Preview By Gay Pirrie Weir

January

PREVIEW

The Kindness of a Stranger

BUCKLAND NEWTON WRITER Bernadette Russell was so shocked by the UK riots in August 2011 that she set out on a mission to be kind to a stranger every day for a year (plus one). The result is 366 Days of Kindness, a unique performance which Russell is bringing to Buckland Newton village hall on 30th January, at 6.30pm. This show, part stand up, part storytelling, charts this amazing year, which began with burning buildings, and ended with the flame of the Olympic torch. It attempts to answer the question: “is it possible to change the world just by being kind?”

Community dance project

BROADMAYNE AND HALSTOCK TAUNTON-based aKa Dance Theatre Company brings a collaborative new performance to Broadmayne village hall on Friday 21st January and Halstock on Saturday 22nd, both at 7.30pm. A Real Fiction, which has been co-created with the community for the community, is filled with fun, funk and foam bananas! The core theme is collecting memories and the resulting work ranges from current affairs to childhood nostalgia. aKa Dance was co-founded by Jen Grant and Joe Garbett in early 2014. Based in Taunton as company in residence at Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, aKa creates works that are adaptable for a variety of performance surroundings, indoors and out.

Stories across six centuries

LITTON CHENEY MULTI Story Theatre Company explores stories from the land across six centuries in Hefted, coming to Litton Cheney village hall on 29th January, at 7.30pm. Hefted is a play told through nine stories embedded in the landscape, history, and psyche of rural life, presented by four actors who conjure a score of characters between them, interspersed with song and a spectacular soundscape. Wryly funny, emotionally absorbing, the play asks big questions about our relationship with the land. The narrative sweeps across 600 years, starting in 1475 with a supernatural birth and moving through nine stories to an imagined 2075 in which tales from the past are retold to heal the present. Some stories are fantastical, others dramatise real events: all explore the notion of being ‘hefted’—deeply connected to the land. Hefted is also at Blandford on 30th January at 7pm.

Meet the regulars

DRIMPTON HAVE you ever sat in your local and wondered about the people who sat in your seat or at the bar before you, a

Have a drink with Teatro Vivo and The Regulars at Drimpton

decade or even a hundred years ago? An inventive show coming to Drimpton on 23rd January asks the question and provides some possible answers. Starting at 6:30pm, Teatro Vivo presents The Regulars—the pub-goers of the past are closer than you think. Who propped up the bar a decade ago? Who stood in front of that fireplace telling tall tales 200 years back? Designed specifically for performance in pubs, The Regulars is a celebration of the outlandish, sometimes incredible stories you hear over a pint as the regulars of the past sit shoulder to shoulder with the pubgoers and bar staff of today. Pull up a stool, lean in close, and as the drinks flow you’ll start to wonder how blurred the lines are between fact and fiction as actors and pubgoers together celebrate the spirit of the local and the tales told there.

Festive fun with Artsreach

ONLINE ARTSREACH, Dorset’s rural touring arts charity, has an online new murder-mystery for New Year—another blood-curdling, toe-curling, hilarious adventure with one of fiction’s greatest detectives, as Sharp Teeth and The Wardrobe Theatre present Sherlock In Homes – Murder on Ice, 6th January. On your marks, get set, go… to 1960 to solve a crime that will make your heart race. Could it be the chill of the cold war or the heat of the Italian sun? Zoom into Rome’s Olympic village to find out. You’ll interrogate the suspects and attempt to unmask a murder with your fellow audience members as you pit your wits against some of the UK’s most talented performers and improvisers. Only you can solve this case! Online with Artsreach until 2nd January, Cornish actor David Mynne has adapted his brilliant solo performance of A Christmas Carol to enjoy in the comfort and warmth of your own home. Also available until 2nd January, the Ridgeway Singers and Band present their 2021 festive concert, A Dorset Christmas, for online audiences. All these events are accessed by registering for a free e-ticket. Donations to Artsreach are welcomed.

Jarman—a remarkable life

LYME REGIS THESE days you are more likely to hear about Derek Jarman’s garden beside his unique wooden house on the beach at Dungeness. But writer and performer Mark Farrelly brings this remarkable man fully to life in a new play, being performed at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, on Thursday 20th January, at 8pm. Farrelly portrays Jarman the film-maker, painter, gardener at Prospect Cottage, activist and writer. His influence remains as strong as it was on the day AIDS killed him in 1994. But his story, one of the most extraordinary lives ever lived, has never been told. From the creator of Quentin Crisp: Naked Hope and Howerd’s End (about the comedian Frankie Howerd), brings Derek Jarman back to life, a powerful celebration of the courage it takes to truly live while you’re alive. It is a journey from Dungeness to deepest Soho and into the heart of one of our most iconoclastic artists.

An evening of the dark arts

DORCHESTER THE Great Baldini, one of the leading magicians and illusionists of today, comes to the Corn Exchange at Dorchester on 27th January, at 8pm. Baldini—variously described as emperor of illusion, prince of prestidigitation or maharajah of mystery—provides a cabaret of magical illusions. He has been making magic from childhood, starting with his first trick on his 12th birthday and culminating in taking control of the ILLUSIONATI—a shadowy group of elite magicians who control the world through the Magical dark arts. Imagine Tommy Cooper meets Blofeld. Baldini is a member of the Magic Circle, and an award-winning member of the Bristol Society of Magic and the Wessex Magical Association.

ALAW returns to Dorset

ARTSREACH VILLAGES WELSH folk supergroup (as described by Songlines) ALAW are coming back to Dorset in January for a threedate tour with Artsreach at Portesham on 28th January, Langton Matravers on 29th and Chetnole on 30th, all at 7.30pm. ALAW are three musicians who bring a wealth of experience to a shared passion for the traditional music of Wales. Nia Lynn’s exceptional voice and harmonium dance with the dazzling fiddle of Oli Wilson-Dickson, interwoven with Dylan Fowler’s sparkling guitar playing. Whether unearthing rare gems or reimagining a well-loved song, they treat their music with a deftness and sensitivity that is thoroughly absorbing. Combined with powerful song writing and original tunes, this makes for a musical experience that will stay with the listener long after the performance ends. In August 2018 they collaborated with the BBC Concert Orchesttra for a highly praised televised Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, with Julie Fowlis, Jarlath Henderson, Sam Lee and The Unthanks. In 2019 they won

Tim Kliphuis brings his trio back to Dorset a Wales Folk Award after being nominated in three categories. Oli and Dylan have a long history of working together, sharing projects including The Devil’s Violin and The Ian McMillan Orchestra. Oli is well known as the fiddler in Jamie Smith’s MABON. Nia has an international reputation and has sung at the Barbican and The Albert Hall.

Classical meets jazz

ARTSREACH VILLAGES DUTCH violin maestro Tim Kliphuis makes a welcome return with his trio to Dorset village halls with Artsreach for a three-date New Year tour on the theme of “The Five Elements,” at Broadoak on Wednesday 12th January, Piddletrenthide on Thursday 13th and Yetminster on Friday 14th. Classically trained, Kliphuis first made his name playing with the fiery European gypsy guitarists, before developing a more personal style that has taken him on a busy touring schedule around the world. Now widely regarded as the inheritor of the Stéphane Grappelli crown, Kliphuis breathes new life into existing styles with his high-energy brand of classical gypsy jazz, Celtic and world music. His improvised sound is totally new yet steeped in tradition. With Nigel Clark on guitar and Roy Percy on double bass, the Tim Kliphuis Trio re-defines the music of many well-known composers to create an intensely moving concert experience. The Five Elements, written and recorded in lockdown, is an ode—expect the usual mix of Django, Richard Strauss and the Chieftains!

Midwinter delights

DORCHESTER DORSET favourites GreenMatthews return to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange with their new festive show, Midwinter Revels. Spanning several centuries in words and music, the show is a celebration of Yuletide past that is guaranteed to warm the cockles of the most Scroogelike heart. Featuring Christmas carols, winter folk songs, toe-tapping tunes and a plethora of weird and wonderful instruments, Midwinter Revels is brought to life with wit and humour.

Winter ceilidh

DORCHESTER DORCHESTER-based band Tatterdemalion will be playing for a ceilidh at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 15th January, from 7.30. The event is supporting the chosen charities of the mayor, Gareth Jones—The Gap Project and the Mencap Hub. There will be traditional tunes from Dorset, taught by experienced dance caller Angela Laycock, and played with energy and verve by this colourful group of musicians. No experience is necessary. There is an afternoon session, from 4 to 5pm especially for families with younger children, while the evening is for everyone. No partner necessary, as you can always find someone there! Tatterdemaliony play for many local dances and functions, as well as providing music for the New Hardy Players’ productions of Thomas Hardy novels. All the tunes are traditional and could be found in Dorset in the 19th century.

New Year treats

AROUND THE REGION THE curtain comes down on the pantomimes early in the New Year, but the area’s leading theatres have some exciting events to take you to some amazing places. Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre has a seasonal treat on 8th and 9th January, as St Petersburg Ballet brings The Nutcracker to the theatre. The brilliant comedian Omid Djalilli is at Poole on 14th January, and the marvellously inventive bicycling acting troupe, The Handlebards, best-known for open air performances, will be in the theatre on Friday 21st with their take on Shakespeare’s Scottish play. Plymouth Theatre Royal follows its Aladdin, starring Joe Pasquale, with Mamma Mia, the much-loved sunny celebration of ABBA songs, from 18th January to 5th February. Bath Theatre Royal offers laughs and some touching moments in The Play What I wrote, an evocation of the genius of Morecambe and Wise, from 11th to 22nd January. That is followed by the brilliant Peeplykus bringing their inventive and irreverent style to Sherlock Holmes, in The Hound of the Baskervilles from 25th to 29th January. The month ends at Bath with the muchanticipated (and Covid-delayed) stage adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, starring Nigel Harman as Professor Robert Langdon, from 31st January to 5th February.

GPW

GreenMatthews bring their Midwinter Revels to Dorchester