Hastings Theatre Festival returns to the stage

Hastings Theatre Festival returns to the town, bringing award-winning and acclaimed performers to The Stables Theatre (October 3-10).
Heather AlexanderHeather Alexander
Heather Alexander

Founder and artistic director Heather Alexander said it would cement Hastings as a destination for relevant, engaging storytelling. Included is Heather own adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.

“Managed by Hastings Fringe Festival CIC, Hastings Theatre Festival comprises a week-long programme of curated thought-provoking theatre. Hastings Theatre Festival provides an exceptional platform for audiences to explore shifting social perspectives with challenging and sometimes raw stories about truthfulness, notions of home strength and fragility in the human condition, all through excellent theatre. The programme’s engaging stories will reach out to the communities that make up Hastings and the south-east and contribute to the town’s vibrant cultural life.”

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Among the highlights in its second year, Heather’s adaptation brings to vivid life a series of lectures given by Virginia Woolf to female students at Cambridge University in the late 1920s. Heather plays Woolf as the author gives an illuminating lecture on the gender disparity in fiction, a literary tradition dominated at that time by men.

Heather added: “Other unmissable productions include ... And This is My Friend Mr Laurel. Jeffrey Holland (Hi-de-Hi, You Rang M’Lord) tells this intriguing, funny and often poignant tale of friendship, love and dedication about one of Hollywood’s great film comedians.

“Tim Marriott (The Brittas Empire) stars in a brand-new take on the Sherlockian myth, Watson: The Final Problem. Watson’s beloved wife Mary and the great Sherlock Holmes are gone. London seethes with false reports and rumour. It is time to set the record straight.

“Shakespeare’s Mistress sees noted TV and theatre actress Louise Jameson mark 50 years in the business with a celebration of Shakespeare’s works. Louise presents her Desert Island Discs from the canon, sharing very personal memories of her career along the way.

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“The Theatre Festival thrives amid the area’s growing reputation as an incubator town for world-class and emerging talent and answers a growing demand for accessible high-quality theatre experiences. It seeks to provide an aspirational model for performers involved in open access arts festivals such as Hastings Fringe as well as scope for future performance opportunities.”

...And This is My Friend Mr Laurel, October 3, 5pm: An intriguing, funny and often poignant tale of friendship, love and dedication.

A Remembrance Evening, October 4, 7pm: A special double-bill of plays telling the powerful, poignant and human stories often hidden in the shadow of conflict.

Women of Pensionable Rage, October 5, 7.30pm: Three glorious women are standing up and speaking out.

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Watson: The Final Problem, October 7, 7.30pm: Watson is alone...

A Room of One’s Own, October 8, 7.30pm: Stage adaptation of a seminal feminist work by Virginia Woolf.

My Life in Song, October 9, 7.30pm: Will Allenby charts his career highlights.

Louise Jameson: Shakespeare’s Mistress, October 10, 3pm.

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