Sunday nights will
never be the same
School Lane , The Grove,
Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1XR
Box office: 01305 266926
THE SECRET GARDEN Locked doors, hidden keys, a curious robin...
The Secret Garden robin makes a new friend |
Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January
DORCHESTER CORN EXCHANGE
7pm + Saturday matinee 2pm
£12 / £10 members / £8 under 18's / family £35 / Member's family £30
If you are looking for first class family entertainment come and see The Secret Garden - a new adaptation by Angel Exit Theatre to celebrate the centenary of Frances Hodgson Burnett's much-loved classic.
It sees spoilt orphan, Mary Lennox plucked from the bright vibrancy of India in 1899 and transplanted to a mysterious old house full of secrets on the grey Yorkshire moors. As Mary battles loneliness she encounters locked doors, a curious robin, hidden keys, and strange cries ringing down the corridor...
Presented in Angel Exit's rich visual style, the show blends storytelling with striking physicality, beautiful puppets, and original music. It is directed by Tamsin Fessey and Lynne Forbes who brought the hugely popular production Moonfleet to Dorset.
Box Office: Dorchester Arts Centre 01305 266926 or Tourist Information Office 01305 267992 or online
Stuck for a Christmas present idea?
Why not give your friends and family tickets to see The Secret Garden.
You can purchase tickets for any of the four shows and your tickets will be sent to you in a special limited edition Secret Garden presentation card. Cards are blank inside for you to write your own message.
If you would like to take advantage of this special seasonal offer please phone the Box Office 01305 266926. We will post you the card and tickets or you can collect them from Dorchester Arts Centre.
We look forward to seeing you.
Merry Christmas!
Lantern procession postponed !!
Lanterns will bring Christmas magic to the Gardens
Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Dorchester Arts’ magical annual Lantern Parade.
This year it will be part of a fabulous community celebration of Christmas organised by Friends of the Borough Gardens.On Thursday 15 December, children from local schools will lead a procession through the town centre carrying giant lanterns and take part in the Carol Service at the Borough Gardens bandstand at 6.30pm.
Joining the children will be members of VIVA! - Dorchester’s Community Choir, plus bell ringers, members of Serendipity recorder ensemble and the Dunrovia Silver Band.
The carol singing will be lead by the Encore Singers and there will be hot spiced apple juice, hot chocolate and mince pies to keep the spirits up… plus a hoped-for surprise visit from Father Christmas ! Keep a look out for large sky lanterns flying above the trees along with Santa’ reindeers…..!
The lantern parade leaves the Corn Exchange at 6pm. Everyone is welcome to join in the procession and carry a lantern.
This event is supported by Dorchester Town Council.
Secret Garden set for UK Tour
New adaptation to celebrate the centenary of Hodgson Burnett’s much-loved classic.
The Secret Garden has been created by acclaimed physical theatre company, Angel Exit Theatre. The show will premiere at the Dorchester Corn Exchange before setting off on a four month UK tour, performing 60 times in 36 venues, ranging from Buxton Opera House to village halls around Somerset, Dorset, Kent and Wiltshire. The tour takes in the oldest theatre in Wales - Monmouth’s Savoy Theatre - and the second oldest theatre in England, Margate Theatre Royal.
"Theatrical invention is everywhere...visually exciting throughout, this production never loses the quality of a life-changing adventure story" -THE STAGE (on Moonfleet)
Angel Exit unearth the dark heart of The Secret Garden, which sees spoilt orphan, Mary Lennox, plucked from the bright vibrancy of India in 1899 and transplanted to a mysterious old house full of secrets on the grey Yorkshire moors. As Mary battles loneliness she encounters locked doors, a curious robin, hidden keys, and strange cries ringing down the corridor…
Presented in Angel Exit's rich visual style and blending ensemble storytelling with striking physicality, beautiful puppets, haunting songs and an original soundtrack, The Secret Garden is performed by an ensemble of five. “The story is about grief and about how people push through it, keep going, and eventually grow” says the director.
“There is so much vivid theatricality and inventiveness at work here that I am already looking forward to its next show” – LYN GARDNER, THE GUARDIAN (on Imaginary Prisons)
The Secret Garden has been written by Co-Artistic Directors Tamsin Fessey and Lynne Forbes under the guidance of playwright Phil Porter (Beauty and the Beast – Unicorn Theatre, Alice in Wonderland – Northampton Theatre Royal). It is directed by Tamsin Fessey (The Black Curtain, Moonfleet), with robin and fox puppets created by Polly Beestone (Beauty and the Beast – Unicorn Theatre) and original music by Tom Ball (from the band Marthas and Arthurs). The costumes and sets are designed by Jodie Gardner, who returned to her college, AUCB, in Bournemouth, where students made the costumes. Mary Lennox is played by Ashleigh Cheadle (Blind Summit, Complicite). Angel Exit regulars Lynne Forbes, Simon Carroll-Jones and Henry Douthwaite, are joined by new company member Max Macintosh.
“They delighted and astonished the packed audience with the extraordinary vision and energy of the work.” –BLACKMORE VALE MAGAZINE (on Moonfleet)
The Secret Garden is co-produced by Dorchester Arts and Bridport Arts Centre and co-commissioned by Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts and Activate. It is funded by Arts Council England, and the design of the production was paid for through a crowd funding campaign on the We Fund website.
In Dorchester the company will be joined by members of Dorchester Youth Theatre who will perform in the prologue to the show evoking the sights and sounds of India in 1899.
The Secret Garden will be performing at the Dorchester’s Corn Exchange on Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January at 7pm + Saturday matinee 2pm – to book tickets, contact Dorchester Arts 01305 266926 or Tourist Information Office 01305 267992 or book online
For further information, visit www.angelexit.co.uk
Civil rights play comes to Dorset ahead of New York
Call Mr. Robeson, a passionate and powerful award-winning play about the African American civil rights activist, actor and singer Paul Robeson, is coming to Dorset ahead of its New York debut at the Carnegie Hall. Written and performed by Liverpool-based playwright and singer Tayo Aluko, with piano accompaniment by Leeds-based pianist Michael Conliffe, this play was recently chosen by The Guardian’s theatre critic Michael Billington as his top pick for things to see in London. The show is a rollercoaster journey through actor and singer Paul Robeson's remarkable life, showing how his radical activism caused his downfall.
Festival success for young filmmakers
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| Film success: Assistant head Craig Holloway with students Jack, Emily, Oli and Jade |
Transglobal Underground in Dorchester - November 4th
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (doors and bar 7.30pm) £12/£10
FREE AFTER SHOW PARTY!
Dorchester Arts is thrilled to be welcoming the legendary TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND for an exclusive performance by three members of this world famous music collective on Friday 4 November. Following the gig at Dorchester Arts there will be a free After Show Party at the Old Ship Inn, High West Street, Dorchester hosted by ShindigNation and featuring DJ's Biggabush and Full Moon Tunes.
Award winning pioneers of the dance fusion scene, Transglobal Underground are regarded as one of the UKs best live acts. Currently in their 20th year, having performed everwhere from London to Kazakhstan, from India to South Africa and from Australia to Morocco, this year they released their 9th album 'The Stone Turntable.'
This show, presented in association with the Urban Wastelands Exhibition at Dorchester Arts Centre, brings together three of the central members of the collective: founder members, producers, DJs and multi-instrumentalists Hamid Man Tu and Tim Whelan, along with sitarist Sheema Mukherjee, known in her own right for her work with the Imagined Village, Cornershop, Andy Shepherd and many others.
Transglobal Underground have been present at some of the most significant historical turning points of the century: they travelled to Eastern Europe and played in Sarajevo to mark the end of the war in Yugoslavia and they marked the dawn of the Millenium in 2000 playing next to the Thames in London at midnight.
Their mix of eclectic sounds, percussion and flamboyant performance has been a sensation on the festival scene and earned them a world-wide reputation for creating ground-breaking dance music. Their performances fuse western dance music with Arabic, Asian and African music and reveal influences from DJ culture, Indian classical, reggae, bhangra, hip-hop, underground art and community politics.
This is a rare treat for anyone who loves great music and dancing. For more information visit: www.transglobalundergound.net
TICKETS £12 / £10 concessions from DORCHESTER ARTS 01305 266926 or TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE 267992
The Dancer and the Devil - exotic cabaret - Thursday 20 Oct
"This is amazing, I saw it in the woods in Cornwall this summer - it is very, very good" (From one friend on Facebook)
THE DANCER & THE DEVIL
Thursday 20 October 8pm
Set in a secret bar, a club, a speak-easy in a country smothered by war, Cornish company Rogue Theatre present a cabaret of those displaced, those who have had to hide, to run away from their past lives with hastily packed cases bursting with secrets and stories.
Bright, sparkling and full of comic mischief, The Dancer and The Devil invites you to lose yourself in a world of twisted cabaret, the smell of woodsmoke and perfume, the taste of danger, and the wild thrill of the forest..
The company draw on the stories of gypsy and Jewish communities who survived the Second World War as Ollie Oakenshield co-founder of Rogue explains:
"In our story, people have hidden in the woods but they are found by soldiers and have to entertain them with cabaret-style performance. There is also a love story interwoven with it."
With writing and text written by Anna Maria Murphy (Kneehigh Theatre; Red Shoes, Trystan and Yseult, National Theatre and BBC Radio 4) resplendent live music by Julian Gaskell (Julian Gaskell and the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists).
" An exotic and erotic mix of dance, music, poetry, prose and circus skills... surprising and, at the end, devastating."
(Julia Taylor, What's On Stage)
See the review in Dorset Echo What's On Wednesday 19 October
http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/leisure/stage/9313637.Exotic_cabaret_mix_hits_Dorchester_Arts_Centre/
Dorchester Arts Centre 8pm (door and bar 7.30pm) £11 / £9 members / £8 under 18s and concessions. For ages 10+
www.roguetheatre.co.uk/dancer-and-the-devil
Paper Aeroplanes fly into Dorch - October 7th
Although they only launched their debut album two years ago, Sarah Howells and Richard Llewellyn have a lengthy history - and a national following on the Welsh music scene.
Debut album The Day we ran into the Sea with its distinctive sound under Sarah’s beautiful vocals was described by the BBC’s Adam Walton as “brilliantly crafted and stoked from a bruised heart’s embers”, and BBC Radio Wales as “the finest radio album to come out of Wales since Rockferry”.
Since its release they have made the Radio 2 playlist and supported acts as varied as Ron Sexsmith, Ed Sheeran, Marina and the Diamonds and Chris Wood, as well as securing a live session with the legendary Bob Harris.
Having been compared to the likes of Gemma Hayes, Turin Brakes and Hope Sandoval, this year they released mini-album “We are Ghosts” to more critical acclaim and reviews such as “With songs this good, Paper Aeroplanes deserve a far wider audience” – BBC Music’s Robin Denselow; “Album of the Month” – Maverick Magazine and being picked for The Guardian’s “F&M playlist”.
The Final Chapter...
COMBINED ARTS WEEK 2011
Presents
The Final Chapter
From: THE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE - a true account of the mysteries and secrets of Ancient Egypt:
‘The people of Egypt shall now know the greatest of all secrets. It lies in……….’
Lies in what?
Only The Immortal One knows the answer; and she has travelled far off somewhere into the future taking the final words with her.
The Pharaoh despatches a search party to find her and persuade her to return to her own time to complete THE FINAL CHAPTER.
Will they succeed? And will they be hindered or helped on their quest by a biker gang, some schoolchildren, and the proprietors of a burger bar and a launderette?
Led by professional theatre directors Julian Barnicoat and Pete Thorogood, Combined Arts Week celebrates its 21st year in Dorchester. Attended by young people aged 10-18 this year’s production is full of ‘Egyptian promise’ and will include plenty of drama, comedy, song and dance – all put together in just one week.
Performances at Thomas Hardye School, Queen’s Avenue, Dorchester on Friday 26 August at 7.30pm and Saturday 27 August at 2.30pm. (Bar open half an hour before the show starts.) Tickets will be available on the door. £5.00 adult and £3.00 under 18’s
