It’s that time of the week again! Welcome back to ‘A Rural Review’ – the blog series where we recap all the happenings in the Rural Arts world this week and what you should look out for in the near future. With Valentines looming, this week is either a fantastic opportunity to shower that special person in your life with presents galore and your eternal, everlasting love, or an equally fantastic opportunity to moan about the day only being a marketing ploy from corporations so they can sell more cards, flowers and teddy bears at extortionate prices. Whichever camp you fall into, our suggestion is to head on down to our gallery which stocks beautiful hand made cards from local artists at reasonable prices – it means that your loved one can know how much you appreciate them without compromising your morals and giving Moonpig some extra cash. Now we have got the first plug of the blog out of the way (phew!) lets begin shall we?
What’s been happening
Les Liasons Dangereuses
It finally happened! It feels like there has never been a week where we have not been talking about National Theatre Live’s version of the classic French Text – and this week we finally managed to screen this darkly humorous, wicked performance for the people of North Yorkshire. Even when we have been postponed by storms and technical troubles, it was all worth it to see the show, which was an unadulterated triumph. In fact, with it being Valentines day, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos tale of seduction and love fitted in quite nicely – it is almost like we planned it that way! We want to thank everyone who attended for being so flexible and understanding whilst we re-arranged this event, and for making it such a fantastic evening.
Believe it or not, their looks don’t do justice to the sauciness!
A Taste Of… Evening Sessions
Les Liasons was not the only event happening on Thursday night- we had a busy old Courthouse on that evening! Our monthly adult art club, an extension of A Taste Of… on a Wednesday morning, ran this week, with Indigo Shibori Printing being the stimulus. The results were pretty darn impressive (see below) and it makes us even more excited for next months session, which is Paper-cutting, on the 17th March. Tickets can be bought, on our new exciting website we keep talking about, HERE
Let the dye meet the fabric!
Thirsk Hour
This week Rural Arts also took the lead on Thirsk’s busiest Twitter event – running Thirsk Hour, where all local businesses have the opportunity to promote their work and exciting upcoming events for all to see. It is a scheme set up by local businesses for local businesses and takes pride in all things Thirsk. You should follow @thirskhour and tune in (and get involved – obviously!) on a Thursday from 7-8pm. P.S if you can’t wait to get your Rural Review fix and want to have immediate updates of what is going on at Rural Arts you can follow us @ruralarts (but that is not an excuse not to read this blog – it is very difficult to get puns and poems into 140 characters)
What’s Coming Up
Holy Moly & The Crackers
Our ON Tour season begins soon and we cannot wait. To kick us off, we have the wonderful Holy Moly & The Crackers performing in Gilling East on the 27th February. They played in our Autumn season and received rave reviews, and they are back for a one-off performance! This folk/punk band play music you can’t help but stamp your feet too, and will be playing brand new material plus some old favourites! We have had huge interest and only have a few tickets left – make sure you grab them now because they are soon to be sold out – get your tickets HERE Furthermore, if you are interested in getting your village involved with the ON Tour scheme, the rural touring scheme for North Yorkshire and East Cleveland, we have made it even easier by having an online form on our website for you to express interest in being a promoter. You do not need any experience, just enthusiasm and a venue! If you fill in this form we can then contact you to arrange a discussion, either in person or by phone on how to move forward from there. The scheme reaches around 5,000 people in 40 venues across North Yorkshire, and so you will be in good company! Click HERE to have a look
As You Like It
As the classic 90s song by Chumbawamba eloquently puts it, the best thing to do when knocked down is to, simply, get back up again. As most will know our first live streamed show was hindered by Storm Gertrude and her decision to pick, and win, a fight with our satellite, but that will not stop us! Our first live streamed show is in only two weeks time and is the classic Shakespeare comedy As You Like It, which promises to be a cracker. With 5 star reviews across the board and a fantastic ensemble cast, we are particularly excited about this one. You can buy tickets HERE and we will also include a trailer, as we always do, because they are always fantastic. Enjoy the trailer and also enjoy trying to get ‘Tubthumping’ out of your head for the rest of the day…
Love Birds
Although this technically is in March and could have been included a little later, with it being the time for love it seemed totally appropriate! Using a Pinch Pot technique, you can create your own set of lovebirds – perhaps the perfect Valentines present?! There are two sessions to join, either from 10am-1pm or 2-5pm, both on Friday 11th March. Tickets can be bought HERE so go on and treat someone or even yourself – they/you have earned it I am sure!
This brings us to the end of this weeks post. We hope you have a fantastic weekend and remember, whatever happens, here at Rural Review we will always love you for reading our blog (bleeurgh – too cheesy wasn’t it?) We will see you next week for another Rural Review!
