The tour sees Craig perform across the country from the far-flung Orkney Islands to the south of Cornwall, as well as taking in London’s Bloomsbury Theatre for the first time. This second extension is hot-on-the-heels of Craig’s return from the New Zealand International Comedy Festival and kicks off from 24th May.
Craig supported Frankie Boyle on his 120 date nationwide tour, performed on Dave’s One Night Stand (DAVE), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC Three), and Michael McIntyre’sComedy Roadshow (BBC One).

As a natural raconteur, Craig is able to find humour in the mundane, instinctively able to
entertain and amuse. Typically dressed in his beloved ‘I love cheese’ t-shirt (synthetic and a bit wiffy) and a khaki (undercover police concealment) shorts number, sometimes substituted for leather trousers, the strapping ex-athlete commands his stages with vigour, befriending the audience with boisterous re-enactments from his travels.

Craig was the notorious host of Canada’s legendary Ed’s Night Party, and headline guest on numerous Canadian TV shows such as Jim Carrey Live, The Dennis Miller Show and Just for Laughs. He is a firm fringe favourite having made his Edinburgh debut alongside Tony Law and Dan Antopolski as part of comedy trio The Dinks which won great critical and box office success, leading to an invitation to perform in the Best of Edinburgh programme in New York. He has since supported Rich Hall on his international tour and had two further successful solo shows in Edinburgh.

Craig Campbell plays the Plough Arts Centre in Torrington, Devon, on Friday 1 June. Tickets £13adv from 01805 624624. He also plays Bristol Hen and Chicken on June 6 and The B-Bar, Plymouth, on June 22.

See more info at www.seenoevilbristol.co.uk

See what last years event was all about below…

That’s not to say that Born in the Gardens is a strictly nostalgic exercise and indeed Nichols’ play resonates with a 2012 audience with the political and economic parallels between then and now adding an extra dimension. The decision to produce this play now is extremely shrewd and reinforces the main themes of the piece quite beautifully.

Maud lives in Tudor Manor with her grown up son Mo where the pair share a rather eccentric but terribly content existence. Maud spends her days in conversation with the characters on her black and white television whilst Mo mixes a mind boggling assortment of cocktails, listens to jazz records and plays the drums. The death of Maud’s husband results in her other two grown up children coming home to mourn their father and to try and convince Maud and Mo to leave Tudor Manor.

The character of Maud is a brilliant comic creation and Katherine Senior provided the stand out performance of the night playing this sweet old lady. It’s Maud’s Malapropisms that lead to the biggest laughs (Michael Wave for microwave being my favourite) but Senior also manages to add a beautiful sympathetic depth to the role and ensures that the audience feel the same way about Maud as they might about their batty old aunty or nan.

Edward Ferrow as Mo is superb in reflecting the genuine love that the son has for his mother and the discomfort that results from the fact that his idyllic life in Bristol might have to change. Jonathan Parrish plays the conflicted eldest son, Hedley, with a heavy sense of responsibility and false arrogance. Rachel Howells’ Queenie is a wonderfully neurotic creation, freshly returned from California and a string of broken relationships.

The contrast between Maud & Mo and Hedley & Queenie forms one of the strongest themes of the play with the former pair being seen as odd and eccentric for wanting to stay in the family home and continue in their well established ways. Hedley and Queenie could both be described as successful people but with two solo scenes on the telephone we see that neither is happy and that their lives are far from what they would wish them to be.

It’s important to note that there is some racial language in the play that could be seen as offensive if this had been a script written today to reflect the 1970’s. However, Nichols wrote this piece at the end of the 70’s when such language was prevalent and it is, therefore, a brave and correct decision of the Creative Cow company to keep the language as written by the playwright.

Born in the Gardens is a wonderful production by a company that just keeps improving with every new play that they tackle. Small touring troupes like Creative Cow form a backbone to the British theatre industry and should be supported at every opportunity. I for one cannot wait to see what they do next. It is rumoured that a revival of Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals is on the cards for this hardworking company and after seeing Katherine Senior deliver the Malapropisms in this play with such aplomb I cannot wait to see her step into the role of Mrs M herself.

The production is touring throughout England until the end of June and a full listing of upcoming dates is available at www.creativecow.co.uk

Words: Tony Sharpe

As well as the musical path of the great man, Marley covers many other angles: the background of Jamaican music that began with ska, Jamaica’s politics, the poverty in which Bob was raised, his family and of course, his many affairs. The slection of footage is impressive, and every care seems to have been taken to restore and revamp old clips and photographs.

There’s plenty of music too, starting with Bob’s ska records from the ‘60s, right until the end, with some fantastic live concert footage and many interviews with Marley himself. Marley is also a well informed documentary, featuring the most important people in Bob’s life (who are still alive), including Bunny Wailer, Rita Marley, Lee Scratch Perry, his old friends and even his primary school teacher!

And although it tackles many varying themes and stories, Marley flows beautifully with a strong narrative. Marley will appeal to anyone with even the remotest interest in music, as well as Marley fans.

Marley is showing at Exeter Picturehouse 3 times a day, up to and including Thursday May 3rd.
www.picturehouses.co.uk

Words: Arash Torabi

Avengers Assemble sees shadowy government agency S.H.I.E.L.D enlist Earth’s mightiest heroes in an attempt to prevent an alien invasion led by Norse god Loki. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth reprise their title roles of Iron Man, Captain America and Thor respectively, while Mark Ruffalo becomes the latest actor to take up the mantle of The Incredible Hulk. Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner round up the team as mercenaries Black Widow and Hawkeye, and it is up to Samuel L. Jackson’s enigmatic Nick Fury to handle the individual egos of the supersquad and get them in shape to save the Earth.

Let us just review: Norse gods, space aliens, cryogenically frozen super-soldiers from WWII, flying robo-suits, people named Hawkeye – looked at objectively, Avengers Assemble is insane. In comic books this is all well and good, but cinema has never really seen anything like this, and as such it is entirely possible to envision an alternate reality wherein Avengers Assemble is a camp, tonally uneven toy advert. Fortunately, Marvel wisely enlisted Joss Whedon to re-write and direct the film, and it is a testament to his ability that Avengers Assemble is actually a stellar action movie – funny, entertaining and emotionally satisfying – and apt to be enjoyed by comic book fans and regular moviegoers alike. That Whedon can pull in so many disparate elements and make it work is no mean feat, but he does so with a flair and style that makes Avengers Assemble one of the most outrightly enjoyable action films of recent memory.

An already proven master of the ensemble, Whedon gives each larger-than-life main character time to shine, both through dialogue and within the film’s many action sequences, and his focus on the interpersonal relationships of the characters provides an emotional core that rings true throughout all the superpowered fist-fights – and let there be no mistake, there are plenty. As you would expect, the action is lavish, exhilarating and near-constant, but most importantly works to advance the plot rather than detract from it. It is telling that the film’s 142 minute running time feels like no time at all: the film is lean, economically told and never dull, with Whedon’s sense of humour providing much-needed levity in a film to which dead seriousness would mean certain death.

It is certain (and fitting) that Avengers Assemble is by far the best of all Marvel’s movie output. Leaner and funnier than Iron Man, more fantastic than Thor and more satisfying and self-contained than all of them put together, Avengers Assemble is a superpowered, technicolour joyride that moves beyond sheer spectacle into something more substantial. What is perhaps most remarkable of all, however, is that we now live in a world where a film such as this – one in which the Hulk and Thor punch space aliens in the face together – can not only exist but can flourish. It’s a good time to be a comic book fan, and an even better one at the movies.

Words: Josh Hicks

What’s more, 247 Magazine has teamed up with the organisers to offer readers 2-4-1 entry to the event, which takes place at Brunel’s Old Rooms (formerly the Passenger Shed), near Bristol Temple Meads railway station on May 18 – 20. Simply take a print out of this article along to the event and two people can get in for the price of one – saving you up to £5.

Offering a range of art-inspired activities and workshops for the whole family, as well as the opportunity to see and snap up thousands of pieces of art under one roof, AAF Bristol has become a firm favourite in the South West art-buying calendar over the last decade.  Since 2002, over 60,000 locals have passed through the doors, spending £6.6 million on original art. AAF Bristol was the first established regional fair outside of London for the now global brand that operates in 11 countries and four continents across the world.

Founder Will Ramsay explains why launching in Bristol made perfect sense: “We considered all the larger, more obvious cities across the country when looking for our first regional fair outside London, but kept coming back to Bristol with its huge arts and culture scene, and lots of talented artists showing in local galleries. It really was the ideal destination to attract a creative, art-loving crowd, and ten years on, it’s increasingly popular with thousands of local art-lovers looking to start their own collection.”

Since its UK launch in 1999, over one million art-lovers have visited an Affordable Art Fair across the world, spending over £150 million. As well as Bristol and London, the fair takes place in Milan, Brussels, New York, Melbourne, Amsterdam and Singapore, with seven new fairs launching this year in LA, Hamburg, Stockholm, Mexico City, Rome, Seattle and Delhi.

More info at www.affordableartfair.co.uk

Tim Francis, who is currently in the second year of his Film Arts Foundation Degree, has just received news that his short-film ‘Sinews of Peace’ has been accepted into the official ‘Shorts’ programme of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. This is the first time a student from Plymouth College of Art has received this tremendous accolade.

The Tribeca Film Festival was founded by Robert deNiro with the aim of regenerating the cultural landscape following the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Over the past decade it has grown in stature and is now regarded as one of the most prestigious independent film festivals.

The shorts programme at the festival comprises of 50 short-form films drawn from more than 2,800 submissions from across the world responding to themes set by Tribeca each year. Tim’s film will playing in the ‘Journeys Across Cultural Landscapes’ programme and will be premiering on Thursday 19 April at Chelsea Clearview Cinema. The film is advertised under Tim’s professional name, Timo Franc.

For the fifth year running a group of students from Plymouth College of Art will be making the trip over to New York City in April for the festival. Dan Paolantonio, Programme Leader for Film Arts, says: “Tim consistently produces challenging abstract film work and it is hugely exciting that his short-film will be seen by audiences, including a group of our very own students, at such a prominent independent film festival.”

Speaking about the inspiration behind the film, Dan said: “This year I worked closely with author and cultural theorist Nicholas Rombes and designed a project for my students which would allow them to contribute to his ‘Ceremony’ global documentary project. ‘Sinews of Peace’ was Tim’s response to this project, exploring individual and cultural ‘memories’ of French Resistance fighters during World War II.”

Earlier this year Alex Blackwood, who graduated with a first class BA (Hons) in Film Arts last year, won the regional Royal Television Society Student Awards in the Drama category with his film ‘Grade’. He then went on to win the overall ‘Best Student Film’ award at the Professional RTS Awards. Alex’s impressive film ‘Grade’ follows a student who is struggling to revise for his exams until he develops the uncanny ability to absorb information by placing books under his pillow at night. The film has now been shortlisted for the 2012 Celtic Media Festival Student Awards which is a fantastic achievement for Alex and for the Film Department at Plymouth College of Art.

More information about both festivals can be found at www.tribecafilm.com and www.celticmediafestival.co.uk

A reboot of the eighties TV show of the same name, 21 Jump Street sees Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum cast as a pair of underachieving cops, tasked with disguising themselves as teenagers in order to infiltrate a high-school drug ring. The film takes an outright comedic approach to the earnest and somewhat hammy source material, and the result is a surprisingly absurdist action-comedy that belies its big budget studio status.

As with most comedies, many of the jokes live or die by the main performances. Comedy stalwart Hill is, as always, dependably funny, but Tatum comes as a big surprise, displaying true comic chops and bouncing of Hill perfectly. Particularly impressive is some genuinely inspired physical work, especially during an extended sequence wherein the two leads experience the side-effects of the very drug they are trying to stop. The supporting cast, including Brie Larson, Ice Cube and former Youtube cringe phenomenon Dax Flame, all turn in some funny work and help carry the film to success. Quick cameos from stars of the original show don’t hurt either, though one of them is such a big name that the appearance will be baffling to anyone unaware of their context. Basically, Jonny Depp is in the movie for a bit.

In all, 21 Jump Street is a film that, in the wrong hands, could have easily been a hackneyed and forgettable affair. It’s fortunate, then, that what we are left with is a sharp buddy comedy that, alongside David Wain’s similarly absurd Wanderlust, is one of the first successful comedies of the year. 2011 wasn’t a particularly good year for comedy in film, but if 21 Jump Street is anything to go by, 2012 should be a far sight better.

Words: Josh Hicks

Sargent commented: “We are really disappointed to have to postpone the tour but I have tonsillitis and cannot do much talking at the moment! We are delighted to have been able to schedule later dates, so hopefully everyone who has bought tickets will still be able to come along in April / May and the fans will still have the chance to see the film in a live environment.”

These unique music venue screenings will still take place and we are pleased to announce a partnership with the local club nights to screen the films at their events. The dates will coincide with the general release of the film on DVD which is 30 April. Those who have bought tickets for the tour screenings will be offered entry into these events with a £2 refund on their original ticket price. They also have the opportunity of a full refund.

It means the Bristol O2 Academy screening will now take place on May 4 instead of tonight.

The show was impressive: it was a spectacle of high drama, flamboyant costumes, fireworks, murder and loud, powerful, emotional singing that kept me gripped to my seat throughout. Add a couple of handsome lead men, and a beautiful lead actress, what more could you ask for? The set changes, while elaborate, were swift and added a bit of magic to the performance. The set design was beautifully crafted and excellently contrasted the murky underground world of the Phantom to the bright magnificent world of the opera.
This performance will sweep you off your feet, even for non-regular theatre goers/opera fans. The attention to detail was spot on and the performances were exquisite. Highly recommended.

The Phantom of the Opera continues at the Theatre Royal until March 31.

Words: Angie Knight