Sir Stephen Fry is to host the gala evening of silent film comedies and live music which will be the centrepiece of next year’s Slapstick festival, the UK’s biggest celebration of silent and classic screen comedy.
From the stage at Bristol Beacon on Friday 12 February (7.30pm start), he will be introducing a triple bill of laugh-out-loud silent comedy films, each showing on a giant screen with live musical accompaniment from the European Silent Screen Virtuosi, led by the internationally renowned silent-film musicians Günter A. Buchwald and Frank Bockius. .
Topping the film bill will be Buster Keaton’s 1926 masterpiece THE GENERAL, a peril-filled adventure aboard a train which is consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made, and which remains as exhilarating, inventive and funny today as it was a century ago.
In keeping with the film, Gala special guest, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, will perform a selection of songs inspired by American railway history.
Joining THE GENERAL on the film bill will be two classic comedy shorts: Charlie Chaplin’s breathtakingly inventive THE ADVENTURER (1917) plus WITH LOVE AND HISSES (1927) featuring military mayhem and comic confusion from the ever-delightful Laurel & Hardy.
Slapstick festival director Chris Daniels says: “Stephen Fry’s wit, warmth and love of comedy make him the perfect guide to an evening celebrating cinema’s greatest comic pioneers. When combined with the film choices, the inclusion of Billy Bragg and the European Silent Screen Virtuosi, means Slapstick’s Silent Comedy Gala 2027 promises to be an unforgettable evening of laughter, great music and cinematic spectacle suitable for all ages.”
Gala tickets are on sale now priced between £15 and £60. To book, visit the Beacon box office, Trenchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR; telephone 0117 203 4040 or go to https://bristolbeacon.org/whats-on/slapstick-silent-comedy-gala-2027/.
Slapstick 2027 will take place from Wednesday 10 February to Sunday 14 February at venues including Bristol Beacon, Bristol Old Vic and Watershed. Details of the full programme will be unveiled in the next few weeks.
To keep up to date with Slapstick news, sign-up for the free e-bulletins via www.slapstick.org.uk or find Slapstick Festival accounts on various social platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
Slapstick is a not-for-profit organisation. The festival’s principal funders are Aardman Animations (www.aardman.com) and the British Film Institute, awarding funds from the National Lottery (www.bfi.org.uk).
Picture by Elliott Spencer
