Dates for your Diary
May
Saturday May 10th
The Real Rudyard Kipling
We bring Rudyard Kipling to life with a carefully crafted theatrical performance in his study at Bateman’s, Kipling’s cherished former home Nr Burwash in E. Sussex where he lived with his American wife Carrie for over 30 years. The private visit also includes afternoon tea, guided tour of the house and gardens and supper.
Saturday May 31st
Meet the Brontës
The first in our series of top literary performances at the Calder Bookshop and Theatre, The Cut Waterloo.
Professional actor Colin Pinney performs his own one-man play ‘Patrick, Father of the Brontës’, which focuses on the lives of sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne and their unfortunate brother Branwell. A private evening for our members at the bookshop’s private theatre, a literary haven close to the Old Vic Theatre. Drinks reception, theatrical performance and dinner. A preamble to a future weekend visit to Haworth later in the year.
June
Sunday June 29th
An Evening with George Bernard Shaw
A visit to the Shaw’s former home in Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire. Katherine, the curator will give members a private talk before we tour the house and grounds. With many personal belongings and items of Shaw’s clothing casually left around the house. Wardrobe left open, bed pulled back, it would appear that Shaw has just popped out for a walk and could return at any moment. Theatrical performance by professional actor Michael Howarth followed by supper.
July
Saturday July 19th
Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group
A visit to Monk’s House, the former home of Virginia Woolf in Lewes E. Sussex. to be followed by a private evening visit and guided tour of nearby Charleston, the atmospheric and colourful country house where writers, painters and intellectuals known as The Bloomsbury Group (which, of course, included Woolf) met and shared their creative thoughts and passions. Private drinks’ reception, guided tour of the house and gardens, extensive buffet supper with wine followed by theatrical perfornace with actress Karin Fernald as Virginia Woolf.
August
Saturday August 2nd
A Portrait of George Orwell
The Theatre Bookshop, Waterloo
A one-man play written and performed by top professional actor Michael McEvoy.
A fascinating portrayal of the extraordinary life of the journalist and writer who gave us Nineteen Eighty-Four, Big Brother, Room 101, Thoughtcrime, Newspeak and Doublethink. The man who wrote the beautiful, multi-layered fable, Animal Farm. He used his rare talent for simple, clear writing to bring public attention to social wrongs. He was also deeply involved in the Spanish Civil War.
Drinks' reception, performance followed by supper.
Saturday August 16th
A special tribute to Charles Darwin as we approach his bi-centenary
Meet the man who 150 years ago rocked society and the worlds of science and religion with the publication of his controversial works ‘On the Origin of the Species’. 2009 will be celebrated world wide, but join us ahead of time with a private visit to the house (and botanical gardens) where he lived with his family for 40 years. This is followed by a unique theatrical experience with Shakespearean actor Christopher Robbie. Robbie, who bears an uncanny natural resemblance to Darwin, has the luxury of his own private theatre, which he has today made available for our members’ exclusive use to enjoy his performance of his one-man play, Beyond Paradise. His virtuoso performance has received critical acclaim wherever it has been performed. Our visit includes afternoon tea, private tour of Down House and botanical gardens and dinner with wine
September
Sunday September 7th
An Evening with Daphne du Maurier
Celebrated author Justine Picardie has written Daphne, a fascinating novel on the troubled life of Daphne du Maurier. The book covers, not only du Maurier’s time in Cornwall but also the lesser-known periods of her life in and around Hampstead. Justine also reveals the du Maurier family’s close friendships with many of the well-known authors of the day such as Henry James and J.M Barrie of Peter Pan fame. The evening takes place in a private room at the historic Flask pub, which is the haunt of Hampstead’s many writers, artists and actors. It is also directly opposite Keith Fawkes in Flask Walk the well know antiquarian bookshop.
Saturday September 20th
Meet Charles Dickens at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.
Join us for an evening in a private room at Dickens’s favourite haunt, the famous pub and eatery where he and his literary friends frequently dined. Professional actor John Tallents will treat you to animated readings of his novels. Looking the very reincarnation of Dickens with a flair for changing his voice to suit the characters, Tallents is a worthy successor to Dickens in his prime. Join us for a memorable evening dining and drinking in this true Dickensian eatery where the literary greats dined two or three centuries earlier.
October
Saturday October 11th
A True Dickensian Detective Story
Dickens House Doughty Street, London
In The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, author Kate Summerscale uncovers a gruesome Country House murder mystery, (The Murder at Road Hill House,) with the help of Jack Whicher, a friend and colleague of Charles Dickens and one of the earliest and most celebrated Scotland Yard detectives of the day.
This true British murder case set in the 1860s inspired a generation of writers such as Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle and even Agatha Christie, by exposing the dark secrets o f the Victorian middle-class home. The book has been nominated for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction and Kate will tell us how she came to write and research it. Drinks at the house, supper with wine afterwards at a nearby restaurant.
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