Young Lit Fix By Antonia Squire

poetry from the current Bard of Bath, Tick Rowley, plus live music from Car Dia (Susan Marie Paramor from Glastonbury). To finish off the evening, DJ Emu Mama will get everyone dancing.

Black Hound theatre brings Alright? to Bridport in August

Coping? Not coping!

BRIDPORT NOAH finds life difficult. He doesn’t know how to cope. What do you do if things aren’t alright? Black Hound theatre comes to Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 5th August with a new play that asks just this question.

Alright?, on stage at 7.30pm, is performed by Dillon Berry and written by Patrick Withey,

“Happy Birthday to me. 15. The end of the world!” Noah doesn’t know what to do. As his dad says, “You’ve gotta laugh!”, but what if it’s not funny… How do you cope when you’re clearly not Alright?

This original play is a brutally honest and quick-witted insight into living with mental health problems.

Octagon work delayed to 2023

YEOVIL PROGRESS continues on the major redevelopment plans for Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre, but the venue will remain open until spring 2023, rather than the original planned closure after the 2022 pantomime.

The programme to restructure and improve the Octagon Theatre, and transform it into a centre of excellence, is moving ahead with final touches being made before a formal planning application is submitted shortly. So the decision has been taken to keep the theatre open, with performances taking place until the end of April.

It means local audiences will be able to enjoy one of the world’s most famous whodunnits, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, on a national tour and coming to Yeovil in February. Also in February, Tap Factory, which was to take place at Westlands Entertainment Venue, will be moving back to the Octagon.

Some local amateur groups are also taking advantage of the delayed closure to bring their shows to the Octagon stage. They include The Dance Factory with Dance Infinity, the Helen Laxton School of Dance and the Somerset School of Performing Arts with Everybody Dance, Yeovil Amateur Pantomime Society (YAPS) with Aladdin, and the spring show of Yeovil Amateur Operatic Society (YAOS).

Recently, the Octagon and architects Fielden Clegg Bradley arranged two open days that enabled the public to come in and view the plans, speak to staff and provide feedback. More than 75 people attended the sessions with many more viewing the plans online.

Oxygen Mask by Jason Reynolds

Art by Jason Griffin Published by Faber. Ages 12+

Review by Nicky Mathewson

I HAVE to start by saying that this book is a unique piece of art. Jason Reynolds and his good friend Jason Griffin have created something so special that I feel giddy. It’s the book/art that I would want to create myself. It’s immersive, visceral, poignant, crushing and uplifting. Using sketch, paint, collage and words to throw the most powerful punch, reflecting our society and ourselves.

It is born of the sketchbook journals that Jason Griffin kept during lockdown and the economical and perfect words that Jason Reynolds is so well known for. Produced to the highest standard by Faber it feels and looks like one of those sketchbooks, where the seeds of the idea were planted.

This collaboration shows a snapshot of the year 2020 when the world was turned upside down. Self reflection layered with a commentary on wider society. Words and pictures that painfully remind us of the devastation but also the love. Emotive and breathtaking, Oxygen Mask shook me and left me gasping for air, and yet I am delighted by it, it is a thing of beauty and truly is a masterpiece.

I urge you to read/look/feel and absorb it, and be sure to read the comments by both artists at the end.

10% off for Marshwood Vale readers at The Bookshop on South Street, Bridport. 01308 422964 www.dorsetbooks.com