Steyning Festival 2010 Update - 29th May to 14th June

Here are some more Festival Highlights. See the official programme with the complete list of events for 2010. This has been delivered in conjunction with this magazine.

www.steyningfestival.co.uk

It’s time to dig out your tap shoes, practice your yodelling, dust off your spinning plates and get ready for the talent show of the year. This year, Steyning Festival is uniting generations and celebrating local talent with a spectacular half term family show, Steyning’s Got Talent. We are looking for people of all ages to audition for the Grand Final of this local talent contest. We want to see as many acts as possible during our two heats, one on the evening of Saturday 15th May and the other on the morning of Saturday 5th June. The final contestants will take part in our fun-packed evening show on Sat 5th June. Come along and be part of an audience and vote for your favourite acts. Join our distinguished judging panel to find a winner who will walk home with plenty of kudos and a cash prize.

We are thrilled to present Simon Sands as host and compere for the evening. A resident of Steyning, Simon is a cheeky comic with a laid back style of humour . A consummate professional, he has hosted ‘An Audience with Sir Trevor Brooking’, ‘An Audience with Eamonn Holmes’, entertained the troops and worked all over the world and has numerous TV appearances under his rather large belt including ‘One Foot in the Grave’, ‘Pie in the Sky’, ‘Saturday Night Armistice’, ‘Soldier Soldier’, ‘Eastenders’, ‘The Bill’, ‘Murder Most Horrid’ and ‘The Comedians’ Simon is delighted to be hosting the evening and comments: “What a great idea to showcase local talent. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Steyning and the surrounding areas will produce, and introducing the best of the best!”

To ensure we deliver the highest quality family show, we have invited innovative comic, Keith (the thief) Charnley to headline the evening. His impressive act of spontaneous visual comedy and quick fire ad libs will provide a unique entertainment experience for everyone. Keith  ‘the thief’ Charnley has established a reputation as the finest pickpocket in Britain. He has worked all over Europe and the UK and as far afield as cruise liners in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean; he also has many theatre and TV appearances to his credit. Keith even runs crime prevention seminars (and has led ‘dipping teams’ at Gatwick Airport to show how easily members of the public can lose valuables to a professional team).

Tickets are on sale now at our festival box office, The Steyning Bookshop, 01903 812062
For further details about how to take part call Jacqueline Gilbrook on 07795186299

Literature Highlights:
A Twist in the Tale:
We are absolutely delighted that Brighton’s own Sunday Times bestselling crime writer, Peter James, will be joining fellow crime-writers Sophie Hannah and R Ellory on the special authors’ panel at this year’s Steyning Festival. The discussion event, chaired by New Writing South’s Chris Taylor, is entitled A Twist in the Tale and takes place on Tuesday 1st June at 7.30pm at the Steyning Grammar School Theatre.

Peter’s Roy Grace detective novels, Dead Simple, Looking Good Dead, Not Dead Enough, Dead Man’s Footsteps, and Dead Tomorrow have variously been shortlisted for many awards, including the CWA Dagger in the Library, the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and the ITV Crime Thriller Author of the Year, as well as consistently topping the bestseller lists, and being translated into 33 languages. His eagerly awaited new novel, Dead Like You is published in the first week of June and is expected to shoot to the top of the bestseller lists. Indeed, Radio 4 Front Row’s Mark Lawson recently remarked that sales of Peter’s series were rapidly taking over from all-time favourite crime writer Ian Rankin.

Set in Brighton – one of the most desirable cities in the country to live in, for criminals as well as the law-abiding – these gripping and excellently paced novels follow the investigations of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, as he grapples with its murky underworld. In researching these novels Peter has pursued his interest in police work and forensic science and become a close ally of Sussex Police., as well as being made joint-patron of Sussex Crimestoppers along with Dame Vera Lynn A very popular local figure, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Brighton in 2009 in recognition of his “ongoing contribution to the arts and to the status, infrastructure and culture of Brighton and Hove.”

Peter’s earlier series of chilling “horror” novels, including Faith, Denial, and The Truth, reflected his abiding interest in the supernatural. Following that logic, might we hope for a series of books based on another enduring passion of Peter’s – racing cars – first Citroen 2CV’s, now a Honda in the BritCar series!

An Evening with Barbara Trapido Wednesday 9th June 7.45pm Steyning Centre £6/£8
We are delighted to welcome one of our all-time favourite authors, Barbara Trapido, to Steyning Festival. She was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and grew up through the worst years of apartheid. Moving to London after university, she put her memories of her homeland in a box marked Do Not Open and left them there for forty years.
She never intended to become a writer of fiction, but whilst trying to complete her PhD, she found herself diverted and distracted by the imaginary Goldman family. This daydream became a compulsion, and Trapido’s first novel, the wonderful coming-of-age tale Brother of the More Famous Jack was published nearly thirty years ago to ecstatic reviews. “I hope it is stocked by railway-station bookstalls; I hope railway-station bookstalls have to build extensions to house the necessary copies,” raved the Financial Times, and it promptly won the Whitbread special prize. A string of perfectly formed and equally well-reviewed novels followed.

Frankie and Stankie, published in 2003, opened the locked box of memories. It is a semi-autobiographical account of a young girl growing up in South Africa, and her dawning realisation of the injustices of apartheid.

Sex and Stravinsky, the latest novel from Barbara Trapido, draws together a cast of characters like dancers on a stage; Josh, teaching mime, Zoe, desperate for ballet lessons and Hattie, dreaming of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. Their separate lives interweave and gravitate towards the mysterious boy Jack. Another lyrical novel from this three times Whitbread nominated author.

Music Highlights:
A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Opera!
Presented by Music Theatre 2000. Director/Musical Director: Simon Gray Enjoy and evening of opera with performers from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, English National Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival. A programme of arias, duets and ensembles have been specially chosen to appeal to aficionados as well as newcomers to opera. The cast includes international soprano Jacquelyn Fugelle and the tenor Andrew Mackenzie Wicks with Karen Orchin (soprano), Hilary Jane Andrews (Mezzo) and Darren Jones (Baritone), compere Viv Aylward, with Lesley Anne Sammons at the piano. SUNDAY 13 JUNE, Steyning Centre, 7.15pm, 2 hours 20 minutes, £15 including a glass of Buck’s Fizz

Walks Highlights:
Dusk at Daylands
This historic and remote farm provides the ideal setting to hear mysterious tales from the past and experience some of the magic and wonders of these ancient woodlands as dusk approaches. Uneven surfaces. Muddy if wet. Stout footwear advised. Not suitable for children under 10 years. Dogs on leads welcome.

MEET:
Daylands Farm car park signed off Honeybridge Lane. Access with care off A24 at Dial Post.
MUST BOOK: Telephone Festival Walks 01903 879439.
LEADER: Jamie Crawford Storyteller with Vivien Lyth, Festival Walks, Farmers Derek & Vicki Crush.
SUNDAY 30 MAY, 6pm, 3 miles (5 km), 21⁄2 hours, £8 per person includes a glass of wine and nibbles.

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