The Arts Section

A tale of food and typhoid

LIVING Spit’s autumn recipe is on its way to a theatre near you. Mary Mallon is an Irish immigrant, an amiable host … and a killer? A talented cook in New York City in 1906 takes a job preparing delicious meals for yet another high society family, and yet again they begin to fall ill…

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A classic thriller for autumn

SALISBURY’s always reliable Studio Theatre will be staging one of the classic dramas of the 20th century, Emlyn Williams’ Night Must Fall, at the theatre in Ashley Road from 11th to 19th October. Directed by Sally Marshall and Sophie Townsend, this psychological thriller is the dark story of a young man who gets a job…

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Crime, music and gender politics at Mere LitFest

MERE Literary Festival opens on Wednesday 9th October with a chef who has put his knife skills to good use in his first crime novel and ends with a serious investigation into the controversial NHS child gender service. In between, it features a remarkable Edwardian, a challenging look at demographics and an ageing population, violence…

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Me and My Girl, BLOC at Bristol Hippodrome

IN the last line of the lyric of the title song of this show are the words that sum up this whole production … “and we’ll have love, laughter, be happy ever after”. From the moment the curtain rises to the wholehearted finale, BLOC, the only local company to present shows at this 1,904 seater…

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A primal roar of Welshness

SONGLINES, the magazine that celebrates folk and indigenous music around the world, described the Welsh folk band VRi as making “a primal roar of Welshness” – celebrating the music and language of their homeland, the trio are coming to Dorset for a short tour with Artsreach, starting at Corfe Castle village hall on Friday 11th…

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Star soprano with Concerts in the West

SOPRANO Hilary Cronin comes Dorset and Somerset for the October series of Concerts in the West on 4th and 5th October. Hilary, who was selected by BBC Music Magazine as a Rising Star of 2022, having won both first prize and the audience award at the 2021 Handel Singing Competition, is accompanied by Asako Ozawa….

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Society’s 80th anniversary

BOURNEMOUTH Chamber Music Society celebrates its 80th anniversary in the 2024-25 season, opening with a recital by Jiaxin, the cellist wife of the celebrated cello virtuoso Julian Lloyd Webber, on 20th October at the usual time of 3pm at Kimmeridge House on the Bournemouth University Talbot campus. The society made its debut on the local…

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Three in One from SNADS

STURMINSTER Newton Amateur Dramatic Society – known as SNADS – has a long record of staging original, often locally written plays, and the autumn production, on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th October, features three new short plays written and directed by company veteran Craig White. Three In One brings some interesting and mature themes to…

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Gothic classic at Bath

THE world premiere of a new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic gothic novel, Dracula, comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Tuesday 8th to Saturday 12th October. Blackeyed Theatre’s production marks the centenary of the first staging of the late Victorian vampire story that has inspired so many different interpretations, from contemporary dance to Hammer horror…

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