Hay Festival 2020 Earlybirds

Aldous Harding performs songs from across three studio albums, joined by her band.

Aldous Harding is a rare artist who defies conventions and categorisation, creating lush, off-kilter indie pop. Shapeshifting vocals transform with every track, tilting and changing mood and atmosphere, while delicate guitars and soft percussion add a shimmering intensity. Live, Aldous Harding is an intense performer, a mesmerising and theatrical presence, that captivates her audience.

The writer shares her Thoughts on Life, Love and Rebellion with the founder of The Everyday Sexism Project. For decades, people around the world have found guidance, humour and unity in Gloria Steinem's gift for creating quotes that offer hope and inspire action. From her early days as a journalist and feminist activist, Steinem's words have helped generations to empower themselves and work together.

The writer reflects on the current state and future of journalism.  Hirsch has worked for Sky News, The Guardian and LBC, and holds the Wallis Annenberg chair in Journalism and Communication at the University of Southern California. She is the author of Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging and the children’s book Equal to Everything: Judge Brenda and the Supreme Court. Chaired by Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour.

Following in the tradition of their resident playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe present a trio of plays exploring the city and the places beyond the city walls. The plays will be performed as a touring production would have been staged in the 17th century, with a stripped back set and a small, versatile troupe of actors. Taking on multiple roles across all three plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest – the talented cast will unravel these tales of lovers, exiles, dreamers and wanderers.

Four brawling lovers, caught in a dispute of magical proportions; a crew of keen mechanicals, determined to give it their all; and one roguish sprite, hell-bent on causing as much havoc as possible… What could possibly go wrong?

Exploding with dramatic poetry, mischief and merriment, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s amazingly inventive play, whose serious and dark undercurrent cuts starkly through the hilarity making its dreamlike surface deeply rich and all the more memorable.

The bestselling author of Wild Swans, Mao and Empress Dowager Cixi presents Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister, her brilliantly researched and evocative account of the lives of the Soong sisters, who were at the very centre of Chinese history for a tumultuous century.

Red Sister, Ching-ling, married the ‘Father of China’, Sun Yat-sen, and rose to be Mao’s vice-chair. 

Little Sister, May-ling, became Madame Chiang Kai-shek, first lady of pre-Communist Nationalist China and a major political figure in her own right. 

Big Sister, Ei-ling, became Chiang’s unofficial main adviser – and made herself one of China’s richest women. 

All three sisters enjoyed tremendous privilege and glory, but also endured constant mortal danger. They showed great courage and experienced passionate love, as well as despair and heartbreak. They remained close emotionally, even when they embraced opposing political camps and Ching-ling dedicated herself to destroying her two sisters’ worlds.

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister is a gripping story of love, war, intrigue, bravery, glamour and betrayal, which takes us on a sweeping journey from Canton to Hawaii to New York, from exiles’ quarters in Japan and Berlin to secret meeting rooms in Moscow, and from the compounds of the Communist elite in Beijing to the corridors of power in democratic Taiwan. In a group biography that is by turns intimate and epic, Jung Chang reveals the lives of three extraordinary women who helped shape twentieth-century China.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour.

Following in the tradition of their resident playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe present a trio of plays exploring the city and the places beyond the city walls. The plays will be performed as a touring production would have been staged in the 17th century, with a stripped back set and a small, versatile troupe of actors. Taking on multiple roles across all three plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest – the talented cast will unravel these tales of lovers, exiles, dreamers and wanderers.

A firm favourite among Shakespeare’s comedies, and including some of his best loved characters, As You Like It runs the glorious gamut of pastoral romance: cross-dressing and love-notes; poetry and brilliant conversation; gentle satire, slapstick and passion. A series of hilarious mistaken identities and mishaps in the Forest of Arden ultimately sees new friendships formed, and families and lovers reunited.

This is a sensational double bill where the great ambassadors of Malian music Amadou & Mariam join forces with the Blind Boys of Alabama, the living legends of gospel music.

Amadou & Mariam have released a string of great albums, working with producers like Manu Chao and Damon Albarn to create joyous music that inspires great live shows, festival stages and wild remixes.

It was on a festival bill that they first met the Blind Boys of Alabama and forged a friendship that has led to a worldwide tour together. The Blind Boys have won multiple Grammy awards with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favourites to contemporary spiritual material by songwriters such as Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits.

The novelist gives this year’s lecture about art and politics. Her books include Hotel World, How to be Both, Other Stories and Other Stories and The Accidental.  Summer, the final book in her masterpiece, Seasonal Quartet will be published in July.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed for a season, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour. We also know that the choice of play or entertainment was left to the most powerful person of the household

 “Make choice of which your highness shall see first”

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, scene 1

So following in the tradition of their resident playwright, the Shakespeare’s Globe Touring Ensemble will offer audiences a choice of three plays, each exploring the themes of nature, the city and the places beyond: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest.

In keeping with tradition – and with thrilling unpredictability – the choice of play will be put back into the hands of the most powerful members of the house: the audience. Cheer, clap and shout to vote for the play you want to see. Actors call it ‘terrifying’, audiences say it’s ‘exhilarating’. It’s an experiment, it’s experiential, it’s Shakespearean, it’s shared and it’s at the heart of what Shakespeare’s Globe does.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour.

Following in the tradition of their resident playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe present a trio of plays exploring the city and the places beyond the city walls. The plays will be performed as a touring production would have been staged in the 17th century, with a stripped back set and a small, versatile troupe of actors. Taking on multiple roles across all three plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest – the talented cast will unravel these tales of lovers, exiles, dreamers and wanderers.

Inspired by reports of the first English colonies in the West Indies and imbued with a spirit of magic and the supernatural, The Tempest is Shakespeare’s late great masterpiece of forgiveness, generosity and enlightenment set on a remote and mysterious desert island, but with magic enchantments and treachery at every turn, will anyone ever make it off?

The Dutch superstar brings her jazz/electro-swing band to Hay. Caro has become an international’s superstar with her iconic singles A Night Like This and Back It Up and the albums Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor and The Shocking Miss Emerald. The new show, which features Latin as one of the main musical influences, includes new songs like ‘Wake Up Romeo’, the big hits like ‘Liquid Lunch’ and ‘That Man’.

The live performance is not to be missed – as The Daily Telegraph noted: “Caro Emerald had everyone in the palm of her hand’’ and her “infectious sense of fun and vintage charm can be relied on to lift the spirits”.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour.

Following in the tradition of their resident playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe present a trio of plays exploring the city and the places beyond the city walls. The plays will be performed as a touring production would have been staged in the 17th century, with a stripped back set and a small, versatile troupe of actors. Taking on multiple roles across all three plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest – the talented cast will unravel these tales of lovers, exiles, dreamers and wanderers.

Four brawling lovers, caught in a dispute of magical proportions; a crew of keen mechanicals, determined to give it their all; and one roguish sprite, hell-bent on causing as much havoc as possible… What could possibly go wrong?

Exploding with dramatic poetry, mischief and merriment, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s amazingly inventive play, whose serious and dark undercurrent cuts starkly through the hilarity making its dreamlike surface deeply rich and all the more memorable.

The actor and author of Mythos and Heroes previews the final part of his Greek trilogy, the story told in Homer’s Iliad.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour.

Following in the tradition of their resident playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe present a trio of plays exploring the city and the places beyond the city walls. The plays will be performed as a touring production would have been staged in the 17th century, with a stripped back set and a small, versatile troupe of actors. Taking on multiple roles across all three plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest – the talented cast will unravel these tales of lovers, exiles, dreamers and wanderers.

A firm favourite among Shakespeare’s comedies, and including some of his best loved characters, As You Like It runs the glorious gamut of pastoral romance: cross-dressing and love-notes; poetry and brilliant conversation; gentle satire, slapstick and passion. A series of hilarious mistaken identities and mishaps in the Forest of Arden ultimately sees new friendships formed, and families and lovers reunited.

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour.

Following in the tradition of their resident playwright, Shakespeare’s Globe present a trio of plays exploring the city and the places beyond the city walls. The plays will be performed as a touring production would have been staged in the 17th century, with a stripped back set and a small, versatile troupe of actors. Taking on multiple roles across all three plays – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest – the talented cast will unravel these tales of lovers, exiles, dreamers and wanderers.

Four brawling lovers, caught in a dispute of magical proportions; a crew of keen mechanicals, determined to give it their all; and one roguish sprite, hell-bent on causing as much havoc as possible… What could possibly go wrong?

Exploding with dramatic poetry, mischief and merriment, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s amazingly inventive play, whose serious and dark undercurrent cuts starkly through the hilarity making its dreamlike surface deeply rich and all the more memorable.

Less than 20% of wikipedia biographical entries are about women. The Danish comedian brings her new stand-up show to Hay in which she’ll be rewriting history from a female perspective, redressing some pretty extreme imbalance.  

The novelist discusses the concluding book in her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. Both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies won the Booker Prize.

Mantel’s 2012 Hay conversation about Bring Up The Bodies is on Hay Player here.  

How did a company tour in Shakespeare’s day? We know that when the theatres closed for a season, a small group of actors, juggling a variety of roles in three or four plays from their extensive repertoire, would leave London and head off on tour. We also know that the choice of play or entertainment was left to the most powerful person of the household

 “Make choice of which your highness shall see first”

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V, scene 1

So following in the tradition of their resident playwright, the Shakespeare’s Globe Touring Ensemble will offer audiences a choice of three plays, each exploring the themes of nature, the city and the places beyond: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It and The Tempest.

In keeping with tradition – and with thrilling unpredictability – the choice of play will be put back into the hands of the most powerful members of the house: the audience. Cheer, clap and shout to vote for the play you want to see. Actors call it ‘terrifying’, audiences say it’s ‘exhilarating’. It’s an experiment, it’s experiential, it’s Shakespearean, it’s shared and it’s at the heart of what Shakespeare’s Globe does.

Please join actors, writers and musicians in a celebration of love, freedom and hope. The full cast will be announced on the day.