Fringe on Friday

As we reach the mid-point of the 35^Th Buxton Festival Fringe the daily programme gets bigger and bigger with over 40 shows and events to choose from today.

Among the new events is a world premiere. Derbyshire performance poet Mark Gwynne-Jones has a show called ‘Wordworms’ at the Pavilion Arts Centre Studio. Recommended for all aged 7 and over expect a show that is energetic, funny, compelling and thoughtful. Mark is a brilliant performer and writer. He opens at 7.30 tonight.

At the same time and just along St John’s Road in the Octagon the Derbyshire City & County Youth Orchestra will be performing Holsts’ Planet Suite. The Orchestra meets-up for 5 days every year and learns a new programme and performs it for us. It’s hard work for the musicians but the result is invariably thrilling.

More modest in scale but equally exciting will be a violin and piano recital at the Methodist Church. Duncan Reid and Jonathan Ellis team-up to play sonatas by Beethoven and Brahms as well as Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances.

At St John’s Church, also, at 7.30 soprano Laura Monaghan, accompanied by pianist Mark Cartwright, will be performing songs from the 20^th century – including Strauss’ Four Last Songs and Alban Berg’s Seven Early Songs. With such riches on offer we would wish for time travel so as to hear them all.

From the drama programme the well-received new play by Buxton Drama League, ‘Caroline’, end its short-run in the Methodist Church Hall. Also tonight is Sian Dudley’s one-woman show ‘WOW’ at the Loft on the Market Place.

You can have a whole evening of new comedy at Underground Venues tonight: ‘The Good, The Bad, and the Unexpected’ takes its title from a spaghetti western – its an improv show and starts at 6.15; Bill Woolland – a father of 7 – shares his experiences of parenthood; Claire Cogan’s ‘Bite Size Show’ introduces a host of instantly recognisable characters; Amadeus Martin returns to Buxton with ‘God created Brixton’ – this part of south-west London is twinned with Monaco, Amadeus contrasts and compares.

Away from the hurly-burly of Buxton there is an art exhibition at New Mills’ Spring Bank Arts Centre open from 2-8pm today and all weekend too. Sue Astles presents landscapes by Harry Ousey who was inspired by Kinder Scout in the 1940s and later Cornwall and France, where he died in 1985. Sue is Harry’s niece and will be providing insights into his life and atmospheric work.

Buxton Fringe

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