Wednesday 18 April 2012

More Beckett Info... Happy Days...


 
PRESS RELEASE

(For a PDF version of the Press Release CLICK HERE)

HAPPY DAYS ENNISKILLEN INTERNATIONAL BECKETT FESTIVAL PRESS RELEASE 19 APRIL 2012

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2012 PROGRAMME

TICKETS ON SALE FOR SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS FROM
THURSDAY 19 APRIL 2012

HAPPY DAYS, the Enniskillen International Beckett Festival, today announced tickets will be on sale from 10am Thursday 19 April for selected highlights for its inaugural Festival, 23 to 27 August 2012.

The programme will present a diverse mix of international theatre, music, art, comedy and conversation from world class Irish, UK and international artists and writers. The full HAPPY DAYS programme will be announced in June 2012. Tickets available from www.happy-days-enniskillen.com.

Early highlights include four projects that are part of the London 2012 Festival, the spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running from 21 June until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

The London 2012 Festival events are the UK and Irish Premiere of Robert Wilson directing and starring in Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape; Britain's favourite living composer, Gavin Bryars with his Ensemble performing The Sinking of the Titanic, alongside the World Premiere of the HAPPY DAYS commission, The Beckett Songbook; Antony Gormley's Godot Tree, unveiled for the first time in the Grand Yard at the National Trust's Castle Coole; and film-maker Atom Egoyan, nominated for two Palme D'Or Awards and two Academy Awards, presenting his installation Steenbeckett (2002), a work from The Artangel Collection that is premiering in Ireland prior to its accession by the Tate.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Castle Coole being in the care of the National Trust, Antony Gormley's Godot Tree will be in place for 60 days from 2 July and throughout the HAPPY DAYS festival.

Other highlights announced today include the Vienna Piano Trio performing some of Beckett's favourite composers; Perrier Award-winner and Bafta-nominated comedian, Stuart Silver; Tenor Ian Bostridge singing Schubert's Winterreise accompanied by pianist Julius Drake; and Lyr Williams performing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Castle Coole, built in 1789, the year of the French Revolution, will also be the venue for the closing recital of French song and opera arias by mezzo soprano Ruby Philogene MBE, accompanied by Julius Drake, in honour Beckett's adopted homeland.

Writers and poets discussing their relationships with Beckett and the lasting influence of his work.
will include Edna O'Brien, Lady Antonia Fraser, and John Banville amongst others. Edna O'Brien will open the Festival's programme on Thursday 23 August at the Ardhowen Theatre, with an in-conversation event with William Crawley.

HAPPY DAYS, based in Enniskillen at the heart of the beautiful Fermanagh Lakelands in Northern Ireland, is the world's first annual Festival dedicated to Nobel Prize-winning writer, Samuel Beckett. The Festival will celebrate Beckett's work and influences and present some of the many international artists, writers, musicians and performers he has inspired.

Samuel Beckett, like Oscar Wilde before him, spent his formative years at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. This remarkable island town is the perfect centre for HAPPY DAYS, a major, new destination cultural Festival embracing the entire Fermanagh Lakelands experience.

Some of Northern Ireland's most extraordinary landmarks will host HAPPY DAYS, including Enniskillen Castle, Castle Coole, Portora Royal School, Mount Lourdes School, Blakes of the Hollow, St Michael's Church and St Macartin's Cathedral.

HAPPY DAYS is funded by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Arts Council Northern Ireland, the London 2012 Festival and Fermanagh District Council.

TICKETS FOR SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS (DETAILS BELOW) ARE AVAILABLE FROM www.happy-days-enniskillen.com FROM 10AM THURSDAY 19 APRIL

 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT ANNA VINEGRAD
0207 609 8905
0781 3808 487

                                                                                                                                                   _____________________________________________

EDITORS' NOTES

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HAPPY DAYS 2012 PROGRAMME
Concessions prices to be announced

Good Godot! Free Opening Concert
St. Michael's Church, Enniskillen,
Thursday 23rd August, 9pm
Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' (played twice). Llyr Williams - Piano
Free   
Young British great, Llyr Wiliams, performs Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

Robert Wilson: Krapp's Last Tape
Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen
Friday 24th- Monday 27th August
Friday (preview), Saturday, Sunday at 8.30pm / Sunday & Monday at 3pm
 £20 all tickets (Fri preview)
£25 all tickets (all other performances)
World theatre icon, Robert Wilson directs and stars in Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape. In association with Change Performing Arts. UK and Irish Premiere. Part of the London 2012 Festival.

Antony Gormley: Godot Tree
The Grand Yard at the National Trust's Castle Coole, Enniskillen
Monday 2nd July-Monday 27th August
Free
World famous sculptor, Antony Gormley designing a stage element (to form part of a production of Waiting for Godot for HAPPY DAYS 2013), installed and publicly exhibited for the first time. World Premiere and part of the London 2012 Festival.

Atom Egoyan: Steenbeckett                                              
The Clinton Centre, Enniskillen                                             
Saturday 11th-Monday 27th August
Free   
Atom Egoyan, nominated for two Palme D'Or Awards and two Academy Awards, presents his installation Steenbeckett (2002), a work from The Artangel Collection that is premiering in Ireland prior to its accession by the Tate. Part of the London 2012 Festival.

 
Ian Bostridge: Schubert's Winterreise
Evening Music + Words series
St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen
Sunday 26th August, 6.27pm
£15.00 all tickets
One of Europe's favourite tenors, Ian Bostridge singing Schubert's Winterreise, Beckett's most-favoured
piece of music. Accompanied by brilliant UK pianist, Julius Drake.

Gavin Bryars Ensemble: The Sinking Of The Titanic and The Beckett Songbook
Evening Music + Words series
St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen
Saturday 25th August, 7.12pm
£12.50 all tickets
Britain's favourite living composer, Gavin Bryars with his Ensemble performing his most famous work, The Sinking of the Titanic, alongside a World Premiere of The Beckett Songbook, a HAPPY DAYS commission. Part of the London 2012 Festival.

Vienna Piano Trio
Morning Music series                                                            
Mount Lourdes School, Enniskillen                                       
Saturday August 25th, 10.30am                                             
£15.00 all tickets                                                                   
The Vienna Piano Trio performing trios from some of Beckett's favourite composers, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven.

Ruby Philogene MBE (mezzo soprano) & Julius Drake (piano): French Song & Opera Arias
 Evening Music & Words - Closing Recital
Celebrating 60 years of Castle Coole being in National Trust care
 Entrance Hall, Castle Coole, Enniskillen
Monday 27th August, 6pm
£15.00 (includes glass of wine)
Castle Coole was built in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. To celebrate the Revolution and Beckett's love of France, a night of French Song by Faure and French opera arias (Bizet's Carmen, Saints Saens' Samson et Delilah) plus Schubert and Richard Strauss, for a touch of Oscar Wilde. The recital is preceded by a short reading from Jean Rhys' autobiography Smile Please (the Paris Years).

Stuart Silver
The Small Hard Stool (Comedy Programme)
Full details to be announced.
Perrier Award-winner and Bafta-nominated comedian, Stuart Silver

Edna O'Brien in Conversation with William Crawley     
 Opening Event                                                                       
Thursday 23rd August, 7.30pm                                             
Ardhowen Theatre, Enniskillen                                              
£15 all tickets                                                                        

Lady Antonia Fraser
In Conversation
 Friday 24th August, 6.00pm
Steele Hall, Portora Royal School, Enniskillen
£10 all tickets                                                                        

John Banville & George Craig In Conversation
 Writer's Talks
Sunday August 26th, 4pm
Mount Lourdes School, Enniskillen
All tickets £10
John Banville is one of Ireland's most outstanding writers, a Booker Prize winner and a great admirer of Samuel Beckett's work.  George Craig is an Editor & Translator of the highly acclaimed The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Volume 2. 

TICKETS FOR SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE FROM www.happy-days-enniskillen.com FROM 10AM THURSDAY 19th APRIL
 
TICKETS FOR ROBERT WILSON + EDNA O'BRIEN ONLY ARE ALSO AVAILABLE
ONLINE www.ardhowentheatre.com   TELEPHONE (028) 6632 5440
                                                
London 2012 Festival in Northern Ireland
The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people.

The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK, from Midsummers Day on 21 June and running until the final day of the Paralympic Games on 9 September 2012.The London 2012 Festival will celebrate the huge range, quality and accessibility of the UK's world-class culture including dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, fashion, film and digital innovation, giving the opportunity for people across the UK to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In addition to co-commissions for the HAPPY DAYS Enniskillen International Beckett Festival, other London 2012 Festival highlights in Northern Ireland includethe spectacular Peace One Day "Global Truce 2012" concert in Derry-Londonderry; Land of Giants - the largest outdoor arts event ever seen in Northern Ireland; NI Opera's staging of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fluddeat Belfast Zoo; internationally renowned German artist Hans Peter Kuhn transforming the Causeway Coast with his project FLAGS; Joel Simon's new Macropolis animated film centring around a story of disabled toy characters on an adventure through the streets of Belfast; and the Golden Thread Gallery's Draw Down The Walls series of events with a leading international artist in communities in North Belfast. People of Northern Ireland will also have the opportunity to participate in a number of London 2012 Festival events taking place right across the UK - including Martin Creed's All the Bells, through which people are encouraged to ring bells as loudly and quickly as they can at 8.00am on 27 July 2012 to welcome the 205 competing nations on the first day of the Games.

 For more details on the programme and to sign up for information visit www.london2012.com/festival

                                                                                                                                                      ENDS