Dorchester ARTS • August 19-21st, 8pm (Doors and bar 7:30pm) • £8 / £6 members

Actors Kevin Hanssen and Anne Fischer come to Dorchester from Zimbabwe to take the leads in the Pulitzer / Tony Award Winning Drama DOUBT: A PARABLE at Dorchester Arts from August 19-21.

This brilliant and powerful drama - supported by the British Council Zimbabwe - has been called “Funny, shocking, stimulating and ultimately wise”.

Themes relating to the nature of doubt, the desire for justice and the right of individuals to live with integrity, freedom and safety, are explored in a series of evocatively terse scenes, leading to an explosive climactic confrontation between self-righteousness and compassion.

Director, Mel Hooley, brings you a very relevant piece for these troubled times, as the conflict between a well-intentioned progressive priest and a conservative nun develops over the priest’s relationship with a young boy at a school in the Bronx.

An evening of unmissable drama



Supported by British Council Zimbabwe


DOUBT: A PARABLE
Supported by British Council Zimbabwe
By John Patrick Shanley
Directed by Melanie Hooley

Maumbury Rings Saturday 31st July – gates and bar 7.30pm / Performance 9pm – £8 / £5
In case of bad weather relocate to Dorchester ARTS Centre

Step into The Lost World, where shadow puppets hunt for dinosaurs in a magical tale for children of all ages.

As a finale to the South Dorset Ridgeway Festival, Dorchester ARTS presents Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World  - a tale of adventure, discovery and dinosaurs - in the outdoor setting of Dorchester’s Maumbury Rings.

When lovestruck reporter Edward Malone agrees to travel to a remote South American plateau to impress his lady friend Gladys, he hopes to return a hero, but along with his four fellow Edwardian explorers, finds a Lost World beyond imagination, from which they’ll be lucky to return at all… What will they find? Will Malone win the heart of his lady? Will any of them come back alive? Watch and see... 
Someone once described the work of Paper Cinema as like finding yourself in a village where television had not been invented, but something altogether more enchanting had been dreamed up in its place. 

It’s a live animation to live music which takes on a filmic quality because of the way the artists use the camera to film the drawings being projected onto the big screen.
Music and live sound effects by Chris ‘little boat’ Reed, performed by Imogen Charleston and Nic Beard.

A picnic and a glass of wine… and wonderful theatre by Cornwall’s extraordinary Miracle Theatre.

What more could one ask on a summer’s evening in Dorchester's ancient neolithic henge Maumbury Rings ?

Miracle never cease to surprise - and with their new production of Romeo and Juliet, they have created a production to captivate audiences of all ages. 

It’s a story of young love - innocent, intense, intoxicating and deadly in a totally original world where senses soar and humour is found in unexpected places.

Don’t miss it - Friday 16 July and Sat 17 July • Romeo and Juliet • Outdoor Theatre
Maumbury Rings – Gates and Bar 6.30pm / Performance 7.30pm 
£11 / £9 member / £5 Child / £27 family / £23 family members




Here's what the Western Morning News said about the show:


Young lovers' chemistry ensures a production of authentic tragedy
We've all seen actors and actresses old enough to know better concealing a paunch here or applying extra make-up there in an attempt to kid themselves — and their audiences — that they are still young enough to play Romeo and Juliet convincingly.

And while Bristol Old Vic may have made a virtue of septuagenarian "star-cross'd lovers" in its recent version of Shakespeare's most enduring tragedy, Cornwall's Miracle Theatre chose to play it as the writer intended.

Few Juliets in the history of the play can have been more lovely, delicate and yet eagerly passionate as Catherine Lake. Looking more mid-teens than the mid-20s she is, Catherine approaches her role with just the right balance of coy and comely. A regular member of Bottlefed Theatre, it is Miracle's gain to have signed her up for this 50-venue tour.


Her beau, Wesley Griffith, who was a graduate of Miracle's own youth group from the age of eight before going on to study at Guildford School of Acting, is an exciting new Cornish talent. And together he and Catherine forge an on-stage partnership which oozes sexual chemistry, giving the scenes of love an authentic tenderness.


Bill Scott, the company's founder and director, said he wanted to "play it straight" with this production — though Miracle's idea of straight is inevitably further from the conventional than other companies.



With outrageously liberated adaptations of such classics as The Taming Of The Shrew, The Time Machine, The Government Inspector, The Case of the Frightened Lady and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea under his belt, Bill has been remarkably restrained this time round.
Judiciously trimming and deflty editing, rather than performing a wholesale rewrite, his version is true to Shakespeare's original in both spirit and text, keeping the essence, emotion and meaning in tact.

Through a series of short, pacy scenes, there are no moments of confusion or lost concentration simply because Bill has at all times remained focused on solid storytelling with a definite purpose.

"By the standards of RSC's Such Tweet Sorrow and Baz Luhrman's 1996 film, our production is quite straightforward," he said. "We began by ruthlessly trimming the text to bring it in under two hours and adapting it for performance by only six actors. This helped us to discover the essence of the story and how to bring it alive in an authentic and enjoyable way."

Yes, there's comedy – as is to be expected of any Miracle show – but the most power is contained in the darker passages. When Old Capulet loses his temper with Juliet, his wife and the nurse in turn, the brutality has real menace. Played by Steve Jacobs, a Cornish actor who brings a sense of humanity to every role he tackles, his grief at Juliet's apparent death is heart-felt.

With young and believable lovers the audience can really empathise with, menace and wisdom in equal part from Steve Jacobs as Old Capulet and Father Laurence, and classic clowning from Ben Dyson as the nurse, this is Miracle on top form.

Alan Munden's simple but effective set, painted entirely blood red, echoes the bare Elizabethan stages of Shakespeare's day and compliments the drama. The other star was the venue. On a June evening, under a cloudless sky, Indian Queens Pit is an enchanting setting, ringed at this time of year by blackthorn in a riot of blossom. The Minack may boast of dolphins and fishing boats, but the display of bat aerobatics as the final, terrible denouement unfolded, gave the show an added dimension.

In the company's most ambitious tour ever, open air performances will be staged in variety of venues, from castles and gardens to ancient playing places and even on a beach.

Take a captivating storyteller and three wonderful musicians - then mix melody with story to make an evening of magical entertainment.

The Devils Violin Company have sold out venues across the UK with their unique blend of storytelling and music. Now they are bringing their extraordinary new show - The Singing Bones - to Dorchester.

A burning tree, a mysterious bird, a sackful of secrets - the Singing Bones is a timeless tale of secrets and lies, or love and hate… essential viewing for a midesummer’s evening.

The Company are: Daniel Morden (storyteller), Sarah Moody (cello), Oliver Wilson-Dickson (violin) and Luke Carver Goss (accordion). 

Dorchester Arts Centre Saturday 26 June 8pm, Doors 7.30pm tickets £8.50, members £7.50 - £5 under 16s. Box office 01305 266926.

Veteran theatre critic Marion Cox found herself at the receiving end of comedienne Gina Yashere’s wit when she spotted her making notes during Dorchester Festival’s comedy night.

Grabbing the notes, the keen-eyed comic demanded: “Why are you writing down my jokes - are you a standup ? What is you name?”

“I’m a theatre reviewer,” Mrs Cox gulped in reply to the audience at Charlton Down’s Herrison Hall. “I’d rather be doing Shakespeare!”

Gina, a comedy sensation in the US where they love her cheeky English observations, told Mrs Cox she would be back to see her if the write up was not up to scratch.

Festival artistic director Sharon Hayden, pictured with Gina after the show, said the audience had loved it. “Gina is still jet lagged from her flight over from LA but managed to give us nearly two hours of wonderful standup - she’s taken the mickey out of all of us in her own charming way - and we love her.”

There's still two full days of amazing events to enjoy in Dorchester Festival...

After last night's pulsating sell-out gigs with Groanbox and the extraordinary Kanda Bongo Man band, Festival Sunday kicks off at noon in laid back mode with chilled out tunes, storytelling and small scale theatre in the Borough Gardens.

Bestselling author Salley Vickers invites you to tea and talk at 5pm in the Corn Exchange and later in Charlton Down's Herrison Hall we present one newspaper's "must see" event in the region this bank holiday - our comedy night with the amazing Gina Yashere - fresh from an appearance with Trevor Nelson on Radio 1 extra - and a bonus 45 minute set from double Grammy Award winning Lekan Babalola and his Afro beat trio - Doors open 7.30 at Herrison Hall - Don't miss them!

The tempo picks up again on Monday with some of our great youth bands, the infectious music of Bulawayo with joyous Ndebele and shona vocals and a comedy walk through the Pleasure Garden with the hilarious Hoodwink.

Singers are invited to join in an at all day Opera workshop and premiere at St Mary's Church of The Cask of Amontillado, an exciting new community opera, and at Dorchester Arts, there's a chance to take part in African song, dance and drumming with members of Bulawayo - Sing, Bang, Bop!

For young children, leading children's theatre company Tell Tale Hearts bring their new show Spacehoppers to the Corn Exchange at 12noon and 3.30pm. 

Company Theatre, present two contrasting one-act plays at the Kings Arm: 'The Nurse's Tale' at 3pm a Romeo and Juliet follow on story with hugely comic nurse and Reggae music followed at 7pm by 'Farbeit' - a dark and poignant comedy featuring local actor, Chris Gallarus. The 3pm children's show includes a Shakespeare workshop.

Catch a vibrant 45 minute set from double grammy award winner Lekan Babalola and his afro beat trio - then sit back and relax with the comedy talent of Gina Yashere for the rest of the evening.

After Lekan had to postpone his workshop on the Roots of Blues, Dorchester Festival director Shaton Hayden decided to throw the talented performers together for a night of music and comedy.

“This is going to be some show - a set from Lekan’s trio, followed by two 45 minute stints from Gina. It’s a rare chance to see Gina as the star of Mock the Week and the Lenny Henry show now lives in the States where she is a TV comedy sensation.”

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Watch Gina on American TV