Below is information from their Facebook post of Sept. 29.
Although recently known as the Dowager Countess, Violet Crawley, in the TV series “Downton Abbey” (2000–15), Smith played Virginia Woolf in Edna O’Brien’s play “Virginia” in 1981. She won her third Evening Standard Theatre Award for her performance at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, beginning January 29, 1981.
In that same year the play script was published under the Hogarth Press imprint, with photographs of Maggie Smith and Virginia Woolf on the cover.You can see pictures from the book and the programme below.
The Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain offers many member benefits. One of them is a reading group for those who want to talk about the works of Virginia Woolf and some of her Bloomsbury friends and contemporaries.
Discussions, which take place either online or face to face, allow members to find connections, influences and similarities among the works read. Members discuss their experiences of reading the work, whether it’s their first or hundredth time, as well as what themes or motifs they notice and what they liked best or least and why.
Night and Day up next
Night and Day (1919) is the next Woolf work up for discussion. Date: Friday, August 30, 2024 Time: 5 p.m. BST or noon EST. Where: online
How to join the society
Email membershipvwsgb@gmail.com to join the society, or onlinevwsgb@gmail.com for further information and queries about the reading group.
In the Brighton tradition, it joins buses named after other remarkable residents, including Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.
Members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain get ready to hop aboard the Leonard Woolf bus in Brighton. Photo by Marielle O’Neill.
“It was with great pleasure that members of the VWSGB celebrated the newly-named Leonard Woolf bus in Brighton yesterday, ” said Claire Nicholson, society chair, the day after the group’s bus ride.
“Congratulations to Marielle O’Neill who led the campaign to have a bus dedicated to Leonard, which now joins its partner, the Virginia Woolf bus. If you visit Brighton, perhaps you might catch one of them!”
Thanks go out
The society thanks Maria Caulfield MP, Cllr Paul Mellor and the Board of Deputies of British Jews for their valuable support and to Brighton and Hove Bus Company for honouring Leonard Woolf. Thanks also go to Suren Paul, Chair of the Leonard Woolf Society, and Claire Nicholson for their encouragement.
“Leonard Woolf’s influence on politics from international relations with the League of Nations to local community activism in Brighton is significant,” O’Neill pointed out.
The cover of Issue No. 72 – January 2023 of the Virginia Woolf Bulletin features the Brighton & Hove Virginia Woolf bus.
“His pioneering publishing work with the Hogarth Press is also to be admired. I’m delighted to see the Leonard Woolf bus, which seems a suitable way of honouring Leonard given his commitment to community service and environmental sustainability.”
About the buses and routes
The bus is one of the brand new accessible Coaster buses that have two wheelchair bays, dementia friendly flooring and seating, audio and visual next-stop announcements and an onboard loop system.
The bus number is changeable but is most likely to be doing either 12/12A/12X or 14/14C routes. These buses all serve Sealife Centre, Old Steine, North Street and Brighton Station.
Members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain raise a glass to the new Leonard Woolf bus in Brighton. Photo by Marielle O’Neill, second from right.
Dalloway Day, the day when fans of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway celebrate Clarissa Dalloway’s walk on a fine day “in the middle of June,” is being celebrated around the globe. Today, we will share details of Dalloway Day plans in London.
What: DallowayDay in London: “Mrs Dalloway in Town and Country.”
Why: The group will kick off with a Bloomsbury Walk: guided by Clara Jones (Virginia Woolf: Ambivalent Activist) they will saunter in the streets and squares of Virginia Woolf’s beloved Bloomsbury. Then they will move to Hatchards Piccadilly for “Mrs Dalloway in Town,” a conversation with two walkers and writers to reflect on walking in London both in Mrs Dalloway’s 1920s and today: John Rogers (This Other London: Adventures in the Overlooked City) and Matthew Beaumont (The Walker: On Finding and Losing Yourself in the Modern City). Then for ‘Mrs Dalloway in the Country’ we welcome Alexandra Harris (The Rising Down: Lives in a Sussex Landscape) and Harriet Baker (Rural Hours: The Country Lives of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann) to discuss walking in the country for Virginia Woolf and other writers, including Harriet and Alexandra themselves.
How: You can book for either or both of the discussion panels, or for all events. Places for the walk are limited, and are only available with an all-event ticket. Tickets available from Eventbrite (discounts for VWSGB members).
DallowayDay events are also open to non-members, so please book soon!
A discussion with the composer of Animal Spirits, a musical about John Maynard Keynes and the Bloomsbury group, will air March 20 at 5:30 p.m. UK time and is a members-only event for the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain.
David Thorne Scott will discuss the new musical, for which he is writing the book, music and lyrics. He will present a synopsis, read scenes, and play songs from the show.
About Keynes and the musical
Keynes developed groundbreaking economic theories in a turbulent time. Animal Spirits shows how Keynes’s friendships and love affairs with brilliant artists and free-spirited bohemians unlocked his genius and changed the world.
About the composer
Scott is professor of voice at Berklee College of Music, where he teaches jazz, classical and contemporary styles. He is also a singer and songwriter who “explores the intersection of jazz and Americana, city and country, instrumentation and lyrics to create lush compositions and covers that are unifying, and healing, in their beauty,” according to the Eponymous Review.
This event is exclusive to members of the Virginia Woolf Society of Great Britain They will receive an email about booking details. To join the society and attend this and other events, email: membershipvwsgb@gmail.com.
Ticket sales close at 1 p.m. on March 20. The ticket price is £6. Contact onlinevwsgb@gmail.com with any queries.
