Theatre See who’s on stage this spring

Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone

The members have their roots in the fishing community of Jamestown, a part of Accra with strong British colonial links.

Now Ghana, a democracy with 31 million inhabitants and a rich ancient history, brings its cultural heritage to British audiences to increasingly enthusiastic acclaim.

An established hit on the festival and carnival circuit, the Kakatsitsi players are equally at home in village halls and smaller theatres like the Hazlitt, in the beating heart of Maidstone's night-time economy in Earl Street.

If ever there was a tonic to treat postpandemic stir craziness, it could be the singing and dancing of this talented and committed group of musicians and singers.

Folkestone Quarterhouse

WITH a venue of limited size, the people behind the Quarterhouse in Folkestone, nuzzled into the blossoming Creative Quarter, have had to get creative over the years in finding ways to make the place pay its way.

The screening of the Royal Opera House's Swan Lake is a case in point. At three hours and 20 minutes long (with two intervals), this is the real deal shown on a big screen in a small auditorium.

The classic fairy tale represents the wellworn story of a battle between good and evil, and the attempt by love to conquer all. The magic of the lakes, forests and palaces is brought to life with glittering designs by John Macfarlane and a sublime score by Tchaikovsky.

According to the blurb: "This classic of the repertory is testament to the late choreographer Liam Scarlett’s abiding love of classicism and innate musicality, which shine through this production."

Well, you can’t argue with that.

Folkestone Quarterhouse, Tontine Street, Folkestone, May 19, 7.15pm. Tickets £15 (£14.00 concessions & members). Go to boxoffice@creativefolkestone.org.uk

But they are not tied to their traditional roots. They have worked with electronica producers and DJs, as well as Celtic musicians on various fusion shows and releases, including a performance with The Orb on the West-Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2013.

Kakatsitsi’s music combines traditional drumming grooves played on a wide variety of West African drums with tradition chants sung in six-part harmony, the quality of which sets them above most dance-led traditional African groups.

Hazlitt Theatre, Earl Street, Maidstone, May 24, 7.30pm. Tickets £17 (£15 concessions). Go to www.parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/ Hazlitt-Theatre

Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury

Dara O Briain has just turned 50, but age has not buffed the sharp edges of the Irish comic's material. Adopted and brought up in County Wicklow, he attended University College Dublin, one of the country's better seats of learning.

Although he drifted into presenting children's TV on the state broadcaster, RTE, he soon began to perform stand-up comedy. This was something of a difficult baptism, as he once recalled: "I did the (long) trip from Dublin to Donegal to play to six people, then I turned round and drove home again."

Although he enjoyed successful stints in the UK and at the Edinburgh Festival, he raced to fame presenting Mock the Week for the BBC.

He's on tour this year with "So, Where Were We?", a sort of post COVID-19 nod to the unwanted hiatus suffered by the world of live theatre performances.

His last tour saw him perform 180 times all over the globe, at the end of which, in March 2020, he declared he was more than ready for a break. He certainly got his wish. Dara's people declare: "He would now like to apologise for saying that and will never wish for anything like that again.

“Yes, he’s back on tour, and he will never stop again, because that’s clearly what caused all this trouble ... and because he’s so giddy to be back in front of a crowd."

Warning: there is likely to be some swearing and it may be unsuitable for under 14s.

The Marlowe Theatre, The Friars, Canterbury, May 8, 7.30pm. Tickets £25.50. Go to www.marlowetheatre.com

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He has taken over the Market House in Earl Street after moving to Kent from the capital following the end of last year’s COVID-19 lockdown.

He joined Faversham-based brewer and pub company, Shepherd Neame, from the Inception Group, where he had launched two Bunga Bunga branches before moving to their Mr Fogg’s brand at Mr Fogg’s Tavern and Gin Parlour in 2018; picking up the award for General Manager of the Year in 2018, and being responsible for a turnover of £4.2 million at Mr Fogg’s Residence in Mayfair.

But despite this success, he still had aspirations to run a traditional English pub.

French-born Philippe, 36, said: “I have lots of experience within the hospitality industry, but what I hadn’t tried was running a pub. I wanted to experience what it was like to run a traditional English pub.

“For me, there is nothing better than having someone there at the bar for you, seeing a smile and feeling there is someone there for you – hospitality is all about meeting people.”

The historic pub, recently refurbished, is located opposite the Hazlitt Theatre in Earl Street and next to the shopping centre.

The venue hosts live music on Friday and Saturday nights from 9.30pm and acoustic sets from 5.30pm on Sundays. It will also be one of the venues hosting bands for the upcoming Maidstone Fringe Festival,

Philippe Laché is General Manager at the Market House which runs from Thursday, April 28 to Bank Holiday Monday, May 2. Philippe said: "It is a proper pub. It has good food and good drink. With the live music, I do still have the rush and the excitement. So here is the perfect balance - and five minutes out of Maidstone and I am in the countryside. I have the buzz and the team is great.”

The producer was forced by the pandemic to redesign its own labels.

Owner William Boscawen said: “The only option available to us when we released our first vintage at the start of a global pandemic was to print our original labels ourselves, so the elegant simplicity of our new branding really is a step up.”

The new branding brings the business's product range into alignment.

The winery has also branched out into tours, tastings and dining experiences.

Winemaker Scott Gebbie said: “Our 2021 harvest was our most difficult yet but has taught us that our hard work throughout the year, maintaining the vineyard with meticulous care and attention, pays off, allowing us to harvest a great crop despite the unfavourable weather.”

The business also employed machine harvesting which got the grapes to the presses in record time.

Mr Boscawen added: “We're a small team...each time one of you walks through the door, places an order, tells us how much you’ve loved our drinks, or recommends us to someone else - it means the world to us. "We hope to see you up at the winery very soon and we can’t wait to share with you all the plans we have in the pipeline.”

Mereworth Rebranding

It will be part of Elite Pubs’ must-see venues and sister restaurants. The Wishful Thinker, previously known as The White Horse in Lenham Road, Sandway, will soon become home to 15 bedrooms, a large dining room, bar, outdoor terrace, and garden.

The building, nicknamed as a ‘sleepover foodie pub’, is due to reopen in autumn this year.

The Giggling Squid Thai food outlet is set to open in Earl Street, Maidstone, this spring some seven years after the idea was first mooted. The restaurant already has other venues in Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks and its arrival was first planned in 2015 but it scheduled premises went to another brand. Since then, a planned branch of the chain was put back until 2022 because of the pandemic.

Cheesemaking in Kent is now a burgeoning business, using milk from cows, sheep and goats. For the cheesemakers, it is also a personal passion, as George Ward and Simon Finlay discovered...

The craft has its origins among nomadic herdsmen, who stored milk in vessels made from sheep's and goats' stomachs. Because their stomach contained lactic acid, bacteria, and naturally-occurring rennet, the milk would ferment and coagulate.

Most cheese today comes from cows but, in ancient times, goats would have been preferred as they were smaller, easier to herd and ate less.

Most people will know that milk makes cheese – but how does it go from the cow to the shelf?

Firstly, the cattle must be milked and the liquid pasteurised before bacteria is added to get the process going.

By adding rennet, which is a complex set of enzymes found in the stomachs of ruminant animals, curdles the milk to create curds and whey.

The liquid whey is drained off while the curd is formed into moulds and stored to mature.

Camembert requires gentle curd treatment where the curds drain by gravity. In contrast, cheddar curds are "scalded" at a high temperature, before cooling and cut into large blocks which are stacked and turned in a process called “cheddaring”.

Kentish cheeses are now rated as highly as some French classics, even by top sommeliers, and complement the burgeoning reputation of English wines.

There the Castles have tended dairy cattle for generations. Now the milk is taken just seven miles up the steep, narrow valleys of the Downs, to Hastingleigh, to be turned into the most luscious soft cheeses. At Hastingleigh, her team make the oozing brie and the soft and creamy camembert.

Jane has always fostered long-term local links like these. Another is with Debbie Vernon, of Ellie’s Dairy, whose tenderly-spoiled goats provide much of the milk for Jane’s goat cheeses.

Hard cheeses are made at the main dairy at Dargate, helped by a microclimate which ensures greater rainfall and lush grasses.

Jane says: “You can’t take shortcuts making great cheese, and similarly, you can’t make a sustainable business by taking shortcuts with your neighbours and customers.”

The Blackwoods Cheese Company's Dave Holton gets his supply of milk straight from the cow to his van and thence to the dairy vats at Chiddingstone. It's a short supply chain.

He jokes: “It doesn’t even have time to cool down. All we do is add the cheese starter cultures and the cheesemaking process begins – we don’t have to apply heat to get things going. It is one of the many lovely things about being here.”

The cows belong to a small-scale organic farmer on the same country estate as the dairy.

Dave sells his products at the ever-sotrendy Borough Market in London.

Robin Betts' grandfather first started farming near Offham, setting up a dairy immediately after WWII. But it wasn't until 2000 that he and his wife Carla hit on the idea of making cheese.

Six years later, to the couple's astonishment, a trial batch of their very first product, Winterdale Shaw, won a bronze award in the World Cheese Awards.

The Winterdale cheese dairy is housed in a traditional oak-framed barn at the head of a picturesque valley. It is where Robin and his siblings grew up - an idyll in the summer, but harsh in the winter, with winds funnelled up the valley.

But the chalky soil produces a unique “terroir” for the farm's 100 Friesian Holstein cows. The animals make a matured, hard cheese so good that even top people’s store Fortnum & Mason stock it.

Dave Holton (Picture by Joseph Fox)

We support our local Kent Vineyards & distilleries by offering a

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