Monday 13 March 2017

Buxton Fringe Ensures The Hills Are Alive...





With the hills of the Peak District all around us, it is no surprise that Buxton Fringe attracts its fair share of performers eager to celebrate the joys of nature.


This year’s programme - already featuring over 80 entries and with many more to come - is no exception with inspirational events including Love, Nature & Shakespeare with a mix of lute songs and soprano arias performed by Sue Morgan and Espérance, and Spoken Word’s Heading for the Hills, in which Peter and Gillian Byrom-Smith combine music and poetry in a nature-themed evening. Not surprisingly, our Visual Arts category is full of artists capturing our fantastic landscape with High Peak Artists and The Green Man Gallery both celebrating water and the Derbyshire Open at the Museum traditionally featuring many atmospheric renditions of local scenes amongst its eclectic offerings.


We are also intrigued by KEMS Contemporary’s Sound Scape whereby musicians and audience move around nine sculptures representing natural objects. This art-in-nature installation by sculptor Lorna Green has music by Julia Harding and takes place in the spectacular setting of Fringe sponsor, the University of Derby’s Dome.


TICTAC Theatre meanwhile offers a humorous take on man’s effect on the natural world with its series of two-person plays through the eyes of seagulls, seahorses and, those Fringe favourites - sheep.

On a more serious note, it’s worth saying that the Fringe works hard to reduce the impact of the festival on the environment and is supporting the work of the not-for-profit organisation Positive Impact for the 2017 United Nations International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. We have recently created a page on the Fringe website www.buxtonfringe.org.uk/environment.html where we set out some of the ways in which we try to be green. We would love to hear your ideas on this and, if you are a performer, the eco-initiatives that you have taken. Do let us know!

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe


Sunday 5 March 2017

Sitting Down and Being Counted

Buxton's magnificent Palace Hotel - a Fringe venue


The arts, in all their aspects, are a source of entertainment and pleasure of course. They can also stimulate, challenge and contribute to social cohesion. It is best if our experience of the arts does all of these things and there is plenty happening at this year's Buxton Festival Fringe that does just that!

We are delighted to see that Stone & Water have organised a Buxton Pride Picnic for Saturday July 22nd from 3-6pm on the Old Bowling Green in the Pavilion Gardens. As they say in their invitation: "Celebrating Queer Buxton (LGBT+ and all our friends!) with a picnic of gracefulness, silliness and frivolous strength. Bring your own exquisite nibbles, an umbrella or parasol if appropriate, and join us on the lawn. Add a poem to read, an elegant dress or simply your own wonderful self." We look forward to being there for an hour, or two, or three. We may bring more frivolity than grace - and cannot guarantee elegance - but a clutch of poems will be to hand.

Recently in New Mills a group of people headed by Rebecca Harman organised an evening of music and food with the purpose of raising money to support charities working with refugees. The evening was a brilliant success and Buxton Fringe is really pleased that Rebecca is putting on an evening at The Palace Hotel - also on the 22nd, so stay in costume - to benefit the Hummingbird Project which has been doing excellent work in aid of refugees for last two years.

You can have a very busy - and not expensive - day in Buxton on Saturday July 22nd. There is some exceptional artwork to be seen - at the Green Man Gallery, the Pavilion Gardens and the Dome (University of Derby) - throughout the day. At the Green Man and the Pavilion Gardens (Art Café) there will be the opportunity to compare two exhibitions which share the theme of water in the Peak District. At the Dome the Peak District Artisans bring their annual show - 60 different artists and craftspeople will be exhibiting their work, running workshops and selling (and you won't be able to resist).

See you in the Gardens and the Palace - sitting down (or maybe dancing) for diversity and human rights.

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe


Thursday 2 March 2017

Fringe Half Full

Eyam Parish Church - venue for The Eisenach Ensemble

We've been open for entries to Buxton Fringe 2017 for 3 months and we close in less than 7 weeks - so it stands to reason that a significant number of shows have been booked in. By the end of February we had over 70 different events confirmed - a record for that date. Our best guess is that about half of this summer's Fringe is in the calendar. And it is looking like an outstanding Festival already!

On this blog we try to give some coverage to every event - and if you have news or background to any of this year's shows do let us know and we'll share it as widely as we can. It makes no sense to try and run through 70+ events in one go - so for now here is news of some of the acts and venues new to Buxton Festival Fringe.

The village of Eyam has hosted Fringe events in the past - memorably a promenade production of a play about how the plague infected the village in the 17th century. It is a beautiful and evocative place to spend some time in. We are delighted, therefore, to see that on 16th July (3-5pm) the Eisenach Ensemble will be at Eyam Parish Church performing vocal duets and solos by Monteverdi, Handel, Bach and Telemann including Zefiro Torno, Sheep may safely graze and Handel's Italian duets.

The Fringe also extends as far north as the handsome town of New Mills. The Spring Bank Arts Centre (15th, 7.30-9.00) is hosting a show CUPID AND THE KING: THE KINGS' COURTESANS. You ought to read the small print: “Cupid and the King” explores the lusty, rancid world of English kings and their “mistresses” with period readings and music from the Tudors and Stuarts. From the gay lovers of James I to the people’s mistress, Nell Gwynne; be prepared for bawdy, no holds barred, language and adult content. New Mills can take it - but can you?

Another one-off event that demands your urgent consideration is "The Boy Who Grew Wings" (8th, 6-9pm). This is happening in the Grinlow plantation behind Poole's Cavern and is a piece of woodland circus theatre - including aerial acrobatics and music. Whispering Woods are producing the show and it could be the only place to be after the town's carnival.

We have been waiting for confirmation of a new Fringe venue and just this week it was announced that The Rotunda - a circular marquee on the Old Bowling Green in the Pavilion Gardens - will be home to shows throughout the Fringe. Seven events have been announced already with more to come. The initial programme has a strong mix of drama and comedy with a focus on gripping stories about people you can care for. "Call Mr Robeson" tells of the life of the actor and singer who was also an important civil rights activist.

"Gratiano" is described as a sequel to "The Merchant of Venice" and explores the politics and prejudice and hate in Mussolini's Italy to more recent days. Given the political turn in western society and politics of the past 12 months this will surely be resonant here and now?

Richard Pulsford has been finalist in the UK pun championships more than once. We ought to try and find something clever to say there - but let's leave it to the experts. Try and keep up with Richard on the 9th & 12th.

We want to tell you about picnics and benefit gigs, and shows at the Palace Hotel. And we shall tell you - but next week!

Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe