This Is London - 8 November 2019

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING OPENS
AT WILTON’S MUSIC HALL
The prestigious theatre production
company Shakespeare at the Tobacco
Factory are celebrating their 20th
anniversary with a brand-new adaptation
of Much Ado About Nothing.
Following a critically acclaimed run at
the Tobacco Factory in Bristol, the
production makes its London debut on
12 November at Wilton’s Music Hall, the
oldest working music hall in the world.
In 2017, the company received rave
reviews for their restaging of Othello, and
now return with their take on Shakespeare’s
comedy about the precarious path to
finding love, and how both innocent
trickery and treacherous pretence can have
disastrous consequences.
Home from war, a group of soldiers
attempt to put their fighting days behind
them. But adjusting to civilian life isn’t
easy, especially when love is in the mix.
How do you let go of your demons?
How do you learn to be your real self
again? And what does that mean for the
friendships that helped you survive?
Directed by Elizabeth Freestone and
set against the stunning backdrop of
Wilton’s Music Hall, this dark comedy is
tumultuous, riotous and entirely
unpredictable.
Much Ado About Nothing by
Shakespare at the Tobacco Factory.
Photo: Mark Douet.
Terri Lyne Carrington.
EFG LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
The EFG London Jazz Festival returns
this year for its 27th incarnation,
running through 15-24 November
spanning over 350 gigs across 70
venues around the city and featuring the
talents of over 2000 musicians. Over the
course of its 10 day programme, the
festival – still London’s largest citywide
music event – presents a wide-ranging,
thoroughly of the moment curation
(overseen by Director of Programming,
Pelin Opcin, now in her second year at
the EFG London Jazz Festival) which
cherrypicks the scene’s fastest-rising
stars alongside shows that revisit vital
legacy artists and catalogues, presented
via innovative new interpretations,
collaborations and formats.
This year’s festival kicks off on Friday,
15 November with the Jazz Voice
signature gala performance, bringing the
likes of Corinne Bailey Rae, Cécile
McLorin Salvant, Judi Jackson and
Cherise Adams-Burnett together for an
evening at the Royal Festival Hall,
backed by Guy Barker’s 42 piece
orchestra. A true icon, Herbie Hancock
returns to London to play this year’s
festival, whilst Danilo Pérez (of The
Wayne Shorter Quartet) will perform the
European premiere of his new Global
Messengers project. Chrissie Hynde and
Iggy Pop will be both performing new
material from their recent, jazz-informed
album releases, and Rhiannon Giddens
(Carolina Chocolate Drops) plays Royal
Festival Hall, alongside a special
performance at HM Prison Wormwood
Scrubs, commissioned and delivered in
partnership with Koestler Arts.
This year’s artist in residence is
multi-Grammy Award winner, Terri Lyne
Carrington. The drummer, singer,
producer and activist will celebrate the
release of her forthcoming new album
‘Waiting Game’ with a Kings Place
residency featuring both her own Social
Science band and guests from the
forefront of the UK jazz scene including
Emma-Jean Thackray and Soweto Kinch.
Mercury Prize-nominee Soweto will also
headline his own festival show, drawing
from his forthcoming ‘Black Peril’ project.
EFG have partnered with the London
Jazz Festival for over a decade, and in
2019 has joined forces with Serious to
launch the EFG Elements Series, a run of
shows which epitomises the rich creativity
and variety which the festival showcases.
Blending some of the best jazz traditions
with innovative collaborations, this year’s
selected EFG Elements shows are Jazz
Voice, Cécile McLorin Salvant & Sullivan
Fortner, Christian Sands (supported by
Camilla George) and Scott Bradlee’s
Postmodern Jukebox.
www.efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk
Soweto Kinch.
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