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Veteran theatre critic Marion Cox found herself at the receiving end of comedienne Gina Yashere’s wit when she spotted her making notes during Dorchester Festival’s comedy night.
Grabbing the notes, the keen-eyed comic demanded: “Why are you writing down my jokes - are you a standup ? What is you name?”
“I’m a theatre reviewer,” Mrs Cox gulped in reply to the audience at Charlton Down’s Herrison Hall. “I’d rather be doing Shakespeare!”
Gina, a comedy sensation in the US where they love her cheeky English observations, told Mrs Cox she would be back to see her if the write up was not up to scratch.
Festival artistic director Sharon Hayden, pictured with Gina after the show, said the audience had loved it. “Gina is still jet lagged from her flight over from LA but managed to give us nearly two hours of wonderful standup - she’s taken the mickey out of all of us in her own charming way - and we love her.”
There's still two full days of amazing events to enjoy in Dorchester Festival...
After last night's pulsating sell-out gigs with Groanbox and the extraordinary Kanda Bongo Man band, Festival Sunday kicks off at noon in laid back mode with chilled out tunes, storytelling and small scale theatre in the Borough Gardens.
Bestselling author Salley Vickers invites you to tea and talk at 5pm in the Corn Exchange and later in Charlton Down's Herrison Hall we present one newspaper's "must see" event in the region this bank holiday - our comedy night with the amazing Gina Yashere - fresh from an appearance with Trevor Nelson on Radio 1 extra - and a bonus 45 minute set from double Grammy Award winning Lekan Babalola and his Afro beat trio - Doors open 7.30 at Herrison Hall - Don't miss them!
The tempo picks up again on Monday with some of our great youth bands, the infectious music of Bulawayo with joyous Ndebele and shona vocals and a comedy walk through the Pleasure Garden with the hilarious Hoodwink.
Singers are invited to join in an at all day Opera workshop and premiere at St Mary's Church of The Cask of Amontillado, an exciting new community opera, and at Dorchester Arts, there's a chance to take part in African song, dance and drumming with members of Bulawayo - Sing, Bang, Bop!
For young children, leading children's theatre company Tell Tale Hearts bring their new show Spacehoppers to the Corn Exchange at 12noon and 3.30pm.
Company Theatre, present two contrasting one-act plays at the Kings Arm: 'The Nurse's Tale' at 3pm a Romeo and Juliet follow on story with hugely comic nurse and Reggae music followed at 7pm by 'Farbeit' - a dark and poignant comedy featuring local actor, Chris Gallarus. The 3pm children's show includes a Shakespeare workshop.
Catch a vibrant 45 minute set from double grammy award winner Lekan Babalola and his afro beat trio - then sit back and relax with the comedy talent of Gina Yashere for the rest of the evening.
After Lekan had to postpone his workshop on the Roots of Blues, Dorchester Festival director Shaton Hayden decided to throw the talented performers together for a night of music and comedy.
“This is going to be some show - a set from Lekan’s trio, followed by two 45 minute stints from Gina. It’s a rare chance to see Gina as the star of Mock the Week and the Lenny Henry show now lives in the States where she is a TV comedy sensation.”
Book tickets
Watch Gina on American TV
We're back... sort of. Remember Dorchester Festival Radio - our community radio station which broadcast for several weeks around the 2007 Festival ?
We're not on FM this year - but our resident music producer and project leader Mickey Wills has put together an hour long Festival2010 preview with some great tracks and programme details.
Shops and cafes around Dorchester are playing it in the run up to the festival - and everybody can listen in on iTunes, Real Player, VLC or other media players.
Tune in here: Dorchester Festival Radio
This link opens a media playlist file which should open automatically in iTunes, Real Player or VLC. If it does not do so you can find the listen.m3u file and open in one of these programs.
Beauty therapist Mulu Thomson has won a night out for two at the opera - in a prize draw run by Dorchester Festival sponsors Mercedes Benz of Dorchester.
She received her prize from sales executive Roger Lee at the Mercedes Benz of Dorchester showrooms at the weekend. The opera - a first for the Festival - is the premiere of a new work by Brian Parkhurst and David Bushrod entitled The Cask of Amontillado.
The libretto - based on an Edgar Allen Poe short story - tells a dark tale of death, revenge and passion in the wine cellars of Venice.
The five soloists are: Robbie Bowering as Luchese, John Greenbank as Montresor Amanda Gallaher as passer by Antonia, Robert Eshelby as Fortunato and Ruth Eshelby, Vittoria supported by a community chorus.
Chorus director Hanna Trevorrow is leading a day long workshop for singers in St Mary’s Church on Monday May 31st 10am-4pm, before the evening performance at 7.30pm.
“We’ve done this before with Gilbert and Sullivan and it has been hugely successful, but to be presenting the premiere of a new opera is a first for the festival and we are very excited about it,” explained artistic director Sharon Hayden.
To give the event an added frissant, audiences members are invited to come wearing a masked ball style mask. The performance is at St Mary’s Church on Monday 31st May at 7.30pm, doors and bar open 6.30pm, tickets £10/£8, Workshop • 10am-4pm • St Mary's Church • £12.
As Dorchester Festival gets underway this weekend, hundreds of performers and thousands of festival goers will be flocking to the county town for five days of extraordinary African-themed events.
Pulsating rhythms will echo through the streets as singers, dancers and spectacular street performers bring the town alive on Saturday morning, followed by a grand parade with hundreds of children in stunning animal headdresses make their way past the African street market to Borough Gardens.
While singers, poets and performers continue through the afternoon at Town Mill Bakery, the focus moves to the Gardens where Afro Dance Group Grupo Lokito kick off a vibrant mixture of music, dance and performance. The spectacular Black Eagles who learned their acrobatic skills on the streets of Dar-es-Salaam make a special appearance, along with a group of gorillas and their intrepid comic explorer.
Sultry belly dancers, storytellers, street performers all join in as the day comes to a close with a headline performance at the Corn Exchange by the man who single handedly ignited the African music revolution in Europe when he first appeared at the Womad world music festival - Congolese musician Kanda Bongo Man and his extraordinary soukous band, who will be playing some of the tracks from their electrifying new EP.
On Sunday, the Festival in the gardens moves into a more chilled out phase with music, storytelling and cutting edge small scale theatre, before a special talk in the Corn Exchange by author Salley Vickers who will be talking about her new novel Dancing Backwards - a recent Radio 4 Book at Bedtime.
Headlining Sunday night is comedy sensation Gina Yashere at Herrison Hall, Charlton Down with a late addition to the programme - a stunning 45 minute set from double grammy award winner Lekan Babalola and his Afro beat trio. Lekan’s workshop on the Roots of the Blues had to be postponed to a later date - but we’ve managed to squeeze a set from his band into the start of our comedy night - it should be amazing,” said artistic director Sharon Hayden.
“As Gina is of Nigerian descent we thought it would make her feel at home to have a Nigerian musician playing before her.” The trio, who fuse African and English folk music, are Lekan on percussion, Kate Luxmoore on clarinet and Karen Street on accordian.
On Monday, the Festival showcases a fantastic selection of local bands, as well as a journey through Zimbabwe with the infectious music of Bulawayo. In the Corn Exchange, leading children’s theatre company Tell Tale Hearts present their new show for 3-7 year olds, Spacehoppers, before their appearance in the Kindergardens international festival of children’s theatre next month.
The weekend wraps up with a chorus workshop and premiere of a new Community Opera, the Cask of Amontillado and the screening on Tuesday of Comrades - the epic story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs filmed in and around Dorchester with many local people appearing as extras.
The herds are gathering for a huge migration….Dozens of African animals will make the journey from the Corn Exchange to the Borough Gardens in Dorchester Festival’s Grand Parade on Saturday May 29th.
Celebratory artist Heidi Steller is working with more than 200 children to create a range of stunning animal masks for the parade which will be led by a giant wicker snake and accompanied by two bands - the newly formed Global Street Band and the Macaratu drum band.
“It’s going to be an amazing spectacle - our best Festival parade yet,” said Artistic Director Sharon Hayden.
Leaving the Corn Exchange at 12 noon, the parade will wind its way through the crowds in South Street, past the visiting Tunisian street market and up Bowling Alley Walk to the main festival site in the Borough Gardens in time for the first of the main stage performance by African/Salsa fusion band Grupo Lokito.
Performers appearing over the weekend include African music legend Kanda Bongo Man and comedienne Gina Yashere, making a rare appearance in the UK, following her rise to fame in the US where she now lives.
Best dressed animal parade: Children from Manor Park First School get ready for the Festival procession.
Art being created for this year’s Dorchester Festival is literally very moving - it’s on wheels!
Artist Pete Sheridan is working with a group of young people from Dorset V to create the work - which is on six huge wooden letters spelling our the theme of the festival - Africa.
He explained: “It’s art on wheels. By mounting these letters on heavy duty casters we are planning to move them around during the course of the Festival.”
“Last year’s project was the spectacular Moving On mural depicting bikes, skateboards and all things on wheels - this years project is on wheels itself,” said the Festival’s community events co-ordinator Kathie Prince.
Over the next two weeks members of Dorset V will paint the letters with African designs and patterns - watch out for them over the Festival weekend.
Dorchester Festival2010
Grupo Lokito, Friday 28th May • Dorchester Corn Exchange • 8pm • £13/£10
Grupo Lokito’s music is an energetic fusion of African Congolese and Latin. Salsa dancers love it, as do the African community and World music fans. 
The tragic and disturbing tale of Little Lupin, Saturday 29th May • Borough Gardens Dorchester, Dorset • 1.30pm 2.30pm 3.30pm • £3 per person
The tragic and disturbing tale of Little Lupin tells the story of a young girl who is bullied for being a wolf-child and is taken into the woods where she begins to live with the wolves. Limited to 16 audience members at a time. £3 each
www.dorchesterfestival.co.uk
From Africa to the Americas: The roots of the Blues - Workshop & Talk - This event has been postponed until later in the year
Saturday 29th May 4pm • Dorchester Arts • £10, Under 18’s £5
Grammy-award winner Lekan Babalola leads a two hour workshop and talk, exploring the African roots of Blues music through the use of voice, hands and instruments.
Belly Dance workshop with Farah Nasri • Saturday 29 May • Dorchester Arts • 1.30pm • £5/£3
Learn to belly dance with Farah then watch her dancing with Abdelkader Saadoun Rai band in Borough Gardens 
Groanbox , Saturday 29th May • Dorchester Arts • 8pm • £10.50, £8.50, £5.25
Groanbox are the multi-instrumental North American trio of Michael Ward-Bergeman, Cory Seznec and Paul Clifford. 
Kanda Bongo Man, Saturday 29th May • Dorchester Corn Exchange • 8pm • £15/£13
Your feet will always bop to Kanda Bongo Man’s irresistible soukous rhythms. They are the greatest dance rhythms of all time and it was Kanda who brought them to western audiences. Don’t miss him! 
Little Box of Horrors, Sunday 30th May • Borough Gardens • 12noon - 4pm • One audience member at a time • £2
Step inside if you dare… the Little Box of Horrors is an extraordinary five minute performance for one person - and a spectacle for many. Warning: (14+ only) this show is not suitable for children. The wider public performance surrounding the box is suitable for all ages. "... a delicious performance." Lyn Gardner, THE GUARDIAN www.dorchesterfestival.co.uk
Tea and Talk with Salley Vickers, Sunday 30th May • Dorchester Corn Exchange • 5pm • £8/£6
Join Salley Vickers for a cup of tea and hear her read from her latest novel Dancing Backwards - the current BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime read by Dame Eileen Atkins.
Comedy Night with Gina Yashere, Sunday 30th May • Herrison Hall, Charlton Down, Dorchester • 8pm • £20/£16
Gina Yashere’s bombastic delivery, infectious personality and cheeky observations have turned this British comedienne into one of the hottest comics in America where she now lives. Miss at your peril. 'One of the best comics in the land' The Guardian. 
Spacehoppers, Monday 31st May • Corn Exchange • 12 noon and 3.30pm • £7
Jump into your space suits and take off on an interplanetary adventure with acclaimed children's theatre company Tell Tale Hearts! An interactive, promenade style performance for 3-7 year olds combining beautifully designed environments, performance, live music, puppetry and poetry to create a magical experience for young children and their families. 
The Cask of Amontillado • Monday 31st May • St Mary's Church • 7.30pm • £10/£8 Please note change of venue to St Mary's Church
The Cask of Amontillado is a new four part opera with community chorus. A tale of deathly revenge and passionate love set in the wine cellars of Venice, this delicious black comedy is an Edgar Allen Poe story transformed into a community opera, by musical director Brian Parkhurst and librettist David Bushrod 
COMRADES , Tuesday 1st June • 7pm • Dorchester Arts • £4.40
Following its release on DVD, Dorchester Film Society presents COMRADES, the epic tale of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, filmed in 1986. Scenes were filmed in and around Dorchester and many local people appear as extras. 
A giant snake which will lead Dorchester Festival's grand parade at the end of the month is taking shape at a series of community workshops with celebratory artist Heidi Stellar.
The colourful snake, carried in huge segments on long poles, will wind its way through the town, leading an African themed procession to the Festival site in the Borough Gardens on Saturday May 29th.
Amiong the first participants at the “Snake workshops” were a group of adults from the AnA Care Farm at Charminster. “We’ve had a wonderful time working on the snake. Heidi has been brilliant - really encouraging,” said activity supervisor Kate Moore.
Heidi is also running a series of public workshops for anybody to come and join in. The next two are on May 18th and 19th from 4-6pm - adults £3, children £2.
The Festival’s new Global Street band is tuning up to play it’s role in the procession. New players are welcome to join the band - led by saxophonist Clive Ashley, which meets at Dorchester Arts every Wednesday from 7-9pm.
There’s also an opportunity for would-be drummers to join in with a one day Macaratu drumming workshop with Ralph Cree and Glyn Bush from Magic Drum at Dorchester Arts on May 22nd.
Picture: Snakes alive: A group from AnA Care Farm at one of Heidi Steller's Dorchester Festival community workshops
