano-roll recording.
'Awe-inspiring pianist’ The Times
Sponsored by L.C.E Developments 
festival fringe WHAT WOULD HELEN MIRREN DO? 
Written by Josie Melia, starring Anita Parry & directed by Peter Ellis
8:00pm Lamb Inn FREE
Susan is a long-term supermarket checkout operator from Oldham. She’s never had to give much thought to role models until she gets promoted and is forced to adopt one. Helen Mirren is an unlikely choice, but Susan’s life changes dramatically when she starts to ask herself, ‘What would Helen Mirren do?’
A delightful new one-woman comedy about love, work, letting go and finding out who we really want to be.
‘Superb one-woman show.…a very special evening’ Bristol Evening Post
Sponsored by The Lamb Inn
Sunday 20th June
BRIAN PATTEN : HEROES AND VILLANELLES
7:30pm Town Hall £12 EN25 Reserved Seating
Brian Patten made his name in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, alongside Adrian Henri and Roger McGough. His strength lay in his ability to write and perform a powerful mix of serious and humorous work. He is also well-known for his best-selling collections of children’s poetry such as ‘Gargling with Jelly’ and ‘Juggling with Gerbils’. He will read poems by the great figures with whom he has shared a stage - Pablo Neruda, Stevie Smith, Allen Ginsberg and Robert Lowell - and talk about their influences on him as a young writer making his way. He will also read from his own work ‘The Collected Love Poems’, ‘Selected Poems’ and ‘Armada’.
Sponsored by Torch design
festival fringe ROLAND CHADWICK’S MODERN GUITAR TRIO
3:00pm St. Mary’s Church FREE
Following his popular solo guitar concert at last year’s Festival, Roland Chadwick makes a welcome return with his own Modern Guitar Trio. He is joined by Roland Gallery and Vincent Lindsey-Clark, both previously members of the Segovia Guitar Trio. As well as virtuoso guitarists who play classical music in their own style they are also talented composers.
Other Post Festival Events in Devizes
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot book these events via the Festival booking form but tickets will be on sale at Devizes Books closer to the event
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