THOMAS Hardy’s story The Woodlanders is a classic of doomed and unrequited love, social climbing and sacrifice. The New Hardy Players, based on the group with which the writer himself was associated, chose the Emily Fearn adaptation of the story for the 2013 production, and, sadly for them, chose the late rather than hot and…

BLINDLY following my satnav along the windy B-road from Corfe Castle to Langton Matravers, I foolishly thought I’d easily spot a festival in the open countryside … I didn’t. Purbeck Folk Festival has a unique setting in the valley of the National Trust’s Wilkswood Farm, where barns and outhouses are transformed into five stages –…

FOR a generation raised on Twilight and Buffy, the idea of the eternal undead is no surprise, but Bram Stoker’s Dracula continues to weave its fascination. This week a group of 59 young performers aged between 12 and 19 are performing a new adaptation of the story by Oliver Birch as the 2013 Storm on…

THE 2013 summer season at Bath Theatre Royal ends with a hilarious bang in Lindsay Posner’s production of the farce A Little Hotel on the Side by Feydeau and Desvallieres, in a timeless adaptation by John Mortimer. Performed on Michael Taylor’s inventive set, which makes full use of the theatre’s revolve, this is the classic…

A circus steeped in history and water THOSE of us “of a certain age” can remember circuses with big cats in what looked like flimsy cages and tunnels, chimpanzees taking tea on the sawdust ring, prancing ponies and big-footed clowns. Some of us can also remember annual aqua shows with all the razzmatazz of a circus,…

It is four years since I last saw this Wimborne-based skiffle band, and back then their repertoire already included songs ancient and modern, from skiffle originals to hits by Erasure and the Spice Girls, cleverly adapted to a Skiffle beat and sometimes with “countrified” lyrics to match their Dorset roots. The passing of time has…

ALAN Ayckbourn’s dateless 1975 play Bedroom Farce continues to delight audiences across the English speaking world. Set over one seemingly endless night, there are three bedrooms always on stage, as the action moves between them. Wacky lovebirds Kate and Malcolm have invited their friends round for  a party, but they are not ready for the early arrivals….

CELEBRATING its 50th year in 2013, Brownsea Open Air Theatre paired up the ever popular A Midsummer Night’s Dream with a “new” play to the island, the complex and rarely performed Pericles. And Don Cherrett’s production, on until 16th August, has given the magical island theatre one of its finest ever moments in the heart-rending…

TOM Morris’s first Bristol Proms came to a triumphant end on Saturday with a “stage managed” production of Handel’s oratorio Messiah, performed by the Southbank Sinfonietta, the Erebus Ensemble, five solo singers and actor Tristan Sturrock. These proms had rules, aimed at taking the audience back to the time when music was performed as frequently…

BRISTOLIANS are gearing up for the annual Balloon Fiesta, on next week from 8th to 11th August, and there will be more new visitors than ever this year. I can’t imagine that anyone who sees Hot Air, on until next Saturday at the Tobacco Factory at Bedminster, will be able to resist the temptation of…