The Arts Section

Leading West Country artists at the Portland Gallery

TWO of this region’s finest artists, landscape painter James Lynch and collagist and sculptor Marzia Colonna, have exhibitions this autumn at The Portland Gallery in Mayfair. Both artists have national – indeed, international – reputations, and this is an opportunity to see their work in solo shows at one of London’s most prestigious galleries. James Lynch,…

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Helen and Karen at Wimborne

KAREN Wimhurst and Helen Porter first met in the late 1990s, working together on Common Ground’s Confluence project, mapping the river stour from its source to its meeting the sea. Clarinetist Karen, who lives in Shaftesbury, was Composer in Residence for the project, and singer and teacher Helen was the animateur. Their musical relationship grew…

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A new play and a new director

CIRENCESTER’s Barn Theatre is small – but it has big ambitions, and these have been fully justified by the quality and success of its productions, home-grown or shared. Autumn brings a premiere of a written-for-the-Barn thriller, Room 13, opening on 28th September, and the appointment of a new executive director, Liam McMullan. Running to 9th…

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Anniversary staging of 1984 opens at Bath

THE 75th anniversary of George Orwell’s terrifying dystopia, 1984, is at Bath Theatre Royal until 28th September at the start of a national tour. This new production of an adaption by Ryan Craig, directed by Lindsay Posner, was listed by the Times and Telegraph as one of the top ten theatre events of this autumn….

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Sustainability grant for Southampton’s MAST studio

THE adventurous MAST studio theatre in Southampton has received a £5,000 sustainability grant, one of the latest awards from the Theatres Trust’s Small Grants Programme with The Linbury Trust. This latest round, which included the 100th grant (to Glastogow’s Tron theatre) marks the seventh round of the Small Grants programme, with 20 theatres receiving grants…

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Dorset tour for hit comedy

REVIVE Theatre has a short tour of Dorset with the hilarious farce One Man Two Guvnors, starting at the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne from 26th top 28th September. Richard Bean’s farce is adapted from a famous 18th century Venetian comedy, Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters. It is the story of a hapless idiot,…

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Duet for One, Swan Theatre, Yeovil

WITH echoes of the tragic illness and death from multiple sclerosis of the great cellist Jacqueline du Pre hovering like a ghostly spectre in the background, this highly emotionally charged two-hander explores the relationship between a 42-year-old internationally renowned violinist Stephanie Abrahams, newly diagnosed with MS, and her psychiatrist Dr Feldmann. For two and a…

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Grease, Bristol Hippodrome and touring

IT would seem that Colin Ingram, the producer of the current tour of Grease, has the same philosophy when it comes to selling something to the public as Tesco founder Sir Jack Cohen, who is credited with saying ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’. From the start, this production leaves nothing hidden, putting everything out…

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Facing life’s unwelcome truths

THOSE of us who loosely refer to ourselves as ‘middle aged’, especially classical music lovers, will remember the tragic story of the brilliant cellist Jacqueline du Pré. From an early age, her glittering career and marriage to concert pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim seemed to forecast a charmed life, but all that changed when she…

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“It’s a privilege,” says the Wicked Queen

EMMA Norman’s introduction to live theatre was pantomime in her home town, at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre. The magic and colour of that show caught her imagination. “It made me want to do this,” said this year’s Wicked Queen in Bath Theatre Royal’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. “It is the catalyst for so many…

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