From the Editor: Tuesday 2nd May

I’ve lived in Brighton for nearly seven years and the Dome has played a large part in nurturing my love for the arts, so I’m proud to introduce our definitive Festival round-up on page five. We have various writers singing the praises of a lively cultural melange, such as Andrew Connal on classical, Victoria Nangle on spoken word and comedy, and my thoughts on the contemporary music programme. The personal touches help to illuminate things you might have missed from the brochure, or to offer a different take on a concert that might turn your head.

I’ve written before about how welcome Tempest’s approach is to genuinely bring art to more people in a “social, not elitist” fashion (bit.ly/2p0BKBF). Although we often hear similar sentiments in the arts, the Pay-It-Forward scheme (a member of the public can pay £5 towards a ticket, which the Festival matches to provide a £10 ticket to someone unable to afford it) is a practical example of welcoming more people to shows, and I hope a lot of people will partake.

At the risk of sounding too listicley in the wrong space for it, here are the shows that particularly stand out to me:
For the Birds, Five Short Blasts, Collisions, Chineke! Orchestra, Under The Skin, Swan Lake, Kate Tempest with Mica Levi & Orchestrate, London Symphony Orchestra, The Unfilmables, Benjamin Appl (if you see one show, make it this stunning baritone), Belem, The Gabriels, Les Talens Lyriques, Tristan & Yseult, This Bright Field, Circa, Alke Quartet, Mykki Blanco, Glyndebourne Young Artists and Britten Sinfonia. Phew!

The sheer breadth of what’s on offer in the Festival is startling, but also manageable, so turn to page five for some of the top picks. Or just steal my choices and I’ll see you there!

Joe Fuller
editorial@thelatest.co.uk