Devizes Arts Festival 31st May - 17th June 2018
Chair's Message
Ticket Sales for Festival Friends - booking now!
Box office opens on April 23rd
Festival Friends get first access to tickets, as well as massive discounts - and there's still time to join up.
If you're not already a Friend, what are you waiting for? Sign up today here or pick up a form at Devizes Books.
All 2018 events are listed on this web site, and the festival brochure can be picked up from right now from our Festival HQ in Devizes Books. We are busy distributing the brochure to many other outlets across Devizes, and all Friends now have booking forms and are busy booking events.
We look forward to seeing you all in June ♦ Don't forget you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@DevizesFestival)
Margaret Bryant
Chair, Devizes Arts Festival
An Audience with Ann Widdecombe
Thursday 31st May
Corn Exchange 8:00pm | £16 R
How often can you hear a former Shadow Home Secretary revealing what life is really like at the centre (well OK, right of centre) of British politics? Ann had a formidable reputation in Parliament and remains relentlessly outspoken. However, live on stage Ann is engaging, entertaining and refreshingly down to earth.
Toyah & her Full Electric Band
Saturday 16th June
Corn Exchange 8:00pm | £20 Standing only
From punk princess to cult stage actress and high priestess of TV, Toyah Willcox is a uniquely gifted performer and an inextinguishable flame. Charismatic, outspoken and impossible to categorise, she is one of Britain’s iconic household names – an award-winning rock legend as well as a much-loved stage/screen actress and music composer. In a career spanning over 35 years she has amassed 13 top 40 singles, recorded 24 albums and toured live across the world.
Black is the Color of My Voice
Apphia Campbell : Soul Sessions Double Bill
Friday 8th June
Merchants Suite 8:00pm | £16 U
Inspired by the life of Nina Simone, Black Is The Color Of My Voice follows a successful jazz singer and civil rights activist seeking redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy destined for a life in the service of the church, to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement.
The second part of the evening is Apphia’s Soul Sessions cabaret, celebrating Simone’s brilliant music.
Elias String Quartet - After Beethoven...
National Voices
Thursday 7th June
Devizes Town Hall 8:00pm | £18 R
The Elias String Quartet is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading ensembles of their generation. Known for their intense and vibrant performances, the quartet has travelled the globe collaborating with some of the finest musicians and playing in the world’s great halls.
Following its deep immersion in Beethoven’s quartets, in this performance the Elias turns to musical reflections of national identity and autobiography.
C.S.I. Crime Scene Improv
Saturday 9th June
Merchants Suite 7:30pm | £10 U
Mirth meets murder in the world's daftest whodunnit.
The ultimate improvised murder-mystery-comedy comes to Devizes Arts Festival following sold-out runs at Edinburgh Fringe 2017/2016 and Brighton Fringe 2017/2016. Crime Scene Improvisation create a unique who-dunnit every show. It's a rip-roaring crime comedy made-up entirely on the spot. Crime Scene Impro solve a bizarre murder created by the audience. No one knows who the killer is, not even the cast!
Debussy: A Passionate Life
Robert Powell & Liza Goddard
Sunday 10th June
Town Hall 7:30pm | £22 R
Much loved actors Robert Powell and Liza Goddard present A Passionate Life which celebrates the extraordinary life and times of the composer Claude Debussy.
Originally staged in 2012 to mark his 150th anniversary, it reveals a man who was a revolutionary genius, who lived for love, and attracted drama and scandal wherever he went. Robert and Liza present Debussy’s turbulent times through his own brilliantly vivid, sometimes moving, often humorous writings.
Sarah Jane Morris & Antonio Forcione
Friday 15th June
Devizes Town Hall 8.00 pm | £18 R
Sarah Jane Morris and Antonio Forcione are delighted to come to Devizes after sell-out concerts at Ronnie Scott’s. Famed for her association with The Communards, Sarah Jane has always attracted as much attention for her soul-driven voice. Numerous solo albums later and a diverse set of musical collaborations on record, film and stage, Morris continues to steer her career to greater heights. Award-winning Forcione is considered one of the most charismatic and inventive performers to come out of Europe in recent years. He breaks the mould of most conventional, popular guitar sounds be it in the field of jazz, Spanish, African, Brazilian or improvised music.
Paul Sinha : Shout Out to My Ex
Friday 1st June
Corn Exchange 8:00pm | £16 R
In his 2015 Edinburgh Fringe show, comedian and doyen of daytime, Paul Sinha, weaved an intricate tale of happiness based on a combination of doing the two jobs he loved, enjoying parental approval, and, actually being in a proper, grown-up, long-term relationship. The day after he returned home, the illusion of happiness was shattered. Was this the end? The beginning of the end? Or the end of a beginning?
