Stage: Adrian Bunting Comedy Benefit
Comedy stars join forces for one night to raise funds for writer’s dying wish. Andrew Kay mourns the loss of Adrian Bunting, one of Brighton’s greatest characters & theatrical minds.
I first met Adrian Bunting after seeing him in his show about Tom Sawyer. It was a brilliant performance, a beautifully conceived and well written piece and a totally captivating performance. I remember him so well, sitting on the edge of the stage, swinging his legs and puffing on a clay pipe and after the show drinking with him. It was the first of many drinks we shared over the years. He was a remarkable man, a doer in a world where too many people sit around and plan but never actually realise those plans.
He was generous too and his Zincbar offered many opportunities for the writers and performers of the next generation, many of whom have gone on to achieve success in their fields. I was later honoured when he asked me to design some publicity for him, a show that saw him playing a gin-soaked Victorian scallywag with collaborator Clea. It was another fun production that showed off his twinkling stage presence to the full. But that twinkle went beyond performance, it was always there and on every occasion that we met I would leave with a smile on my face, hope in my heart and usually a few drinks in my belly.
When he asked me to review Kemble’s Riot I knew I was in for a great evening, sadly not with him on stage but this time creating a piece of theatre that took audience participation to a new level. I loved it and gave it five stars, a thought that stays with me now as I give him five enormous and glittering stars for a life lived to the full and to full effect.
As recently as April this year Adrian was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He died on Saturday 11 May at the age of just 47. Knowing he had just weeks to live, Adrian spent the last month of his life putting together plans for an open-air theatre in the city’s Dyke Road Park. A guiding light in Brighton’s arts scene, creator of the legendary performance platform Zincbar and winner of the Best Play at Brighton Festival 2011 for Kemble’s Riot, Adrian believed passionately in the power of theatre.
Brighton Open Air Theatre (Boat) will be his lasting legacy and Adrian bequeathed a large sum of money to help fund the project. On Sunday 16 June a group of Adrian’s associates, who also happen to be some of the biggest names in UK comedy, gather at Brighton Dome to stage a benefit as a tribute to their friend and to raise funds to help ensure that his dying wish becomes a reality.
The line-up comprises Stewart Lee, Mark Thomas, Tim Vine, Joanna Neary, Simon Evans and Susan Murray. They will join forces to present an evening of comedy and laughter in memory of a man who contributed so much to the artistic landscape of the city he loved.
A Comedy Benefit for Adrian Bunting Memorial Fund
Brighton Dome, Sunday 16 June, 8pm, £20/15
01273 709709, tickets@brightondome.org, www.brightondome.org
