News

A group in Newmarket in Suffolk hopes to raise £650,000 to convert the Palomino Pub into a permanent arts space. Campaigner Lousie Eatock said the centre would offer events and exhibitions, adult and youth classes, and music nights.

Performances of 'Rotterdam' at the Nuffield Southampton Theatre have been called off after one of its cast was injured in a "homophobic hate crime", the show's producers said. Actress Lucy Jane had stones thrown at her from a moving car while kissing her girlfriend, castmate Rebecca Bantlava, in the street.

The sudden closure of the city’s Guild Hall, which contained two performance venues, has left large shows in the lurch. Owner Simon Rigby now intends to bring in administrators, but has said the building will reopen “within weeks” and that all staff wages will be paid.

A Devon theatre director called the Brexit Party MEP’s comment - that science might “produce an answer” to being gay - “vile”. Widdecombe was due to appear at Ilfracombe’s Landmark Theatre in a one-woman show in March.

A Scottish committee investigating the destruction of the school’s Mackintosh building says it is “extremely disappointed” the school has questioned the credibility of some witnesses. The committee has questioned whether the school did enough to prevent the blaze.

A project led by Anglia Ruskin University has received a six-figure grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council to investigate the benefits for school children of creating art in nature. The initiative has found that working with artists improved pupils’ confidence and independence, particularly among children from disadvantaged backgrounds.