Culture Diary w/c 08-07-13

Monday – Wirral Festival of Firsts various venues

Opening on Saturday just gone and billed as the “largest festival of arts, culture and music” on the other side of the water, 2013 marks the 3rd anniversary of the Wirral Festival of Firsts. Today sees the premiere of Tim: An Ordinary Boy, a play dealing with the aftermath of the IRA’s bombing of Warrington in 1993, culminating with the Good Friday Agreement.

Tuesday – The King of Marvin Gardens 6pm @ FACT

Writing in the Observer, the critic Philip French described this 1972 picture as “a flawed masterpiece full of menace, surreal moments and obscure dialogues”. A critical and commercial failure on its release, 40 years on, we are given the opportunity to reassess this Bob Rafelson-directed and Jack Nicholson-starring classic of American new wave cinema.

Thursday – Sequence 7.30pm @ the Kazimier Garden FREE

Rescheduled owing to the elements, this regular (usually) end of the month night described as “different, elemental, mesmeric, dronesome”, Sequence should – fingers crossed – have no such problems with the weather this time around. Featuring Asok, Afternaut, Mitternacht and DJ Rix, there should be something for everyone amid the experimental electronic bonanza.

Friday – Life’s an Illusion Love is a Dream 6pm @ The Royal Standard

Artist led gallery and studios The Royal Standard welcomes new directors every two years, and 2013 means all change, with opportunities for the outgoing directors to celebrate their tenure by curating an exhibition each. This Friday is Frances Disley’s last TRS hurrah, with the opening of Life’s an Illusion Love is a Dream; featuring Roderick Maclachlan (main image), David Osbaldeston and Kaye Donachie, “in an attempt to investigate what constitutes the epic within a work of art.”

Saturday – Labyrinth & Willow double bill 4.30pm @ FACT

For no other apparent reason than because they can, this Saturday sees FACT screen a pair of ’80s fantasy classics in the David Bowie-starring, Henson Creature Shop-created Labyrinth, and Ron Howard-directed Willow. You’ll hear no complaints from us however, and with more big screen action for the Thin White Duke later this month (in the form of a finale to the V&A Bowie is exhibition), this serves to whet the appetite nicely.

Akira 9pm @ FACT

Continuing Saturday’s well-judged theme of nostalgia at FACT is Akira, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. A watershed moment for the popularity of anime, this dystopian sci-fi continues to astound a quarter of a century after its release. Full preview.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Sunday – The Jester 5pm @ the Kazimier Garden FREE

Debut presentation of multi-instrumental collaboration, The Jester (above, for which bespoke artwork was created). This ensemble of musicians and poets, led by singer, saxophonist and poet Alabaster deplume and pianist/composer Daniel Inzani, combine to produce a melange of “orchestral folk, with afro-beat colours, around theatrical spoken-word, instrumental and song”. Intrigued.

The Towering Inferno 5.30pm @ FACT

Newman, McQueen, Dunaway and Astaire; not names you’d necessarily peg for featuring in a disaster movie. That said, The Towering Inferno wasn’t just any old disaster movie. It broke new ground on its release in 1974, its $14 million budget (huge for the time) shared between two major studios in 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. (the first time this had happened), was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and grossed more than any other film that year.

Posted on 08/07/2013 by thedoublenegative