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The Helpful Dead - one of Dorchester Arts’ trilogy of animated films made by young people in Weymouth and Portland has been selected for screening at Britain’s oldest film festival.
The three minute Inspire-marked drama screened during the summer at the Weymouth Olympic live sites, ICCI 360 dome and National Sailing Academy, is being shown at the Co-operative Film Festival in Manchester this November.
The film, made by year five children at Wyke Regis Junior School supported by a team of artists from Dorchester Arts, tells the story of an Olympic sailor battling strong winds - and an emotional link with a shipping disaster off Dorset’s Chesil beach more than 140 years ago.
Project Producer, dramatherapist Sharon Hayden said the children had studied and photographed their locations to give the film a strong sense of place and local identity. “In their research they found a first hand account of the wreck of the Royal Adelaide in a head teacher’s log book from 1872. This gave them the idea to link a Victorian tragedy with the 2012 Olympics,” she explained.
“We are incredibly grateful to First Light for believing in us. Thanks to their support, these nine and ten year old children have produced some remarkable work. It has been a transformative experience for them.”
Watch The Helpful Dead here www.dorchesterarts.org.uk/projects
More about the production team: www.screen-play.co.uk.
The project was funded by the Lottery through the BFI’s First Light initiative.
On Golden Pond, the popular play written by Ernest Thompson, comes to Dorchester Arts Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday 4th, Friday 5th and Saturday 6th October.
This beguiling story that gives a glimpse of what lies beneath the stormy waters of family ties may be familiar from the 1981 blockbuster film starring Katherine Hepburn and Henry and Jane Fonda. Originally Thompson’s play opened on Broadway in 1979 and ran for 126 performances before an additional 256 after, ironically, a summer break. Now director Mel Hooley transforms this classic for Dorchester Arts’ stage.
The drama takes place inside the Thayers’ holiday home as they enjoy their 48th summer ‘On Golden Pond’ but this time past misunderstandings threaten to shipwreck their gently moving idyll. As the sun sinks on the lake and summer turns to autumn they grapple with the bittersweet feelings of impending old age and unresolved family issues.
Director Mel Hooley says: “It’s a fascinating study of the anguish of a daughter, now trying as an adult, to heal childhood wounds and create a true father/daughter relationship with a difficult man for whom time is running out.”
This production features a cast of local players including Trevor Williams, Dee Thorne, David Lucas, Georgie Willis, Matt Daisley and Paul Friese-Greene After Mel Hooley’s string of outstanding plays at Dorchester Arts Centre including ‘Doubt’ with a Zimbabwean cast, ‘Duet for One’ and ‘Crimes of the Heart’ it would be advisable to book tickets early.
DORCHESTER ARTS CENTRE • 7.30pm (doors and bar 7.00pm) • £9 / £7 members and concessions 
tickets from Tourist Information Centre 01305 267992 or Dorchester Arts 01305 266926
ahab, one of the hottest and most exciting young bands on the music scene hits the road later this autumn and arrives at Dorchester’s popular Arts Centre on Saturday 29 September fresh from playing at Bestival, Isle of Wight. The band’s visit is part of a twenty-two date tour that will see them visiting every corner of the UK - including Dorchester, Exeter, Southampton, Southsea and Brighton in the South and West.
London-based ahab’s unique take on alt-country rock is based around stunning four-part vocal harmonies. With four talented songwriters in the line-up, the band’s set features highly original compositions that have a freshness and dynamism and their blistering performances are guaranteed to captivate and excite.
To coincide with the tour the band are releasing a live fourteen track CD. Recorded earlier this year, the album ‘Live in London’ captures the real spirit and energy of the live band. The album includes five previously unreleased tracks and will be available at the gigs throughout the tour.
Guitarist and vocalist Dave Burn says ‘Live performance is our trademark and the album truly represents the atmosphere of our shows - that is how we want fans to remember their evening’.
The band already has an enthusiastic following with both fans and music business professionals. Legendary broadcaster Bob Harris first saw ahab at Fairport Convention’s annual music festival in Cropredy, Oxfordshire:
“I thought their live set was blistering,” he says. “They showed real class and I love their alt-country edge.” He is not the only BBC presenter to sing ahab’s praises - Radio 2’s Simon Mayo says: "This band’s top-notch British Americana is the real deal."
DORCHESTER ARTS CENTRE • 8pm (doors and bar 7.30pm) • £9 / £7 members and concessions
