The Arts Section

Ancient stories from Dorset

BRITISH Museum curator Sophia Adams will give a talk about the important Iron Age and Roman finds from a grave on Cranborne Chase, at the Dorset Museum in Dorchester on Thursday 18th April at 7pm. “Traditions and Transitions: The Story of the Chettle Grave Group” will discuss the 2003 discovery of a locally made bronze…

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Musical walks with Ninebarrow

DORSET’s much-loved folk duo Ninebarrow – James LaBouchardiere and Jon Whitley – are almost as well known for their love of walking as they are for their beautiful harmonies and charming original songs. For some years they have been leading walks and writing books to introduce their fans and fellow-walkers to different areas of their…

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A year at Daylesford

DORSET artist Gary Cook has spent much of the past year sketching in the landscape around the Daylesford estate on the Cotswolds, and the results can be seen in a new exhibition, ReWolding, at Daylesford from 16th to 29th April, capturing the unique atmosphere and beauty of this area of sweeping hills, wooded valleys and…

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The Drowsy Chaperone, Milborne Port Opera

IT’S 34 years since the fledgling Milborne Port Opera took to the village hall stage to perform Trial by Jury, and since then dozens of singing actors, acting singers and dancers have got together around Easter to put on a show. The company’s reputation has grown, the repertoire become more varied, and, from the original…

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The Wizard of Oz, Bristol Hippodrome

AFTER singing Climb Every Mountain at a band call in the Circle Bar of Bristol Hippodrome, a friend of mine fixed a steely eye on the conductor and brass section of the orchestra and said, “Listen gentleman, the audience will have paid their money to hear me sing this number, not hear you play it”….

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The Full Monty, Theatre Royal Bath

IN many ways the story of Montague Burton, gentlemen’s outfitters, runs parallel with the rise and fall of the steel industry in the UK. Escaping from Russian pogroms, Lithuanian born Meshe David Osinsky arrived in this country in 1900, aged 15 and unable to speak English. Within a year he was earning a living as…

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Travel back to the 18th century

STORYTELLER Tim Lowe will take his audience back to the 18th century in his performance of An Audience with George Chafin, at Chettle House near Blandford on Saturday 6th April a 2.30pm. Lowe reimagines the life of George Chafin, an MP who was Head Ranger of Cranborne Chase. He talks about his family and local…

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Life before Lawrence at Clouds Hill

TINY Clouds Hill, near Wareham, where TE Lawrence – Lawrence of Arabia – lived in the 1930s, is now open for the 2024 season. A previously undiscovered photograph shows one of the families who previously lived in the remote cottage – and gives an insight into its appearance before Lawrence. One of the National Trust’s…

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Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Bristol Hippodrome and touring

AT 9pm on Wednesday July 20th 2011 BBC three put out a documentary directed and produced by Jenny Popplewell entitled Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, which to put it mildly raised more than a few eyebrows. Narrated by Jill Halfpenny it followed the story of County Durham schoolboy Jamie Campbell, who after coming out as…

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