Festival updates

There are only 15 more days to go until the first ever Big Top Festival! Make sure you get hold of your tickets before they sell out... festival passes are available from only £22!

Click on the swishy new flyer on the right to enlarge. They have been especially designed by none other than Callum Barrett from CB Design... hasn't he done an amazing job? We're really grateful to him for taking the time out to work on us for this exciting project.

Detailed on the inside pages are all the high profile events, but makes ure you check out the back page for the full line-up. There are so many shows you just won't want to miss!

Also, make sure you stop by the website for information on all the participating performers... there's so much going on and it's all on your doorstop!

Is it June already?

Oh my... what, really? Where did that time go? Planning the best festival ever is where it went! Well, OK... perhaps not the best festival ever. Reading '96 was a pretty good one... but can I go as so far as to say the best festival in a school ever?

Check out the Big Top Festival website for lots of new updates and the finalised line-up. There is so much to go and see over the weekend and you can do it all for only £22 for a festival pass! Now... can we say the best value festival ever? Oh yeah! Except maybe the free ones... they're pretty good value. But then normally have the big cheeses supporting them, like Radio 1.

Anyway... back to the Big Top. Check it out and get yourself a ticket! I can personally recommend The Little Prince, the Music Evening and DO NOT MISS Circomedia! See? If you're coming to see at least those three shows, you may as well buy a festival pass and come and see it all!

Swindon College presents

Make sure you get down to Swindon College for the Performing Arts course last ever show!

Shout Productions presents 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', 23rd- 25th June.

See their website for more details.

Swindon Shuffle Heats - Line-up Change

The line-up has slightly changed for tonight:

Monday May 18th:
The Frosted Teacakes
Plastic Fiction
Let the Games Begin
The Debuts

Monday 1st June
Dark Sparkz
With Open arms
Unfortunate Hero
Beyond Chaos

Swindon Shuffle Heats at Bradon Forest

Swindon Shuffle 2009 is the UK's biggest unsigned music festival, boasting 60 bands on 11 stages over 4 days!

The heats have already started and two of them are being held at the Bradon Forest Theatre! Come on down on Monday 18th May and Monday 1st June, and for just £1 a ticket you can see a sneak at some of the amazing bands that could be playing at the festival.

See www.swindonshuffle.co.uk for more information or click the poster below to enlarge.

Monday May 18th:
The Frosted Teacakes
Plastic Fiction
Let the Games Begin
The Debuts
Dark Sparkz

Monday 1st June
Child of D
With Open arms
Unfortunate Hero
Beyond Chaos

Alternative Fairytales

Tonight is the opening night for Alternative Fairytales; a collection of short stories devised and performed by our Key Stage 3 Drama Club. The students have been working on the production for a few months and have polished their pieces to perfection.

The club has students ranging from years 7 to 9, but they have also had the assistance of a few GCSE drama students!

There will be three tales per evening and the show starts at 7.30 pm. Tickets are, as usual, £4 for adults and £3 for students.

Click here for more information.

Theatreworks Showcase

Mike at Theatreworks has just done a Showcase on our lovely venue. Make sure you check it out... and the rest of the website. There is lots of information about local theatre and arts activities and it's a great resource to bookmark. It is also a good idea to add yourself to their mailing list to make sure you receive up to the minute information on all the latest events.

Radio 1 Big Weekend - Fringe Event

As you are all probably aware, Radio 1's Big Weekend is coming to Swindon on 9th and 10th May. Free tickets have already been allocated but you can attend the FREE fringe events that have been organised to run alongside the event.

Let's hope the sun shines!

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

The Dacoits

The Dacoits have just been booked as our special guest band on the Friday Music night of the Big Top Festival.

They will be performing during the special black tie event, and will also be the guest judges for the Battle of the Bands final!

Check them out on Myspace.

Catch up

Oh my! Where did the time go? Well, we've just had a couple of weeks off for the Easter break - lovely weather (sigh)... just lovely. It was very welcome after a very manic couple of weeks at the end of term - hence the lateness of a Richards Love report!

Needless to say, it was a most enjoyable performance. The three characters were all played by the talented Liz Hart who used a mixture of masks and shadow puppetry to tell the weird and wonderful tale. My favourite character was Richard, the charming gardener, with his delightful tirade on the war on slugs. It must have been difficult to keep changing character so quickly - not only the costumes, but also the mannerisms and qualities of each one. Liz used a couple of gnomes during some of the longer changes to talk to and entertain the audience. I think it was important that she didn't overuse this technique, and she didn't, but a bit more humour from the gnomes would have been welcome. Sarah was a quirky and likeable girl, but her mother was pretty intimidating - the mask work was superb and she always seemed to be looking directly at you! If you see Bric a Brac Productions on at a theatre near you then I would strongly recommend getting your hands on a ticket. David Calder says:

"You could literally take anyone from a 2 year old to your maiden aunt, and they would all find it a delight… An escape from the drudgery of 21st century life in to the magic of fairy tale."

It is a delightfully funny and charming show, completely out of the ordinary, and perfect for an evening's indulgence. We will definitely have Liz back with her next show, and a recommendation can't come better than that!

We're now in to the last 11 weeks before the arts festival and it's all getting very exciting! I need to do some updates on the website, so make sure you keep your eyes on that for all the exciting up to date news!