AT the final destination for a production that finishes, after a strenuous six month tour, in Bristol on Saturday 3rd August, this presentation shows no signs of running out of steam. In fact, the three-strong Le Navet Bête, (Nick Bunt, Al Dunn and Matt Freeman), drive this tale of three itinerant actors trying to devise…
DORSET Opera Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and the company, led by artistic director Roderick Kennedy, decided not only to commission an opera to celebrate the golden jubilee, but for this new work to be a truly Dorset production. So composer Paul Carr was asked to create an opera based on Thomas Hardy’s…
DORSET Opera is celebrating its 50th birthday in style, with two spectacular productions on the stage of the Coade Hall at Bryanston, 20 miles but light years away from its first opera staged at Sherborne School in 1974. The big story of this anniversary year is the commission of a new opera based on a…
JEFF Clarke has quite a reputation among opera lovers in the south west, nourished by his many memorable and hilarious productions performed in the Harold Peto cloister at Iford Manor. Now that that venue is no longer available, fans are delighted to be able to follow his Opera della Luna shows at Bath’s Theatre Royal,…
THE volume and warmth of the reception afforded to London City Ballet as they returned to touring to Bath’s Theatre Royal after an absence of nearly 30 years, is testament to the way that ballet, dance and movement have recaptured the imagination, particularly of younger theatre-goers, over the past decade. Harold King’s once enormously popular…
THERE really is something special about Somerset, as indigenous families will know and Taunton Thespians’ original summer 2024 play encapsulates the county’s myths and legends in a most delightfully informative and humorous fashion. Now on tour, Lorna Evans’ play Here Be Dragons tells the tales of the fears and fancies of generations of Somerset dwellers,…
IT is more than 60 years since Tom Stoppard, working as an occasional theatre critic and reporter on the Bristol Evening World, wrote his short play The Real Inspector Hound. The rest is glittering theatrical history. But perhaps strangely, out here in the sticks (and I suspect anywhere outside the confines of the M25), it…
FORMER Children’s Laureate, best-selling children’s writer Michael Rosen is coming to Bridport’s Electric Palace on Thursday 1st August, celebrating his 50th anniversaries of his live performances and the publication of his first book. The talks are at 11.30am and 2.30pm. One of the world’s best-selling writers for children, and a popular broadcaster, Michael, who was…
LANGHAM Wine Estate this year celebrates 15 years of the vineyard at Crawthorne Farm, near Dorchester. The anniversary was marked with a party for friends of the winery and vineyard, and the release of an outstanding new still wine. Managing director Justin Langham said: “I take immense pride in evolving what was once my father’s…
THERE are no makeweight roles in Don Giovanni. Every one of the eight characters is important to the story and each has his or her moment or more of operatic glory. The central partnership is that of the Don, woman-chasing, arrogant and domineering, and his servant Leporello, quick-witted and loyal (up to a point). But…