Melita Dennett's Podcast

The 2012 Brighton Festival has Vanessa Redgrave as its guest artistic director. I went to the launch on 22nd February 2012.

White Night 2011 took place in Brighton on Saturday 29th of November, with the theme of 'Utopia'. One of the highlights for me was the Open Market, transformed for the evening into a magical space for creative ideas, arts, crafts, and a party for the whole community.

It was created by compARTment, who have a vision for transforming the declining London Road area and other wasted spaces in Brighton. I spoke to one of the people behind the White Night event.

More info: http://compartment.org.uk/

Brighton Early Music Festival 2011 runs from 21st October - 6th November.

Clare Norburn is the Co-Artistic Director and I met her earlier at St Bartholomews Church to find out what’s in store over the coming weeks.

First broadcast on RadioReverb on 18th October 2011.

Early Music Festival: www.bremf.org.uk
RadioReverb: www.radioreverb.com
Full programme is available to listen to at: www.mixcloud.com/radiozero

"Out Hospital Our History" is a project which has gathered more than fifty interviews from people who've worked at Brighton's hospitals over the past seventy years.

Brighton’s hospitals are seeing a lot of changes, with Victorian buildings being closed and modern facilities built.

The local NHS trust wanted to preserve some of the memories of people who’ve worked in those hospitals over the past seventy years, from nurses who cared for soldiers injured in the Dunkirk evacuation, to a doctor who was dealing with the aftermath of the Grand Hotel bomb, nurses working with people with HIV and Aids, porters, cooks and volunteers.

A team of oral historians gathered more than fifty interviews which have now been collected in a book, “Our Hospital, Our History” and an exhibition. I went to the launch event in July 2011 to meet some of the people behind the project.

For more information on the project's future activities contact:
S.J.Carroll(at)sussex.ac.uk
M.Jolly(at)sussex.ac.uk

Graphic designer MacDonald Gill (younger brother of sculptor, designer and typographer Eric) created detailed beautiful maps for London Underground, London Theatres, the Post Office and many other institutions in the first half of the 20th Century.

Barely known, many of his works are gathered together in a fantastic exhibition at the University of Brighton gallery in Grand Parade. I met exhibition organiser Phillippa Lyon at the exhibition's opening.

Info: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/whats-on/gallery-theatre/gallery-events/gallery-exhibitions-2012/gallery-events-july-2011/macdonald-max-gill

The exhibition runs daily expect Bank Holidays til the 31st August; admission is free.

Interview with Annabella Pollen, who collects vintage photo envelopes.

I interviewed Annabella at the Basement in Brighton, which was hosting an exhibition of collections on the weekend of 16/17 July 2011

Community-minded people in Brighton have taken over a long-closed mobile phone shop on the corner of Churchill Square and converted it to an autonomous community centre, with a library, workshop, cafe and rolling programme of events.

I went to meet them to find out what they're up to.

Info: www.strikeherestrikenow.blogspot.com
www.thewildkatzproject.org.uk
(I can't get the second link to work but it may be they've not got it set up yet)

Shoreham-based Growing Artists have taken over an empty Victorian school building in Shoreham to use as a community arts centre for learning, performance and exhibition. I went to their opening weekend on the 19th of June 2011 to meet them.

More info: https://www.facebook.com/?page=1&sk=messages#!/profile.php?id=100001974495848&sk=wall

growingartistsenquiry@gmail.com

The last show of the Festival. Ahhh.

This week we:

- went back to the 70s for a Love–In with Spymonkey…
- foiund out the path of love doesn't always go as planned...
- heard how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has an impact on all our lives...
- noseyed round the open houses….
- asked why hundreds of women volunteered to have their ladygardens cast in plaster...
- met Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer to hear about the ultimate chap-off...
- and found out about the enduring appeal of the traditional seaside Punch and Judy.

What they said about the show:
"I very much enjoyed your programme today on Radio Reverb. Reminders of great Brighton radio!" - RC, listener
"Fab radio show on Radio Reverb! You've really whetted my appetite for the upcoming month of fringe shows!" - Lorraine Bowen, cabaret performer
" Lovely, thank you very much, easy to chat" - Sue Maclaine, actor
"Fun show, really enjoyed the enthusiasm behind it!" - Nico de Transilvania, DJ
"It's the best interview that anyone has done so far" - Monica Ross, Freedom Picnic

Bringing the 2011 Brighton Festival to a close, the Freedom Picnic features a recital from memory of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I met artist Monica Ross and her co-reciters to find out more about the event, and why the Declaration still has a crucial relevance today.

The Freedom Picnic is on Sunday 29th May in Queens Park, with the recital at 3pm; free entry, take a picnic.

More info from www.actsofmemory.net

Please note this is the LONG version (12'10) which will not be broadcast.

Every Thursday in May between 5 and 6pm on RadioReverb we peep behind the scenes at the Brighton Festival and Fringe to see what makes it tick.

In this episode we -
- hear about the weekend's free live music at Brighton Dome with live music from easy Company...
- find out what happers when you share your relationship all over Facebook...
- hear how photography, drama and literature are helping to raise awareness of the situation in Burma...
- hear what happened to Oscar Wilde when he picked up a newspaper seller on Worthing Pier...
- go upstairs and downstairs at the Nightingale Theatre to hear how they're using every inch as a performance space...
- venture into the Hendricks' train carriage to met Magnus Volk.

What they said about the Festival show on RadioReverb:
"Fab radio show on Radio Reverb! You've really whetted my appetite for the upcoming month of fringe shows!" - Lorraine Bowen, cabaret performer
" Lovely, thank you very much, easy to chat" - Sue Maclaine, actor
"Fun show, really enjoyed the enthusiasm behind it!" - Nico de Transilvania, DJSee More

The Fringe show "The Secret Life of Nuns" this coming week explores the music that would have been heard during May in a 16th Century Italian convent.

It's being performed on Monday 16th May by the choir "Celestial Sirens" at St Bartholomews Church in Brighton.

Artistic Director, Deborah Roberts told me more about convent life of the period.

Every Thursday in May LIVE from 5-6pm on Radio Reverb, 97.2FM and at www.radioreverb.com we tap and unwrap the biggest arts festival in England.

With studio guests and on the scene reports we lift the lid on what makes Brighton tick in May.

In this episide:

- we look forward to the start of the Fringe Festival and Saturday’s Children's Parade;
- sing along with the 'Ave a Banana gals;
- take a sneak preview of the re-opening of the Old Market Arts Centre;
- talk with Festival Director Andrew Comben;
- hear from Ned Hoskins who started the very first Brighton Artist's Open House thirty years ago;
- talk Thomas Tallis at Fabrica;
- take a tour to discover why Brighton is the place we love;
- and find out why on earth the Ladyboys of Bangkok have become a permanent fixture at the Brighton Festival.

Every Thursday in May LIVE from 5-6pm on RadioReverb 97.2FM and online at www.radioreverb.com we take you gently but firmly by the hand through the biggest arts festival in England.

With studio guests and on the scene reports we lift the lid on what makes Brighton tick in May.

In this episode:
- we hear about the decadent life of Francis Bacon’s muse….
- put on our dancing shoes and get down with the Balkan beats…
- talk politics with Asian Dub Foundation…
- dip into the waters of the Bosphorous as a metaphor for revolution …
- find out what happens when one half of a couple wants an open relationship...
- and meet some of the hopefuls auditioning for the Circus of Horrors…

Just when you thought there couldn’t be a new genre of music, up one pops.

Electro Swing is a melding of 20s and 30s swing tunes with beats and breaks, and some of you might have come across festival favourites The Correspondents, who launched the 2010 Brighton Festival Fringe, or at Bestival last year.

There’s a double album, “White Mink, Black Cotton” which is a compilation of electro swing bands, and an accompanying club night in Brighton which is launching at the Haunt club on the 15th of April, and every 3rd Friday of the month after that.

Ashley Slater (of Freakpower fame) is playing on the 15th with his new combo “Kitten and the Hip”.

All these events are organised by the Freshly Squeezed record label and I met Nick Hollywood from Freshly Squeezed to tell me more.

The music you can hear in this piece is What’s That by Palov, Minnie the Moocher by Swagger Jax and Ashley Slater's Kitten and the Hip.

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