Litro Events – Listing Summer 2010
Alex James
Films and festivals make up the long run of events that’ll take you through summer to the season of mellow fruitfulness. Think of moments to make you laugh, help you start that novel, and celluloid that’ll make you laugh and cry, in this season’s events, edited by Alexander James.
29th July to 8th August, Film 4 Summer Screen, Somerset House. Film 4’s Summer Screen has become a major summer attraction in London for anyone looking for some relaxed al fresco entertainment. This summer, the stunning backdrop of Somerset House is transformed into an open-air cinema. Food and drink is available and picnics are also allowed. The rest of the diverse programme includes recent box-office hits, talks, classic films and Saturday night double bills. See: www.somersethouse.org.uk
4th August – 11th September, Into the Woods, Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park. Into the Woods takes the stories of the Brothers Grimm and gives them a dark and humorous twist. The popular tales of Red Riding Hood and Jack (of Beanstalk fame) are interwoven with Cinderella and Rapunzel. However, this retelling goes beyond ‘happily ever after’ as the familiar characters find themselves in unfamiliar circumstances and hopes and dreams are questioned and revisited. For more information visit www.openairtheatre.com
All of August, Syon Park Cinema, Syon Park House, Brentford. Get your film fix in the gardens of historic Syon Park House – the London home of the Duke of Northumberland – there’s more films with an eighties twist at the ‘cinema under the stars’. Bring a picnic, your friends, and your best Eighties gear. See: www.syonpark.co.uk
10th August, Liars’ League, The Phoenix, 37 Cavendish Square, W1G 0PP. The only live fiction event where actors read the stories, now in its third year, presents a clutch of fresh, fantastic tales based around the theme Here & Now. Book quiz at the interval and special offers on wine all night. See: www.liarsleague.com
13th – 15th August, Canary Wharf Jazz Festival, Canada Square. Following the resounding success of 2009’s festival, this ever popular celebration of jazz, now in its 4th year, returns to Canada Square Park with a powerful line-up. Whether you’re new to jazz or a committed aficionado, Canada Square Park offers an unforgettable three days of traditional and modern jazz, jazz-funk, Latin rhythms, soul, and instrumental. See: www.mycanarywharf.com
13th – 15th August, Faber Academy: Begin Writing Your First Novel, The Grove, Hertfordshire. Over three days, in the historic and atmospheric surroundings of The Grove, and in association with the UK’s leading independent publisher, Faber and Faber, Sarah Hall and co-tutor Adam Foulds will host a fiction course open to aspiring writers of all levels, but with particular emphasis on how to begin writing a novel. Award-winning authors will be on hand to offer insight and an invigorating approach towards harnessing inspiration, drafting the words, and editing them. See: www.thegrove.co.uk/www.faber.co.uk/academy
20th August, Glyndebourne Opera: Billy Budd, Somerset House. Billy Budd is a 1951 all-male opera set to music by Benjamin Britten, with a libretto co-written by E. M. Forster. Based on Herman Melville’s allegorical tale about the battle between pure good and blind evil, the opera takes place amidships on a British man-o’-war. MichaelGrandage, the Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in London, directs the production, whilst Sir Mark Elder returns to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra and The Glyndebourne Chorus. See: www.somersethouse.org.uk/
27th – 28th August, Dance Festival, Victoria Park. Three giants of live music, Cream, Goldenvoice and Loudsound, have joined forces to create what is destined to become one of London’s most exciting outdoor electronic dance festivals. Pooling their collective resources they have secured exclusive London performances from the mighty David Guetta, and legendary pioneers of electronica Leftfield as well as an array of special guest appearances from a phenomenally diverse range of dance music’s most exciting acts. For more information visit www.ledfestival.net
6th – 12th September, Greenwich Comedy Festival, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. This September London’s biggest ever comedy festival returns with another bumper crop of the best names in comedy and cabaret. The 2010 festival is set to top its triumphant first year as the beautiful grounds of the Old Royal Naval College make way for three fantastic venues including a world-famous Spiegel Tent and the spectacular, illuminated Fountain Bar, a stage constructed around one of the venue’s magnificent fountains. Hilarious headliners, hot new talents, the Silent Disco and more. See: www.greenwichcomedyfestival.co.uk
9th – 12th September, Bestival, Robin Hood Park, Isle of Wight. Londoners hungry to prolong the red hot summer will descend on the Isle of Wight for a line-up that sees The Prodigy, Dizzee Rascal, Flaming Lips, Roxy Music, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem and Fever Ray. Our eyes are on the Comedy Tent; this year it’s packed with the best in verbal wordplay. See: www.bestival.net.





