DORSET’s county town has many things going for it, but theatrically it is a national record-breaker. There have been seven community plays and now Dorchester Community Plays Association is looking forward to an eighth. Meanwhile, there is a nostalgic weekend ahead, from 27th to 29th March, with a look back at the fifth community play,…
SAXOPHONIST Neil Maya comes to Bridport Electric Palace on Saturday 21st March, at 3pm and to Bridport’s Clocktower Records that evening, for two gigs that turn the clock back more than 50 years, to the ground-breaking era of jazz funk. The two gigs are part of Birth of the Cool, a month-long festival of jazz,…
PHIL Beer, multi-instrumentalist and best known as half of the hugely popular folk duo Show of Hands, is currently pursuing his own musical thing, including a gig with his trio on Thursday 26th March, at Bridport Arts Centre. The world-renowned instrumentalist shares the roots of his musical life in the show, Phil Beer Trio, Blues…
ONE of the masterpieces of the silent screen, Cecil B DeMille’s The King of Kings will be screened at St Gregory’s Church, Marnhull, on Tuesday 31st March, at 7pm, as part of the parish’s Holy Week events. The film is being shown again, by popular demand, and will be accompanied by improvisational music from the…
WE wouldn’t exist without the sun – but how much do most of us know about it? Installation artist Luke Jerram asks visitors to come and discover the bright star that gives us light and life in his new touring project, Helios, which will be at Dorchester Corn Exchange from Saturday 28th March to Monday…
SOUTH West-based theatre company Pipeline has been awarded funding to develop a new play, George and the Drag Queen, for a national tour this autumn. The company has been commissioned to develop the project by the Create Tour Connect partnership. The Falmouth-based company won the commission after a competitive application process. The selection process for…
ROGER Fry, painter and member of the Bloomsbury Group, is celebrated in a new exhibition at the Museum of Somerset,Taunton, from Saturday 28th March to 4th July. A Life in Art: Roger Fry is a major new exhibition exploring the life, work and influence of one of the most important figures in 20th century British…
TWO former pupils of Wells Cathedral School return to Wells Cathedral on Friday 27th March to take part in a performance of Bach’s masterpiece, the St Matthew Passion, with the Armonico choir and baroque orchestra. The ensembles are conducted by their founder Christopher Monks. He and tenor soloist Nathan Vale were organ and choral scholars…
THE Olivier Award-nominated, international smash-hit musical The Choir of Man is coming to Bath Theatre Royal from Tuesday 24th to Saturday 28th March, as part of its first UK and Ireland tour. Direct from the West End, the feel-good, foot-stomping show will be visiting more than 35 venues. Set in on-stage pub The Jungle, a…
IN the years since I last saw Fiddler on the Roof – which was the memorable Chichester Festival production with Omid Djalili as Tevya and Tracy-Ann Oberman as Golde – the world has been turned upside down. That poignant but funny show, with its barn-storming central performance, seemed to end on a note of hope,…