A HUGELY successful and creative one-man show about the story of the creation of everything is heading to Drimpton to capture a Dorset audience as part of an Artsreach venture.

Fronted by artistic director and National Dance Critics winner Ben Duke, the highly entertaining dance/theatre company Lost Dog has been performing Paradise Lost (Lies Unopened Beside Me) to critical acclaim and capacity audiences up and down the country.

Through a new initiative launched to encourage more contemporary dance companies to visit village halls and community venues around the country, Ben Duke will be performing at Drimpton Village Hall at 7.30pm on October 8 through Artsreach, the counties rural touring arts charity.

A one-man staging of Milton’s epic Paradise Lost, this outstanding new production combines theatre, comedy and music with the easily misunderstood medium of dance in a journey through the story of the creation of everything.

Ben said: “It’s a show for anyone who has created anything (child, garden, paper aeroplane) and then watched it spiral out of control.”

He said: “I’m excited about the rural touring.

“It was not a show that was made with these venues in mind but we have already tried a couple of stripped back versions of the show and it still seems to make sense.

“A rural touring veteran said the difference between performing in theatres and village halls is that in the theatre you feel like the host but in a village hall you are definitely the guest.

“I am looking forward to being a guest in some harder to find corners of the UK.”

Beginning with Lucifer’s rebellion and ending with Adam and Eve’s expulsion from The Garden of Eden, Duke plays all the characters, creates all the scenes and, despite his best efforts, falls a little short of perfection.

This year, Ben won the National Dance Critics Award for Outstanding Male Performance.

n See Paradise Lost (Lies unopened Beside Me) at Drimpton Village Hall at 7.30pm on Saturday, October 8; For tickets, call 01308 897442.