NICK Payne’s extraordinary play Constellations has its south west premiere at Yeovil’s Swan Theatre. It’s an intense two-hander that observes a relationship from the road(s) less travelled. And the premise is that every single move we make is predetermined, and may be almost replicated in alternative universes. Marianne and Roland meet – many times over,…
aWHY do we like to be frightened? What is it that makes horror films so appealing? Why do we love to gather round the fireside and have our blood chilled by stories of haunted houses, headless knights and grey ladies ceaselessly pacing lonely battlements? You might say, we live in comfortable times and we need…
IN the 40 years since it first came into existence in Cornwall, still its home base, Kneehigh Theatre has steadily raised the bar in its creation of distinctive anarchic theatrical presentations. I doubt that they have ever found a space better suited to one of their productions that this stone-built former factory in one of…
WHEN the thunder cracked and rumbled over the Stourhead gardens, we initially thought it was part of the spectacular soundscape that accompanies the Christmas light show at the famous National Trust gardens. A few minutes later, the storm started – hail like I have never experienced, streaming out of the sky in an impenetrable ice curtain….
ONE of the most enchanting of this excellent season of Christmas shows was at Salisbury’s Medieval Hall on 21st December, when Crescendo Concerts for Kids brought their new version of The Nutcracker to the Cathedral Close. The show, written by Petra Schofield, follows the adventures of two sisters leaving the house of a beloved grandmother…
A YOUNG singer stepped into the breach, at less than 24 hours notice, to sing the bass role in Haydn’s Nelson Mass, the main work in Trowbridge Philharmonic Choir’s Christmas music at St James’s Church. Simeon Coton was at university in Cheltenham when he got the call, at 10.30 at night, to ask if he…
PANTOMIME should be all about enchantment and laughter, and you won’t find a more magical or funny example than Jon Monie’s version of Beauty and the Beast, at Bath until 12th January. The script was first performed last season in Blackpool, where it won a new panto of the year award. Now, back on Jon’s…
Rachmaninov Piano Concert No. 2 Mahler Symphony No. 1 ‘Titan’ Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, leader Amyn Merchant James Feddeck: Conductor Vadym Kholodenko: Piano FIRST impressions: what were we talking about on the way home from last night’s sell-out BSO concert at the Lighthouse in Poole? It was the power of live music. If you dabble in…
TABOO Theatre company gave an indoor performance of their originally-site-specific show The Miller’s Daughter at the Exchange at Sturminster Newton, and it may be the precursor to further development of the play for a tour. First performed at Sturminster Mill in the heat of the summer, Tony Benge and Sue Ashby’s play deals with the…
IF it is beautiful costumes, excellent singing, great choice of classic pop songs and an unusually strong company that you want from pantomime, head for Poole’s Lighthouse, where Peter Duncan’s new adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk is on stage until 5th January. Perhaps best known for his two stints in Blue Peter in the…