16 minute read
Arts & Entertainment
Prize helped Kit become an award-winning author
Author Kit de Waal, who comes to BridLit next month, won The Bridport Prize two years in a row for her flash fiction.
The competition was established by Bridport Arts Centre founder the late Peggy Chapman-Andrews in 1973. It’s now one of the most prestigious literary contests in the world.
De Waal won the Bridport Prize in 2014 with her flash fiction story Romans 1 Verse 29, Sins of the Heart and again the following year with Crushing Big. She returned as a judge in 2017.
Her first novel, My Name is Leon, was published in 2016 and shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. It has been adapted as a one-hour film for BBC 1.
The Guardian wrote: “De Waal excels at bringing out the humanity of characters leading small lives on the fringe of huge social and political forces, struggling bravely not to be crushed by them.”
She’s now in the spotlight with her memoir, Without Warning and Only Sometimes – Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood. She was on Radio 4’s Start the Week last month – it is on the iPlayer www.bbc. co.uk/programmes/m001byjc – discussing Birmingham with Tom Sutcliffe, alongside Richard Vinen and Liz Berry. And her memoir was a Radio 4 Book of the Week – www.bbc. co.uk/programmes/m001b3yn
The memoir is stinging yet warm-hearted. In a household of opposites and extremes, and caught between three worlds – Irish, Caribbean and British in 1960s Birmingham – de Waal and her siblings knew all the words to the best songs, caught sticklebacks in jam jars and braved hunger and hellfire until they could all escape.
Without Warning and Only Sometimes is a story of an extraordinary childhood and how a girl who grew up in house where the Bible was the only book on offer went on to discover a love of reading that inspires her to this day.
De Waal’s The Trick to Time, published in 2018, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and she has also published a short story collection, Supporting Cast. She is editor of the Common People anthology, and co-founder of the Big Book Weekend festival.
She is at The Electric Palace, Bridport, on Friday 11 November at 6.30pm, in conversation with Lisa Blower, an award-winning short story writer and novelist whose debut novel Sitting Ducks was shortlisted for the inaugural Arnold Bennett Prize, and longlisted for The Guardian Not the Booker 2016.
Lisa is senior lecturer in Creative & Professional Writing at Wolverhampton University where she continues to champion working class fictions and regional voices. n For tickets phone Bridport Tourist Information Centre in Bucky Doo Square on 01308 424901, email bridport.tic@ bridport-tc.gov.uk or online at bridlit.com
Folk star plays intimate venue
Irish singing sensation Daoiri ‘Derry’ Farrell is returning to the White Hart, Bishops Caundle, after performing to a packed house a year ago.
Daoiri’s meteoric rise through the world of folk and traditional music has seen him tour the world with his interpretations of his native Irish songs. He has also twice won the BBC’s prestigious Folk Singer of the Year award.
Daoiri, who possesses an outstanding voice but is also a fine bouzouki and mandolin player and guitarist, normally plays concert halls and arts centres, so this is a rare chance to see him at such an intimate venue. Tickets for the concert on Thursday October 20 can be reserved via John Waltham on 01963 362890 or email jhnwaltham@yahoo.co.uk Seed detective uncovers secret histories of veg
Award-winning film and television producer Adam Alexander will share tales of seed hunting and the history behind everyday vegetables at Castle Gardens in Sherborne next week.
He will be talking about his latest book, The Seed Detective, in The Butterfly House on Friday 21 October.
Adam, who has been seed hunting for 30 years and is a board member of Garden Organic, will explain the importance of continuing to grow rare and endangered heritage and heirloom vegetables and saving their seeds.
Registration for this free event is through www. eventbrite.co.uk Doors open at 6.30pm and free refreshments will be provided by The Walled Garden Restaurant before the event starts at 7.30pm.
Members of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will perform From the Hebrides to Padstow in Sturminster Newton
Classical concert celebrates the sea
Members of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra will be celebrating the sea in a special concert at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton.
From the Hebrides to Padstow features 14 players from across the orchestra performing an evening of specially arranged music from Handel’s Water Music and Mendelsohn’s Fingal’s Cave to sea shanties, Beatles classics, Malcolm Arnold and even an instrumental arrangement of Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.
The concert is part of Artsreach’s autumn season, and its director Kerry Bartlett said: “We are always thrilled to give rural communities the opportunity to host and hear these incredible musicians, and we are especially excited to present a larger ensemble with this wonderful nautical recital for our audiences to enjoy this autumn.”
From the Hebrides to Padstow is on Thursday 27 October at 7.30pm. For more information and tickets phone 01258 475137 or visit www. artsreach.co.uk
Halloween fun at Shire Hall
The Shire Hall Museum in Dorchester will be hosting spooky Halloween fun during the school October half-term.
The museum brings over 200 years of justice and injustice to life with interactive galleries, the cells and courtroom.
Children can make slippery slime from 10am-3pm each day from Monday October 24 to Saturday October 29, and around the museum families can enjoy a spooky trail and creepy crafts.
Half-term events begin on Saturday October 22 with pumpkin carving. Three sessions are on offer at 11am, 1pm and 3pm and the cost is £5 – booking is essential.
For more information visit shirehalldorset.org/whatson
Arts & Entertainment Half-term entertainment
Powerful storytelling, captivating puppetry, enchanting music and a sprinkling of magic are promised when The Selfish Giant visits Cerne Abbas village hall this half-term.
Bristol’s two leading family theatre groups, Soap Soup Theatre and Tessa Bide Productions, are joining forces to explore an unusual friendship and how even the grumpiest giant’s heart can melt when spring finally comes.
The show is on Wednesday October 26 at 3.30pm and tickets are available from the library on 07823 778758
Mirror images
The inimitable Living Spit will be walking the tightrope of taste and decency in Chetnole with a slice of poorly researched history in its acclaimed show Adolf & Winston.
London, 1939. Winston Churchill looks in the mirror, realises only he can steer our great nation through its darkest hour and steels himself for the hard road ahead.
Bristol, 2022. Howard Coggins looks in the mirror, shaves, realises he looks a bit like Winston Churchill and steels himself to break some bad news to his good friend, Stu.
Bristol, 2022. Stu Mcloughlin looks in the mirror and realises he’ll have to grow a little moustache.
Howard and Stu are not afraid to tackle the big subjects in an essentially inconsequential way. But will either of them escape from this war alive?
Adolf & Winston is at Chetnole village hall (phone 07966 177789) on Sunday 16 October.
The show is suitable for those aged 16-plus – further information and tickets are online at www.artsreach.co.uk
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JOIN US IN OCTOBER...
8TH Beyond The Barricade
14TH Sleeping Lions
20TH Downtown Abbey
21ST & 22ND SNADS Presents: A Halloween Murder Mystery
THEATRE DANCE MUSIC COMEDY CINEMA GALLERY CAFE VENUE HIRE
Literary festival attracts big names
Visitors to the tenth Yeovil Literary Festival will be spoilt for choice with the chance to see more than 50 well-known literary figures, comedians, celebrities and exciting new writers.
The festival takes place between Thursday and Monday, 20-24 October, with events at the Octagon Theatre, Westlands Entertainment Venue and Yeovil Library.
The full-up line includes Liz McConaghy, Tom Kerridge, Delia Smith, Hugh FearnleyWhittingstall, Melanie C, Hugh Bonneville, Anton du Beke, Dr Thomas Halliday, Amy Jeffs, Janice Hallett, David Parker, Ben Okri, Simon Mayo, Brendan O’Carroll and Rich Hall.
The festival, celebrating its tenth anniversary, attracts writers, speakers and thinkers to entertain, inspire and enlighten audiences, with more than 6,000 tickets sold for the 2021 event.
Adam Burgan, one of the festival directors and arts and entertainment venues manager at the Octagon Theatre and Westlands Entertainment Venue, said: “Yeovil Literary Festival has established itself as a major leading literary festival for the South-West and I am thrilled we have been able to put together such a fantastic line-up for this year.
“Not only does the festival bring writers, speakers and thinkers to our doorstep in Somerset, it inspires the listeners of authors to pick up a book to improve brain connectivity, reduce stress and have a positive mental impact. All the directors and I hope you all can find much at the Yeovil Literary Festival to entertain and inspire you.”
The festival is a not-forprofit partnership between the Octagon Theatre and Westlands Entertainment Venue – part of South Somerset District Council – Waterstone’s, Yeovil, Yeovil Community Arts Association and Somerset Libraries.
Yeovil Literary Festival thanks sponsors Symonds & Sampson, Laceys Yeovil, The Gardens Group, Grace Productions, Yeovil Community Arts Association, Chalmers & Co and Great Western Railway.
Visit yeovilliteraryfestival. co.uk to view the full 2022 Yeovil Literary Festival line-up and to book tickets or phone the box office on 01935 422884.
Enjoy baroque music in the rococo splendour of Wardour Chapel Purcell at chapel
Cherubim Chamber Choir and String Ensemble will perform a programme covering all aspects of Henry Purcell’s music, under conductor Greg Skidmore, at the Wardour Chapel, Tisbury, on Sunday 16 October at 6pm.
Everything from the tuneful semi-operas of King Arthur and the Fairy Queen to Dido’s great lament, via well-known anthems, tavern songs and string music, with harpsichord and organ, will be on offer.
Tickets priced £12-24, children free, are available from www.cherubimtrust.org/ purcell
Snooker legends open to question
Snooker aces Jimmy White and John Virgo are coming to the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil this autumn.
They will play a few frames and talk the audience through their illustrious careers on and off the table, providing an insight into everything from Jimmy’s six world championship runner-up finishes to his world seniors
championship win. The audience will also have the chance to put their questions to Jimmy and John in a live and unfiltered question and answer session. Snooker Greats is on Sunday 6 November and tickets are available to purchase from the venue’s website octagontheatre.co.uk or when calling the box office on 01935 422884. Vaughan Williams anniversary concert
Bournemouth Sinfonietta Choir (pictured) is giving a special concert, together with violinist Christina Scott, at Sturminster Newton Parish Church on Saturday 15 October.
The concert features some of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ most loved choral works to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth, including his Mass in G Minor.
A special arrangement of The Lark Ascending for choir and solo violin forms the centrepiece of the evening, in which the choir takes on the orchestral accompaniment.
The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets priced £14, £2 under 18, are available from the choir’s website, www.bschoir. org.uk, and at the door.
Joyce Ringrose – artist and teacher
by Nicci Brown
A retrospective exhibition is being staged of the work of a well-known Dorset artist, teacher and potter who worked out of the pottery she established in Blandford St Mary.
Joyce Ringrose was many things to many people, as well as mother to her five children, Ali, Karen, Simon, Giles and Janet.
Daughter Ali, who has organised the exhibition with Jo Dyton at the Hatch Gallery, Christchurch, said: “She was sister to Tony, and auntie, grandmother, great-grandmother and a good friend to all she knew.
“While bringing up a large family, she strove to maintain a balance in her life, enabling her to enjoy her passions of painting, ceramics, swimming, singing, gardening and managing a vegetable allotment. In addition, she was involved in CND and nuclear disarmament movements. Family and friends remember her well for being a wonderfully imaginative and experimental cook, too!”
Over the years, Joyce became a well-established Dorset artist, holding exhibitions at galleries around the South-West.
The exhibition will be on view in the Hatch Gallery until
Although it is not currently a legal requirement, please consider wearing a face covering to protect yourself and others when visiting the Tivoli.
Arts & Entertainment Carole’s Bake Off journey ends
SHERBORNE baker Carole Edwards has left the show.
The 59-year-old was selected to leave the Channel 4 bakery programme after struggling with challenges involving steamed puddings, served with an accompaniment of their choice, and baking a lemon meringue pie.
She ended up with eight collapsed puddings and failed to impress with her pie, leading to judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood selecting her to leave.
After her disastrous effort with the puddings, the Dorset baker said: “I know you said no more disasters but I think I’ve done this one in style.”
Meanwhile, in the technical challenge, Carole’s efforts did not impress the judges.
And her showstopper, a Strawberry Fields-inspired effort could not save her from the chop.
After the decision was revealed, Carole said she was delighted to have gone as far as she did in the competition.
“I’m very proud of myself,” she said.
“I came here to achieve something as I get older.”
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GILBERT O’SULLIVAN IN CONCERT: JUST GILBERT
Starring Elio Pace and his band Friday 14th October 7.30pm Tickets £33.50 £29.50 concs
(Box Office bookings incur £1 booking fee per transaction) RALPH MCTELL
Saturday 15th October 7.30pm Tickets £28
(Box Office bookings over £20 incur £1 booking fee) MRS HARRIS GOES TO PARIS (PG)
17th & 18th October 7.30pm Matinee 19th October 2.30pm Tickets £8 evenings £7 matinee £6 U16s
(Box Office bookings incur £1 booking fee per transaction) Wimborne Drama Productions present LOVE FROM A STRANGER
By Agatha Christie and Frank Vosper 20th to 22nd Oct 7.30pm, Mat 22nd Oct 2.30pm Tickets £16 eves £14 mat
1 in 10 tickets free (via Box Office only) (Box Office bookings incur £1 booking fee per transaction) Folk Rock Pioneers STEELEYE SPAN
Monday 24th October 7.30pm Tickets £28.50, concs £26.50
(Box Office bookings over £20 incur £1 booking fee)
HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR
Tuesday 25th October 1pm Tickets £13 U16s £12 WE ARE ROBOT, SIRPICO & MISCHA & HIS MERRY MEN
Wednesday 26th October 7.30pm, Tickets £15 SYD LAWRENCE ORCHESTRA: IN THE MOOD FOR MILLER
Thursday 27th October 7.30pm Tickets £27 LEO SAYER: THE SHOW MUST GO ON!
Friday 28th October 7.30pm Tickets £35
BLANCMANGE Private View Tour
Saturday 29th October 7.30pm Tickets £25
London theatre on the doorstep for just a tenner
“You can’t get better than a National Theatre production – so why not bring them to Shaftesbury?”
That was the view of Hugh Notley, who co-ordinates live screenings at Shaftesbury Arts Centre, which has unveiled a programme of National Theatre shows being streamed to the venue.
National Theatre Live sees many of the renowned company’s productions beamed to venues across the country, now including Shaftesbury.
And Hugh said it was quite a coup for the centre. “It’s pretty amazing really because usually, for anyone to go to the National Theatre it means going to London and paying £150 for tickets,” he said.
“But here, we charge a tenner and we have basically the whole programme from now until March.”
The scheme started in style last month with a sold-out showing of hard-hitting drama Prima Facie.
“When you get a decent crowd in it makes it all worth it,” Hugh said.
“It’s worth it for the community, people are enjoying it, it’s all worthwhile.
“There are a lot of people who do a lot of work here, all volunteers. And for us to get something like this is a real boost, financially as well as for
a small theatre like ours.” The next NT Live screening at Shaftesbury is on 30 October, with comedy Jack Absolute Flies Again, by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris. On 27 November, Chekov’s The Seagull will be shown, followed by Cinderella by the Australian Ballet on 10 December. The new year will see the theatre screen The Crucible on 5 February and Othello on 25 February. All screenings start at 7pm. For more details, and to book tickets, phone 01747 854321, or log on to shaftesburyartscentre. org.uk Home is where the heart truly is
Following previous tours with Brilliance and The Iranian Feast, much-loved touring theatre company Farnham Maltings brought its new production, The Syrian Baker, to Dorset last autumn and, following three sell-out performances and rave audience reviews, is heading back to Dorset this month to share its outstanding production once more.
With almost five per cent of the world’s population on the move, desperate to get away from trouble, The Syrian Baker is a story of two people who have decided to go home despite the state of their country.
This show is a human story about going home, knowing where you belong and how small actions can make a big difference in one’s life and in re-building a community. It is a piece about humanity, hope and courage told with affection, irrepressible humour and bread.
Farnham Maltings has created a new play about the world for village halls – expect an evening in the company of friends with stories, freshly made bread, Syrian coffee and Mamoull like the ones from the Caffe Plaza in Homs old town.
Written by Kevin Dyer and directed by Gavin Stride, The Syrian Baker was awarded Play of the Year at the 2022 Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards.
Farnham Maltings visits Portesham village hall (phone 01305 871035) on Friday 28
The Syrian Baker was awarded Play of the Year at the 2022 Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards October and Sturminster Marshall village hall (phone 07903 057427) on Saturday 29 October in partnership with Artsreach, the county’s touring arts charity, supported by Dorset Council and Arts Council England. Full details and tickets can be found online at www. artsreach.co.uk
Beauty and the value of kindness
Acclaimed performers The Devil’s Violin have created magical performances which have dazzled audiences all over the UK and beyond for 15 years.
Following successful tours of Dorset with A Love Like Salt in 2013 and The Forbidden Door in 2016, The Devil’s Violin are returning with a new show, The Beast in Me.
Imagine a world where the lines separating humanity and animals have blurred, in which dark forests contain refuge as well as danger, and where blood is not always thicker than water...
The Beast In Me features a woven tapestry of stories from long ago about people’s perception of beauty and the value of kindness. Epic narratives are brought to life by storyteller Daniel Morden with sublime stringed accompaniment from musicians Sarah Moody (cello) and Oliver Wilson-Dickson (violin).
Expect a charming, chilling and thrilling evening’s entertainment.
The Devil’s Violin will perform at West Stafford village hall (phone 07968 633834) on Friday 21 October, Shillingstone village hall (01258 860319) on Saturday 22 October and Drimpton village hall (phone 01308 867617) on Sunday 23 October.
Further information and tickets are available from Artsreach online at www. artsreach.co.uk
