Cumbria Fest At Theatre By The Lake Keswick Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jo Hardy

Theatre by the Lake is committed to supporting local creative talent at all stages and Cumbria Fest is a showcase for this running from 29th Oct to 2nd Nov there is a huge range of things going on in all areas of the theatre, premieres of complete plays, rehearsed readings of new plays, writing workshops, local poets and some northern comedians.

The theatre is going to packed full of talent and creativity and I’m sure that like last year there will be lots of creative connections made and ideas shared.

The ticketing is rather complicated some events are free, day or evening passes can be purchased which permit entry to a selection of events or individual tickets are offered for some events, prices start at £5 for one event or full day passes at £22 and evening passes at £13 and there are reduced prices for under 26, I recommend having a look at the at a glance quick guide on the website to see what is on offer, a day or night pass is a good way of dipping into something new.
theatrebythelake.com

I was lucky enough to attend the first night of the fest, it started with an informal gathering in the spotlight bar where I got to chat with a lovely lady who would be doing one of the rehearsed readings later in the week and one of the comedians who was performing later that evening.

The first event was “The Other Neville” a one woman show inspired by the life Tracey Neville the netball legend. Written and performed by Imogen Greenwood the performance was full of humour, passion, love and a little sadness the show runs for 65 minutes but was so captivating I felt like it was over in ten minutes, as someone who has never been involved or interested in any sport it gave me a real sense of how sport gets into a person and becomes part of them.

The second event of the evening was the “Big Fish Comedy Club” the very funny Steph Bradshaw presented four comedians from Cumbria, I had no idea that we had so much local talent they all told jokes everyone could relate to, I don’t think it was just because of the Cumbrian connection, apart from maybe “Booths” and the “Pencil Museum“ which would only be understood by locals, not one joke fell flat everyone was laughing from start to finish and we all left with big smiles on our faces.

A comedy club is another first for me I always worried that I wouldn’t understand the jokes but after tonight’s show I will definitely be looking out for the next one.

This has been the best night out I’ve had for ages.

I hope Cumbria Fest is something that Theatre by the Lake can build on year after year and continue to support and grow all the talent we have in Cumbria.

The whole event has been part funded by the governments “shared prosperity fund”.

Rating: 5/5