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We Welcome Back the Whitley Bay Film Festival!

Posted on 12 August 2016

Whitley Bay Film Festival at the PLAYHOUSE

Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd of September 2016

The PLAYHOUSE is delighted to welcome back the Whitley Bay Film Festival!

Taking place over Friday the 2nd and Saturday the 3rd of September, the PLAYHOUSE screenings will include a special 40th anniversary look at The Likely Lads, a 30th anniversary showing of Labyrinth, and the concert film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The Likely Lads (1976) 40th Anniversary screening (cert PG)

Friday 2nd September 2016

8 pm

Introduced by Film and Music historian Chris Phipps

“In the chocolate box of life the top layer's already gone. And someone's pinched the orange creme from the bottom”

It’s been 40 years since Bob Ferris & Terry Collier first hit the silver screen and how fitting that the feature film spin off from the highly successful television series about two Geordie mates should be shown in “The Bay” on its anniversary. Penned by festival patron Ian La Frenais with his writing partner Dick Clements and filmed around Newcastle, the coast and specifically Whitley Bay, the movie version has all the trademark sharp wit and pathos of the small screen situation comedy and was the last time the British public got to see Rodney Bewes and James Bolam’s highly successful comedy partnership. The film follows the further misadventures of Terry Collier and Bob Ferris. The old friends are once again reunited. After a calamitous caravanning holiday in Northumberland, the pair end up stranded in Whitley bay for an evening. What could possibly go wrong?

Labyrinth (1986) 30th Anniversary screening (cert U)

Saturday 3rd September 2016

2.30 pm

This screening is dedicated to the late Steve Donald, festival friend and mentor who worked in the animatronics department on the film.

“Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems”

Wonderful musical fantasy adventure directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas and starring David Bowie, the film follows Sarah Williams fantastical journey to rescue her baby brother Toby who has been captured by Jareth the Goblin King, played by Bowie. Jareth has hidden Toby deep within the confines of a magical otherworldly Labyrinth. Sarah encounters a myriad of amazing characters in her quest to find the centre of the maze. Jim Henson employs his creature shop, animatronics and puppetry to masterful effect in Labyrinth, a movie that has become a classic for children and adults alike in the 30 years since its release.

The event will be introduced by Steve’s younger brother, Simon Donald (VIZ co-creator). £1 of all tickets bought for this event will be donated to St Oswald’s Hospice.

'Steve had forged his own path into the world of special effects and was now working for Jim Henson. He had an amazing career long before Viz ever earned a living for his younger brothers. He had a car and a credit card at a time when my bank wouldn't even give me a cheque guarantee card. The first time I ever saw a credit card used was in a restaurant in Hampstead. Steve took it out and the waitress brought a mechanical device to the table that made the customer a carbon copy of the transaction paperwork. I had never witnessed such a thing. It was amazing. Not only was Steve earning what felt to us like a prince’s ransom but he had an amazing job too, working for his hero Jim Henson. It was his dream come true. I remember going down to see him one time, we went and ate at a little place in Hampstead. It was sunny and it was the first time I'd ever eaten outdoors at a cafe. It was such an adventure. It was a beautiful neighbourhood and was somehow tranquil, despite being busy. Connie Booth arrived and sat at a table next to us. As she was behind me, Steve discreetly pointed her out, advising me not to turn and stare. That's a great memory for me, my brother enjoying the high life in London, and I've always associated London with those good times, the success and the sunshine'. Simon Donald

Simon Donald, internationally renowned lavatory humorist and co-founder of Viz Comic, made history alongside his brother Chris and school friend Jim Brownlow by turning their playground antics into the notorious sales phenomenon of the late 20th century. Their magazine, and its remarkable story, is celebrated in Donald’s highly rated autobiography, Him Off The Viz.

He has worked in stand-up as a character comedian since 2005 and appears as a compere, both at comedy clubs and events, lectures on the history of Viz Comic to arts and business courses and hosts cartoon workshops for younger students.

Simon is also a trained actor; in the late 1970s he appeared in a number of groundbreaking plays at Newcastle’s Young People’s Theatre.

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (cert PG)

Saturday 3rd September

8 pm

“Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly”

Commonly accepted as one of the greatest and most influential rock gigs of the 20th century, David Bowie leads a packed house through a selection of hits including Space Oddity, Moonage Daydream, Oh You Pretty Things and the Ziggy Stardust title track.

D.A. Pennebaker’s celebrated documentary and concert movie features David Bowie at the height of his musical powers. He takes to the stage as Ziggy Stardust, iconic leader of the Spiders from Mars. It had been a long climb to the top but by July 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon, Bowie had the world at his feet. It was, therefore, more of a surprise that he would announce mid show that Ziggy was retiring from the music industry for good. Of course, David Bowie would return, but in other guises and never again as the “Leper Messiah”.

Thanks to DCD Rights Ltd.

Tickets costing £5 per event are available now.

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