WRITER and director Ben Crocker has forged a reputation for creating quirky, ultra-local versions of well known pantomimes, so Sturminster Newton Amateur Dramatic Society, aka SNADS, could hardly go wrong with his take on the immortal Aladdin. The story, calling as it does for changes of continent, an instant pop-up palace and of course a…
THERE are all sorts of reasons for becoming obsessed with a person or a subject – Stephen Taylor, traumatised by the death of his parents, painted the same tree over and over again, and Mark Hirsch photographed the same tree every day for a year. Already fascinated by the life and works of Nina Simone,…
SLEUTH is described as “the world’s greatest thriller” – which you might think is hyperbole, unless you recall the almost breathless excitement of the movie with a shocking Laurence Olivier (who had previously dismissed the stage play as “a piece of piss”) and Michael Caine, filmed at Dorset’s historic Athelhampton House. This new touring production,…
ANTHONY Shaffer’s dark psychological thriller, Sleuth, widely regarded as his masterpiece, comes to Bath Theatre Royal from 12th to 17th February, in a new production, directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, and starring Todd Boyce and Neil McDermott. Milo Tindle (McDermott) arrives at the impressive home of a famous mystery writer, Andrew Wyke (Boyce), only to be…
BUCKHORN Amateur Theatrical Society celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and the pantomime at Buckhorn Weston village hall sees a return to the story where it all started, back in 1994 – Red Riding Hood – on 16th and 17th February. The village may have seen many changes over the ensuing three decades – the…
A LECTURE-concert exploring the work of neglected women composers will help to raise funds for the restoration of the 15th century Bubwith Chapel at Wells’s Almshouses. Soprano and harpsichordist Sara Stowe will give the talk at the chapel on Tuesday 27th February. An exceptionally versatile musician, Stowe’s repertoire ranges from medieval song through the baroque…
ALADDIN, one of the oldest of the traditional English pantomimes, is the 2024 choice for SNADS, at The Exchange, Sturminster Newton, from Thursday 15th to Saturday 17th February, with matinees on Thursday and Saturday. The company has chosen the script by Ben Crocker, one of the country’s most popular and performed panto writers, well-known for…
THE spring programme at The Art Stable, Kelly Ross’s always exciting gallery in a former farm building at Gold Hill Organic Farm, Child Okeford, opens with In The Beginning, early works from the 1950s by Brian Rice, on until 9th March. At 87, Brian Rice is recognised as one of the most important British abstract…
AN important new display at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery reveals the little-known story of John Brown, who escaped slavery in the USA and lived in Dorchester during the 1860s. On show until 30th May, the exhibition has been curated by Jordan Cole, a student at Bath Spa University, and uses research from a number…
SLADERS Yard, the gallery and cafe at West Bay, takes us away from the dank and dreary days of February with an entrancing exhibition, Dreamscapes, running to 16th March. The former rope factory, which is the base for the hugely acclaimed furniture designer-maker Petter Southall, is showing work which is imaginative, surreal, strange and beautiful….