Verdi

Aida (New Production)

American soprano Angel Blue headlines as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country in a new production of Verdi’s Aida by Michael Mayer that brings audiences inside the towering pyramids and gilded tombs of ancient Egypt with intricate projections and dazzling animations. Romanian-Hungarian mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi also stars as Aida’s rival, Amneris, alongside Polish tenor Piotr Beczala as the soldier Radamès—completing opera’s greatest love triangle. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium to conduct the January 25 performance, which will be broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera stage to cinemas worldwide.

All Tickets £16

Sound of the Sirens are an acoustic singer-songwriting duo based in Exeter, Devon comprising of Abbe Martin & Hannah Wood.

Honing their craft over the past decade, Martin & Wood have cemented themselves as firm favourites not only on the Westcountry scene, but nationally, and internationally too. Their status, and fast-growing fan-base is not only testament to the pair’s prowess as songwriters and musicians, but as people too. 2024 sees the release of ‘Seasons’ their 5th Studio album.

You’re born in one country. But your parents come from a different one. What if the two countries share a complex history, one of conquest and subjugation, resistance, and rebellion? And which happen to be closest neighbours across the Irish Sea, but have grown to a mutual understanding, and a sometimes-uneasy co-existence?

How do you, born and raised in one of those countries, but with ties to the other, define yourself?

In this one-man theatre show, Declan Duffy will attempt to make sense of it, considering the history of Irish migrants to Britain, the difficulties they encountered, and how it has influenced their descendants in our consideration of who we are. There’ll be some songs, of course. And we’ll attempt to answer the vexed question of how many boxes you technically have to tick in order to confidently state: “I am Irish (sort of)”.

Kindly supported by Thames Materials

Directed by David Alexander

How to Have Extraordinary Relationships (in seven easy – or perhaps not so easy – steps)

Help is at hand!

Do you need some help with your relationships? Are you interested in having better relationships with yourself and those around you?

Come and enjoy an inspiring, interactive, enjoyable and informative evening with relationship coach, counsellor, journalist and author Lucy Cavendish – award-winning podcaster and the Independent’s couples agony aunt as seen in The Times, the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, Radio 4 and ITV.

Lucy Cavendish is a writer and a therapist, award-winning podcaster (Later Dater) and top 15 Amazon best selling book: How to Have Extraordinary Relationships.

Lucy will also talk about self-awareness, taking responsibility and making different choices which leads to different outcomes leading to improved relationships with everyone including your own self, and life.

Counsellor and therapist Lucy Cavendish wants to help you develop amazing relationships and achieve abundant connection with the most important people in your life. Over the years Lucy Cavendish’s practice has been inundated with clients desperate for help: they are lost, lonely, panicking and looking for ways to improve their key relationships with their co-workers, friends, siblings and partners. We all get in stuck certain patterns in our daily lives,or may find ourselves dissatisfied with our friendships and other relationships, and not know how to improve things. Yet small fixes are right there at our fingertips and can make a huge difference to our happiness and wellbeing.

There will be a Q&A with Lucy at the end.

This guaranteed to be informative, funny, moving and transformational..we are talking how to have a wonderful time in communication and connection.

Tickets: £16 Adult | £14 Concs | £5 Child | Children under 12 go FREE

Ensemble Hesperi is a dynamic and innovative London-based period ensemble, with a reputation for showcasing Baroque Music through intelligent, research-led programming. The four members of Ensemble Hesperi met during their studies at the Royal College of Music in London, and the varied talents of each member of the ensemble combine to present joyful and educational performances for audiences of all kinds. Whether performing as the core ensemble of recorder, baroque violin, baroque cello and harpsichord, or collaborating with friends for larger projects, Hesperi aims to embody the true spontaneity of chamber music.

In 2020, the ensemble was selected as Britten Pears Young Artists, and won first prize at the London International Festival of Early Music Young Ensemble Competition. In 2021, the ensemble was awarded third prize at the prestigious International Van Wassenaer Competition, became City Music Foundation artists, and released its debut album, In autumn 2023, Hesperi launched its new vocal ensemble, the Hesperi Voices. The ensemble appears regularly on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show and In Tune programmes, and has a busy schedule of performances at leading festivals and venues in the UK and further afield.

www.ensemblehesperi.com/

Hirsute hostess Timberlina is thrilled to bring The Big Bingo Show back to Bridport Arts Centre with diminutive Dutch DJ Auntie Maureen for night of side-splitting, seamlessly shambolic bingo entertainment and dancing that will leave you feeling fantastically fabulous.

The Big Bingo Show is a riotous, gloriously funny three act bingo show replete with bad sing-alongs, spontaneous dance routines and impromptu rants.

This crazy cult show has played high class institutions, selling out every Monday night at the celebrated Royal Vauxhall Tavern for over 15 over years before becoming a pop-up sensation around the country

Its intoxicating and infectious silliness and inimitable timing led to forays at such illustrious venues and Festivals as South Bank Centre, Wales Millennium Centre, Barbican and Science Museum Lates as well as Latitude and Camp Bestival.

Hosted by glamorous bearded drag lady Timberlina and diminutive theatrical DJ Auntie Maureen. They are over the moon to bring the show back to the world famous Bridport Arts Centre

Suitable for audiences 18-80

WHO IS THE BIG BINGO SHOW?

Queer slapstick performance artist Tim Redfern has been gracing creative and heritage platforms for over two decades with their irreverent and often informative take on life, the universe and everything. Usually performing as their alter-ego the charming, bearded drag lady Timbelina, Tim has produced and performed at Tate Museums, Walker Galleries Liverpool, the V&A, as well as Latitude, Bestival, Camp Bestival and le Petit Festival. A regular facilitator at South Bank, they also host Queer tours in the National Portrait Gallery and at their home town of Rye, where they also practice Permaculture. @mstimberlina

Theatrical DJ and music curator Auntie Maureen has worked dancefloors at events such as Tate Britain’s Queer Britannia, The Wallace’s Look OUT. Her music superpower combined with encyclopeadic LGBTQIA+ and femme-forward knowledge has led to being showcased at Incloodu Festival of Deaf Arts, Barbican’s OpenFest, Culture Mile’s Smithfield150, The Museum of Last Parties night at Museum of London, Wilderness, Camp Bestival & Bestival, Shambala, Latitude and Museum Nacht in Amsterdam. @auntie.maureen

THIS IS NOW IS A DOUBLE BILL FROM EXCESSIVE HUMAN COLLECTIVE’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IMOGEN REEVE NAVIGATING TECHNOLOGY, GENDER AND THE APOCALYPSE.

DISCOPIA a mesmerising dance theatre production, masterfully intertwining ecological unraveling and the ascent of AI. Witness the delicate dance between hope and despair, as the threads of the past unravel, inviting us to ponder the potential of a transformed future.
Teetering on the edge of the uncanny and steeped in surrealism, the audience is pulled into a hallucinatory tapestry of the past, present and future. Equal parts beautiful, humorous and horrifying, Excessive Human Collective joins the collaborative forces of renowned chamber group Larisa Trio, and rising composer Devon Bonelli to bring you this unforgettable sensory experience.

We Are The World

“The cyborg would not recognise the garden of Eden, it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust.” – Donna Haraway

Three performers wander an infinite landscape, their bodies merging with machine, as they grapple with visions of hyper-femininity. With the cyborg as a metaphor for fragmented identities, We Are The World looks at the space between fiction and fact, and what it means to be a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fantasy. Hyperfemme cyborgs, the merging of body and machine and a post apocalyptic landscape, what more could you want?!



DISCOPIA ARTISTIC TEAM:

IDEA AND DIRECTION: Imogen Reeve
CHOREOGRAPHY: Imogen Reeve in collaboration with original cast Annie Kelleher, Eva Leemans, Lisa Chearles, Rachel Sullivan
Performers: Allegra Vistalli, Jorden Brooks, Hannah Durkan
SCENERY: Imogen Reeve
SOUND: Devon Bonelli, Larisa Trio
COSTUME DESIGN, COSTUME REALIZATION AND MANUFACTURING: Rosie Whiting
LIGHTING DESIGN: Mark Baker
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Charlotte Woods
PRODUCER: The Middle Floor
WITH THE HELP OF: Arts Council England, Royal Northern College of Music, Exeter Phoenix, Make Tank, Help Musicians, PRS Foundation, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Guildhall School



WE ARE THE WORLD ARTISTIC TEAM:

IDEA AND DIRECTION: Imogen Reeve
CHOREOGRAPHY: Imogen Reeve in collaboration with performers
PERFORMER COLLABORATORS: Allegra Vistalli, Jorden Brooks, Hannah Durkan
SCENERY: Imogen Reeve
SOUND: Devon Bonelli
COSTUME DESIGN, COSTUME REALIZATION: Imogen Reeve
LIGHTING DESIGN: Charlotte Woods
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Charlotte Woods
PRODUCER: The Middle Floor

Tickets: Adult £20, Concs £18

Two of the UK’s most iconic voices have finally combined as a duo and will be touring a new album in 2025.

Miranda Sykes and Jim Causley have known each other for nearly 20 years and in 2024 they united with John Palmer to create and tour a show celebrating the centenary of the death of the song collector and author Sabine Baring – Gould.

They enjoyed working together so much and audience feedback was so positive that they made plans to record and tour an album together.

“The Last Of The Singers” is a collection of traditional, self penned and contemporary songs bringing their magical voices together.

Enter the incredible world of Stuff and Nonsense.

There’s a wolf coming… but for now, The Three Little Pigs have tricked him onto a bus. If he catches them, he’ll huff and he’ll puff and we all know how that ends…

On the run and with the need to build a strong shelter, our three problem-solving pigs call on you to save their bacon. Be blown away by the world of Stuff and Nonsense in this joyful retelling of a classic tale. Told in a unique physical style with raucous puppets, this is high-octane family theatre that will make you howl!

Suitable for all the family (recommended for ages 3-10).
Directed by Niki McCretton
Music by Jeremy Bradfield

Stuff and Nonsense make inspiring shows for families. We unite creativity and imagination, so that children and adults can learn together and inspire each other. Our shows are co-created with children and incredible artists. We also teach, lead workshops, give schools resources and work with families to learn and make things.

Stuff and Nonsense have delighted over a quarter of a million people this decade alone.
Invest in your children’s imaginations: join us in the theatre and take playfulness home with you!

Chube – Cutting edge fusion from South Wales

Chube is a young Fusion band based in Cardiff, South Wales featuring Ben Creighton Griffiths on Electric Harp and Keys, Ashley John Long on Bass, and Jon Bradford-Jones on Drums.

They draw their inspiration from a wide variety of artists and genres and aim to write electro acoustic music that pushes the boundaries of their instruments. The harp features prominently in performances, and Ben uses effects processors to take the harp from it’s regular, classical sound, to a rock guitar through distortion, an ambient synth through delays and phasers, and much more.

Combined with innovative percussion and groovy bass riffs it all goes to creating a totally unique blend of Fusion.



Facebook – www.facebook.com/Chubeband/
Instagram – www.instagram.com/chubeband/
Twitter – twitter.com/chubeband

Spotify – open.spotify.com/artist/23Smtpmvq6KTzSaMo9sBoK?si=G1Um-OX6QGOUqX19Toh5Cg
Youtube – www.youtube.com/channel/UCqfWt7zKotVLjRsy0s4BEMA
Bandcamp – chube.bandcamp.com/

Stand-up poet, comedian and broadcaster, armchair revolutionary and walking shortbread tin, Elvis McGonagall resides at The Graceland Caravan Park somewhere in the back of beyond where he scribbles satirical verse whilst drinking malt whisky and listening to Johnny Cash.

Two series of his sitcom “Elvis McGonagall Takes A Look On The Bright Side” have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 where he appears regularly, most recently on “Radio 4’s “Loose Ends” and on “Stand-Up Specials: Full Tartan Jacket” which was the featured Radio 4 “Comedy of the Week” podcast as well as the documentary “My Name Is Elvis” which featured on Radio 4’s “Pick of the Week”.

Elvis also pops up occasionally on the telly. Elvis is the 2006 World Slam Champion, the compere of the Blue Suede Sporran Club and performs at comedy, literary and music festivals, arts centres, cabaret clubs, pubs and dodgy dives up and down the country and abroad.

He also gigs with his band The Resurrectors “an unholy marriage of whisky-soaked, radical stand-up poetry and Caledonian punkabilly rock ‘n roll”. The band’s debut album “Gie It Laldy!” and their new EP “Burstin’ Oot in Fairy Lights” were both released on Bar-Ox Records, in 2018 and 2021 respectively.

A live recording of his show “One Man And His Doggerel” is available on Laughing Stock Records and two collections of his poems have been publishedby Burning Eye Books – “Viva Loch Lomond!” (poems from 2003 to 2017) and “Complete and Utter Cult!” (poems from 2017 to 2020).

In 2015 Elvis made the “Hot 100” – The List magazine’s annual run-down of Scotland’s “hottest cultural contributors” – thanks to a combination of dazzling Weltschmerz, anarchic wit and his tailor, Mr Poon Kee of Hong Kong, who does a fine line in tartan dinner jackets.

A deftly witty wordsmith, sharp and subversive but not afraid to be plain daft, Elvis has been spitting his scurrilous diatribes against the powers that be since 2003. And look at the state of the world now. So that’s twenty one years of futile ranting.

Elvis McGonagall’s meteoric rise to glittering showbiz obscurity continues apace – destined perhaps to remain a complete and utter cult but huge in North Korea.

I have a bruise is WomanEwer‘s live performance based on real life stories, performed by five professional female dancers who are all survivors of sexual abuse. The work addresses sensitive issues that can be challenging, and at the same time it celebrates womanhood, survival and strength, advocating for women to have their own voice.

Choreographed & directed by Laura Kenyon in collaboration with Sara Maurizi, Vivian Wai Shan Luk, Lya Abdou Issa & Virginia Poli. Dramaturg: Lou Cope. Composer: Cecilia Morgan. Videographer: Alice Underwood

“They are loud, they are proud, and they will not be silenced, promoting love for yourself, for each other, and helping each other to heal, whilst welcoming women of all diasporas and experiences to heal with them.” -Khalia Willet

The virulent nature of the subject matter reverberates in the dancers’ rigorous physicality and the overall soundscape which overlaps voice recordings with live spoken words and the percussive sounds created by the dancers’ movement and breathing. The result is multi-sensory in feel and visceral in impact.


WomanEwer is a female led multidisciplinary project that connects women through the arts & supports survivors of sexual abuse. Under the artistic direction of Laura Kenyon, WomanEwer offers a safe space for women to explore movement, experimental sound and visual art through workshops, performances, participatory art installations & group discussions.

When teachers Rich, Kris and Zara discover a bag of drugs in school lost property, they should report this straight away. But as the school faces imminent closure, is there another way to deal with the bag?

This brilliant new dark comedy looks at what happens when worlds collide, and lines of responsibility get blurred.

Writer/director Ed Viney has worked with theatres across the South West and nationally, including the RSC, Bath Theatre Royal and Bristol Old Vic. He recently received the Creative Scotland Four Nations Award and is the Festival Director of The Script’s The Thing which last year saw over 70 scripts being presented, linking with venues across Dorset and organisations including BBC Writersroom and National Theatre New Work.

Pot licker was part of a new scriptwriting initiative, Pipeline, at the Lighthouse Poole, and is produced by Dorchester Arts as part of a tour. For further information: www.dorchesterarts.org.uk

A Dorchester Arts production in association with Lighthouse, Poole.

Written & directed by Ed Viney
Age guidance: 16+, drug references