EYPE CHURCH CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

NEWSLETTER - CURRENT PROGRAM

We are pleased to present our program of events for 2006. Apart from our own programme we will be actively participating in this year’s Bridport Literary Festival, the Bridport Prize Live 2006, following on from the highly successful inauguration of the festival last year. We are very pleased to have appointed Tanya Bruce-Lockhart, who played such a pivotal role for us in last year’s festival, as our Literary Director. She will be putting together another exciting line-up of well-known authors for our lecture series during the festival, which will run from Friday 3rd November or Saturday 4th November until the Bridport Prize 2006 lunch on Saturday 11th of November. Apart from this collaboration with the Bridport Art Centre who will be selling tickets for the festival events, we will be selling all our other tickets as usual through the Tourist Information Centre in Bridport. These can be ordered in advance and picked up from the door on the night.

We are celebrating the arts in various ways during September. Throughout the period we will be hosting an exhibition of local artists under the banner of ‘ARTISTS OF THE JURASSIC COAST’. This will be a first rate line up of many of the very best of local artists whose work is linked to and influenced by the sea and the Dorset coast with a focus for this exhibition on the area known as the Jurassic Coast. We have been fortunate in having Michael J. Chappell curate the exhibition and in addition to his own paintings we will be showing works by Gerry Dudgeon, David Potter, Brian Cocks and Billie Willcocks.

We will also be featuring the photographer Patrick Mills and the ceramicist Pat March. All the works will be of medium size and we are aiming to limit prices to a maximum of £500 making them all very collectable.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD - A FESTIVAL OF WORKS FOR TRUMPET AND PIANO with PAUL ARCHIBALD and JULIET EDWARDS

With distinguished careers in their own instruments of trumpet and piano, Paul Archibald and Juliet Edwards have established a duo partnership to develop and research works for this combination. They have recently been recording much of this music for the Brass Classics label with the first CD, Joi de Vivre, being released last winter and distributed worldwide. The research has produced a growing, varied and exciting repertoire covering a range of styles and periods. This can range from Torelli (1658-1709) to Bizet (1838-1875) and to the modern Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-). The trumpet has always been a popular instrument with audiences at Eype and this should be no exception.

The performance will start at 7.30pm and there will be refreshments available.

Tickets from Bridport Tourist Information Centre, South Street, Bridport (01308 424901) - Prices £8.00 and Friends £7.00

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28TH, FRIDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER, AND SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30th : THE SYMONDSBURY PLAYERS PRESENT ‘KEY FOR TWO’: A comedy by John Chapman and Dave Freeman

In this wickedly amusing play by two master craftsmen of comedy, Harriet, a divorcee living in an elegant flat in Brighton, solves her financial problems by entertaining two married gentlemen callers on different days of the week. The scheme faces collapse when her friend Anne, whose marriage is tottering, arrives at the flat hotly pursued by her husband. One of Harriet’s lovers is confined to Harriet's bed with a sprained ankle, and the second lover turns up unexpectedly, closely followed by two irate wives in search of itinerant husbands! The indescribable confusion that ensues builds to a rich complexity of mistaken identity, splendidly farcical situations and a climax of comic wizardry. The long-running production at the Vaudeville Theatre starred Moira Lister, Patrick Cargill, Barbara Murray and Glyn Houston. The Daily Telegraph called it, ‘The happiest of frolics!’

The artists of the very popular Mellstock Band are no strangers to Dorset but this is the first of what we hope to be several visits to Eype. Under the direction of founder Dave Townsend the performances are a unique entertainment of music, song and spoken words, using authentic instruments and period costume. The poetry and prose come from Hardy and other writers, including the country poets John Clave and William Barnes, and they combine with the music to illuminate its background and create the perfect atmosphere. For those of you with internet connections you may be interested to learn more at www.mellstockband.com 

The Shepherd’s Calendar depicts Merrymaking and Courtship throughout the country Year.