Hello world!

“The world is changed by the women you push too far”

It’s 1956.  On the international stage the Suez crisis hits and Soviet tanks roll into Hungary.  In the UK Sara Wesker is writing a letter.

Back in the day Sara led the “singing strikers of 1928” to win better working conditions for the female garment workers in the East End.  Later she served on the Central Committee of the Communist Party, fought at the Battle of Cable Street and inspired one of our most famous playwrights.  But did her love of the cause cost her the love of her life? Was it worth it? And does anybody care?

Mark Women’s History Month by joining us to celebrate the life of this remarkable woman who lived in extraordinary times and has all but been written out of history. 

This 5-star reviewed, OffFest nominated play, has sold out in New York, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in theatres across the UK. 

This performance is part of our Members’ 241 Offer. Please ask for details.

Across the Evening Sky: Josienne Clarke sings the songs of Sandy Denny

Josienne Clarke has been hailed as the songwriter-poet of melancholy, as well as a thrilling interpreter of traditional song. In the wake of her acclaimed new album, Parenthesis, I, she is now stepping up to honour Sandy Denny – a singer with whom she has been compared – with a show that brings Denny’s music to a new generation.

“If I can take one young fan of mine and introduce them to Sandy, in a context that they can grab hold of,” she says. “If they like my music they will love Sandy. And that would be the whole concept sorted. To pass it on, so that these songs can go on forever.”

Songs like ‘An Old-Fashioned Waltz’, ‘Reynardine’, ‘Fotheringay’ and ‘The Sea’. “You’d be shot for not including ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes’,” she adds. “And ‘Solo’ is a beautiful song, one that has personal resonance for me.”

Rather than a solo show, audiences can expect a folk-rock set-up of guitar, piano, bass and drums. “I want to be free to sing,” says Clarke, who usually accompanies herself on guitar. “It’ll be an ensemble to get all the textures and tones that you can get out of her music.”

Clarke describes Denny’s songs as her north star – a constant guiding light. “Look at how brilliant they are – and there are so many of them. And each one has gold in it.”

If any contemporary performer is set to extract that gold and fashion it anew, it is Josienne Clarke.

In 2022, global-folk band Mishra met international fusion vocalist Deepa Shakthi (formerly Deepa Nair Rasiya). Out of a blossoming musical friendship, they began a collaborative project that takes the soul-stirring euphoria of Deepa’s sufi singing as a starting point, and weaves in the threads of Mishra’s UK folk and Indian classical influences to create a captivating cross-cultural sound. Their joyous performances are a journey of contrasts, from hand-clapping trance-like sufi songs to spacious stillness and reflection.

Mishra are a collective of musicians with a growing reputation for forging a distinctive path through music rooted in diverse traditions. Founded as a duo of Kate Griffin on banjo and vocals and Ford Collier (The Drystones) on low whistle and percussion, the pair recruited some of the finest musicians exploring the meeting points of world, folk, and jazz on the Sheffield music scene: John Ball (Rafiki Jazz) on tabla and santoor, Joss Mann-Hazell (Auka) on double bass, and Alex Lyon on clarinets and vocals. Since forming in 2018, Mishra have won Celtic Connections’ prestigious ‘Danny Kyle’ award, received BBC Radio 2 airplay for their albums ‘The Loft Tapes’ and ‘Reclaim’, and performed at festivals including Cambridge Folk Festival, Beardy, Timber, and more.

Over 30 years of studying Indian music and working across genres under the banner of ‘world music’, Deepa Shakthi has forged an international reputation as a vocalist and composer, receiving awards and acclaim in the UK and India. She has worked with artists including Ravi Shankar and toured with Opera North’s production of Orpheus.

This performance is part of our Members’ 241 Offer. Please ask for details.

Cop-turned-comedian Alfie returns with a brand-new show ahead of recording his BBC Radio 4 comedy It’s a Fair Cop. The audience are sworn in as cops before Alfie shares a real-life scenario from his own casebook. He playfully challenges them to say what they would’ve done – with often unexpected and entertaining results. Policing decisions are easy in hindsight, aren’t they? Now you can experience the thrills, spills and laughter of making high-risk calls in the moment. Fair Cop: Live! is challenging, thought-provoking and fun. It’d be a crime to miss!

 “…offbeat, revealing and very funny” ***** – You Magazine

“Brilliantly funny, genuinely hilarious” – David Mitchell

“His charisma shines through as bright and colourful as a twirling blue light” – Times

Cop-turned-comedian Alfie returns with a brand-new show ahead of recording his BBC Radio 4 comedy It’s a Fair Cop. The audience are sworn in as cops before Alfie shares a real-life scenario from his own casebook. He playfully challenges them to say what they would’ve done – with often unexpected and entertaining results. Policing decisions are easy in hindsight, aren’t they? Now you can experience the thrills, spills and laughter of making high-risk calls in the moment. Fair Cop: Live! is challenging, thought-provoking and fun. It’d be a crime to miss!

 “…offbeat, revealing and very funny” ***** – You Magazine

“Brilliantly funny, genuinely hilarious” – David Mitchell

“His charisma shines through as bright and colourful as a twirling blue light” – Times

SUPER-DELUXE FIDDLE, BANJO, AND SONG

Through twenty years and a couple of thousand shows together in bands such as The Foggy Hogtown Boys and The Lonesome Ace Stringband, John Showman and Chris Coole have developed a deep and instinctual musical bond.  Their music lurks in a truly unique space that is somewhere on the outskirts of old-time, bluegrass, and folk. The songs of John Hartford, Hank Williams, Dock Boggs, and The Band share space with the fiddle tunes of Eck Robertson and Ed Haley. The duo’s original songs and tunes take in all these vistas and paint something both personal and timely. 

They have performed across North America and Europe at festivals such as Merlefest, Rockygrass, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Mariposa, Wintergrass, Gooikroots, and The John Hartford Memorial Festival. In 2022, the duo released two albums; “ Afield” a collection of old-time fiddle tunes, and  “Much Further Out than Inevitable – A Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford.”