SHAKESPEARE’S early play The Taming of the Shrew is one of the most difficult for modern audiences, and never more so than in these post-Weinstein, equal pay, equal opportunity days. Bill Alexander’s sparkling production for Bristol Old Vic Theatre School at Circomedia (the 18th century former St Paul’s Church) doesn’t duck away from the story….
BATH-based theatre company New Old Friends is heading out on a lengthy tour with the new comedy murder mystery Crimes Under the Sun, and it starts at the Ustinov Studio. Written by company founder Feargus Woods Dunlop, it is set on a sun-soaked island off the English riviera, where famous Belgian detective Artemis Arinae is…
TONIGHT was always going to be something of a test. I have been a fan of this company for a few years now, and I have never seen anything by them that has not been of the highest standard, on every level. My Fair Lady is also a favourite of mine, and as well as…
AS we approach the centenary of the end of The Great War and listen to the umpteenth justification for MORE guns being the answer to school shootings in the US, awareness of the futility of war and the (usually) male obsession with armaments is as relevant as it ever was. Joan Littlewood’s brilliant and chilling…
THAT old adage about “the show must go on” has never rung more true than for this year’s Sturminster Newton Amateur Dramatic Society’s winter show, A Right Pantomime, at the Exchange until 17th February.. The company was devastated by the sudden death, less than a month ago, of Alison Mash, who was in the cast,…
TODAY’S sparkling mid-morning concert was part of a tour given by the Ferio Saxophone Quartet and promoted by Concerts in the West. Winners of several prestigious awards, this relatively new ensemble is already considered to be one of Britain’s leading chamber music groups, having performed at the Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room and St John’s,…
ARTS University Bournemouth’s drama courses have produced some exceptional work in recent months, testing the students with inventive double-casting and improvisational adaptations, as well as more conventional work. Their colleagues on the university’s costume and stage design courses have worked closely with the varied productions to hone their skills for careers in the theatre. The…
MUSICIAN, historian, teacher and composer Louise Jordan, a regular on the Artsreach circuit, is entertaining and educating fans across Dorset with her new show, No Petticoats Here. It all started when she asked her husband where he would like to go for a richly-deserved short holiday after a summer of touring in 2014. “The Somme”…
THE generation born between the two world wars was known for resilience and coping, not talking about “feelings” and certainly not digging into a troublesome past. It’s very different from our times, when everyone is encouraged to bring emotions and experiences out into the open and “share” them with as many people as possible. Add…
IT’S 1912, and as Scott and Amundsen begin their race across Antarctica, the hapless explorer, Captain Reginald Scottt (yes – with three t’s and each one impeccably pronounced!) has accidentally landed on the wrong side of the continent. As Scottt and his motley band set up base camp, a meteor crashes nearby. Deciding to investigate,…