CONCERTS in the West’s April series brings Ensemble Augelletti, specialists in the music of the 17th and 18th centuries, to Bridport Arts Centre for the usual coffee-time recital at 11.30am on Friday 10th April, with a 7.30pm concert at Ilminster Arts Centre, and Crewkerne Dance House on Saturday 11th at 7.30pm Founded in 2019, the…
HUNGARIANS love music and the whirling rhythms and passionate fiddlers Budapest Cafe Orchestra, with the charismatic violinist Christian Garrick, is on tour this spring, with local gigs at Sturminster Newton Exchange on Thursday 16th April, Dorchester Corn Exchange on Friday 17th and the Mowlem theatre at Swanage on Saturday 18th. Founded in 2009 by Garrick,…
LIKE Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, who explained her origins as “I’spect I grow’d’, so Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s show has also grown. Written as a 15-minute pop cantata for Colet Court School in London, it developed into a full scale musical that has endeared itself to the public for more than 50…
THE first major revival of the musical version of Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman comes to Bristol Old Vic from 29th April to 16th May, and to Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre from 2nd to 6th June. Set in an Argentinian prison, Molina, imprisoned for his homosexuality, is put in a cell with political prisoner…
On 22nd November 1990 (Thanksgiving Day!) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned as Conservative leader after weeks of rumours and high expectations. That November, the Artiste Gallery in Bath had an exhibition of the paintings of surrealist absurdist cartoonist and writer Glen Baxter, already famous for his hilarious pictures with their bizarre captions, often underlining the…
THE sea in all its beautiful, dangerous and unpredictable drama is the focal point of the New Waves Festival, two reimagined classics and a new piece, performed by students of Theatre Royal Bath Theatre School at the theatre’s Egg space, from Friday 10th to Saturday 18th April. Brimming with imagination, energy and creative ambition, the…
… on Friday 10th April, look who you may meet, at Westlands entertainment centre at Yeovil. Last Baguette will give two performances at 10am and 11.30, of A Woodland Wonder, a play-along theatre adventure. Join Ratty as she learns about the environment and plant your very own seeds! There’ll be silliness, play-acting, games and music…
CHRISTY Lefteri’s bestselling book The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a story of our times – a chronicle of the lives of a handful of Syrian and other refugees seeking asylum in the famously civilised and welcoming United Kingdom. Now adapted for the stage by Nesrin Alrefaai and Matthew Spangler, it is in Bath until Easter…
HIJINX Theatre, one of Europe’s leading inclusive theatre companies, is coming to Taunton Brewhouse on Tuesday 7th April and Dorchester Corn Exchange on Thursday 9th April, with Meet Fred. The company is marking the tenth anniversary of this darkly funny satire, following the experiences of Fred, a puppet fighting for his independence as his Puppetry…
SHERBORNE Travel Writing Festival has never felt more important than this year, when our international travel possibilities seem so fragile and risky. Over the weekend 10th to 12th April, speakers at the Powell Theatre in Abbey Road will take audiences on journeys of adventure, history, nature, deep into today’s fractured and dangerous world. Curated by…