Friday 5 June (2)

Traffic? Trade? Grand Parade!?

An alternative discussion of the City's perennial problems, with added spice - the failure of Bog Island bridge and the publication of the Government's Integrated Transport Policy. Bath's traffic-reducing MP Don Foster chairs a high-powered panel, followed with a virtual history show and plenty of space for questions.

The Guildhall, Banqueting Room
6.30pm Admission Free
Promoted by the Federation of Small Businesses

Picnic With A Poet

Bath poet Rachel Laurence, who published her first collection 'The Living Room' earlier this year, invites you to bring a picnic and join her in the Rockery's beautiful gardens. After reading from her work she will lead a discussion on poetry. Bring a nature poem (yours or someone else's) to share with fellow picnickers.

The Rockery, North Road, Combe Down (if wet, the event will be held undercover at The Rockery) [P5]
7.30pm Ł3.50/Ł2.50 conc. (numbers limited to 50)
Promoted by Firgrove Press

Red Shift Theatre Company

The Aspern Papers

In an obsessive quest to uncover the lost letters of famous poet, Jeffery Aspern, Henry James finds the poet's former muse living in the back streets of Venice with her plain earnest niece. He will do whatever is necessary to obtain his goal and sets about the ruthless seduction of the unsuspecting virgin. "A tense psychological thriller, this is Merchant Ivory meets Hitchcock". "Red Shift live up to their reputation for stunning literary adaptations." The Independent.

The Rondo Theatre 8pm
Ł6.00/Ł5.00 conc. <FAB5>
Sponsored by Securicor Recruitment

One of the hits of last year's Fringe, Red Shift brought us the Les Miserables you didn't have to take out a mortgage to see and actually managed to get some of the story in too: they are renowned for their literary adaptations. This Henry James story is in the eminently fashionable literary/literate detective/thriller mode and addresses the question of privacy which has been so debated through issues of press coverage: How far, in preserving the truth about the famous dead, are we justified in wounding the feelings of the less-famous living?

Red Shift evoke a Venice between the wars, where real time was almost suspended, people could exist in timeless obscurity, and there was no such thing as 'public property'. Their evocation is all the more heightened by using the same production & design team that won them three Fringe Firsts in Edinburgh and a live+recorded soundtrack reminiscent of a deserted '30s dance hall. History might forget, but you won't forget this show in a hurry.

Friday 5 June

Traffic? Trade? Grand Parade!?

Picnic With A Poet

Fantastic Voyage

The Aspern Papers

The Skeeters