The Arts Section

Carducci plays Mozart, Beethoven and Shostakovich

THE next concert in the Shaftesbury Chamber Music series at Port Regis School brings the Carducci String Quartet back to North Dorset for an evening of varied works on Sunday 15th February at 5pm. The quartet, violinists Matthew Denton and Michelle Fleming, Eoin Schmidt-Martin, violin and cellist Emma Denton, will play Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet, Shostakovich 4…

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Men Behaving Badly, Barn Theatre Cirencester

I ARRIVED at Cirencester’s Barn Theatre in the apparently unique situation of never having watched the TV series (mostly because I am not a fan of one of the leading actors). So, with a not just open but totally uninformed mind, I approached Simon Nye’s stage version, set on the night of the Millennium, shunted…

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Moscow Drug Club on tour

MOSCOW Drug Club are hard to pigeon-hole – but hugely popular, appealing to lovers of gypsy jazz, Berlin cabaret and French chanson.  The late winter tour continues at Salisbury Arts Centre on 12th February, and four dates with Take Art start on 19th February at North Curry village hall, 20th February at Norton-sub-Hamdon village hall,…

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Wild things and witches

HUNT for Book Witches, discover your wild side and have fun with Viking gods this half term, as Dorset’s rural touring arts charity Artsreach brings a varied programme of theatre and adventure for children of all ages over the February half term, from Sunday 15th to Saturday 21st, with live music, magical puppetry and more….

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New musical honours first Black British officer

A NEW musical based on the life of Walter Tull, a pioneering black footballer and army officer, has several local dates, beginning with Exeter’s Barnfield Theatre on 17th and 18th February, followed by the Redgrave at Bristol, Dorchester and Poole as part of a national tour. Commissioned by Show Racism the Red Card, the show…

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When Elvis met Bond

THE inimitable Spitz & Co, creators of Elvis in Blue Hawaii, are back in Dorset with another sideways look at the King – The Spy who Loved me Tender starts its short tour at Wootton Fitzpaine village hall on Thursday 12th February. Spitz & Co are a comedy and physical theatre company who have been…

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Mary Beard headlines at history festival

CHALKE History Festival, the UK’s leading celebration of history, will return from 22nd to 28th June to bring the past vividly to life through a rich programme of top-class talks, wide-ranging discussions and dynamic living history experiences. The line-up includes classicist Mary Beard, radio presenter and journalist James Naughtie, commentator Anne Applebaum, former White House…

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Suddenly, Seymour, back on stage

TWO of the region’s leading theatres are collaborating on an autumn production of the darkly funny and popular musical Little Shop of Horrors. Opening at Exeter from 1st to 17th October, this will be the first full production of a musical at the Northcott in more than 20 years. The show will be moving to…

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Romantic violin-piano dialogue

THE 2026 season of recitals at the Tincleton Gallery, at the Old School House, Tincleton near Dorchester, opens on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th February, with piano-violin duo Milda Daunoraite and Amber Emson. The programme is an evening of romantic musical dialogues – just right for Valentine’s Day. Pianist Milda Daunoraite is studying with Tessa…

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