Local History Film premieres – The Armarda Chronicles & Gateway to the Empire

It’s the 3rd August 1588. The Spanish are sailing up the Channel, heading for the Isle of Wight – Southampton is on the Front Line and the Queen has asked for two ships!

Bit of a problem … the town only wants to send one, the mayor is being threatened with prison for privateering, the town is full of plague, there are spies everywhere and the beer is running out! Don’t Panic! Join us in the battle to save England … we hope!

The Sarah Siddons Fan Club Theatre is a partner in the University of Southampton’s Maritime Britain Project: English Merchant Shipping, Maritime Communities, and Trade from the Spanish Armada to the Seven Years War c1588-c1765. Our role is to add a creative response to the research that has come from this two-year project, our first offering is a new film The Armada Chronicle, filmed on location in Southampton and being premiered at Hanger Farm.

The programme also includes the premiere of a short film Gateway to the Empire which tells the stories of the black experience of living in Southampton at the height of Empire. This film was also commissioned by the University of Southampton.

We will have guest speakers and a Q&A session to set both projects in context, and there will be a chance to meet the actors, writer and film maker.