WHEN New Zealand dairy farmer Louise Talbot moved to Dorset with her family she was surprised to discover that almost nobody made their own cheese – quite the opposite of what she was used to. Louise decided to share her expertise by setting up a cookery school with a difference – Louise brings her Cutting…
AMATEUR Players of Sherborne is one of 86 companies, from almost 200 applicants, to have been chosen to take part in the 2014 Royal Shakespeare Company Open Stages project – a special year also celebrating the 450th anniversary of the birth of the Bard. With professional mentors and input from young actors from local schools,…
A STYLISH restaurant with good food, attractively presented, served by charming, helpful waiters – and very affordable. What more could you ask? Add to those essential ingredients the spice that you are helping the training and development of the next generation of chefs and hospitality staff, and you have a recipe for customer satisfaction. The…
ON the way home from Bath tonight I have been singing songs from great musicals; South Pacific, Guys and Dolls, CATS, and others, all of which were musical memories stirred by songs in The Witches of Eastwick, yet curiously none of the actual songs from tonight’s show was original or memorable enough to remain in…
JOE Orton’s play Entertaining Mr Sloane caused a sensation when it first appeared, incredibly, 50 years ago. Now the black comedy seems almost gentle, a period piece set firmly in the days of Steptoe and the Kray Brothers, and that’s just how the current London Classic Theatre touring production plays it under the director of…
ALAN Bennett’s wonderfully witty and thought-provoking double bill throwing contrasting lights on two of the ‘Cambridge Spies’, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, finds a perfectly satisfactory production with The Halse Players. In the seven years of their existence this compact group have already formed a reputation for setting themselves high standards and for being prepared…
JOHN Mortimer, drawing from his own experience, wrote his first play The Dock Brief in 1958. It’s a gentle comedy that satirises the precarious existence of those called to the Bar. Wilfred Morgenhall studied late into the night, devouring legal precedent and Latin terminology until he passed his finals and was called. But that was…
EVELYN Glennie, the world-famous percussionist, chose the cellist Jacqueline du Pre, for her interview on BBC Radio 4’s Great Lives series last week. It was a fortuitous choice for those of us who were due to see Duet For One at the Warehouse Theatre this week. The programme looked at du Pre both as one…
HARD to believe on an April day when the rain is lashing down, but summer isn’t far off – and what better way to celebrate in style on a hot sunny day than with an iced cocktail! That is the delicious idea of Crispin Shingler, a mixologist and former actor, who has brought the skills…
DORSET has the perfect climate and soil for growing vines – particularly to produce champagne-style sparkling wines. The success of a new local vineyard in the 2014 Judgement of Parsons Green underlines the growing importance of viticulture in the local food and drink industry. Langham Wine Estate, near Dorchester, took the top prize with its…