RAW dates for Pagoda Project

PAGODA Project bring their unique blend of contemporary folk and improvisation to Rural Arts Wiltshire at Hullavington village hall on 6th March. There is a second gig, in Devon, with Bradninch Folk Club at the Guildhall, on 17th March at 7.30pm. This adventurous trio is Paul Hutchinson on accordion, Shaftesbury-based composer and clarinettist Karen Wimhurst…

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Life-affirming play at the Marine

AN acclaimed solo drama, produced by Margie Barbour, former director of the Marine at Lyme Regis, comes to the theatre on 19th March with two performances of Every Brilliant Thing, at 1.30pm and 7.30. Every Brilliant Thing was a sell-out at Bridport last year and a success in London, with a cast on rotation that…

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School comedy with a black heart

DORSET writer and actor Ed Viney follows his successful play Pot Licker with a new black comedy, Stolen Ram, coming to Dorchester Corn Exchange on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th March, with more dates in the region, including Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio on 11th to 14th March. Working in association with Poole’s Lighthouse arts…

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The cyclops and the clown

“IF Tarantino was to write a play, this would be it,” says Jason Durr, star of the new comedy thriller Murder at Midnight, which comes to Salisbury Playhouse from Monday 9th to Saturday 14th March, and Bath Theatre Royal from 16th to 21st. Written by Torben Betts, it is a follow-up to his previous play…

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Do we ever really know what’s going on in the house next door?

IN these febrile days of international wars, covert communications and the popularity of The Traitors and its spin-offs, Hugh Whitemore’s 1983 play Pack of Lives will seem frighteningly relevant. It has been chosen for the next Amateur Players of Sherborne production, directed by Adrian Harding and on stage at the APS Studio Theatre from 9th…

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Macbeth, Tobacco Factory, Bristol

ONE of the most spectacular, and difficult to stage, moments from Shakespeare’s Macbeth is to bring the forest of Birnam Wood to Dunsinane castle, and you might think it would be too big an ask in the intimate confines of Bedminster’s Tobacco Factory Theatre, with a cast of only ten actors. Think again. By blending…

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The grand old duke …

WELSH storyteller Shon Dale-Jones comes to Portland’s Royal Manor Theatre on Thursday 12th March with his Edinburgh Fringe First award-winning show, The Duke, for the first of three dates with Artsreach. He will also be telling the tragi-comic tale of a family heirloom at West Stafford village hall on Friday 13th and Burton Bradstock hall…

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Kinda groovy folk-blues-rock

CERYS Matthews, on her BBC Radio 2 show, described the Mark Harrison Band as “a bit different and kinda groovy too.” Find out more when the trio come to Dorset from 6th to 8th March, for three dates with Artsreach at Broadmayne, Shillingstone and Corfe Castle. Mark is a multi-award-nominated singer-songwriter, storyteller and virtuoso guitarist…

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Hit musical at Bath

IF you have seen the film Operation Mincemeat, you will know it is an improbable, utterly British story that – amazingly – is true … an account of the ridiculously daring stunt that helped to turn the course of the Second World War. Turned into a hit musical, Operation Mincemeat – The Musical, is on…

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Geoff is just your average bloke

GEOFF Norcott is that very rare thing in the UK comedy scene – he is a Conservative! But coming out as a right-winger hasn’t impeded his career too badly, and he is now on a new tour, Basic Bloke 2 – “There’s no Bloke without Fire” – coming to Taunton’s Brewhouse Theatre on 11th March,…

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