1st September 2010

LYME REGIS: Marine Theatre New Season

THE Marine Theatre is just taking in breath after the very successful summer run of Shanty Theatre Company’s A Rat’s Tale.

Around 40 performances entertained in the region of 4000 visitors of all ages during July and August to excellent reviews.

As the tourists begin to drift away and it’s almost safe to go back on the beaches, the theatre has just announced its new Autumn Programme that might just bring more than a few people back to the town.

The Marine Theatre continues on its quest to appeal to an ever-widening audience with the new season’s offerings. With comedy proving increasingly popular, the theatre has scooped star TV comedians Rich Hall (Friday, September 24th) and Jeremy Hardy (Friday, Novemeber 19th).

The region always offers a warm welcome to good music and if this is more your scene then there are a few eyecatchers in the mix here. Beatles, Blues and Blue Violin Project is an early highlight (Sunday, September 12th) featuring former members of ELO, in its various line-ups, Phil Bates and Mik Kaminski with Tina McBain from the Eleanor Rigby Experience.

The band promise to deliver ‘exactly what it says on the tin’ so if new arrangements of Beatles songs, some classic ELO and a bit of the blues thrown in seems like a good way to spend a Sunday evening then this might be for you.

Continuing on a blues theme, the popular festival band, The Spikedrivers make a welcome return to the theatre (Friday, September 17th). In a different hue, Deeply Purple should be a real crowd-pleaser (Saturday September 25th) for any rock officianado, covering the very best of the rock giant’s back catalogue.

Classical music followers are not ignored as the Concerts in the West series restarts with The Eloquent Oboe (Thursday September 23rd) and the Lawson Trio (Wednesday, 20th October) – featuring young and highly talented musicians. With Malinky’s Scottish folk sound (Friday, October 15th) and funky Preston Reed (Sunday 17th October) the music scene has something almost for everyone.

Almost because, whilst these are for the most part highly skilled and experienced musicians the theatre might want to consider its offering for younger audiences.

This is a theatre and so good drama goes almost without saying. The drama has to have appeal though and whilst the theatre is to be applauded for its risky Edinburgh Fringe showcases of the last year, the new season seems to be a return to more classic touring theatre offerings.

Touring companies are both the staple for small regional theatres and the lifeblood for actors and writers. They often supply the big city venues with new blood and new ideas.

There are 13 shows in this section of the Marine Theatre programme and range from, in almost historical order, Lysistrata, a Greek drama (Tuesday, November 2nd), Hamlet (Thursday, September 9th), Moonfleet (Thursday, September 16th), Charles Darwin (Saturday 2nd October), Sherlock Holmes (Saturday, October 9th), Dads Army (27th-30th October - LR Dramatic Society), to the work of Dylan Thomas (Thursday 2nd December). Throw in an acrobatic love story from So and So Circus Theatre (Thursday, October 7th), Pauline Potter’s Gusset (Friday, November 26th) and Malina’s Dream - a family show with breathtaking puppetry (Saturday, November 27th – matinee) and the picture is almost complete. Almost because there is the big Mary Anning Day in collaboration with the Lyme Regis Museum with Sir David Attenborough, Tracy Chevalier and others (Saturday, October 23rd) and Lymlit Night continues the historical theme with a celebration of Lyme characters as part of Artsfest (Friday, October 1st).

The first show in the season is The Man who was Hamlet, a solo show from the award winning actor George Dillon. This is no ordinary Shakespeare of the reduced kind but a story of scandal, tragedy and deceit that draws from the school of Shakespeare doubters and alternative candidates for the authorship of his works. The performance has been described as a ‘virtuoso display’ and a ‘masterclass’. The Man who was Hamlet, Thursday, September 9th, 8.00pm at the Marine Theatre.

LYME REGIS: Marine Theatre New Season

Comments

Add new comment