Type and hit ENTER

Commonly used tags...

Brighton Festival Brighton Fringe Brighton Pride British Sea Power Cinecity Lewes Psychedelic Festival Locally Sourced Lost & Found Love Supreme Festival Mutations Festival Nick Cave Poets Vs MCs Politics Rag'n'Bone Man Record Store Day Save Our Venues Six Of The Best Source Virgins Streets Of Brighton Street Source Tattoos The Great Escape Tru Thoughts Unsung Heroes
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • News
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Food
  • Tickets
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
Features

Brighton Festival May 2009

Apr 24, 2009
-
Posted by SOURCE Writers

The inaugural event saw performances by Lawrence Olivier and Yehudi Menuin, and that level of quality roll call has never relented. Now firmly ensconced as the arts world’s first port of call for the south and beyond, the Brighton Festival remains a delicious mix of the commercial, the challenging and the downright bonkers. Some SOURCE highlights wouldn’t go amiss, right?

Talk: Anish Kapoor & Marcus du Sautoy
Corn Exchange, Wed 13th
Plenty have questioned the relevance of Anish Kapoor’s appointment as the first Artistic Director of the Brighton Festival, countered by organisers who see the former Turner Prize winner as a celebrity figurehead for their programme. The Indian sculptor admits his installations don’t have any specific message or meaning, and his oddly skewed design for the Festival brochure hasn’t endeared him to the sceptics. For his actual works, he’s made a site-specific molten d ismemberment called Blood Stick In The Old Municipal Market, a monochrome massage machine in The Basement, boxes of fake blood in Fabrica and a spherical mirror in the Pavilion Gardens which literally makes the sky look like it’s fallen down. It’s all undoubtedly more satisfying to stare at than analyse, and Kapoor probably won’t be offering many more answers in this discussion of art and science with Oxford University top dog du Sautoy.

Children’s Parade

Sat 2nd Brighton streets

Only the most cold-hearted, cynical shopaholics can fail to raise a smile a smile while having their consumption disturbed by 4,000 kids in fancy dress. Ten thousand people turned up to watch last year – the rest were too hungover to deal with such jolliness.

Wilkommen Collective

Sat 2nd/Sat 9th/Sat 23rd Pavilion Theatre

One of the most pleasing things about this year’s Festival is the support given to Shoreline’s local folk collective. Many of the bands are playing across three Saturday night residencies, including the almost orchestral ‘mother band’ and folk metal Sons Of Noel & Adrian.

The Music Group

Tues 5th Old Courthouse

If your dial never makes it past Radio 1 you won’t know that Dr Phil Hammond’s show examines musical taste by inviting guests to play their favourite songs to a reaction from the rest of the panel. The show will be broadcast later on Radio 4.

Breaking News

Thurs 7th -Sat 9th Theatre Royal

The subjectivity of TV news has never been such a hot topic, and this production by Rimini Protokoll examines it in a very unusual way. Beaming accounts from international TV, a team of journalists and broadcasters will decode the day’s reports.

Thirteen

Sun 10th Secret Venue

Surely a dream come true for local author and psychotherapeutic counsellor Sebastian Beaumont as he sees his cab-based novel take the form of a play. This is an early, ‘work in progress’ version and is the first outing for The Future Is Unwritten, Paul Hodson’s new Arts Council Funded company.

The Erpingham Camp

Tues 12th – Sun 24th Brighton Pier

Not the only Joe Orton thing going on this month, this version of his holiday camp based play sees the cast and audience move around Brighton Pier (or as it’s correctly called, the Palace Pier) as the battle of conformity and permissiveness unfolds.

Loops

Sat 16th Thistle Hotel

We’ve come around to thinking that former NME journalist/ZTT mouthpiece/talking heads whore Paul Morley is pretty cool actually. It took us a while to get there. But few are as articulate on music. He’s joined by poet Simon Armitage and Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood as the three talk about their new music journalism journal, Loops.

David Attenborough

Tues 19th Dome

David Attenborough is a fucking prick. Ha, not really. To call him a national treasure is to talk up the crown jewels. He’s basically a god on earth. The Festival got so excited about this one they forgot to mention what the event is actually about.

Guardian Debate

Sat 23rd Corn Exchange

This one is titled “The US as a superpower is in long-time decline”. Late Review’s Bonnie Greer and some other clever clogs discuss Bush and Barack getting blown out of the water by China. Economically, unfortunately. No shouting from the back please.

Brighton Festival
Apr 24, 2009
Email
SOURCE Writers
Sometimes an article is a bit of a team effort, and those are tagged SOURCE Writers. If you’d like to be part of that team, hit the Contact link at the top and get your work on this website.
← PREVIOUS POST
Interview: Flevans
NEXT POST →
Culture: May 2009
Mailing List

Recent Posts
  • Jim Jones All Stars Review
    Oct 26, 2025

    Jim Jones brought his new band to Brighton and absolutely tore the place up with a blistering set of raw rock 'n' roll.

  • Inspector Morse: House of Ghosts Review
    Oct 21, 2025

    Expectations are high with a new Inspector Morse story on stage, sadly this is more a ghost of a Morse story, although die hard fans might enjoy it for the nostalgia.

  • The Lovely Eggs Interview
    Oct 15, 2025

    The Lovely Eggs tell us about their 20th anniversary, the new album and tour with Polite Bureax and some comedy legends supporting.

  • Ocean Film Festival Review 2025
    Oct 11, 2025

    A selection of beautifully shot short films covering diverse ocean lovers' passion for interacting with the sea.

  • Fractured Album Launch, Saturday 20th December
    Oct 10, 2025

    Fractured celebrate the release of their new album supported by Amelia And The Housewives.

  • 2:22 A Ghost Story Review
    Oct 7, 2025

    An evening of two couples having dinner together has never before been so gripping and enthralling, filled with tension, with the ultimate question: is their new house haunted or not?

  • Richard Hawley Review
    Oct 5, 2025

    As Coles Corner turns 20, Richard Hawley dazzled and delighted an up-for-it Worthing crowd with a 2 hour-plus set.

  • Brighton Psych Fest 2025 Review
    Sep 26, 2025

    The second Brighton Psych Fest was a beauty as we got down with Getdown Services as the evening sunlight glowed through the Concorde Stained Glass.

Website developed in Brighton by Infobo
Copyright © Brighton Source 2009-2023
Brighton Festival May 2009 - Brighton Source