| When: Wednesday 18th Sep 2024 @ 2.30pm |
| Where: Electric Palace |
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Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors – and looters – alike. In her new novel Victoria Hislop shines a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people, and countries, will pay to cling on to them. She says: ‘I have been down a long and exciting path to write The Figurine. I admired the beauty of the Cycladic figurine for many years and began to understand what a huge influence they had on 20th century art. I also began to realise that their beauty has an irresistible and seductive power and wanted to write about the crime that such beauty and antiquity can drive people to. My story is set during the period of the Junta, an army dictatorship that committed many crimes, effectively robbing people of their lives and driving others into exile. To me there seemed to be a striking parallel. I hope readers will be pulled into this period of history, and the question of where something, or someone, really belongs.’ Victoria Hislop in conversation with Sally Laverack Copies of The Figurine can be purchased in paperback with a 10% discount prior to the event, from The Bookshop, South Street, Bridport. Become a friend. -
WAYNE SLEEP is undoubtedly one of our nation’s treasures – a legendary dancer and entertainer. In his memoire: JUST DIFFERENT, Wayne looks back on the extraordinary times he has lived through. In spite of dancing with ballet legends Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, partying with Freddie Mercury and dancing with Princess Diana, who became a close friend, Wayne Sleep has always felt like an outsider. Behind the glitz and glamour, he reveals the difficulties for a working-class, gay man in handling the prejudices of his generation and living through the Aids epidemic. In conversation with writer and broadcaster, Natalie Wheen Wayne Sleep will convey the many moving and laugh-out-loud stories and gossip on his way to success, fulfilment and love. Become a friend.When: Wednesday 20th Nov 2024 @ 2.30pm Where: Electric Palace -
Will Hutton - This Time No Mistakes - How to Remake Britain
In what has been a year of upheaval and challenge, with a General Election and new British Government, journalist and academic Will Hutton sets out a clear analysis of where both the left and the right have gone wrong over the course of the last century and how we can now rebuild a new, better Britain. Hutton discusses the consequences of past failures and a future based on change. Obligations to a wider society are all taken into account by making capitalism work and ensuring that environment is supported by research and education.
in conversation with Howard Davies Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Sunday 3rd November 2024 @ 12 noon Where: Electric Palace Sponsor: Buffy Sacher -
Giles Milton - The Stalin Affair - The Impossible Alliance that Won the War
In the summer of 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, shattering what Stalin had considered an ironclad partnership with the Fuhrer. The Allied reaction was twofold: delight that there was now a second front, and fear the Red Army would be defeated. In the wake of the Nazi invasion, writer and historian, Giles Milton, explores how a select team of British and Americans, by befriending Stalin, could keep the fraught Allied alliance on track and forge a path to victory.
in conversation with Barney White-Spunner Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Sunday 3rd November 2024 @ 2.00pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsor: Tim and Sara Clarke -
John Lewis-Stempel - England - A Major Natural History in 12 Habitats
John Lewis-Stempel’s magnum opus is a five year project that offers an intimate account of the landscapes that define England. Described by The Times as ‘Britain’s finest living nature writer’ he weaves a tapestry of distinctive habitats which together create a country unique for its rich diversity of flora and fauna. Immersing himself in twelve quintessential places, he explores each for their singular atmosphere: the feel of the winter wind; the sounds of daybreak; the solace of twilight. In beautiful prose, and detailed wildlife observation, Lewis-Stempel captures the essence of England. an illustrated talk Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Sunday 3rd November 2024 @ 4.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Rob and Alex Appleby -
Dame Harriet Walter - She Speaks - Shakespeare’s Women
Dame Harriet Walter is celebrated as a stage and film actress as well as more recently for her television portrayals in Succession and Killing Eve. Having played most of Shakespeare’s female characters, in her new book She Speaks, Harriet audaciously reads between the lines and lets these female characters speak their minds. Sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly, and with brilliant insight, she imagines what Lady Macbeth, Gertrude, Cleopatra, Juliet and Ophelia were really thinking and reveals that Shakespeare is very much a man for all times as well as his time. in conversation with Sophy Roberts Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Sunday 3rd November 2024 @ 6.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Robert and Diana Clarke | Symonds & Sampson Estate Agents -
Damien Lewis - SAS Daggers Drawn - The Mavericks Who Made the SAS
In the summer of 1944, the SAS were charged with the most crucial D-Day missions, taking on the might of the Nazi Reich deep behind the enemy lines. Facing Hitler’s armoured legions with little more than raw courage, it would take maverick thinking and unconventional warfare to survive and overcome. Theirs was to become a bitter struggle to topple the dark power wielded from Berlin. SAS Daggers Drawn is the latest in WWII historian, Damien Lewis’s series covering the wartime exploits of the SAS and his powerful celebration of the daring-do of these renegade soldiers.
Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Friday 8th November 2024 @ 10.00 am Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Nick Pearson -
Carol Klein - Hortobiography
Carol Klein is one of Britain’s best loved horticulturists, and for decades gardening has been at the heart of her extraordinary life. From her childhood adventures in Manchester to her first experiments in plantswomanship at Glebe Cottage, and from training as an artist and a teacher, and then finding an entirely unexpected career as one of Britain’s best known broadcasters, in this long awaited memoir Carol tells the story of the people, places and plants that have shaped her life. in conversation with Sally LaverackWhen: Friday 8th November 2024 @ 12 noon Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: John and Maggie Mills -
Geoffrey Wheatcroft - Bloody Panico! - Or, Whatever Happened to The Tory Party?
Leading political commentator, Geoffrey Wheatcroft, argues that the Tory Party has not only faced the loss of government but also an existential crisis. Having been the most electorally successful party in the history of modern Europe – it has been in power for 85 of the past 135 years – it has now sunk almost into oblivion! So what went wrong? In Bloody Panico!, Wheatcroft charts not just the collapse of the party but its shattering to its foundations. Beyond the pantomime of Boris, Truss and the managerial dullness of Sunak, the fabric of the party is frayed. This could see them cast into the political wilderness for decades.
in conversation with Oliver Letwin Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Friday 8th November 2024 @ 2.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Sue Bradbury | Barry Mawhinney -
Lindsey Hilsum - I Brought the War With Me - Stories and Poetry from the Front Line
Lindsey Hilsum, Award Winning Channel 4 News International Editor, has put together a unique and remarkable collection of memories of 40 years of reporting from war zones, together with poems she has set aside from all over the world. In nearly four decades as a journalist covering conflict from Palestine to Kosovo to Rwanda, Lindsey has always carried a book of poetry with her. It helps her make sense of the senseless as the world around her rages and remember those she has met in the darkest of times. in conversation with Prue Keely Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Friday 8th November 2024 @ 4.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Carol Hammick and Adam Tindall -
Liam Fox - The Coming Storm - Why Water Will Write the 21st Century
With Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine, the world is gripped by concerns over energy security. Yet, there is an even greater threat ahead – one that is much more likely to shape the events of the 21st century than competition for oil or gas. A combination of an ever-increasing global population, climate change, industrialisation, urbanisation and limited natural resources means that one difficulty will shape the years ahead – water. Liam Fox tells the story of water and the problems it presents in a more complete way than ever before. The Coming Storm unites a range of concerns. in conversation with John Dean Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Friday 8th November 2024 @ 6.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Johnnie and Sophie Boden -
Andrew Pierce - Finding Margaret - Solving the Mystery of my Birth Mother
Approaching fifty, journalist and broadcaster, Andrew Pierce, tells the moving story about his search for his birth mother. He had lived in an orphanage in Cheltenham for more than two years until his adoption by a loving family who nurtured him. As his career flourished and despite feeling a sense of betrayal to his adoptive parents, Pierce tentatively began to search for his biological mother, only to find that she had done everything she could to ensure he would never find her. Finding Margaret is a heartwarming and candid tale of both heartbreak and reconciliation. in conversation with Gill Pyrah Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Saturday 9th November 2024 @ 10.00 am Where: Electric Palace -
Daisy Goodwin - Diva
In the glittering and ruthlessly competitive world of opera, Maria Callas is known simply as La Divina: the divine one. With her glorious voice and instinctive flair for the dramatic, she was the toast of the grandest international opera houses. Raised in Nazi-occupied Greece by an exploitative mother, her rise to fame came at a price. Daisy Goodwin brings to life a woman with extraordinary talent, unremitting drive and natural chic that made her a legend. By confronting the heartbreak of losing her lover Onassis to Jacqueline Kennedy, Callas found her true voice. in conversation with Georgina Moore Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Saturday 9th November 2024 @ 12 noon Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Emma Farquharson -
SOLD OUT - Patrick Grant - Less - Stop Buying So Much Rubbish. How Having Fewer, Better Things Can Make Us Happier
Clothes are important. They define who we are, impact our mood and influence how people think of us. Last year 100 billion garments were made worldwide, most workers paid virtually nothing and 70% from plastic textiles made from oils that do not not recycle. Less is Patrick Grant’s passionate and revealing book about loving clothes but hating how they are made. Judge of the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee, he considers the crisis in the global fashion industry and how to set it right. in conversation with Helen Stiles Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Saturday 9th November 2024 @ 2.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Angela and David Neuberger -
SOLD OUT - Bettany Hughes - The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The names still echo down the ages: The Great Pyramid of Giza, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Temple of Artemis, The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, The Colossus at Rhodes, The Lighthouse of Alexandria – The Seven Wonders of the World were staggeringly audacious and brilliant impositions on our planet. Award winning historian, author and broadcaster, Bettany Hughes gives us a thrilling narrative enriched with the latest archaeological discoveries and takes us on a journey through the landscapes of both ancient and modern time to explore traces of the Wonders themselves. an illustrated talk Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Saturday 9th November 2024 @ 4.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Alastair and Susanne Cooper Francesca Radcliffe -
Simon Russell Beale - A Piece of Work - Playing Shakespeare and Other Stories
One of the nation’s finest and most beloved actors, Simon Russell Beale relates his life through a career playing Shakespeare. Ever since his appearance at school as a glamorous Desdemona, complete with false eyelashes, he has been captivated by the Bard. In A Piece of Work, Beale tries to get under the skin of the playwright and find out what interested him. Was Shakespeare an instinctive ‘conservative’ or, rather, gently subversive? Funny and touching about his own family and early life, Beale writes about the parallels with some Shakespeare characters as well as sharing his thoughts about the creative people he counts as friends. in conversation with Jo Willett Priority booking - Become a Friend - Contact TIC Bridport to book tickets - 01308 424901When: Saturday 9th November 2024 @ 6.00 pm Where: Electric Palace Sponsored by: Liz and Richard Strang