ONE of the advantages of reviewing a pantomime at a schools matinee, rather than the official press night, is that you really get a feel for how children enjoy the show. For many youngsters it will be their first experience of live theatre – and if it’s a good one, they may come back, not…
CIVIC Players return to the Swan Theatre in Yeovil for their traditional pre-Christmas show, this time Ken Ludwig’s A Comedy of Tenors, on until Saturday 2nd December. It is the follow up to the writers popular Lend Me a Tenor, a play performed by Civic members in November 2022. The cast includes Andrew Meadows, Lucy-Ella…
“SHAKESPEARE has left us nothing so joyful and nothing so lovely,” says director John Crabtree of the dark comedy, Twelfth Night, which is being staged by Amateur Players at the Sherborne Studio Theatre from Monday 4th to Saturday 9th December, at 7.30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2.30. But it is a play with dark…
BRISTOL’S Old Vic Theatre is transformed into a magical city state in Arabia this Christmas. There’s a palace, a prison and a house where some of the “ordinary people” live, as well as sea monsters and a marvellous flying horse. And Schere is telling her stories to the petulant and babyish king. This brilliant retelling…
THERE is little in the way of festive cheer in Benjamin Britten’s opera The Turn of the Screw, but it is a brilliant and thrilling stage version of Henry James’ famous novella – and we all love a good ghost story at Christmas, don’t we! A new production opens at Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio…
A MAN whose career has spanned a seat at the Cabinet table, a love of ballroom dancing and a passion to help Britain reach net zero, Sir Vince Cable is coming to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Friday 1st December at 7.30pm. It is easy to see politicians as one-dimensional, walking egos, ambitious…
ANYONE who has ever watched a child or a grandchild perform in the school nativity play will want to see Salisbury Studio Theatre’s Christmas offering this year. The Flint Street Nativity this Christmas, written by Tim Firth and directed by Paul Chalmers and Sally Marshall, will be on stage at the Ashley Road venue from…
FROME is certainly a buzzy place these days, and alongside its vibrant and varied food scene, increasing numbers of book and vintage shops and general feeling of community spirit, the theatre scene continues to thrive. This Christmas, the Merlin Theatre’s traditional seasonal show, Elf – The Musical, sold out almost before the booking opened, and…
ONE of the all-time favourite Christmas films is Polar Express, and this year there’s an invitation to take a festive journey in historic style on the Swanage Railway, a heritage steam train that runs from Swanage to Corfe Castle. For this special festive trip, the train, with its excited complement of children and their families,…
THE Dorset Museum at Dorchester is presenting a major exhibition of sculptor Dame Elisabeth Frink’s life and work, from 2nd December to 21st April 2024. The works are drawn from the collection that Dorset Museum acquired from the Elisabeth Frink Estate in 2020, featuring sculptures, prints, drawings, and personal possessions. Many of these items, including…