With a strong commitment to bring high quality performances to the area, Pontio will be welcoming Shakespeare’s Globe, the actress Carys Eleri and her award-winning show Lovecraft and supremely talented musicians including Lleuwen, Georgia Ruth, Gareth Bonello and Rhys Meirion, Ballet Cymru, Welsh National Opera, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, the comedian Seann Walsh and the circus company from Ethiopia Circus Abyssinia to Bangor as part of the summer’s programme.
The centre will also prove its ongoing commitment to the local community by giving a platform to a range of concerts by local dance schools, Friars School and their musical ‘Legally Blonde’, the fifth birthday of the Sistema Cymru- Codi’r To project, and a concert by Gwynedd and Anglesey Music in Schools.
There will also be a very special sharing of ‘Street Voices’, a project between Friars School pupils and the service users at St Mary’s homelessness hostel run through Pontio’s youth participation programme BLAS which will be a powerful verbatim play based on the true life stories of individuals.
A Film, Cake and Song afternoon with WNO’s Come and Sing team will combine a classic film with relaxed singing in the bar, and the ‘Sing for Sanctuary’ concert by Bangor Community Choir and North Wales Rugby Choir will support two charities working with refugees.
As part of Pontio’s ambition to make the arts a part of everyone’s life, there will be plenty of fun for the children too, with Arad Goch bringing their Rala Rwdins show to the theatre, a sensory experience through ‘In-visible Light’ and a Family Fun Day jam packed with interactive activities to celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8.
The centre’s popular monthly comedy nights continue, and the 200-seater cinema will be showing all kinds of films 7 days a week as well as NT Live, Royal Opera House Live and Glyndebourne satellite screenings over the summer.
As a centre that’s part of Bangor University, Pontio is delighted once again to stage Bangor Dance societies’ annual Summer Showcase, and present two End of Year events featuring Bangor University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus amongst others at Prichard-Jones Hall. Two Synthesis projects, designed to bring the arts and science together in new and accessible ways, will be showcased on Saturday 22 June.
There will be room in the programme for more innovative work too, such as Witness, a cast of brilliant musicians performing new work and Y Brain/Kargalar, a new play by Be Aware which is a bilingual production in Welsh and Turkish with English language accessibility.
Elen ap Robert, artistic director at Pontio said,
“It’s very important to me that Pontio brings the best to Bangor, and continues to be at the heart of the local community as a place to perform and attend events whilst also of course offering a platform for students at Bangor. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the Globe visited us, but we’re thrilled that they’ve decided to return over the summer. We’re also glad to be bringing our Circus Feast, which happens every other year for 10 days, back for 2019 and this time our theme will be ‘the world at our feet’. The jaw dropping show ‘Ethiopian Dreams’ by Circus Abyssinia is going to be a great way to start the summer holidays and a feast for all the senses. We look forward to welcoming you to Pontio very soon.”
