Theatre and Dance Previews

The Watford Palace Theatre is presenting its first ever arts festival in November.

With a tag line of "discover something different today", Festival Fortnight takes place at the theatre from November 5 to 18 and will offer a diverse programme of music, theatre, comedy and dance and participation events.

Marketing and Audience Development Officer for the Palace, Amy Lazzerini, explained what was behind the event.

"It's two weeks of events that we've programmed to try and get a load of different people in that we wouldn't normally see at the Palace Theatre" she said.

"So, rather than just normal plays we've got musicians, actors, stand-up, all sorts of music and comedy and we've also got a dance company that we've never had before so it's all about seeing something that you wouldn't normally see.

"It's built on our normal entertainers at the Palace which are usually three or four people over three or four nights that happen once a season" she continued.

"They are a great success and people really enjoy getting to see something different, so we thought we'd build on that and just create a whole festival out of it, make it much bigger and have a much bigger variety as well so that we can get new people in."

All the performances are on for one night only, except one which is on for two, and includes a diverse range of productions from plays and dance, to physical theatre and comedy.

Highlights include "Let's Talk to Barry" which is a play written and performed by Watford's Alex Lowe, fresh from a really good run at Edinburgh, the internationally renowned Sonia Sabri Dance Company and Scamp Theatre, who will present the Bristol Old Vic production of Private Peaceful, written by children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo.

Alex Lowe as Barry from Watford

Music events include Abba tribute band Voulez Vous performing ‘ABBA’ – The Story, and up-and-coming young jazz pianist Zoe Rahman, while Inspiral Arts (local artists and musicians from Watford) fuses music with drama and live arts to engage all the
senses.

And not only can you see a performance but you can also get involved in how that performance is made and find out what's going on behind the scenes with a series of workshops that will be run alongside some of the performances.

Anne Gallacher, Executive Director for Watford Palace Theatre said:

"Festival Fortnight is a programme of exciting and innovative arts events new to Watford Palace Theatre. It’s a great opportunity for us to welcome a new and diverse audience in to the theatre."

Programme of events

5 November 2007 - A Glimpse of Stocking

A celebration of Cole Porter’s songs performed by Tony Jacobs with a live jazz accompaniment featuring Pete Morgan (Dudley Moore’s bass player).

Stacey Gregg

6 November 2007 - Stacey Gregg

A writer in residence at Watford Palace Theatre, performs a rehearsed reading of new work. Her first play was short listed for the Royal Court Young Writers Festival 2006. This is a free event in association with Watford Central Library.

7 November 2007 - ABBA: The Story

Abba tribute band Voulez Vous present two hours of pure Abba Nostalgia.

8 November 2007 - Private Peaceful

Scamp Theatre presents the Bristol Old Vic production written by children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo. The play relives the life of Private Tommy Peaceful, a young First World War soldier waiting for the firing squad at dawn.

9 November 2007 - Let’s Talk To Barry

Comic actor Alex Lowe performs his one man show. Lowe adopted the persona of ‘Barry from Watford’, a regular caller to Iain Lee's LBC 97.3 FM show, and based a 2006 Edinburgh show around the conversations they had on air. ‘Barry’ now returns to the Palace to tell his story. This show features the vocal talents of Catherine Tate and Iain Lee, directed by Tim Norton.

10 November 2007 - Subtopia

Local artists and musicians from Watford's Inspiral Arts present an evening of live entertainment. Subtopia is a performance which fuses music with drama and live arts.

The Arab and The Jew

13-14 November 2007 - The Arab and the Jew

Physical theatre company Gecko perform an explosive dance piece exploring the Arab-Israeli divide. Having grown up on opposite sides of the divide Allel Nedjari and Amit Lahav will take audiences on a journey through brotherhood, loyalty and conflict.

15 November 2007 - Sonia Sabri Dance Company

Nisbat is performed by internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Sonia Sabri, accompanied by three dancers, live musicians on santoor, vocals and the world renowned Sarvar Sabri on tabla.

16 November 2007 - Spoken Word Event

An evening of spoken work featuring poets Francesca Beard, OneNess, Luke Wright and [Verb]Swish.

17 November 2007 - Zoe Rahman

The up-and-coming young jazz pianist will perform her live contemporary set.

Zoe Rahman

18 November 2007 - Russell Howard - Adventures

Comedian Russell Howard, star of BBC6 Music, BBC 2’s Mock The Week, Radio 4’s Banter and Radio 2’s Out to Lunch, comes to Watford with a brand new stand-up show Adventures following his sell-out Spring tour.