Past Performances
SWAN LAKE – Bolshoi
Sunday 05 February 2017 – 3pm
A ballet of ultimate beauty, and a score of unparalleled perfection, born at the Bolshoi in 1877. Classical ballet at its finest.
REWIND FORWARD
Saturday 04 February 2017 – 7.45pm
An exhilarating showcase of dances by choreographers who represent the best of the past Kenneth MacMillan and Robert Cohan, the present Yolande Yorke-Edgell and the future Charlotte Edmonds. Performed by an outstanding ensemble of dancers including guest artist Jonathan Goddard.
IL TROVATORE – Royal Opera House
Tuesday 31 January 2017 – 7.15pm
Director David Bösch makes his UK debut with a new production of Verdi’s searing tragic opera.
TEDxFROME
Saturday 28 January 2017 – 10am-5pm
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx, a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.
LIL’ JIMMY REED WITH BOB HALL & HILARY BLYTHE
Friday 27 January 2017 – 7.45pm
One of the last surviving performers of classic Louisiana down-home blues, Lil’ Jimmy’s stinging guitar work, gritty vocals and haunting harmonica have been taking Europe by storm. His music has won him many awards and in 2014 he was inducted into the prestigious Blues Hall of Fame.
AN AUDIENCE WITH FOOTBALL LEGENDS
Tuesday 24 January 2017 – 7pm
Join us as we give you a once-only opportunity to ask the questions you want the answers to!
England Football legends Lee Dixon and David Seaman make a special appearance at this Merlin fundraising event.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY – Bolshoi
Sunday 22 January 2017 – 3pm
The Bolshoi’s sumptuous staging with its luxurious sets and costumes gives life to Perrault’s fairy tale unlike any other.
A must-see!
THE GOLDEN AGE – Bolshoi
Saturday 14 January 2017 – 7PM
Due to technical problems this live streaming had to be postponed in the autumn. We are pleased to re-schedule the performance as an encore production.
A satire of Europe during the Roaring ’20s, The Golden Age makes for an original, colourful, and dazzling show with its jazzy score and music-hall atmosphere.
THE TEMPEST – RSC
Thursday 12 January 2017 – 7.15pm
Simon Russell Beale returns to the RSC after 20 years to play Prospero in this groundbreaking production directed by Artistic Director Gregory Doran.
THE NUTCRACKER – Bolshoi
Sunday 18 December 2016 – 3pm
E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fairytale staged by Russian ballet master Yuri Grigorovich will transport children and adults alike to a world of magic and wonder for the holiday season.
FROME TOWN YOUTH BAND CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Saturday 17 December 2016 – 7.30pm
Treat yourself to a festive evening of Christmas music and carols in the company of Frome Town Youth Band.
NO MAN’S LAND – NTL
Thursday 15 December 2016 – 7PM
Following their hit run on Broadway, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart return to the West End stage in Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land, broadcast live to cinemas from Wyndham’s Theatre, London.
PETER PAN – MERLIN THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
Saturday 03 December 2016, TO SATURDAY 10 DECEMBER – various times
After last year’s hugely successful award winning Little Mermaid, Merlin Theatre Productions returns this Christmas with a beautiful imagining of this timeless tale.
THE TEMPEST – FROME DRAMA CLUB
Thursday 24 November 2016, FRIDAY 25 NOVEMBER, SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER – 7.45PM
Revenge, forgiveness, friendship, folly, loyalty, treachery, and plain stupidity all join hands in this roller coaster of a ride. A modern spin on Shakespeare’s final play promises to keep you on your toes.
JO CAULFIELD: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG
Saturday 19 November 2016 – 7.45PM
Award-winning stand-Up comedian Jo Caulfield takes a humorous look at life’s potential traps, what can go wrong and how to deal with them (and, in some cases, how to make everyone else suffer with you).
MARK THOMAS – THE RED SHED
Friday 18 November 2016 – 7.45PM
Multi-award winner Mark Thomas returns to where he first started to perform: a red wooden shed in Wakefield, the labour club, to celebrate its 50th birthday.
LES CONTES D’HOFFMAN – Royal Opera House
Tuesday 15 November 2016 – 6.15pm
Vittorio Grigòlo and Leonardo Capalbo share the title role and lead an excellent cast including Thomas Hampson, Sonya Yoncheva, Christine Rice and Sofia Fomina in Offenbach’s fantastical operatic drama.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Saturday 12 November 2016 – 8PM
This powerful film re-imagines the challenge of climate change, portraying communities on the front lines around the world. Can we seize this crisis to transform our economic system into something better?
DOJOJI
Monday 07 November 2016 – 7.45PM
Through powerful Japanese drumming, music and dance, Taiko Meantime rampages through ancient Japan in a unique theatrical concert.
Audiences are invited to an optional talk by Rev.Shunjo Ono, head monk of Dojoji temple,in the Foyer from 6.45pm.
THE BRIGHT STREAM – Bolshoi
Sunday 06 November 2016 – 3pm
Alexei Ratmansky invokes the genius of Shostakovich’s score at the Bolshoi, creating a laugh-out-loud masterpiece with its bits of slapstick comedy, hilarious deceptions and false identities.
ANDREW LAWRENCE – THE HATE SPEECH TOUR
Saturday 05 November 2016 – 7.45PM
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Andrew Lawrence’s show is now cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
ROSIE JACKSON – WORDS ONSTAGE
Friday 04 November 2016 – 7.45PM
An evening of extracts from memoirs, with tapas and wine.
Our popular on-stage ‘platter’ nights return with an evening of memoir readings from acclaimed writer Rosie Jackson, who will introduce other local writers also with new books in this genre.
YOU, ME AND THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US
Wednesday 02 November 2016 – 7PM
Ellen spent 6 months volunteering in Europe’s refugee camps.
She gave out clothes and blankets, she made many cups of tea. It gave her lots to think about…
SOFIE HAGEN: SHIMMER SHATTER
Sunday 30 October 2016 – 7.45pm
Join one of the fastest rising stars in comedy as she attempts to tackle her inner and outer demons in this hilarious and very personal show.
AUSTENTATIOUS
Saturday 29 October 2016 – 7.45pm
Austentatious are saddling the horses for a Grand Tour! Join the all-star cast as they improvise a brand new Jane Austen work before your very eyes, based on a single audience suggestion.
THE ENTERTAINER
Thursday 27 October 2016 – 7.15pm
We are unable to sell tickets on line for this screening. Please call the Box Office to book 01373 465949. Door tickets will be available. We apologise for any inconvenience.
COSI FAN TUTTE – Royal Opera House
Monday 24 October 2016 – 6.30pm
Semyon Bychkov conducts a cast of young and up-and-coming talent including American soprano Corinne Winters in a new production of Mozart and Da Ponte’s opera on the nature of love.
THE CURIOUS ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO
Monday 24 October 2016 – 2PM
One of the best loved classics for children comes to life, literally.
Crickets, cats, foxes and, of course, the world-famous puppet, will spring out of our collection of dusty, old, magic books…
LEGALLY BLONDE
Thursday 20 October 2016, FRIDAY 21 OCTOBER, SATURDAY 22 OCTOBER – 7.45PM
This show is now sold out.
KING LEAR RSC
Friday 14 October 2016 – 7PM
RSC Associate Artist Antony Sher is Lear, one of the greatest parts written by Shakespeare in this, one of Shakespeare’s most epic and powerful plays, directed by RSC Artist Director Gregory Doran.
THE WOODLANDERS
Friday 07 October 2016 – 7.45PM
Hammerpuzzle Theatre Company is back on tour with a distilled adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s romantic, rural novel. This is a co-production with the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham.
TONY’S LAST TAPE
Sunday 02 October 2016 – 7.45PM
Tony Benn sits in a room faced with a collection of recording devices that he has collected over his long and eventful life. He pours himself the first cup of tea of the day, opens a drawer and takes out a pipe…
BROOKS WILLIAMS
Saturday 01 October 2016 – 7.45PM
One of the best blues, roots and Americana singer-songwriters in the UK today. Williams is a man on a mission. He not only tours like a hellhound’s on his trail, but creates a super-charged music that is electrifying and fighting fit. His influences fly so fast and furious they blur… No one does it like Brooks Williams.
CYMBELINE RSC
Wednesday 28 September 2016 – 7PM
Cymbeline is a ruler of a divided Britain. When Innogen, the only living heir, marries her sweetheart in secret, an enraged Cymbeline banishes him.
NORMA – Royal Opera House Live
Monday 26 September 2016 – 7.15pm
Antonio Pappano conducts a wonderful cast led by Sonya Yoncheva, Joseph Calleja and Sonia Ganassi in a new production of Bellini’s operatic masterpiece.
ROMEO AND JULIET – Pocket Oxford Theatre
Saturday 24 September 2016 – 3PM
In the ultimate love story of all time, Shakespeare and his maid, Mrs P, discover a masked ball, a barmy balcony scene, a crazy horse chase, and some serious sword fighting…
HAMLET – Pocket Oxford Theatre
Saturday 24 September 2016 – 6pm
Being a teenager is hard enough, but when the ghost of your father sends you to avenge his murder, it would surely drive anyone mad! A hilarious journey of ghosts, duels, poison, murder and THAT skull routine…
SING OUT FOR CANCER!
Friday 23 September 2016 – 7PM
A showcase full of all your favourite songs from well known musicals such as Grease, Les Miserables, Wicked and many more.
It will be a night filled with laughter, talent and a whole lot of singing.
THE THREEPENNY OPERA – NTLive
Thursday 22 September 2016 – 7PM
Mack the Knife is back in town.
A darkly comic new take on Brecht and Weill’s raucous musical broadcast live from the stage of the National Theatre.
MITCH BENN – Don’t Believe a Word
Wednesday 21 September 2016 – 7.45PM
From “the country’s leading musical satirist” (The Times), Mitch Benn, a firm favourite on BBC R4’s The Now Show brings you his new critically acclaimed show.
JUAN MARTIN’S FLAMENCO TRIO
Saturday 17 September 2016 – 7.45PM
Juan Martín, a truly awe-inspiring guitarist, composer and all encompassing musician returns to tour the UK with a new flamenco programme of music, song and dance direct from Spain.
FORGET ME NOT – ROB GEE
Saturday 10 September 2016 – 7.45PM
Forget Me Not – The Alzheimer’s Whodunnit
Jim’s wife, a patient on a dementia ward, has died from what appears to be natural causes. Jim is a retired police detective and he smells a rat.
Written and performed by comic, poet and ex-psychiatric nurse Rob Gee, Forget Me Not has just completed a sellout run across Canada.
THE DEEP BLUE SEA – NTLive
Thursday 01 September 2016 – 7pm
A flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. 1952. Behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility burns a brutal sense of loss and longing…
BUGSY MALONE
Saturday 20 August 2016, Thursday 18 August, Friday 19 August – 7pm
The rise of “Bugsy Malone” and the battle for power between “Fat Sam” and “Dandy Dan” from the well-loved musical movie of the same name.
THE SCANDALOUS LOVE OF OSCAR WILDE
Saturday 06 August 2016 – 7.45PM
It is 6th April 1895 and Oscar Wilde waits at Cadogan Hotel for his arrest.
In this one-man play Oscar will talk openly about those he has loved and the actions that threaten ruination upon them all.
RICHARD III
Thursday 21 July 2016 – 7pm
Join us for this live screening of Richard III from Almeida Theatre with Ralph Fiennes and Vanessa Redgrave.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – ILLYRIA
Wednesday 20 July 2016 – 7PM
This heady brew of Shakespearian confusion, magic and mischief is the perfect comedy for a summer evening.
PEE WEE ELLIS AND THE FUNKA-NOVA QUARTET
Sunday 10 July 2016 – 7.45pm
A fabulous Festival finale.
In the newly formed Funka-Nova Quartet, Frome’s own Pee Wee Ellis and the acclaimed Berlin based vocalist/guitarist Peter Fessler present an acoustic fusion of music they are both passionate about: funk and bossa nova.
HIGGLEDY PIGGLEDY PIE
Saturday 09 July 2016 – 11am
The royal chefs are helped by their vegetapals to collect the special nursery rhyme ingredients.
How many rhymes will it take to make a higgledy piggledy pie, and will it be ready before the dish runs away with the spoon?
DR PHIL HAMMOND
Saturday 09 July 2016 – 7.45pm
Doctor, comedian, writer and broadcaster Phil Hammond makes a welcome return to the Frome Festival with a new show shortly to appear at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.