EXPERIENCE a spellbinding and immersive screening of The Phantom of the Opera.

Minima is taking Phantom of the Opera to Sturminster Marshall and Gillingham on the Artsreach circuit.

In a season packed with theatre, music, dance and more, Bristol-based performers Minima will be welcomed to the county for two nights.

Beneath the sewers of the Paris Opera House dwells the Phantom, a hideously disfigured composer whose dream it is to turn chorus singer Christine into a diva. Lon Chaney, the ‘Man of a Thousand Faces’, dominates this classic 1925 adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s novel of 1910, with his ghastly make-up and outrageous performance making this one of the great classics of American silent film. Fast moving and exciting, the film is a dramatic tale of obsession, kidnap, murder and revenge, beautifully tinted throughout and featuring an impressive sequence of early Technicolor as the Phantom appears at a masked ball.

Minima have specialised in live accompaniment to screenings of silent films since 2006. With an array of acclaimed performances at venues including the Barbican Centre, BFI Southbank, Glastonbury Festival and the Transylvania International Film Festival, Minima have also recorded original music for short films by contemporary filmmakers.

Their electrifying score for The Phantom of the Opera captures the horror of the story, but also finds pathos, romance, and humour. Drums, bass, guitar, cello, mandolin, dulcimer, synthesizer and glockenspiel strike up a thrilling relationship with the film, following the Phantom through his suburban nightmare world and creating a unique live experience.

See Minima in Sturminster Marshall Hall (07903 057427) on Saturday February 9 and Gillingham School Theatre (01747 833844) on Thursday February 14. Both performances are at 7.30pm. Tickets and more details are also available online at artsreach.co.uk