Staffordshire Cover - July.qxp_Mids Cover - August 23/06/2014 16:43 Page 1 STAFFORDSHIRE WHAT’S ON WHAT’S STAFFORDSHIRE THE MIDLANDS ESSENTIAL ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE STAFFORDSHIRE ISSUE 343 JULY 2014 JULY ’ Whatwww.whatsonlive.co.uk sOnISSUE 343 JULY 2014 ROBBIE WILLIAMS SWINGS INTO BRUM RHYS DARBY return of the Kiwi comedian PART OF MIDLANDS WHAT’S ON MAGAZINE GROUP PUBLICATIONS GROUP MAGAZINE ON WHAT’S MIDLANDS OF PART THE GRUFFALO journey through the deep dark wood in Stafford... FUSE FESTIVAL showcasing the region’s @WHATSONSTAFFS WWW.WHATSONLIVE.CO.UK @WHATSONSTAFFS talent at Beacon Park Antiques For Everyone (FP-July).qxp_Layout 1 23/06/2014 14:00 Page 1 Contents- Region two - July.qxp_Layout 1 23/06/2014 12:42 Page 1 June 2014 Editor: Davina Evans INSIDE: [email protected] 01743 281708 Editorial Assistants: Ellie Goulding Brian O’Faolain [email protected] joins line-up for 01743 281701 Wireless Festival p45 Lauren Foster [email protected] 01743 281707 Adrian Parker [email protected] 01743 281714 Sales & Marketing: Jon Cartwright [email protected] 01743 281703 Chris Horton [email protected] 01743 281704 Subscriptions: Adrian Parker [email protected] 01743 281714 Scooby-Doo Managing Director: spooky things a-happening Paul Oliver [email protected] in Wolverhampton p27 01743 281711 Publisher and CEO: Martin Monahan [email protected] 01743 281710 Graphic Designers: Lisa Wassell Chris Atherton Accounts Administrator Julia Perry Wicked - the award-winning musical arrives in the Midlands, page 6 [email protected] 01743 281717 Website Development: Jim Pallett TO GET THE VERY Rhys Darby Contributors: p4 Kiwi comedian Graham Bostock: Theatre LATEST LISTING News James Cameron-Wilson: back on tour p20 Film; Anita Champaneri: INFORMATION, Eating Out; Music p11 Alev Dervish: Music VISIT: Eva Easthope, Kate whatsonlive.co.uk Evans, Jessica Aston, Comedy p20 Patsy Moss, Jack Rolfe, INCLUDING Jan Watts, Reggie White BOOKING ONLINE Theatre p23 Head Office: 13-14 Abbey Foregate, The Midlands’ most Shrewsbury, SY2 6AE comprehensive p37 Tel: 01743 281777 entertainment website Film/DVD e-mail: [email protected] Follow us on... 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News July region two.qxp_Layout 1 23/06/2014 20:39 Page 1 News A ROUND-UP OF LOCAL AND NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Birmingham artist to exhibit in Los Angeles A Birmingham artist who’s receiving much critical acclaim for his use of chalk and pas- tel to produce images depicting the search for human perfection is to exhibit his work in Los Angeles. Oliver Jones’ lifelike portraits question the contemporary pursuit of beauty, with one particularly striking piece, Designer Baby, showing a five-month-old child pre- pared for surgery. Oliver, who trained at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and is co-founder of A3 Project Space in Digbeth, will present a series of new canvas- es at Gusford I los angeles in September. Anita And Me to debut in the Midlands A stage adaptation of Meera Syal’s award-winning semi-autobiographical novel Anita And Me is to make its debut at Birmingham’s Repertory Theatre next year. Syal’s story focuses on the experiences of nine-year-old Meena as she grows up in the only Punjabi family in a Black Country mining village. The novel is being developed for the stage by Tanika Gupta, and the show will be directed by The Rep’s artistic director Roxanna Silbert. Commenting on the adaptation, Wolverhampton-born Meera said: “I’m so thrilled that Anita And Me is being developed and premiered at the Birmingham Rep - in the West Midlands where I grew up, where the novel is set, and whose people and stories had such a huge influ- ence on my childhood. I know Roxanna and Tanika and the rest of the team will do it proud, International Dance Festival and I can’t wait to see Anita, Meena and the rest of the crew come to life on stage. It will, I’m hailed a resounding success pretty sure, be ‘bostin’!” Anita And Me is scheduled to show at The Rep in Autumn 2015. Organisers behind the International Dance Musical, which will include the chance to Festival Birmingham 2014 (IDFB) - one of the meet some of the cast at the Library of Ironbridge Gorge Museums largest festivals of its kind in the UK - have Birmingham before taking their seats at the teams up with Art Fund declared this year’s event a resounding suc- Hippodrome to see the show. cess, with attendances to ticketed perform- Entry forms are available from the Library of Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust has joined ances showing an increase of thirty percent Birmingham Children’s Library and from forces with the Art Fund and four other on the previous event in 2012. birminghamhippodrome.com/news. museums from across the country to launch IDFB took place at various venues across The competition closes at midnight on 9 Art Happens - a crowdfunding platform the city in May. Featuring artists from eight- July. Winners must be available to enjoy the housed within the Art Fund website which een countries, it facilitated twenty-one free special day on Wednesday 30 July. helps UK museums raise money for new, dance workshops and showcased nine small-scale creative projects. world premieres. One of these was Concert The trust is hoping the innovative approach Danse - a partnership with Quebecois con- will raise sufficient money to help transform temporary dance company Cas Public and the Museum of The Gorge, via a complete Birmingham early music ensemble Ex redesign of its gallery and an upgrade of its Cathedra. The production featured Aakash existing auditorium. Once completed, the Odedra and dancers from Birmingham Royal venue will become the starting point for visi- Ballet. tors wishing to explore the unique museums and landscapes of Ironbridge. To find out more about the scheme and to Wicked opportunity for young make a donation, visit the Art Happens web- site at artfund.org/arthappens writers... Smile For Stephen... Birmingham Hippodrome, the Library of Birmingham and smash-hit musical Wicked Free Radio has announced initial plans for a are on the lookout for Birmingham’s best fundraising event in memory of Stephen young writing talent. The three organisations Sutton, the teenager who died of cancer in are inviting children and young people May and was posthumously awarded an between seven and eighteen to submit short, MBE. With the blessing of Stephen’s mum, clear and captivating stories based on a sub- Free Radio is to hold an evening of comedy ject of their own choosing. The storywriting and music at the LG Arena on Sunday 30 competition is split into two age-related cate- November. Tickets priced £35 are now on gories (seven-to-eleven and twelve-to-eigh- sale, and further details of the event’s line-up teen). Two lucky winners (one from each cat- will be announced soon. egory) will be rewarded with a ‘sparkling All proceeds from the evening will go to the emerald day’ courtesy of Wicked The Teenage Cancer Trust. 4 www.whatsonlive.co.uk News July region two.qxp_Layout 1 23/06/2014 20:39 Page 2 Ikon takes to the water A seventy-two-foot converted narrowboat is to embark on a journey along the Black Country’s industrial canal routes as part of an art initiative led by Midlands artists Juneau Projects. Involving members of the Ikon Youth Project (IYP), Black Country Voyages will see the Aaron Manby - leased from Sandwell Council - navigate its way along the canal route, stopping off at Cradley Heath, Tipton, Brownhills, Smethwick, Oldbury, Langley Green, Netherton, Brierley Hill and Stourbridge, where the IYP will present a series of work- shops, live performances and exhibitions. Ikon launches www.blackcountryvoyages.org on Black Country Day (14 July), enabling people to track the boat’s journey and find out what’s happening and where. Chamberlain Square to stage British premiere of art An innovative work of art featuring five thousand figures made out of ice is to make its British debut in Birmingham as part of the city’s World War One commemorations. The major exhibi- tion, by award-winning Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo, is described as ‘poignant and moving’ and will see the beautifully crafted ice figure sculptures melt in Chamberlain Square on 2 National award for August. The event forms part of an urban intervention called Minimum Monument and follows Midlands festival on from similar presentations in Sao Paulo, Havana, Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin, Porto and Florence. Organisers behind Wolverhampton’s Slam This latest project features the largest number of ice sculptures Nele has ever produced. Dunk Festival are celebrating after the event Speaking about Minimum Monument, Nele says: “Hundreds of ice sculptures are taken to won Best Festival in the Relentless Kerrang central places in cities and, with the help of passers-by, they are left to melt.