The Arts Section

Terra Nova, Swan Theatre, Yeovil

SCOTT of the Antarctic was a Great British Hero for generations throughout the 20th century. Indeed he was the paradigm of the English hero – courageous, honourable, thoroughly decent … and he failed bravely. And Captain Oates, one of Scott’s five-man team on that doomed journey to the South Pole, acquired legendary status with his…

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Goodies, baddies, clowns and dames – it’s pantomime time again

WHETHER you are a fan of pantomimes, Christmas shows or determinedly non-Christmas shows in December, there will be something on stage for you in the south and west this season. In all my years reviewing, I have never seen so many offerings, from the big starry shows in the cities to the unpaid performers in…

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2025 Bath Mozart Fest finale

IF you are a regular viewer of the Repair Shop on TV you will be used to people who have brought in distressed heirlooms that remind them of the lost loved ones who actually made them, saying of their loved ones when they return to admire the expertly re-invented prized possession “I can see them…

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No-one is listening … who’s there?

MASTER storyteller Vic Llewellyn comes to Stockland village hall, near Honiton, on Sunday 23rd November, with a wintery story to make your blood run cold, No One is Listening’(A Ghost Story), a funny and heartbreaking ride through a landscape of ghosts, forgetfulness and fading memories. How do we preserve what is beginning to fade? When…

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Re-Imagine – celebrating creativity at Bryanston

BRYANSTON School staged a week-long art and design showcase, Re-Imagine 2025, at the Royal Watercolour Society Gallery in London, featuring work from across the school’s past and present, with Old Bryanstonians (OBs), current pupils and staff, highlighting imagination in all its forms. Visitors moved through a space of paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and design, while…

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Building connections with baking

BISCUITS are a familiar feature of most European culinary traditions and they have a special place in the heart of Croatian actress Tina Hofman, who brings her one-woman show, Pepper and Honey, to Sixpenny Handley village hall on Saturday 29th November at 7.30pm and Litton Cheney Community Hall on Sunday 30th November at 2.30pm. Tea…

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Star harpist joins Frome’s 25 for 25 launch

TOM Moth, the acclaimed harpist with multi-platinum-selling bandFlorence and The Machine, and a Frome resident, is one of three locally-based acts performing at The Tunnels on Saturday 29th November t launch the fund-raising campaign, 25 for 25, to support Frome Festival I harpist among musicians taking part in Frome Festival’s ‘25 for 25’ launch to…

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Period instrument quartet on tour

CONSONE Quartet, the first period instrument string quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists, is coming to Bridport Arts Centre, Ilminster Arts Centre and Crewkerne Dance House on 28th and 29th November, for the final Concerts in the West tour of 2025. The four musicians – Agata Daraškaite and Magdalena Loth-Hill, violins, Elitsa…

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Facing up to mortality in Frome

PATRICK Ness’s play A Monster Calls, developed from an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd, comes to the Merlin Theatre in Frome from 20th to 22nd November, performed by members of Frome Drama and directed by Calum Grant. Set in the present day, the story centres on 13-year-old Conor, whose mother is dying from…

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