Arts & Entertainments

Arts & Entertainment Festive selection pack at arts centre

Shaftesbury Arts Centre’s first National Theatre Live Recording is War Horse, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Nick Stafford in association with the awardwinning Handspring Puppet Company. At the outbreak of World War One, Albert’s beloved house Joey is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. Though still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home. This powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-size puppets who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to life. n Saturday December 5 @ 2.30pm Tickets Adults £15, Under 18s £12 Tickets available from www.shaftesburyartsce ntre.org.uk or Shaftesbury Tourist Information Office.

Fleabag, written and performed by Phoebe WallerBridge, is Shaftesbury Arts Centre’s latest National Theatre live recording. Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life. With family and friendships under strain and struggling to keep a café afloat, Fleabag decides she has nothing to lose. This hilarious, awardwinning one-woman show which inspired the BBC’s hit TV series, was recorded on stage from London’s West End in 2019. nSaturday December 12 @ 2.20pm Tickets Adults £15, Under 18s £12 Tickets available from www.shaftesburyartsce 64

ENTERTAINING: War Horse, Fleabag and The Nutcracker are all at Shaftesbury Arts Centre

ntre.org.uk or Shaftesbury Tourist Information Office.

With music by Tchaikovsky and choreography from Yuri Grigorovich, Shaftesbury Arts Centre is delighted to present a live recording of The Nutcracker, performed by The Bolshoi Ballet. On Christmas Eve, Marie receives a nutcracker doll as a gift. In her dreams, the toy turns into a courageous and charming prince, who takes the girl on an unforgettable adventure. This eternal holiday classic is the Bolshoi’s ode to wonder and imagination. Audiences of all ages will be carried away on an enchanting journey of their dreams with young Marie and her Prince through a whirlwind of snowflakes, an intense battle against a Mouse King, and finally, a kingdom of delights on the Bolshoi’s majestic stage.

nSunday December 20 at 2pm and 7pm Tickets Adults £15, Under 18s £12 Tickets available from shaftesburyartscentre.o rg.uk or Shaftesbury Tourist Information Office.

An innovative project combining live singing and old films has been held via Zoom for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia in Wiltshire. Folk singer and song collector Amanda Boyd worked with Alzheimer’s Support Wiltshire to deliver interactive Zoom sessions, which included fascinating old footage from the collection of Windrose Rural Media Trust, the rural media charity covering Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset. Amanda usually works faceto-face at memory cafés, but they weren’t possible due to covid restrictions. She sang during the films, encouraging people to join in if they wanted to. She said: “The songs I sang complement the films on their screens. So, for example, I sang Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside to accompany a film about a coastal resort in the 1950s and Boys And Girls Come Out To Play along with footage of schooldays in Edwardian times. “Singing together is a shared communication and is welldocumented as being highly beneficial for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Folk songs are ideal for this work.” The project was funded by Arts Council England’s emergency funding. Sarah Marriot, head of community services for Alzheimer’s Wiltshire, said: “Lockdown has been so isolating for people with dementia and their carers so the chance to link with others is even more valuable.” She said she appreciated the work Amanda had put in to provide such an entertaining morning for so many. “The happy feeling that it created will have lasted with them for the rest of the day –such a benefit for us all in these turbulent times.

MEMORY LANE: Some of the old footage and, inset below, a screenshot of the Zoom session

Singer Amanda Zooming in with Alzheimer’s project

“Attendees loved the chance to see the old films of areas that were familiar to them, doing activities that brought back memories of times that they can remember. “The informal, chatty approach was perfect, and several people unmuted themselves to share stories of their own that were prompted by the piece of film Amanda had shown.” Four recorded ‘audio film books,’ sequences of songs and films, will be made available online at windroseruralmedia.org. DVDs of old films and audio from Wiltshire can also be purchased from the website. 65

Arts & Entertainment Where there’s a mill, there’s a way

Sturminster Newton Mill is an ancient water mill – a delightful blend of rural history on the River Stour. A mill has stood here for at least 1,000 years. Atmospheric and dramatic, its scenery changes from day to day and from season to season and the surrounding area is a haven for wildlife haven. To step inside the mill is to step back in time – the sounds of the traditional machinery and method of milling flour has been unchanged for centuries. Little has changed inside the mill, except for the ‘modern’ turbine installed over a century ago to replace the water wheels in 1904. Sturminster Newton Mill was even mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. During the pandemic, the mill has had to remain closed but behind the closed doors, miller Pete Loosmore and Imogen Bittner used the season’s supply of grain to produce flour commercially following shortages in shops. Pete said the mill usually operated on a part-time basis during the tourist season to produce enough flour for visitors. However, unable to open because of the social distancing guidelines, he began milling flour full-time to meet the spike in demand. Requests for flour flooded in from all parts of the world from California to Taiwan. When the mill is open, visitors are able to explore the three floors of working machinery and take a guided tour with Pete and Imogen, who know every nook and cranny of the building. The millers share stories of Sturminster Newton’s link with Newfoundland and show visitors the shoulderhigh flood marks or work the 66

MILL POWER: Sturminster Newton Mill attracts a wide range of visitors, from motorcycle enthusiasts to the New Hardy Players. Below, right: Inside the historic mill

sack hoist. The Sturminster Newton Heritage Trust took charge of the mill in 1994 and is managed by volunteers. It is a working mill, which is open four days a week from March to September. A programme of events ensures that it is an interesting place to visit as early morning tranquillity can give way to school parties, families picnicking, boogie music sessions, open air theatre, cream teas and much more. The Mill is always a place to soak up atmosphere while enjoying a coffee. There are of course challenges with such a historic building. Winter brings unpredictable flooding, while the fabric of the building and the traditional machinery need constant maintenance much of which is done by volunteers. A recent survey identified issues that need professional work and the trustees are co-operating with the town council to procure a £250,000 Heritage Lottery Grant to ensure the mill will be available for future generations. The trustees’ aim is that the mill will be preserved as a special place, which will continue to delight and educate its many visitors. For more details about Sturminster Newton Mill go to sturminsternewtonmuseum.co.uk

By Miranda Robertson newsdesk@blackmorevale.net A former headteacher of IN HIS OWN Sherborne Prep has just WRITE: released his latest book, focusing on the ladies in Peter Tait and, inset, his latest book Thomas author Thomas Hardy’s life. Hardy’s Women Peter Tait first spoke about Thomas Hardy’s Women at the Mere Literary Festival in 2017, but the book wasn’t published until October this year. Tait grew up in New Zealand, but has spent the last two decades in England. After dabbling in writing political poems and polemics in various journals and magazines while at university, he had his first paid commission writing for the 1971 Massey University revue, which was notable for featuring Sir Lockwood Smith, until recently, New Focusing on the women inZealand’s High Commissioner to Britain. After university, he fell into the life of Thomas Hardyteaching, first in New Zealand and later in South West England, before becoming head of Sherborne Preparatory School in 1998. He has written several books on Thomas Hardy; Florence: Mistress of Max Gate was his first novel followed in late 2013 with Emma: West of Wessex Girl. He has also written about the Powys brothers, John Cowper, Theodore and Llewelyn (and the lyrics of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen). Over the past ten years, he has published more than 150 articles on education in a variety of newspapers, journals and magazines His latest tome looks at the most significant relationships Thomas Hardy had with the women during his lifetime. It begins by looking at family members and examines the considerable influence exerted by his mother, Jemimah. Next, it assesses his relationships with his two sisters, Mary and Kate and his two wives, Emma and The Swan Gallery, Sherborne ~~CHRISTMAS EXHIBITION ~~ Fine watercolours and oil paintings until 19th December In the Gallery, Online & by Website Virtual Viewing ***** Also a very large selection of Antique Prints & Maps Florence before describing his friendships with four of his closest female confidantes, Tryphena Sparks, Florence Henniker, whom he often used as mouthpieces for his views on love, marriage, feminism and much else. It is available at petertait.org, priced £14.99 Agnes Gove and Gertrude Bugler. The second section of the book looks at his female characters, his heroines, Framing & Restoration service All Beings Art Personalised pet portraits Email allbeingsart@gmail.com @allbeingsart Piano tuning & repairs Sales of reconditioned pianos Julian Phillips BA CGLI 01258 471194 WHY NOT TRY OUR NEW WEBSITE VIRTUAL TOUR from the comfort of your home WWW.SWANGALLERY.CO.UK 01935 814465 swangallery@aol.com