5. It’s a kind of magic (hanging out at a festival)
Frank Cottrell-Boyce – children’s book author, screenwriter of films such as 24 Hour Party People, and writer of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony – was struggling after his mother died. “In my grieving I lost my mojo,” he recalls. “I remembered thinking: ‘I’ve lost my magic, where should I look?’”
To try to reboot his zeal for life, he literally learned magic, and is bringing that sense of wonder, hope and joy to this year’s Brighton Festival, as we discover in our interview with him this issue. “Adults get so little opportunity to be vulnerable and open. To see people’s defences go down and just go: ‘Wow’, is so wonderful,” he says, of curating this year’s wonder-packed, multi-arts programme.
Image: James Hole
