THE 700 year old thatched tithe barn, which is home to Messums Wiltshire gallery and arts venue, is often described as a “rural cathedral” and that never seemed more appropriate than for this concert by the Monteverdi Apprentices, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. The Monteverdi Apprentice Programme is an artist development scheme that offers…
IT’s quite a challenge, playing to an audience who know your character – and even your words – as well as you do. But the Salisbury Studio Theatre company rises to the challenge and pretty much brings the house down with Dad’s Army, which runs to 16th May at the Ashley Road theatre. In the annals…
DEVON cheesemakers Quicke’s, based on the family farm near Crediton, have produced a new seasonal cheese, the hand-crafted Elderflower Clothbound Cheese. Combining early summer’s grass-fed cow’s milk with the elder tree’s botanical bloom, this six-month matured cheese is a joyous celebration of the land. The new cheese owes much to the ancient hedgerows that the…
WHEN did you last have a nut roast? If you are a life-long vegetarian, you might say maybe 20 years ago. The best nut roasts were served at Cranks restaurant in Covent Garden, and the most reliable recipes were in the two Cranks cookbooks, which still deserve a place on the shelves of any keen…
ANY production of Shakespeare’s comic splatterfest Richard III stands or falls by its central performance. So it’s no wonder that Headlong and Bristol Old Vic, co-producers of the version that opened in the city and goes on to launch the refurbished Alexandra Palace in London, were excited to cast Tom Mothersdale in the role of…
THE majority of crime fiction fans count Ian Rankin among their favourite writers, but, somehow, I have missed out on his best-selling books. Coming to Rebus: Long Shadows free of preconceptions or expectations about the stories or their protagonists, but as a great fan of adaptor Rona Munro, I can say that this tense, taut…
WHEN John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger burst on the theatrical scene in 1956, changing the face of English theatre completely from the mainly escapism plays that had dominated the scene for the previous half century, it ushered in the new era of the angry young man. The targets may have changed since that date…
ANYONE who has had to deal with rebellious teenagers will tell you that there comes a time when they become so determined to be different from the previous generations that their actions become predictable. Having given fair notice of his intentions in the programme notes, director Mike Tweddle, in his anxiety to present “a true…
WHOEVER dreamed up the title Kinky Boots and those provocative thigh-length sparkling platform-soled stiletto-heeled red boots for the publicity material deserves a medal from the producers of this show. There can be few more attention- grabbing titles and images around than that combination, but while they do their job in encouraging potential audiences into the…
IMAGINE going to a Puccini opera, but discovering a Mass had been substituted at the last minute! Last Saturday the New Elizabethan Singers performed just such a work, The Messa di Gloria of 1880, written by teenage Puccini as his graduation piece, and with more than a nod to Verdi. The young Italian used every…