STU McCloughlin shows his versatility when he takes on one of the greatest challenges in theatre, the title role in Shakespeare’s Scottish tragedy, Macbeth, at Tobacco Factory Theatres in Bedminster, from 19th February to 28th March. The much-loved star of comedy theatre company Living Spit is familiar to audiences around the West Country, both with…
DAVID Copperfield: A Life is an exciting new re-telling of Dickens’ classic, brought to the stage of Bath Theatre Royal, from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd February in an epic community production. A cast of more than 100 people is led by award-winning director Sally Cookson and writer-adapter Mike Akers. This new version asks the…
EXPLORE the free-spirited era of the 1960s – the so-called “swinging” decade – through boutique fashion alongside fabulously creative homemade garments at Blandford Fashion Museum. The museum is housed in the Georgian, Grade II-listed Lime Tree House in The Plocks, built by the Bastard brothers after the great fire of 1731. It houses collections that…
SOUTH West Heritage Trust has received a £993,345 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for an ambitious two-year project to celebrate the Chew Valley Hoard and mark the 1,000th anniversary of William the Conqueror’s birth. Comprising 2,584 silver coins, the Chew Valley Hoard is the highest-value treasure acquisition on record and comes from the…
JENNIFER Saunders returns to Bath Theatre Royal in October to star in The Sea, Edward Bond’s masterpiece. It is the first revival in nearly 20 years of the play, which is a blend of wild farce, high comedy, biting social satire and bleak poetic tragedy. The star, best known as half of French and Saunders…
ACTOR and musician Alastair Braidwood is undertaking a marathon live audiobook reading of one of Thomas Hardy’s best-loved books, Far From the Madding Crowd, starting on Tuesday 17th February and running for seven weeks. Alastair, well known from the New Hardy Players and their band and ceilidh band Tatterdemalion will be reading the book to…
THE annual SNADS pantomime has always been a big part of the society’s year, the large cast and crew meaning that almost every member is involved in some way to bring the February show to the audience. This year experienced director Craig White joined debut director (and principal boy) Jessica Allen to lead a 34-strong…
FEW theatregoers around the world have seen Scottish playwright David Greig’s 2002 play Outlying Islands, but a lucky few in and around Salisbury now have a second opportunity. The play was staged on a short tour in 2004 after its premiere in Scotland, and it featured Sam Heughan, now a global superstar as the leading…
TOM Stoppard’s play Indian Ink, first seen in 1995, comes to Bath after a short season at the Hampstead Theatre. Directed with a meticulous and playful eye by Jonathan Kent, it once again stars Felicity Kendal, the actress for whom the central character, avant garde 1920s poet Flora Crewe, was written. Now she plays Flora’s…
OPERA at Oborne and Opera Cameratina get together over Valentine’s weekend to celebrate the distinctive music of America, with an evening of three short operas on Saturday 14th February, an open workshop and song recital on Sunday. The performances are at the village’s lovely St Cuthbert’s Church, the venue for the summer Opera at Oborne…