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Issue 11 |
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Art:
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Anthea
Chapman (19) |
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Books:
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Lewes Book Fair (15) |
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Bricks
& Mortar: |
Martyrs' Memorial
(23) |
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Cinema: |
Bullet Boy (8);
Capote (6); Good Night and Good Luck (22); Lord
of the Rings Trilogy (14) |
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Classical
Music: |
Faure’s Requiem
(16) Baroque Concert (5) |
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Folk:
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Pete Morton (7) |
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Football:
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Lewes vs Bishop's
Stortford (12) |
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Trad
Irish Music: |
Pelham Arms Duo
(10) |
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Issues:
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Phoenix Development
(2 and 11) |
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Kids:
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Spring Barn Farm
Park (13); Spinning & Weaving (17) |
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My
Lewes: |
Sophie Orloff (25)
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Opera: |
Hip H’Opera
(9) Opera Playhouse (18) |
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Photography: |
Ben Whitehead -
POTW (26) |
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Restaurant:
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The Crown Inn (20)
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Shopping:
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Delilah (24) |
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Talk: |
Art Nouveau (4)
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Theatre:
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Rumble (21) |
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Knight time 1: Lord of the Rings (page 14) |
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3 |
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Thursday 16th March |
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Art - Art
Nouveau
It had its roots in the Pre-Raphaelite
love of curvy lines, particularly the floral designs of
William Morris, still much loved by curtain makers today.
It was an international movement, with a different name
everywhere it became the rage, boosted by a boom in magazines,
which helped spread its florid, curvaceous tendrils. The
Catalans called it ‘modernisme’, the Germans
‘Jugendstil’, the Italians ‘Stile Liberty’.
The French called it ‘The Modern Style’ recognising
its English roots. Paradoxically, we called it ‘Art
Nouveau.’ It spread its angel-like wings for 20
years, then disappeared, unsuited to the mood of austerity
engendered by the First World War. But it made for quite
a start to the century.
Tonight Anna Johnstone will be giving a talk and slide
show on the subject, concentrating on seven artists who
had an influence on its development: Antoni Gaudi, the
fantastical Catalan architect; Toulouse-Lautrec, the post-impressionist
painter and poster-designer; Edvard Munch, the depressive
Norwegian oil painter; Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the
Scottish architect and artist; Louis Comfort Tiffany,
the American lamp-maker; Rene Lalique, the French jeweller
and master craftsman and Alphonse Mucha, the Czech painter
whose curvy, extravagantly-dressed ladies immediately
come to mind when art nouveau is mentioned. |
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Knight time 2: Gaudi’s Pedrera |
Where?
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Ringmer Community College |
| When? |
7pm-9pm |
| How Much? |
£6 (book after 1pm Thurs on 01273
815500) |
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Ringmer
CC
(t) 01273 815500
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4 |
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Thursday 16th March |
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Cinema -
Capote
Truman Capote, like many serious writers, was an eccentric
genius. Capote is the story of how the act of
writing his most important book turned him into a complete
basket case. The book in question is called In Cold
Blood. It is a brilliant piece of non-fiction, which
examines the senseless murders of a family of four in
a Kansas home through the eyes of their killers, a pair
of psychotic drifters. Capote interviews the two, time
and again, to try and find the real meaning of their actions.
In doing so he becomes obsessed with the more intelligent
of the two, Perry Smith. Capote continues to interview
Smith throughout his stay on Death Row, finally understanding
that he will only be able to complete his book when the
man he has come to love is executed.
Philip Seymour Hoffman doesn’t just play Truman
Capote in this well-made, thoughtful, intelligent film:
he becomes him. For this he rightly won the leading actor
Oscar his quietly brilliant career richly deserves. That
he completely overshadows all the other actors doesn’t
matter. This film is about what happened when Truman Capote
stared too hard in the face of Truth. It needed a strong
central performance: it got a brilliant one. Go watch
it. But first, if you haven’t already done so, read
the book. |
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The Truman Show: Philip
Seymour Hoffman in Capote |
Where?
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Picture House, Uckfield |
| When? |
2pm, 6pm, 8.30pm |
| How Much? |
£5.80 |
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Uckfield
Picture House
(t) 01825 764909
(w) Website |
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Friday 17th March |
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Cinema -
Bullet Boy
Hackney is gentrifying fast. The house
prices have risen, the pubs are going gastro and there
is a street that on Saturdays sells French cheeses, and
bread with olives. Yet for a long time it’s been
one of our poorest boroughs, with a high crime rate and
rough housing facilities. The rich are moving in, but
the poor aren’t moving out. I’ve not seen
anywhere in Britain where the country’s class division
is so apparent. This is the setting for Bullet Boy. If
you are familiar, as I am, with the 'right' side of the
Hackney tracks, it is compelling to get a glimpse at the
other.
The plot may be familiar if you enjoyed the black cinema
explosion in the States in the eighties and nineties.
A kid comes out of prison determined to go straight but
can’t turn his back on the only world he knows.
Pretty soon he gets involved in a spiral of violence.
Does he betray his best friend’s honour and get
involved, or does he follow his mother’s advice
and become a good role model for his little brother? This
is a solid enough debut from director Saul Gibb, whose
use of real urban locations and unprofessional actors
gives the film a level of authenticity which makes it
a hundred times better than that Guy Ritchie’s silly
Saaf London shoot-em-ups. |
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“Whaddya mean the plot’s hackneyed?”
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Where?
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All Saints Centre, Friars
Walk |
| When? |
8pm |
| How Much? |
£4.50 on the door |
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Lewes
Film Club
(t) 01903 523833
(w) Website |
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Friday 17th March |
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Opera - School
4 Lovers
Set in an inner city estate decorated with New York style
graffiti, Glyndebourne's new Hip H'Opera, School 4 Lovers,
looks like fun. In an intriguing adaptation of Mozart's
Cosi fan Tutte, we’re promised an on-stage battle
between MCs and Soprano; opera and hip hop. There is a
DJ in the foyer. It’s a joint production between
Glyndebourne and the Finnish National Opera and it sure
sounds challenging. With tickets at £10 and £20,
it’s also a bargain.
But the big question is: what do you wear? Kangols and
sweat suits are clearly not the norm at Glyndebourne,
but you might feel a little uncool in black tie. Having
practiced at home, we’re pleased to tell you that
a few simple fashion adaptations can work well and help
to mark the “cultural fusion” of the event.
With some clever folding, a cummerbund makes for a convincing
scully, and, without support, dinner suit trousers naturally
fall low to reveal the top of boxers. A pocket watch looks
great with a heavy gold chain around the neck and cufflinks
can be worn as tongue or ear studs. Alternatively, you
could just opt for sewing a hood to the back of your dinner
jacket. For the girls, try wrapping your pashmina tightly
around your body to make a mini dress. No need to select
items of jewellery, just wear the entire contents of the
box. |
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Gentz ‘n’ the Hood: Hip-hop hits Glyndebourne |
Where?
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Glyndebourne |
| When? |
7.30pm DJ in foyer for 8pm show (same
times Sat) |
| How Much? |
£20 (£10 U18 & concessions) |
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Glyndebourne
(t) 01273 812 321
(w) Website |
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9 |
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Friday 17th March |
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Traditional
Irish Music Night
St Patrick’s Night, synonymous with a few pints
of the black stuff, a bit of a knees up, great craic all
round. There are parades in Cork and Dublin, sure, but
it’s bigger abroad. The Irish love being Irish,
and showing everybody they are proud of their heritage.
In England, there are huge celebrations in Manchester,
Liverpool, Newcastle: cities with sizeable Irish populations.
The Pelham Arms is flying the green, white and orange
flag for Lewes, with an Irish night, and a top quality
duo playing traditional instruments. Melanie Davies plays
the fiddle; Dirk Campbell plays the uilleann pipes, a
rare sight around these parts. There will be dancing,
and a fair bit of singing, no doubt, by the end.
It all makes you wonder why the English find it so hard
celebrating being English. Despite a flurry of St George
crosses on car aerials during the last couple of international
football tournaments, only one in five Englishmen can
tell you when St George’s Day is (April 23rd). Is
this a hangover of guilt for being the major partner in
the British Empire? Or a manifestation of our characteristic
national don’t-blow-your-trumpet self deprecating
trait? For some reason it just seems wrong to fly the
flag. We get our patriotic thrills vicariously. The craic
will be mighty tonight. |
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Flag day: But why don’t we celebrate our patron saint? |
Where?
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Pelham Arms |
| When? |
8.30pm |
| How Much? |
Free |
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10 |
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Saturday 18th March |
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Family Day
Out - Spring Barn Farm Park Which
came first, the chicken or the egg? Well an exhibition
at the recently re-opened Spring Barn Farm, aims to
solve the age-old question for your kids. However, after
viewing the hatching eggs, week-old chicks, older siblings
and the nesting mother hens, there may be some tricky
supplementary questions for you to wrestle with - and
perhaps an explanation for the lack of a chicken omelette
on most menus? Spring Barn remains a working farm so
as well as the chickens there are pigs, goats, rabbits
and ponies for your kids to interact with. At this time
of the year however, it’s the lambs taking centre
stage as the farm’s 150 or so ewes start lambing.
Co-owner Louise tells us that they already have five
lambs on show - three black and a couple of Southdowns
- which visitors can help to bottle-feed.
Now in its fifth season, the farm has becoming a popular
weekend spot. Additions for this year include the doubling
in size of the popular kids’ ride-on area; plus
the provision of both an outdoor and two indoor play
areas – including the recently opened Creepy Castle.
There is also an indoor haystack and a sandpit area
to keep the kids amused. We suggest you finish your
day off with a roasted ginger cordial and a snack in
the fairly priced café. |
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We all agree: Sigue Sigue Sputnik are pony |
Where?
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Kingston Road, Lewes |
| When? |
Daily 10am - 5pm |
| How Much? |
Adults £4.75; kids £3.75;
Under 3’s free |
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Saturday 18th March |
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Cinema -
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
JRR Tolkien was a maverick. He destroyed
the myth that you need any kind of character development
in a thousand pages of jargon-heavy prose. When Lord of
the Rings arrived in cinemas, fans were anxious: would
the films be true to the original spirit of the novels?
Thankfully, the answer was yes. One-dimensional characters
came roaring in to two dimensions, they struggled against
each other, fought, swore earnestly, struggled some more,
and then fought some more. The films also try to add some
much needed humour, but sadly, then kill each joke by
repetition. Perhaps the jokes too are meant to be earnest?
This weekend, you get the chance to see the three films
back to back - in Uckfield. It’s a huge battle of
GOOD and EVIL and NEW ZEALAND in a neat little theatre
in a grey little town. Make sure you don’t mistakenly
leave before the weird 20-minute sequence at the end of
the last film, where everybody kind of re-caps on how
much they’ll miss each other - like in the Christmas
episodes of Happy Days. Particularly look out for the
two hobbits, who having stared lovingly into each others
eyes for the best part of nine hours suddenly grab little
girlfriends and whirl them around. It’s a bit like
Abraham Zapruder's film of the Kennedy assassination.
Decades from now people will still be trying to figure
it out. |
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Warning: Too much Tolkien can damage your health |
Where?
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The Picture House, Uckfield |
| When? |
Starts 11am, finishes 9.30pm (same times
Sunday) |
| How Much? |
£15 |
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14 |
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Saturday 18th March |
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Books -
Lewes Book Fair
“When
I buy a second hand book, I don’t just want to see
a picture of the cover,” says Lewes Book Fair organiser
John Beck. He is referring to the huge increase in second-hand
book sales over the internet, a phenomena which has been
very damaging to the welfare of many in Britain’s
long-established second-hand book industry. “I want
to be able to feel the book, too. I want to be able to
smell it.” Beck complains that he has recently had
to return internet purchases he has made to their sellers,
because the description didn’t match the product.
This is one reason why book fairs in the UK are thriving
– the Lewes fair today will have more than 40 different
stall-holders, and is likely to be attended by up to 500
enthusiasts, most of whom will have travelled into town
especially for the event. Buying a second-hand book is
an art-form. You need to browse the book, feel its weight,
imagine it on your bookshelf. You never know, you might
even end up reading the thing.
Don’t expect the Gutenberg Bible or a Shakespeare
First Folio, but there will be books sold for as much
as £1000 and as little as £3: the bulk of
the stall holders will be selling rare first editions,
quality children’s books, books about the world
wars, local interest books and maps and antiquarian books. |
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Book Fair trade: 500 bibliophiles will be in town today |
Where?
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Corn Exchange, Lewes Town
Hall |
| When? |
10am-4pm |
| How Much? |
50p |
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15 |
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Saturday 18th March |
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Classical
Music - Fauré’s Requiem
“It has been said that my Requiem
does not express the fear of death and someone has called
it a lullaby of death,” said French composer Gabriel
Fauré about the funeral mass he wrote in 1888.
“But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance,
an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as
a painful experience.” Fauré's piece, which
is being performed tonight by Lewes’ own Esterhazy
Chamber Choir, was a radical work in its time: he took
two traditional elements out of the Mass, the Dies Irae,
and the Rex Tremendae, adding in their place the In Paradisum;
thus he got rid of the idea of hellfire and damnation,
replacing it with a more comforting vision of the afterlife.
The 24-strong Esterhazy Choir, formed in 1993 and directed
by Bruce Grindlay, specialize in a capella singing of
both sacred and secular songs. Tonight they are concentrating
on the former: they are also performing contemporary composer
John Rutter’s Gloria and Fauré’s first
ever composition, the Cantique de Jean Racine (1865).
But the highlight of the concert is certainly Fauré’s
Requiem, which was most poignantly performed in 1922 at
his own funeral. |
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Mass grave: John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Gabriel Fauré |
Where?
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St John sub Castro, Lancaster
St, Lewes |
| When? |
7.30pm |
| How Much? |
£12/£8 concs on door or
from Lewes Tourism |
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Esterhazy
Chamber Choir
(w) Website |
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Sunday 19th March |
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National
Science Week - Fleece to Fabric
Q: What colour was the skin of
the Tyrannosaurus Rex?
This and many more questions are asked and answered in
the comprehensive booklet accompanying the thirteenth
National Science Week which ends today after a week-busting
ten days. The event is an initiative from the British
Association for the Advancement of Science (the-BA), and
their President, Frances Cairncross, hopes it will engender
a broader interest in all science-based subjects as well
as energising us to think and act more proactively on
globally important issues such as carbon emissions, reduced
energy consumption and the broader climate change debate.
Science education has moved on in leaps and bounds since
Viva’s school days, when science meant playing dangerously
with Bunsen burners and staring incomprehensibly at a
yellow-with-age copy of the periodic table hanging slightly
askew on the wall. This week, Sussex Past have been running
a series of events at the castle, culminating in today’s
Fleece to Fabric event. It’s an investigation into
the fabric making process and is billed as suitable for
all ages. It will be interactive, it will be informative,
it will be fun. And you’ll come away with your head
full of more spinning, weaving and dyeing terms than you
can shake a raddle cross at.
A: Nobody really knows, as pigment is not preserved
in fossils |
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Fruit of the loom: fabric
making explained at the castle |
Where?
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Lewes Castle |
| When? |
Drop in 2-4pm |
| How Much? |
£1 per person (all ages) |
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17 |
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Sunday 19th March |
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