Major headliners have been announced for the University of Warwick’s three-day Resonate 2022 spring festival finale to mark the close of Coventry’s UK City of Culture – and it is all free.
Gavin & Stacey co-creator and best-selling author Ruth Jones, former Cabinet minister and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Ed Balls, award-winning crime writer Mark Billingham, poet and playwright Lemn Sissay and Amazon adventurer, travel writer and film maker Pip Stewart will appear as part of the festival line-up.
Resonate 2022, which runs from April 19 to 21 at the University of Warwick campus in Coventry, includes more than 70 free events with performances, talks, films, comedy, drop-in activities, games and a family day.
It will also feature the authors of two acclaimed debut books: novelist Annie Garthwaite who will be discussing the feminist reading of her War of the Roses historical drama Cecily; and award-winning poet and history teacher Jaspreet Kaur talking about her agenda-setting Brown Girl Like Me, part-memoir, part-empowering manifesto for South Asian women and girls.
Highlights of the Family Fun Day on Wednesday, April 20 are set to include a circus workshop by international festival favourites Flying Seagull and Fartology! by science communicator Stefan Gates - a noisy, smelly and naughty family science show exploring guts, gasses … and the world’s loudest fart machine.
A wide range of events and activities will range from James Campbell’s stand-up comedy show for kids, to Celebrating Languages – which includes t-shirt and biscuit decorating, plus a taster lesson in Mandarin – and a climate change creative workshop.
Mark Billingham, best known for his Tom Thorne crime novels, will be running a free crime writing masterclass on April 19 at The Oculus 0.03 Lecture Theatre on campus from 5pm-6pm; former Warwick graduate Ruth Jones, who studied a degree in Theatre Studies and Dramatic Arts, will be discussing her life and work at Warwick Arts Centre on April 19 between 6pm and 7.30pm and Lemn Sissay will be talking about his extraordinary life growing up in care and his 2019 biography, My Name is Why, at Warwick Arts Centre on April 20 from 6pm-7.30pm.
Ex-politician Ed Balls, now a Professor of Political Economy at King’s College London and a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, will be talking about Appetite, his autobiography which is also part cook book at The Oculus 1.05 Lecture Theatre, on April 21 from 7.30pm-8.30pm.
Pip Stewart’s Life Lesson from the Amazon on Tuesday, April 19 is a guide to life based on her epic world-first paddle expedition through the jungle at The Oculus 1.05 Lecture Theatre. Michael Scott, TV broadcaster and University of Warwick Professor of Classics and Ancient History, will be asking Was Fake News a Problem in Ancient Athens? on April 21 at The Oculus – 0.03 Lecture Theatre from 6pm-7pm.
As well as talks there will be comedy, film screenings and performances including a special composition by John Altman, the BAFTA-winning film composer of Hear my Song and Monty Python’s Life of Brian at The Oculus 0.03 Lecture Theatre on April 20 from 1.30pm-2.30pm and Concrete Cinema, a night-time outdoor film projection onto the Engineering Building featuring new installations by artists looking at Coventry’s buildings and architecture, is taking place on April 19 from 8.30pm to 10pm.
A Comedy Night on April 20 at Warwick Arts Centre from 9pm-11pm, features four of the best on the circuit – Ivo Graham, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Marlon Davies and Louise Young; on the same night is Rewind, a performance based on the experience of South American refugees by immigrant led physical theatre company Ephemeral Ensemble, at Studio Theatre 2, Faculty of Arts, between 6.30pm and 8pm.
Remaking Hamlet, a workshop on April 21 led by Shakespeare academic Dr Ronan Hatful and Zoe Templeman-Young, director of the critically-acclaimed Young Vic’s 2021 Hamlet, starring Cush Jumbo, will practically explore how recent adaptations, including the RSC’s 2016 production starring Paapa Essiedu, have reframed Shakespeare’s play for 21st century audiences. It will take place at Studio Theatre 1 in the Faculty of Arts from 6.30pm-8pm.
Helen Wheatley, Professor of Film & Television Studies and Festival Director of Resonate, Warwick Institute of Engagement’s City of Culture programme, said: “As a culmination of Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture, we wanted to put together an exciting, diverse and varied programme for local communities across Coventry and Warwickshire with some very special guest headliners.
“Over three days we will be revisiting many of the projects, partners and connections which have been developed over a full 12 months of roadshows showcasing the best of research from University of Warwick’s staff and students based in each of the university's faculties with a whole host of regional and national partners, collaborators, performers, artists and community groups.
“Resonate launched last May with a mix of live and virtual events as we were coming out of a national lockdown following the Covid-19 pandemic. It seemed only fitting to end with a wholly live line-up encompassing the arts, sciences and humanities; performances, talks and public conversations, exhibitions, film screenings, walking tours, activities and so much more.”
For further details and free booking registration information visit https://www.resonatefestival.co.uk/whats-on-campus-festival