Preview By Gay Pirrie Weir

April PREVIEW

Kipps launches centenary year

SIDMOUTH SIDMOUTH Musical Theatre celebrates its centenary this year, with a spring production of Kipps, the new version of the Tommy Steele classic, Half A Sixpence, at Sidmouth Manor Pavilion, on Saturday 16th April, and Monday to Saturday 18th to 23rd.

Originally known as Sidmouth Arts Club Operatic Society, the company was formed in 1922 when the Rev C K Woolcombe, vicar of Sidmouth, wrote and produced The Fairy’s Dilemma.

The Fairy’s Dilemma was followed quickly by a pantomime, The Sleeping Beauty and, the following year, The Rajah of Rajapore by a little known writer C King Proctor. In 1924 the society presented Montague Phillips The Rebel Maid under the professional guidance of Percy Stedman and Dorothy Hughes.

Until the Second World War the society’s productions were mainly Gilbert and Sullivan’s Savoy Operas, with three exceptions—Tom Jones, Flora Dora and The Arcadians.

After the war, Gene Gerard, a West End musical comedy star of the 1920s and 30s, who had retired to Sidmouth, directed many shows including Gilbert and Sullivan, and an outstanding production of The King and I in 1965 was particularly outstanding. Gerard was followed by Frederick Rylands.

Increasing costs led the society to put on an autumn fund-raiser in 1995. Presenting musicals is very expensive—with royalties of £5,000 or more and total productions costs from £25,000 to £30,000. Another significant change came in 2015 when Sidmouth Arts Club Operatic Society became Sidmouth Musical Theatre.

The original musical of Half a Sixpence, based on the novel Kipps by H.G Wells, with music and lyrics by David Heneker and book by Beverley Cross, told the story of Arthur Kipps (a simple soul), a draper’s apprentice, as he experiences Edwardian society in Folkstone. It was written as a star vehicle for Tommy Steele, who played the role of Kipps in London in 1963, on Broadway in 1965 and in the 1967 film adaptation. Steele sang 12 of the musical’s 15 songs.

Producer Cameron Mackintosh reunited the team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe to adapt Heneker’s original songs and create new material, with Julian Fellowes writing an entirely new book for Kipps. It premiered at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2016. The new show has all the famous songs, including Half a Sixpence, Money to Burn, She’s Too Far Above Me, A Proper Gentleman, If the Rain’s Got to Fall and of course Flash Bang Wallop.

Sidmouth Musical Theatre’s autumn production will be Chess. Healing the Nation

BRIDPORT COMEDIAN Andy Parsons was in the middle of a UK tour when theatres had to close due to lockdown—the tour was called Healing The Nation—so that title worked out well! Now Andy is back on tour, coming to the Electric Palace at Bridport on Friday 22nd April.

He says it will be “the longest tour ever,” taking three years to complete, and as it has gone on “there’s been less and less healing and more and more of the opposite.”

Andy admits he could have changed the title: “But it still seems strangely appropriate.” Also for ticket-holders of rescheduled gigs it might be confusing if the show was now called “My life in ballet.”

Dracula in Space

DORCHESTER

IF you think string quartets are all formal clothes and austere chamber music, you haven’t met Bowjangles, four brilliant musicians who sing, dance and are very funny. Catch them at Dorchester Corn Exchange on 8th April with their show, Dracula in Space.

Bowjangles is an irreverent, anarchic group who cross the musical genres, bringing music, theatre and comedy together—in this latest outing, even adding a touch of scifi horror.

In this new show for 2022 the intrepid foursome are blasting off into outer space to meet a mysterious benefactor whose proposition seems a little too good to be true. But what happens when their lead violinist starts to act a little strangely? (WARNING: Contains scenes of graphic violins!)

Local date for blues star

BRIDPORT ERIC Steckel, who was the youngest ever guitarist to play with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, brings his phenomenal guitar-driven blues metal to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 23rd April.

Cross-over diva

DORCHESTER

NADIA Eide has a voice that can take your breath away—she certainly impressed the audience, live and in their homes, when she sang her way through to the finals of The Voice UK. Now the Scandinavian cross-over star is coming to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 2nd April.

Eide, whose home is in the frozen north, is a coloratura soprano with a repertoire that ranges from Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, to Mabel in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. She is particularly noted for the way she reimagines classic arias and songs for a wide contemporary audience.

Her versatility takes her from Sandy in Grease to the spectacular Queen of the Night in Mozart’s The Magic

Flute. She sang Tess in Tess The Musical (based on Tess of the D’Urbervilles) and originated the role of The Siren

for the new musical Night Flight based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel.

Her first single release, Fall On Me, went straight to number one in the official ITunes classical charts, surpassing Andrea Bocelli and Ludovinco Einaudi. In 2021, she was a finalist on The Voice UK, with more than a million views on YouTube, with a thrilling performance of Queen’s Show Must Go On.

It is his first UK tour in eight years, such is the worldwide demand (29 countries and counting) for this maestro of the blues guitar.

He was only 12 when he performed with Mayall, joining them at the Sarasota Blues Festival. He has also played with other big blues names including BB King, Gregg Allman, Ray Charles, Steve Vai and Walter Trout.

Twenty years on the road, he is performing at the peak of his powers. With seven albums already under his belt, Eric will be touring to promote a new album. This is a rare chance to catch him with his band in an intimate venue.

Precipitous fun

YEOVIL AND TOURING STAR of Have I Got News For You and Just A Minute, Comedy Store founder member and regular, connoisseur of slapstick comedy and silent film, and improviser-in-chief, Paul Merton is back on tour with his Impro Chums, with local dates including Sunday 24th April at Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre, 26th April at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre, 8th May at Plymouth Theatre Royal and 10th May at Weymouth Pavilion.

Described by The Guardian, as “a uniquely precipitous brand of fun,” Paul Merton’s Impro Chums – with Richard Vranch, Suki Webster, Mike McShane and accompanist Kirsty Newton – is a joy to behold. Paul’s countless shows on television include Room 101, Paul Merton Looks at Alfred Hitchcock, Paul Merton’s Birth of Hollywood, Paul Merton’s Adventures, a travel series for Channel Five, which covered his travels in India, China and Europe and the 2021 Channel 4 series, Motorhoming with Paul Merton and Suki Webster.

A pandemic cycle ride

DORCHESTER TRAVEL writer and broadcaster Simon Parker, who has reported from more than 100 countries over the years, took to his bicycle during the pandemic. Now he tells his story in A Night of Adventure Cycling 3,247 Miles Around Pandemic Britain, at Dorchester Corn Exchange on 24th April at 3pm.

The multimedia presentation of short films, photos, audio clips and anecdotes covers his many journeys across Britain in 2020 and 2021. He travelled to the furthest corners of Britain, including Shetland, Scilly, the Highlands, Cumbria and the North York Moors to find out how the pandemic had impacted people of all backgrounds.

This is a ground level portrait of Britain, with dozens of unique stories from farmers, fishermen, artists and musicians, young, old, rich and poor.

A mirror on the world

LYME REGIS WRITER and performance poet Hollie McNish comes to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on 7th April, reading from her new collection, Slug ... and other things.

The Ted Hughes Award winner’s live readings are not to be missed. Expect strong language and adult content wrapped in carefully sculpted poetry.

Slug...and other things I’ve been Told to Hate holds a mirror up to the world—from Finnish mermaids and soppy otters to Kellogg’s anti-masturbation pants, brought to life with Hollie’s driving, funny and beautiful words.

A blend of poetry, memoir and short story, Slug is a joyful celebration of the human condition: from birth to death and Hollie’s attempt to manage the tangle in-between.

Alpine thriller

VILLAGES DORCHESTER Drama’s next production is the psychological thriller Trap For A Lonely Man. The play will be touring to three villages, Moreton, Broadmayne and Martinstown, from 1st to 9th April, a new venture for the group, which usually performs only in Dorchester.

Written by the French playwright Robert Thomas in 1963, the play is a tense thriller, set in an isolated chalet in the French Alps. A man reports his wife’s disappearance to the police but soon a woman turns up, claiming to be his wife, and makes herself at home.

The man insists he has never met her, but she seems to know all about him and has evidence to prove it. What is the explanation? As the plot twists and turns a conspiracy unfolds and the

Giovanni Lonatti will play a programme entitled Sketches of a Lifetime – Musical Images of Childhood, Nature and Art – a selection of pieces from R Schumann and Mussgorski at Tincleton Gallery in April

tension and mystery build to the final moments.

Dorchester Drama chairman Sean Colledge is excited by the project. He says: “Taking this play out on tour rather than performing in one location in central Dorchester has its challenges, but it’s a great move. We will be reaching new audiences and learning how to transport, set-up and strike a set, lights and sound system with military-like precision. Also it will be lovely to be in those villages.”

Trap for a Lonely Man will be Moreton village hall on 1st April, Broadmayne hall on 2nd April and Martinstown hall on 8th and 9th April; all performances begin at 7.30pm.

Musical magpies on the road

LYME REGIS AND SOUTH PETHERTON INDIA Electric Co—Joseph O’Keefe and Cole Stacey, both from Devon—bring an eclectic and exciting blend of traditional instruments, contemporary electronics and Eastern European and Irish music to their shows. Get a taste at upcoming gigs at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Thursday 28th April, and the David Hall at South Petherton on Saturday 30th.

Their music explores diverse themes from Eastern Europe, Irish traditions and urban alienation to end up with something described by Mary Ann Kennedy on BBC Radio 3 as “quirky and glittery—a veritable musical magpie’s nest.”

Laughing matters

BRIDPORT COMEDIAN, journalist and polemicist Mark Thomas has revived a television show which was supposed never to be repeated—and Bridport’s Electric Palace on Sunday 3rd April is the only date in the area where you can catch it.

Before Joe Lycett, The Revolution Will be Televised, Lee Nelson, Dom Joly and Balls of Steel, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product set the agenda. Challenging corporations, exposing corruption, ending MPs’ careers and setting up a PR company at an arms fair, Thomas’s show is said to have “changed the law on tax and inherited wealth and happily used just about every conceivable military vehicle in the cause of comedy.”

Showing his favourite clips and explaining what went on behind the scenes, Mark now tells the story in all its glory—from knob gags to arms deals, from the risqué to the risky—in this cinematic live experience of mischief, adventure, and seven years of gunning for the corrupt with a camera crew in tow.

Bluegrass at the Beehive

HONITON APRIL is a mainly film month at Honiton’s Beehive Centre, but there is a treat for folk and bluegrass fans on Saturday 9th when Flats and Sharps play an evening of British bluegrass.

Flats and Sharps are a four-piece bluegrass band from Penzance who have been delighting audiences with their energetic performances for more than ten years.

Their shows include a range of influences from footstomping traditional bluegrass to their own original music.

Support comes from True Foxes, a Cornish duo, Amie and Chloe, who are emerging from Covid hibernation to bring their folk-pop music to audiences around the region.

On Saturday 23rd, Noble Jacks bring their fiddle-driven high energy, foot-stomping folk-rock to the Beehive.

Calan coming to Dorchester

Calan are back

DORCHESTER WELSH folk stars Calan recorded a new album, Kistvaen, just before the pandemic. Now they are taking it around the country on their first postlockdown tour, coming to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on 15th April.

Expect intricate, captivating melodies and mesmerising harmonies, underpinned with footstamping, crowd-pleasing rhythms.

Calan’s array of instruments includes guitars, fiddles, bagpipes, harps, accordions, vocals… not to mention world-class step and clog dancing.

GPW

Flats and Sharps coming to Honiton

A Poet Walks in West Dorset

Descended from the Dorset poet William Barnes, you can read Maurice Barnes’ story on page three. Maurice achieved his ambition to have his own poetry published in 1993. These are two poems from his book A Poet Walks in West Dorset.

Symondsbury

A wet spring – rain and rain again, but to Symondsbury now and then, beside that Christmas Pudding Hill, running through the valley so still, the little stream where they all washed and drank their fill, by the south is Kidney lane. In the dark, lovers could meet and show no shame, north is Shutes Lane, ‘tis very old, could be over three thousand I may be so bold, cutting so deep is this old road church, school and village pub all together, not far to go, whatever the weather, and there is the big house beside the Old Rectory where William Barnes did sometimes reside. Where my parents and all us did happily abide, in its garden is the couple of yews like one big tree over one thousand years they say they be. The great wind in 1987 Broke one up, nigh blew it to heaven. But was the man called Colmer so great named after our hill or the hill called after him to elate? Mill Lane to the East Backshayes Lane in the West with an old cowstall the lucky beast; just one street called Duck Street, wi’ geese ready for our Christmas feast. For sixty-six years I knowed this place Good times and bad: all is written in my face, damn old age, it’s come too soon, can’t I come and go like thic moon.

ME

Yer I be getting wold now to git back wer I reap’d and sow’d then for soon I be git too wold to travel an see wher’ I met my first love so kassin’ thee mind it I can tho’ such a pretty beauty you I was so proud for to be her beau there we both gittin on when thee was young and looked a swan always working all day and half the night illness no different for the cows’ delight but now thee casn’t run anymore just hobble and stand by the door we’ve had our time thee be havin’ thine.