Actor, director and writer Simon Callow completes the line-up for this autumn’s Rochdale Literature & Ideas Festival.
The ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral,’ ‘Room with a View’ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ star will be appearing at the festival on Friday 21 October 2016.
Awarded a CBE for services to drama, Simon is one of the UK’s finest and best-loved actors, known for his many roles on stage and screen, including Four Weddings and a Funeral – one of the most successful British films of all time.
Not just a great actor, Simon has also proved that he is a gifted writer. In ‘One-Man Band’, the third volume of his new biography of cinema giant Orson Welles, Callow charts the later years of Welles’s life, painting a vivid and often very funny portrait of a troubled genius enduring a cocktail and triumph and decline.
His other books include My Life in Pieces, the autobiographical ‘Being an Actor’ and his acclaimed Charles Dickens biography.
At the festival Simon will be talking about his life on screen and stage, as well as reading excerpts from his latest book.
He says he still loves being in front of a live audience: “I’ve found that people are fantastically warm and keenly interested, each talk is entirely different as people react differently to the – though I say it myself – remarkable story I’m telling. I’m fascinated by my fellow human beings and long to know what makes them what they are.”
Councillor Janet Emsley, our cabinet member for culture, health and wellbeing said:
“Simon has been treading the boards for many years in the country’s top theatres, in addition to his countless film and television roles. As you would expect from such a distinguished actor, this will be much more than a simple reading of excerpts from his book, our audience is in for a treat! He is a superb talent and a perfect final addition to our festival.”
Now in its fourth year and with more than 30 events covering workshops, music, theatre, readings, children’s shows, talks and more, the festival runs from Wednesday 19 to Monday 24 October 2016 and aims to excite audiences of all ages.
Other guests in this year’s programme include political commentator and journalist Owen Jones, former Downing Street director of communications Alastair Campbell, comedians Jenny Eclair and Mark Steel, internationally acclaimed crime writers Mark Billingham and John Connolly, and million-selling author Ann Cleeves. The poet, playwright and broadcaster Ian McMillan returns with his son, award-winning poet Andrew McMillan, alongside Benet Brandreth and Chocolat author Joanne Harris MBE.
For young people there’s an exciting Generation Z programme including one-man human beatbox Testament and theatre shows The Devil Speaks True and 21,000 Miles of Rail. For children and families there’s a Roald Dahl-themed programme of events.
The festival celebrates and promotes the Maskew Collection of classic literature and philosophy at Rochdale Central Library, encouraging people to engage in reading and thinking. It will include events at venues in Rochdale town centre and borough-wide. It is funded through the generosity of Annie and Frank Maskew, a Rochdale couple who shared a passion for reading and thinking, who originally met in Rochdale Library. They left a sum of money to be used on resources and events related to literature, and philosophy to ensure classic works are available for future generations.
