2016 DATES AT THE CAFE ROYAL

2016 DATES AT THE CAFÉ ROYAL

Along with our friends A Curious Invitation, we have curated a series of talks on London Theatre in celebration of the Oliviers.  They take place in the gorgeous club room of the historic Café Royal in the heart of London theatre land and each ticket includes a glass of prossecco.

Coming up we have;

5th April 2016 - Geoffrey Marsh on DAVID BOWIE - Geoffrey Marsh, curator of the recent blockbuster David Bowie exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, will look at the star's early years in Soho and describe how this most unique and chameleon like of characters emerged out of the culture of the district around the Cafe Royal.

3rd May 2016 - Peter Berthoud on LONDON SPECTACULARS - London historian Peter Berthoud pulls back the curtain on the stories of the curious and sometimes bizarre forms of entertainment that were once part of London life. From Georgian rock music to a singing mouse, aquatic dramas to gigantic panoramas and all sorts of street based oddities.

14th June 2016 - Brian Robinson on LAURENCE OLIVIER - Brian Robinson, film archivist and historian at the British film institute, examines the life and distinguished career of one of Britain's greatest actors. 

12th July 2016 - Jude Kelly on JOAN LITTLEWOOD - Jude Kelly, the artistic director of London's Southbank, reveals an intimate, detailed portrayal of British Theatre's favourite rebel and her legacy.

13th September 2016 - LIFE WITH HAROLD PINTER - Times theatre critic, Benedict Nightingale in conversation with Antonia Fraser as they discuss modern literature's most celebrated and enduring marriage with fascinating glimpses into Pinter and Fraser's creativity and their illustrious circle of friends from the literary, political and theatrical world.

11th Ocotboer 2016 - Neil McKenna on OSCAR WILDENeil Mckenna, award-winning journalist and writer, charts Oscar’s astonishing erotic odyssey through Victorian London’s sexual underworld. 

8th November 2016 - Ian Kelly on SAMUEL FOOTE - Award-winning historian Ian Kelly tells the story of the Samuel Foot, the first victim of celebrity culture, and offers a joyous hop around the mad theatre of London life - high and low.

For further information on individual events click on the red text above or here: http://antiquebeat.co.uk/events 

THE CAFÉ ROYAL

In 1863, a French wine merchant called Daniel Nicholas Thévenon and his wife arrived in England in a bid to escape the clutches of creditors in Paris. So began a story that grew out of bankruptcy and culminated in the creation of Regent Street’s Café Royal: a truly remarkable and original establishment with what was considered at one point to have the greatest wine cellar in the world and was reputed for its excellent hospitality, dining and entertainment. 

Frequented by writers and artists such as Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley, the conversations, inspirations and discussions at ‘The Café’ were profound. Arthur Conan Doyle, H G Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Rudyard Kipling, W B Yeats, Walter Sickert and James McNeill Whistler were all patrons. Distinguished figures such as Winston Churchill, Augustus John, D H Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Noël Coward, Jacob Epstein and Graham Greene were also often seen.

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