Culture Diary w/c 07-12-2015
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the arts listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Monday — Turner Prize 2015 Winner Announcement 7.30pm @ Channel 4 — FREE
Will it be Assemble, who redesigned the streets of Liverpool (read our interview here)? Bonnie Camplin, who explores issues surrounding mental health? The operatic performance of Janice Kerbe? Or the ”savage critique” of sculptor Nicole Wermers? Find out tonight, as Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Lauren Laverne host a typically glitzy award ceremony live on Channel 4.
The Haunting Of Hill House 7.30pm @ Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool — £14/25
Three complete strangers are invited to join Dr Montague at Hill House… It’s dark. It’s haunted. And it is guaranteed to scare the living hell out of you. Anthony Neilson’s new play is a stage adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same name — considered one of the best 20th century literary ghost stories — and the plot behind The Haunting (1963) — one of the most genuinely frightening films ever made. Dare to be in the audience of this chilling psychological thriller; tonight until 16 Jan 2016.
Tuesday — The Green Islands & Magic Carpet Ride — A Short Film Screening 6pm @ P E R I C L O, Wrexham — FREE
See the inspiration behind Alfie Strong’s blackly comedic solo exhibition Heart Shaped Like A Baseball Bat. The second show at P E R I C L O, placed in a lovely former shop space, Strong’s Super 8 footage will be screened alongside the artwork; expect shots of Camstrolvaig in North West Scotland (1979) and a trip to India (1980), preceded by a recital from Ivor Strong, accompanied by Robin Williamson’s The Voyage of Bran.
Wednesday — Royal Philharmonic Orchestra String Quartet 1pm @ Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool — FREE (Booking Advised)
A free University of Liverpool lunchtime concerts series at its beautiful, grade -listed gallery, this really is a great way to get in the mood for Christmas. Expect popular works by Beethoven and Shostakovich via a quartet of players from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra — violins from Alexander Marks and Sophie Coles, viola from Robert Shepley and cello from Gethyn Jones.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Friday — Exhibition Opening: Follow 11am-6pm @ FACT, Liverpool — FREE
What impact is the Internet really having on how we think about ourselves and those around us? So ask FACT this week with their new exhibition Follow; expect some probing, irreverent and downright disturbing work from exciting post-Internet artists including Constant Dullaart, Cecile B. Evans, Kurdwin Ayub and — brilliantly — the artist collective of Shia LaBeouf, Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner. Until 21 Feb 2016.
Exhibition Opening/Introductory Talk: Rose English & Florian Roithmayr 5.45-6.30pm @ Camden Arts Centre, London — FREE (Booking Required)
Drooping textured sculptures and balancing acts… this is the work of artists Rose English and Florian Roithmayr. As both unveil (very different) solo exhibitions at CAC, they discuss their work, processes and inspirations with Paul Clinton (writer and Assistant Editor at frieze). Expect to hear more from English on her chamber opera for Chinese acrobatics, which includes singing and glass-blowing; and Roithmayr on the intensive internships she undertakes — with car surface decorators and concrete beauticians — to achieve the complex surfaces of her sculptures.
Saturday — The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992) 11am @ FACT, Liverpool — £10.50/9.50/6
“Mother always taught me: “Never eat singing food.”" Wiser words were never spoken than by Rizzo the Rat; and arguably there has never been a funnier, more charming children’s Christmas film than this – the Grammy Award-winning Dickens adaptation with a difference. Muppetfied, injected with a ridiculous amount of gags and sing-alongs and featuring a perfect Michael Caine as Scrooge, prepare to get misty-eyed.
Exhibition Opening: (its all) Tropical Presents I’m in Love with Rococo 7-10pm @ Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun, Leeds — FREE
The first of three exhibitions to come out of a three-month residency scheme, I’m In Love With Rococo channels the mythology, muted colours and elegant nudes of the Rococo movement. Expect contemporary artists Emily Motto, Florent Dubois, Claudia Dance-Wells, the afore-mentioned Alfie Strong and more to grapple with 20th century artistic movements and traditional genres. Read all about Leeds’ indie art scene here.
Vanessa Wheeler and Laura Robertson
