Norfolk & Norwich Festival reveals full programme for May 2015

World and UK premieres, free outdoor fun, a world of music and the very best of regional talent in annual arts feast

The waiting is over, Norwich & Norfolk Festival, the international festival on our doorstep, has announced its full programme for 2015. It brings a dazzling array of global stars to Norfolk whilst showcasing some of the best of the county’s home-grown talent and nurturing local emerging artists. The Festival has commissioned world premieres from WildWorks and Circa for the woods around Felbrigg Hall and The Adnams Spiegeltent respectively. There are also UK premieres including the stage adaptation of Eimear McBride’s multi award winning novel A Girl is a Half-formed Thing and Willi Dorner’s gravity defying fitting.

A world-class cultural destination
Artistic Director William Galinsky said ‘This year’s Festival sees more originally commissioned work and premieres than ever before. Our theatre highlight Wolf’s Child is a totally unique theatrical experience created by WildWorks one of the world’s leading site-specific theatre companies. We continue our unique relationship with Circa with the World Premiere of What Will Have Been, a show created especially for The Adnams Spiegeltent and The Voice Project take us on a choral journey around Sir Norman Foster’s Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. There are premieres in all sections of the programme and the Festival is at the forefront of confirming Norfolk’s position as a world-class cultural destination as well as enhancing the quality of life for those living here’.

World Exclusives
For Wolf’s Child the dense woods around the National Trust’s 17th century Felbrigg Hall will become a spectacular stage set. This dark grown-up fairy tale of love, magical transformation and shape shifting animals is set to be one of the theatre year’s outstanding events, taking the audience on an immersive journey around the Felbrigg landscape as day turns to dusk. The production features original music that will be performed live and a professional cast of 13 alongside up to 50 local participants.

 

The Festival has commissioned Australian contemporary circus masters Circa to create a dazzling new piece. What Will Have Been celebrates Circa’s ten years as an international touring company and artistic director Yaron Lifschitz has selected three of the company’s most celebrated artists for the show. Awe-inspiring acrobatics and extreme beauty will be set to a live rendition of Bach’s partita for violin and a spine tingling electronic soundtrack. These will be the only UK performances of What Will have Been in 2015. The Observatory is a new co-commission with The Voice Project that explores humankind’s relationship with space and our attempts to understand it. This site-specific choral promenade performance in and around the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art brings together a 150 strong choir and soloists, leading musicians including pedal steel guitar maestro BJ Cole and composers Orlando Gough, Karen Wimhurst and Jonathan Baker.

Maverick Belgian company X TNT premiere Dedriving Code, mischievously testing the limits of what can be done in public spaces. The new stage adaptation of Norwich-based writer Eimear McBride’s first novel, the multi award winning A Girl is a Half-formed Thing, by celebrated Dublin company The Corn Exchange comes to the UK for the first time following 5 star reviews for its Irish debut.

Norwich’s Smith dancetheatre give audiences the first previews of their new show After The Fall and young singer-songwriters from the region have been working with Belgium’s CAMPO theatre company to create a new musical (working title Wild Life) which will have scratch performances this year in anticipation of its debut in 2016.

Spiegeltent returns
The Adnams Spiegeltent, the beating heart of the Festival, returns to Chapelfield Gardens in the second week. The magnificent interior with its mirrors and polished wood is the perfect setting for Circa’s What Will Have Been. Late live music takes in everything from the explosive desert blues of Songhoy Blues (described by BBC6 Music as ‘The Malian Beatles’) to the uplifting feel good sounds of House Gospel Choir and genre hopping Brazilian singer Flavia Coelho. In her smash hit stand up show High Heels in Low Places, which tours to Sydney, New York, London and Norwich, Ireland’s greatest drag queen Panti discusses the controversy caused when she accused several establishment Irish figures of homophobia. There’s also former Everything But The Girl singer-songwriter Tracey Thorn discussing her new book Naked at the Albert Hall, plus tea dances and social events for toddlers and the young at heart.

Hofesh Shechter Company’s Political Mother comes to the Theatre Royal. This critically acclaimed spectacle combines raw, honest physicality with a cinematic score performed live to create a dance experience like no other. Over at St Georges Theatre in Great Yarmouth Britain’s hottest young circus performers will astound with their jaw-dropping, flawlessly timed acrobatics in the 2014 Total Theatre Award winning Bromance.

Outdoor and Families
Free outdoor performances, made possible thanks to sponsorship from Lafarge Tarmac, are a cornerstone of the Festival. This year the tradition continues with a spectacular finale in the form of 451, a large-scale 360-degree surround performance combining sound installation with dramatic action and pyrotechnics, inspired by Ray Bradbury’s visionary novel Fahrenheit 451. The UK premier of Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner’s fitting sees dancers and acrobats defy gravity to squeeze into all sorts of nooks and crannies in the city centre, making us view our surroundings with fresh eyes whilst C.a.p.e allows us to sample virtual reality in the city’s streets. Stop Gap Dance’s Bill & Bobby integrates disabled and non disabled dancers to pay playful tribute to Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire outside the Forum and The Garden Party is two packed days of family fun in Chapelfield Gardens.

Sensacional in the Adnams Speigeltent is a sensory spectacular for very young children (18 months to three years) and those from five up are invited to explore the textile world of Forest Fruit, an installation at Norwich Puppet Theatre that creates a miniature world where a child’s playful imagination is stimulated to create their own patchwork of stories.

Music from all over the world
Music has always played a large part in the Festival and this year it comes from all over the globe. The Hot Sardines are the New York sensations that have taken America by storm and are now conquering Europe with their electrifying goodtime jazz. Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, whose music has underpinned ITV’s Broadchurch, visits with his full band whilst charismatic South African legend Abdullah Ibrahim celebrates his 80th year with a stunningly propulsive and melodious solo piano set. Singer Meklit Hadero originates from Ethiopia, whilst Italian pianist Stefano Bollani has been likened to a latin-jazz Fats Waller. Celtic music is represented by the Scottish alt-folk of James Yorkston, whose band features award winning Indian musician Suhail Yusuf Khan and the traditional Irish folk of Triad, an acoustic supergroup with Donal Lunny, Pádraig Rynne and Sylvain Barou.

This year’s classical music programme includes performances in some of the city’s finest churches, chapels and concert halls, many featuring the music of Felix Mendelssohn. A pivotal event sees one of the UK’s finest orchestras Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra link up with the Festival Chorus and glorious line-up of vocal talent, including the country’s leading bass Sir John Tomlinson, to perform Elijah. Norwich’s magnificent Cathedral is the setting for a concert from its own choir performing a new commission from composer Ruth Byrchmore, The Tallis Scholars and a virtuosic recital from Cathedral organist David Dunnett. Austrian Ingolf Wunder, hailed as one of the world’s most exciting young pianists, makes his first visit to Norwich.

Visual Art and Film
For one night only Norwich Theatre Royal will become the county’s largest cinema to show The Measure of all Things a new documentary from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Green. Green will provide a live commentary to the film, loosely inspired by the Guinness Book of Records, which weaves together portraits of record-holding people, places and things, accompanied by live music from New York’s yMusic. Artists Rooms brings a selection of work by Jeff Koons to Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Renowned as one of the most important and controversial artists of our time, this exhibition, which runs to 8 September, is the first chance to see Koons’ work in East Anglia, and the biggest exhibition of his work in the UK for a decade. Margarete at Norwich Puppet Theatre is a sensitive portrait of a woman’s life under communism compiled from 64 reels of film found in an East German market. Janek Turkowski shares Margarete’s story and talks about how he edited her home movies in this intimate film screening.

City of Literature
As a UNESCO City of Literature Norwich is a thriving centre for words, ideas and debate as well as books. A lively literature strand includes Rose Tremain, Sarah Waters and Green party MP Caroline Lucas, whilst naturalist Mark Cocker and author Patrick Barkham share their writing experience in two full-day Writing Rambles master classes out in the Norfolk countryside. This year’s Literary Festival in a Weekend sees bestselling authors rub shoulders with political activists as Pussy Riot activist Masha Gessen explores the freedom of speech, Erica Wagner and Andrew O’Hagan debate the role of Amazon in the literary landscape and Caroline Criado-Perez talks about campaigning for women’s rights.

[Live] Art Club at Norwich Arts Centre is home to some of the most experimental and avant-garde elements of the Festival. It kicks off with Kim Noble’s moving, comic and thought-provoking You’re Not Alone, one of the talking points at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival. Prankster Richard DeDomenici will reshoot no-budget versions of scenes from film and TV in their original locations for a special Norfolk version of his Redux Project. There’s also space for home grown performers with Odd Comic premiering My Champion Heartache, their look at people and their pets, before it heads to London for a week-long run. Radio 4 poet and UEA graduate Luke Wright and experimental jazz band Polar Bear stop off at the nation’s Best Small Venue as they tour the UK and there’s a special one-off ‘live n’ loud’ show from The Neutrinos, taking a break from their hit show KlangHaus.

 

As the main Festival draws to a close Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios (23 May – 7 June) is the opportunity for the county’s artists to throw open their studio doors to allow the public to visit and explore the wide range of art created in Norfolk. With the generous sponsorship of Wex Photographic the scheme is going from strength to strength in its 21st year.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival is funded and supported by Arts Council England, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council with the support of principal sponsors Abellio Greater Anglia, Adnams and Lafarge Tarmac and the generous support of other corporate partners, trusts and individuals.

Box Office 01603 766400, online booking at nnfestival.org.uk with full information on all events

Hedley Swain, Area Director, South East, Arts Council England, said: ‘Norfolk & Norwich Festival is one of the UK’s biggest arts festivals and we are proud to be a major funding partner of a programme which brings an annual spotlight to the East of England. It offers a great platform for some of the East’s most talented new artists and organisations to be showcased alongside some of the world’s most established stars.’

Cllr Brenda Arthur, leader Norwich City Council said ‘Norwich City Council believes culture and the arts make a huge contribution to the vibrancy of our city; as well as offering inspiration to those who take part. As Norwich’s national and international reputation as a city of culture continues to grow, more and more visitors are attracted here each year. We are pleased to be able to support the 2015 Festival, not just because it is good for business, but also so that Norwich residents can participate in and enjoy more free events.’

Jonathan Denby, Head of Corporate Affairs for Abellio Greater Anglia said ‘Abellio Greater Anglia is delighted to be the Travel Partner for the 2015 Norfolk & Norwich Festival, extending the highly successful partnership between the Festival and the region’s railways.  This is the 25th successive year that the local train operator has collaborated with the Festival, starting with a train naming in 1990 and followed by sponsorship of the Festival in 1991 and every year since then. Over a quarter of a century, we have helped to support the expansion of the Festival and extend the range of top class events that Norfolk and Norwich audiences and communities can enjoy during this annual celebration of the arts.  We are passionate about playing our part in supporting the region that we serve, so we’re very glad to be helping to promote the Festival again, providing tickets for artists and taking a proactive role in this year’s event.  With regular trains between Norwich and Cambridge, Ipswich, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth and Sheringham, we hope many people will travel to Festival events by train.’

Andy Wood CEO of Adnams said ‘At Adnams, we want to partner with organisations who share our values and outlook, who are creative, original, world class, good value with real integrity. We continue to support the Festival because it sets a standard in creative entertainment and it really helps build Norwich and Norfolk as a creative destination.’

Rick Green, Maintenance Business Director, Contracting, at Lafarge Tarmac, said: ‘Supporting the communities in which we operate is hugely important to Lafarge Tarmac. We are proud to be continuing our sponsorship of The Norfolk and Norwich Festival’s free outdoor programme in 2015, helping to provide access to whole host of exciting events and performances for thousands of people of all ages across the county, at the same time as promoting local economic growth and investment.’

Norfolk & Norwich Festival is the flagship arts festival for the East of England with a reputation for innovative and inspirational programming and commissioning. One of the big four UK international arts festivals, each May we transform and celebrate our city and county through an internationally acclaimed programme of music, theatre, literature, visual arts, circus, dance and outdoor arts, enjoyed by over 75,000 people. The organisation has been an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation since April 2012 and is  one of 10 Bridge Organisations with a mandate to develop arts and cultural opportunities for children and young people in the East of England.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival is funded and supported by Arts Council England, Norwich City Council and the generous support of other sponsors and donors

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