Wednesday 22 July 1pm
Back by popular demand!
It’s time to have real fun with your little one(s). Join us for a jazz concert with excellent musicians - Katie Bradley and Mick Bishop in a relaxed environment. Playpen out, babies welcome, comfortable chairs for feeding all around. It’s jazz for adults with babies!
Sunday July 5
12-4pm
t's this time of the year! Right after solstice, somewhere between the heatwaves and shortly after our twins have been on earth for 7 months, we are about to turn 2 years old! Which is
WOW
It's been a year full of wonder and joy, surprises and love, friends and collaborations. We can't wait to take you on more adventures with our programme getting new tentacles reaching beyond Folkestone's borders and into lands as far as our home countries.
We hope you'll join us on our new journey into year 3 and to help us grow - take part in many birthday activities which can support our venue.
Running an arts centre (still self-funded at this point) is not an easy peasy venture, or shall we say, it can be precarious most of the time. Every kind of support helps us immensely. Every donation is a step towards a more sustainable future.
If you'd like what we do and want to help us fund kollectiv future - click HERE to donate to our 2nd year fundraiser.
We learn, we grow, we keep creating. Join us Sunday 5th July to celebrate kollectiv together. We can't wait to see you there!
Thursday July 2
7PM
Join artist Elodie Merland in conversation about her new solo show at kollectiv - Beyond Borders. Find out how the exhibition came together and peak behind the scene of Elodie’s numerous performances traced of which you can still find in Folkestone.
Beyond Borders is a project developed through a decade-long artistic dialogue between Folkestone (UK) and Dunkirk (France). This project reflects on how artistic relationships form, evolve and endure across national, linguistic and cultural borders.
Positioned between two coastal cities facing each other across the Channel, the project brings together video, photography, and performance produced between 2016 and 2026. Anchored in language and gesture, these works explore what quietly persists between places, moments of silence, absence and attention, allowing personal experience to open onto shared, resonant space.
Sunday 28 June 4pm
Join us for a performance by artist Elodie Merland as part of her solo show at kollectiv - Beyond Borders.
Beyond Borders is a project developed through a decade-long artistic dialogue between Folkestone (UK) and Dunkirk (France). This project reflects on how artistic relationships form, evolve and endure across national, linguistic and cultural borders.
Positioned between two coastal cities facing each other across the Channel, the project brings together video, photography, and performance produced between 2016 and 2026. Anchored in language and gesture, these works explore what quietly persists between places, moments of silence, absence and attention, allowing personal experience to open onto shared, resonant space.
Thursday 25 June 6pm
Join us for an informal and friendly evening with our new Artist of the Month: Deborah Crofts.
Folkestone artist, Deborah Crofts, predominantly uses inks and watercolours.
She graduated in a BA Fine Art at UEL in 1996; practiced art at the Bow Arts Trust, London; and relocated to Kent in 2006. She takes inspiration from the natural world and approaches creativity as on-going experimentation, including acts of 'spontaneous painting', holding onto fleeting moments and a love of nature. Exhibitions include: Folkestone Museum; Folkestone Art Gallery; Pie Factory in Margate; Devon’s House Gallery, St Katharine Docks, London; Candid Arts Trust, Islington; and the Nunnery Gallery, East London.
Talk by Monica Feria-Tinta
Thursday 9th July 7pm (doors 6.30pm)
Can a planet have legal rights? Could it be defended in a court of law? How do we redefine a ‘right to life’? A revolution is taking place. Around the world, ordinary people are turning to courts, seeking justice for environmental wrongs and nature protection: rivers, forests, endangered species. Monica Feria-Tinta, barrister and author of the critically acclaimed book A Barrister for the Earth explores these ideas in this talk. Join the discussion on novel efforts to protect the Earth and the diversity of life. Described as a book that is "radically rethinking our way of inhabiting the Earth”, A Barrister for the Earth was finalist for the Westminster Book Awards.
The book was named to Forbes Magazine's list of selected climate books to read for 2026 in December 2025, and is now being developed into a TV legal drama by Eleventh Hour Films, a Sony-owned production company.
Monica Feria-Tinta is an award-winning barrister and the author of the critically acclaimed book A Barrister for the Earth, referred to as ‘a vital book for our times’. Monica acted in the seminal Rights of Nature case Los Cedros - a world precedent on an eco-centric approach to nature protection, and on landmark climate cases globally. Her work has contributed to systemic changes addressing climate change and the protection of the natural world. Monica was a ‘Barrister of the Year’ finalist at The Lawyer Awards 2025, Woman of the Year at the Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2025, and The Times’ first “Lawyer of the Week” in 2025. She has been referred to as 'one of Britain's most dazzling legal minds’ and her work has been featured in The Times, The Guardian, Prospect Magazine, Vogue, Vanity Fair Italia, and BBC Radio 3 (Private Passions) and 4 (Start the Week).
Friday 26 June
7PM for 7:30PM Start
An intimate film screening and discussion with filmmakers Sharon Burrell and Darren Lee Murphy
Join us at Kollectiv for an exclusive evening of tantalising insights into the making of two very different but very sexy short films.
The Folkestone Ladies’ Erotic Fiction Club, written and produced by Sharon with Darren as Intimacy Coordinator, is a comedy drama following the adventures of three women who find their writing unleashes hidden desires.
Glitched, written by Sharon and Darren (who also directed the film), is a sci-fi comedy about two lonely hearts seeking comfort in the arms of an eager-to-please robot.
The evening will include a screening of both films, followed by a discussion and Q&A with Ben Barton, Director of the Folkestone Film Festival.
Please note that both films have been rated certificate 15 by Folkestone & Hythe District Council and contain sexually explicit language / scenes of a sexual nature.
Poems on all subjects are welcome, whether your own work or a favourite poet.
Our May open mic was dazzling, with humour, love, deep emotion, all shared to an enthralled gathering, proving Wordsworth's comment below to be true.
Performance slots are up to 5 minutes. Or just come to listen.
£5 on the door.
Please arrive promptly at 7pm
We run a weekly writing workshop keeping our ticket prices low to encourage as many people as possible to participate. We’ve been meeting for over a year, accepting new writers every week.
The group has been described as ‘life changing’ and ‘the best thing in Folkestone’ by some of the participants. We strive to make sure all voices are heard and the group keeps its intimate and friendly atmosphere.
Tuesday 23 June
The session will open with short presentations from four local artists, each of whom will share their recent and current work.
Hettie Judah then takes a seat at the centre for an open, hour-long conversation, taking questions about the art world, about her work, about navigating a creative life. Bring whatever's on your mind.
Afterwards, we invite you to stay for a drink and a chat. Hettie will also be selling and signing copies of her new book, How to Enter the Art World …After — a myth-busting guide for artists whose lives are complicated and human.
"Vital guidance for all artists. Empowering, encouraging and enlightening." — Robert Diament, Talk Art
About HettieJudah:
HettieJudah is a writer and curator. She is a regular contributor to The Guardian, Frieze and The Times Literary Supplement, and writes a monthly column for Apollo magazine. Between 2016 and 2024 she was the chief art critic for the British daily newspaper The i. She was the curator of the acclaimed Hayward Gallery touring exhibition Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood.
Join our Life Drawing Club — a welcoming, inspiring space dedicated to the timeless practice of drawing from life. Whether you are a professional artist, an art student, or simply passionate about figure drawing, this salon offers a relaxed and creative environment to develop your skills and connect with fellow artists.
Each session features a nude model with a variety of dynamic poses, from quick gesture sketches to longer, focused studies. Our aim is to create a supportive community where artists of all levels feel encouraged to experiment, grow, and share ideas.
Bring your own materials and enjoy an atmosphere of concentration, creativity, and artistic exchange. This is more than just a class — it’s a gathering of people who love drawing and value the beauty of observing the human form.
Come draw, connect, and be inspired.
Join us for the wonderful evening of words straight from the pens of Folkestone's new talent. A selection of writing from our weekly workshop with pieces up to 5 minutes each. Support your local voices. Meet new people. And who knows? Maybe you'll get inspired and join us next time?
6:00 - 8:00
Dive into a magical world of words and pictures. Comics Kollectiv is a monthly book club focused on graphic novels. From heartbreaking memoirs to stoner comedies and superhero classics, each month we’ll explore unique stories and colorful characters told through this exciting medium (which is obviously the best medium).
Expect lively discussions, fresh perspectives, and something to drink (cold or hot). Whether you’re a longtime graphic novel fan or just curious about the medium, this is a place to get inspired, challenge your imagination, and connect with others who love stories told in panels and ink.
Curated by local illustrators and comics writers, Navied Mahdavian (This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America) and Ben Gore (imagined matter; Hip Hop Cocktails), meetings will be a mixture of conversation and doodling (we’ll doodle, but you can join if you’d like).
Come for the books. Stay for the conversations. Leave seeing stories differently.
Ages 13 and up.
Books can be bought at our local comics shop, Lighthouse Comics for a 20% discount. Shop local, please.
José Navarro-Silberstein
The Latin American Piano
Music from Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil
Eduardo Caba - Aires Indios I, IV, IX
Marvin Sandi - Ritmos Panteísticos Op. 1b
1. …de la roca
2. …de la luz
3. …de la luna
4. …del sexo
Alberto Ginastera - Suite de Danzas Criollas, Op. 15
1. Adagietto pianissimo
2. Allegro rustico
3. Allegretto cantabile
4. Calmo e poetico
5. Scherzando – Coda: Presto ed energico
Marvin Sandi - En Memoria a Caba, Op. 1b
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) – Ciclo brasileiro W. 374
1. Plantio do caboclo
2. Impresses seresteiras
3. Festa no sertão
4. Dança do indio branco
__________________________________________________________
José Navarro-Silberstein is a Bolivian pianist who has captivated audiences across more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America.
Navarro-Silberstein has distinguished himself in major competitions, winning prizes at the Anton Rubinstein Piano Competition, the Tbilisi International Piano Competition, the International Competition Young Academy Award and the Claudio Arrau International Piano Competition. He was a finalist at the Eppan Piano Academy and the prestigious 63rd Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition.
He has performed in renowned venues in Brussels, Hamamatsu, New York, Santander, Utrecht, Vienna, and many others and has appeared as a soloist with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra, and La Paz Symphony Orchestra. As a passionate chamber musician, he has worked with leading performers of his generation, and has formed the Trio Silberstein, for which he won a special prize at the Martha Debelli Chamber Music Competition in Graz.
His debut album, Vibrant Rhythms, released by GENUIN Classics, has garnered international acclaim, receiving praise from BBC Music Magazine, Pizzicato, PianoNews, Interlude, and many others. The album was awarded the Supersonic Award by Pizzicato and nominated for the ICMA 2024.
José is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Masurka Concerts, a forward-thinking concert platform based in Cologne which reimagines the concert experience by fostering a closer connection between young performers and audiences through creative ensemble collaborations.
He has given masterclasses and workshops at the Manhattan School of Music, Third Street Music Settlement, Rutgers University, the Eppan Piano Academy, La Paz and Sucre Conservatories and the Santa Cruz Fine Arts College.
Beyond his life as a pianist, he has a passion for literature, visual arts and electronic music, which continue to shape his artistic sensibilities and inspire his approach to performance and interpretation.
31 May SUNDAY
6PM
Join us for a unique electronic music experience: Yorkshire-based composer James Adrian Brown and Sulk Rooms is coming to Folkestone this May.
The music of Sulk Rooms draws the link between euphoric electronica and smoke engulfed drones. Slow-morphing textures sequence and cascade, encapsulating intimate moments of colliding sound amongst fluttering arpeggios and transcending synth builds.
A predominant soundtrack artist included in many of Adam Curtis’ groundbreaking BBC documentaries as well as scoring BBC true crime series, Netflix features and Prada commercials, Sulk Rooms is part of Domino Publishing’s prestigious composer roster.
Atmospheric music for the head alongside the heart, Sulk Rooms' music captures spontaneous audio mirages and saturated imperfections within a crushing backdrop of low end and harmonic ferocity.
Electric soundscapes and rising techno map Sulk Rooms; universe where panoramic pulses fuel adrenaline charged synths to feelings of both wonder and unease.
“Sulk Rooms summons slow moving and portentous drones that feel both elemental and diffuse” - Wire Magazine
“Ephemeral, elusive and gloriously unsettling” - Electronic Sound Magazine
Instagram / YouTube / Bluesky - @sulkrooms
Bandcamp - thomasragsdalemusic.bandcamp.com
James Adrian Brown is the former lead guitarist of the alternative rock band Pulled Apart By Horses. After achieving chart success, touring the world, and releasing four critically acclaimed studio albums with PABH, James has begun paving a new path in instrumental electronic music and composition.
Brown’s solo work is heavily electronica-based, utilising analogue synths alongside tape machines, piano, strings, and immersive ambient atmospherics. His focus lies in the analogue process of capturing and creating sound using physical hardware.
He has received support from the likes of Gideon Coe on BBC 6 Music and Chris Hawkins, who championed him for creating “massive electronic soundscapes in a Mogwai kind of world.”
James was also featured on BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified by host Elizabeth Alker.
MONDAY 18 May
7PM
Join us in the ultimate celebration of the new writing talent.
Writers from our Monday group reunite to share their new work with you. Prepare yourself for a fun, moving, witty, and altogether entertaining evening with short pieces read to you by local talent.
And who knows? Maybe next time you’ll join them yourself!
SATURDAY 16 MAY 7PM
We are delighted that our next Desert Island Art guest is David Alderman - who is also Artist of the Month in May at kollectiv.
David is one of the best known 'faces' around the Creative Quarter. A fine artist known for his distinctive geometric shapes and patterns, his work is well-demonstrated by his magnificent mural in kollectiv. He is constantly looking to develop and alter his practice, and although his work can vary a great deal, it always bears a distinctive Alderman touch.
The originator of the very successful Artists and Creatives WhatsApp Group - which now has 309 members - David has a well-earned reputation as someone who is ready to go out of his way to help his community without quibbling.
This will be a unique opportunity to learn more about someone you may have thought you knew well!
Chaired by Andrew Ward
This is one of our favourite events at kollectiv!
World-renowned novelist and music amateur, Michel Faber shares a selection tracks from his varied record collection - some obscure, some unbelievable, some never to be heard again. Each piece is accompanied by a story stranger than fiction.
Join this listening experience where strangers are brought together through music.
It’s a fun evening where you will be mesmerised.
We are delighted to be joined by two titans of British Jazz for our next Jazz at kollectiv session, taking place in the midst of Music and May.
Steve Lodder is a pianist, synth player, composer, producer, teacher and author. Renowned for his expressive style as a pianist, composer and arranger, Steve has long been an important figure of the British jazz scene. With a creative approach to genre and innovation, his work has taken him from solo albums to incredible collaborations such as ARQ (the Alison Rayner Quintet), and earned him a respected place on the modern jazz landscape. Steve has also collaborated with Paul McCartney, John Harle, Elvis Costello and Brazilian singer Mônica Vasconcelos as well as with our own Carol Grimes. His latest album is '2 Sorts of 3' features Dudley Phillips,Freddie Jensen, on various basses, and Nic France,Marius Rodrigues on drums
Mark Lockheart is one of the most distinctive and creative musicians on the current British music scene. As a saxophonist and composer, his work often defies categorisation and crosses the boundaries of the jazz, new music and folk worlds. 'Lockheart is a consummate saxophonist and a original and versatile composer', The Rough Guide to Jazz tells us. Mark toured extensively with Django Bates' Delightful Precipice, performing at many international festivals including Berlin, Molde and Willisau, and recording with jazz, folk and pop artists June Tabor, Billy Jenkins, Stereolab, Jah Wobble, Robert Wyatt, Prefab Sprout, Don Um Romao ,Thomas Dolby, and more recently Anja Garbarek and Radiohead. Mark's latest album, Shapeshifter, with Huw V Williams, Double Bass, and Jay Davis, was released in March this year.
We’re sharing paints and pints at this bubbly social art night <3
Paint anything or anyone you want but just know your friends will get a hold of your canvas too!
We will create overlapping artworks in this beginner’s session – no experience needed. Come join the KOLABORATION!
All our events have vegan options available at the bar.
Our next Poets’ Corner poetry open mic is on Wednesday 13th May and the evening is all about poetry as stories. Our theme is ‘Let me tell you a story’. We invite you to share poems that tell a true or fictional story on any subject. It could be about you or an incident in your life, about Folkestone or a more exotic setting – or purely the product of your imagination.
As ever, performance slots are up to 5 minutes, you can sign up on the night and all are welcome.
Join our Life Drawing Club — a welcoming, inspiring space dedicated to the timeless practice of drawing from life. Whether you are a professional artist, an art student, or simply passionate about figure drawing, this salon offers a relaxed and creative environment to develop your skills and connect with fellow artists.
Each session features a nude model with a variety of dynamic poses, from quick gesture sketches to longer, focused studies. Our aim is to create a supportive community where artists of all levels feel encouraged to experiment, grow, and share ideas.
Bring your own materials and enjoy an atmosphere of concentration, creativity, and artistic exchange. This is more than just a class — it’s a gathering of people who love drawing and value the beauty of observing the human form.
Come draw, connect, and be inspired.
Join our Life Drawing Club — a welcoming, inspiring space dedicated to the timeless practice of drawing from life. Whether you are a professional artist, an art student, or simply passionate about figure drawing, this salon offers a relaxed and creative environment to develop your skills and connect with fellow artists.
Each session features a nude model with a variety of dynamic poses, from quick gesture sketches to longer, focused studies. Our aim is to create a supportive community where artists of all levels feel encouraged to experiment, grow, and share ideas.
Bring your own materials and enjoy an atmosphere of concentration, creativity, and artistic exchange. This is more than just a class — it’s a gathering of people who love drawing and value the beauty of observing the human form.
Come draw, connect, and be inspired.
Join our Life Drawing Club — a welcoming, inspiring space dedicated to the timeless practice of drawing from life. Whether you are a professional artist, an art student, or simply passionate about figure drawing, this salon offers a relaxed and creative environment to develop your skills and connect with fellow artists.
Each session features a nude model with a variety of dynamic poses, from quick gesture sketches to longer, focused studies. Our aim is to create a supportive community where artists of all levels feel encouraged to experiment, grow, and share ideas.
Bring your own materials and enjoy an atmosphere of concentration, creativity, and artistic exchange. This is more than just a class — it’s a gathering of people who love drawing and value the beauty of observing the human form.
Come draw, connect, and be inspired.
Dive into a magical world of words and pictures. Comics Kollectiv is a monthly book club focused on graphic novels. From heartbreaking memoirs to stoner comedies and superhero classics, each month we’ll explore unique stories and colourful characters told through this exciting medium (which is obviously the best medium).
This month the graphic novel of choice is Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls - An astonishing, deeply moving graphic memoir about three generations of Chinese women, exploring love, grief, exile, and identity.
Expect lively discussions, fresh perspectives, and something to drink (cold or hot). Whether you’re a longtime graphic novel fan or just curious about the medium, this is a place to get inspired, challenge your imagination, and connect with others who love stories told in panels and ink.
Curated by local illustrators and comics writers, Navied Mahdavian (This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America) and Ben Gore (imagined matter; Hip Hop Cocktails), meetings will be a mixture of conversation and doodling (we’ll doodle, but you can join if you’d like).
Come for the books. Stay for the conversations. Leave seeing stories differently.
Vagabond is a punk stand-up show like no other, from the mind of the bloke-core geezer-bird who brought you Saints and Skinners (2025).
Dyke Skinner talks imaginary friends, bad behaviour and his sordid love affair with cocaine and tramadol in his second ever stand-up special. Nestled between uppers and downers and beaten down by a country that doesn’t care if he lives or dies, Dyke found his feet through non-traditional means and lived to tell the tale.
This May, see the experimental, mind bending, gut busting comedy show Vagabond, and remember…the path to enlightenment is a backroad.
Please note, you must be 18 years or older to attend this show.
Standard tickets £10
Package tickets £45 (Limited edition)
There are 10 package tickets up for grabs.
Purchase of a package ticket includes:
1 ticket to Vagabond valid 22nd May 2026
1 yellow carrier wallet with Vagabond decal
1 print of ‘Vagazine’, the official Vagabond magazine with exclusive never before seen photos and writing
1 pin badge ‘The Vadge’
1 large sticker
The ‘Corporate Bullshit’ Vag tie
1 hand stitched and mounted ‘Tooth and Nail’ cross stitch by Dyke Skinner
1 ‘Tooth and Nail’ keepsake bag
A one time download link for Saints & Skinners the film
Welcome to Alex Boughton’s third Chat Show. In this new series, Alex regularly features a variety of fantastic local guests in a light-hearted evening of chat and comedy. Alex is a Folkestone-based comedian with a love of conversation and hosting others to bring out the best in them. Every month we are introduced to a new selection of Folkestone’s finest personalities.
In conversation for an hour or so, you’re cordially invited to come along, grab a drink and sit back while Alex gets to know our guests and shines a light on their latest projects.
This month’s guests representing Folkestone's fantastic community events organisers:
Toby Cotton - Organiser of Folkestone’s “Most Wuthering Heights Day Ever”
Cath Mison - Organiser of Folkestone Trawler Race
Brigitte Orasiniski - Artistic Director of Strange Cargo
Got a question for our guests? Come along and ask them in person!
Friday, June 19th at 7:00pm - kollectiv
Jazz for Babies ... and their mums and dads IS BACK!
With Katie Bradley (vocals and harmonica) and Mick Bishop (piano).
We are delighted that the wonderful Katie Bradley and the superb Mick Bishop are coming to kollectiv to sing songs we all know for babies and their mums and dads. Crying and screaming are allowed and mums and dads can listen to some great musicians do their stuff without worrying about the noises off from their wee ones. There will even be opportunities for everyone to take part and sing along. Do join us - it will be great fun - for everyone!
Thursday May 14 - 7:00pm
kollectiv Film Club presents
Drawn from Life
Animated documentaries inspired by the lives of the people around us
Featuring filmmakers Marcus Armitage and Jessica Ashman in conversation with local producer and Director of Animate Projects, Abigail Addison.
Made in the UK, these 14 short films celebrate the intimate and the epic - reflecting the lives of the people around us. Thought provoking and inspiring, using a variety of animation styles, the works shine a light on the creativity of filmmaking in the UK today.
1. Follow The Dogs - Directed by Isabel Garrett (6.5 minutes)
2. Jeremy, my Father - Directed by Miranda Peyton Jones (8 minutes)
3. Pripyat Horse - Directed by Sally Pearce (2 minutes)
4. DAWTA - Directed by Jessica Ashman (7 minutes)
5. That Yorkshire Sound - Directed by Marcus Leonard Armitage (2.5 minutes)
6. On Hannah Fields - Directed by Lewis Heriz (3 minutes)
7. Departing - Directed by Mary Martins (7 minutes)
8. Green Lung - Directed by Simon Hamlyn (3 minutes)
9. And Granny Would Dance - Directed by Maryam Mohajer (10 minutes)
10. Regarding Gardens - Directed by Carolina Melis (2 minutes)
11. I'm OK - Directed by Elizabeth Hobbs (6 minutes)
12. Cesspit of Freedom - Directed by Oran O'Sullivan (2 minutes)
13. A Taste For Music - Directed by Jordan Antonowicz-Behnan (5 minutes)
14. Visible Mending - Directed by Samantha Moore (8.5 minutes).
Dates: 1 May 2026
Time: 7pm
Tickets:: £10 donation. All profit to go to DIFID & USAID.
During the first years of the Iraq War [2003 - 2011], playwright Adrian Page and director Matthew Hahn created 'ripped from the headlines' theatre, driven by contempt for the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ leaders whose drive to war was on the basis of dubious and misleading intelligence.
With a heavy heart - but little surprise - we find ourselves in a not dissimilar moment today. Once again, the language of urgency, fear and moral certainty dominates political discourse. Against this backdrop, Hahn returns to the work that first gave voice to these concerns remounting a selection of the most relevant pieces of subVERSE.
Press from 2006:
'In its critique of the modern political and social landscape, subVERSE renders oft-used critical superlatives like "brilliant" and "remarkable" hollow.'
*****British Theatre Guide
‘Hip, engaging, hard hitting and thought provoking, the key to subVERSE is that each show explores the human consequences of current world events…These writers are asking their audiences to think about the world they live in and they are not afraid to take risks.’
Writer's Net
'This is a cracking piece of political theatre, which is both hard hitting and thought provoking. The acting from all members of the cast is superb... This is political satire as it should be'
***** Edinburgh Fringe bible Three Weeks
Statements warning of imminent nuclear threats, coupled with inflammatory characterisations of entire nations, echo earlier justifications for war. And although UK leadership is much more wary this time around [‘I will be with you, whatever,’ said British Prime Minister (and War Criminal) Tony Blair], the drumbeats of war are never far off. The parallels between then and now extend beyond policy into ideology. Bush once described the “War on Terror” as a “crusade,” invoking a troubling fusion of politics and religious framing. Today, similarly charged narratives persist, with some voices casting geopolitical conflict in explicitly theological terms [“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy” says Pete Hegseth( and wanna-be War Criminal), US Secretary of Defence] portraying it as part of a divine plan, or framing political leaders as chosen instruments of prophecy.
Profits from ticket sales will be split between the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office [formerly DFID, the Department for International Development] and United States Agency for International Development [USAID] to help offset their recent swingeing cuts [in the UK] and the closure [in the US] due to shifting political priorities under Keir Starmer and Donald Trump:
The UK reduced its aid spending from 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to 0.5% in 2021, a cut of roughly £4–5 billion annually, with only partial restoration since. These sharp drops in education (−58%) and nutrition (−73%) contributed to humanitarian impacts such as estimates that up to 1.5 million more people in sub-Saharan Africa facing hunger, while also forcing project cancellations and reducing long-term development work, weakening the country’s global influence and reputation as a leading donor.
The Trump administration shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2025.
Against this backdrop, subVERSE aims to provide a supplementary funding stream to support international development efforts in the US & UK and help stabilize resources for critical global programmes. By directly supporting these agencies, subVERSE hopes to amplify the absurdity and short sightedness of both progammes' cuts and the vital role they both play to safeguard global progress against political and economic uncertainty.
Matthew Wilsher (clarinet) and Morgan Hayes (piano)
For our second Sunday Morning Music concert, we are delighted to welcome clarinettist Matthew Wilshire and pianist Morgan Hayes, an old friend of Folkestone, who will be performing a lovely programme of duos and solos.
Matthew Wilsher is a highly versatile clarinettist who has performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Contemporary Orchestra and the Philharmonia, and has appeared in leading venues such as Wigmore Hall, the Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
A graduate and double fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, Matthew is committed to reimagining how performance can connect, challenge and inspire. In particular, Matthew is passionate about shaping opera in innovative and accessible ways. He is principal clarinet of Dorset Opera Festival, Devon Opera and Waterperry Opera, and works regularly with English Touring Opera, Birmingham Opera and Tête à Tête. As a founding member of the charity Hold the Drama, he performs non-verbal musical shows across the UK, and collaborates widely on education and outreach projects with English National Opera, The Mozartists and the London Sinfonietta.
Morgan Hayes
Morgan Hayes is Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy and is a much-loved figure in classical music. His compositions have been described as 'sexy'. 'brilliant' and as having an 'unusually wide expressive range'. The Telegraph critic's review of his 2005 BBC Proms commission 'Strip' said that he wanted 'to hear the piece again, there and then'.
Morgan is also a superb and deeply sensitive pianist, and is in that guise Morgan is with us this morning.
Shakespeare unleashed. Not dusty. Not homework. Hilarious. Welcoming. Cranked to 11. It rocks. Feel the fire. Catch the glow.
Featuring: Jack Klaff
Biographies:
Jack Klaff
Jack’s first movie rôle was in Star Wars. His first television gig was an episode of The Sweeney, which also featured Morecambe and Wise. And his London stage debut, involving some fairly wild sex scenes, led—oddly enough—to long seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
When people ask Jack what makes him “tick”, he often talks about his father, who ran a watch-making business in Johannesburg. In the early 1960s Jack’s Dad repaired Nelson Mandela’s watch. It was on that watch that Mandela counted out the minutes, hours, days and years of his sentence.
On screen, most recently Klaff appeared as Flathead Jackson in The English with Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer, directed by Hugo Blick, and as Mr Leonard in Guy Ritchie’s gangster thriller Mobland. He has more than 200 other television credits including leading roles in Vanity Fair (BBC), Sherlock Holmes, Ruth Rendell’s Road Rage, Midsomer Murders, Freddie and Max, Miners' Strike and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, as well as adaptations of several of his own works. Alongside Mariella Frostrup he was also a regular advocate on BBC Four’s Battle of the Books, with James Naughtie in the chair.
Among Klaff’s films, apart from Star Wars, have been For Your Eyes Only, King David, Pasternak, 1871, Ten Pence, Threat, Dogma Hearing, Anxious and Astorga’s Magapolis Z. He was also the voice of Orson Welles in a documentary directed by Mark Cousins.
Klaff has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other leading classical theatre companies, playing tragic heroes, villains and comic figures alike. His roles have included Orleans and Clarence in Henry VI, Orlando in As You Like It, Iago in Othello, Polonius and Claudius in two successive productions of Hamlet, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Macbeth—five times.
Other theatrical roles have included Foppington, Trigorin, Kreon, Atahuallpa, Gulliver, Bohr in Copenhagen, Orson Welles in Around the World, and Michael Mansfield QC in Stockwell.
Jack has written and performed twenty one-man shows and written extensively for stage, radio and television. On radio he has played Quasimodo, Oscar Wilde, Elgar and others (winning two Sony Silver Certificates), and has read two BBC Radio 4 Books of the Week: Last Resort and Tokyo Vice.
As a writer and director his work has included Letters Alone, What’s Inside, The Shakespeare Revue (West End), Screaming Secrets, Maxim Shostakovitch (HBO/Granada), Acid Test and Reconstructed Heart. He has also written and performed for Bremner, Bird and Fortune.
For more than a decade Jack worked with Intelligence Squared as Head of Science and the Arts, and has taught or presented at institutions and festivals around the world including Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Imperial College and the Cheltenham Festivals. He gave a TEDx talk at the European Parliament and has held four visiting professorships at Princeton. He was Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Starlab in Brussels (1998–2002) and remains connected with its present incarnation in Barcelona.
His awards include two Fringe Firsts, the Jack Hargreaves Award for innovative television drama, a Lustrum Award for Special Moments, a Sea Bream Award for Science and Art writing, and the Herald Archangel Award for lifetime achievement.
Matthew Hahn
Matthew Hahn is an international theatre director, playwright and theatre for development facilitator, post-graduate with experience of creating, coordinating and implementing theatre projects in the United Kingdom, the United States, East & Southern Africa. He is the Artistic Director of the Folkestone Performing Arts Company (fpac.info), a theatre company that celebrates local stories, shared creativity & innovation that is vibrant, relevant and rooted in the lives of the people who live across southeast Kent. With over 20 years of experience as a theatre director and theatre for development practitioner in working with communities in struggle, he has co-created interactive and participatory international theatre projects focusing on developing and enabling young people, social cohesion, peace-making and conflict resolution in the Global South & North. He is a drama facilitator and trustee at Most Mira, a charity which uses applied arts to help to build bridges between divided communities in Bosnia. His first play, The Robben Island Shakespeare, has been performed in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa; he regularly facilitates 'Ethical Leadership’ Workshops based on his interviews with former South African political prisoners and selections from ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.’ Matthew has degrees in Political Science & Journalism from Indiana University in the United States and is a graduate of the Goldsmiths College Masters in Theatre Directing programme in the United Kingdom. He trained with the SITI Company in New York and with Anne Bogart in Dublin, Ireland. He has also trained with the Cardboard Citizens Theatre Company in London in their Forum Theatre / Joker Training Programme. As an artist and social activist, he is drawn to complex political opportunities that allow him to utilize his skills as a theatre director, writer and facilitator to further developmental goals. For more information about work, please visit www.matthewhahn.org.uk.
This powerful work of fiction reimagines the harrowing true story of two young men who survived the Anfal genocide in Iraqi Kurdistan. Based on the author's extensive documentary research and testimonies collected during his time with Human Rights Watch (1992–1994), the novel follows their separate escapes from Saddam Hussein's killing fields and their eventual journeys to America. It is a profound story of luck, pluck, perseverance, and the complex, split-soul lives of first-generation immigrants.
According to Lyse Doucet, the BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Joost Hiltermann "colourfully reimagines a forgotten story that once shaped our times in an ambitious quilt of compelling tales, cleverly brought together with a novelist's skill, a scholar's depth, and the empathy of a journalist."
Joost Hiltermann is a Dutch researcher and writer. He was the Programme Director for the Middle East & North Africa at the International Crisis Group and previously worked at Human Rights Watch. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His writing has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The London Review of Books, and Foreign Affairs. He is the author of two non-fiction books, A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja(Cambridge, 2007) and Behind the Intifada: Labor and Women's Movements in the Occupied Territories (Princeton, 1991). The Resurrected is his debut novel.
Dive into a magical world of words and pictures. Comics Kollectiv is a monthly book club focused on graphic novels. From heartbreaking memoirs to stoner comedies and superhero classics, each month we’ll explore unique stories and colourful characters told through this exciting medium (which is obviously the best medium).
Expect lively discussions, fresh perspectives, and something to drink (cold or hot). Whether you’re a longtime graphic novel fan or just curious about the medium, this is a place to get inspired, challenge your imagination, and connect with others who love stories told in panels and ink.
Curated by local illustrators and comics writers, Navied Mahdavian (This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America) and Ben Gore (imagined matter; Hip Hop Cocktails), meetings will be a mixture of conversation and doodling (we’ll doodle, but you can join if you’d like).
Come for the books. Stay for the conversations. Leave seeing stories differently.
Ages 13 and up.
Books can be bought at our local comics shop, Lighthouse Comics for a 20% discount. Shop local, please.
Calendar:
April: Monica by Daniel Clowes
May: Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls
June: Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
July: Palestine by Joe Sacco
August: Making Comics by Lynda Barry
September: Acting Class by Nick Drnaso
October: Bad Gateway by Simon Hanselmann
November: Red Son by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson
December: Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? / Talking to my Father’s Ghost by Roz Chast and Alex Krokus
January: Black Hole by Charles Burns
February: Diary of a Teenage Girl by Phoebe Gloeckner
March: Watchmen by Alan Moore
Join our Life Drawing Club — a welcoming, inspiring space dedicated to the timeless practice of drawing from life. Whether you are a professional artist, an art student, or simply passionate about figure drawing, this salon offers a relaxed and creative environment to develop your skills and connect with fellow artists.
Each session features a nude model with a variety of dynamic poses, from quick gesture sketches to longer, focused studies. Our aim is to create a supportive community where artists of all levels feel encouraged to experiment, grow, and share ideas.
Bring your own materials and enjoy an atmosphere of concentration, creativity, and artistic exchange. This is more than just a class — it’s a gathering of people who love drawing and value the beauty of observing the human form.
Come draw, connect, and be inspired.
The Club meets fortnightly for 2 hours, starting on Tuesday 31st of March, 7:00-9:00 at kollectiv. The fee for each fortnightly session is £12.
How to Make your Garden Grow - more naturally!
Wilding your garden, allotment, back yard or window box!
Mel has managed countryside and coastal areas for 40 years. Hear Ideas to make your private spaces more inviting for wild plants and animals.
In our land, under constant human disturbance and development, do you bit to help wildlife by offering a nature refuge and creating more connectivity between nature friendly areas.
Great Britain has approximately 2.37 million acres of residential gardens that’s about 960,000 hectares. That’s a great resource to help nature!
Bring your photos and share your own successes!
featuring Katie and Joseph Beton (with Iskra and Moon)
Desert Island Discs is one of the most successful formats in broadcasting history - where the guests reveal more about themselves through their selection of eight tracks than they would have ever thought possible!
Well, this being Folkestone we want to pursue the same end but through a different means. Our guests are asked to choose eight works of visual art - as well as the obligatory favourite book and a luxury. The art works will be shown and discussed by the guests and the chair - and the audience too if they so wish. It will all be light-hearted and fun but surprising illuminating as well!
As is only fit and proper, the first Desert Island Arts Guests are Katie and Joseph Beton (accompanied by Iskra and Moon).
Chaired by Andrew Ward
Tom Bright - who Guy Garvey describes as the 'excellent Tom Bright' - is a relentlessly touring songwriter whose songs land with emotional weight and unvarnished honesty. 2025 saw him make his third television appearance on BBC One’s Sunday Morning Live, serenade thousands at his fifth Glastonbury Festival, and have sell out shows across the UK and beyond. He has collaborated with The The, earned continued support from tastemakers Guy Garvey and John Kennedy and spent two years on Spotify’s Most Beautiful Songs in the World playlist with 'If I Met Your Shadow’.
In May last year, Tom released ‘Young Old Bloke’, a collection of early songs produced by Mick Jones (The Clash) and Dirty White. He has three previous albums — all produced by Ed Harcourt.
Away from the stage, his story is just as remarkable: once the UK’s youngest pub landlord, with a childhood marked by multiple life-saving surgeries.
Born in Rome but artistically reborn in London, Lilla Shy is captivating hearts with her ethereal vocals and beautifully honest songwriting.
Following the release of her self-produced debut album ‘Layers’ in September 2024, Lilla has toured the UK and Europe. Highlights-to-date include supporting Matteo Bocelli at The London Palladium, performing at BBC Introducing Live, selling out her debut headline show at The Troubadour, and appearing on the line-up at Glastonbury Festival 2025.
Weekend magazine described 'Layers' as 'a mesmerising fusion of electro-pop and indie-rock, bound together by her rich, dynamic vocal range and natural flair for introspective, heartfelt lyricism'.
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