THE sounds of Northern Soul come to Bath Theatre Royal from 29th July to 2nd August, when John Godber’s touring play Do I Love You? takes the stage. Sally, Nat and Kyle, 20-something and ready to keep the faith, learn about the genre from the hits of Edwin Starr, Frankie Valli, Frank Wilson, Eloise Laws,…
RICHARD Brinsley Sheridan’s wonderful comedy of manners and class, The Rivals, celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, so what better choice of summer touring play for the aptly- named Rain or Shine Theatre Company. The company was founded in 1998, with the specific intention of performing whatever the weather, and many nights have found sodden…
THIS year is the 20th anniversary of Dorset Opera’s move from Sherborne’s Big Schoolroom to the Coade Hall at Bryanston School near Blandford, and something special was needed to celebrate the occasion. Artistic director Rod Kennedy could hardly have anticipated the extraordinary thrill that South Korean baritone Hansung Yoo would bring to Dorset in the…
SOME psychologists will tell you that early teens is the worst time for major life crises, like divorce or death, and one thing you learn in life is that nobody, absolutely nobody, can tell you how to grieve. It is something you have to find out for yourself. Bright-but-stroppy Rory is 15, and suddenly faced with…
THOSE choreographers and dancers involved in juke box musicals who believe that tremendous energy, masses of lighting effects, flashy costumes and over-amplified music constitutes top class dancing should be frog marched to see this superb, elegant production. The ten strong ensemble of The City of London Ballet, former residents of Sadler’s Wells, follow up last…
WHAT is the summer open air theatre touring schedule without its Shakespeare, and no Shakespearean play is more popular than A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Revolving around love, mystery, demanding parents, jealous spouses, authoritarian rulers and blundering rustics, and with a beautiful forest setting, it tells a timeless story. Taunton Thespians began their summer tours back…
NEVER out of print since it was first published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of the best known stories ever written. Although thought of, and usually described as, a children’s novel, full of symbolism and surreal twists and turns, it has also found itself dissected and interpreted in literally hundreds…
THERE is an understandable degree of secrecy surrounding the meetings of The Susan B Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein, and, as the audience at Strode Theatre in Street is invited to attend the annual celebration, that sense of mystery must prevail. The year is 1956 and the Sisterhood meets in upper New…
AFTER six years in its second venue, Belcombe Court in Bradford on Avon, Iford Arts’ If Opera moves to the beautiful surroundings of Church Farm, Wingfield, south of the town, for the 2025 season. This year’s festival runs from 7th to 17th August. The Clare Teal picnic prom on Sunday 10th August is now sold…
SCOTTISH sculptor Nigel Ross developed his art practice during his early career in forestry on the Isle of Arran. Now based in Perthshire, he is a regular exhibitor at Roche Court, the New Art Centre at Winterslow near Salisbury. This piece, dating from 2021, has the evocative name Pictish Oak, and is both a beguiling…