BELOVED television sit coms have an insidious habit of introducing the population to catch phrases which quickly become essentials of everyday speech – and I will say this only wernce. So when the local am dram soc chooses to perform scenes from such a sit com, you can reliably expect the audience to join in…
WHEN asked what the difference was between the 1934 version in black and white of his thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much, and the 1956 remake in technicolor, the great Alfred Hitchcock replied: “The first was the work of a gifted amateur, the second of a seasoned professional” – and the same can be…
SCOTT of the Antarctic was a Great British Hero for generations throughout the 20th century. Indeed he was the paradigm of the English hero – courageous, honourable, thoroughly decent … and he failed bravely. And Captain Oates, one of Scott’s five-man team on that doomed journey to the South Pole, acquired legendary status with his…
WHETHER you are a fan of pantomimes, Christmas shows or determinedly non-Christmas shows in December, there will be something on stage for you in the south and west this season. In all my years reviewing, I have never seen so many offerings, from the big starry shows in the cities to the unpaid performers in…
IF you are a regular viewer of the Repair Shop on TV you will be used to people who have brought in distressed heirlooms that remind them of the lost loved ones who actually made them, saying of their loved ones when they return to admire the expertly re-invented prized possession “I can see them…
MASTER storyteller Vic Llewellyn comes to Sidmouth Manor Pavilion theatre on Thursday 27th November,with a wintery story to make your blood run cold, No One is Listening’(A Ghost Story), a funny and heartbreaking ride through a landscape of ghosts, forgetfulness and fading memories. How do we preserve what is beginning to fade? When a (not…
BRYANSTON School staged a week-long art and design showcase, Re-Imagine 2025, at the Royal Watercolour Society Gallery in London, featuring work from across the school’s past and present, with Old Bryanstonians (OBs), current pupils and staff, highlighting imagination in all its forms. Visitors moved through a space of paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and design, while…
BISCUITS are a familiar feature of most European culinary traditions and they have a special place in the heart of Croatian actress Tina Hofman, who brings her one-woman show, Pepper and Honey, to Sixpenny Handley village hall on Saturday 29th November at 7.30pm and Litton Cheney Community Hall on Sunday 30th November at 2.30pm. Tea…
ALASTAIR Braidwood is a man of many talents. Well-known to fans of the New Hardy Players and Dorset folk music as a versatile musician, musical director and actor, he is also an experienced handknitter and he has just celebrated the launch of his new knitwear brand by knitting an entire fisherman’s gansey from start to…
TOM Moth, the acclaimed harpist with multi-platinum-selling band Florence and The Machine, and a Frome resident, is one of three locally-based acts performing at The Tunnels on Saturday 29th November to launch the fund-raising campaign, 25 for 25, to support Frome Festival I harpist among musicians taking part in Frome Festival’s ‘25 for 25’ launch…