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…
ONE thing you can say for Pia Furtado’s production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea, at Iford Opera until Saturday, is that it looks marvellous. It is also very well sung and played by Christian Curnyn’s Early Opera Company. The problem is that it is so full of Rococo fol de rols and sado-masochistic debauchery that…
AUDIENCES at the Cattle Ring in Salisbury Market were treated to a remarkable productions of Carmen by a stunning company of young singers when Winterbourne Opera took over the space. The company, which usually performs in the Tithe Barn at Winterbourne Dauntsey, was formed in 2001 following a successful performance of The Magic Flute by…
ONE of the programme essays for Somerset born Lucy Bailey’s production of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, King Lear, at Bath, begins with the paragraph “King Lear is a play about homelessness.” No it’s not. It might as well have said “a play about cake cutting”. The tragedy is that the fine and versatile actor David Haig…
AS soon as it was announced that Dorset Opera had included La Traviata, directed by Jonathan Miller, as part of its 2013 festival season at Bryanston, tickets for the three performances sold out in double quick time. Coupled with a Wagner opera for the festival, it meant that the chorus of (often) young singers had…