PERHAPS the most wonderful, in the true sense of the word, thing about Christmas is to watch the delight and excitement on the faces of young children. And what better way to do it than to go along to Poole Lighthouse’s festive show Little Robin Red Vest, a two-person retelling of Jay Fearnley’s beloved story…

ELEVEN years after her memorable adaptation and production of A Christmas Carol at the Shelley Theatre in Southbourne, Helen Watts returned to Bournemouth last week with a new working of the Dickens classic for students of Arts University Bournemouth, at their home theatre, The Palace Court in Hinton Road. With an energetic cast of ten,…

BELOVED television sit coms have an insidious habit of introducing the population to catch phrases which quickly become essentials of everyday speech – and I will say this only wernce. So when the local am dram soc chooses to perform scenes from such a sit com, you can reliably expect the audience to join in…

WHEN asked what the difference was between the 1934 version in black and white of his thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much, and the 1956 remake in technicolor, the great Alfred Hitchcock replied: “The first was the work of a gifted amateur, the second of a seasoned professional” – and the same can be…

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…

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…

REPORT after report is published detailing “systemic” or “structural” racism in some of our major institutions. Fears of anyone “whose skin is a different shade” (as Hammerstein put it in South Pacific) fill some sections of our media, and fear of ultra right-wing action against them inform others. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird…

STUNNING is the only word to describe Martyn Jessop’s performance as The Creature in the Street Theatre production of Nick Dear’s riveting adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Director Adam Lanfranchi chose this play, first seen in 2011 at the National Theatre, with no thought of caution. His programme notes underline that its exploration of the…

IT is never a good idea to take over a job when the previous incumbent has been highly successful, but there is always an exception to every rule and Amelia Freedman well and truly proved that when, just over 30 years ago, she took over the role of artistic director of the Bath Mozart fest…

WRIGHT and Grainger are two men who met at school and both became obsessed with the Greek myths and their timeless relevance, which is certainly having a moment in these days of divided nations at war, very silly people who think they are gods and mindless people who bolster those delusions. The duo has developed…