IT is strange to think that today’s whooping, selfie-snapping theatre audiences have no idea what “summer rep” was all about. But freelance director and producer Sue Gilroy is determined to prove its value and attraction to new generations with a summer season at Lyme Regis’s historic Marine Theatre. This year she has chosen five plays and…

BECAUSE the word amateur is often used in a derogatory manner, many people, including those involved, shy away from it when referring to local non-professional productions. Decidedly not of that number are Sir Cameron Mackintosh and his Music Theatre International company. Sean Grey, managing director of MTI, described amateur theatre in these words, “Here at…

BACK in 1891, when Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler had its first performance, the central role was hailed as a tragic heroine, imprisoned in a loveless marriage, at the beck and call of ruthless men, and with no agency over her life. Her only recourse was suicide. The play’s scandalous denouement horrified critics and audiences. The powerful…

WHETHER you are a fan of Offenbach, Gluck or Natalie Haynes, Simon Butteriss’s new adaptation of the story of Orpheus, Euridice, Pluto, Jupiter et al for IfOpera is a delight. One of four operas performed at the opening season of the company’s new home at Church Farm in Wingfield south of Frome, this re-telling is…

THIS 250th anniversary year of the birth of Jane Austen must have seemed the perfect time to tour PD James’s murder mystery sequel to Austen’s most famous book, Pride and Prejudice. The James novel, published in 2011, was a pastiche in Austen style, and was very successfully adapted for television, getting a Christmas showing in…

THE Miracle Theatre summer show is a perennial favourite with audiences across the south and west, and this year’s production, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, is no exception. Now returned to its home county of Cornwall for the last 2025 performances, the final cross-border show was at Sandford Orcas on the perfect evening of…

A 1993 Play and Playgoers Year Book survey placed Yorkshire-born John Godber in third place behind William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn, as the most performed playwright in the UK. Those heady days of popularity, led by plays like Bouncers and Up ‘n’ Under (and Shakers, co-written with his wife Jane Thornton), may be behind this…

THE 17th century walled garden at Hatch House near Tisbury is a magical setting for any event, but it has a uniquely seductive atmosphere when the annual visit of Covent Garden Dance Company stages Ballet Under The Stars. Ballet at Hatch has become known as “the Glyndebourne of dance” – and it’s a fair comparison,…

RICHARD Brinsley Sheridan’s wonderful comedy of manners and class, The Rivals, celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, so what better choice of summer touring play for the aptly- named Rain or Shine Theatre Company. The company was founded in 1998, with the specific intention of performing whatever the weather, and many nights have found sodden…

THIS year is the 20th anniversary of Dorset Opera’s move from Sherborne’s Big Schoolroom to the Coade Hall at Bryanston School near Blandford, and something special was needed to celebrate the occasion. Artistic director Rod Kennedy could hardly have anticipated the extraordinary thrill that South Korean baritone Hansung Yoo would bring to Dorset in the…