Brighton Festival 2014: 3-25 May
Ticket Office: 01273 709709
Website: brightonfestival.org
Twitter: @brightfest
Brighton Festival 2014 announces family and 26 Letters programme
Brighton Festival 2014, with critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, musician, composer and performer Hofesh Shechter as Guest Director, has launched three weeks of unrivalled arts celebration which includes family-friendlyperformances from choreographerErik Kaielin Murikamification (3 & 4 May) and Tanzfuchs PRODUKTION with their hilarious Munch! (24 & 25 May) alongside the Festival’sseries of events in celebration of children's books; 26 Letters.
Hofesh Shechter said, 'Brighton has a magic to it that no one can explain. Finding a place where one can develop and grow artistically is a delicate thing, an important thing. Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival have been an inspiring, energising and encouraging place for my company and me in the last 5 years. We've enjoyed the buzz, the lightness, energy, and the unexplainable essence of Brighton. We have resided in its cultural heart - Brighton Dome, and the pulsating artistic heart of Brighton Dome is the annual Brighton Festival. It's been a privilege to have been part of the planning for this inspiring event and I feel a rush of excitement about sharing our programme with audiences in Brighton and beyond.'
This year's Brighton Festival features a feast of music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, literature and debate from a wide range of national and international companies and artists. 448 performances across 147 events will take place in 34 venues throughout the city and beyond. In total, the Festival will play host to 37 premieres, exclusives and co-commissions and 26 free events.
Brighton Festival 2014 - Family programme26 Letters:
Saturday 3 May, from 10.30am
Procession: Kensington Street to Madeira Drive (see brightonfestival.org for route)
Same Sky
Children’s Parade
StartBrighton Festival the way you mean to go on: with an explosion of fun, colour, music and style. The parade — probablythe largest of its kind in Europe— always gets things off to an exhilarating start, and this year this year thearts provide the inspiration for the 83 schools and 5,000young people involved. Different sections of the spectacle will focus on dance, theatre, film, visual arts and books. And, with a musician-in-residence on board for the first time, music will play a majorrole. Anything that can be played on the move will feature, ensuring that this year’s parade will have to be heard to be believed.
FREE
Saturday 3 May, 1pm - 4pm
Various venues
Pitch Perfect
A glittering showcase of young and emerging talent presented in and around the Royal Pavilion Estate, Pitch Perfect features music for every taste, from folk duos in the Brighton Dome Café-bar to brass and rock on New Road, choirs and wind ensembles in Brighton Museum and Art Gallery and classical music in the Music Room at the Royal Pavilion. Presented by Brighton & Hove Music & Arts and
Brighton Festival, this is a perfect festival afternoon from Brighton’s youngest and brightest musical talents.
FREE
Saturday 3 & Sunday 4 May, 1pm & 5pm (Sat), 11am & 3pm (Sun)
Meet at Brighton Dome Café-bar
Murikamification
Choreographed by Erik Kaiel
A fast moving experience for all the family. From the subways of Montreal to the city streets of Europe, four Dutch dancers evoke dream worlds which they layer onto ordinary urban space. Murikamification takes its inspiration from the magical, surreal stories
of the Japanese author Haruki Murakami and invites audiences to step into a daydream unfolding before their eyes. Follow these talented performers as they dance throughout the streets of Brighton, appearing and disappearing as you race to keep up with their gravity defying antics. See the city through different eyes - up steps, round corners, in tiny nooks and open spaces and even sometimes upside down.
FREE ticketed event
Saturday 17 May, 3pm
Sunday 18 May, 11am & 4pm
The Old Market
ZOO
Enhanced Dance to Disguised Music
UK Premiere
by Thomas Hauert
performed by Mat Voorter
Nothing is normal here. Or rather: everything is extraordinary! Dance as you’ve never seen it before. A piano as you’ve never heard it before. A performance that defies physical constraints.
Danse étoffée sur musique déguisée, created by the Brussels-based Swiss choreographerThomas Hauert, is his first piece for younger audiences. The a solo performance is accompanied by John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano. A prepared piano is a piano whose sound is altered by all sorts of objects placed between its strings: screws, pieces of plastic or an eraser.
With vigorous choreography, elemental music and strange balloon figures descending from above, this is weird and witty dance that stretches the limits of movement and unleashes the imagination. It’s about metamorphosis and adaptation: about how the shell of balloons, blankets and broomsticks that encases the dancer redefine physical reality, just as the objects with which the piano is ‘prepared’ create entirely new acoustic possibilities.
This is a rare opportunity to hear Cage’s important piece performed live by Daan Vandewalle, unmissable for music fans and discerning young dance audiences alike.
Ages 5+
Saturday 17 May, 9pm
HovePark
Safe House
World Premiere
Co-commissioned by Brighton Festival
Home: a place of safety, sanctuary and security, or a place of isolation and imprisonment? This spectacular outdoor performance begins with a race through familiar streets before arriving at a particular, mysterious house. A figure balanced precariously on the roof tells the house’s story and leads the audience on a surreal and poetic journey as rooms, memories and characters are revealed: from the young couple moving into their ideal home to the child who imagines her surroundings as an enchanted castle, a teenager desperate to escape and an old lady unable to leave.
Metro–Boulot–Dodo creates groundbreaking cross-artform work that combines live performance, sitespecific installations, visual art and new media. In Safe House it uses large-scale projections, stunning aerial displays and dramatic visual effects to explore the emotional space that exists between a house and a home. It’s a comment on local ideas of home, an emotionally engaging narrative which follows one individual’s efforts to find their own home.
Thu 22 May
Theatre Royal Brighton
YoungCity Reads celebrates The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon
Produced by Collected Works CIC
YoungCity Reads - the 'Big Read' for children of Brighton & Hove returns - launching on World Book Day (6 March). This year young story lovers are invited to read, share, discuss and celebrate The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon (author of the hugely popular Horrid Henry series).
Teachers can visit cityreads.co.uk/young-city-reads to sign up their class.
Conclude your Young City Reads adventure as Francesca Simon takes centre stage for a live, interactive schools event to talk about her Lost Gods series. Join other young readers to hear more about Freya and the gang’s hilarious, exciting journeys through the world of the Norse myths.
Age 8–11
Sat 24 & Sun 25 May
The Old Market
Tanzfuchs PRODUKTION
Munch!
Directed and choreographed by Barbara Fuchs
Most shows are for watching and listening. Not this one: it’s for sniffing, swallowing, nibbling, enjoying, digesting and, of course, munching.On the floor, the longest table cloth you’ve ever seen becomes a stage on which utensils and ingredients come to life right under your nose, animated by two dancers accompanied by a musician and a sound collage that sums up mealtimes in all their lip-smacking, tummy-rumbling, burping, slurping glory.As the smells, sounds and tastes of cooking entice the senses, dancing plates, a wandering hiccup and chatty dishes make this a recipe for wonder and delight. Having helped with the preparation, all the little chefs will be able to sample some of the Belgian waffle made during the show. If only all mealtimes were this fun!
26 LETTERS programme -
Sunday 4 May, 11am
Brighton Dome Founders Room
Creative Writing with Catherine Johnson
Want to write character and action that jump off the page? Stories to sweep a reader off their feet or chill them to the bone? Then join
the prolific novelist and screenwriter Catherine Johnson for a morning of writing exercises and tips that will help improve and refine your fiction and make you more confident about making it all up.
Sunday 4 May, 1.30pm
Brighton Dome Founders Room
Get set to write a story!
with Matt Whyman
When faced with writing a story, there’s nothing wrong with staring out of the window and thinking, argues teen novelist and agony uncle Matt Whyman. But how do you turn your ideas and daydreams into a story? In this workshop, Matt will show you how to make sense of those thoughts so you can turn an idea into words full of heart and soul.
Ages 12–14
Sunday 4 May, 3.30pm
Brighton Dome Founders Room
Alphabet Book-Making Workshop
Join Matt Fleming & Lee Shearman from art company Borbonesa to create a 26-page concertina bookwork, and experiment with
hand-stamps, collage and pop-up sections to create an original one-off alphabet book that can be taken away at the end of the session.
Age 7-11
Saturday 10 May,12.30pm
Sallis Benney
David Almond - Piranhas, Angels, and Half-Created Worlds
David’s novels include Skellig, My Name is Mina and The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas. He also writes short stories, picture books, plays and an opera libretto. His work is published in over thirty languages and he has won a string of major awards. In 2010 he gained The Hans Christian Andersen Award, the world’s most important prize for children’s authors. In this event, David talks about his work, explores the nature of creativity and shows that the power of the imagination is accessible to us all.
Saturday 10 May, 2pm
Sallis Benney Theatre
Angie Sage
Come and meet bestselling author Angie Sage as she talks about the Araminta Spook series. Araminta is a girl who lives in a haunted house, has ghosts and ghouls for friends, and gets up to all sorts of spooky adventures. In this fiendishly fun event, find out where Araminta came from, where this feisty goth girl is going next and how you can create your own silly, scary stories. Black clothes and stripy tights optional!
Saturday 10 May, 4pm
Sallis Benney Theatre
Darren Shan
Meet the master of horror and dare to be scared with Darren Shan as he talks about his 12-book Zom-B series. Featuring a grisly zombie
apocalypse packed with classic Shan action, a fiendishly twisting plot and hard-hitting storyline, each book is short, fast-paced and bloody. This thrilling combination of breath-taking twists and thought-provoking moral questions will have any Shan fan on the edge of their seat!
Saturday 10th May, 7pm
Sallis Benney Theatre
Illustrator Evening
Three established illustrators Chris Riddell, Mini Grey and Emily Gravett – all graduates of BrightonUniversity – in conversation with their old tutor and Professor Emeritus of Brighton University John Lord. He is an illustrator in his own right. Discussing illustration and showing examples of their work. (An event for adults 16+)
Sunday 11 May, 10.30am
Sallis Benney Theatre
Marcia Williams - From Shakespeare to WW1
Marcia Williams is famous for her retellings of classic stories. From Shakespeare to Dickens to the Greek Myths, her fun, lively comic
strip books are hugely appealing. Join Marcia, who – with the help of Archie from Archie’s War, a child’s scrapbook of WW1 will help you to discover what it was really like to live through the Great Wars.
Sunday 11 May, 12.30pm
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell are the best-selling duo behind The Edge Chronicles, Fergus Crane and Muddle Earth. Join them to hear
what has inspired their colourful characters and wondrous worlds, and hear them talk about their brand new science fiction series,
Scavenger, as well as their exciting new ventures into the world of the Edge.
Sunday 11 May, 4pm
Sallis Benney
The Professor McGonagall Tea Party Quiz
With Peta Taylor
Do you know your quaffle from your quidditch? Hagrid from Hedwig? Join Peta Taylor for aftrernoon tea and questions on all your favourite books - including the professor’s special Hogwarts round. A magical afternoon guaranteed! Maximum 6 in a team
Sunday 11 May, 4pm
Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Holly Smale - Geek Girl
Holly Smale spent two years as a teenage catwalk model before finding her smart and sassy voice in teen fiction. Her acclaimed and
hugely popular novel Geek Girl, about the model misfit Harriet Manners, was the UK’s number one debut novel of 2013, shortlisted for
the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2013. Come and hear Holly talk about her geek-but-chic heroine, as well as her own journey to becoming an author.
Saturday 24 May, 10.30am
Brighton Dome Founders Room
Eva Katzler and Jess Mikhail - Florentine and Pig
Shiver me timbers! Florentine and Pig are setting sail on a pirate adventure, and they want you to come too! The Florentine and Pig books have been encouraging children everywhere to get creative, and to celebrate their latest story the books’ authors Eva and Jess invite you to enjoy 45 minutes of fun, including pirate crafts and activities and a reading of Florentine and Pig and the Lost Pirate Treasure.
Saturday, 24 May, 12.30pm
Brighton Dome Founders Room
Tom Percival
In Herman’s Letter, the latest picture book by writer and illustrator Tom Percival, Herman the bear embarks on an epic journey to deliver a very special letter and ensure that his friendship with Henry the raccoon really is forever. Tom is going to talk about Herman’s adventure in a creative event: prepare to get crafty and remember to bring your imagination!
Saturday 24 May, 2.30pm
Brighton Dome Founders Room
Nicola Davies
What would you do if you had to take care of a baby manatee or teach a bear cub to return to the wild? Nicola Davies’s Heroes of the
Wild series of animal stories, based on real conservation projects, shows just how hard it is. Come and hear this award-winning writer and former presenter of The Really Wild Show talk about her popular nature books and her latest story, The Promise.
Sunday 25 May, 10.30am & 1.30pm
Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Wizard - I Believe in Unicorns
by Michael Morpurgo
Tomas hates reading, but his world is turned upside down the day he is dragged into his local library and meets the Unicorn Lady… This
intimate, interactive tale, based on a story by Michael Morpurgo, shows how books can hold more than stories within their pages. Add
your own bit of magic by bringing a children’s book to add to Tomas’s library, and swap it for another afterwards.
Peacock Poetry Prize 2014
Brighton & Hove and Sussex-based poets aged 14–18 and 18–25 are invited to respond to the theme of belonging. In his new dance work, Sun, Hofesh Shechter suggests that the world is perfect. What do you think? What keeps us grounded and together? Where do we
really belong? We’ll be offering a celebratory event and some fantastic prizes to the writers of the best entries. For an entry form, email
. Deadline for submissions 31 Mar 2014
In partnership with Brighton, Hove & SussexSixthFormCollege.
Adopt an Author
Produced by Collected Works CIC
An exciting project which links school and college classes with well-known authors to promote literacy, encourage writing and make the most of ICT. 8 weeks of email exchanges and creative fun culminate in a 'Meet your Author' party during the festival. This year Bevendean Primary, Rudyard Kipling, Somerhill Juniors and BHASVIC are adopting authors Alex Milway, Nicola Davies, Rob Lloyd-Jones and Mick Jackson. You will be able to read a fascinating selection of their emails on the official blog: adoptanauthor.wordpress.com
If your school would like to take part next year please contact:
-ENDS-
For further enquiries, please contact our press team:
Emma Robertson, Head of Press and PR – I 01273 260 803
Chris Challis, Senior Press Officer – | 01273 260838
Anna Whelan, Digital and Admin Officer – | 01273 260825
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Notes To Editors:
About Brighton Festival:
- Brighton Festival is an annual mixed arts festival which takes place across three weeks in the city each May. The festival’s total audience reach in 2013 was 470,000, including public visual art installations experienced by over 300,000 people.
- Full programme details will be announced on Tuesday 25 February 2014.
- Brighton Festival attracts inspiring and internationally significant Guest Director’s who bring cohesion to the artistic programme with British sculptor Anish Kapoor as inaugural curator in 2009 followed by the Godfather of modern music Brian Eno in 2010, the Burmese Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2011, actress and Human Rights campaigner Vanessa Redgrave in 2012 and poet, author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen in 2013.
- Brighton Festival 2013 featured 370 performances, 154 events and 28 commissions and premieres across 33 venues in and around the city, reaching 470,000 people.
- Brighton Festival is an innovative commissioning and producing arts festival, offering an ambitious programme that makes the most ofthe city’s distinctive atmosphere.
- Brighton Festival is England’s most established mixed arts Festival and a major milestone in the international cultural calendar
- Brighton Festival includes visual art, theatre, music, dance, books and debates, family friendly events and outdoor performances throughout the city including site-specific and unusual locations.
- Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival produces the annual Brighton Festival and also manages the three venues of Brighton Dome year round. It aims to champion the power of the arts, to enrich and change lives and inspire and enable artists to be their most creative.
- The first Brighton Festival in 1967 controversially included the first ever exhibition of Concrete Poetry in the UK, alongside performances by Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins and Yehudi Menuhin
- Hofesh Shechter Company is a Resident Company of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival since 2008.
- The UK premiere of Hofesh Shechter’s new work Sun takes place at Sadler’s Wells on Wednesday 30 October 2013.
- Sun is produced by Hofesh Shechter Company with generous support from Bruno Wang and The Columbia Foundation fund of the London Community Foundation.
- Sun is co-commissioned by Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, Sadler’s Wells London, Melbourne Festival, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris, Festspielhaus St Pölten (including a working residency), Berliner Festspiele - Foreign Affairs, Roma Europa, with co-production support from Mercat de les Flors and the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
- Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival manages a year round programme of arts at Brighton Dome – a three space, Grade 1 listed building made up of the Concert Hall, Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre - and produces the annual Brighton Festival in May.
- It aims to champion the power of the arts, to enrich and change lives, and to inspire and enable artists to be their most creative.
- Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival are a registered arts charity
- Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival are working with the Royal Pavilion & Museums on a joint masterplan to realize a future vision for the Royal Pavilion Estate. For updates and news please visit or contact to be added to our mailing list.
About Hofesh Shechter: