The 50th edition of the Brighton Festival will feature Laurie Anderson as Guest Director.
The programme for this year’s festival will take inspiration from Anderson’s work to bring an eclectic programme to the seaside town taking in music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, literature and debate. There will be two exclusive performance from Beth Orton while choreographer and dancer Akram Khan’s new full-length production Until The Lions will be presented. The festival will also play host to the world premiere of a global collaborative piece by Turner Prize-winning artist Gillian Wearing.
Laurie Anderson’s events will include the UK premire of Music for Dogs, a concert specially designed for the ears of our furry friends as well as a screening of her new film Heart of a Dog. She will also present a new performance monologue about place and places called Slideshow. The festival will feature too the UK premiere of Lou Reed Drones, an installation of Lou Reed’s guitars and amps in feedback mode. Anderson says it is “kind of as close to Lou’s music as we can get these days”.
“I’m so happy to be serving as Guest Director of Brighton Festival in its historic 50th year,” says Laurie Anderson. “I’ve been part of the Festival several times and it is so big and sprawling and exciting and there’s so many different things going on – it really has a kind of celebratory, crazy, art party feel to it. And I love the theme of home and place. It is especially relevant with so many people in the world on the move now looking, like all of us, for a place we can belong. Maybe because I’m a working musician and often on the road, the idea of home is pretty appealing to me. It’s also a great idea for a festival – trying to find out who and where you are. See you there!”
There is lots more to check out too on this year’s packed line-up. Brighton Festival takes place across multiple Brighton venues from May 7-29. For more information and to get tickets, click here.
