THERE is grand opera in world-famous venues, country house opera in historic and beautiful gardens – and there is village opera at Oborne, the pretty little village close to Sherborne. Here local music lovers, with Jon and Jenny Fletcher of the Grange at Oborne hotel, have established a small but perfectly-formed summer festival which brings…
THE Miracle Theatre summer show is a perennial favourite with audiences across the south and west, and this year’s production, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, is no exception. Now returned to its home county of Cornwall for the last 2025 performances, the final cross-border show was at Sandford Orcas on the perfect evening of…
GELATO from Bridport, sausages from Wimborne, elderflower liqueur from Kingsbury Episcopi and hogget from Gillingham are among the outstanding West Country products to be awarded the top three stars n this year4’s Great Taste Awards, run by the Guild of Fine Food at Gillingham. They are among the 1.9% of the total record entry of…
IN her 250th anniversary year, Jane Austen is everywhere, from straight plays and screenings of favourite television adaptations to films, comedies, spoofs and a new adaptation inspired by her most popular novel – Death Comes to Pemberley, coming to Bath Theatre Royal in a world premiere production from Tuesday 5th to Saturday 90th August. Pride…
A 1993 Play and Playgoers Year Book survey placed Yorkshire-born John Godber in third place behind William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn, as the most performed playwright in the UK. Those heady days of popularity, led by plays like Bouncers and Up ‘n’ Under (and Shakers, co-written with his wife Jane Thornton), may be behind this…
THE 17th century walled garden at Hatch House near Tisbury is a magical setting for any event, but it has a uniquely seductive atmosphere when the annual visit of Covent Garden Dance Company stages Ballet Under The Stars. Ballet at Hatch has become known as “the Glyndebourne of dance” – and it’s a fair comparison,…
SINGER and stage and screen actress Lily Allen comes to Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio, from 25th July to 23rd August, starring in the title role of Hedda, a new adaptation of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. The run in the intimate venue is sold out, with only returns available. Enigmatic and destructive, both of herself and…
COURT rooms are the stuff of drama – comedy, not so much. Improv comedy comes to Stockland village hall, near Honiton, on Friday 1st August at 7.30pm with This Is Your Trial!, a show in which the audience is fully involved! When you come to this court, your role is that of juror. You’ll decide…
A STUDENT from Wareham, a counsellor from London and a former art teacher from Southsea have been announced as the winners of the inaugural Lark Music-Making prize, in conjunction with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. They have each won £1,000. The competition, which is sponsored by Lark Music Insurance, was launched by the BSO in the…
THE colourful exoticism and drama of the traditional circus and street theatre of Rajasthan returns to Bridport’s Millennium Green on Wednesday 30th July with an afternoon of exciting music, dance and enthralling acrobatics. The visit follows the sell-out success of last year’s performance, featuring the vibrant, noisy, musical, heart-stopping performers of Circus Raj from the…