Sir Simon Russell Beale announced for Marlborough LitFest
Marlborough LitFest celebrates its 15th year from September 26 to 29 and the festival programme currently being put together tis an exciting mix of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s authors and free family activities over the festival weekend.
The first announcement for the 2024 line-up is LitFest Patron Sir Simon Russell Beale, talking about his memoir A Piece of Work on the evening of Sunday, September 29.
Sir Simon Russell Beale has had a longstanding and stellar career both on stage and screen. The critically acclaimed actor was knighted in 2019 and won a Tony Award for his role in The Lehman Trilogy in 2022.
He now lives in Marlborough, becoming LitFest’s first Patron in 2020.
Russell Beale’s first book, A Piece of Work, is due to be published on September
5, recounting his acting career with a focus on playing Shakespearean characters.
Simon will be interviewed by Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford Emma Smith, who has published and lectured widely on Shakespeare.
She has written on Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) and is interested in the cultural impact of the playwright over four centuries. She is an associate scholar with the Royal Shakespeare Company, has contributed to radio and TV programmes and written extensively for newspapers and magazines, as well as being a published author. Her recent book, This Is Shakespeare: How to read the world’s greatest playwright, was a Sunday Times bestseller and Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers was shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize in 2023.
LitFest chair Genevieve Clarke said: “This feels like a very fitting event for our 15th festival – our patron in conversation with a top Shakespeare scholar and book enthusiast.
“Meanwhile we’re working hard to bring a raft of authors to Marlborough in September to appeal to all ages and interests.”
The full programme will be announced in July when tickets go on sale. Visit www.marlboroughlitfest.org for more information and regular 2024 festival programme updates.
