A TRIO of exciting arts events have been announced for next month's Ventnor Fringe.
Improvised theatre
Impromptu Shakespeare will head to Ventnor Park at 3pm on Thursday July 29 and Friday July 30.
The improvised shows have proved popular at the Edinburgh Fringe and Bristol Shakespeare Festival, while also appearing on BBC Shakespeare Live.
Each hour-long show is different but unmistakably Shakespearean, echoing his themes, characters and language.
The show is described as perfect for families with children, with an age guidance of ten plus.
Company member, Ailis Duff, said: “We are all so excited about the return of live theatre. After a year like this, I think everyone is realising there is something special about watching a live show with an audience around you.
"Improv is a unique, one-off performance created between the actors and audience, and it will never happen again. What better way to celebrate the return of live shows?”
Ticket prices for the show cost £10, with concessions available for £8.
Spoken word with a mission
Spoken word artist, Jimmy Andrex, has been confirmed for Wednesday July 28 at the Fringe, he will be performing Stupidity Is Not The Problem, a poetry and music piece based around the works of Dutch writer Rutger Bregman.
Bregman’s book, Utopia For Realists, proposes that adopting a Universal Basic Income (UBI) would address poverty and inequality.
Jimmy said: “I started performing this piece in 2018 to try and get people talking about something that wasn’t Brexit.
“At that time, it was a largely non-partisan thing, with only the Green Party adopting it, but since Covid-19, people have started to think about it a lot more.”
Stupidity Is Not The Problem uses poems, stories and music to challenge people to think about solutions to some of society’s biggest problems.
The show will take place at Ventnor Arts Club from, and in addition to Stupidity Is Not The Problem, Jimmy will be giving the live premiere of Billy Baggins There & Back, a modern version of Tolkien’s The Hobbit in medieval verse form.
Commissioned by Leeds Philosophical & Literary Society to commemorate the centenary of Tolkien’s first academic post at the city’s university.
It will be a Pay-What-You-Feel event.
Celebrating fall of the Berlin wall
Cardiff based CB4 Theatre is bringing its show, Back to Berlin, to Ventnor Fringe this summer.
Following sell-out runs in Cardiff and London, the production plays from July 23-25 at Parkside Playhouse.
The production, which celebrates 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, tells the true story of Bernhard - a German living in Oxford in 1989.
After witnessing a news report of East Berliners crossing the divide which had plagued his city for so many years, Bernhard feels the pull of home and knows he has to be there.
Back to Berlin utilises DIY performance techniques, and a sense of playful optimism to transport audiences on the slow train across Europe, and right to the centre of the action.
Luke Seidel-Haas, who wrote the production based on his father's real life experiences, said: “We are so excited to be bringing our production to Ventnor Fringe this year.
"It has been a hard time for artists and theatres throughout the pandemic, but we think that makes my dad’s story more important than ever.
“We can all relate to the feeling of division, of being cut off from loved ones, and an overwhelming sense of what home means."
Tickets for all events are available at vfringe.co.uk/whats-on/
House Rules
We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.
Read the rules here