HE may be approaching his 82nd birthday, but British film director Ken Russell is still going strong. With numerous film projects in the pipeline, including a big screen adaptation of Moll Flanders and a new zombie film Invasion of the Not Quite Dead, the controversial but much-cherished figure has still managed to find time to hit the road with his An Audience With... event, which arrives at the Harlow Playhouse on Sunday.

And with such a colourful career, which spans his Oscar-winning movie Women in Love (1969), to the big screen version of The Who’s stage hit Tommy (1975), and most recently his appearance alongside Jade Goody on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007, it is certain to be a colourful evening.

Ken will be joined on stage by his good friend and broadcaster Humphrey Burton. The pair met in the early ‘60s while working on the ground-breaking arts programme Monitor, for which Ken made a number of well-received documentaries on the subject of famous composers including Strauss, Debussy, Prokofiev, Bartok and Delius. But it is his piece on Elgar which remains closest to his own heart.

“People still stop me in the street and say thank you for introducing me to his works,” he says. “I wanted to express my delight in the man and his work, which I discovered at the age of 18.”

Ken Russell comes to the Harlow Playhouse on Sunday, May 31, 7.30pm. Details: 01279 431645, or www.playhouseharlow.com (£15/£14 )