THERE were 361 half-hour episodes of the American television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents during the decade following 1955, shows that attracted a host of A-list star actors and directors as well as the Essex-born Hitchcock, known as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. Some years ago, American composer, lyricist and…
GRAHAM Smith and Robert Brydges decided that it was time for Amateur Players of Sherborne to tackle an Ibsen play, after 91 years without a single work from the great Norwegian playwright. So they set about adapting the much-performed story, focussing on its timeless qualities and modern relevances, and their new version is on stage…
YOU don’t often hear the phrase “protest singer” these days, but the tradition – which stretches back for many years in unions and traditional working communities, and was reinvented by the folk singers of the 1960s – lives on in Reg Meuross, the Crewkerne-based singer-songwriter whose work has always championed the issues of the day,…
SWISS playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt studied philosophy and went to Berlin for postgraduate studies into Kierkegaard. There, he quickly formed a very different view of his native country and its famed neutrality, instead seeing a state polluted by greed and hypocrisy where neutrality was a euphemism for complicity. The fledgling philosopher turned his attention to playwriting…
IBSEN’S classic play Hedda Gabler is the next on stage at the Studio Theatre where Amateur Players of Sherborne have made their home. Directed by Graham Smith, the production runs from 24th to 29th March, nightly at 7.30. It is the story of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage, fighting to hide the secrets…
BE My Baby, Amanda Whittington’s first play, was performed at Salisbury Playhouse’s Salberg Studio in 2024, and now it comes back to the city for a production by Studio Theatre at their Ashley Road home. Set in 1964, it centres around Mary, a pregnant 19-year-old who is sent by her mother to a mother and…
THERE’S something about trees and since the publication of Merlin Sheldrake’s fascinating book Entangled Life, we know that there are forces underground, in constant communication with one another. So, if you have been in a forest and been aware of an invisible presence, it’s not really surprising … and humans have had that feeling for…
THE British and Irish Cheese Awards return to the Bath and West show ground over the weekend 21st to 23rd March, running again this year in conjunction with the Bath and West Food and Drink Festival, which is in its second year. With more than 500 entries from around the United Kingdom, the British and…
CONNOR McPherson’s 1997 play The Weir, written when he was in his mid-20s, is set in a dilapidated pub in County Leitrim on a windy night. At first sight it’s a ghostly story, and that is how some of the many productions around the world have played it. When Dennis Barwell chose it to direct…
THE acclaimed writer of Broadchurch and show runner of Dr Who, Chris Chibnell, will be on home ground when he launches his new book, Death at the White Hart, at Bridport Arts Centre on Monday 24th March. The story is set in the picturesque (fictional) Dorset village of Fleetcombe, which has two pubs, a small…