It’s here again!

Parade

Well it’s been that time of the year again Arts Fest comes to Brum, and it’s all free. So we started our weekend on a rainy Friday night with a trip to Chiquito for a belated anniversary meal, courtesy of number 1 then on to Birmingham for Light night, all free. We popped into the Museum and Art Gallery for a look at the Hair exhibition, where number 1 and the delectable L tired on wigs, and then we went to see ‘Soundbeams with Heather Wastie, Experience a kind of silence. Two mikes were set up and by moving your hands in front of these you could make the sound change, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, you had to stay within a very small range, I don’t think I did too bad once I had got the idea. Then it was outside (in the rain), to listen to a bit of the Dhol Blasters and to watch, (what was billed as an electrifying night carnival parade), well what can I say, a marching band, then shopping trolleys dressed as animals, and some people dressed as ‘anybody’s guess’ not at all what we were expecting.

Lights on the town hall

The high light of the evening had to be the light projections on to the Town Hall made even better by all the rain, no really this was brilliant, the projections were of objects held in the museum and moved from one picture to another with a smooth flow and the colours were beautiful. However we were not impressed with the lighting of the Cathedral, by this time we were wet through, and as there wasn’t anything else we wanted to see we headed home.

Town Hall

Of All The People In The World

Saturday number 1 and little old me got the train back into Birmingham for day two of Arts Fest, (all free you know), the weather was better it was warm, in fact it was very warm, (the jumper was a big mistake). First off we went to see ‘Of all the people in the world’ by Stan’s café, piles of rice in a warehouse, no don’t start, each grain of rice signified a person, each pile was on a piece of paper telling you what it represented, from 1 grain of rice with a single name to millions of grains for entire populations. It was fascinating and made me think, some of the piles were huge and they were just grains of rice, standing there looking at the rice I found it very hard to imagine that many people. Very eye opening, if you get a chance to see it do go.

Vennese El Diabolero

We wondered over to Victoria Square to watch the Viennese El Diabolero comedy act, he was very good one of the best I have seen, he knew how to work the crowd and had us all clapping and shouting. It was hard to hear what he was saying most of the time because some bright spark had decided it would be a good idea to put up a big screen showing the last of the Olympics with sound so loud you could only just hear yourself think. If I had wanted to watch the Olympics I would have stayed at home, I came to see and hear the street performers. Then on to The Old Joint Stock Theatre to see Treefrog Theatre Company present Paradise Mislaid, a funny short play about God and the Devil playing board games for control of heaven and earth, it was decided on the roll of a roulette wheel in the end.

Leaps and Bounds

Then it was a short walk over to Centenary Square to watch a group of children called Leaps and Bounds perform a play they have been doing all summer in the caves under Dudley, I wish I had known about this I would have loved to have seen it there. A story of seven sisters who lose there dreams, as each one does this a pillar falls, if all seven fall under the spell of the rift, we will all be trapped for ever, like all good fairy tails good wins over evil and we are all saved. From there it was back to The Old Joint Stock, but we couldn’t get in, so we went to the Town Hall to see the choir, but we couldn’t get in, So we sat in Victoria Square and listened to Carvalho (electric soul music)

We then headed back to The Old Joint Stock and stood in the queue to see the MDCC Theatre Company perform A Crock of Wit – adventure with William Shakespeare. The show started off with a little quiz, then went on to do some of Shakespeare’s more boarding plays, (their words not mine) in about 10 minutes, very funny, I would like to go and see a full length play with this company. By then it was 6 of the clock so we walked back to Centenary Square to settle in for the night, first on stage was Swingn’ Jim’s dance band, 1940’s jazz and swing music, I love a bit of swing. Then Birmingham Rep did a preview of their currant show Cabaret, which we found funny, not the show the fact it was advertise as a pre-view when it was in fact the last night. Then came the city of Birmingham young voices, I found them very hard to hear. Then the bit we had been waiting for Classical Fantasia with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, Opera company and the City of Birmingham Orchestra, who played Dukas: la Peri – Fanfare, Mozarts: the marriage of Figaro Overture, Puccini: La Boheme – Che gelida manina, Verdi:Rigoletto – La Donna e mobile, Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2 Scherzo, Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet – suite no.2 Montagues and Capulets, Bizet: Carmen Seguidilla, (I love a bit of Carmen). Barry: We have all the time in the world, Walton: Henry V Suite Agincourt, Berlioz symphonie fantastique – March to the scaffold.

I love a good show

Then they played Wagner: The Ride of the Valkyries and John Williams: Star Wars theme as fire works went off.

On top of the Hyatt

pretty

A sliver policeman, you don’t see that every day

Sunday we were back again well it is free, we headed straight for the Rep to see Jigsaw perform Alice in …wonder who done it? However they didn’t turn up! So we took a walk over to Chamberlain Square and into The Waterhall to listen to the Bassoon Choir. Then back to Centenary Square 0n the way we saw this rather clever man I don’t know how he managed to stand so still, he didn’t even blink. Back to the Rep to see Women and Theatre performing part of The Bad One, so good I am going to try get tickets to see the full show. Then it was time for a drink and back to the Rep to see Raw Magic, but the queue was so long we wouldn’t have got in if we had waited, (can you see a pattern here, I have never known it so busy, it’s free you know, that could have something to do with it).

So we headed for the Birmingham Library to see the Birmingham Library Theatre Company performing Advice to Iraqi Women, very funny but also very unnerving.

Then both very tried and with very sore feet we headed of for home.

There didn’t seem as much on this year, neither did it seem as diverse as it has been in the past, or perhaps I am just used to seeing these things now. Who ever puts it all together still hasn’t quite got it right, like putting up the stages with the sun behind them so you can’t really see what is going on. A couple of years ago they covered part of the floor so that you could sit and watch, this time there was no where to sit which makes it a very long day if you go at the start and stay to the end like we do. The timing seemed off this year as well, we found we were having to leave some shows before the end or else miss the beginning of others. Still it was free, did I mention that.

Be Happy

Please not the light’s were not on the Town Hall but on the Council House, can’t be bothered to go and edit