RISING Damp, the ITV series broadcast in the mid 1970s, has been judged as one of the greatest television comedies of all time. It started as a play by Eric Chappell, who then adapted it for television, starring Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Richard Beckinsale and Don Warrington. Only Beckinsale was not in the…
TEN years ago, Matt Brady put up a marquee in a beautiful walled garden at Hatch House near Tisbury and invited audiences to come and see ballet in the open air. A three-course dinner was served as entr’actes to the main event. It was, by any stretch of the imagination, a brave thing to do….
IF Macbeth is The Scottish Play, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is THE Scottish Opera. So it was an interesting and logical idea for Christopher Cowell, directing the tragedy for Dorset Opera Festival to nod to the Shakespearean precedent, with three hags and a ghost. Not everyone approved – some critics have been disparaging of the innovation…
ONLY three days are left to see Rupert Everett’s stunning new production of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, adapted by David Hare. This second main house play of the summer season started on 18th July but the planned press night had to be postponed when John Light, who plays the doctor Astrov, was injured. Back now on a…
EMMA Rice’s Enid Blyton adaptation has taken over the former Passenger Shed at Temple Meads station for the summer, filling the cavernous space with fun, frolics and friendship. The Malory Towers books, written between 1946 and 1951, interwove with her other favourite series, the Famous Five (1942 to 1963) and the Secret Seven (1949 to…
WIMBORNE Rep got off to a spectacular start with Joshua Ward’s terrific production of A Bunch of Amateurs, on stage at the Tivoli Theatre. Written initially as a screenplay by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, the film (the Royal Command film for 2008 and much beloved of HMQ) was a box office and critical flop….
MANY restaurants have recognised the multiple benefits of putting produce that is local to their area on the menu – but not many chefs have an historic family tie to the food they serve. Mark Hartstone, chef-proprietor of La Fosse restaurant with rooms at Cranborne, grows many of his own salads, herbs and vegetables on…
IF you love actor musicians playing their socks off on a stage crowded with people and instruments, and if you loved Lady Di, you will probably be one of the whooping, squealing audience that adores Amelie, Watermill Theatre’s touring musical version of the award-winning film. Most of the reviews of this Michael Fentiman production, on stage…
VANESSA Redgrave has built an international reputation for brilliant performances in plays and films and for espousing controversial political causes. Now 82, she’s not stopping. Her latest venture, Vienna 1934-Munich 1938 – a family album, is on stage as part of Bath Theatre Royal’s summer season, until 3rd August. You couldn’t describe it as a…
IF there’s one thing that Ray Cooney’s 1987 farce, It Runs in the Family, proves, it is that life in hospitals was a lot more fun in those days. Set in the doctors’ common room at St Andrews Hospital, it’s a big day for Dr David Mortimore. For the rest of the staff and patients,…