THE Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has a new residency in Somerset, at Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The long-term relationship was announced on the eve of a BSO concert at the theatre in November. The new residency will provide greater access to world-class music for communities in Somerset when the theatre, which is managed by South Somerset District…
FROME Drama is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and of course the talented and versatile members wanted a “big show” to mark the occasion. The pandemic gave member, writer and director Gill Morrell an unexpected opportunity for research, and she turned to Chaucer’s classic Canterbury Tales for inspiration, giving them a Frome twist. She then presented…
GEORGE Bernard Shaw must have been uncomfortable company – stimulating but frustrating, unsentimental, proto-feminist and convention-challenging, but infuriatingly pompous. Mrs Warren’s Profession, one of his earliest plays, has all these characteristics and more! The inspiration in this terrific new Theatre Royal Bath production, directed by Anthony Banks, is to cast mother and daughter Caroline Quentin,…
FORMER nurse and now vicar Carey Jane Hardy wrote her deeply-felt play Let It Be Me at the turn of the century, and now it comes to Yeovil’s Swan Theatre in a perfectly-paced production, directed by Brian Williams. Amy, about to be 40, lives with the aunt who brought her up after the death of…
AS the full BBC Symphony Orchestra sat waiting on the stage of The Forum for their conductor Kevin John Edusei and pianist Sir Stephen Hough to join them for the start of the final concert of this year’s Mozart Fest, a near neighbour in the audience turned to their companion and loudly declared “Now that’s…
THE winter exhibition at the Salisbury Museum in the Cathedral Close is Her Salisbury Story, running until 16th April 2023. It has been inspired by the Her Salisbury Story project and website, which aims to bring Salisbury’s heritage alive by exploring women’s stories, celebrating the lives of the city’s women past and present. The aim…
IF Florence Foster Jenkins had been alive today she’d have been a TikTok sensation, says Paul Townsend, director of Glorious! at Strode Theatre in Street this week. Jane Sayer, who plays the role of “the worst singer in the world” at Street, is simply sensational. Her astonishing portrayal of the larger-than-life personality who, at the…
SOUTH Somerset District Council’s arts and entertainment service has been awarded almost £760,000 and National Portfolio Organisation status in the newly announced Arts Council England awards, covering the period from 2023 to 2026. Adam Burgan, the venues manager for the district, says: “Becoming an NPO for the Arts Council is a huge milestone in our…
In 1865, when Fleetwood pharmacist James Lofthouse realised that the small bottles, containing a mixture of liquorice, eucalyptus and menthol which he had concocted to help his fishermen friends cure sore throats, were causing problems at sea, he set about trying to find a better way to deliver his soothing medicine. The throat lozenge he…
THE autumn and winter talks programme at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton continues on Remembrance Day, 11th November, with Richard Cooper-Knight talking about the Commonwealth war graves of Somerset. Richard published Death and Service which explores some of the stories behind the 800 First World War graves found across the county. Somerset Wildlife Trust’s…