A community talk in Southampton will give people the chance to express their feelings about the climate and nature emergency and what we can do about it. Bors Hulesch, a climate and social scientist from Eastleigh, will lead the discussion at the Friends Meeting House in Ordnance Road at...
Review: Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, March 14
by Tessa Hurst. Whenever Matthew Bourne produces a ballet, you know that you are in for a real treat. It will be a totally new and different interpretation of a classic, a well-known story magically reimagined. Sleeping Beauty is no exception, a gothic love story that encompasses good versus...
Interview with AJ Jenks, who stars in Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, coming to the Mayflower Theatre
by Joy McKay. February 3rd 1959 was immortalised by Don McLean when he described the tragic death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson in a plane crash as ‘The Day The Music Died’ in his 1971 hit American Pie. Exactly 64 years later, in...
Southampton listings 14 – 20 March
Protest songs, warrior queens, magical worlds, a very long running show, dinosaur-loving DJs and more are amongst the entertainment options on offer this week. Southampton Philharmonic Choir and Southampton University Philharmonic Choir will be performing Vaughan WIlliams’ The Lark Ascending and Dona Nobis Pacem and Howard Goodall’s Eternal Light at the O2...
Southampton MP Royston Smith among those who voted for controversial Illegal Migration Bill
by Sally Churchward. The Illegal Migration Bill, one of the most controversial pieces of legislation to come before Parliament in recent years, passed its second reading in the Commons last night. The vote was passed by 312 votes to 250. No Conservative MPs voted against it, although 44 abstained....
Book review: Mother Power – A Feminist’s Guide to Motherhood by Poppy O’Neill
by Carolyn Thomas. This empowering read encourages mothers to jettison the guilt and self-sacrifice so often associated with modern parenting and to put their own mental and physical welfare needs front and centre. As author Poppy O’Neill puts it, ‘You can’t pour from an empty cup’ – meaning that...
March Under the Covers: Mothers in literature
by Carolyn Thomas. As we celebrate Mother’s Day in the UK this month I started thinking about the vast range of mother characters in literature. From the 19th century’s loving and capable ‘Marmee’ in Little Women, through to the resourceful and resilient 21st century ‘Ma’, held captive with her...
Reader reviews: Mo’s Forte poetry night, March 5
Mo’s Forte is a poetry open mic, with guest act to close, held on the 1st Sunday of each month from 6pm-8pm at the Hatch (Forte Kitchen), in Parchment Street, Winchester. The 5th of March 2023, was the debut night of Mo’s Forte, with Winchester based musician Blind Z...
Applause review: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Maskers Theatre
by Charlotte Ndupuechi. Going the Maskers Studio Theatre is always such a joy and living in Shirley, I’m very lucky to have this on my doorstep. From the moment you walk in you are met with a lovely warm welcome. The bar is incredibly reasonable, so it seems only...
After fighting back from serious ill-health, The Alarm’s Mike Peters is back with a new album and tour
The Alarm’s Mike Peters returns to public life after a year dominated by pneumonia and a serious leukaemia relapse, with the release of the video to ‘Forwards’, the title track from the band’s forthcoming album, out 2nd June, and a touring schedule, bringing the band to Southsea’s Wedgewood Rooms...