OLIVER Goldsmith’s 1773 comedy She Stoops to Conquer is said to have been based on an incident in his childhood, in which he was jestingly directed to a local manor house which he was told was an inn. Whatever the truth of the attribution, it resulted in a classic play that has stood the test…
CABARET should always have a frisson of wanton wit, a hint of burlesque, some risqué songs … and even a pinch of decadence. In the capable hands of Charlie Bicknell and Louise Innes it also has balls or claws – or Claus, if you will. The always in-demand duo have three dates before Christmas, on…
IF you love folk and traditional music with a festive flavour, you probably already know that Christmas and the Mellstock Band go together like turkey and cranberry sauce. This December, the delightful quartet, who recreate the music of Thomas Hardy’s time, come to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 13th December at 7.30pm. The name Mellstock…
THERE’S nothing quite like raising your voice in Christmas song, and who better to do it with than the Celebrate Voice youth choir and the singing stars of the popular annual event. This year’s Celebrate Voice at Christmas, at Salisbury’s atmospheric Medieval Hall in the Cathedral Close, will be performed from Thursday 11th to Saturday…
TELEVISION schedules are packed with so-called “holiday” favourites (often films that didn’t get rave reviews first time out), and theatres are bursting at the seams with Dames, ugly sisters and winsome princesses, but Moviola’s audiences have different ideas, and the mobile cinema organisation’s December programme has a fascinating selection, led by the bittersweet Ballad of…
ONE of the most eagerly anticipated local concerts in the run-up to Christmas is always the male choral ensemble Opus Anglicanum’s Medieval Carols and Figgy Pudding, this year at Wells Cathedral on Tuesday 16th December and St Mary’s Church, Dorchester on Thursday 18th. For more than 30 years, the ensemble has performed this programme, which…
FRESH from his adventures in the Celebrity Traitors’ Scottish castle, historian David Olusoga comes to Bridport Electric Palace on Friday 12th December at 7.30pm, with a new talk, History’s Missing Chapters, in which he explores how and why some people and some events are remembered and others are forgotten. The acclaimed author, broadcaster and newspaper…
BOTANICAL artist Pauleen Trim grew up in the beautiful, peaceful Winterborne valley south of Blandford, in an area full of wildflowers, plants and trees. She still lives, with her husband Jim, in Winterborne Whitechurch surrounded by friends, family – and that beautiful landscape of fields, hedges, trees and gentle hills. From childhood, she had always loved…
TWO jazz and fusion musical powerhouses, Christian Garrick and John Etheridge, have a short December tour with Artsreach, Dorset’s rural touring arts charity, starting on Wednesday 10th December at Hinton Martell village hall, continuing on Thursday 11th at Halstock, Friday 12th at Portesham and Saturday 13th at Shillingstone’s Portman hall, all starting at 7.30pm. Garrick…
FANS of the brilliant folk group St Agnes Fountain have two chances to see the trio in December, with a concert at Honiton’s Beehive Centre on Thursday 11th and their regular South Petherton date at the David Hall on Sunday 14th. Folk fans have a double treat at Honiton when they are joined by Devon-based…