Where and when…
COMING SOON:
Saturday 28th Sept: Lambeth Heritage Festival (Carnegie Library) @ 15.00
Friday 11th Oct: Bodmin The Old Library, 10 Lower Bore Street, Bodmin, PL31 2JX @ 19.30
December (TO BE CONFIRMED): Society for Theatre Research, Art Workers’ Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT
Friday 28th Feb: 1st European Circus History Conference, London.
RECENT APPEARANCES :
Mr Phillip Astley participated in a Study Day for The Society for Theatre Research at LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) on Saturday 11th May 2024. Mr A took pleasure in telling the story of the initiative of himself and his lady wife in the beginnings of the entertainment widely known as 'circus', though that is a title he has never personally used. The Study Day considered the important place in history of popular entertainments. Mr Astley was delighted to see friends old and new on this h'auspicious h'occasion! #Huzzah ! More details at https://www.str.org.uk/study-day-popular-entertainments.../
Mr Astley was made very welcome at #St John’s Church, Waterloo, London SE1 8TY on Sunday 16th July 2023 as part of the Waterloo Festival. In celebration of its place in history as the spot where the modern circus began, the Festival theme was ‘The Circus’ https://stjohnswaterloo.org/arts/
The famous #City Varieties, Leeds on Saturday 16th September 2023 within Leeds Civic Trust's celebration of circus as part of local history and culture. As part of a larger ceremony, Mr Astley unveiled a Plaque in memory of 19th-century black circus proprietor Pablo Fanque, who is buried nearby. https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/people/pablo-fanque-blue-plaque-revealed-in-leeds-city-centre-honouring-britains-first-black-circus-owner-4339127
See an extract from ‘Audacious Mr Astley’ at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlDveJjrm40&t=8s
PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES:
Waterloo East Theatre, London; Victoria and Albert Museum (extract only); Zippo’s Circus / Circus Friends’ Association, Blackheath, London; Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh (Fringe Festival 2018 & 2019); Off the Shelf literary festival, Sheffield University; Falcon Hotel, Bromyard, Herefordshire (after-supper event); Regal Studio, Tenbury Wells; St Mark’s C of E Primary School, Eccles, Kent; St Mary’s (Old) Church, Burham, Kent; Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne; Downe House School, Thatcham, Berkshire; P & O Cruises MV Arcadia; Bedfringe Festival, Bedford; WatFringe Festival, Watford; Theatre Royal TRRC, Nottingham; under the Big Top as part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, Saffron Walden, Essex; Waterloo Festival, London; City Varieties Theatre, Leeds.
As part of his Waterloo Festival visit in 2023, Mr Astley recorded audio tracks for use in a podcast guide to local sites relating to circus history.
Mr Astley also appeared on screen in 2018 in an interactive display to recount details of the early history of the circus for Sheffield University Library’s special exhibition on circus history curated by the National Fairground and Circus Archive.
Performances at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle Upon Tyne, were featured in The Northern Echo newspaper: https://bit.ly/2W8rjd4