Sunday 23rd 10-4pm, £15 / £10 conc
Saturday 29th 2.30-4.30pm, £10 / £7 conc (including evening concert)
Saturday 29th, concert : Sing Your Heart Out, 7.30pm, £5 / £3 conc
To book, phone the Marine Theatre on 01297 442394 or email admin@marinetheatre.com

Local Choir Leader writes "Formidable" song for Festival

Have you ever wanted to sing a piece of local history? Here’s an opportunity to learn and sing something especially atmospheric, and connect with a powerful piece of Dorset maritime history at the same time. Local community choir leader, Pete Linnett, has written a specially commissioned song for the Lyme Regis Arts Festival. The song is inspired by the events surrounding the sinking of HMS Formidable, the first British battleship to be sunk during World War 1. She was torpedoed by a German U-boat while on Channel patrol off Portland Bill in Lyme Bay on New Year’s Day 1915. Huge waves thirty feet high lashed the stricken ship, with strong winds, rain and hail, sinking it in less than two hours. 547 men were lost from her complement of 780. A pinnace from the Formidable containing 71 men came ashore in Lyme Regis after some 22 hours at sea. The Pilot Boat Inn became rescue headquarters, the cinema the mortuary.

What adds extra poignancy to this new song is that it contains fragments of text from the memorial service which happened in Lyme Regis five days later. So those singing it will be part of the sweep of history and will embody through the song some of the power and sadness of that day. Pete often uses evocative harmonies in his pieces, and "Formidable" is no exception. He is well known in Dorset and beyond for his skills. He makes music in the community and community through music, and he’s especially keen for local Lyme residents to join him in bringing this song into being. You don’t need to read music or even think of yourself as a ‘singer’ to join in. Pete and his co-teachers, Sarah and Gilo will teach the song in their usual friendly and accessible Big Sing style.

There will be a day workshop on Sunday 23rd September, to learn it and some other songs. And then an afternoon workshop on Saturday 29th September which will lead up to the premiere performance of the new piece at a special concert on the same evening. Choirs and choral groups from West Dorset will join in this performance. Both these days take place at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis. Full details plus booking information below:

Sunday 23rd 10-4pm, £15 / £10 conc
Saturday 29th 2.30-4.30pm, £10 / £7 conc (including evening concert)
Saturday 29th, concert, 7.30pm, £5 / £3 conc
To book, phone the Marine Theatre on 01297 442394 or email admin@marinetheatre.com