THE KID

Friday, 29th August, 11:00am. Doors 10:30

The Assembly Rooms, Presteigne

A tramp sorting through a dustbin discovers a bundle labelled: "Please love and care for this orphan child". At first an unwilling parent, The Little Tramp is soon contesting with police and social services to keep The Kid out of the orphanage. The result is Chaplin's most perfect and personal film, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of the silent era.

"The Kid settles once and for all the question as to who is the greatest theatrical artist in the world. Chaplin does some of the finest, most delicately shaded acting you ever saw anywhere, and for every slapstick furore in it there is a classic, exquisite scene. His actions are riotous, convulsive, irresistible. The gentlest grandmother will bust a midriff. He's the best Hamlet alive today. Jackie Coogan is the best child actor you ever saw. Women wept just to see him. The Kid is two fisted. Its right glove is packed with the pearls of tears, its left with the horseshoe of laughter. The picture is perfection. Six reels that seem like one; six reels that are funnier than the work of any other human being; six reels that are sadder and simpler than anything in pictures; six reels that will atone for anything the movies have ever done."  - The Chicago Herald and Examiner, 1921

Father Richard Williams's live accompaniments to classic silent films are a favourite at the Hay Festival. Here he helps recreate, a century later, the authentic experience of Chaplin's original audience.

Tickets - £7, ages 4 - 14 free (accompanied by an adult)

Cash tickets at The Salty Dog, High street, Presteigne or online: https://wegottickets.com/event/662781