Seagull Recommends 27/01

Hello and welcome back to Seagull Recommends! This week we've got lots of theatre, and a food review from a new, up-and-coming reviewer. Enjoy!

If you come across anything coming up in the city that you think we should know about, let us know!

🎶Gigs: The incomparable Tove Styrke will be at Patterns on Thursday—a night of pure Swedish pop genius. She's very, very good: a former opener for Lorde's Melodrama tour, beloved of Marina, excellent vocals and A+ production on everything she does. If you're free, please, please go and see her, you will not regret it at all (tickets).

🤣Comedy: A new, alternative comedy, music and musical comedy night is starting at the Folklore Rooms (above The Quadrant on North Street) this Thursday! Tickets are only £5 for their debut night. Headliners are Message from the Ravens, an Americana/goth balled/indie folk/sea shanty collective from Hastings, and banjo owners get £1 off tickets! It all looks very fun (tickets)!

🤣Bonus comedy: In other comedy, Cackle Comedy is back tomorrow for 2023 with a brilliant night to welcome in the New Year! Headlined by the hilarious Kathryn Mather, as seen on Comedy Central, alongside a line-up of up-and-coming comics, all mc'd by Cackle co-host, Jade Gebbie. (tickets).

🎭Theatre: On Wednesday 1st, cult hit event Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote returns to Komedia Brighton with an interactive screening of the classic Murder, She Wrote episode “Menace, Anyone?”. Jessica Fletcher enters the glamorous world of professional tennis but soon gets caught up in a murder mystery only she (or you!) can solve! With guest stars including Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Linda Hamilton (Terminator) and a murderer with a penchant for explosives, will it be game, set and match for JB Fletcher? (tickets).

🎭Bonus theatre: Opening on Tuesday at Brighton Little Theatre is a double-billing of two plays. The first, Chatroom, tells a 'chilling, blackly comic tale of manipulation, cyberbullying and adolescent insecurity'. In a quiet corner of the internet, a group of bored, restless teenagers who never meet each other, spend their time deconstructing children's literature and the messages in modern pop music and even suicide. But when a new member joins to share his depression and thoughts of suicide, the conversation takes a darker turn. The other play, Taken, is about a young woman and her baby who seek shelter in another woman's council flat, claiming to have been the victim of a robbery. Suspicion about the woman’s motives grow as she introduces herself as the owner's long-lost daughter. As the narrative unravels and turns, it touches on questions of belonging, memory, family, truth, love, and addiction - ending with an unsettling twist. Warning: the first production contains reference to suicide and depression and brief mentions to eating disorder, and the second production contains mentions of drug/alcohol/substance abuse and a depiction of early-stage Alzheimers/Dementia (tickets).

📽️Film: Banff Mountain Film Festival comes to the Brighton Dome on Wednesday, for audiences to witness a night of thrilling adventure on the big screen. On show will be a brand-new collection of short films filled with extreme journeys, untamed characters and captivating cinematography. Join the world’s top adventure filmmakers and thrill-seekers as they climb, ski, paddle and ride into the wildest corners of the planet There's also a free prize giveaway (tickets)!

🎵🗣️Music talks: Sound Affects is a new event of talks about music and subcultures. Held upstairs at the East Street Tap, each month at 8pm you'll hear from writers, artists, superfans, photographers, filmmakers and everyday music obsessives as they dive into personal music stories, esoteric bands, fan communities, punk, pop, social change and much more. Ultimately, it’s a night dedicated to how sound affects us and how music changes the world. It started last month; they happen on the first Wednesday of every month, so the next one is on Wednesday 1st February (tickets).

👗Clothes swap: ONCA, a Brighton-based arts charity that bridges social and environmental justice issues with creativity, is holding a clothes swap tomorrow as part of its Circular Sundays project. From 5pm to 7pm, join ONCA at 14 Saint George's Place with your good quality, clean, pre-loved clothes to swap with some of your new favourites! Book online or drop-in (tickets).

🚂Toy and gift swap: Having a big January clear-out? Why not donate anything you no longer want or need to Pelican Parcels at their toy and gift swap tomorrow! The charity, which accept pre-loved and new item donations for babies and children up to age 12 and redistribute them to families facing financial hardship in Brighton and Hove, will be accepting small items such as toys, arts and crafts, books, clothing, bedding and new and full toiletries. You can also take any items you want or need, with anything leftover being re-distributed. To find out more, and to book tickets, click here.

🌱Vegan market: This Sunday, Brighton Open Market will be hosting its regular vegan market! Enjoy a brilliant range of plant-based bites, as well as a fantastic range of gifts, crafts, beauty and other treats, open 10am to 4pm with free entry. Stalls include Plant the Seed (with their incredible fried 'egg' baps), Selene's Sweet Cakes (who Team Seagull had an amazing banoffee pie from last month that they still think about), Artisan Vegan Cheeze, as well as art, jewellery, skin care and more.

🍱Food: Our deputy editor went to What The Pitta last week for a taste of their wonderful doner kebab. Here's what they had to say:

Um. I don't do food reviews. It was nice. Filling. The kebab pieces are really good. I liked how much I could customise the salad. And tzatziki is great in anything. So yeah. That's my review.

If that doesn't sell you, we don't know what will. For real though, their food is really good, relatively affordable and entirely vegan! You love to see it.

🍻Pint: The Lord Nelson pub on Trafalgar Street does very tasty, pretty affordable pints of Guinness. Perfect to go with the Irish music session on the last Thursday of each month!

🚋Volks update: 64 days to go!