CONCERTS in the West, the charity that brings rising young stars of the chamber music scene to venues in Dorset and Somerset, has an exciting harp-violin duo for the October tour. The series starts with the usual coffee-time concert at Bridport Arts Centre at 11.30am on Friday 16th October, followed that evening at Ilminster arts…
THE sad news that Taunton’s much-loved Brewhouse Theatre is to close (due to financial difficulties) was not only a shock but a problem for Taunton Thespians, who were already into rehearsals for their production of The Haunting of Hill House in mid-November. But local theatre lovers can still look forward to the spine-chilling experience of…
THE beautiful Art Deco theatre, Bridport’s Electric Palace, is the atmospheric backdrop for two shows that bring outspoken and hugely entertaining women to the stage – Ruby Wax with her new show Absolutely Famous on Friday 16th October, and comedians Flo and Joan and their With Feeling tour on Saturday 17th, with other local dates….
ONE of Agatha Christie’s most popular whodunits, now titled And Then There Were None, will be performed on the stage of Shaftesbury Art Centre from 14th to 17th October. Ten strangers are mysteriously invited to an isolated house, cut off from the outside world. Each of them has a secret history … but how can they…
BRISTOL Old Vic will stage the world premiere of Bea Roberts’ adaptation of Max Porter’s book 2019 Lanny, from 16th October to 7th November. Porter describes it as a story about a family whose village is peopled by the living and the dead, where a boy with a gift for friendship leaves traces of enchantment…
THE lives of two remarkable West Country women, whose stories deserve to be better known, are revealed in a new play at the David Hall, South Petherton, on Thursday 15th October, and a talk with music at Ilminster Arts Centre, on Friday 27th November. Rosalie, presented by Pleasure Dome Theatre at the David Hall, is…
IF you think of Clarks of Street, the first thing that comes to mind will be shoes – but there is so much more to the story of this family and the Somerset village where they have lived and worked for centuries. From prehistory to contemporary art, the Shoemakers Museum tells the story of a…
OVER the past 13 years, singer and artistic director Lynsey Docherty has developed the Celebrate Voice festival that she founded at Salisbury into one of the region’s most exciting and varied events. This year’s festival runs from 21st to 31st October with a line-up of world-class singers and musicians delighting audiences with 11 days of…
FILMS about the cut-throat world of high fashion and legacy of an artist top the October lists for Moviola screenings in our region. Back for a second outing, and some years on, it’s still steely smiles and steel-tipped stilettos in the glittering couture world of Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt. The…
IT’s that time of year! Sandwiched between the summer open-air shows and the increasingly early Christmas season come the literary festivals. This region has several outstanding events, ranging from the long-established with stellar line-ups to the more local, which often have delightful gems that you won’t want to miss. Some high profile authors, politicians, historians,…
YO Thom, one of the country’s leading ceramicists, is exhibiting alongside well-known Dorset print-maker Liz Somerville at The Art Stable, the contemporary gallery at Gold Hill Organic Farm, Child Okeford, until 24th October. Originally from Japan – a heritage which is inherent in her beautiful ceramics – Yo Thom has lived in North Dorset for…
IT is hard to believe it is 30 years since the first Purbeck Film Festival, but in those three decades the rural celebration of film has become one of the country’s most interesting and varied events, this year running from 16th October to 1st November, with an astonishing mix of classic, recent and new releases….
UNTIL 19th November, you can join in with the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Archers. And if you are old enough to remember the tragic death of Grace Archer in a fire in the stables at Brookfield (in 1955), you have been a fan of the world’s longest running soap for most of its existence….
MERE Literary Festival, running this year from 12th to 19th October, brings a host of interesting writers and wide-ranging subjects to St Michael’s Church and the stages of The Grove Building and the Lecture Hall. With themes that range from the role and life of Black Rod to wartime farming, Nepal to Siberia, and writers…
THE multi-talented Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society is moving east for its next production, to the Powell Theatre in Sherborne. The show is the musical version of The Great British Bake-Off, making its first appearance locally on the amateur stage, and performances are from Monday 26th to Saturday 31st October.It is directed by Jennifer Holland-Brewer and…
PIANIST Alberto Dalgo comes to the Old Schoolhouse at Tincleton, on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October, with a programme called Northern Landscapes, featuring works by Schumann, Liszt and Chopin. The Milan-based pianist begins the musical journey in the woods. Schumann’s Waldszenen takes us into a forest that defies explanation – a few steps, a…
FOLLOWING the success of Up Down Boy and 2012 and Up Down Man four years later,Up Down BIG Man re-opens Salisbury Playhouse’s Salberg Studio from Wednesday 7th to Saturday 17th October, before moving to Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th October. A Myrtle Theatre Company and Wiltshire Creative production in…
SLADERS Yard, the contemporary art gallery and cafe in West Bay, continues its 20th anniversary celebrations with a major exhibition of paintings, drawings and etchings by David Inshaw, one of the great contemporary painters of landscape, an artist who has been showing regularly at the gallery throughout those years. The solo show, At the Still…
WELLS Festival of Literature returns for its 35th year, following last year’s most successful event, with a packed programme of talks and book-related events at Cedars Hall, from Friday 16th October to Saturday 24th October. From popular novelists to leading journalists, including Jonathan Dimbleby, historians, cultural commentators, archaeologists, biographers, activists and campaigners, the 2026 Wells…
ROMESH Ranganathan, star of countless television comedy series and and presenter of The Weakest Link, is back on the road from November with a new show, and a massive list of dates and venues, including Yeovil’s Westlands. In this new stand-up show Romesh Ranganathan promises to “Change Your Life.” He is here to help, he…