Find out what’s on in South Wales this week
The Welsh Open Snooker Championship (Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Mon 16 Feb–Sun 22 Feb. Tickets: £9.65-£45.50) is underway this week and will be welcoming 128 leading player’s to battle it out for the top prize of £60,000. Last year saw the Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan, thrash Chinese player, Ding Junhui, with a spectacular 147 break in the final frame.
If media related arts if your penchant, then make sure to head over to the Ffresh Film Festival (Cardiff University, Sunday 22 Feb. Tickets: £10.00/free for students from Aberystwyth University, Bangor University, University of South Wales or Cardiff University). Dedicated to celebrating exciting new media talent from artists across Wales, the UK and abroad, Ffresh is the UK’s longest running student media festival. The festival will be hosting an impressive line-up, including Hinterland director Marc Evans, numerous BAFTA Cymru award winners, and even a showcasing of short documentaries from ourselves at Buzz.
Fan of rugby? Or theatre? Or both? Then make sure to catch Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage (Venues across Wales from Thu 19 Feb-Sat 28 March. Tickets: £6.00-£25.00)– the story of Welsh rugby talisman, Gareth Thomas and the battle he faced under mounting pressure to come out with his sexuality. Given that prominent gay men in sport were effectively non-existent in 2001, the production focuses on the terrifying ordeal that Thomas faced when The Sun newspaper threatened to reveal his secret the night before the biggest game of the season, Wales vs. England in the Six Nations.
If you’re a fan of free-flowing, hard-hitting lyrics then make sure to get down to Sin City, Swansea this week, where Sink will be playing host to the Newham Generals and MC Big Narstie (Sat 21 Feb. Tickets: £10.00) in what is set to be a big night for grime music.
If the arts are your preferred field, then get down to the closing weekend of Artes Mundi (National Museum, Cardiff; Ffotogallery, Penarth; Butetown History and Arts Centre, Fri 20 Feb-Sun 22 Feb) this week. The grand finale will see the a performance piece from Carlos Bunga, a “last chance lock in” in Ffotogallery’s Turner House Gallery, and a screening of Renzo Marten’s seminal film, Episode III: Enjoy Poverty.
If you like classical as much as me, then you’re in for a treat this week. The Philharmonia Orchestra (St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Friday 20 Feb. Tickets: £5.00-£42.00), led by Esa Pekka Salonen, will be performing a programme of comprised of Ravel and Stravinsky.
Other classic’s being given a new lease of life will be a Shakespearean one. Did you ever go and see a production of The Tempest and think to yourself ‘but what happened next?’…no, me neither, but theatre companies Uninvited Guests and Fuel have. The Last Tempest (Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Tues 17 Feb. Tickets: £6-£12) picks up where the brilliant Bard left off, with Caliban and Ariel left alone on a magical island and they retell the famous play from their own perspectives.
Another intense choice would be courtroom (or more accurately jury room) thriller Twelve Angry Men (New Theatre, Cardiff, Tues 17-Sat 21 Feb. Tickets: £9.50- £30.50 / £6-£25 conc). Once a three-time Academy Award nominated film, the story of Twelve Angry Men follows the tence debates that take place as an all-white, all-male jury are debating the fate of a black 16-year-old defendant who is on trial murder.
For those who enjoy a bit of dark humour, and are perhaps not so easily offended, then look no further than the latest stand-up show from ‘self-styled German Comedy Ambassador’ Henning Wehn’s Eins, Zwei, DIY (The Riverfront, Newport, Sat 21 Feb. Tickets: £15.00-£16.00).
If you’re one of those that can never resist the temptation of pushing the red button (in whatever form it may come in) then head over to Porter’s this week where ‘The Other Room’ will make Porter’s the first pub theatre in Cardiff. The first season will feature a series of shows centred on the theme of ‘Life In Close Up’, with the opening production titled Blasted (Porter’s, Cardiff, Sat 17 Feb-Tue 7 March. Tickets: £10.00-£12.00).
words DAN MULLER