I FIRST met Margaret Thatcher in the ballroom of the King’s Arms Hotel in Christchurch, the week before she became leader of the Conservative party in early 1975. The research chemist and barrister was a blazing light among the stodgily familiar Tory faithful. Interviewing her after her speech, she was direct, what we now call…
RAMIN Karimloo, in Yeovil? Surely not? Last year he sold out two iconic venues in Islington, Union Chapel and the Assembly Hall, and also the London Palladium, so those of us within an hour or so of the Octagon were very excited when this tour was announced towards the end of last year. Karimloo is…
AFTER the success of Hansel and Gretel last year, Bumblefly in collaboration with Forest Forge have been touring the region, bringing, as their publicity tells us, storytelling, magic and a splash of mischief, to their take on one of my favourite stories, The Elves and the Shoemaker. David Haworth’s adaptation of the Brothers Grimm story…
Brahms: Tragic Overture Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 BSO, leader Amyn Merchant Conductor James Feddeck Alexei Volodin, piano AFTER an exhausting schedule of Christmas concerts and New Year walzes, this was back to business for the hard-working BSO. The conductor was the young American James Feddeck, who has gained a wealth…
THE latest production of The Play that Goes Wrong starts its 29 venue tour at Bath with a sell-out week to open the 2017 season. Its reputation was enhanced by the televising of Peter Pan Goes Wrong (by the same team) over Christmas. Amateur theatricals provide a seemingly endless source of material for the professionals…
MATTHEW Maisey not only wrote and directed the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that Glastonbury and Street Musical Comedy Society are performing at Strode Theatre until Monday 2nd January, but also plays Weasel, half of the essential knockabout duo. So it’s only fair to hand the biggest slice of praise to him, for his…
AUDIENCES at Salisbury’s Salberg Studio can turn the clock back to ther parlour entertainments of Victorian days with the evening show this Christmas. And it is devised and performed by the same versatile and talented quartet staging The Night Before Christmas in the afternoons for a family audience. The shows bring Glyn Kerslake back to…
WORLD domination is a big theme at the moment, so what more apt pantomime than Aladdin, whose villain is a manipulative megalomaniac with global ambitions. The difference between those on the real international stage and the one at Bath’s Theatre Royal is that Bill Ward’s Abanazar is funny and drop-dead gorgeous. Spectacle, fun and excitement…
YOU might think you know all about Robin Hood, a historic hero with little relevance to the 21st century. But how wrong you would be, as the egg theatre’s Christmas show proves. This new version, created by Greg Banks and performed by four actors backed by an all-female ska band, underlines the fact that the legendary…
IT hardly seems two years ago that I had the privilege of attending the premiere of Jools Scott’s and Sue Curtis’ oratorio The Cool Web in the magnificent surroundings of Bath Abbey. Based on the work of Robert Graves, The Cool Web was without doubt one of the most moving tributes to the fallen I…