Mathew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Filmed Live at Sadlers Wells
Tuesday 21st May, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake comes to Ventnor Arts Club with a fresh look for the 21^st century and is ‘as bold and beautiful as ever’ (★★★★★ Telegraph). This thrilling, audacious and witty production is perhaps still best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male ensemble, which shattered convention, turned tradition upside down and took the dance world by storm. Retaining the iconic elements of the original staging loved by millions around the world, Matthew Bourne and award-winning designers Lez Brotherston (Set & Costumes) and Paule Constable (Lighting) have created a ‘spellbinding’ (★★★★★ Independent) re-imagining of this classic New Adventures production.

Filmed live at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake stars Will Bozier as The Swan/The Stranger, Liam Mower as The Prince and Nicole Kabera as The Queen.

Collecting over thirty international accolades including an Olivier Award and three Tonys on Broadway, Matthew Bourne’s powerful interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s beloved tale is ‘still original, still unmissable’ (★★★★★ Metro), a passionate and contemporary Swan Lake for our times.

Special Screening – Down to Earth
Wednesday 22nd May, 7.30pm Click for tickets hereDOWN to EARTH is a mirror to humanity, a poignant and timely reflection on our civilized world. The movie invites us to see the world through the eyes of the Keepers of the Earth. It takes us on an inner journey, connecting us with the source and the mutual path we are walking. DOWN to EARTH is both a wake up call and a resurgence of hope for our world to come.DOWN to EARTH hopes to inspire people to be the change they want to see, to evolve their inner journey to an outer one. After the film was test marketed in the Netherlands, audiences started to request guidance in their search to reconnect. To answer to this, we started a social enterprise and a foundation to facilitate a people-powered change.

Special screening + Director Q&A
The More You Ignore Me
Friday 31st May, 7.00pm, Click for tickets here

Based on Jo Brand’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name and Directed by Keith English who joins us for a Q&A session. We are very grateful to Keith for coming and look forward to a fascinating and entertaining evening.

AWARDED BEST COMEDY AT NATIONAL FILM AWARDS

The More You Ignore Me is a warm, comedy drama focusing on the life of an unconventional family in 1980s rural England. The film focuses on Gina, a young mother, whose efforts to be a loving mother and wife are undermined by her declining mental health. Things deteriorate when she develops an obsession with the local weatherman, which leads to an admission to the nearby psychiatric hospital. Over the years, as she grows up, her daughter Alice struggles to relate to her heavily medicated mum, and causes chaos when she comes up with a plan to reconnect with her, which divides the family forever and leads to a moving climax. Set to the songs of The Smiths, The More You Ignore Me provides a sometimes stark, yet comical insight into life within this quirky household, whilst addressing mental health issues and their impact on the family.

Runtime 90 minutes + Q&A

RSC Live – The Taming of the Shrew
Wednesday 5th June, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.  We turn Shakespeare’s fierce, energetic comedy of gender and materialism on its head to offer a fresh perspective on its portrayal of hierarchy and power.  Directed by Justin Audibert.

In a reimagined 1590, England is a matriarchy. Baptista Minola is seeking to sell off her son Katherine to the highest bidder. Cue an explosive battle of the sexes in this electrically charged love story. Justin Audibert (Snow in Midsummer, The Jew of Malta) turns Shakespeare’s fierce, energetic comedy of gender and materialism on its head to offer a fresh perspective on its portrayal of hierarchy and power.

Boo Hewerdine and Darden Smith in Concert
Saturday 8th June, 8.00pm Click for tickets hereBoo Hewerdine and Darden Smith met thirty years ago. Introduced by a publisher they wrote songs together for four days in London. The results secured them a record deal with Ensign Records. A short while later they found themselves in Austin, Texas recording the album ‘Evidence’. The album is a potent mix of Americana and Ukana (for want of a better word). It received rave reviews and featured in the Rolling Stone 500 greatest albums book.

Both Darden and Boo have continuing successful solo careers but ‘Evidence’ remains a favourite.

Last year they played a couple of shows in Scotland and England and were amazed and delighted to play to sell out audiences who knew every word.

This June, to celebrate this magical collaboration, that has resulted in a life long friendship, Darden and Boo will be playing a handful of shows in the UK.  We are lucky enough to be one of their chosen venues, probably the most intimate, and we’re excited.

ROH Live (Royal Ballet) – Romeo & Juliet
Tuesday 11th June, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Kenneth MacMillan’s passionate choreography for Romeo and Juliet shows The Royal Ballet at its dramatic finest. Sergey Prokofiev’s iconic score provides the basis for the ballet’s romantic pas de deux and vibrant crowd scenes, while 16th-century Verona is created by Nicholas Georgiadis’s magnificent designs.

In 1965, MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet was given its premiere at Covent Garden by The Royal Ballet and was an immediate success: the first night was met with rapturous applause, which lasted for 40 minutes, and an incredible 43 curtain calls. The title roles were danced by Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, although the ballet had been created on Christopher Gable and Lynn Seymour. It has been performed by The Royal Ballet more than four hundred times since, as well as touring the world, and has become a true classic of the 20th-century ballet repertory.

NT Live – All My Sons by Arthur Miller
Monday 17th June, 7.00pm, Click for encore tickets here

Broadcast live from The Old Vic in London, Academy Award-winner Sally Field (Steel Magnolias, Brothers & Sisters) and Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day) star in Arthur Miller’s blistering drama All My Sons.

America, 1947. Despite hard choices and even harder knocks, Joe and Kate Keller are a success story. They have built a home, raised two sons and established a thriving business.

But nothing lasts forever and their contented lives, already shadowed by the loss of their eldest boy to war, are about to shatter. With the return of a figure from the past, long buried truths are forced to the surface and the price of their American dream is laid bare.

Jeremy Herrin (NT Live: This House, People, Places & Things) directs a cast including Jenna Coleman (Victoria), and Colin Morgan (Merlin).

All My Sons is an Old Vic co-production with Headlong

Live from Shakespeare’s Globe – The Merry Wives of Windsor
Thursday 20th June, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Another great evening at the Globe. Double-meanings and disguises abound in this new production of Shakespeare’s very English comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor as Sir John Falstaff sets about improving his financial situation by wooing Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. But the ‘Merry Wives’ quickly cotton on to his tricks and decide to have a bit of fun of their own at Falstaff’s expense…

Directed by Nicole Charles and Elle While, and staged at the beautiful and iconic Globe Theatre in London, a reconstruction of an open-air Elizabethan playhouse on the bank of the River Thames, the live broadcast of The Merry Wives of Windsor will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes insights into the play.

Special Film Event & Writer Q&A – The Vanishing
Friday 21st June, 7.30pm Click for tickets here

We are excited to be screening a film co-written by Joe Bone from Cowes, who’s live show you may have been lucky enough to see at Ventnor Exchange and Quay Arts. On this evening he is joining us to talk about the film and his experiences of writing for the big screen. We shallbe showing the film before the interactive session led by our own film expert, Paddie Collyer. The bar will be open before the film, during a short interval and afterwards if you’d like to keep on chatting..

The Vanishing
Gerard Butler (Hunter Killer) and Peter Mullan (“Ozark”) star in this tense, action-packed thriller based on true events. After three lighthouse keepers arrive for work on a remote Scottish isle, they make a fateful discovery: a wrecked rowboat-with a chest full of gold. As a mysterious boat heads toward the island, the three men make a choice that will change their lives forever, ensnaring them in a web of greed, paranoia, and murder.

Runtime: 106 minutes
Directed By:  Kristoffer Nyholm
Written By: Celyn Jones, Joe Bone

NT Live – Small Island
Thursday 27th June, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

Filmed in front of a live audience. Andrea Levy’s epic novel bursts to life on-stage, telling a story which journeys from Jamaica to Britain through the second World War to 1948, the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. Told by a cast of 40, the filmed live screening of this epic play will mark the start of our 10th birthday celebrations.

Ollie West Band
Friday 5th July 8.00pm Click for tickets here

“Cinematic, orchestral pop is a phrase not used frequently by bands to describe their sound, yet for The Ollie West Band this fits perfectly. Formed in 2014 by singer, songwriter and pianist Ollie West, this Manchester based ensemble are creating unique music that transcends genre and the generic ideas of the pop band. With influences as far spread as Elbow and Billy Joel to the Cinematic Orchestra to Claude Debussy, the band’s instantly recognisable sound has been praised by the likes of Neil McCormick and Dean Friedman.

To celebrate the release of their debut album “Time Stood Still” on April 26th, the band hit the road for a massive 15 date UK tour in June and July, arriving at Ventnor Arts Club for their final show on Friday 5th July with their 5 piece line up. This is a unique night of great original music not to miss, get your tickets now!”

The Lehman Trilogy
by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power directed by Sam Mendes
Thursday 15th August, 7.00pm Click for tickets here

The story of a family and a company that changed the world, told in three parts on a single evening. Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes (Skyfall, The Ferryman) directs Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles who play the Lehman Brothers, their sons and grandsons.

On a cold September morning in 1844 a young man from Bavaria stands on a New York dockside. Dreaming of a new life in the new world. He is joined by his two brothers and an American epic begins.

163 years later, the firm they establish – Lehman Brothers – spectacularly collapses into bankruptcy, and triggers the largest financial crisis in history.

This critically acclaimed and five-time Olivier Award nominated play features stunning set design from Es Devlin (NT Live: Hamlet) and was recorded live from London’s West End as part of National Theatre Live’s 10th Birthday season.

Debbie Bond – Alabama Blueswoman
Friday 16th August, 8.00pm Click for tickets here

We go far and wide to find you great acts. Singer, guitar player and songwriter Debbie Bond has been paying her dues in the Alabama backwoods for over 30 years. Influenced by the famed sounds of Muscle Shoals, her impressive musical story includes years of performing with older traditional Alabama blues musicians, including Johnny Shines, Sam Lay, Eddie Kirkland and Willie King. Her immersion in Alabama blues has deeply flavored her guitar playing, soulful voice and original song writing – yet her sound is contemporary and original, incorporating soul, blues, and jazz influences. She has toured extensively in Europe including France, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

She is the co-founder of the award-winning Alabama Blues Project, an educational non-profit devoted to preserving and promoting Alabama’s rich blues heritage. 

A mouthpiece for sultry, Southern charm and whimsical musical conversation, Debbie Bond gets her heart tangled up in an intimate mess of backwoods Alabama soul.
Living Blues Magazine (US)

. . . she is one of those too rare female blues players, she clearly deserves greater recognition by blues lovers every where. this CD showcases her talent admirably and should propel her career nicely allowing her to step out of the shadows of those great musicians now passed she played with most of her career.
Blues Matters (UK)

. . . a superb night with all three musicians at the top of their craft. Debbie’s sweet guitar backed up by her beautiful voice was matched by the superb keyboard and harp of Rick, all driven along by the effortless minimal drumming of Mickey Barker. . . .
Blues In Britain (UK)

Margaret Atwood – Live by Satellite
Tuesday 10th September, 7.30pm Click for tickets here

On Tuesday, September 10th, the wait is over….The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s highly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, is revealed. The momentous literary event will be celebrated with an exclusive live cinema broadcast, as Fane Productions present an evening with the Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic and inventor.

The publication of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985 and the current, Emmy Award-winning television series have created a cultural phenomenon, as handmaids have become a symbol of women’s rights and a protest against misogyny and oppression. Live from the London stage, Atwood will be interviewed by broadcaster and author Samira Ahmed in a conversation spanning the length of Atwood’s remarkable career, her diverse range of works, and why she has returned to her seminal handmaid story, 34 years later.

‘Dear Readers: Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.’

With exclusive readings from the new book by special guests, this will be an unmissable and intimate event with Atwood, spotlighting her signature insight, humour and intellect. The Testaments will be published worldwide on 10 September.

A New Play by Emma Rice – Wise Children
Thursday 3rd October, 7.00pm For tiockets click here

Multi-award-winning director Emma Rice brings her unique, exuberantly impish vision to Angela Carter’s great last novel in this brand-new theatre production. A big, bawdy tangle of theatrical joy and heartbreak, Wise Children is a celebration of show business, family, forgiveness and hope, with a generous dash of Shakespeare, scandal and mischief, taking the audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotion.
In Brixton, Nora and Dora Chance – twin chorus girls born and bred south of the river – are celebrating their 75th birthday. Over the river in Chelsea, their father – and greatest actor of his generation – Melchior Hazard turns 100 on the same day. As does his twin brother Peregrine. If, in fact, he’s still alive. And if, in truth, Melchior is their real father after all… Performed by a talented ensemble cast, this entertaining, all-singing and dancing show opened to a raft of 4 and 5-star reviews at London’s Old Vic in 2018. Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, the former Artistic Director of Kneehigh and Shakespeare’s Globe, it was filmed for the cinema screen at York Theatre Royal and is ‘pure, unadulterated theatre.’ (★★★★★ Broadway World)
Running Time:       150 mins approx. (including a 15 minute interval)