Wednesday 1 April

5 years to the month since Red Herring Comedy Club started and still going strong…

Red Herring Comedy Club: Fifth Birthday Show!

Josh Howie is an ex-public schoolboy, raised as a Buddhist who then trained as a Rabbi before being kicked off the programme for being caught with a naked (non-Jewish) girl, so perhaps it was inevitable that he would go on to become a stand-up comedian.

MC Daliso Chaponda’s earliest aspiration was to become a reverend but alas, he enjoys sinning too much. Stand-up comedy is the closest he has come to his initial dream of the pulpit.

Over 18s only.

Thursday 2 April – Saturday 4 April

Lincoln College Performing Arts

The Threepenny Opera

A milestone of 20th century musical theatre, The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) gets its first 21st century Lincoln outing, courtesy of Lincoln College’s Performing Arts students. In their opera ‘by and for beggars’, composer Kurt Weill and playwright Bertolt Brecht transformed saccharine, old-fashioned opera and operetta forms, incorporating a sharp political perspective. Weill’s acid harmonies and Brecht’s biting texts created a revolutionary new musical theatre that inspired such subsequent hits as Cabaret and Chicago.

’The most wonderfully insulting music I have ever come across’ Walter Kerr

Thursday 9 April

New Youth Theatre

The Wizard of Oz

A girl. A twister. A pair of ruby slippers. A timeless tale of a Kansas farm girl trying to find her way home. This Easter there is no place like Lincoln Drill Hall, which will be transformed by New Youth Theatre’s journey into the mystical Land of Oz. With a click of your heels and a sprinkle of musical theatre magic you’ll be swept away on a bewitching adventure down the Yellow Brick Road. Classic songs include ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, ‘Follow The Yellow Brick Road’ and ‘We’re Off To See The Wizard’. For more information on how to join the company please visit the website www.newyouththeatre.co.uk or call 01522 787601.

Friday 10 April – Saturday 11 April

NYT Juniors

Bugsy Malone

Back again by popular demand, the NYT Juniors perform this pint-sized, pin-striped classic! Like the film, this wild and wacky musical includes a child’s dream come true: a classic pie fight fought with “splurge blasters” which spew forth “silly string” instead of pies! With a catchy, swinging score by the composer of The Muppet Movie, this production includes an all singing, all dancing, vibrant, enthusiastic cast set to get those feet tappin’. For more information on how to join the company please visit the website www.newyouththeatre.co.uk or call 01522 787601.

Saturday 11 April

Drill Hall Club Night

Stayin' Alive

Staying Alive is the Drill Hall’s occasional dance night and it’s back for a new season and on a new night! The chance to dance however you want to fantastic music that you know (email your requests to djhereticdj@googlemail.com) as well as superb music that maybe you don’t, together with stunning visuals and live cameras from our resident VJ Lee and great live music in the Café Bar. It’s about having a good time. It’s about trying something new. It’s about dancing till you drop!

Tuesday 14 April – Wednesday 15 April

Children's Festival

Free Family Play Days with Children's Links

Drop in for a few minutes or a few hours for another of our fantastic free play days run by Children’s Links. We’ve already made Lincoln out of cardboard and built the Wild West, so who knows what we’ll get up to this time… not even us yet!

This a family event – all children must be accompanied.

Thursday 16 April

Children's Festival

Nostalgia Night!

The Drill Hall’s legendary Kids TV night expands its horizons this year with all kinds of extra goodies to evoke childhoods past, including a quiz! Unashamedly aimed at people aged at least 30…

Friday 17 April

Children's Festival

Ian Billings: Out of His Mind!

Enter the wonky bonkers world of author and kids comic, Ian Billings, for a tickle-filled hour of chuckle puns and giggle gags. Be prepared for belly laughs but remember to bring your belly. Ian Billings has been at the forefront of children’s entertainment for over twenty years. 2007 saw the publication of two new children’s books from Macmillan and the premiere of his stand-up comedy show “Talking Pants!”

Friday 17 April

Supported by The Slimline Papas & Aidan Marshall

Spring Blues Night with The Hamsters

The guitar, bass and drums trio The Hamsters have long been established as one of the UK’s finest and hardest- working blues-rock bands, having performed more than 4,000 concerts in 21 years. Although well-known for their own brand of rootsy Rock & Blues, they’re also widely regarded as the UK’s leading interpreters of the music of Jimi Hendrix and ZZ Top and tonight will be performing music from all three! With first class support from rockabilly legends The Slimline Papas and local guitar hero Aidan Marshall.

Please not this is an All Standing Gig.

In association with BlueCrow Music www.bluecrowmusic.co.uk.

Saturday 18 April

Children's Festival

Blunderbus Theatre Company: Rainbow Fish

With her shimmering scales, The Rainbow Fish is the most beautiful fish in the ocean. But she is proud and vain, and none of the other fish want to be her friends. Not until she learns to give away some of her most prized possessions… Come and swim with The Rainbow Fish in her glittering underwater world, but prepare to be swept away on a deep sea adventure. A regular and popular visitor to the Drill Hall, Blunderbus Theatre Company bring us this funny, fishy tale for children aged 4 – 7.

Saturday 18 April

New Jazz 5 present a special Double Bill featuring Mark Lockheart with the Hot House Big B

Mark Lockheart is well known to jazz audiences as one of the most distinctive, creative and versatile saxophonists in the UK today. As well as co- leading the influential ‘Perfect Houseplants’ for the last ten years, he was a prominent member of bands such as ‘Loose Tubes’ and more recently ‘Polar Bear’. Mark has being mentoring the The Hot House Big Band, until recently known as The East Midlands Youth Jazz Orchestra who are an outstanding, award winning orchestra who recently played at the London Jazz Festival… Big-Band Jazz guaranteed to blow the roof off the Drill Hall!

The Mark Lockheart Group is Mark’s first regular group for a number of years and features some exciting musicians on the current British Jazz scene, including Liam Noble on piano, Jasper Hoiby on bass, Dave Smith on drums and Dave Priseman on trumpet. www.marklockheart.co.uk

Monday 20 April

From the World of Music

A diverse and refreshing array of classical music from three exceptional students from the Royal Northern College of music: Angela Ellis – soprano, Matthew Duncan – Baritone and Tim Abel – Piano. Highlights will include British composer Roger Quilter’s ‘Elizabethan Lyrics’ song cycle, a collection of lieder by Brahms and Wagner, piano works by Rachmaninov and Chopin, and operatic excerpts such as Don Giovanni.

Tuesday 21 April

Precarious Theatre: The Factory

Total Theatre Award Winner Precarious invites you to experience a witty and poignant exploration of the tension between modern life and the wonder of the human spirit. Using a blend of explosive physicality and cutting edge technology, The Factory is guaranteed to baffle and astonish as it attempts to awaken the most gluttonous consumer to the true value of life.

’Innovative… Imaginative… Intelligent… Pushing the boundaries of digital media’ The Scotsman

The company’s last production, Druthers, was a big hit at the Drill Hall in 2008, so don’t miss this chance to see the company’s most ambitious and impressive work to date.

www.precarious.org.uk

Friday 24 April

Literature at Lunchtime

The Importance of Being Earnest

One of the plays which established Wilde as the wittiest man in London. But as he built his dramatic reputation, Wilde was riding a wave of popularity that was to crash from a great height in the very year of his greatest triumph. Come and listen to Dr Jane Mackay’s fascinating talk and learn all about this hugely coded work with its own undercurrent that only homosexuals in Wilde’s audience could appreciate.

Thursday 23 April – Saturday 25 April

Lincoln Shakespeare Company

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest Arguably one of the finest plays ever written, Oscar Wilde’s enduringly popular comedy, is crammed full of deliciously witty dialogue and is given its latest outing by the acclaimed local amateur group, the Lincoln Shakespeare Company.

See also our Lunchtime Literature talk on Friday (below) which will be given on the set of the LSC’s production.

Sunday 26 April

Paul Merton's Silent Clowns

Paul Merton makes his first visit to Lincoln Drill Hall with a special show in which he screens hilarious extracts from the very best silent comedians in some of their funniest films. The show will include classic extracts from Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd and many others, followed by Buster Keaton’s uproariously funny Steamboat Bill Junior which will be shown in its entirety. Paul’s infectious enthusiasm and knowledge of these films, together with fantastic live accompaniment by world-renowned pianist Neil Brand guarantees a splendid evening for all!

’Neil Brand’s inventive playing and impeccable timing brought the films to life Merton’s show highlights what a refreshing change this type of humour can be ’ NG Magazine

Tuesday 28 April

Jammy Voo

Something Blue

Something Blue is a theatre cabaret about the highs and lows of falling in love.

The five female performers of Jammy Voo use clowning, acappella singing, puppetry, rapid costume change, absurd characters and physical theatre to explore this rich and universal territory. The show is accompanied by a giddy array of live and recorded music ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Rufus Wainwright.

www.jammyvoo.com

Wednesday 29 April

In Association with Old Bakery Promotions

Eliza Carthy in Concert

Winner of two Mercury Prize nominations and an unrivalled seven BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Eliza Carthy is one of the figure-heads of the English folk revival. A truly inventive, gifted and innovative singer and fiddle player she is one of the most outstanding performers of her generation. Accompanied by Willie Molleson on drums, Emma Smith on double bass and Phil Alexander on keyboards/piano accordion, Eliza will showcase original material from her latest album

Dreams of Breathing Underwater. This is a unique opportunity – don’t miss it!

“Seriously impressive” Daily Telegraph

www.eliza-carthy.com