Jan 26, 2018

  Uplifting, noble, entertaining… David Cradduck reviews Duet For One – Chesil Theatre It is difficult to understand how anyone can write with authority and credibility a play about someone suffering from multiple sclerosis without actually having experienced it themselves. For instance, what really goes through the mind of someone struck down in their prime that […]

Jan 26, 2018

  REVIEW: A Passage to India, Salisbury Playhouse Helena Gomm finds relevance for the present in echoes of the past. (Images: Idil Sukan) Simon Dormandy’s engaging play opens with the chanting of lines from Walt Whitman’s poem ‘Passage to India’, a hymn of praise to the technological progress which Whitman saw as a means of […]

Jan 24, 2018

  Big, Blonde and Beautiful – the description by David Cradduck of ‘Hairspray The Musical’ – The Mayflower, Southampton Big, Blonde and Beautiful. Not just the first act finale of Hairspray, but apt adjectives to describe the show itself, along with a few of the cast of this year-long UK tour. Add to that: Brave, Brash, […]

Jan 18, 2018

  The Leader of Hampshire County Council has offered to host the Bayeux Tapestry at the Great Hall of Winchester Castle, if it is offered for display in the UK – in exchange for our Round Table. Roy Perry proposed the historic hall as a display venue, ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to […]

Jan 17, 2018

  REVIEW: Sunset Boulevard, Mayflower Theatre. Eleanor Marsden reckons it’s “the best thing she’s seen at the Mayflower!” It is at times like this that we realise how lucky we are to have a theatre of the calibre of the Mayflower on our doorsteps. Watching the opening of Lloyd-Webber’s 90’s hit, Sunset Boulevard, brought this […]

Jan 12, 2018

  Review – The Snowman. Helena Gomm finds the tale of a friendship forged in snow and ice to be a heart-warming theatrical experience. (Images: Tristram Kenton) The Snowman, the dance-theatre production based on the 1978 picture book by Raymond Briggs and the 1982 animated film, and featuring Howard Blake’s haunting score, has landed at the […]

Jan 10, 2018

  If you wondered why traffic was a bit heavier through town than normal this morning, an accident on the A34 is the reason why. A lorry overturned and shed its load as it was approaching Junction 9 of the M3 and the Winnall roundabout this morning. Commuters faced a hefty diversion from the A303 […]

Jan 10, 2018

  South Western Railway is experiencing its second walkout of three planned this week by members of the RMT union, in a continuing row over driver-only trains.  Four companies in all across the UK are facing the action today. Bosses at South Western Railway say they’re again planning to run 70% of trains. The RMT […]

Jan 09, 2018

  A public consultation on the future of junction 9 of the M3 is now officially underway – with drivers and residents alike all welcome to have their say. If you’re familiar with junction 9 of the M3, you will know just how bad it can be. Because so many vehicles want to use the […]

Jan 09, 2018

  Winchester’s MP Steve Brine has escaped the cabinet reshuffle unscathed – and has been reappointed to his ministerial post. He keeps his position as Primary Care Minister at the ‘new look’ Department of Health and Social Care. Steve has used his Facebook page to say he’s “delighted” with the news, and that it’s “back […]