Event Type 2: Homepage

British soprano Letitia Stevens will perform music by Samuel Barber and his circle, including those sung by his opera-singer aunt.

Letitia and her American accompanist, Bonnie Donham, are bringing a flavour of the American musical scene on this returned visit to Shaftesbury from the States. A previous hit at the Fringe, both have received high accolades and honours for their work.

This recital includes works by Gounod, Mozart and Verdi, as well as Barber, such as his ‘Knoxville: Summer of 1915’, composed in 1947.

Tickets: £12. Members and Friends £10. Under 18s free.

The Final Show from our week-long Summer Musical Theatre Course – presented by Shaftesbury Arts Centre Youth Theatre in association with Limelight Theatre.

Come and see the hard work of all those on our Summer Musical Theatre Course.

Tickets: £5.

Come and hear how you can get involved in this warm and funny play about female friendship, with three great roles for female performers. 

Aged 18, three women join forces at university. Life is fun. Living is intense. Together they feel unassailable. Crackling with wisdom and wit, Amelia Bullmore’s play ‘Di and Viv and Rose’ is a humorous and thoughtful exploration of friendship’s impact on life and life’s impact on friendship. Actors to be mid 30s to mid 40s but able to play down to age 18.

This will be a studio production performed in The Rutter Room at the end of November. Join us at the interest evening on Tuesday 3rd September at 7.30pm to find out more…

If you are interested but can’t be there on the 3rd September, then please email stage@shaftesburyartscentre.org.uk for more information.

Have you ever wanted to get involved behind the scenes with one of our Music and Drama Group’s productions, or are you creative but don’t want to be on the stage itself, and not quite sure where to start? 

Well, here is a chance to take part in workshops and learn more about getting involved. Whether it’s set design, being backstage, directing, production photography, costumes, lighting, producing or directing, this day will allow you to find out more.

Workshops will be running from 11am – 2pm. Timings and how to book onto them will be available very soon via the website. Come and get involved behind the scenes! 15+

Come and join us to find out all about our Pantomime for 2025. 

If you are interested in being on stage or would like to join the amazing backstage team, this evening will have all the information you need to get involved with this unique show. The performance will be at the end of January/beginning of February.

If you are interested but can’t be there on the 10th September, then please email stage@shaftesburyartscentre.org.uk for more information.

Age 9+

Think you could solve a spooky mystery? Read on!

Something’s going bump in the night! Agents Dali and Kahlo of top-secret global creative agency Company of International Artists, receive a code red call. This means only one thing: ART IN PERIL!

They’re going to need the sharpest agents to crack this case. Will you join the team? Travel with the agents to Villa Diodati on the banks of Lake Geneva, where you’ll work against the clock – and sometimes even against logic itself – to chase leads, decipher clues and interview suspects.

What’s your theory, agents? Can all the strange goings-on be explained logically or is it, just maybe, a little bit supernatural?

Featuring a broad streak of quirky comedy, family-friendly spoof horror and inspired by the literary history of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, THE MIDNIGHT MISSION! is a highly interactive playable show for families. This show is best suited to those aged 7+.

www.bravebolddrama.co.uk

Tickets: Adults £12. Under 18s/SAC Members & Friends £10.

Kerry Le Bern sympathetically re-creates the nuances and detailed characteristics of the beautiful soulful contralto tones of Karen Carpenter, whilst telling the tragic story of a life ended far too abruptly.

“It’s just the way that I feel. I’ve never copied anybody or styled myself after anybody. The way my voice showed up was a kind of accident in the first place. – Karen Carpenter, BBC Radio 2 interview with Ray Moore, 1981.

And what an ‘accident’ that was! One that produced perhaps one of the best female vocalists of all time. This exciting new show, ‘Rainy Days, Mondays & Good Old Dreams’ is much more than a Carpenters tribute; it sensitively explores the music and lives of the Carpenters from their early attempts to get a ‘break’, to some of their greatest influences, such as the Beatles, Burt Bacharach & the Beach Boys, as well as the challenges faced by the incomparable sibling duo along their journey to stardom and, ultimately, to tragedy.

Kerry says, “I adored The Carpenters from an early age and in the 1970s I often used to pretend I was Karen Carpenter as I sang along to the songs from the ‘Close To You’ album on my trusty cassette player.” Kerry continues, “I want to bring something very special to my audiences with this show, I want them to hear Karen’s vocals through my own interpretation, but I also want to tell their story, I want people to go away saying ‘how different’, ‘how fascinating’ and ‘I didn’t know that’.”

Kerry is delighted to be joined by the supremely talented Alfonso Cavassa on keys for this show and the two have formed a close collaboration to bring their respective talents to bear. Together, they will transport you right back to the Carpenters’ magic of the 1970s and early 1980s with their unique and insightful performance. At one moment they will have you tapping your toes and singing along, and in the next, they will reach out and touch your very soul with their poignant rendition of these classic songs.

This is a show to be experienced and not missed.

Tickets: £18. Members & Friends, Under 18s £15.

The world-famous Treorchy Male Choir are performing in Shaftesbury for the first time and we are delighted and privileged to welcome them.

An evening of glorious, uplifting song will fill our auditorium and leave you stunned by the perfection of their harmony and power.

Tickets: £25