See “The Arts Diary – February 2025 on”  to see what’s scheduled for the next few months and more.

******

Updated Monday 20th January, 6.21pm

Tuesday 21 January
BATH, Theatre Royal, Martin Shaw in A Man for All Seasons, to Sat, 7.30, Thurs/Sat mats 2.30: The Egg, Midnight Mole, 6 months to 4 years, to 9 Feb, various day times.
Forum, Monty Don, 7.30.
Mission Theatre, Next Stage in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, to Sat, 7.30, Sat mat 2pm.
BOURNEMOUTH, BIC, UK Open Dance Festival, to Sun.
BRISTOL,  Hippodrome, & Juliet, musical, to Sat, various times.
Old Vic, Talawa Theatre in Play On!, jazz Twelfth Night, to Sat, 7.30, Thurs/Sat mats 2.30.
Exchange, Milkfiz, wtih Copper Dog and The Lost and Found Society, 7.30.
Wardrobe Theatre, Will Adamsdale, AI, AI, Oh …   (or how I wrote a hit sitcom with ChatGPT but we’re not talking now, 7.30.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, The Beast, film, 7.30.
LEIGH, nr Sherborne, Village Hall, Twisters.  MOVIOLA
PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, The Book of Mormon, to Sat: Drum Studio, Plymkids in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, to Sat.
POOLE, Lighthouse, Will Carling – rugby legend, 7.45: Cinema, Small Things Like These, 1.30: Terminator, 40th anniversary screening, 7.30.
SOUTHAMPTON, Mayflower, Dear Evan Hansen, to Sat, 7.30, Thurs/Sat mats 2pm.
SWANAGE, Mowlem, Juror 2, film, to Thurs, 7pm.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, Better Man, film,  7.30, Wed mat 2.30.
YEOVIL, Swan Theatre, Kindertransport, to Sat, 7.45.

 

Wednesday 22 January
BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion Dance, Arts University Bournemouth Launchpad ’25, and Thurs.
BRIDGWATER, McMillan Theatre, BTC Performing Arts and Dance students, An Evening of Devised Work, 7.30.
BRISTOL, Beacon, Jacob Collier, singer songwriter, Chris Thile vocals and mandolin, and Britten Sinfonia, cond Suzie Collier, Bach, Barber and Collier and Thile, 7.30.
Wardrobe Theatre, Sceptics in the Theatre.
CALNE, Village Hall, Thelma. MOVIOLA
CASTLE CARY, Caryford Hall, Thelma. MOVIOLA
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, Madrid Teatro Real, Turandot 2018 production, film,  7pm.
MOTCOMBE, Village Hall, Thelma. MOVIOLA
POOLE, Lighthouse, BSO, Viennese Whirls, cond Mark Wigglesworth, Alena Baeva, violin, Johann Strauss, Berg, Brahms, 7.30: Cinema, Conclave: We Live in Time, and Thurs, various times: Nosferatu (new film), and Thurs.
SHAFTESBURY, Arts Centre, Phoenix Room, Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque, to Sun. Bright Morning, trio sonatas with Salisbury Chamber Ensemble, 11am: Battle of the Poets, 2pm.
SOUTHAMPTON, MAST, Yippee Ki Yay – the parody celebration of Die Hard, 7.45.
SWANAGE, Mowlem, Comedy Club, with James Elis, Andy Askins and Meryl O’Rourke, 7.30.
WARMINSTER, Athenaeum, Perfect Days, film, 7.30.
YETMINSTER,  Jubille Hall, Windborne, vocal ensemble from New England, To Warm the Winter Hearth, 7.30. AR

Thursday 23 January
BATH,Komedia, Crimeviral in Murder: Staged, 7.30pm.
BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, Blitz, film, 2pm.
BRISTOL, Beacon, Lantern Hall, Femi Kuti, Afrobeat, 8pm.
Chicken Shed, Sam Crockatt Trio, jazz, 8pm.
Hen and Chicken, Daniel Kimbro, roots, 8pm.
Exchange, Julia Louise Knifist, post-hardcore, punk, grunge, shoegaze and rap, 7pm.
Wardrobe Theatre, Rock the Tots, 11am.
CHRISTCHURCH, Priory, David Beeby, organ, 12.30pm.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, Wilding, film, 11am and 7.30pm.
DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, The Neil Meyer Quartet, The Charlie Parker Story, 7.30.
EXETER, Northcott Theatre, Footlights in Guys and Dolls, to Sat, 7.30, Sat mat 2.30.
HONITON, Beehive, Carry On Cleo, 1964 film, 2pm.
ILMINSTER, Warehouse, Rain or Shine Theatre in Murder Most Wilde (very loosely based on Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime) 7.30.
LITTON CHENEY, Community Hall, Bowjangles, comedy string quartet, 7.30.  AR
LYME REGIS, Marine, Tony Slattery. RIP Tony.
NEW MILTON, Forest Arts, Budapest Cafe Orchestra, folk and gypsy jazz, 7.30.
POOLE, Lighthouse, Boyzlife with Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden, 7.30: Mergaliyev Classical Ballet in The Nutcracker, to Sat, 7pm, Sat mat 2.30.
PORTSMOUTH, Guildhall, BSO, Viennese Whirls, cond Mark Wigglesworth, Alena Baeva, violin, Johann Strauss, Berg, Brahms, 7.30.
SALISBURY, Playhouse, Nocturne, the story of Frederic Chopin and Geoge Sand, with Lucy Parham, piano, and readers Patricia Hodge and Alex Jennings, 7.30.
SHAFTESBURY, Arts Centre, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – The Pantomime, to 1 Feb, various dates and times: Phoenix Room, Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque, workshop with cellist Emily Burridge and baroque violinist Emma-Marie Kabanova, 11am: Emma-Marie Kabanova, Bach and his Contemporaries, 2pm: Nigel Wyatt, talk on 18th century Shaftesbury social assemblies, 3.30pm.
STREET, Strode Theatre, Nightbitch, film, 7.45, and Fri 7.30: Merchant Ivory documentary, 7.30, and Fri 7.45.
TAUNTON, Brewhouse, Chicago Blues Brothers, Greatest Hits Tour, 7.30.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, Jim Davidson – The Next Chapter, comedy, 7.30.
YEOVIL, Westlands, YAPS in Sleeping Beauty, and Fri 7.15, Sat 1.30 and 6.30.

Friday 24 January
BATH, Chapel Arts, Faeland, modern folk, 8pm.
BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion, Chicago Blues Brothers: Respect, 7.30: Ballroom, LOL Comedy Club, 8pm
BRIDPORT, Electric Palace, Queer, film, 7.30.
BRISTOL, Beacon, Lantern Hall, Rotary Young Musician competition, final concert, 7.30.
St George’s, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, blues, 8pm.
Exchange, Wristmeetrazor, 7pm: Basement, Ladye and Yesterday’s Girl, 7.30.
Wardrobe Theatre, Paulina Lenoir in Puella Eterna, and Sat, 7.30.
CHRISTCHURCH, Regent Centre, Highcliffe Charity Players in Goldilocks and the Three Bears, 7.30, Sat 11am, 2pm and 6pm, Sun 2 and 6pm.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, Jim Moray, folk, 7.30.
EXETER, Barnfield Theatre, Comedy Store, 7.45pm.
Cygnet Theatre, The Will Butterworth Trio, jazz, 7.30.
FROME, Cheese and Grain, Man of the World, the music of Peter Green.
HONITON, Beehive, Paddington in Peru, film, 2 and 6.30pm.
ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, Flying Folk with Sian and Rob Colquhoun and Wildwood Jack, 7.30.
LYTCHETT MATRAVERS, Village Hall, Bowjangles, comedy string quartet, 7.30. AR
MERE, Lecture Hall, Cinema Paradiso (1998). MOVIOLA
POOLE, Lighthouse, Cinema, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, 5pm and Sat 11am: Maria, (Callas biopic) and Sat, Tues, Wed, various times.
SALISBURY, Playhouse, Jack Dee, Small World. SOLD OUT
SHAFTESBURY, St Peter’s Church, Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque, Michael Sanderson, baritone, baroque violin and viola, and Katharine May, harpsichord, music by Dowland, Purcell, Handel, Haydn, 11.30am.
Arts Centre, Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque, England My England, Henry Purcell film, 3pm.
SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Freud’s Last Session, Petherton Picture Show.
SWANAGE, Mowlem, Greyhound’s Leap, 7.30: We Live in Time, film, to 30 Jan, 7.30.
TAUNTON, Brewhouse, Omid Djalili, Namaste, comedy, 8pm.
WATCHET, Cinema, The Critic. MOVIOLA
WEST LYDFORD, Village Hall, The Critic. MOVIOLA
WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, The UK Rock Show, 7.30.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, The ELO Experience, 7.30.

Saturday 25 January
BATH, Forum, Bonkers Burns Night, improv and comedy, with food.
Rondo, Red Richardson, Bugatti Live, comedy, 8pm.
Chapel Arts, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Buddy, with Spencer Jay and the Copy-Cat Crickets, 8pm.
Komedia, Krater Comedy Club, 8pm.
BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion, Back Into Hell: A tribute to MeatLoaf and Jim Steinman, 7.30.
BRIDGWATER, Arts Centre, Voodoo Room, A Night of Hendrix, Clapton and Cream.
McMillan Theatre, Omid Djalili, Namaste, comedy, 8pm.
BRIDPORT, Arts Centre, Aida from the Metropolitan Opera with Angel Blue, 5.30pm.
BRISTOL, Beacon, Lantern Hall, Emily Barker, folk, 8pm.
Redgrave Theatre, The Comedy Store.
Hen and Chicken, Sara Barron and guests, comedy, 8pm.
Exchange, King Awesome, 80s rock tribute: Basement, Glossy Boy, London indie-pop, and guests.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, John Crace, Taking the Lead – A Dog at No 10, political comedy, 7.30.
DORCHESTER, Corn Exchange, James B Partridge, Primary School Assembly Bangers, 7.30, Sun 2pm.
EXETER, Barnfield Theatre, Juan Solo’s Excellent Adventures in Space, for kids, 2pm: Ignacio Lopez, Senor Self-Destruct, comedy, 7.45.
FROME, Cheese and Grain, Maniac Street Preacher vs. Stereoironics.
HONITON, Beehive, Angel Blue in Aida, from the Metropolitan Opera, 5.30pm.
LYME REGIS, Marine, Burns Night, with food and ceilidh, 7pm.
MARNHULL, Village Hall, Bowjangles, comedy string quartet, 7.30.  AR
NETHERBURY, Village Hall, The Critic. MOVIOLA
NEW MILTON, Forest Arts, Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse, New Orleans, Cajun, rock and blues, 7.30.
POOLE, Lighthouse, Strictly Extravaganza, 6.30: Cinema, Better Man, with Robbie Williams, and Tues/Wed various times.
RINGWOOD, Greyfriars, Thelma. 2.30pm MOVIOLA
SALISBURY, Playhouse, An Evening of Burlesque.
Arts Centre, The Dreamer: Live, magic, 7.30.
SHAFTESBURY, Grosvenor Hotel Assembly Room, Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque, Emily Burridge, cello, Bach Suite in G Major, 11am: Wessex Baroque Collective, Music to Delight, 2.30pm.
SOUTHAMPTON, Turner Sims, Gary Crosby and Denys Baptiste Quartet, jazz, 8pm.
SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, Bluebirds Theatre Co in A Night at the Opera.
STREET, Strode Theatre, Angel Blue as Aida, from the Metropolitan Opera, 5.30: Queer, film, 6pm and Thurs 7.45.
SWANAGE, Mowlem, Swanage Folk Festival Celebration Afternoon, 3.30pm: Thokozile, jazz, 7.30.
TAUNTON, Brewhouse, The Dazzling Diamonds, comedy variety drag show, 7.30.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, From Gold to Rio, greatest hits of Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran, 7.30.

Sunday 26 January
BATH, Komedia, Alex Dover, 2pm: Ignacio Lopez, Senor Self-Destruct, comedy, 7.30.
BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion, The Classic Rock Show, 7.30.
BRADFORD ON AVON, Wiltshire Music Centre, The Tales of Hoffmann, from the Royal Opera, 2pm.
BRISTOL, Exchange, Jimi Tenor, Finnish musician and composer: Basement, With the Scuttlers and Divorce Attorney.
Folk House, Windbourne, 7pm.
LYME REGIS, Marine, Tribute to Oscar Peterson with Craig Milverton, jazz piano, 8pm.
POOLE, Lighthouse, Holocaust Memorial Day, 2pm: Big Sing, Broadway Melodies, 4pm.
SHAFTESBURY, St Peter’s Church, Shaftesbury Festival of Baroque, Salisbury Baroque, The Female Muse, baroque music by female composers, 3pm.
SOUTHAMPTON, Mayflower, Vampires Rock in Eternal Love – the Musical, 7.30.
Turner Sims, Chinese New Year celebrations, 4.30.
STREET, Strode Theatre, The BeeGees, Beatles and Celine Dion with Jimmy Stanley and Angie Lang, 7pm.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, Wicked, film, 2.30, and Mon 7.30.
YEOVIL, Westlands, Rob Beckett, Giraffe, comedy. SOLD OUT

Monday 27 January
BATH,Komedia, Electric Comedy Club, 8pm.
BRISTOL, Hippodrome, Only Fools and Horses, the Musical, with Paul Whitehouse, to 8 Feb.
Beacon, Lantern Hall, Bodies, folk rock, 8pm.
Wardrobe Theatre, Closer Each Day – The Improvised Soap Opera, and every other Monday, 7.30pm.
CHRISTCHURCH, Regent Centre, The Apprentice, film, 1pm.
PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, Pride and Predjudice *(* sort of), to Sat.
SOUTHAMPTON, Turner Sims, AI Love Letters and Milhaud projects, jazz and electronica from the University Department of Music, 1pm.
TAUNTON, Brewhouse, Piano Lesson, film, 11am and Tues 7.30pm.

Tuesday 28 January
BATH, Theatre Royal, Ghost Stories, to Sat, various times.
Forum, Tim Spector, Food for Life, 7.30.
Komedia, Balancing Act, alt rock, 7pm.
BRISTOL, Old Vic, Sarah Keyworth, My Eyes are Up Here, comedy, 7.30.
Redgrave Theatre, Tall Stories in Room on the Broom, to Saturday.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, Blur: To the End, documentary film, 7.30.
LYME REGIS, Marine, An Evening with Brian Cox, with interview and screening of Manhunter, 6.30pm.
SOUTHAMPTON, Mayflower, An Inspector Calls, to Sat, 7.30, Wed/Thurs/Sat mats 2pm.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, DCIs Steve Gaskin and Colin Sutton in Manhunter and Mindhunter, Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer, 7.30.
WINCANTON, Memorial Hall, BSO Concert for  New Parents and Babies, 11.30am.

Wednesday 29 January
BATH, Forum, Queen Extravaganza, 7.30.
BRIDGWATER, McMillan Theatre, ACTS Theatre School in Disney’s Finding Nemo Jnr, to Fri, 7pm.
BRISTOL, Old Vic, Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, to Sat, 7.30.
Tobacco Factory, Frozen Light in The Ancient Oak of Baldor, multi sensory show for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, and Thurs, 11am and 1.30pm.
Beacon, The Brothers Osborne, The Might as Well Be Us World Tour, 7pm.
St George’s, Pavel Kolesnikov, piano, Mozart, Ravel, 7.30.
Wardrobe Theatre, Scarlett Smith, electro-acoustic harpist and comedian, and Thurs, 7.30.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, Imaginary Landscapes, Chris Tutton, poetry, Anne Denholm-Blair, harp, 1pm.
EAST KNOYLE, Village Hall, The Critic. MOVIOLA
PLYMOUTH, Theatre Royal, Drum Studio, Western College Players in The Vicar of Dibley, 95th anniversary production, to Sat.
POOLE, Lighthouse, BSO, cond Tianyi Lu, Elisabeth Brauss, piano, Shostakovich, Mozart and Stravinsky’s Petruska, 7.30.
SALISBURY, Playhouse, The Magic of Motown.
SOUTHAMPTON, MAST, Simon and Garfunkel Through the Years, 7.45.
YEOVIL, Swan Theatre, Cinematheque, The Teachers’ Lounge.

Thursday 30 January
BATH, Theatre Royal, Ustinov Studio, Sherlock Holmes – the Last Act, solo show with Nigel Miles-Thomas, and Fri, 7.30.
Rondo, New Writing Night, 8pm.
Chapel Arts, Mim Grey, singer songwriter, 8pm.
Komedia, Music for the Soul, 7pm.
BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion, Wet Wet Wet, 7.30.
BRIDGWATER, Arts Centre, G@SPS in A-Lad-In, adult pantomime, and Fri, 8pm.
BRISTOL, Beacon, London Philharmonic Orchestra, cond Karina Canellakis, Benjamin Grosvenor, piano, Sibelius, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, 7pm.
Hen and Chicken, Jon Lloyd Quartet, jazz, 8pm.
CHRISTCHURCH, Priory, Aaron Shilson, organ, 12.30pm.
CIRENCESTER, Barn Theatre, A Role to Die For, new comedy play by Jordan Waller about James Bond, to 15 March.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, Blur, filmed live at Wembly, 7.30.
EAST QUANTOXHEAD, Village Hall, Piano of the Future with Larkhall, 8pm.TA
EXETER, Cathedral, Country by Candlelight, greatest hits, in aid of Cathedral, and Fri, 7.30.
University Great Hall, BSO, cond Tianyi Lu, Elisabeth Brauss, piano, Shostakovich, Mozart and Stravinsky’s Petruska, 7.30.
Northcott Theatre, Exeter University Theatre Co in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter, to Sat, 7.30, Sat mat 2.30.
Barnfield Theatre, Welkin Music in The Orchard, a new folk musical, 7.30.
Cygnet Theatre, Blue Vanguard, jazz, 7.30.
LYME REGIS, Marine, Gilles Peterson, independent venue tour with Oreglo and local DJs, 8pm.
POOLE, Lighthouse, Wells Cathedral Chamber Choir, dir Christopher Monks, with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus and Somerset School pupils, Armonico Consort, Supersize Polyphony 2, Byrd, Josquin, Tallis Spem in Alium, 7pm: Cinema, Swing Time, 1936 film with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, dementia friendly screening, 2pm.
SALISBURY, Playhouse, Alistair McGowan, The Piano Show, 7.30.
Arts Centre, Limehouse Lizzy, the Greatest Hits of Thin Lizzy, 8pm.
SOUTHAMPTON, MAST, Opera Up Close in Riders to the Sea by Vaughan Williams anmd JM Synge, to Sat, 7pm, Sat mat 2pm: Blackeyed Theatre in Dracula, to Sat, 7.45, Sat mat 2.30.
STREET, Strode Theatre, A Room with a View, 40th anniversary of Merchant Ivory film, 7.30.
TAUNTON, Brewhouse, Herman’s Hermits 60th anniversary tour, 7.30.
WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Tease, burlesque and cabaret show, 7.30.
WIMBORNE,Tivoli,  A Night to Remember, Motown show, 7.30.

Friday 31 January
BATH, Komedia, free community music festival, The Punk Edition, with Heavy Lungs, PEACH, Bureau de Change, Kill Mirror Image and Paper Crowns, from 5.45pm.
Forum, Legend – the Music of Bob Marley, 7.30.
Rondo, Theatre Nisha in Stable, a Modern Cautionary Tale,
Chapel Arts, Fraser Anderson, folk, 8pm.
BISHOPSTONE, nr Salisbury, Village Hall, Thelma. MOVIOLA
BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion, Fastlove: The Tribute to George Michael, 7.30.
BRADFORD ON AVON, Wiltshire Music Centre, Elaine Delmar, jazz, 7.30.
BRISTOL, Tobacco Factory, Tracey Collins in Shellsuit Cher – Believe in Bingo, and Sat 7pm.
Beacon, Lady Blackbird, blues and jazz, 8pm: Lantern Hall, Martyn Joseph, folk, 8pm.
Hen and Chicken, Ray O’Leary, Your Laughter is Just Making Me Stronger, comedy, 8pm.
Exchange,Dylan Sinclair, Canadian R n B singer-songwriter: Basement, Danko, alt rock.
Wardrobe Theatre, Count Binface in Bindependence Day, comedy, 7.30.
CHRISTCHURCH, Regent Centre, Space Cowboy – the Ultimate Tribute to Jamiroquai, 7.30.
CORSHAM, Pound Arts, My Back Pages, Top Tunes and Tall Tales with Tom Robinson, 7.30.
CURRY MALLET AND BEERCROWCOMBE, Village Hall, Piano of the Future with Larkhall, 8pm.  TA
FROME, Cheese and Grain, Dire Streets, tribute.
Tree House, Sound of the Sirens.
Memorial Theatre, Open Storytellers, Through the Front Door, 7pm.
ILMINSTER, Arts Centre, Fifi la Mer and the OOO La La Quintet, A Night of French Music, 7.30.
LYME REGIS, Marine, Conclave, film, 7.15, and Mon 2pm.
NEW MILTON, Forest Arts, Daisy Chute, Hollie Rogers and Ed Blunt, singer songwriters, 7.30.
NORTON ST PHILIP, Village Hall, The Critic. MOVIOLA
POOLE, Lighthouse, Peter Andre, The Best of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, 7.3o: Studio Jazz with Tony Kofi, tenor sax, and trio, Tenor Legacy, 7.45.
SALISBURY, Playhouse, That’ll Be the Day, 7.30.
SOUTH PETHERTON, David Hall, David R Abram’s Aerial Atlas of Ancient Britain, talk.
STREET, Strode Theatre, We Live in Time, film, and Sat, 7.30, Sun 3.30: Better Man, Robbie Williams film, 7.45.
STURMINSTER NEWTON, The Exchange, The Tannahill Weavers, 7.30.
SWANAGE, Mowlem, Conclave, film, to 6 Feb, 7.30.
TAUNTON, Brewhouse, The Story of Guitar Heroes, 7.30.
Tacchi-Morris, Rule the World, Take That tribute, 7.30.
WESTBURY SUB MENDIP, Village Hall, Thelma. MOVIOLA
WEST CAMEL, Davis Hall, The Critic. MOVIOLA
WEST STAFFORD, Village Hall, Luke Wright, performance poetry, Joy, 7.30. AR
WEYMOUTH, Pavilion, Get It On, the Glam Rock Show, with Brian Connolly Jnr, 7.30.
WIMBORNE, Tivoli, Rave On – the Ultimate 50s and 60s Experience, 7.30.
YEOVIL, Swan Theatre, Murder at the Mansion, murder mystery evening with buffet, 6.45.