Out & About

EVENT Joy Swift's Original Murder Weekends
Quite unlike anything you've ever experienced before, Joy Swift's Original Murder Weekends are one of the most criminally entertaining ways to wile away a few days, making new friends whilst pretending to be the next Morse, Poirot or Marple. Launched in 1980 by Ms Swift, who was awarded an MBE for services to tourism in the 2001 New Year Honours' List, these weekends and have steadily grown in popularity, challenging would-be sleuths of all ages to deduce clues from the Incident Room, grill the suspects for possible motives and uncover murder most horrid.

From the reception at 8pm on Friday night to the detective's conclusions on Sunday at 11.30am, everyone - actors and guests - stays in character, playing along with the theme. Hotel staff look on either amused or perplexed as the skeletons tumble out of the closet, and suspects end up screaming and shouting at one another. Plots change every four months and each has a theme: currently, guests arrive at the hotel to take part in a selection weekend for a new reality show called Maisy's Babies, which aims to find the kindest and most loving child delivered by recently deceased midwife Maisy Bobbins. Needless to say, some of the people at the audition weekend conceal horrific secrets.

Joy Swift's Original Murder Weekends take place at Salisbury White Hart Hotel (November 4-6), Accrington Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa (November 4-6), Ascot Berystede Hotel & Spa (November 11-13), Cheltenham Queen's Hotel (November 18-20), Guisborough Gisborough Hall (November 18-20), Camberley Frimley Hall & Spa (November 25-27), plus a special Twixmas weekend at Ascot Berystede Hotel & Spa (December 27-29). Deerstalkers at the ready.

Tickets: 0151 924 1124 or www.murder.co.uk

---

EVENT Remembrance Day
It is impossible to forget the huge debt we all owe to the men and women who fought and died during the first and second World Wars, protecting this country from invasion. Every year, on the second Sunday in November, we pay tribute to these heroes with two minutes silence, wearing the poppies which help to raise vital funds for The Royal British Legion.

On November 12, the focus is the Royal Albert Hall in London for The Festival Of Remembrance, in the presence of the Legion's Patron, HM The Queen and members of the Royal Family. The following day is the Cenotaph Parade Remembrance Sunday. Both events are televised for those unable to make it to the capital to pay their own respects.

---

THEATRE Great Expectations
The Royal Shakespeare Company turns to a classic text by Charles Dickens for its festive show in picturesque Stratford-upon-Avon. However, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre won't be hosting a new production of A Christmas Carol. Instead, Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan co-author a moving new adaptation of Great Expectations, directed by Donnellan with evocative stage designs by Ormerod.

Determined to grow up a gentleman, Pip tries to rise above his humble beginnings, only to have his heart broken by cruel and vicious Estella, whose ability to love has been poisoned by jilted bride Miss Havisham. Great Expectations opens on November 25 and is booking until February 4, 2006.

Tickets: 0870 609 1110 or www.rsc.co.uk

---

FILM Mrs. Henderson Presents
National treasure, Dame Judi Dench, and Bob Hoskins are a formidable double act in Mrs Henderson Presents, Stephen Frears's saucy tale of wartime defiance, inspired by real life events. As Hitler's troops seize control of Paris, socialite Laura Henderson (Dench) buries her beloved husband and shudders at the prospect of solitary life. Her best friend, Margot (Thelma Barlow), tells her to find a young lover. "I'm nearly 70!" shrieks Laura. "You're also very rich," replies Margot, "the one cancels out the other."

Instead, Laura invests some of her considerable fortune in the run-down Windmill Theatre in London's Soho. Aided by impresario Vivian Van Damm (Hoskins), Laura renovates the auditorium and introduces the patrons of the capital to the delights of the all-nude revue, featuring lead boy Bertie (Pop Idol winner Will Young) and a host of artfully posed lovelies. As Nazi bombs descend on the city, the West End shuts its doors, apart from the Windmill Theatre, which continues to packed houses.

Mrs Henderson Presents is a feelgood comedy drama, beautifully written by Martin Sherman. Dench and Hoskins are a delight (the latter shedding his inhibitions), revelling in the brilliant wordplay.

Released in cinemas across the UK on November 25

---

ART Paula Rego: The Complete Prints
Recently turning 70-years-old, Paula Rego remains one of our most successful, prolific and provocative artists. Brighton Museum And Art Gallery pays tribute to this illustrator, painter and printmaker with the first ever retrospective to showcase all of her prints under one roof, which runs from November 12 to January 22, 2006.

Born in Lisbon in 1935, Rego trained at Slade School of Art where she met painter Victor Willing, who would become her husband. In the mid-'50s, she made her first tentative forays into etching, gradually developing her work to include political themes and then elements of fairy-tale and childhood. Since settling in London in 1976, she has concentrated on painting, telling intimate narratives through her work, which often concerns girls in an off-kilter world. The exhibition in Brighton surveys Rego's output from those first etchings up to her recent series of lithographs inspired by Jane Eyre. Rare drawings, etching plates and hand-coloured unique proofs are shown alongside her most famous work including the Nursery Rhyme series and the controversial Abortion series.

Information: 01273 290900 or www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info

---

THEATRE Round The Horne: Revisited 2
Based on scripts by Brian Cooke, Marty Feldman, Johnnie Mortimer and Barry Took, Round The Horne… Revisited 2 is a sparkling reproduction of one the funniest radio comedies of all time. Back in the '60s, radio audiences of up to 15 million tuned in each week to hear Kenneth Williams, Betty Marsden, Kenneth Horne and Hugh Paddick perform hysterical sketches. Michael Kingsbury's stage version, written and adapted by Brian Cooke, reworks two full-length episodes of the radio show, including Julian and Sandy's disastrous attempt to launch a political party with the s logan "Keep Britain Bona". The fourstrong cast is blessed with impeccable comic timing, including Robin Sebastian, who is very nearly indistinguishable from Kenneth Williams.

The show visits a number of regional theatres in the run-up to Christmas, including Llandudno North Wales Theatre (Theatr Gogledd Cymru) (November 1-5), Richmond Theatre (November 14-19), Brighton Theatre Royal (November 28-December 3) and Salford The Lowry (Quays Theatre) (December 13-23).

Tickets:
Llandudno 01492 872000
Richmond 0870 060 6651
Brighton 0870 060 6650
Salford 0870 787 5793 or www.ticketmaster.co.uk

---

EVENT Caravan & Outdoor Leisure Show 2005
As winter draws in, now is the perfect time to begin planning next year's summer holiday. For those who prefer a much more back-to-basics (or indeed back-to-nature) approach to their vacation - caravans, motorhomes, camping and outdoor pursuits, London is the place to be from November 1-6, when Earls Court hosts the Caravan & Outdoor Leisure Show. The Towsure Accessory Superstore boasts over 2,000 products, some discounted by as much as 40% so you will be able to stock up on caravanning and camping accessories. You can also subscribe to your favourite magazines or arrange finance for your caravan, before sampling food and wine from each of the regions featured in the Unique Campsites Of Europe, created in conjunction with Alan Rogers Guides. New for this year are live cookery demonstrations with celebrity chef Andy Gratton.

Tickets: 0870 128 8288 or www.caravanshows.com