Tag Archives: University of Winchester

Tavern Talks Strike Back!

Last autumn, the University of Winchester’s Faculty of Arts teamed up with Winchester’s St James Tavern to launch Tavern Talks, a new series of public conversations aimed at bringing people together to engage in lively discussions about the arts, culture and contemporary discourse.

“We’ve been so pleased by the response to these events,” said the University’s Dean of Arts, Professor Alec Charles. “People don’t just come along to listen – they really participate.”

The first three events in the series have featured playwright Professor Peter Billingham discussing the relationship between democracy and civil disobedience, novelist Dr Vanessa Harbour talking about writing historical fiction, and playwright Professor Tim Prentki on the performative nature of human existence.

The organisers have now announced the new programme of Tavern Talks for early 2019.

On 14 February 2019, Professor Alec Charles will be leading a discussion on the nature of romantic love.

“It’s inevitable, isn’t it, given the date?” says Alec. “If you love love, loathe love, miss love, or just really feel the need to challenge the notion of love on a range of key philosophical points, then please join us for an evening of wit, banter, argument and romance at the St James Tavern on St Valentine’s night. Singles, couples and members of any kinds on non-traditional ménage are all welcome and embraced. (But not literally.)”

Alec is a journalist and author of numerous articles and books, including Interactivity, Out of Time, Political Animals and Underwords. (Alec is also scheduled to deliver a free public lecture at the University of Winchester on 26 March – on the subject of the significance we may find in insignificance.)

On 21 March, Professor Christopher Mulvey will be talking about the English language in Hampshire. Chris is the Managing Editor of Winchester University Press and a trustee at the English Project, as well as co-author of A History of the English Language in 100 Places, and the author of (among other titles) Anglo-American Landscapes and Transatlantic Manners.

“When the Romans withdrew from Britain, Germanic tribes began streaming across the North Sea, and they brought with them a language we now call English,” says Chris. “The Saxons created the Kingdom of Wessex, and its first shire was Hampshire. The English of this kingdom was called West Saxon – today we call it West Country English. It was the language of King Alfred, and since Alfred’s time, Hampshire’s West Saxon has become a rural dialect. Had Winchester remained the capital of England, the Queen would be speaking Tess Durbeyfield’s English!”

On 25 April, Dr Daniel Varndell will argue the case for why manners still matter, and will chart the use and abuse of etiquette in contemporary discourse. Dan is Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Winchester and author of Hollywood Remakes, Deleuze and the Grandfather Paradox.

Dan says: “As a noted toastmaster once pointed out, etiquette is knowing how to yawn with your mouth closed. In an era increasingly dogged by a lack of regard for those with whom we disagree, this Tavern Talk tackles tact and tactlessness in the times of Brexit, #MeToo and Donald Trump.”

These Thursday evening events take place each month in the upstairs room of the St James Tavern at the bottom of Romsey Road. They feature short informal talks followed by lively discussions.

The evenings start with drinks from 5.30, with the talks kicking off at about 6.00pm. Participants usually stick around for chat and a drink downstairs in the pub after the discussion finishes at about 7.00.

There’s no charge for entry and everyone is welcome, space permitting.

Booking isn’t required but, if you’d like to reserve a seat, or if you’d like more information, then please contact: inga.bryden@winchester.ac.uk  

Tavern Talks January 2019

On Thursday evening (24 January) Professor Tim Prentki will be speaking in the latest in the University of Winchester monthly series of Tavern Talks – held upstairs at the St James Tavern at the bottom of the Romsey Road.

Tavern Talks feature short informal talks followed by lively discussion. The evening starts with drinks from 5.30, with the talk itself kicking off at about 6.00pm. Tavern Talkers usually stick around for another drink (or two) downstairs after the discussion finishes at around 7.00.

Entry is free, participation encouraged. All are welcome. No booking required.

Tim will argue that, insofar as we process and perform reality in the same ways in which theatre operates, we might all be said to be ‘acting on the world stage’ – and will argue that, when our opportunities to develop as social performers and audiences are thwarted, we lose empathy and resort to tribal identities at odds with our cerebral wiring.

Tim is a playwright and the world’s first Professor of Theatre for Development, as well as being the author of numerous books on such subjects as Applied Theatre and Popular Theatre in Political Culture.

Forthcoming Tavern Talks:

Heritage Focus: The Theatre Royal at 40

The Theatre Royal at 40 – An Undergraduate explores the historic impact of a community.

We met Sam Jenkins at the celebration of 40 years since the Theatre Royal was saved. Threatened with demolition in the 1970s an action group was formed comprising of six dedicated Winchester residents who wanted to save the building for use as a permanent theatre which Winchester lacked at that time. A charitable trust was formed and subsequently purchased the building in 1977. Theatre Royal Winchester was then opened the following year on 1 November 1978 by the esteemed actor/playwright Robert Morley. Sam has been researching the theatre as part of his studies at the University of Winchester and has kindly agreed to share his experiences and findings with us.

I am Sam Jenkins, a second year history student at the University of Winchester. As part of my degree I am currently undertaking a module called ‘Exploring Past Localities’, where I am exploring a local tenement in the Winchester area, tracing the tenement’s origins as far back as possible, right up to its use in the present day. This will culminate in a presentation of my findings in December. As a keen fan of cinema and theatre-going, I quickly chose the Theatre Royal as my tenement to explore. To fully equip me for the task, I received training to use resources from the Hampshire Record Office, where much historic documentation can be found on the Theatre Royal and the tenement of land it occupies.

One of the key aspects of this module is to consider the importance of ‘history-from-below’, an idea that has emerged in historiographical thought since the 1960s. This is the concept that historical writing should consider the role of ordinary individuals, and the impact of the civic community, rather than just focusing on how history was shaped by those in power at the very top of society. The sense of a rooted community spirit was very evident when I visited the Theatre for its 40th Anniversary celebrations on the 1st November.

Richard Steel, Phil Yates, Lady Jennie Bland, Janet Richardson, David Harding and Richard Chisnell.

It gave me a wonderful opportunity to meet first-hand some of the key people involved with saving the Theatre from being demolished in the 1970s. The guests I met included surviving members of the original ‘gang’ who came together to fight against the building’s planned demolition order, some of the volunteers who helped operate the Theatre when it first re-opened, as well as other members of the Winchester community and their family members who are connected to the Theatre’s history.

As an undergraduate I am expected to thoroughly explore the evidence when completing my assignments – historians are quite rightly expected to justify their “facts” or interpretations through multiple sources. While these sources can take many forms, they are often found in the form of a monograph (book) or journal article. To be able to actually see the theatre as it stands today and directly meet people involved with its development is a real honour, and the greatest joy is that it brings the research I am producing to life, quite literally. It reminds me that the role of the historian is not just to tell stories for storytelling’s sake – history is about real people, and ensuring that the collective efforts and achievements of real people are properly commemorated and appreciated for future generations.

The Theatre Royal would not be standing today had it not been for the generosity, commitment and determination of the Winchester community. This will be reflected strongly when I come to deliver my presentation.

Sam Jenkins

Twitter: @changemakersam

Find out more about the history of the Theatre Royal Winchester here.

Feature: University of Winchester Tavern Talks

The University of Winchester’s Faculty of Arts has teamed up with St James Tavern at the bottom of Winchester’s Romsey Road to launch Tavern Talks, a new series of public conversations aimed at bringing people together to engage in lively discussions about the creative arts and contemporary discourse in the contexts of cultural history and modern politics and society.

These Thursday evening meetings will convene once a month in the upstairs room of the St James Tavern, and will feature short informal talks on intriguing topics designed to prompt further discussion. The evenings will start with drinks from 5.30, with the talks kicking off at about 6.00pm.

There’s no charge for entry and everyone is welcome, space permitting.

“We’re not planning to lecture people for an hour,” said the University’s Dean of Arts, Professor Alec Charles. “We’re offering something a bit different – something much more social and interactive, an opportunity for everyone to speak, share and learn.”

Tavern Talks has now announced the first three events in its autumn/winter programme.

On Thursday 25 October, Professor Peter Billingham will be introducing the idea of ‘Putting the Demo into Democracy’. A playwright and the author of many books and articles on theatre, television and music (including recent work on Leonard Cohen and Edward Bond), Professor Billingham will discuss the relationships between democracy and civil disobedience in these politically turbulent times. He will ask how far the limits of conventional democracy might stretch, and under what circumstances demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience might come to seem desirable and necessary.

On Thursday 22 November, Dr Vanessa Harbour will be talking about the issues writers face when ‘Writing History as Fiction’. Dr Harbour is a writer whose recent novel Flight was published by Firefly Press in August and was described by the New Statesman as “an adventure mixing horses and Nazis” which balances its “gripping plot” with “real-life inspiration”. She will suggest that, as a writer, she aims to create narratives that engage the imagination using voices that are unlikely to have left any written records behind them, as she tells the stories of the invisible characters of history.

On Thursday 24 January, Professor Tim Prentki will propose that, insofar as we process and perform reality in the same ways in which theatre operates, we might all be said to be ‘Acting on the World Stage’. Tim Prentki is a playwright and the world’s first Professor of Theatre for Development. The author of numerous books on such subjects as Applied Theatre and Popular Theatre in Political Culture, he will argue that, when our opportunities to develop as social performers and audiences are thwarted, we lose empathy and resort to tribal identities at odds with our cerebral wiring.

Tavern Talks are aimed at providing a space for constructive discussion and creative interaction that shifts the emphasis from the fusty to the fun, and welcome all who’d like to take part.

For more information, please contact: inga.bryden@winchester.ac.uk

Workshop with the Welsh National Opera

Welsh National Opera hosts bespoke workshop course in Winchester

This autumn Theatre Royal Winchester is partnering with Welsh National Opera, Mayflower Theatre and University of Winchester to offer young people the opportunity to take part in a two-day musical workshop course.  The Opera Engage weekend is inspired by Welsh National Opera’s new uproarious musical comedy Rhondda Rips it Up!

Rhondda Rips It Up! tells the story of the unsung heroine of the Welsh Suffrage movement, Margaret Haig Thomas, the Viscountess Rhondda. As well as campaigning tirelessly for women’s suffrage, she became the lightning rod for women’s efforts during World War One, survived the sinking of the Lusitania and created the radical feminist magazine Time and Tide.

Opera Engage will take place across two days on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 November. The course has been created to offer young people aged 10-18 a supportive environment to develop new skills in composing, singing, acting and designing. Participants will work with a professional creative team from Welsh National Opera and the weekend will culminate in a devised performance inspired by Rhondda Rips it Up! on stage at Theatre Royal Winchester. Young people who take part in the course will also receive a ticket to see the sold-out performance of Rhondda Rips it Up! at the venue on Tuesday 20 November.

With 70 years of experience and an international reputation for performing and touring world-class productions, Welsh National Opera is dedicated to providing a springboard for the next generation of talent, delivering unique workshops and courses around the country.

Working with Theatre Royal Winchester, Welsh National Opera’s Opera Engage will provide local young people the opportunity to take part in a transformative experience through music, delivered in partnership between Hampshire’s leading arts venues.

The cost to take part is £50 per person and bursaries are available.

Opera Engage: Rhondda Rips it Up! takes place on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18, with a performance on Monday 19 November, at Theatre Royal Winchester. More information and tickets are available online at theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk and from the on Box Office 01962 840 440

Win Guide to June

There’s lots going on in our fair city this month, from festivals to theatre costume sales and of course our beloved Hat Fair. To find out more, here’s our Win Guide to June.

Head on down to the Chesil Theatre for some folk music on 1 June, performed by the Itchen Folk band. The Compton & Shawford based group will play music from the British Isles and the US. While we’re at the Chesil Theatre, don’t miss their costume sale on 9 June. There will be a range of items on offer from various periods reflecting the range of repertoire that has been dressed over the years. Prices range from just 50p to £50 so get ready to rummage.

The Theatre Royal has an exciting programme on offer this month. Events include Germaine Greer, 3 June and her talk on the inevitability of ecofeminism.  Robert Habermann will be Mad about Movies on 7 June in his history of Hollywood musicals. The show climaxes with a marvellous medley of 20 Oscar winning songs. Shappi Khorsandi will be portraying Emma Hamilton in Mistress and Misfit, 8 June. Dance-wise, you can book to see the sizzling Flamenco Express on 9 June or Ballet Central on 12 June, featuring work by world renowned choreographers.  Families can enjoy the Integr8 Dance school showcase, 15 – 17 June.  Le Navet Bete & Exeter Northcott Theatre bring us Dracula: The Bloody Truth on 13 – 14 June. Kids will be interested in Tall Stories The Snail & The Whale, 10 – 11 June.

Blue Apple Theatre will be filling us in on some history with Winchester! The First 100,000,000 Years, 21 – 23 June. Where did those first settlers on the banks of the Itchen get a decent cup of coffee and did Jane Austen ever get caught up on the one-way system? And finally, don’t miss Reflections of Johnny Cash, Karen Carpenter, Judy Garland & Eva Cassidy, 24 June.

Winchester Cathedral has a packed June full of events to enjoy. Here’s a list of what’s on:

Stone Festival 2018 Friday 15 – Sunday 17 June 2018,

10.00am – 4.00pm Daily. Free Entry – All Welcome

Jane Austen: Tour and Tea Saturday 2 June,10.00am
Tickets: £12.50 Includes hot drink and a slice of cake

Garden Tour  Saturday 2 June, 10.00am Tickets: £6.50

Spiritual Tours with Rev’d Katie Lawrence
Monday 4 June & Wednesday 6 June, 7.00pm – 9.00pm Tickets: £5

Lunchtime Recital – Mikhail Lezdkan (Cello)
Tuesday 5 June, 1.00pm Free to attend

Modern Art Tour and Tea Saturday 9 June, 10.00am
Tickets: £12.50 includes hot drinks and a slice of cake

Britten’s War Requiem Saturday 9 June, 7.30pm
Tickets: £20- £35

Film Night: Stations of the Cross (2014)
Tuesday 12 June, 7.00pm Tickets: £5

Lunchtime Recital: Paul Turner (Piano) & Enigma 14.
Tuesday 12 June, 1.00pm Free to attend

Shipping Festival Service
Thursday 14 June, 7.30pm

Tour: Magnificence Revealed
Saturday 16 June, 10.00am
Tickets: £12.50 includes hot drinks and a slice of cake

Lunchtime Recital: Winchester College Music Scholars
Tuesday 19 June, 1.00pm
Free to attend.

Yanomamo – Featuring Winchester Cathedral Junior and Youth Choir
Saturday 23 June, 7.30pm Tickets: £15 & £20

Professor Alister McGrath – On the Trinity
Tuesday 26 June, 7.00pm
Tickets: £5

Lunchtime Recital – Wells Cathedral School Specialist Music Department
Tuesday 26 June, 1.00pm Free to attend

First World War – In my end is my beginning: Tour and Cream Tea
Friday 29 June, 2.00pm
£12.50 includes a cream tea

For the wordsmiths among us, it’s the Winchester Writers Festival, 15 – 17 June. The festival includes some interesting networking opportunities, including the chance to meet editors and agents.  The keynote speaker for this year’s festival is the novelist Patrick Gale. To book your place, visit the website here.

Winchestival takes place 16 June in North Walls park.  There will be music, comedy and street food to enjoy with the 1980’s synth pop band Fickle Friends headlining the event.  Winchester Comedy Festival will be ensuring that there will be plenty of giggles on the day.  To book tickets for beats, eats and comedy treats, visit the website here.

Hat’s at the ready, the UK’s longest running outdoor arts festival Hat Fair takes place Friday 29th June – Sunday 1st July. On Friday and Saturday there are two jam-packed dates of arts and culture all around Winchester city centre. On Sunday, all are welcome to picnic on North Walls recreation ground where there will be more entertainment to enjoy. For the full programme, which includes an inflatable Whale venue and dancing on giant Jenga, visit the Hat Fair website here.

With so much culture on offer this June, it’s going to be a great month in the city. We’ll be bringing you more updates on Twitter throughout the month. Have fun one and all.

Win Guide to March

March started with the Beast from the East and an Amber weather warning. We hope our fellow Wintonians managed to stay warm and dry in the snow.  A big thank you to Trinity Winchester, local carers, emergency services, public sector staff and neighbours who cared for the vulnerable during an unexpected freeze.

As the snow melts and we return to the beginnings of Spring, here’s our Win Guide to March:

Handbags at the ready, The Original Theatre Company will be visiting the Theatre Royal Winchester with a delightful production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, starring Gwen Taylor, 5 – 7 March.  For more details or to book tickets, visit here. Other theatre highlights this month include Slightly Fat Features, think Monty Python meets Cirque du Soleil, 11 March. Lloyd and Rose Buck will be giving a talk, Our Life with Birds, 13 March.  There will be a rare opportunity to meet Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, hawks, owls, starlings and many more, in the theatre! Jason Donovan will be at the Theatre Royal on 16 March, along with his mid-life crisis.  For the younger audience members, don’t forget to book for Peppa Pig, 17 – 18 March.  The Winchester Comedy Festival will be presenting a Comedy Gala, 17 March.

The University of Winchester students will be teaming up with the Theatre Royal for Scratch Shakespeare on 19 March.  With four directors, four theatre companies and four performances inspired by the Bard himself, be there or be a poisonous bunch-backed toad. Our insult (Richard III) not theirs! There is also the chance to see Wessex Dance Academy, 22 March, and the Young Theatre Royal showcase on 27 & 29 March. Oh, and the Swansea City Opera will be bringing the Barber of Seville to the Theatre Royal stage on 20 March.  For full programme details and to book tickets, visit the website here.

Craig Charles, the beloved Red Dwarf actor, will be bringing his Funk & Soul Club to the Guildhall on 9 March from 10pm.  The event is for 18+ years. Support comes from The Soul Rays and Jimi Needles. For full details and to get booking, visit the Guildhall website here.

Don’t forget it’s mother’s day on Sunday 11 March.  There are still a limited number of tickets left for the Great British Gin Festival, which could be a treat.  To snap the last tickets up and find our more, visit here. There are also various offers on offer throughout the city to spoil mums with lunches, dinners or afternoon tea.  Hotel du Vin has an afternoon tea with Champagne deal on, £50 for two. Or the Holiday Inn will be offering afternoon tea with unlimited Prosecco. An 18+ age guidance of course applies.

For some more theatre fun, The Venetian Twins by Carlo Goldoni will be on at the Chesil Theatre, 17 – 24 March directed by Mark Frank.  Goldoni’s timeless comedy is a wonderful whirling confusion of frustrated lovers, bizarre fights between mistaken adversaries and devious plots that go off the rails – with a surprising bitter-sweet twist at the end. Check out the trailer:

Don’t forget to book tickets here.

Whilst we’re at the Chesil Theatre, the 10×10 Playwriting Competition is open for submissions until 30 March.  The theme is Hidden Worlds.  Ten plays will be selected for performances at the 10×10 New Writing Festival to be held in October 2018. The aim of 10×10 is to discover, promote and produce the very best new writing of ten-minute plays. 10×10 has provided a platform for playwrights and played a small but significant role in their continuing successes. For more details and to download the submission form, visit the website here.

Finally, we recommend a trip to Winchester College to hear the Winchester Symphony Orchestra and pianist Ivana Gavric on 24 March, 7.30pm conducted by Nicholas Wilks. The programme includes Jean Sibelius – Finlandia, The Swan of Tuonela, Lemminkainen’s Return and En Saga. Felix Mendelssohn – Piano Concerto no. 1 and Johannes Brahms – Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn.

We’ll be bringing you more updates throughout the month @Win_Guide.  Have a fun month, one and all.

Win Guide to November

If you take a stroll through the city you’ll see that the wooden cabins have been constructed, the lights are hanging above the high street and Winchester is ready to get festive.  But fear not, whether you are ready to get into the spirit or not, there’s plenty of entertainment to amuse this month. Here’s our guide to whats on in the city in November…

It’s the 6th edition of the Winchester short film festival, with screenings taking place between the 3rd and 11th November.  Screenings take place at various locations throughout the city, and you can view the full programme here.

Winchester University is running its weekly faculty of arts talks on a Wednesday afternoon between 4.30pm – 6pm on campus.  These are free to attend and an opportunity to hear about some of the research being undertaken at the University.  November’s programme is:

8 November | 4.30pm | SAB203
A Nexus of Creativity: Musical Comedy at Daly’s Theatre, 1894-1899 (Presented via video link).
Prof. William Everett (University of Missouri-Kansas City)

15 November | 4.30pm | SAB201
The Facts and Trials of Jane Griffin, hanged for the murder of Elizabeth Osborn, 29 January 1720
Debbie Webber (Winchester)
&
An ekphrastic inspiration for a writer: Bruegel’s depictions of Carnival
Lisa Koning (Winchester)

22 November | 4.30pm | SAB203
Greenwashing Culture
Prof. Toby Miller (Loughborough University London)

29 November | 4.30pm | MB5
‘Meaningless secretaries and humourless bitches’: Mad Men, mediations of women’s work, and the vexed question of feminism
Prof. Caroline Bainbridge (University of Roehampton)

Have you bought your panto ticket yet for the Theatre Royal’s Peter Pan?  There’s an exciting programme of work to explore meanwhile.  The celebrated Motion House Charge will be bringing their exciting dance circus show about energy on 10, 11 November. Motionhouse is working with partners from Oxford University to support the creative and choreographic process, putting science at the heart of artistic practice. Tickets are available here.

Other highlights include the Shakespeare Schools Festival, which gives local schools a change to tread the boards staging a Shakespeare play, 7-8 November.  John Boden will be bringing his fiddle, guitar, concertina and trademark stomp box, 12 November. Wayne Ellington will be singing Nat King Cole on 22 November.  Or if you can’t wait to get festive, join the Winchester Musical and Opera Society for Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, 15 – 18 November.  For a full programme or to book tickets, visit the website here.

Heart Radio’s Rich will be leading the city in the Christmas Light Switch on 16 November. There will be live entertainment on offer, with events taking place between 4 – 7pm.  The lights should be officially switched on at 6pm.  Event details can be found here.

Don’t forget to visit the Chesil Theatre for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson.  When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on his estate, a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body, the great detective Sherlock Holmes is summoned from Baker Street. The production will run between 17 – 25 November and you can book tickets here.

Finally, the Winchester Cathedral Christmas market opens 20 November and will be available daily until 22 December.  The Ice Rink also opens 20 November and will be open until 7 January. The Cathedral have produced a helpful guide to festivities in the city which you can visit here.

Have a wonderful month, Wintonians. We’ll be bringing you more updates on Twitter @Win_Guide…

Discover Women GOlive in Winchester

Women GOLiveby WinGuide editor Donald Hutera
 
They’re fabulous but flawed, fertile…or is it febrile? Maybe a little freaky or finicky, and sometimes fraught or fragile, too, but frankly funny and fantastic. 
And they’re all female.
 
Under the auspices of Theatre Royal Winchester, veteran dance writer, theatre-goer and arts-loving journalist Donald (The Times) Hutera hosts an evening of performances on March 10, 2016 in celebration of International Women’s Day. Featuring a handful of artists, a selection of small but stimulating performances will occur just across the road in the cosy auditorium of the Discovery Centre from 7.45pm
 
GOlive was born in Kentish Town in 2013 as a month-long, dance-based performance festival,  As it has evolved it has become a creative arts laboratory for a wide range of women and men who are interested in taking risks, making discoveries and generating fresh thoughts and serious fun. GOlive landed in Winchester on two previous occasions: in 2014 by special invitation to the University of Winchester and, the following year, to the venerable and welcoming Chesil Theatre. It has since visited Oxford where, having been hosted for four nights by Oxford Playhouse in the Burton Taylor Studio last summer, it will return this coming July 13-16 at The Old Fire station. There are also plans to venture further afield in the UK and abroad. 
 
Specialising in short, sharp and surprising works in an intimate setting, Women GOlive – as I’ve dubbed these specifically all-female evenings – offers up an assortment of global flavours from a uniquely female perspective. This one-night mini-festival at the Discovery Centre is a chance to spend time in the company of a handful of inventive, enquiring and highly entertaining women who span several generations. 
 
I didn’t plan on becoming the curatorial version of a feminist brother or, as I now call myself with tongue only partly in cheek, a ‘fembro.’ It came about quite organically when I first started selecting and presenting live work at the invitation of GOlive co-founder and producer George Sallis. Most of the submissions we received were from female choreographers, performers and makers. As GOlive has developed it’s become increasingly obvious that many of the plum opportunities elsewhere in the dance sector continue to be offered to men. Meanwhile there are boatloads of women who, for numerous and rather complicated reasons, are being overlooked or given short shrift. I don’t claim that Women GOlive will solve all or, indeed, any of the bigger socio-economic issues. But what it can do is shine a light on some truly gifted people and, in its own modest yet vital way, maybe help redress the balance. 
 
The roster of artists taking part in the show at the Discovery Centre on March 10 features many GOlive mainstays. They include, in alphabetical order:
 
*Avatara Ayuso, originally from Spain, is currently a key member of Shobana Jeyasingh’s eponymous dance company. She’s also an authentic force in dance in her own right. Avatara is creating a new work abroad this month, but in Winchester she’ll be represented by a deliciously tasty film called ‘Dance, Pumpkin, Dance!’
 
*Susan Kempster hails from Australia but spent decades based in Madrid before settling in the UK. Often a figure of tragicomic daring, in Winchester she’s presenting a beautifully low-key solo called My Own Private Movie which involves gentle and revealing audience participation.  
 
*Sarah Kent, formerly Time Out’s visual arts editor, has since she left that magazine to become a defiantly funny improviser. This brainy, lithe and witty septuagenarian is keen to share a scintillating slant on the world and her place in it. 
 
*Alice Labant is petite but her onstage presence carries a potentially titanic impact. Not yet a household name, this young French woman’s solo Je m’appelle Reviens is set to a whirring machine soundtrack that we plan to experimentally extend with the help of a small ‘orchestra’ of household appliances. 
 
*Gloria Sanvicente Amor, also from Spain, is a multi-disciplinary performer who exudes an aura of sensual, possibly dangerous mystery and yet she can be a clown, too. 
 
*Lorna V, of Greek-Cypriot heritage and another Time Out alumnus, is a self-scripted performer with a blazing personality. We’re proud that GOlive has kick-started this savvy writer’s acting career. In Winchester she’ll introduces audience to Aliki, the incomparable Greco-Argentine dance diva to the stars.
 
Altogether I’m hugely pleased that GOlive has attracted a group of women so varied in terms of their backgrounds, skills and temperaments, and so engaging. It’s going to be a fun night.
 

Winchester Film Fest

Attention film fans – it’s the sixth edition of The Winchester Film Festival from 15 to 25 October 2015 – providing a chance to watch classic films in unusual venues chosen to enhance your viewing experience. The Winchester Film Festival is an annual not-for-profit event organised by the Faculty of Arts at the University of Winchester and this year it is running in partnership with Winchester Theatre Royal. Proceeds from the screenings go to charity. You can book tickets here.

Festival programme:

The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD

THE GREAT HALL
Thur 15 October 7.30pm

Classic swashbuckling yarn, filmed in glorious Technicolor. Errol Flynn is Robin of Locksley, struggling to resore Richard the Lionheart to the throne. Basil Rathbone, Melville Cooper and Claude Rains also star.

 

Hobson's Choice
Hobson’s Choice

HOBSON’S CHOICE

RUSSELL & BROMLEY
Fri 16 October 7.30pm

David Lean’s charming Romantic Comedy stars the great Charles Laughton as the Victorian shoe shop proprietor Henry Horatio Hobson. John Mills also stars in this British classic.

 

Footsteps in the Fog
Footsteps in the Fog

FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG

ST JOHN’S HOUSE
Sat 17 October 7.30pm

Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons star in this atmospheric crime thriller. A cocktail of murder and blackmail, and a succession of thrilling plot twists all add to the tension.

 

Stage Struck
Stage Struck

STAGE STRUCK

THEATRE ROYAL WINCHESTER
Sun 18 October 7.30pm

Susan Strasberg plays an actress who heads to New York with hopes of becoming a broadway star. Henry Fonda and Christopher Plummer star in this story of dreams and sacrifice. More about this screening
Winchester Film Festival – Tickets

 

The Train
The Train

THE TRAIN

THE CHESIL TUNNEL
Fri 23 October 7.30pm

Burt Lancaster stars as a French railway worker who mobolises his group of resistance fighters in a bid to stop French art being shipped back to Berlin towards the end of World War 2.

 

 

Odd Man Out
Odd Man Out

ODD MAN OUT

THE CHESIL TUNNEL
Sat 24 October 7.30pm

Carol Reed directs this British film noir set in an unnamed Northern Irish city during republican unrest. James Mason plays Johnny McQueen who’s on the run after escaping prison.

 

www.winchesterfilmfest.com

Book tickets via the Theatre Royal Winchester.