Patricia Routledge: Facing The Music, Weston-super-Mare
She might be most familiar to casual observers as the woman who bought insufferable suburban henpecker Hyacinth Bucket so convincingly to life, but the character Patricia Routledge has referred to as “the dreaded monster” is only a brief chapter in a surprisingly lively and varied story. For a start, Routledge won an Olivier award for her performance in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide and a Tony award on Broadway for her turn in Darling Of The Day. She’s regularly worked with Alan Bennett and he has written several roles specifically for her. And who could forget the high-octane thrills and spills of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates? This evening – which will see her talking about her life and times with broadcaster Edward Seckerson – mainly concentrates on her musical theatre work. So don’t expect a homage to Hyacinth, but do expect to be surprised at the breadth and depth of a quietly remarkable career.
The Playhouse Theatre, Sun; touring to 18 Oct
PH
Edinburgh food festival
In the run-up to the Edinburgh festival, cultural types clearly can’t be expected to function without a continuous supply of artisan breads and street-food stalls. While amply providing these, the inaugural Edinburgh food festival thankfully promises far more. Its talks – all free – raise vital questions about health, class and sustainability, from Common Good Food’s Mags Hall discussing human rights and food poverty in Britain (Wed), to Slow Food Edinburgh’s provocatively titled debate, Organic Food Is An Ill-Affordable Gimmick (Thu). Independent producers making their case include Ursula Fearn (2 Aug), a heritage-apple campaigner who sells her own crunchy crop from a former police box, and Scotland’s answer to David and Ruth Archer, David and Wilma Finlay (Fri). Their company Cream O’ Galloway produces dairy products with waste-generated electricity, allows calves to remain with their mothers, and proves that non-intensive farming can pay dividends.
George Square Gardens, Wed to 2 Aug
CB
London Thinks – The Science And Ethics Of Doctor Who, London
Simon Guerrier, a writer of Doctor Who spin-off novels, and Dr Marek Kukula, an astronomer and dedicated Whovian, recently collaborated on a book called The Scientific Secrets Of Doctor Who, a “mind-bending blend of story and science” that delved into the ethics of mixing modern science and warfare, both in the Doctor Who universe, and in our own. Among the programme’s plotlines up for scrunity is that of the Time War, a cataclysmic conflict that sees all of existence threatened, a disaster the Doctor has the chance to avert, but only at the cost of killing two entire races, including over 2.47 billion children. Here the pair discuss, among other moral quandaries found in the show, whether he is entitled to do so. This talk looks to provide an insight into the ethics of modern warfare while keeping things fairly light-hearted via the occasional foray into the good Doctor’s world.
Conway Hall, WC1, Wed
OK-L
