The importance of talking
Lyme Regis
MARGIE Barbour, former director of the Marine at Lyme Regis, returns to the theatre on 19th March with two performances of her production of the acclaimed solo drama Every Brilliant Thing, at 1.30pm and 7.30.
Every Brilliant Thing was a sell-out at Bridport last year and a success in London, with a cast on rotation that included Lenny Henry, Sue Perkins and Minnie Driver. In February Daniel Radcliffe took it to New York.
Margie Barbour explains the story of the play: “You’re seven years old. Mum’s in hospital. Dad says she’s ‘done something stupid’. She finds it hard to be happy. You start a list of everything that’s brilliant about the world. Everything worth living for. You leave it on her pillow. You know she’s read it because she’s corrected your spelling.”
1: Ice cream—as a child
993: Having desert as a main course—as a teenager
999,999: Completing a task—at the end of the play.
Margie says that her brother’s suicide, aged 17, had changed her whole family’s life, and so she knew at first hand the impact of suicide: “This play is life affirming and shows the healing power of connection.
“From when I first came across it I wanted to find an opportunity to produce it, finding Romla Walker, a professional actress, ready to take it on, was the answer to a director’s dream! It ends restating the importance of talking about things, especially the things that are difficult to talk about.”
Every Brilliant Thing, by Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahoe, is a funny, moving and interactive play that reveals the effect of mental illness on families. It uses powerful music, from Ramsey Lewis’s I’m In with the In Crowd to Ella Fitzgerald and the Ink Spots performing Into Each Life a Little Rain Must Fall.
Dramaturg Chris Fogg, who came to rehearsals, said: “Romla Walker gives a performance that is professional in every way, unforgettable, virtuosic, wittily nuanced and full of surprises, directed with precise, subtle clarity and assurance by Margie Barbour.”
Audience comments after Romla Walker’s performance at Bridport’s Lyric were enthusiastic: “I loved it, one of the most moving pieces of theatre I’ve ever witnessed,” said one. “Her comic timing is astonishing, and the Whitstable cameo conjured the British seaside in one crossing of her arms. Extraordinary.” Another said: “It was sensational. If you haven’t already seen it, it’s a privilege to watch.”
The performances in Bridport raised more than £1000 for suicide charities James’ Place UK and The Samaritans.
Phil’s blues and beyond
Bridport
PHIL Beer, best known as half of the hugely popular folk duo Show of Hands, is currently pursuing his own musical thing, including a gig with his trio on Thursday 26th March, at Bridport Arts Centre.
The world-renowned multi-instrumentalist shares the roots of his musical life in the show, Phil Beer Trio, Blues and Beyond.
Supported by his long-time collaborator Miranda Sykes on double bass and bass guitar and Sian Monaghan on percussion, he will take the audience through the music of Blind Willie Johnson, the Rev Gary Davis, Davy Graham and John Mayall.
Phil will introduce the music of the Great British Blues interpreters and pioneers, while giving it that inimitable Phil Beer ‘twist’. Following the success of his 2020 album The Blues Hour, the Blues and Beyond tour brings three great musicians at the top of their game, combining effortlessly to create an evening of songs and anecdotes from an extraordinary life in music, this time from the ‘bluesy side of the street.
Medical mayhem on stage
Villages
TWO popular and critically acclaimed small theatre companies combine to produce a new comedy, General Medical Emergency Ward 10, at Halstock on 4th March, Sydling St Nicholas on Thursday 5th and Winterborne Stockland on Friday 6th. Award‑winning Dyad Productions teams up with Company Gavin Robertson to bring this hilarious new show to the Artsreach circuit.
It’s Dr Ann Fleming’s first day at St David’s Hospital, where her unfortunately named mentor Dr Death, is determined to show her who’s boss. As the medical emergencies begin to overload the hapless staff, Dr Fleming has to juggle a complicated budding love affair, with a kidney and a nosey hospital boss. Not literally.
A fast‑paced comic homage to every doctors‑and‑nurses drama you can think of, General Medical Emergency Ward 10 gleefully re-imagines the worlds of Holby City, Casualty, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Doctors and many more. Expect clichés, calamities and classic medical‑soap tropes delivered with theatrical flair and razor‑sharp timing. Celebrating the drama, intrigue and emotional rollercoasters of every on‑screen hospital you’ve ever seen, this is one appointment you won’t want to miss.
Artsreach presents General Medical Emergency Ward 10 at Halstock village hall, on Wednesday 4th March, Sydling St Nicholas village hall on Thursday 5th and the Pamela Hambro Hall at Winterborne Stickland on Friday 6th, all starting at 7.30pm.
Other regional dates on the tour include Forest Arts at New Milton on 14th March, Teignmouth Pavilions on 15th April and Tacchi Morris Arts Centre at Taunton on 21st April,
Mingus and Monk by the sea
Lyme Regis
TWO all-time greats of the wider jazz genre, Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus were both maverick composer/performers who shaped the course of jazz at the peak of bebop in the 1950s. At Bridport Arts Centre on 29th March, Pete Canter will be playing both saxophone and double bass, accompanied by Philip Clouts at the piano, in a programme of their music.
Thelonious Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the jazz repertoire, including Round Midnight and Blue Monk. He is the second most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington. His sparse and angular music had a lightness and playfulness to it, and he would sometimes dance at the piano while his colleagues were playing. He is one of only five jazz musicians to have been featured on the cover of Time magazine.
Charles Mingus (whose centenary is this year) played the double bass, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock. One of his best known compositions, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat was sung by Joni Mitchell on an album she made which was dedicated to his music.
Boogie, blues and soul
Honiton
BEN Waters, Dorset-born king of boogie-woogie piano, comes to the Beehive Centre at Honiton on Saturday 7th March for a piano and sax evening with his son, Tom Waters.
From the moment he first danced his fingers across the keys, Ben Waters has been on a mission to capture the raw, unrestrained joy of boogie-woogie and early rock’n’roll. He has long been celebrated as one of Britain’s most electrifying pianists, praised for his “key-shattering boogie-woogie” and described as “one of the best pianists in the UK.”
Over decades of touring the world, Ben has shared stages with musical giants including Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, Ray Davies, Jools Holland and many more. Now he has a remarkable musical partnership with his saxophonist son.
Tom grew up surrounded by music. At just eight years old, he picked up the saxophone after joining his father on tour with Rocket 88, where he met and was mentored by sax legends Willie Garnett, Don Weller and Alex Garnett. By the age of nine, Tom was already sitting in with the late, great Charlie Watts.
At just 13, Tom made the bold decision to leave traditional schooling and join his father on tour full-time. Together they performed an astonishing 900 shows across 52 countries in just three years, bringing their dynamic music to audiences around the world.
Tom later refined his craft with formal study, completing four years at the Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated with flying colours. His education, combined with his vast touring experience, has shaped him into one of the most exciting and versatile young saxophonists in the UK.
Now a rising star in his own right, Tom has worked with world-class artists across genres—from rhythm & blues and jazz to funk, Latin, and soul—and continues to perform internationally, composing and recording music for stage, screen, and television.
The grand old Duke …
Villages
ARTSREACH brings Shon Dale-Jones with his Edinburgh Fringe First award-winning show, The Duke, to Portland’s Royal Manor Theatre on Thursday 12th March, West Stafford village hall on Friday 13th and Burton Bradstock hall on Saturday 14th.
Weaving together the tragi-comic fate of a family heirloom, the quandary of a scriptwriter stretching his integrity and an unfolding disaster as thousands of children flee their homes, this one-man show blends fantasy and reality in a playful, thought-provoking show that explores what truly matters in a world of crisis.
Funny, poignant and inventive, The Duke received The Scotsman’s Fringe First Award when it premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2016 and was made into a radio play for BBC Radio 4 in 2018.
Storyteller and actor Shon explains the background: “In 1974 my father invested £750 (£9,800 in today’s money) in a Royal Worcester porcelain figure of The Duke of Wellington on horseback—made to celebrate his victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. He kept the figure we affectionately called The Duke, wrapped in sponge, in a big box, under his bed.
“After he died in 2001, my mother decided to take the figure out and display it on the table in the bay window. Since 2005 I’ve been working on a film script, which is in the very final stages of development. In the spring of 2024 I sit at my desk waiting for an email that will tell me what I need to do to the script to get it onto the screen. I turn the radio on. I listen to a report about the refugee crisis. My mother calls. She tells me she’s broken The Duke. My mother, my film script and the refugee crisis all need my attention.”
Originally created by Shôn in 2016 in response to the refugee crisis that exploded following the Syrian conflict, The Duke was re-written and revived in 2025 as the refugee crisis became more extreme following increasing conflicts and disasters around the world
Other regional dates are in Somerset, on Saturday 15th March at the Kindness Festival at Frome’s Rook Lane chapel and Friday 28th at Valley Arts at Chew Stoke village hall.
When Vincent met John
Bridport
VINCENT died in 1890. John died in 1980. Both died of gun-shot wounds to the chest. But what might have happened had the two great artists met? Discover a possible answer when Everyman Theatre brings When Vincent met John to Bridport Arts Centre on Saturday 7th March.
Vincent van Gogh was a 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. John Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who gained worldwide fame with The Beatles.
Around five years before their deaths, both men went through profound change. Vincent van Gogh finally renounced his religious ambitions and began to paint in earnest and, despite great arguments with Paul Gaugin, created his life’s great masterworks.
John Lennon renounced sex, drugs and rock & roll and began five years seclusion as a family unit—and despite arguments with Paul McCartney, created a son and what would be his last album.
Nick Wilkes’ play takes place at their exact moment of crisis and decision, exploring love, death, art and legacy.
Icelandic cellist on tour
Concerts in the West
RISING star cellist Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir and accompanist Antoine Préat are the artists with Concerts in the West’s March series, starting on Friday 13th at 11.30am at Bridport Arts Centre, followed by Ilminster Arts Centre that evening at 7.30pm and Crewkerne Dance House on Saturday 14th at 7.30.
The duo will play a programme of cello and piano duets, including Gabriel Faure’s Elegy, Fantasiestücke by Schumann and Grieg’s Sonata for cello and piano in A minor.
Praised for her “technical mastery” and “extraordinarily musical” performances, Icelandic-American cellist Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir is carving a distinctive artistic voice, combining sensitivity with a bold and fiery stage presence. She has performed at venues across the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Southbank Centre, the Warsaw Philharmonic, Lincoln Center, and the Banff Centre, and appeared as soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra among others.
The Franco-Belgian pianist Antoine Préat has performed in prestigious venues including the Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Paris Beaux Arts Museum, Frederyk Chopin Institute and has appeared on BBC Radio 3, France Musique and Scala Radio.
Swing into vintage jazz
Portesham
INSPIRED by the great swing bands of the 1930s and 40s, Swing From Paris bring vintage gypsy jazz to Portesham village hall on Thursday 19th March, as part of a three-date Artsreach tour.
Swing from Paris is a UK‑based all‑string jazz quartet whose Parisian‑flavoured sound has been delighting audiences for more than 15 years.
Their performances have taken them from major jazz festivals—including the celebrated Django Reinhardt Festival at Samois‑sur‑Seine—to appearances on the BBC’s Hairy Bikers and even the grand opening of the award‑winning M5 Gloucester Services.
Featuring violin, guitars and double bass, the ensemble presents stylish, uplifting interpretations of swing favourites and timeless classics. Their repertoire includes music inspired by Gershwin, Édith Piaf, Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli and tango master Astor Piazzolla, all delivered with the group’s signature warmth and vintage charm.
With a programme that blends exquisite musicianship with gentle humour, storytelling and engaging historical context, each performance offers audiences an atmospheric journey through the golden age of swing. Expect elegant melodies, inventive arrangements, and a stage sparkling with character and camaraderie.
Swing from Paris are in Portesham on Thursday 19th March, at Cranborne’s Cecil Memorial Hall on Friday 20th and East Stour village hall on Sunday 22nd, all starting at 7.30pm.
Chamber-folk trio on tour
Ibberton and Powerstock
West Dorset audiences may be familiar with chamber-folk trio Three Cane Whale from their occasional gigs at Sladers Yard, West Bay, but three other Dorset communities have an opportunity to hear this adventurous group on their doorstep on a short Artsreach tour, beginning on Thursday 12th March at Ibberton village hall.
The Bristol‑based acoustic chamber‑folk trio play evocative, landscape‑inspired music. Featuring members of Spiro, Get The Blessing and Scottish Dance Theatre, the trio are known for their richly atmospheric soundscapes and intricate musicianship.
Firmly rooted in the landscapes of the South West, with many compositions inspired by places across Dorset and Somerset, Three Cane Whale create a sound world that is both cinematic and intimate. Their acclaimed self‑titled debut album was selected by Cerys Matthews as one of her top five modern folk records, praised for its uplifting, intricate and elegiac qualities.
For this Dorset tour, the trio will perform music from their 2024 album Hibernacula, alongside favourites from their extensive back catalogue. Audiences can expect a stage crowded with more than a dozen instruments—from mandolin, harmonium and acoustic guitar to more unusual and atmospheric voices including the bowed psaltery, the baroque‑esque E‑flat trumpet and the shimmering Finnish kantele.
Catch Three Cane Whale performing live at Ibberton village hall on Thursday 12th March, Powerstock Hut on Friday 13th March, and the village hall at Woodlands near Verwood on Saturday 14th, all starting at 7.30pm.
When jazz tore up the script
Bridport
STEP back into 1959 when Neil Maya and his quartet come to the Electric Palace at Bridport, on Saturday 21st March at 3pm. This was the year jazz tore up the script and swaggered into history. Miles Davis dropped Kind of Blue. Brubeck unleashed Time Out … new grooves, new ideas, new bravado.
Join Neil Maya to bring 1959—The Golden Year of Jazz back to life. The quartet will tell the musical story of epic tracks like Take Five, So What and Giant Steps, all delivered with crisp sax, slick piano and timeless style. And between killer tunes, Neil lifts the lid on why ’59 was the moment jazz got fearless, fresh and seriously inventive. Expect bold rhythms, cool curves and off-the-leash improvisation.
This event is part of Bridport—Birth of the Cool, a month-long festival of jazz, sponsored by Clocktower Records and Jazz Jurassica. The quartet is Neil Maya, saxophones, Tom Ball, keyboards, Kevin Saunders, bass and Gary Evans, drums.
Elementary magic, my dear Watson
Poole and Dorchester
WHAT happens when a world-famous magician disappears and the great Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate? Discover this new adventure for the great detective when Holmes and Watson: The Curious Case of The Masked Magician comes to Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre on Saturday 7th March at 11am and 2.30pm and Dorchester Corn Exchange on Sunday 15th March at 2.30.
1t’s 1906—the Golden Age of Magic. The Masked Magician bestrides London’s world of magic like a colossus until … one night, in mid-performance, the magician vanishes. Is he dead? Has he been kidnapped? Or is he in hiding?
After a month Scotland Yard is completely baffled (obviously) and Sherlock Holmes is called in to help solve the mystery. Holmes (with an excitable Watson in tow) plunges into the secret world of Edwardian magic only to find that the Masked Magician’s identity is magic’s best kept secret.
As they meet and question the magician‘s peers (seeing a lot of magic), the mystery of his identity and fate deepen. As they unravel clue after clue, Holmes comes to share Watson’s wonder and discovers that it can sit alongside his logical outlook.
When Holmes finally uncovers the startling and surprising secrets of the Masked Magician he, Watson and the audience have to decide …
Bristol-based actor Peter Clifford plays Holmes and the Great Baldini is Watson (and—perhaps—the missing magician!)
A celebration of variety
Dorchester and touring
FARNHAM Maltings theatre company makes a welcome return to Dorset and Devon, starting with Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on 3rd March, with All For Your Delight, a celebration of the world of variety, with a dazzling mix of comedy, songs and games—plus some spectacular roller skating!
The show is with Devon’s Villages in Action at Lympstone village hall, on Sunday 8th March at 8pm, and Lustleigh on Friday 13th at 7.30pm. There is a Somerset date at Weston-super-Mare’s Front Room on Thursday 12th March. And the three Artsreach dates are Friday 20th at Child Okeford Village Hall, Saturday 21st at Sturminster Marshall Memorial Hall and Sunday 22nd at Yetminster Jubilee Hall, all starting at 7.30pm.
Danny, Jojo and Yaz are on tour, bringing their marvellous variety show to audiences across the country. In between gigs at the nation’s best holiday resorts, they’re donning their famous Brightcoats and welcoming audiences into town halls, theatres and village greens up and down the country.
But behind the sequins and spotlights, something deeper is unfolding. When an unexpected character emerges, the Brightcoats must battle to keep their show on the road, as hidden secrets start rising to the surface. With the Brightcoats forced to confront what it means to live a life dedicated to performance; will our talented company have what it takes to ensure the show goes on?…
All For Your Delight features songs by double Olivier Award winning composer Darren Clark (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).
Word Perfect with the wordsmith
Dorchester
THE ultimate walking dictionary, as entertaining as she is erudite, Susie Dent comes to Thomas Hardye School theatre with Dorchester Arts on Sunday 8th March, at 3.30pm with her new show, Word Perfect.
Following her previous hit show, The Secret Life of Words, Britain’s best-loved wordsmith is back with a new collection of facts and stories from the wonderful world of words.
Have you ever wondered whether there’s a word for going to the fridge for the umpteenth time in search of something new? Or puzzled over the reason why a group of crows is called a ‘murder’ while owls form a ‘parliament’? Is teen slang actually designed to make us tear our hair out?
And just how many words do we need for being drunk?
With the help of funny, insightful and head-scratching examples, Susie will entertain and educate the audience with her pick of the English language’s greatest hits, reminding us how unpredictable, wayward and utterly magical our mother tongue can be.
Silver Jubilee show
Bridport
BRIDPORT Youth Dance celebrates its 25th birthday with two performances of Revelations and Dance Snippets at the Electric Palace, on Saturday 7th March at 2.30pm and 7.30. The afternoon show includes a curtain-raiser by BYD’s junior street crew.
Revelations is a tale of young and forbidden love between Jett from the darkness and Aria from the light. Directed by Nikki Northover and Aimee Symes, it was created as a site specific performance, as part of BYD’S Dance in the Landscape initiative, Choreography Geography, and is now being transferred to stage as a part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations.
This enchanting story about light versus dark is bookended by Dance Snippets, a showcase of soulful contemporary, high-energy street and dynamic tap dance, performed by the talented young BYD dancers, and choreographed by Nikki Northover, Aimee Symes, Charlotte Fernandes and Yaz Harwood.
Blues meets roots meets folk
Villages
MARK Harrison brings his band to Dorset from 6th to 8th March, for three dates with Artsreach at Broadmayne, Shillingstone and Corfe Castle. He is a multi-award-nominated singer-songwriter, storyteller and guitarist with an ever-growing reputation for being unlike any other artist out there—described by Cerys Matthews on BBC Radio 2 as “a bit different and kinda groovy too.”
He is a virtuoso guitarist whose fingerpicking and slide style are nothing short of extraordinary. Joined by Charles Benfield on double bass and Ben Welburn on drums and percussion, this trio creates a rhythm section that defies convention and captivates audiences wherever they go.
The band is renowned for delivering unforgettable performances and their eight albums have garnered widespread acclaim. But it’s not just about the music—it’s about the stories woven into each song. From the origins of melodies to the soulful depths of the blues, Mark Harrison’s introductions add a layer of humour and thought-provoking insight that enriches every performance.
Catch the Mark Harrison Band performing live in Broadmayne village hall on Friday 6th March, Shiliingstone’s Portman Hall on Saturday 7th and Corfe Castle on Sunday 8th, all at 7.30pm.
The ideal male?
Lyme Regis
MARCUS Brigstocke comes to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Sunday 22nd March at 8pm, with his clever and hilarious new show, Vitruvian Mango—an attempt to answer the question, What are men for?
Most heavy things can be lifted by machines, most problems can be solved by computers and most puddles can be crossed without us gallantly draping our capes over them—so, asks Marcus, are we fellas of any use at all?
He thinks we might still serve some useful function … but what is it? This show will resolve the entire issue once and for all—in a non-patriarchal, open minded, progressive sort of way.
Leonardo DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man is the image of the ideal male form. Marcus’ Vitruvian Mango is the same, but sweeter, softer, seasonally available and, when ripe, delicately perfumed.
Lyme Regis Comedy Club, on Friday 27th, has writer, comedian and television regular Esther Manito headlining.The line-up also includes Aisha Amanduri and Vlad Ilich, with host Tom Glover.
Memories of Blur
Lyme Regis
IT’s hard to believe it is nearly 40 years since Blur burst onto what would become the BritPop scene—on Friday 13th March, drummer and founder-member Dave Rowntree comes to Lyme Regis with memories of the time before we knew and loved Common People.
He will be at the Marine Theatre for an evening talking about his new book, No One You Know. It’s a compilation of exclusive, intimate, never-seen-before photographs of Blur, taken by Rowntree at the start of the band’s career.
Jarvis Cocker may be the best-known member of a great band, but Dave has created a one-of-its kind document of what it’s really like to be in a young band during the vital first few years.
GPW
