Archives for Arts - Page 7
Hats Off to the Hot Tap
VICTORIA KINGHAM It has to be said that in the three months since we last reported on Dean Stalham’s new little theatre Top Hat (oops, sorry, Hot Tap) it has…
Three Weeks in Provence
NICK HILL on his artistic inspirations I started practising art around 20 years ago, when I studied as a mature part-time student for a Foundation Diploma in Art, followed by…
Full Circle in the South Downs
VICTORIA KINGHAM Ethereal, careful, and restrained, the saxophone sound of Josephine Davies is once again available to select audiences. Her latest venture is as a member of The Full Circle…
Revolution, Romance, Reinvention: Becoming Tosca
Prologue Opera, an ambitious new opera-theatre company based in Hastings and committed to innovation and audience engagement, presents Becoming Tosca. Extending audiences’ relationship with Puccini’s Tosca, the show provides new…
Salsa Night at Jazz Hastings
VICTORIA KINGHAM Salsadelic at EHSAA So, forget serious listening and the appreciation of musical innovation, forget that you think Jazz is only for geeks with beards. This Salsa night was…
DJs Sellout at Crown House
DANI GILCHRIST Having read about a recent Horizon event at the new French’s, I was excited to be invited to their latest offering at the slightly mysterious Crown House. I…
Bottle Alley Art Market 2025
BAAM is a free public event showcasing Fine Art from curated local and national artists. It will once again fill the historic lower deck prom, bridging Hastings and St. Leonards,…
Shining Eveningat The Beacon
VERA BELL The Beacon was recently host to an evening of sound; a select but appreciative audience came to listen to the music concrète of Jury Service, Moore and Moore,…
The Knowing Charm of the Eternally Ambiguous
ELIZABETH ALLEN “Ambiguity is essential to The Turn of the Screw: that’s why people find it attractive.” So says Tim Blackwell, writer and director of the latest adaptation of Henry…
Spun Glass Theatre
EBM HUMPHREYS Since January last year, the Stade Hall has been managed by local theatre company Spun Glass Theatre, who have been working hard to improve it with a new…
Horizon at The New French’s
KATE SHAW I was excited to see what Seb Hipperson and his team had done to the old French’s wine bar. So when I was invited to DJ there by…
Contemporary Vocals at Uplands
TOM BRUGES While pirates descended upon Hastings, at Uplands in St Leonards a very different event, Contemporary Vocal Sünds, was taking place. After a reception with tea and cake, contemporary…
The Launch and Death of Lucy
ROD WEBB Three months after being Ray Davis in a 12-week run of Sunny Afternoon in Chicago, Danny Horn returned to home to Hastings for the recording of his third…
Marine Lifein Hastings Contemporary
VICTORIA KINGHAM Odd how music that was cult-radical in the 1960s and 70s has become today’s café muzak; the institutionalisation of the ex-radical. So, sitting in Hastings Contemporary’s new café,…
Modernist Music at Christ Church
VICTORIA KINGHAM Marcio Da Silva seems to have boundless ambition for his choir and orchestra – so much so that for this particular concert he strayed a long way from…
No Apology Necessary
Mencap Loud and Lovely Joan Osbaldeston When a friend asked me if I would write a review of Mencap’s Let’s Get Loud show at the De La Warr, I hesitated,…
Messy: A Theme for Unravelling Times
EBM HUMPHREYS Although the name ‘Poetry Brothel’ is pretty edgy, I’ve always rather liked the boldness of it. We headed down to the White Rock Hotel on 5 July for…
Horror Comes Home, in an East Sussex Production
LEON CUTHBERTSON Prepare for a nerve-shattering theatrical experience at The Stables Theatre (Hastings) this month, as they present Henry James’ classic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw. It’s a…
Roland Jarvis, Polymath
Roland Jarvis was a multi-talented printmaker, painter, sculptor, horologist, film maker and engineer who hosted many exhibitions from his Hastings Old Town studio in Tackleway (Tackleway Hall) until his death in 2016.…
The Notes are Just the Beginning
VICTORIA KINGHAM It’s undoubtedly a privilege to watch skilled professors of music talking with gifted young performers about their interpretations of pianistic works of great genius. The weekend event organised…
Piano Picnic – Competition Prize winners at Fairlight
Hastings International Piano is delighted to present a full weekend of concerts, masterclasses and talks at Fairlight Hall. Four exceptional young pianists will be taking part: Curtis Phill Hsu, Harmony Zhu,…
Beau Flies Buzz
Ben Thompson “It’s a zipper, it’s the act of flying, it’s an annoying insect” explains Beau Flies singer and guitarist Otti Albietz, of the band’s newly extended name (they were…
New Music at the Beacon
Ambient electronic music ensemble Jury Service will return to The Beacon on Thursday 17 July with some very special guests for another summer evening of music to relax and immerse…
Hopes, Dreams, and the Sea
An astonishing collection of poetry and art by Palestinian children is coming to Hastings for a free exhibition, to be launched by famed British poet Alice Oswald. Oh Big Blue…
Blink and You’ll Miss This: Rahman/Sutherland at Silchester Road
Victoria Kingham Sometimes the most extraordinary musicians come down here and for whatever reason, the occasion is under-publicised. This is the case with an imminent concert by multi-award-winning, British jazz…
Fading Beauty: The Art of Anne Lydiat
VICTORIA KINGHAM This article was originally intended to be the second item in an occasional series about Hastings photographers. However, from Anne Lydiat’s work and writing, it is quite clear…
Musical History
VERA BELL If to deconsecrate a church means to make it not necessarily God’s home but that of the people, then the Henry Ward Hall in Robertson Street is a…
Art for New Hospital: Call for Entries
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) invites local passionate and innovative artists to express their interest in designing and producing a bespoke piece of art for the new Combe Valley…
Northern Lights
Hastings Philharmonic Choir sing music from Northern Europe GARETH SIMPSON In July, Hastings Philharmonic Choir will perform the works of two living composers, Arvo Pärt’s Berliner Messe and Ola Gjeilo’s…
Female Heroes Launch Scene & Heard Festival
JANE MIDWINTER Thursday 5 June marked the inspiring launch of the Scene & Heard Festival at The Stables Theatre, and the official opening of the Female Heroes exhibition – a…
Dark, Joyful and Weird
CHRISTIAN SMITH Consuelo Radclyffe’s fantastical figures have been stopping people in their tracks on the Queens Road ever since they first appeared in the window of Neighbourhood pottery studio late…
Suzie Brown & Scot Sax
BEN THOMPSON The heart has a great symbolic and emotional resonance in country music, from Hank Williams and Your Cheatin Heart onwards, but Tennessee singer-songwriter Suzie Brown takes that connection…
Musicof the Future, Music of the Past
VICTORIA KINGHAM One of the basic principles I have found invaluable is that comparison of one type of music with another, as a value judgement, has got to be invalid.…
Active Arts get Even Louder
LIANNE BUTTREY This July, prepare for a truly unforgettable evening of talent, creativity, and community spirit as over 60 performers from Active Arts – a flagship visual and performing arts programme…
Two Ships Sail Again at the Beacon
BEN THOMPSON The third incarnation of the Two Ship Festival of Improvised Music promises a feast of special encounters at The Beacon on the afternoon of Sunday 15 June. Among…
Celtic, with a Touch of the Hank Marvins
VICTORIA KINGHAM A couple of years ago, Iago Banet had a great review in this newspaper for his splendid concert at the Kino. You can read it on the HIP…
A Group Approach to Sex?
HELEN MURPHY & NICK PELLING Imagine an art exhibition entitled Sex and Success in Sussex and you might - depending on your personal depravity - envisage a rouged-up room full…
Morton Valence Return to The Piper
Morton Valence is the name for the vocal pairing of Robert 'Hacker' Jessett and Anne Gilpin. The London-based duo take the classic boy/girl duet and feed it through their own…
Hartlaub and family at Electro Studios
STEWART RAYMENT Although Daniel Hartlaub’s main practice is in Germany, s a familiar artist locally. He has exhibited here in group or solo shows over the last few years, typically…
Smiley Fish and Cheerful Things
GARY WILLIS The Hastings Art Forum welcomes an exhibition that aims to spread a little happiness The current show is the inaugural exhibition curated by Dawn Timmins, a local artist,…