EVENTS Diary

Chesil Theatre 

The new season at the Chesil Theatre, Winchester, opens with two modern plays to make an evening of contrasting drama.

Five Stories From 15 Heroines 

By Chinonyerem Odimba, Lettie Precious, Bryony Lavery, Charlotte Jones and Samantha Ellis

Directed by Daisy Norwood

Everyone has heard of the swaggering Greek heroes who went on epic voyages, fought valiant battles and overcame fearsome monsters – but what of their wives and lovers left behind? Two thousand years ago, the poet, Ovid, wrote a series of fictional letters called The Heroines, which showed the desires and innermost feelings of these queens, sorcerers, pioneers, poets and politicians.

In 2020, some of these letters were dramatized as 15 monologues. The Chesil will be presenting five of these bite-sized, beautifully written short plays to give voice to the heroines.

Trestle

By Stewart Pringle

Directed by Martin Humphrey

Trestle by Stewart Pringle is the story of two older people. Harry sees these later years as a winding down of his life, while Denise is living them with all the gusto she can. When their paths cross at the village hall, their understanding of the time they have left changes irrevocably. What do community, growing old, and falling in love really mean? And who gets to decide anyway? Trestle won the prestigious Papatango New Writing Prize in 2017, was premiered at the Southwark Playhouse and has been performed by many companies since.

Heroines' director, Daisy Norwood, joined the Chesil in 2022 in contrast to the director of Trestle, Martin Humphrey, who has been a member for 35 years and has been involved with many productions.

Tickets: Adults £16, Student/Under 18s £10, Group £14.40 (booking fees apply); Available online.

Studio Theatre Salisbury 

Last Summer At Bluefish Cove

Written by Jane Chambers

Directed by Philippa Crundwell

Jane Chambers’s groundbreaking play comes to Studio Theatre this October. It's 1980 in Long Island, New York. Across the US, homophobia is rife, and it’s thirty-five years before same-sex marriage will be legalised. Seven friends take refuge at Bluefish Cove – a secret seaside haven – where they can live and love freely. When a straight woman named Eva wanders unknowingly into their midst, romance and drama ensue, and by the end of the summer, everyone’s lives are changed forever.

NB: Strong Language, sexual references, smoking on stage, and themes of terminal illness and cancer. Age guidance 12+ 

Tickets: Full £12; Under 16s £8; SYT Members £5; Available from Salisbury Information Centre, Fish Row, Salisbury (01722 342860) or online.

Bournemouth & Boscombe Light Opera Company [BBLOC]; Tickets: £19.50 - £29.50, Family Tickets available; Available online.

Poole & Parkstone Productions [P&P Productions]

InSpired To Sing - Songs Of The Seventies

(Choir in a Day Workshop)

Following the success of their first two workshops, P&P Choir (part of Poole & Parkstone Productions) are pleased to be hosting another on Saturday 14 October. This year's theme is Songs from the Seventies.

Spend a day singing as part of a massed choir as you workshop and perform some of the greatest hits from The Seventies. From show tunes to chart-topping smash hits, there's sure to be something for every voice. You don't need to be in a choir, or an existing member of P&P, just be keen to sing. No matter if you have lots of experience or just a little, the day will be suitable for all levels.

The workshop will be led and conducted by Jane McDouall, an accomplished singing teacher and performer, and Musical Director of the P&P Singers and their community choir InSpire Daytime Voices.

Cost of the workshop is just £15 per person for the day, with hot drinks included. Family and friends are invited to join P&P at the end of the day for an informal concert to share all you have learnt during the day.

Workshop: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm (Registration opens 9:30 am); £15 per person - register online, via email, or via phone (Jane - 07770 774879).

Performance: from 4:15 pm (Doors open at 4:00 pm); Entrance to this performance is free, with donations to P&P's sponsored charity Ehlers-Danlos Support UK (EDS UK) warmly welcomed.

Ferndown Drama

Out Of Focus

Written by Peter Gordon

Directed by Estelle Hughes

An unfortunate over-booking of the Church Hall results in a gathering of a wonderful mix of local characters, ranging from Evonne, the nervous Vicar's wife, to Leonard, a man intent on delivering a talk on steam locomotives to anyone who will listen!

As rehearsals proceed, alliances are forged and switched as the opening night looms...

Tickets: £12; Available online.

Wimborne Drama Productions

Rehearsal For Murder

Adapted for the Stage by DD Brooke

Directed by Tracey Nicholls

A classic 1980s TV thriller, re-imagined for the stage, is Wimborne Drama Productions’ choice of play for their autumn production at the Tivoli Theatre.

Rehearsal for Murder has been adapted by DD Brooke from the TV play written by the legendary award-winning writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link, whose work includes Murder, She Wrote and Columbo.

Playwright Alex Dennison is left heartbroken when his fiancée and leading lady Monica Welles is found dead from an apparent suicide after the opening night of her stage debut. On the anniversary of that ill-fated night, Alex assembles the same cast and crew in the same theatre, for a reading of his new play. But as the reading begins, it becomes clear that Alex believes that Monica was murdered and he intends to uncover her killer…

Director Tracey Nicholls explains the appeal of the play: “Everyone loves a good murder mystery – nothing too nasty, just a good excuse to take on the role of detective and try to work out ‘whodunnit’.

“Rehearsal For Murder, set in an empty theatre, combines my love for both theatre and the murder mystery genre. It has everything you could want from a good suspense thriller – engaging characters, a brilliant plot with more twists than a country lane, and moments of high tension balanced with nuggets of humour. Best of all, the beautiful Art Deco Tivoli Theatre is itself a star of the show!

“This October let us entertain you with this thoroughly enjoyable cracker of a play.”

The cast are Rob Cording-Cook, Tracie Billington-Beardsley, Rosie Nye, Colin Pile, Michelle Barter, Lindsay McGowan, David Beddard-Banks, James Bourner, Andy Gill, Russ Guillaume, Suzanne Viney, Richard Scotson and Calum Hearne.

Rehearsal for Murder will be performed at the Tivoli Theatre from 19 – 21 October, with evening performances at 7:30pm (tickets £16) and a Saturday matinee at 2:30pm (£14). To book, telephone the Tivoli Box Office on 01202 885566 or book online.

This amateur production is produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois, USA.

Poole & Parkstone Players [P&P Players]

One Act Plays

The P&P Players return to The Spire, Poole this October with their popular One Act Plays series.

None The Wiser

A comedy written by Anthony Booth

Directed by Clare I'Anson

A gang of women posing as nuns are operating a successful shoplifting racket. The trouble is that at home in their convent they have to look the part, and when two nuns seeking accommodation appear at the door, they can't turn them away. However, the newcomers aren't what they seem either.

The Right Honourable Lady

A drama written by Francis Beckett

Directed by Lauren Keene

Journalist Flavia has been poached from the BBC by tabloid newspaper, The Daily Trumpet. Her brief – to dig up the dirt on her old friend Nicola Macdonald, now Secretary of State. In the pursuit of investigating more serious corruption in the government, Flavia must first expose sordid secrets which threaten to destroy careers and marriages. To what length will people go to get what they want?

Tickets: £10; Available  online, email, in person at The Spire Office, High Street, Poole or via phone (Clare - 07956 996656).

Maskers Theatre Company; Tickets: £14; Available from Box Office (0333 666 3366 - booking fee applies to phone bookings) or online.

Bournemouth Little Theatre 

The Lying Kind

Written by Anthony Neilson

Directed by Rachael de Courcy Beamish

Two policemen have to tell a distinctly odd, elderly couple some terrible news, but what if it’s too much for them?

An imminent lynching hardly helps in what is (surprisingly!) a hugely entertaining and bizarre black comedy/farce that will have the audience in stitches…

The play is being staged at Bournemouth Little Theatre from 24 – 28 October 2023 at 7:45pm each evening.

Tickets: Full £14, Concessions – Seniors and students £12, Members £8; Available online.

New Forest Players 

Dead Reckoning

Written by Eric Chappell

Directed by Janet Courtice

A renowned artist is caught up in a maze of chilling mind games and deceit. Who is the mysterious Mr Todd and how far is artist Tony Read prepared to go in discovering who killed his adored first wife?

Tickets: £13 (NFP Members £8); Available via phone 01425 542414 or online.

Castle Players; Tickets: £10; Available via phone (01202 912351) or online.

Lyndhurst Drama & Musical Society; Tickets: £12; Available by phone (023 8029 2531) or online.

Ferndown Phoenix Musical Theatre

Cinderella - A Twisted Tale

Cinderella - A Halloween twist!

The story of Cinderella is a beautiful fairytale, but this Halloween, Cinderella has a different story to tell! Magic has fallen into the wrong hands; will Cinderella ever get her Prince?

If good falls for evil it could become quite tragic!

Performances: 26 - 27 October @ 7:30 pm,  Saturday 28 October @ 10:30 am (Relaxed performance *), 2:30 pm & 7:30 pm.

Tickets: Adults £12, Concessions £10, Children £8 (* Relaxed Performance: Adults £10, Concessions £8, Children £6); Available from Box Office (01202) with further information available online.

Castle Players; Tickets: £10; Available via phone (01202 912351) or online.

Chesil Theatre; Tickets: Adults £12, Student/Under 18s £10, Group £14.40 (booking fees apply); Available online.

Swanage Drama Company; Tickets: Adults £13, Concessions £12, Children £8, Family £35 (2 adults + 2 children); Available online.

Swanage Drama Company; Tickets: Adults £13, Concessions £12, Children £8, Family £35 (2 adults + 2 children); Available online.