The Metropolitan Opera Live – Marnie
Saturday 10th November, 5.30pm Click for tickets hereA young woman lies, cheats, and steals her way through life, propelled by compulsions she can neither control nor understand. A wealthy man catches her red-handed and blackmails her into marrying him. Will the truth about her past send her to jail or set her free?  Based on the novel that also inspired Hitchcock’s celebrated thriller, composer Nico Muhly’s Marnie was co-commissioned and co-produced with the English National Opera and receives its U.S. premiere at the Met this season. Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard stars in the title role, opposite baritone Christopher Maltman as her husband. Costume design is by Madonna’s collaborator of twenty years, Arianne Phillips, who created every item seen on stage in this stylish, vivid production.

ROH Live – La Bayadère
Tuesday 13th November, 7.00pm, Click for tickets here

Nikiya, a temple dancer, is in love with the warrior Solor. The High Brahmin also desires Nikiya, and when she rejects him, he plans to take revenge on Solor. When the High Brahmin tells the Rajah about Solor’s secret love, the Rajah decides that Nikiya, not Solor, should be killed. Princess Gamzatti is to be married to Solor. She overhears and tries to bribe Nikiya to give up Solor, but Nikiya refuses. The Rajah and Gamzatti arrange for Nikiya to be killed by a snake bite during the engagement festivities. Despondent, Solor is filled with remorse and haunted by visions of Nikiya. He cannot complete the wedding ceremony. The gods are angered and destroy the temple with all inside it. In the afterlife, Solor and Nikiya are finally united.

An iconic 19th-century Russian ballet, La Bayadère was originally performed at the Bolshoi Theatre in St Petersburg in 1877, and was regularly performed within the former Soviet Union throughout the 20th century. It remained unknown in the West until the Kirov Ballet toured with the Kingdom of the Shades scene in 1961. Natalia Makarova saw La Bayadère as a child in Leningrad and created this production in 1980. It was first performed by The Royal Ballet in 1989.

The Kingdom of the Shades scene in Act III is one of the ballet’s highlights, in which a series of arabesques across the moonlit stage demonstrates the strength of the corps de ballet and the beauty of Marius Petipa’s choreography. The ballet also contains roles of very different styles for two ballerinas in Nikiya and Gamzatti, a spectacular virtuoso solo for the Bronze Idol, and stunning pas de deux for Solor with both Nikiya and Gamzatti.

RSC Live – Troilus and Cressida
Wednesday 14th November, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

“Lechery, lechery, still wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion”
 
Troilus and Cressida swear they will always be true to one another. But in the seventh year of the siege of Troy their innocence is tested, and exposed to the savage corrupting influence of war, with tragic consequences.
 
Virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie collaborates with RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran to create a satirical futuristic vision of a world resounding with the rhythm of battle, broadcast live to cinemas from Shakespeare’s home town. The Greek army is encamped under the walls of Troy and, at the point at which the play begins, the war has reached stalemate. The Greeks are quarreling among themselves. Achilles, their greatest champion, refuses to fight and has withdrawn to his tent with his lover, Patroclus. Equally at odds with themselves, the Trojans are debating the value of continuing the war merely for the sake of keeping Helen.
 
Troilus is much distracted from these military concerns by his love for Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan who has defected to the Greek camp. The young lovers are eagerly assisted by Cressida’s uncle Pandarus, who acts as their go-between. However, after only one night together they are parted when Cressida is sent to join her father in the Greek camp. Almost immediately she betrays Troilus with the Greek Diomedes and, discovering this, Troilus is plunged into despair.
 
With the fall of Troy certain, Troilus vows revenge on Achilles. the Greek Diomedes and, discovering this, Troilus is plunged into despair.

Elsa Jean McTaggart presents: Eva Cassidy – The Story
Friday 16th & Saturday 17th November, 8.00pm Click for tickets here

“Elsa is one of these very few people with a distinctive enough voice to do the music and songs of Eva Cassidy justice”
**** Tom King Southside Advertiser

“Blown away from start to finish.”
***** Eastcoast FM

Eva Cassidy: an icon of acoustic music. Wistful and emotional vocals, beautiful guitar accompaniment, Eva Cassidy had the power to move audiences through her interpretation of well-known songs.

Inspired by her favourite artist, award-winning musician Elsa Jean McTaggart presents a brand-new show for 2018 – Eva Cassidy: The Story.

Using video, story and song, Elsa Jean McTaggart channels Eva Cassidy’s musical voice through her own. Elsa has devised this very special show to pay homage to this true interpreter of song. Audiences the world over tell Elsa how much she reminds them of Eva Cassidy as she, too, exudes beauty inside and out as well as possessing the most hypnotic of voices.

A hit with a wide audience at Edinburgh Fringe 2017 where the show was previewed selling out many times, Eva Cassidy: The Story will be a deeply personal, poignant tribute by Elsa to an inspirational voice and an incredibly talented musician who was discovered by the world tragically late.

The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett
Tuesday 20th November, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Multi-award-winning drama The Madness of George III will be broadcast live to cinemas, in National Theatre Live’s first ever broadcast from Nottingham Playhouse.

Written by one of Britain’s best-loved playwrights Alan Bennett (The History Boys, The Lady in the Van), this epic play was also adapted into a BAFTA Award-winning film following its premiere on stage in 1991.
The cast of this new production includes Olivier Award-winners Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Wolf Hall, NT Live Coriolanus) in the title role, and Adrian Scarborough (Gavin and Stacey, Upstairs Downstairs, After the Dance).
It’s 1786 and King George III is the most powerful man in the world. But his behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic as he succumbs to fits of lunacy. With the King’s mind unravelling at a dramatic pace, ambitious politicians and the scheming Prince of Wales threaten to undermine the power of the Crown, and expose the fine line between a King and a man.

Films to get you talking: Wightwash
Friday 23th November, 7.30pm, Click for tickets hereIn 2008​ the Isle of Wight Council laid out it’s Eco Island vision.

“We want the Isle of Wight to become a world renowned Eco-Island, with a thriving economy and a real sense of pride, where residents and visitors enjoy healthy lives, feel safe and are treated with respect.”

​10 years later this documentary by island filmmaker David George looks at what happened to that vision, how it fell apart and ultimately ended in tragedy.

The SisQuiz
Saturday 24th November, 7.00pm 

The lovely siblings Lin and Debbie will lead 8 rounds of 10 questions on vaguely artsy subjects such as films, TV, books, music, food and drink, connections, general knowledge, and a picture round.

Get your teams together or just come along and the girls will put you together with other great minds to enjoy a very easy going and not too taxing quiz night at the club. The bar will be open, nibbles will be served and while there is no charge, donations to help the work of Ventnor Film Society would be gratefully received.

Its a popular night and we urge you to book a table of 4-6 or if you are fewer, a place with others – the girls will help…..to book, email us now on info@ventnorartsclub.com

ROH Live – The Nutcracker
Monday 3rd December, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Clara is given an enchanted Nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve. As midnight strikes, she creeps downstairs to find a magical adventure awaiting her and her Nutcracker.

The magician Drosselmeyer transforms the drawing room for a battle between mice and toy soldiers. During the battle, Clara saves the Nutcracker’s life – so breaking a magical spell that turned him from a boy to a toy – and the Mouse King is defeated. In celebration, Drosselmeyer sweeps Clara and the Nutcracker off to the Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and take part in a wonderful display of dances. The next morning, Clara’s adventures seem to have been more than just a dream.

Peter Wright’s interpretation of The Nutcracker has been enchanting children and adults alike since its first performance by The Royal Ballet in 1984. Lev Ivanov’s 1892 ballet combined with Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous, iconic score are presented in a festive period setting with vivid designs to make this a charming and magical production.

Loosely based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet begins in the 19th-century German home of the Stahlbaums, where they are hosting a lively Christmas party. The period setting is captured in opulent detail by Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs, which include authentic Christmas tree decorations that are magically brought to life. Wright’s choreography ingeniously incorporates surviving fragments of the ballet’s original material, including the sublime pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince. But in emphasizing the relationship between Clara and the Nutcracker, the production also gains a touching subtext of first love.

Thomas Cameron – A Tenor for Christmas
Friday 7th December, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

“I have witnessed Thomas’ voice draw people in until there is a silence in the air that you can hear. His voice is truly a gift.” – Robert Macleod/Producer.

Thomas Cameron is a nineteen year old English tenor, whose voice has been described as having velvet-like qualities. Performing the world famous songs from the musicals, including ‘Bring Him Home’ and ‘Music of the Night’, it is sure to be a special performance. And given that it’s about now that we begin to feel seasonal, there will be a tinge of Christmas to our evening.