The Rye Creative Centre has announced its new spring comedy festival which runs March 17-21 at its theatre in New Road. The concept of this series of events is to bring new theatre companies into the area that have amassed a plethora of awards at international festivals over the past couple of years and, of course, continue to celebrate the area’s rich comic history.
We will be welcoming Nasi Voutsas and Bertrand Lesca, creators of Eurohouse, co-produced by FellSwoop Theatre, on March 17 at 7:30pm (Tickets £10). This quirky performance about life in the EU was recently listed in the Guardian’s “Five of the best in theatre” list.
This is followed by The Starship Osiris, a new comedy from Willis and Vere on March 19 at 5pm (tickets £10)- *note this performance contains some strong language. Info/tickets: h
Then, to end the long weekend The Pretend Men are bringing Police Cops! to town on March 21 at 7:30pm (Tickets £12) following sell-out performances at Cape Town Fringe and The Melbourne Comedy Festival.
These performers have all been delighting audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and London’s Vault festival, as well as overseas. I am very excited that each of these companies has chosen to include Rye on their tours of the UK, meaning more people from Kent and Sussex can catch them here. It would be great if we could use this series of events to kick-start what we see as a vibrant and valuable addition to the Rye suite of festivals, while continuing to push both the charm and creativity of the town to a younger audience as well. We are thrilled to have the support and backing of the Rye Arts Festival who have generously allowed us use of their online box office for ticket sales.
Tickets are available via the Rye Arts Festival website, from Grammar School Records or on the door. A special weekend pass to see all three performances at a discounted rate is also available.
There will also be accompanying Devising for Comedy workshops delivered by the creators of both Eurohouse and Police Cops! on March 17 and 21 respectively during the day before the evening performance. These are open to anyone aged 14 and over.
For more information on times/cost or to book workshop places, please contact Sam Williams on 01797 226827