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Greenwich news and information

Greenwich Comedy Festival 2011

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The Greenwich Comedy Festival returns to Greenwich later this summer.

The Festival, part of the Greenwich Festivals series, will pitch up its Big Top in the grounds of the historic Old Royal Naval College once more as some of the country’s top comedians entertain the crowds.

Greenwich Comedy Festival takes place from September 5th – September 11th and the confirmed comics include Arthur Smith, Sean Lock, Kevin Eldon, Tim Minchin, Phill Jupitus, Adam Buxton, Micky Flanagan and Seann Walsh.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS OF THE 2012 GREENWICH COMEDY FESTIVAL

Greenwich Dances, part of the Greenwich Festivals series

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From 24 June – 3 July Greenwich Dance is presenting a 10-day celebration, Greenwich Dances, as part of The Greenwich Festivals series, with 24 performances and 11 workshops in many unusual locations – from parks to palaces, riverfronts to town centres, museums to street corners

Small Dances

Moving Gallery, Can I dance for you? and Running Dance

Location: around Greenwich Town Centre and the Old Royal Naval College

Date & Time: Throughout the day on Friday 24, Saturday 25 & Sunday 26 June

Three performances that will rove through Greenwich Town Centre and the Old Royal Naval College: Ragnhild Olsen’s Moving Gallery devised with students from Lewisham College; Can I Dance For You? by David Waring and Melodie Gonzales – a set of guerrilla-style solos and duets,  where dancers spring ‘out of the blue’ to perform for passers-by; and Running Dance, a duet that moves and challenges the flow of crowds created by  Thomas Goodwin and Petra Söör.

Moving Gallery and Can I Dance For You? are also part of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (24 June – 2 July)

Crossroads

by Luca Silvestrini’s Protein

Location: King Charles Courtyard at the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

Date and Time: Saturday 25 June 6.45pm    Sunday 26 June 1.50 & 3.35pm

Commissioned by Greenwich Dance and created by resident company Luca Silvestrini’s Protein in partnership with Trinity Laban and in collaboration with composer Andy Pink, Crossroads will delight and surprise with its large cast of local people from toddlers to octogenarians. Inspired by ideas and experiences of travelling, migration and cultural identity, this unique performance of dance and live music will inhabit the elegant King Charles Courtyard at the heart of Trinity Laban on the historic Old Royal Naval College site.

Crossroads is also part of Greenwich+Docklands International Festival

Tea Revives the World

by Alexandra Baybutt and Ben Gwalchmai

Location: Public garden by the Cutty Sark Pub, the shoreline by Crane Street and between these two sites.

Date & Time: Wednesday 29 June – 2 July, 7.00pm.

Tea Revives the World is a site-specific performance experiment, in four parts, inspired in part by the piers of Greenwich and The Cutty Sark, the tea-clipper that traded tea all over the globe. Set against the riverside and the shifting Thames shoreline, the performance involves movement, sculptural costume, and water. The actions of everyday rituals, tea-picking and voyages of the body and trade are woven together to explore the history of Greenwich.

Tea Revives the World is funded by Greenwich Dance’s Leg-up Bursary for emerging dance artists.

For more information about the other activities around the borough, visit the Greenwich Dance website.

Greenwich Summer Sessions 2011

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The Greenwich Summer Sessions return this year with a line up that’s bigger and better than before.

Greenwich legends, Squeeze, will be performing in their hometown and there will also be sets by Status Quo, Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy, the Pogues, Mark Ronson and Status Quo.

The series of concerts will take place in the stunning surroundings of the Old Royal Naval College.

Greenwich Summer Sessions 2011 Tickets

26th July 2011 – Neil Hannon from the Divine Comedy featuring Jose Gonzales
27th July 2011 – Mark Ronson & The Business Intl + support
28th July 2011 – Status Quo + Nine Below Zero
29th July 2011 – Squeeze + support
30th July 2011 – The Pogues

Old Royal Naval College
The Greenwich Summer Sessions will be staged in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College

Boy George in Temperamental visit to Greenwich

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Hold onto your hats, Boy George is coming to Greenwich Theatre. He’ll be attending the off-Broadway hit The Temperamentals on 2 June and will take part in an on-stage discussion after the show.

Also taking part will be former top London policeman Brian Paddick and playwright and screenwriter Patrick Wilde.

The play’s director, local Greenwich boy Joseph C Walsh, will have the job of keeping everything in order, or not.

Set in late 1940s America, The Temperamentals tells the story of two men – communist Harry Hay and Austrian refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich – who together set up the Mattachine Society, the world’s first gay rights organisation.

The story explores this “relatively unknown” chapter in history – a time when being gay was illegal and often dangerous.

It is the second time in a year that Joe has brought an award-winning show back to Greenwich Theatre. He wowed audiences last year with From Laramie With Love, a tale about the murdered US teen Matthew Shepard. We interviewed him back then here.

This time he hopes to do the same. The Temperamentals is coming fresh from Ireland where it scooped an award for its run at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival earlier this month.

In a press release Greenwich Theatre welcomed the play’s arrival, which is showing for two nights only:

“The play marks an important moment for Greenwich Theatre – for the first time we have brought together two of our young supported companies – Wild Oats Productions and City Lights Theatre Company – and pooled the resources of the three companies to create the show.

“We are proud to have carried the name of Greenwich Theatre to Ireland with such success, and delighted that such an eminent panel will join us on 2 June to discuss the play.”

Tickets are £12.50, concessions £7.50, through Greenwich Theatre
http://www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk/


Photo: Patrick Wilde, Brian Paddick and Boy George will be on stage on 2 June

Titanic Exhibition at the O2 Bubble

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Hundreds of artefacts retrieved from the sunken Titanic are on display at a new exhibition at the O2 in North Greenwich.

The story of the Titanic is well known: the largest ship ever made crashing into an iceberg just a few days away from the completion of its maiden voyage across the Atlantic and leaving only 706 survivors from the 2,223 people aboard.

But “Titanic: The Artefact Exhibition” gives visitors a glimpse into the personal stories of those who were on board that fateful journey. The exhibition lays out the circumstances by which many of the passengers came to find themselves aboard Titanic, such as the teacher from Dulwich College, Lawrence Beesley, who was on a £13, second class ticket, hoping to visit his brother in Toronto.

Or Leah Aks who was separated from her baby son after the collision, only to find another another survivor was claiming the baby as their own when she eventually tracked him down aboard the rescue ship, Carpathia. The baby was only reunited with Leah after she described his birthmark to the ship’s captain.

As you make your way around the exhibition, you will see hundreds of artefacts recovered from the wreck which lies over 2 miles deep, about 900 miles off the coast of New York. As well as the relics, there’s a nice interactive element: an ice wall which you are an encouraged to touch to get a sense of the sub-zero temperatures of the ocean that many passengers were cast into.

Each visitor to the exhibition receives a White Star Line Board Pass with real passenger details on it. As you leave the exhibition, you can look through a list of names to see if your boarding pass belonged to a survivor or not.

The exhibition is layed out chronologically, starting with its design and construction and ending with details of the recovery expeditions by the RMS Titanic company which is putting on the event.

For a chance to see the artefacts, some of which are extraordinarily well preserved, and to learn more about the Titanic, a trip to the exhibition is recommended.

The exhibition runs from November 5th 2010 until May 2011.

Boarding Pass - Titanic Exhibition
Boarding pass given to visitors – each one has a real passenger’s details on the reverse.

Titanic Exhibition

Hundreds of Au Gratin dishes were found, perfectly preserved.

Titanic Exhibition
Vehicle used in recovery expeditions.



Barclays ATP World Tour Finals 2010 at the O2

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The world’s best tennis players return to Greenwich this November as the O2 arena stages the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for a second time.

The tournament pits the top eight men from the last year against each other in an exciting ’round robin’ format. The Finals run from November 21st through to November 28th, with an afternoon and evening session each day. As well as the singles competition, there’s also doubles action every day too.

Last year, the cool-as-a-cucumber Russian, Nikolay Davydenko, took the spoils but he’s unlikely to be a contender this year.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE FOR THE BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS 2010

I went along last year and had a great time – there was a great sense of razzmatazz, probably a world away from the more formal approach at the Wimbledon’s All England Club, and even from the cheap seats high in the rafters of the O2, it was possible to get a decent view of the play.

o2 tennis

o2 tennis

BUY TICKETS ONLINE FOR THE BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS 2010

If you need accommodation for your stay, visit our hotels in Greenwich page.

London Mini Golf at the O2

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Fans of mini golf can play an 18 hole course at the O2 until the end of September.

The fun indoor test of your putting skills has been positioned at various London locations over the last four years, and has now come to the O2 in North Greenwich for the first time.

Younger putters can play the Junior course which consists of just 9 holes.

London Mini Golf is open from noon til 7pm every day until September 5th.

‘Rock and Royal’ Art Exhibition

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Rock and Royal - Lorraine Elizabeth Hall

A Greenwich artist is hosting a free exhibition of her work this weekend.

Rock and Royal is a collection of pieces created by Lorraine Elizabeth Hall – pictured above with her Bichon Frisé, Pippa.

The sixteen pieces will be on display in the magnificent surroundings of her fascinating home – often used for location shots by film crews and photographers – on Crooms Hill from Saturday through to Tuesday.

Rock and Royal is Lorraine’s first exhibition since personal setbacks, including a serious arm injury, had threatened her ability to express herself through painting but she was determined to recover. Lorraine explains, “Painting is my life. It’s something I have to do and cannot live without”.

Lorraine, a self confessed “rock chick” who has previously worked as a breakfast radio presenter and animator, has captured her vivd thoughts and creativity in a variety of materials for the collection including oils, watercolours and pen and ink.

You can meet Lorraine and view the exhibition at 14 Crooms Hill, next to the Fan Musuem, from Saturday 3rd July to Tuesday 6th July between 10am and 4pm.

Rock and Royal
Tree of Life – part of the Rock and Royal exhibition

Roller Disco 2010 at the O2

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Roller Disco 2010 runs at the O2 arena in North Greenwich until the end of August.

The impressive roller skating rink is the biggest in London, allowing 350 skaters to dance on wheels to the sounds of the latest music from the charts as well as classic disco numbers.

The Roller Disco is great for a family day out, or for making it a night to remember, as Shalamar might have put it.

Daily Opening Times

Monday to Thursday: 12pm – 8pm
Friday: 12pm – 11pm
Saturday and Sunday: 10am – 11pm

Greenwich Comedy Festival 2010

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Following the success of last year’s Greenwich Comedy Festival, it returns again in 2010 with an even bigger and better line up.

Names confirmed so far include Jenny Eclair, Arthur Smith, Rhona Camerson, Ed Byrne, Phill Jupitus, Jerry Sadowitz, Adam Buxton and Stephen K Amos, Reginald D Hunter, Sean Hughes and Rufus Hound.

The festival will run between 6th  – 12th September with most acts taking place in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College.

Click here for ticketing information