Shoreham celebration of creativity goes live

Local and Live Revived will offer a Shoreham celebration of creativity as we come out of lockdown.

Running from Monday, May 24 to Wednesday, June 16, it has been funded by the Arts Council and produced in partnership between Shoreham Wordfest and Ropetackle Arts Centre.

Rosalind Turner, programme director with Shoreham Wordfest, explained: “This is the continuation of the festival which started in October 2020 but has paused twice due to Covid lockdowns.”

It’s great to be back now that we finally can, Rosalind says.

“Wordfest are delighted to announce the rest of the programme following the government announcement that we can return to live performances from May 17.

“The festival starts with a talk by Geoffrey Mead on Monday, May 24.

“Titled Viscounts and Chicken Stubbers, it will explain how landownership and cultivation has shaped our Sussex landscape over the centuries.

“Award-winning author Colin Grant will feature some of the contributions from local people which contributed to his book, The Homecoming, Stories of the Windrush Generation. Joining him on June 7 will be performance poet Akila Richards.

“Local trio Hatful of Rain will perform their eclectic mix of folk and Americana on Saturday May 29, featuring lovely vocals from Chloe Overton.

“Up-and-coming comedian Joshua Crisp has a humorous take on the Tales of Hercules on May 27, and Louise Peskett will give an insight to The Notorious Women of Brighton on May 26.

“The festival will also feature two talks in partnership with Sussex Wildlife Trust: Rewilding the Seas and What Have Plants Ever Done for us?

“The festival line-up is completed with a talk about poet W H Auden, an evening of Sea Shanties with Chris Hare and the Duck Pond Sailors, and finally an evening of cool jazz with Bjorn Dahlberg and Paul Richards.

“Tickets cost £8 except the SWT talks on May 25 and June 3 which cost £10. The Local and Live festival pass of ten events for £60 will continue.

“Some events will be livestreamed.

“See our website for details of the full programme and to book tickets: www.shorehamwordfest.com”

Monday May 24, 7.30pm: Viscounts and Chicken Stubbers Geoffrey Mead. The ownership of land, and the consequences of that, have a major impact on communities and their environment. Geoffrey’s talk looks at two contrasting communities in Sussex, but which could be anywhere in Britain, to show how these differences manifest themselves. Patterns of landownership, agriculture, working practices, religious life and even marriage distance and age all contribute to community variety. By studying communities in the Sussex downland and the High Weald, their physical landscapes and their human landscapes we can better understand why communities so close to each other can be so at variance

Tuesday, May 25, 7.30pm: Rewilding the Seas, Henri Brocklehurst, Sussex Wildlife Trust. Rewilding is not limited to life on land. Perhaps the biggest opportunities to restore natural systems lie in the sea. Come and hear about an opportunity to deliver a thrilling Marine restoration project off the Sussex Coast. How do we restore our fish populations, reduce the impact of storms off the Sussex Coast and return abundance to our seas? How is this good for seahorses, squid, and sharks? Henri Brocklebank is the Director of Conservation at the Sussex Wildlife Trust and has been focused on wildlife in Sussex for many years. She leads the Trust’s work in the Marine Environment and is Chair of the #HelpOurKelp partnership.

Wednesday, May 26, 7.30pm: Notorious Women of Brighton, Louise Peskett. Louise Peskett is a tour-guide and the creator of the Notorious Women of Brighton women’s history walks. She has now written Fierce and Fabulous: A Journey Around Brighton and Hove’s Women’s History. Louise will share some of the stories she has found including the first British woman to swim the Channel, an African princess, a Soviet spy-cum-antiques dealer, a woman who started a rogue all-woman police force, and the brilliant doctor whose story is so shocking, the British Army tried to repress it for 100 years. Discover fierce and fabulous women who all, in their own ways, changed the world.

Thursday May 27, 7.30pm, Tales of Hercules, Joshua Crisp. Award-winning storyteller, performer and comedian Joshua Crisp (The Treason Show) tells the Twelve Labours of Hercules, exactly as the Ancient Greeks intended - socially distanced at the Ropetackle. This epic and hilarious retelling brings you all the bits too grown-up for the Disney movie and all the stuff that was too downright weird for your history class.

Saturday, May 29, 2pm, W H Auden – His Life and Poetry, Janet Pressley. For many Auden is the most significant poet of the twentieth century - his poems rooted in, and bearing witness to the ideas and events of his times. A talk by Janet Pressley explores the life and work of Auden looking particularly at several of his poems, read by Tony Allen.

Saturday, May 29, 7.30pm, Hatful of Rain, Phil Jones. A welcome appearance of local trio, Hatful of Rain. Their music is a blend of British Folk & Americana styles, centred round songs with timeless themes of love and loss, domestic hardships, migration, identity, celebration & grief. They have released 3 albums and 1 EP to date and have toured widely in the UK on the folk circuit; rooms above pubs, folk clubs, villages halls, festivals, house concerts and theatres. Hatful of Rain are: Chloe Overton – vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. Phil Jones, double bass, vocals, guitar, banjo and Fred Gregory, guitar, vocals and mandolin.

Thursday, June 3, 7.30pm, What Have Plants Ever Done for Us? Tony Whitbread, Sussex Wildlife Trust. Plants are more than just attractive scenery. They are the basis of all life on the planet, from the air we breathe to the food we eat and even the stability of our climate. The world would look very different without plants. This talk looks at how plants are central to our very existence. Tony Whitbread, is President of Sussex Wildlife. Tony was at the forefront in promoting the need for the establishment of the South Downs National Park. He also played a leading role in establishing the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre, which holds almost seven million species records – information used to inform planning decisions.

Monday, June 7, 7.30pm, The Homecoming: Voices of The Windrush Generation, Colin Grant.

Join historian Colin Grant in a special talk about his critically acclaimed book Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation. On June 21 1948, British troopship HMT Empire Windrush anchored at Tilbury Docks, Essex, carrying hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean. Windrush Generation is the name of these first passengers and the consequent waves of immigration of people who left everything to come help rebuild the country after World War II. Grant’s Homecoming captures the true-life stories of over 100 people including Sussex residents. The event will be hosted by Amy Zaparilla Solis, founder of Writing Our Legacy and they will be joined by poet Akila Richards.

Wednesday, June 9, 7.30pm, Haul Away Joe! Chris Hare & the Duck Pond Sailors. Sussex’s celebrated ‘Duck Pond Sailors’ will regale you with shanties, sea songs and other popular ditties from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These are all songs that would have been sung on the boats, wharfs, and in the pubs of Shoreham port and town. Chris Hare, an historian of local history and folklore and fellow Duck Pond singer, will talk about the songs and their history, as will other members of the group. It promises to be an evening to shiver your timbers and hoist the mainsail!

Wednesday, June 16, 7.30pm, New Generation Jazz, Bjorn Dahlberg and Paul Richards. Saxophonist and clarinettist Björn will be teaming up with guitarist Paul Richards for a stunning set of jazz standards and Latin & Bossa Nova classics.