Rye News

Rehearsals are in full swing for the pantomime "Old Mother Hubbard", which will be performed at Rye Community Centre in late November. With star-crossed lovers, a dastardly duke and a host of comic characters, this wittily scripted production promises an evening of laughter, banter and "he's behind you"

The title of the November feature at Rye Film Club is almost a short story in itself: The 100-year-old Man who Climbed out the...

A gifted musician provided a lovely afternoon of entertainment for Wurlitzer fans last weekend writes Glen Twamley.

The party's over, a giant puppet slumps in the railway booking office, and after over 50 events the Arts Festival is done. . . . until next year. Art had a strong presence on the fringe events, 'freebies' included getting 'Brahms and Liszt' and learning to tango, and Rye's history got an airing as well as the arts with walks and tours. The schools played a bigger part, and those giant puppets were made by pupils - and will hopefully find a home to go to.

The three winners of our EF Benson quiz are: Judith Gibson of Rye, Margaret Holman, also of Rye, and Colin Jenner of Hastings. All...

The Piatti Quartet brought their week 'in residence' at the Arts Festival to a dramatic climax with the world premiere performance of Joseph Phibbs' string quartet in St Mary's Church in the last of a series of concerts and events featuring them, and in nearly the last event of the Festival itself. Alexander Stiller reports.

Entertaining, thoughtful and humorous, this one man show about the court of George II, written and performed by AP Waxkirsh, deserves to be staged again writes Seana Lanigan

Puccini, Purcell and Cole Porter . . . the Rye Bay Ensemble has some very different gigs planned for autumn, starting on Saturday. Rebekah Gilbert, mezzo soprano, gives some details

Oscar winning actor Kevin Costner has been filming on the beach at Camber with fellow actors Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds. The trio have been staying at the George hotel in the High Street writes Tony McLaughlin.

The Art Festival's classical musical programme opened with the opera "La Traviata, which was a "triumph" for conductor/stage director Alisdair Kitchen and lead singer Icelandic soprano Rannveig Karadottir, reports reviewer Alexander Stiller.

To celebrate the appearance of a new edition of 'Mapp & Lucia' by Hesperus Press we give you the chance to win a copy by answering three questions

Up to 200 million people died and Europe was devastated over an eight-year period by the Black Death. It took a generation to recover from the pandemic, which features in Rye's fifth Medieval Conference in October at Rye College on "The Hazards of Life and Causes of Death in Late Medieval England". The conference is organised by Rye Museum and at least 60 academics and others interested in history are expected to attend.

Twenty local snappers, some of them previous winners of the Sussex Trophy, showed off their skills at the annual exhibition of the Rye and District Camera Club. Membership is open to all - whether you have been wielding a camera for years or just started snapping

The town is buzzing - with performers, spectators, music lovers, would-be dancers, artists, artistes and plain old residents. And away from the limelight a lot of chat goes on. Rye News is keeping its ear to the ground . . .

This year's Arts Festival has seen a big input from the schools, including sets and costumes for the opera "La Traviata" and the opening procession, and the Festival itself taking performances and performers into schools.

Rye Studio School students helped to design and produce the sets and costumes for the opera "La Traviata" at the start of the Arts Festival, led by conductor and stage director Alisdair Kitchen and starring Icelandic soprano Rannveig Karadottir in the principal role.

Two young locals from the Rye Wurlitzer Academy, which is supported by the Rye Fund, won awards at the UK Young Theatre Organist of...

What do you do when your train from Rye is cancelled and you have a bit of time on your hands? Forced to delay his commuting, Dan Scarsy took to composing - a poem

Rye Museum is holding a special exhibition during the festival season illustrating the extraordinary links - both friendly and hostile - between the town and its neighbour across the Channel, Normandy

Sir Donald Sinden who lived in Tenterden has died. John Griffiths pays tribute to the actor who for the last 19 years was president of Rye Conservation Society