Lyme Regis ArtsFest

Marine Theatre

Sat 22 September - Sat 29 September 2007

The Marine Theatre is delighted to take part fully in the Lyme Regis ArtsFest this year: with young people from the Lyme Youth Arts group making video projections in workshops to Ann Jellicoe, recently turned 80, reading her marvellous community play “The Western Women”.

Photo of Ann Jellicoe by Roger Mayne   

This wonderful variety of events includes a performance of The Land by Vita Sackville West, probably best known for her writing on gardens and her affair with Virginia Woolf, this is a rare opportunity to know her prize winning writing.   A wonderful week from Ann Jellicoe re-creating her groundbreaking production “The Western Women” to a musical extravaganza of A Gig with a Twist.

On Sat 22 September at 8.30, Sweet FA Productions is kicking off the Lyme Regis Arts Festival on with two acclaimed artists from the Freshly Squeezed record label.  The tickets at £10.00 are available from Fuego and at the door. The evening will include a live set from The Voodoo Trombone Quartet and support from the talented music producer DJ Lemon.For those that love to dance, this promises to be a night to remember.  Both artists blend Ska, Latin and Funk in a tongue-in-cheek 60s style, bringing back memories of mini skirts and the Twist.  Austin Powers would feel right at home!

The next morning there’s a change of pace when Big Sing Dorset offers an opportunity to sing music from around the world and a specially commissioned choral piece by Pete Linnett.  He is a Natural Voice Practitioner and leader of Lyme Regis Community Choir and co-leader of Big Sing Dorset.  On  Sunday 23 September from 10am - 4pm at £15, and £10 for concessions and on Saturday 29 September from 2.30  to  4.30pm at £10 and  £7 for concessions. There will be a premiere performance of the choral piece and an opportunity to sing with other choirs on Saturday 29th September at 7.30 at the Marine Theatre in 'Sing Your Heart Out'

On Thurs 27 September at 7.30 pm the Marine Theatre is proud to present Ann Jellicoe  re-creating her ground breaking production of “The Western Women” with Tim Laycock accompanying on guitar. The play tells the amazing story of the part played by women in the Siege of Lyme. 'The Western Women' was written and directed by Ann Jellicoe in 1984.  With a cast of 120 local people and many more helping to put it on, the play sold out for 11 performances.  “It was Ann Jellicoe’s reputation as the creator of the extraordinary Community Plays here in the 1980s that encouraged me to think this small theatre could be a centre of excellence and help create an artistic community.  Ann Jellicoe’s role in showing how art may transform community life lives on in Lyme” says Margie Barbour, the Theatre’s Artistic Director.  This is a rare opportunity for the current generation to hear a living legend recreate this impressive work. Tickets are available at £7.00 from Hilary Highet in the Broad Street 01297 443824, and proceeds are to be shared between the Artsfest, the Town Mill and the Marine Theatre.

The Artsfest continues to offer a rich diet with the Friday 28 September’s  night performance at 7.30 pm of Vita Sackville Wests’s remarkable epic poem, “The Land”. Tickets £7.00 from Lyme TIC 01297 442138.  Sonia Ritter and Tim Laycock have created a rare opportunity to enjoy one of the most impressive poem plays written in the 20th Century in an evening that combines the passion of Vita Sackville-West's poetry with new and traditional music and natural sound.  Vita wrote “The country habit has me by the heart...” and this evening will enchant the audience with her stirring beautiful verses, performed by Sonia Ritter, an outstanding professional actress who has performed with the Royal Shakespeare company and frequently in major roles on television and film. Tim Laycock is well known to West Country audiences for his work with his own company The New Scorpion Band. A folksinger, songwriter and actor, he has performed with Magic Lantern, The Albion Band and The Melstock Band, and played concertina in five productions at The National Theatre. Tim is a specialist in the songs, traditions and dialect of the West Country, and the poetry and prose of William Barnes and Thomas Hardy.

The theatre’s contribution to the week ends on the Saturday night with a very special concert, “Sing Your Heart Out”. Choirs from all over the South West,including Quangle wangle and other choirs will gather to sing together and hear Peter Linnett’s new piece based on the tragedy of the sinking of the battleship “The Formidable” in 1915 in Lyme Bay.. The evening begins at 7.30pm, with tickets from Lyme TIC 01297 442138 at £5 for Adults with concessions and under 16s at  £3 .

All week the theatre will be holding an exhibition of Photographs by Gill Elliott and her students, with an opportunity to see them and meet the photographers on Sunday 23 at 8.00 pm in the Theatre Bar.