Desperado – The Singles Tour 2015 is at Artrix on Saturday 25th July at 8.00 pm. Tickets cost £17.50 (£15 over 60s and students)

Colourful, energetic & crowd-stomping, CoCo and the Butterfields express the intimate vibrancy of a village folk fair. With powerful vocal melodies and an undercurrent of driving beatbox to deliver catchy songs, it’s easy to see why this Canterbury band of buskers have quickly established themselves as one of the most phenomenal live shows in the UK. As well as delivering incendiary performances at Glastonbury, Isle of Wight and Camp Bestival, they’ve also supported internationally acclaimed artists Bastille, King Charles and Wheatus.

The limelight when their Warriors single was featured by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6Music and was independently released at a 1,200 capacity sell-out show.

Their date at Artrix on Saturday 1st August is their only West Midlands date on their biggest UK tour yet, following the sell-out success of their Say Hello single release on June 1st. Tickets cost £12 (standing with balcony/gallery seating)

Looking ahead, Artrix is once again leading the field in creative provision for children and young people with its innovative youth theatre: Out of the Box. From September, there will be a brand new Junior section for children aged 6-9. The new group will meet on Tuesdays from 5.30pm. Out of the Box Seniors which has been meeting at Artrix for several years offers a unique performance experience within a working theatre. Each term, youngsters work around a theme, learning how to improvise, build confidence and devising pieces to make up a show at the end of each term.

There are opportunities for those who like to perform, but also the chance to work backstage, creating scenery, choosing props, making costumes and designing make-up for the shows. Rehearsing in a real theatre also means the youngsters get to work with the Artrix technicians to learn about lighting and sound. Out of the Box is led by professional youth director, Mel Dykes who has many years’ experience of working with children and young people and ensuring each child’s talents are nurtured and showcased.

This Autumn, Out of the Box Juniors and Seniors will be taking the classic festive story of The Nutcracker and exploring ways of adapting this tale to make an original piece of theatre with elements from each of the two groups. There will be lots of physical theatre, movement and music as well as exciting opportunities for character development and speech work. The finished performance will take place in Artrix Studio Theatre on Saturday 28th November.

Budding young performers who think Out of the Box might be for them can test it out at two Stage Schools over the Summer holiday. These full-week activities start on July 27th and August 10th as part of Artrix Family Fun Festival programme.