WE all need a lift (and a bit of laughter) in these gloomy times (not to mention what’s going on beyond our lovely region), so why not make a date with Shaftesbury Arts Centre and beat the January blues with a magical and bonkers pantomime, Alice in Wonderland, at the Bell Street theatre from 22nd…
A NEW free exhibition at Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre, RNLI: Stories of Courage 1939-45, opens on Saturday 15th January, exploring the way the volunteer lifeboat crews saved lives at sea in dangerous conditions, including a lifeboat that was one of the famous “little boats” that rescued soldiers pinned down on the beaches at Dunkirk. The…
CHRISTMAS may be over, but Bath’s Egg theatre has an ongoing programme of fun plays and entertainments for children – January brings winter magic with Play Time: A Winter’s Tail on Saturday and Sunday 17th and 18th, and Jack and The Beanstalk (Sort Of) on Saturday 24th (two performances). The Last Baguette’s show, the latest…
PANTOMIME audiences at Theatre Royal Bath raised more than £12,600 over the festive season during 14 post-performance charity collections between Thursday 18th and Friday 26th December, after matinee and evening performances of The Further Adventures of Peter Pan. Audience favourite Jon Monie – who wrote the script and starred as pirate Smee – made an…
SARAH McQuaid is a singer-songwriter with an international background and a reputation both for the quality of her singing and multi-instrumental musicianship. She is coming to Dorset for a short tour with Artsreach, starting on Thursday 22nd January at Shipton Gorge village hall. On Saturday 24th she is at Studland and the last concert is…
WHEN Janet Street-Porter first hit the newspaper stands, and then the airwaves and television screens, there were many who didn’t like her accent, her voice or her take-no-prisoner attitudes. Opinionated as a fashion journalist, confrontational as a broadcaster and fearless as a campaigner, over time she has become a national treasure, and now she is…
PRIMARY school aged children in Poole, Bristol, Exeter and Portsmouth have a chance to experience live music, starting at Portsmouth Guildhall on 22nd January, with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s series of free Explore the Orchestra concerts. With the addition of a digital concert, broadcast live from Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre in May, the project enables…
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 Salisbury Arts Centre on 31st January,…
THE classic sitcom that made Martin Clunes a star comes to the stage of the Barn Theatre at Cirencester – Men Behaving Badly, by the show’s original creator Simon Nye, will be the adventurous little theatre’s first Built By Barn production of 2026, running from 30th January to 7th March Men Behaving Badly, the play,…
THE third Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque takes place at the arts centre, St Peter’s Church, St James’s Church and other venues from 20th to 26th January. The programme ranges from film to dance to a “battle” of 17th century playwrights. Professional musicians from the region and beyond (even Cumbria) will be taking part in this…