ARTS DIARY
Blues and Twos
The Old Ambulance Station, Bexhill, celebrates the arrival of a monumental bronze sculpture Excalibur 7.62 by Steven Gregory, on public display for the first time on this site. The Old Ambulance Station is a significant new art & creative workspace, providing affordable space for world class artists and artisans, with community engagement and support.
Identity Confusion
An exhibition entitled Who Am I opens on 3 May displaying artwork by AOP (Arts on Prescription) participants and facilitators. The group promotes the benefits that art and creative practice bring to health and wellbeing. It’s at The Exhibition Space – part of a ‘new vibrant venture’ being developed in the old St Andrews Market, Waldegrave Street, Hastings artsonprescription.org
Ha! Ha!
The UK comedy circuit returns to Hastings and St Leonards for this year’s Comedy Festival, running 5 days from June 14 -18. It’s the 8th year of bringing laughter and live comedy entertainment with ‘another excellent programme of live comedy shows from some of the funniest and creative comedians performing on the comedy circuit today’. Headliners include Olaf Falafel who will be performing his show Look What Fell out of my Head at The Crypt on 17 June. hastingsfringecomedyfestival.com
Theatre in the Park
The Rude Mechanical Theatre Company performs in Alexandra Park on 12 July. It’s their first visit to Hastings, though they tour throughout the South of England and have performed regularly in St Leonards. Their new play, Miss Popplewell’s Garden, is set in 1940 with two girls about to be evacuated from Sussex. With delightful disregard for political correctness the press release says: ‘The girls decide to make one last raid on the old witch Miss Popplewell’s strawberry patch. But an intruder gets in first. Who is he? Is it the gypsies, a burglar, even an escaped convict? The villagers panic! But they’re British! They must stick together.’ therudemechanicaltheatre.co.uk
The Magic Space
And speaking of opaque –‘This exhibition seeks to explore the spaces we enter when we become fully immersed in our creative practices. It alludes to the sensation of losing oneself and merging into the creative moment. It is deep rooted, allowing us to reach a moment of absorption and intuited action, whereby we are able to bring forth our most essential work. The Magic Space is something of a contradiction, a whopping enigma; it doesn’t exist and yet we have all been there, at these moments of complete immersion and surrender.’ 2-14 May Hastings Arts Forum, Marine Court, St Leonards hastingsartsforum.co.uk
See Ya There
Friday, 23rd June marks the opening gig for See Ya There Promotions, a new venture from a group of local like-minded music fans. Up & coming UK blues rockers Brave Rival will grace the stage at the recently opened Black Box venue in George Street, in the Old Town. The band was nominated for the UK Blues Awards in 2022 as an Emerging Act of The Year. Info from: [email protected]
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