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SEVEN DAYS OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE
WEDNESDAY
This evening, both the Odeon cinema and Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells will present a live screening of the Royal Ballet’s Frankenstein. This new production of the classic horror story by Mary Shelley is directed by Liam Scarlett, the Royal Ballet’s Artist in Residence, and is his first full-length work for the main stage. For ticket details visit www.odeon.co.uk/eventcinema or www.trinitytheatre.net
Another Cabaret Open Mic night takes place at the Scallywag café this evening from 8pm. Champagne Charlie and Tom Carradine will be getting the musical entertainment underway. Tickets cost £5 on the door.
THURSDAY
Jools Holland plays the Assembly Hall tonight from 7.30pm with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. If you’re in the audience they’ll get you stamping your feet to a medley of their signature eclectic boogie-woogie and soulful numbers.
Unfest launches at The Forum this evening from 7pm. Beverly, Box of Light and Isaac Holman of Slaves
are just a few of the musicians who will be making an appearance. Entry is free or you can make a donation of £5 which helps towards the cost of organising the festival. For more information visit www.unfest.org
Jazz on the Pantiles continues this evening with music by Two Bobs Worth.
FRIDAY
Tunbridge Wells Museum hosts its popular children’s craft activities today and tomorrow. Friday’s begins at 10.30am and lasts for an hour. On Saturday there are two sessions which run from 10am to midday and 2pm until 4pm.
The Tonbridge Food and Drink Festival kicks off this evening with a variety of pop-up bars and stalls showcasing a taste of the delights that will be on offer over the weekend. The event takes place in the picturesque surroundings of the town’s historic castle and runs all day Saturday and Sunday. For more information visit www.marketsquaregroup.co.uk
SATURDAY
There will be a plant sale today at St John’s Church from 10am until 1pm in aid of the Woodbury Park Cemetery.
This evening the Tonbridge Philharmonic perform a selection of musical masterpieces including Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 at West Kent College. The society is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year so the event promises to be a memorable one. Tickets are available from www.tonphil.org.uk or on the door.
Music for the Bard: A celebration of 400 years of Shakespeare takes place at St Peter’s Upper Church in Pembury. The event starts at 7.30pm and as well as a performance by the Cantiaci Vocal Ensemble there will also be readings by Alison Sandford MacKenzie and music from harpist Anna Wynne. Tickets cost £10 and are available from info@cantiaci.org.uk
SUNDAY
The Pantiles market continues today with its mix of locally-sourced gourmet goods, seasonal offerings and artisan gifts. Pop along to pick up a treat for dinner or simply soak up the pleasant ambience.
Children will love The Cat’s Grin Theatre Company’s adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale The Wind in the Willows. A trio of performers act out each part and cleverly bring the lives of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad to life using a variety of different costumes and accents. Tickets cost £7 and the performance is at 2.30pm.
Radio 1’s Greg James will be at the Hop Farm today presenting the Silent Disco Dash. It’s an event with a difference as it marries a five or 10K run with a ‘silent’ disco. In short, you bring your running gear and headphones and Greg’s DJ set will be live streamed into them via the internet as you run. It’s all in aid of Coppafeel breast cancer charity and once you’ve crossed the finish line you can then party for real thanks to the numerous other DJ sets and food and drink on offer. See www.coppafeel.org
MONDAY
If you enjoy writing poetry and you live in the borough of Tonbridge & Malling then why not enter the Roundel Poetry competition? Open to those aged 18 and over, you pay £3 per poem submitted and can enter as many as you like. The closing date for the competition is May 31 and the prize-giving ceremony will be on July 13 at the Rose and Crown. For more information please email roundeltonbridge@gmail.com
This evening there will be a production of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Grapes of Wrath Forster Theatre at Tonbridge School. Set during the Great Depression, it focuses on the Joads, a poverty-stricken family who leave their miserable roots in Oklahoma and set out for a new life in California. Tickets and more information can be obtained from www.boxoffice.tonbridge-school.co.uk
TUESDAY
At 5pm there will be a Bat Walk hosted by the rangers at Grosvenor and Hilbert park. This will be followed by a specialist talk on this fascinating species at 6.30pm by Jenny Clark, who is a member of the Sussex Bat Group. Booking is not required.
As the Rusthall Arts Festival weekend approaches there’s another workshop to help promote it at the Red Lion pub in the village.
The Word Up event will show you how to write and perform and starts at 7.30pm. For more information visit www.raft16.org
Over at the Uckfield Picture House you will have another chance to catch Monet to Matisse: The Modern Garden today and tomorrow. This exhibition ‘on screen’ features paintings by the aforementioned artists as well as Van Gogh, Bonnard and Pissaro, who all cited the garden as inspiration for their work. At the screening tonight at 7.45pm there will be a special introduction and a Q&A post the film by local director Phil Grabsky. Tomorrow’s screening is at 6.30pm.
PICK OF THE WEEK
Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers
Trinity Theatre hosts a musical evening with a difference this Friday. It promises to be a spectacular performance with lots of energetic beats courtesy of these impressive Japanese percussion instruments and slick, choreographed dance routines. Ticket prices start from £20. To purchase them visit www.trinitytheatre.net
