Out & About Summer 2019

There’s a sunny season of arts in prospect with a swathe of colour from French master Matisse, Shakespeare on the streets, opera in an idyllic country house setting and some singalong Cole Porter in arts editor TRISH LEE’s pick for this summer. For arts news and reviews, see N2 each week in the Newbury Weekly News Pick of the ARTS

The Master of Collage Matisse: Drawing with Scissors The Base, Greenham June 8 to June 30 www.cornexchangenew.com

Matisse said he was never truly expressing himself until he started to work with collage. This summer show at The Base, Greenham, a Hayward Gallery Touring exhibition from London’s Southbank Centre, features late works of Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and 35 posthumous prints of the famous cut-outs he produced in the last four years of his life, when he was confined to his bed. It includes many of his iconic images, including The Snail and the Blue Nudes , created with just paper, gouache and a pair of scissors. The French painter, sculptor and designer was one of the 20th century’s most influential artists, whose vibrant works are celebrated for their extraordinary richness and luminosity of colour and his spectacular paper cut-outs were his final triumph. Open Wednesday to Sunday 10am-5pm (last entry 4pm). Advance tickets £7.50 (£9 on the door) concessions available. Henri Matisse, Végétaux (Vegetation), 1952. Lithographic reproduction (1958), 46.7 x 57.7cm. © Succession H. Matisse/ DACS 2019.

Shakespeare goes walkabout Creation Theatre The Tempest July 19 to August 15 www.creationtheatre.co.uk Shakespeare’s The Tempest takes to the streets of Oxford this summer as the masters of site specific productions, Creation Theatre, bring back the hugely popular format of their previous memorable sell-out summer productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream . In small groups, the audience will gather in a secret location and discover the scenes and characters of The Tempest in the last places you’d expect to find them. Could Ariel be bobbing by on that boat or Prospero serving us in this coffee shop? This immersive and interactive way of storytelling brings classic texts to life in true imaginative Creation style.

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O&A SUMMER 2019