OVER the past 13 years, singer and artistic director Lynsey Docherty has developed the Celebrate Voice festival that she founded at Salisbury into one of the region’s most exciting and varied events. This year’s festival runs from 21st to 31st October with a line-up of world-class singers and musicians delighting audiences with 11 days of…
ONE of the country’s leading public historians, Professor David Olusoga brings his wit and academic rigour to that most British of traditions, a cup of tea. He comes to Bridport’s Electric Palace on Saturday 10th October, at 7.30pm, to talk about his new book, The Global History of the British Cup of Tea. The BAFTA-award-winning…
ONE of Agatha Christie’s most popular whodunits, now titled And Then There Were None, will be performed on the stage of Shaftesbury Art Centre from 14th to 17th October. Ten strangers are mysteriously invited to an isolated house, cut off from the outside world. Each of them has a secret history … but how can they…
BRISTOL Old Vic will stage the world premiere of Bea Roberts’ adaptation of Max Porter’s book 2019 Lanny, from 16th October to 7th November. Porter describes it as a story about a family whose village is peopled by the living and the dead, where a boy with a gift for friendship leaves traces of enchantment…
THE lives of two remarkable West Country women, whose stories deserve to be better known, are revealed in a new play at the David Hall, South Petherton, on Thursday 15th October, and a talk with music at Ilminster Arts Centre, on Friday 27th November. Rosalie, presented by Pleasure Dome Theatre at the David Hall, is…
IF you think of Clarks of Street, the first thing that comes to mind will be shoes – but there is so much more to the story of this family and the Somerset village where they have lived and worked for centuries. From prehistory to contemporary art, the Shoemakers Museum tells the story of a…
FILMS about the cut-throat world of high fashion and legacy of an artist top the October lists for Moviola screenings in our region. Back for a second outing, and some years on, it’s still steely smiles and steel-tipped stilettos in the glittering couture world of Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt. The…
IT’s that time of year! Sandwiched between the summer open-air shows and the increasingly early Christmas season come the literary festivals. This region has several outstanding events, ranging from the long-established with stellar line-ups to the more local, which often have delightful gems that you won’t want to miss. Some high profile authors, politicians, historians,…
SLADERS Yard, the contemporary art gallery and cafe in West Bay, continues its 20th anniversary celebrations with a major exhibition of paintings, drawings and etchings by David Inshaw, one of the great contemporary painters of landscape, an artist who has been showing regularly at the gallery throughout those years. The solo show, At the Still…
IT is hard to believe it is 30 years since the first Purbeck Film Festival, but in those three decades the rural celebration of film has become one of the country’s most interesting and varied events, this year running from 16th October to 1st November, with an astonishing mix of classic, recent and new releases….
FROM 8th October to 19th November you can join in with the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Archers. And if you are old enough to remember the tragic death of Grace Archer in a fire in the stables at Brookfield (in 1955), you have been a fan of the world’s longest running soap for most…
FOLLOWING the success of Up Down Boy and 2012 and Up Down Man four years later,Up Down BIG Man re-opens Salisbury Playhouse’s Salberg Studio from Wednesday 7th to Saturday 17th October, before moving to Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th October. A Myrtle Theatre Company and Wiltshire Creative production in…
GEORGE – he of the Dragon – may be the archetype of heroic Englishness but drag offers a colourful alternative in a delightful new play from Pipeline Theatre. George and the Drag Queen comes to Dorset with Artsreach, for three performances from 9th to 11th October, with George and the Drag Queen. Described as “a…
YO Thom, one of the country’s leading ceramicists, is exhibiting alongside well-known Dorset print-maker Liz Somerville at The Art Stable, the contemporary gallery at Gold Hill Organic Farm, Child Okeford, until 24th October. Originally from Japan – a heritage which is inherent in her beautiful ceramics – Yo Thom has lived in North Dorset for…
WELLS Festival of Literature returns for its 35th year, following last year’s most successful event, with a packed programme of talks and book-related events at Cedars Hall, from Friday 16th October to Saturday 24th October. From popular novelists to leading journalists, including Jonathan Dimbleby, historians, cultural commentators, archaeologists, biographers, activists and campaigners, the 2026 Wells…
ROMESH Ranganathan, star of countless television comedy series and and presenter of The Weakest Link, is back on the road from November with a new show, and a massive list of dates and venues, including Yeovil’s Westlands. In this new stand-up show Romesh Ranganathan promises to “Change Your Life.” He is here to help, he…
DORSET Museum & Art Gallery is launching a fundraising campaign to enhance and expand its forthcoming Mary Anning – Fossil Hunter exhibition, which runs until 2nd May 2027. It celebrates the life and legacy of the pioneering palaeontologist 180 years after her death. This landmark exhibition, which will have a programme of talks, family activities,…