OLD theatres exert an extraordinary power over us. Whether it is a restored beauty like the historic theatres at Bath, Bristol, Bury St Edmunds or Richmond North Yorkshire, or the eerily dilapidated old Hippodrome at Great Yarmouth, we are drawn to them. Some – even the most carefully restored – have ghosts, while others are…
SEVERAL people used to tell the late, great Howard Coggins that he was the spitting image of Henry VIII, and some of them phrased it “living spit.” So when, in 2012, he and his longtime friend and fellow actor Stu Mcloughlin cobbled together a script about the much-married king to enter Bristol Old Vic’s Ferment…
OLIVIER Award-winning theatre company Papatango comes to Dorset with a new version of Robert Wentall’s classic ghost story, The Watch House, ending its run at the Barnfield Theatre, Exeter on 5th and 6th November. “There’s a legend about the Watch House. Scrape beneath the whitewash and you’ll find terror. You’ll find him.” Once a coastguard…
“THERE is no such thing as a bad audience, only bad performances” is an opinion that is often expressed, but I tend to dispute the claim, writing as someone who was a cast member of a farce which, after having the audience in fits of laughter night after night, ran up against an audience that…
EXPLORER, naturalist, conservationist, broadcaster and passionate lover of all things maritime, Steve Backshall is back on tour this autumn with a new show, Steve Backshall’s Ocean, celebrating what he calls “the most exciting environment on our planet – the ocean”. He is coming to Bournemouth Pavilion on Saturday 26th October, Weymouth Pavilion on Thursday 31st…
DELIGHTFUL plays for young children are one of the highlights of the autumn half-term in Dorset, with Artsreach bringing the Anglo-Swiss company Fideri Fidera for three dates from 28th to 30th October and Scarlet Oak Theatre on 30th and 31st. Fideri Fidera brings Oskar’s Amazing Adventure, to Millborne St Andrew village hall on Monday 28th…
THE autumn programme at Sladers Yard, the West Bay gallery, cafe and arts centre, gets under way with an exhibition running throughout October, featuring recent paintings by a gallery regular, a jazz concert with some favourite musicians and the latest in the series of Help Our Planet (HOP) talks. Skylines, the exhibition that runs to…
THE historic heart of Bridgwater has a new visitor – Fallen Moon, an installation created by Bristol artist Luke Jerram, is on show in Bridgwater Docks, as part of the regeneration of this important port on the river Parrett. It will be visible in the docks until 3rd November. Luke Jerram is well-known for his…
THE Sou’ Sou’ West gallery at Symondsbury, Bridport, hosts Elemental, an exhibition of sculpture and installations by three environmental artists, from 19th October to 10th November. The concept of the elemental is an ancient one, and this new exhibition is grounded in ideas and exchanges about the terrestrial and materiality. The elements – earth, water,…
A WELSH theatre company makes its debut with Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Tuesday 22nd October. Decommissioned is the first play from Wise Ram Theatre, written by co-director playwright Molly Ann Sweeney. Wise Ram Theatre is a new neurodiverse theatre company, which aims to make theatre about the climate crisis. “Cariad, I care…