The Arts Section

Steve Backshall dives in

EXPLORER, naturalist, conservationist, broadcaster and passionate lover of all things maritime, Steve Backshall is back on tour this autumn with a new show, Steve Backshall’s Ocean, celebrating what he calls “the most exciting environment on our planet – the ocean”. He is coming to Bournemouth Pavilion on Saturday 26th October, Weymouth Pavilion on Thursday 31st…

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Moon landing in Bridgwater

THE historic heart of Bridgwater has a new visitor – Fallen Moon, an installation created by Bristol artist Luke Jerram, is on show in Bridgwater Docks, as part of the regeneration of this important port on the river Parrett. It will be visible in the docks until 3rd November. Luke Jerram is well-known for his…

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Elemental explorations at Bridport

THE Sou’ Sou’ West gallery at Symondsbury, Bridport, hosts Elemental, an exhibition of sculpture and installations by three environmental artists, from 19th October to 10th November. The concept of the elemental is an ancient one, and this new exhibition is grounded in ideas and exchanges about the terrestrial and materiality. The elements – earth, water,…

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New play at Dorchester

A WELSH theatre company makes its debut with Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Tuesday 22nd October. Decommissioned is the first play from Wise Ram Theatre, written by co-director playwright Molly Ann Sweeney. Wise Ram Theatre is a new neurodiverse theatre company, which aims to make theatre about the climate crisis. “Cariad, I care…

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Reverberation, Bristol Old Vic

THERE was a huge stir, followed by many awards, when Matthew Lopez’s play The Inheritance opened at The Young Vic in 2018, where its sell-out run led to a fast West End transfer. So perhaps it’s surprising that the American writer’s earlier works didn’t make it across the Atlantic, although his first play, The Whipping…

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Night Must Fall, Studio Theatre Salisbury

EMLYN Williams wrote his play Night Must Fall in 1935, long before the majority of the population felt themselves equipped to diagnose narcissism and most of the burgeoning number of psychiatric and psychological dis-eases of their fellow humans. But early audiences had absolutely no doubt that there was something very rum about Dan, the chipper…

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Theatrical ghosts at Shaftesbury

SHAFTESBURY Arts Centre’s music and drama group has chosen a dark comedy with a supernatural twist for its autumn production, from Thursday 17th to Saturday 19th October. Rehearsal, by talented local playwright, educator and author Steve McAuliffe, blends humour, chaos, and a touch of the unworldly with a setting and plot that make it an…

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Three In One, The Exchange, Sturminster Newton

EIGHT members of Sturminster Newton Amateur Dramatic Society (SNADS) have been working together for weeks to bring Craig White’s three Open University graduate plays to life on the stage of The Exchange – and the production was a thought-provoking delight for both audience and participants. The three short plays, Barney, Double-Glazed and Blood Sport, were…

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Once upon a time …

THE Bristol-based theatre company Roustabout Theatre is touring an imaginative new show for children, Little Red Riding Could, a playful and mischievous retelling of the original fairytale, which is coming to Front Room, Weston-Super-Mare on 26th October,  The Theatre Shop, Clevedon on 27th and 1st November at Portsmouth Guildhall Studio ending the tour at Bridport…

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War Horse returns

THE brilliant and award-winning National Theatre production of War Horse, adapted from Michael Morporgo’s novel, was a massive hit at the National, in the West End, on Broadway and around the world. Now a new production of this beautiful and deeply moving story is on a national tour, on at Plymouth Theatre Royal until 7th…

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