Stage news, reviews, interviews and listings from the Westmorland Gazette

A Passion for Kendal provides something magical

10:57am Wednesday 11th April 2012

Caroline Moir’s script gave a modern voice to the 2,000 year-old story.

Rising star brings comedic glow to winter audience

8:32am Monday 6th February 2012

Andrew Lawrence: The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal Despite the wintry conditions, which saw cars slipping and sliding outside on Highgate, the Brewery’s Malt Room was still around half full for Saturday night’s show by comedian Andrew Lawrence.

Review: Richard Parks @ Kendal Mountain Festival

6:50pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

For me, this was a surprise event for more than one reason because I got to see inside Kendal College’s brilliant new auditorium The Box.

Review: Kendal Mountain Festival - The Impossible Wall

6:40pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

This was a stirring story by a very funny bunch of guys who sailed across to Greenland, climbed a huge rock face rising straight out of the ocean, and sailed back again. Described like this it sounds adventurous enough but this really was a serious undertaking involving Atlantic storms, non-stop seasickness, difficult climbing on bad rock and an uncertain outcome. The characters involved – Belgians Nico and Olivier Favresse, Sean Villenueva and American Ben Ditto, and their redoubtable sea-captain Bob Shepton – never took it seriously for a minute – they even played music and sang halfway up the climb! Just fantastic, and really funny, plus they played their instruments for us too.

Review: Kendal Mountain Festival - Dale Templar

6:30pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

This was one of the best Kendal lectures I have been to. Not only did we see some fantastic images but we heard the story behind the BBC’s Human Planet programmes from the person best equipped to tell the tale, as Dale Templar is the producer of the series. So we got to hear about all the little mishaps and inspirational moments that you never really see on the programme, and also learn what a huge logistical exercise goes on behind the scenes as cameramen, sound men, directors and crews hop around the globe into the most inaccessible areas on the planet. We really need Dale back again after her next project is finished!

Review: Kendal Mountain Festival - Lynn Hill

6:20pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Luckily I booked my ticket for this lecture some weeks ahead because it sold out really quickly, and the Brewery Arts Centre’s theatre was packed to the rafters to hear this diminutive yet extraordinary American woman tell her tale. Lynn is one of that small group of women athletes who was better in her chosen sport than men, and proved this when she made the first free-climbing ascent of a huge 3,000-foot rock face in Yosemite, California in 1993 – something that men had been trying for a long time. And as Lynn ran through her upbringing you realised just how this happened, because as a trained gymnast with steely determination she was truly made to be a rock climber. A very humble yet inspirational person, this was a once-in-a-lifetime evening that I’m glad I experienced.

Review: Kendal Mountain Festival - Endurance Night

6:10pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

This was the first Endurance Night that the Kendal Mountain Festival organisers have run yet it pulled in a big audience, maybe because there are so many like-minded runners, bikers and general mountain maniacs in the area. And the evening featured some local heroes too in Ant Emmet and Bruce Duncan, who described in thrilling detail their huge challenge – to run the Bob Graham Round (65 miles in 24hrs), cycle John O’Groats to Lands End (874 miles) then paddle the Devizes to Westminster canoe race (125 miles) - all non-stop. We also saw a film made of their incredible journey, its first-ever screening, which brought home what an amazing accomplishment this was. Truly I need to get out training more.

Review: Kendal Mountain Festival - An Evening With Kenton Cool

6:00pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

The unlikely-named Kenton Cool is one of Britain’s best-kept secrets – a man at the very top of his game who mixes with the stars, yet has a low profile. Maybe this is about to change because Kenton has climbed to the top of Everest an amazing nine times. I guess once would be enough for most people, but Kenton’s job as a guide is to get people to the summit of their dreams and this includes famous clients like Sir Ranulph Fiennes. This fascinating evening was hosted by another of my favourite British mountaineers, Stephen Venables, who quizzed Kenton about his motivations and experiences.

Kendal Mountain Festival reaches new audience peak

5:50pm Wednesday 23rd November 2011

Kendal Mountain Festival is the biggest of its kind in the world - according to its organisers.

Intriguing vision of the future

10:05am Wednesday 9th November 2011

Ice: Bewery Arts Centre

Review: 2Faced Dance: In the Dust @ Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

7:36pm Friday 21st October 2011

THE return of 2FacedDance to Kendal was eagerly anticipated by anyone who saw their explosive performance at the Brewery last year.

Review: Showstoppers 13 @ Bryce Institute, Burneside

12:30pm Friday 9th September 2011

Showstoppers 13 was more or less five productions in one and a Herculean task for a professional company, let alone am-dram outfit Burneside Amateur Theatrical Society.

Review: After Miss Julie @ Roundhouse, Staveley

10:10am Sunday 21st August 2011

Patrick Marber’s version of Strindberg’s play is set on the night of Labour's landslide election victory in 1945 in the kitchen of a large country house.