What’s on in Leeds
TheMet Online’s guide of cultural things to do in Leeds this week (Monday 24th – Sunday 30th September 2012).
Theatre
Opera North’s new production of Don Giovanni is at Leeds Grand Theatre on Friday 28th September. As he seduces his way across Europe, bedding 1003 women in Spain alone, Don Giovanni’s libertinism is a challenge not only to human morality, but also to God. Dark comedy vies with tense drama, and the beauty and terror of the score are evidence of a supreme musical dramatist at the height of his powers, divinely (and perhaps diabolically) inspired.
City Varieties welcomes The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde this week; the Victorian drama takes to the Victorian stage on Wednesday 26th September. Henry Jekyll is close to a discovery that will change medical science forever – but his methods are less than ethical.
Guys and Dolls continues at West Yorkshire Playhouse until Saturday 29nd September. The production is set in 1950s New York; it is a love story, entwined with a sense of moral duty and tales of the gambling circuit of New York.
Steptoe & Son continues at West Yorkshire Playhouse. The plot follows Albert and Harold Steptoe; joined at the hip and heart, the production will run until Saturday13th October. Darkly comic and deeply moving, this is a 20th century icon re-imagined for the new generation.
Comedy
Piff the Magic Dragon and his assistant Mr Piffles kick off their UK Live Tour of Jurassic Bark at City Varieties on Thursday 27th September. Piff performs magic and deadpan banter whilst his on-stage partner Mr Piffles – the World’s First Magic Performing Chihuahua(tm) - undergoes being levitated, fired out of the Cannon of Certain Death and escaping from a flaming straight jacket.
Also at City Varieties is Seann Walsh performing his all new show Seann to be Wild on Friday 28th September. Charming and charismatic, a natural motor-mouth, Brighton’s Seann Walsh is the most frighteningly precocious talent to emerge from the UK comedy circuit in ages.
Film
Starring Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Antonio Mancino and Fatma Mohamed, Directed by Peter Strickland
Plot: More used to working on benign nature documentaries, and all at sea in an environment where he understands neither the language nor the erratic behaviour of his volatile colleagues, Gilderoy slowly starts to lose his composure as the boundaries between art and reality blur and his own sanity comes into question. Part elegant psychological thriller and Lynchian character study, part loving homage to a bygone era of analogue filmmaking; unique and endlessly fascinating film from one of the most exciting UK directors working today.
Showing at: Hyde Park Picture House from Monday 24th September
Shadow Dancer (15)
Starring Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough and Gillian Anderson, Directed by James Marsh
Plot: In this mesmerising new film from Academy Award-winning director James Marsh, rising star Andrea Riseborough gives a devastating performance as Colette McVeigh. A young mother and active IRA agent is caught by MI5 and persuaded to turn informant. Embroiled in a deadly web of political intrigue and conspiracy, Colette struggles to preserve her cover and protect her young son.
Showing at: Hyde Park Picture House from Tuesday 25th September
Savages (15)
Starring Blake Lively, John Travolta, Aaron Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Emile Hirsch, Salma Hayek, Taylor Kitsch and Demain Bichir. Directed by Oliver Stone
Plot: Savages is a fast, furious and highly intelligent thriller from legendary director Oliver Stone. Ben and Chon share a lucrative cannabis-growing operation and a girlfriend in O. But their civilized method of dealing drugs is about to come to an end when a professional Mexican drugs gang decides it wants a piece of the action
Showing at: Vue / Showcase / Odeon
Poetry/Literature
Freya North, British best selling chick-lit novelist, will visit Central Library on Thursday 27th September at 7pm. Freya will talk about where her ideas come from, her special relationship with her characters and the journey to getting published as well as her latest book ‘Rumours’. At £3 a ticket this event is a bargain for aspiring novelists and book worms.
The Hands That Make the Paper is an exhibition at Dock Street Market to celebrate 6 years of No-TiTLE Magazine. Expect to see art, photography & writing submitted to the magazine by hundreds of volunteers, the event starts at 2pm on Saturday 29th September.
Sunday 30th September at 2pm is 15 Minutes Live at Leeds Town Hall. Created by an exciting line up of writers, five original new radio plays will be performed live just like the old radio shows. Each play has been inspired by Leeds Town Hall and is 15 minutes long.
Also of interest
Kirkstall Abbey Deli Market is a monthly event running until November, set in the picturesque 12th century ruins of Kirkstall Abbey. Have the chance to buy good quality food and local goods, from local and northern producers and suppliers at one of Leeds’ most beautiful outdoor venues. The market runs from 11am – 3pm on Saturday 29th September.
Friday 28th September sees the launch of two new displays at Leeds Art Gallery. Contested Grounds surveys the attempts by artists to renew the British landscape tradition in the 20th and 21st century; focusing on works bought with the support of Leeds Art Fund. Dawn Chorus includes work in all genres – video photography, sculpture and painting and is a partnership with the Arts Council Collection, supported by Christies.
