THE inventive and funny New Old Friends are at Frome’s Merlin Theatre, from Wednesday 17th to Sunday 28th December over (not Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) with a revival of their popular comedy thriller, Crimes Against Christmas. Loosely inspired by Agatha Christie’s Then There Were None, the story follows a group of strangers summoned to…
OLIVIER Award-winning actor Guy Masterson comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Monday 15th to Friday 19th December with his tour-de-force solo performance of A Christmas Carol. This acclaimed version of Charles Dickens’ famous fable is directed by Nick Hennegan, who has also adapted Dickens’s original performance text for the production, which also includes original music…
PLAYWRIGHT Sir Tom Stoppard, who was born in the former Czechoslovakia in 1937, has died at the age of 88. He lived near Shaftesbury and, despite his international profile and long list of major stage, writing and film awards, was actively supportive of the arts, theatre and music in the area. There was an early…
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 has one more date before Christmas,…
ACTING legend Sir Derek Jacobi, a star of both the stage and screen, has a short pre-Christmas tour talking about his career, with two local dates, at Bath Theatre Royal on Friday 28th November and Bristol’s Redgrave Theatre on Sunday 30th, both at 2pm. The event will feature insights, memories of appearing in countless Shakespeare…
IF you think grand opera is all about very big voice, huge orchestras and vast opera houses, think again! Dorset’s Artsreach rural touring charity is bringing a small scale operatic entertainment to Yetminster on Sunday 14th December. Village halls may not have much in common with Covent Garden, the Met, Sydney Opera House or La…
A MUSICAL that was a box office hit on Broadway and in the West End comes to Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio for Christmas, from Tuesday 25th November to Saturday 3rd January. The show, directed by Hal Chambers, is a co-production by Bath with Reading Rep and the Barn Theatre at Cirencester, where it delighted…
MASTER storyteller Vic Llewellyn comes to Sidmouth Manor Pavilion theatre on Thursday 27th 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 a (not…
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…
MAJOR national annual dates these days are at least as much about selling as they are about celebrating – and that’s certainly the case in Terry’s: An American Tragedy About Cars, Customers, and Selling Cars to Customers, coming to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Thursday 13th November. Memorial Day weekend … the US-of-A….