Find out what’s on in South Wales this week
It may have been international women’s day on Sun 8 March, but that isn’t stopping anyone from carrying on the celebrations past the 24 hour mark. The Riverfront will be enjoying International Women’s Day (Newport, Mon 9, 7pm. Tickets: £1) a day late with a showcase of local and national female performers. There will be dance, live music, film screenings and spoken word shows. The line-up includes the Bella Bella Dance School and the award winning artist/poet/rapper TrueMendous.
Art will also be taking on the issues of International Women’s Day as Concentric (M.A.D.E. Gallery, Roath, Cardiff, Wed 11-Sat 21 Mar. Admission: free) addresses issues of womanhood and femininity in society. Local female artists will be showcasing their work in all sorts of mediums: from fine art to knitting.
Film meets theatre this week as Mary Bijou Cabaret brings back Hitch (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, Thurs 12 March; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Thurs 19 March; Various venues in Wales in April. Tickets: £10-£14 / £5-£12 conc). This Alfred Hitchcock inspired cabaret show will see a stern singing housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, a tightrope walking vertigo sufferer and a Chinese pole performer fending off bird attack.
There will be more movie inspired shows as Edward Scissorhands (Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Tues 10-Sat 14 Mar. Tickets: £17 – £35 / £42 premium packages) dances onto the stage at the Wales Millennium Centre. Award winning choreographer, Matthew Bourne, will be re-enchanting the fairytale in this beautiful ballet.
If you prefer you protagonists a little less clean cut then Long Live The Little Knife (Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon, Tue 10 Mar; Y Ffwrnes, Llanelli, Wed 11 Mar; Pontardawe Arts Centre, Thu 12 Mar; The Riverfront, Newport, Fri 13 Mar. Tickets: £8.50-£10) might be right up your ally. Married couple Liz and Jim are extremely proud of their businesses: selling counterfeit bags. They find themselves in debt, however, after they get embroiled in a turf war over vintage handbags and decide the only way to get the money in time is to branch out and become the world’s greatest art forgers. The only problem being that neither can paint.
There will be some classics on in Cardiff as Clwyd Theatr Cymru’s Hamlet (New Theatre, Cardiff, Tues 10-Sat 14 Mar. Tickets: £8.50-£26 / £5-£22.50 conc). The company will showcase the finest in Welsh acting talent in this revenge fuelled thriller of murder, mystery and madness. So, to see or not to see?
There will be plenty of drama off-stage as well, as the Six Nations continue. The next match, Wales vs. Ireland (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Sat 14 Mar, 2.30pm. Tickets: sold out), might be sold out but there will be plenty of places to catch the scene on screen.
From heart pounding sports to blood pumping music, as Fabio Monesi (Monkey Bar, Swansea, Sat 14 Mar. Tickets: £10/£8) hits Swansea. The Italian dance artist is pretty unflappably true-skool in his approach, playing on vinyl only and mining the rich histories of New Jersey and Chicago, and is the first headliner for new club night Rhigol.
There will be some more chilled out tunes as four-time Grammy nominee Steven Wilson (St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Fri 13 Mar, 7.30pm. Tickets: £22.50-£32.50) comes our way on a tour to promote his fourth solo album: Hand Cannot Erase.
And, for something completely different, you can always have a go at some Butchery, Bacon And Beer (St Cattwg’s Village Hall, Llanmaes, Cowbridge, Sun 15 Mar. Tickets: £135). Organised by Food Adeventure – but ran by Illtud Llyr Dunsford, founder of the award-winning Charcutier Ltd – the day will be a demonstration of butchery skills such as carving a pork middle into various cuts and learning the basics of making your own bacon. Post-butchery there will be a chance to relax with some craft beer kindly donated by The Celt Experience.
words JENNIFER MAGUY