THE real events that led Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi to write the script for the highly acclaimed 2003 film Calendar Girls, later adapted by Tim Firth into an equally successful play, are dramatic enough in their own right, needing nothing added to capture the public imagination. On the opening night at the Bristol Hippodrome…
THE delightful comedy Heroes, adapted by Tom Stoppard from Gerald Sibleyras’ original play, is set on the small rear terrace of a home for veterans in rural France, where three old men meet every day. Phillipe has a piece of shrapnel lodged in his head, and regularly passes out. Gustave, a former officer, has all…
FOUR new plays from Frome’s adventurous Nevertheless Productions is always an intriguing prospect – even in July when the pub theatre space at The Cornerhouse will be like an oven. The description of “quirky morality plays for the 21st century” certainly added to the appeal of the Frome Festival event. So what is a morality…
THE Cornish-based Miracle Theatre celebrates 40 years of open-air performances this year, with Bill Scott’s new play A Perfect World. It is the ideal play for the company, full of invention, fun, speedy costume changes, silliness and thoughtful ideas. Set in the 1930s, it revolves around exploration, steam punk, magical lands, peculiar people and lots…
THE live performance versus recording argument is an interesting one. Some performers favour the perfection achievable with digital recording techniques. Others – and those of us who love live performance – believe that the immediacy and atmosphere of the concert hall offers excitement and involvement that no CD or other recording can match. So we…
THE arrival in Dorset of Bristol artist Luke Jerram’s giant installation, the Museum of the Moon, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first man on the moon, has captured the imagination of thousands of people. The Dorset Moon project began at St Peter’s Church, Bournemouth, and moved to Sherborne Abbey for the weekend of…
COOK County came to the Dragonfly Theatre at Writhlington School when Merriman Theatre members put on three electrifying performances of Kander and Ebb’s musical Chicago. The youth theatre company, celebrating its 21st anniversary, is made up of actors, singers and dancers aged from ten to 18 years old, mostly from the Midsomer Norton and Radstock…
PLAY the Goat is the latest brand new company to emerge from the Made in Bristol initiative, which is coming up to its tenth anniversary. Aged between 18 and 25, the members of Play the Goat have had the opportunity to develop their creative skills in the environment of the Bristol Old Vic and for…
STEEL Magnolias, Robert Harling’s powerful ode to female friendship, was inspired by his own upbringing rural Louisiana. The award-winning film starring Sally Field and Julia Roberts was based on Harling’s play, written as a tribute to his diabetic sister. In the hands of director Adela Forestier-Walker and the versatile Athenaeum Limelight Players, this funny, poignant…
THERE are plenty of people who will tell you that Thomas Hardy’s novels are depressing, but chances are they haven’t actually read them. Howard Payton knows the novels inside out, particularly Far From The Madding Crowd, which he first read about 50 years ago. “I was hooked, not only by the description of Gabriel Oak…