As usual our Book Fair is part of the Tenby Arts Festival . We’re at Church House on the first day, Saturday 24th September, between 11am – 3pm and it’s free to come in and chat with all the authors and publishers.

Honno/HonnoPress: http://bit.ly/2cfHkvO ,

FireflyPress: http://www.fireflypress.co.uk/ 

Cambria Publishing Co-operative: Cambria Publishing Co-operative

Showboat tv will be there to video the event http://showboat.tv/

And here are the events of the Day:

The Banana Lady – Joséphine Baker                                      

Josephine Hammond

A talk about the famous American-Parisian jazz singer of the twenties and thirties who was notorious for having danced in a skirt made of bananas.

Sounds great fun but she had a serious side too. Find out about her courage working for the Resistance during World War II and her fight against racism.

Fourcroft Hotel

3pm (followed by tea)

£5

The Shakespeare Ladies Club           

written and performed by Alison Neil
directed by David Collison
Alison Neil returns with another of her brilliant one-woman plays.

Coffee shops and tooth worm, smuggling and mouseskin eyebrows…amid the fascinating trivia of mid-eighteenth century life, Mary Cowper De Grey recounts the true story of a group of Ladies of Quality, who determined to make Shakespeare fashionable. The success of the Shakespeare Ladies Club echoes down the centuries. Mary also has a very personal tale to recount – her involvement with a young and ambitious would-be actor named… David Garrick.

Mrs Cowper De Grey then introduces her surprise guest – and the Lords, Gentlemen and Ladies of the Audience are told a very different tale – of a London unseen by People of Quality.

London in the mid-1700’s : vivacity and prosperity, marvels and great achievements in art and science. When the first steps were taken to quell the squalor and brutality of life for the poor. And women were not staying at home, or keeping quiet…

The Georgian era revealed – as Mrs Cowper De Grey (and guest) entertain!

“Eighteenth century London comes alive in the skilled hands of Alison Neil…unmissable entertainment” DORSET ECHO

“… jammed full of historical fact…told with humour, sympathy and attention to detail… both informative and entertaining, performed with energy and conviction.” BORDON POST

“…Alison commanded great stage presence…she revealed what life was like at that time…an eye-opening look at Georgian London from both sides of society.” NEWARK ADVERTISER

ALISON NEIL’s other plays, “BELLA – THE STORY OF MRS BEETON”, “THE SIXTH WIFE” (about Katherine Parr), “TRULY YOURS, C.B.” (about Charlotte Brontë), “LIVING IN THE LIGHT” (about Hildegard of Bingen) “THE JUST-WILLIAM LADY” (about Richmal Crompton) and “THE FOSSIL LADY OF LYME” (about Mary Anning) and “MRS BEETON, MY SISTER” have been performed up and down the country in hundreds of venues since 1989. As well as theatres, arts centres, village halls, colleges and festivals, the plays have been performed in hotels, art galleries, museums, castles, stately homes – and even a race course!

“BELLA – THE STORY OF MRS BEETON” and “THE JUST-WILLIAM LADY” have been adapted as BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Plays.

ALISON NEIL has been a professional actress for 30 years. She has appeared in the West End in “LITTLE LIES” (starring Sir John Mills) and “ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD”, together with numerous appearances in theatres up and down the country and abroad, and on TV and radio. Following the success of “BELLA – THE STORY OF MRS BEETON”, her second career as a writer/researcher began – for events such as VE Day in Hyde Park, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in London, many Royal Tournaments, and permanent exhibitions such as The Smugglers Adventure (Hastings), Newhaven Fort, Shrewsbury Abbey, Tonbridge Castle and countless others. She has also been a member of Past Pleasures, interpreting history for special events and at the Tower of London.

Her one-act play “WHERE THERE’S A WILL” won the Drama Association of Wales BEST PLAY BY A WELSH-BASED WRITER 2008.

Church House

7pm

£10

PINT-SIZED PLAYS ARE BACK AGAIN FOR ANOTHER ROUND!

Short (5-10 minutes) snappy plays that are performed free of charge in pubs around Tenby.  They are winners of an international playwriting competition that attracts hundreds of entries every year.  Some will make you think, some will make you chuckle, many are just downright hilarious.  This extremely popular entertainment is now a regular part of the Festival and always surprises the audiences who appreciate the quirky subjects and amusing performances whilst having a convivial drink.  Come early, get them in, sit back and enjoy!

7.30pm            5 Arches, St George Street
8.30pm            The Cove, High Street
9.30pm            The Buccaneer, St Julian Street

Free

Enquiries to: tenbyartsfestival@yahoo.co.uk