01273 302170 www.staubynsschoolbrighton.co.uk - Viva Lewes

SHAkESpEARE MARATHON
biTs and bobs
Sussex Downs College has recently been ringing with ‘Sounds, and
sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not’, as the second year students
tackle Shakespeare for their final assessments. Taking to the stage of
the Brighton Pavilion Theatre with The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, A
Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Winter’s Tale, the students will be
performing this four-day marathon of some of Shakespeare’s best-loved
plays as a mixture of stylized and traditional theatre. Hopefully the
students will pass with flying colours, leaving the audience to declare:
‘O, brave new world, that has such people in’t!’. 23rd/25th/26th/27th, 7pm, £6/£5 conc, 709709 brightondome.org
bOOk REVIEW: THE SERVICE Of CLOuDS
The Service of Clouds is a book celebrating Tom Benjamin’s
paintings, published by St Anne’s Galleries, where he exhibits.
The title is from a statement by John Ruskin, which
is used as an epigram for this handsome 52-plate publication:
“if a general and characteristic name were needed for
modern landscape art, none better could be invented than
‘the service of clouds’.” That Ruskin was writing in a book
called Modern Painters, in 1843, is fairly telling: Benjamin’s
work is gloriously, unashamedly old-fashioned, seemingly
uninfluenced by any artist or movement since Claude Monet. And all the more wonderful for that: here we
have familiar scenes (Brighton seafront, Cuckmere Haven, the fields around Rodmell) in lavish multicoloured
brushstrokes, offering the reader, to quote Julian Bell in the book’s foreword, “blasts of virtual fresh air.” Most of
us can’t afford a real, live Tom Benjamin on our living room wall: here’s some consolation.
£15 from St Anne’s Galleries, Skylark and Tourist Information.
COMpETITION
This month we’re offering two Viva readers the opportunity to win a pair of
tickets to watch the exhilarating dancers of the Ballet Rambert in their Seven
for a Secret tour. Part of the programme is based on the tempestuous Tennessee
Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. You can see it at The Theatre Royal,
Brighton, 28th – 31st March. Tickets £11-£25. 0844 871 7650 (bkg fee) atgtickets.com/brighton
For your chance to win a pair of tickets, valid for performances
on Wed 28th March at 7.30pm or Sat 31st March 2.30pm ONLY, answer
the following question: Who played Blanche DuBois opposite Marlon Brando
in the 1951 film of A Streetcar Named Desire? Usual competition rules apply.
Send your answer with a phone number to emma@vivalewes.com or to Viva Lewes competition, 151b High Street,
Lewes, BN7 1XU. Closing date, Thurs 15th March. The two winners will be contacted by Mon 19th March.
READER OffER
Put your best foot forward with an lovely pedicure offer from The Beauty Rooms. See page 93 for more details.
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