THE Theatre by the Lake's summer season of in-house productions is already under way, but a new programme of visiting works and guest performers has now been announced.

The Keswick venue's list of music, talks, films and drama performances between July 2018 and January 2019 features a wide variety of shows to suit all tastes, and also features a new co-production and UK premiere of Sharr White’s thriller The Other Place, from November 1 to 10.

Particular musical highlights include two leading folk bands: the Urban Folk Quartet visit on July 8, bringing their high-energy genre-defying acoustic music set; and they are closely followed on July 15 by the multi-award winning Scottish band Breabach, who won Folk Band of the Year at the Scots Trad Awards.
Breabach

Theatre by the Lake will also see the welcome return of Ruby Turner to the Main House on September 30, following her unavoidable cancellation earlier this year. Ruby began her stellar musical career back in the 1980s, touring with Culture Club and then launched a successful solo career with soul, jazz and R'n'B hits such as I’d Rather Go Blind and It’s Gonna Be Alright.

Brass and swing enthusiasts will be tempted by The London Swing Orchestra on July 29, and the Reg Vardy Band on September 2.

Established musical favourites the Keswick Music Society, who will be celebrating their 71st season, are again running a series of classical concerts beginning with Septura Brass Septet on September 23.

Also thrown into the mix is new film and special fundraising event, Making Noise Quietly on July 1. A delicate, witty and poetic tryptic of stories about the effects of war, the theatre is hosting this exclusive screening of director Dominic Dromgoole’s film, plus holding a special post-show discussion with him.

The Royal Geographical Society are once again taking the audience on an unusual journey with a talk by Wainwright Prize-winner Hugh Thomson in One Man and a Mule on July 22 about his journey hiking in England with his trusty pack mule.
One Man and a Mule

Following this on September 16 is the Ocean Film Festival World Tour, bringing the most amazing seafaring adventures to the big screen.

The theatre will stage Keswick Peace and Human Rights Society’s The Vote: 1918, which documents the struggles of women’s suffrage in a four-person drama on August 19, and the Lakeland Dialect Society present Throo T’ Yat on October 7, including a series of sketches and stories, keeping the unique speech of the county alive.

It is followed by Stroke Odysseys on October 12, an ambitious piece of dance theatre performed by stroke survivors and supported by professional dancers, singers and musicians.

Conrad Lynch, artistic director at Theatre by the Lake, says: "We’ve thoroughly enjoyed programming this range of visiting work, and as always delight in welcoming new artists, returning companies and hosting local societies and drama groups.

"We work very hard to select a broad range of genres that complement our home-produced summer season."

The Other Place, in November, is set to be a big highlight in the programme. Directed by Claire van Kampen, a celebrated director, composer and playwright in her own right, the show promises to be a dazzlingly clever psychological thriller.

Bookings for all shows in the new programme can be made online at www.theatrebythelake.com and at the venue's box office.