ONE of the most highly-praised and popular television shows of all time, Alan Bleasdale’s BAFTA-winning Boys From The Blackstuff visits Bath in James Graham’s powerful stage adaptation, from Tuesday 25th February to Saturday 1st March. Directed by Kate Wasserberg, the show brings to the stage the 1980s Liverpool of Chrissie, Loggo, George, Dixie and Yosser…
DAVID Copperfield, Betsey Trotwood, Mr Micawber, Peggotty, Steerforth, Uriah Heep … it is a roll call of some of the most famous characters in literature, all from the same novel by the multi-talented story-teller David Copperfield. And local actors of all ages have a chance to be involved when Bath Theatre Royal stages its David…
IT may be some years before Bond fans get another film to enjoy, but at Cirencester’s adventurous Barn Theatre, you can enjoy the challenges of casting the world’s most famous spy. As Jordan Walter, writer of A Role to Die For, puts it, “It’s no laughing matter.” But that’s what audiences are doing as the…
DORSET-based writer Ed Viney’s play Pot Licker is on a tour of Dorset with dates in Exeter and Bath, having its premiere at Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre, where it first saw light at a new writing event, on Wednesday and Thursday 12th and 13th March. The play looks at what happens when three teachers decide…
A SOLO play that tells the true story of a young performer’s struggles with health problems, The Magical Screentest, comes to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Wednesday 19th February. This is the disarmingly honest self-portrait of aspiring actor Isobel Jeffery: the inspiring tale of how she has worked to overcome learning disabilities and…
IF you’re suffering Strictly Come Dancing withdrawal, Artsreach has a double dose of tango in February, which may not have the glitz and glamour, but certainly has the passion, with acclaimed trio Tango Calor and a new play exploring love between two middle-aged people, united by a love of the dance but divided by an…
THERE is quite a trend currently for films to be adapted for the stage but there have been few book-to-film-to-stage versions that are better or more entertaining than Patrick Barlow’s inventive and hilarious staging of the John Buchan classic thriller, The 39 Steps. This brilliant play opens the in-house production season at Salisbury Playhouse, running…
SHAKESPEARE’s dark drama The Merchant of Venice may have one of the most famous speeches in the whole canon, but it is a difficult play for modern audiences. We struggle with the arrogant anti-semitism of Antonio and most of us surely squirm at the twin horrors of Shylock’s merciless revenge and the humiliation he suffers…
DORCHESTER Arts has a packed programme for February ranging from tribute shows to half-term fun – to a one-woman entertainment celebrating opera and triathlon! Next up is a delightful twist on classic stories in Fairytales, Fables & Other Assorted Nonsense on Thursday 20th February. Take your musical pick with the Irish House Party, the joy…
ONE of the finest British actresses of her generation, Maxine Peake comes to Bath Theatre Royal’s Ustinov Studio in a production of the powerful drama Doubt. Ben Daniels, an Olivier Award-winning actor and well-known from many television roles, co-stars in the production, which runs from 7th February to 8th March. Doubt, A Parable, by John…