Fringe Half Full

According to my calendar this is a weekend of festivals - St David's Day and Mother's Day. Frankly - and I hope you don't mind my being so direct - neither of these occasions matter much to me (all to do with births and deaths). What the calendar does not reveal is that the Buxton Festival Fringe Sales are over - but over 60 people have taken advantage of our discounted entry price. As a result this year's Fringe is brimful with events already - and there are still two months to go!

The Festival runs from 9-27 July - seewww.buxtonfringe.org.uk for the programme to date. For the whole on March it will cost £60 to enter and in April the price rises to £80. Entries close at midnight on April 26th.

Anyway, there are already over 200 events and performances scheduled for this year's Fringe and the chances are it will be both the biggest and most varied season we've ever had. It would be invidious to pick out favourites - though readers might like to identify the three or four events that catch their eyes and share them with the rest of us.

Skimming through some of the recent entries I couldn't help but notice that Tim Mottershead - a pianist from Glossop with what some describe as 'eclectic' tastes - has entered 3 shows. He'll have something to play for the young and the adventurous (sometimes the same people, of course). For one event he is joined by bass-baritone Edward D'arcy Hatton who will be singing arias and songs. One performance will be at St James the Less in New Mills.

Manchester-based pianist Benny Chi Yum Hui will be playing music from after the cultural revolution in St John's Church, Buxton. Also at St John's, the City of Manchester Opera will be singing Puccini and Mascagni.

For those with a taste for comedy, spoken word and theatre there is also plenty to choose from. Classic drama by Shakespeare, Pinter and Sartre is on offer as well as contemporary favourites such as John Godber. An adaptation of Pride & Prejudice is likely to be popular. Fringe-award winner George Telfer is coming all the way from Chesterfield. In the past George has delighted us with his interpretaions of Gielgud and Richard Burton. This year he will be Prince Philip - should be offensive (bloody better be!) Oh, and all the way from the States we have two lectures from Mark Twain.

And that's less than the half of it! It's going to be a great summer in Buxton.


by Keith Savage - Published 01/02/2008