Spring events at Exeter Phoenix

Exeter’s busiest multi-artform venue is set to start a new spring season of events spanning everything from live performance, comedy and music, arthouse cinema and documentaries to contemporary art exhibitions.

Regular visitors and city centre shoppers will be pleased to hear that the venue’s buzzing café bar has rolled out a new menu of fresh, lovingly made nibbles and meals to enjoy on its suntrap terrace.

The venue’s live music programme this spring features one of Britain’s most noteworthy bands, Brighton based indie rockers British Sea Power.Other highlights include two of the country’s biggest names in folk, Martin & Eliza Carthy, and hailing from New York, the steel string guitar legend Eric Bibb. To top off this esteemed line up, Exeter Phoenix will be enjoying a visit from soul queen Ronnie Spector, lead singer of The Ronettes, this June.

Ever wondered why your fingers go wrinkly in the bath? What do explosions in space really look like? Or why beans make you fart?! TV’s science genius Greg Foot (Factomania, Blue Peter) presents a live science show for anyone who wants answers (and likes a bit of danger!) whether aged 9 or 90. Other notable performances are I Am Joan, an irreverent andlaugh out loud show from award-winning performer Viv Gordon, and a performance and participatory workshop from the postgraduate company of London Contemporary Dance School, EDge Dance.

The UK Green Film Festival arrives at Studio 74 in May, offering a glut of fascinating documentaries, activist talks and Q&As for film lovers and green thinkers.

Other cinema highlights to watch out for in Exeter Phoenix’s new season include the boundary breaking Victoria, a gripping heist thriller shot entirely in one fluid take through a Berlin streetscape, and Mustang, the powerful Oscar-nominated feature about five sisters growing up in northern Turkey.

A leading Exeter exhibition space for contemporary art, the Exeter Phoenix gallery hosts one of the highlights of the venue’s spring programme. Running from 14 May – 2 Jul, The Weight of The World presents work from one of Ireland’s leading contemporary artists, Sean Lynch, and features the UK premiere of Adventure: Capital; the projected video element of Lynch’s show which represented Ireland in the 2015 Venice Biennale. Lynch forensically investigates anecdotes, hearsay and half-truths, unearthing marginalized stories that have been overlooked or have fallen by the wayside. The project was initiated by contemporary arts organisation Spacex, and produced in a three way partnership between Spacex, Exeter Phoenix and RAMM. The gallery is open Mon – Sat and entry is free.

Tickets for all May and June events are now on sale, full listings and tickets can be found at www.exeterphoenix.org.uk