THE volume and warmth of the reception afforded to London City Ballet as they returned to touring to Bath’s Theatre Royal after an absence of nearly 30 years, is testament to the way that ballet, dance and movement have recaptured the imagination, particularly of younger theatre-goers, over the past decade. Harold King’s once enormously popular…

THERE really is something special about Somerset, as indigenous families will know and Taunton Thespians’ original summer 2024 play encapsulates the county’s myths and legends in a most delightfully informative and humorous fashion. Now on tour, Lorna Evans’ play Here Be Dragons tells the tales of the fears and fancies of generations of Somerset dwellers,…

IT is more than 60 years since Tom Stoppard, working as an occasional theatre critic and reporter on the Bristol Evening World, wrote his short play The Real Inspector Hound. The rest is glittering theatrical history. But perhaps strangely, out here in the sticks (and I suspect anywhere outside the confines of the M25), it…

THERE are no makeweight roles in Don Giovanni. Every one of the eight characters is important to the story and each has his or her moment or more of operatic glory. The central partnership is that of the Don, woman-chasing, arrogant and domineering, and his servant Leporello, quick-witted and loyal (up to a point). But…

SIX decades ago, rock and roller Tommy Steele decided to turn his attention from Singing the Blues to the stage. Composer and lyricist David Heneker and Beverley Cross (book) were commissioned to write a “vehicle” show for him, and the HG Wells 1905 novel Kipps was chosen. In 1963 Tommy opened at the Cambridge Theatre as…

WHEN stoically British audiences go to “summer’ open air performances, they are weighed down with food and drink for picnics, camping chairs, tables, and in some cases rugs, snuggle-suits and pillows as they set off from the car park to the auditorium, ready to spread out and relax. Then comes the play, and most of…

THE always polished professional Disney stage productions put you in mind of modern day packaging of chocolates and sweets, beautiful presented giving the impression that there is far more of the product within the wrapping that there actually is. When you finally get over the shortage of the product on offer and sample the sweets…

NOEL Coward wasn’t called The Master for nothing, and up until the end of his long and prolific writing career he continued to produce wise and witty plays with an inimitable style. The last of these was a collection called Suite in Three Keys, all set in the same suite of a Swiss lakeside hotel,…