Millicent Binks is a writer, former costume designer and burlesque performer. Her work includes a column for The Evening Standard and a cover story for The Sunday Times Magazine that was optioned for TV by NBCUniversal. Her first book series, featuring English milliner and amateur sleuth Opal Laplume, is set in Paris, Hollywood and Scotland.
Her latest book is “Murder at the Scottish Ball”. December 1934. Spending the holidays in a Scottish castle has made Opal Laplume’s festive wishes come true. Sir Seamus’ Christmas Eve ball is legendary, and Opal dons her finest gown for an exquisite night of bubbles, baubles, and tartan kilts. But the festivities come to a screeching halt when their gracious host is electrocuted by some faulty Christmas lights.
Join Southwold Arts Centre for a one-of-a-kind evening of Musical Theatre marvelousness. The opening night of a series of musical events, this evening will cycle through some old-time classics and some newer favourites in a celebration of song and dance. This time, the theme is villains - whether you’re a Wicked Witch of the West or more of a Lena Lamont, this one’s for you. Join us for a cabaret ...
SOUTHWOLD ARTS FESTIVAL: The Beloved Son; Performed by Andrew Harrison
Fri 1 May
Henri Nouwen (1932 - 1996) was a Dutch, Catholic priest, psychologist, and professor who reached the heights of academic success at Yale and Harvard before abandoning everything to join the community of L’Arche, Daybreak in Toronto. He became part of a life-sharing movement, seeking to make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities. To some Henri Nouwen put his brilliant career into...
SOUTHWOLD ARTS FESTIVAL: The Beatles and Me; Chris Ingham
Sat 2 May
The jazz pianist, singer and bandleader and author of Rough Guide to the Beatles dips in and out of his book, shares his experiences interviewing Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono and reflects on why the Beatles still matter to him, not to mention the rest of the world. "Over and above his impish arpeggios, droll introductions and left-handed singing the thing that fascinates me about Mr. Ingham is h...
SOUTHWOLD ARTS FESTIVAL: Chris Difford with the Derek Nash Band
Sat 2 May
Chris Difford is a Grammy nominated and double Ivor Novello Award winning lyricist who has brought us characters and sketches from everyday life, successfully turning the mundane into the beautiful, the urbane into the exquisite, for over 40 years. Chris has co-written some of the most enduring and best-loved songs of our time such as ‘Up The Junction’, ‘Cool For Cats’ and ‘Labelled With Love’,...
SOUTHWOLD ARTS FESTIVAL: Once Upon a Tune - James Mayhew, Caroline Speca, Nathan Williamson
Sun 3 May
From Firebirds to fabulous Swan Princesses, discover the magical stories behind your favourite classical tunes. Violinist Caroline Speca is joined by local pianist Nathan Williamson in music by Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Stravinsky. Children’s author and illustrator, James Mayhew, will be illustrating LIVE on stage. The art created in the show will be auctioned on the day for local community projec...
SOUTHWOLD ARTS FESTIVAL: Maureen & Friends: An Evening of Poetry, Jazz & Other Stuff
Sun 3 May
An evening of Jazz, Poetry and other stuff. Including Jazz Royalty – Jacqui Dankworth, Art Themen and George Double plus the fabulous poets of the Hebrides and NW3 – Pauline Prior-Pitt and Jeremy Robson. Dame Maureen Lipman will perform sketches from Radio 4’s “Maureen & Friends” and a few other happy surprises. Last year, they played at Crazy Coqs and the Charing Cross Theatre to packed houses an...
Did you know that 90% of people believe they can get away with murder - are you one of them? There will be a live psychopath test to find out! Serial killer and psychopathy expert Cheish Merryweather introduces MURDER:STAGED - a true crime talk that takes a deep dive into the embedded lies at crime scenes. The 'CSI effect' has created a new type of killer – you will investigate the six types o...
THIS SHOW WILL SELL OUT. For one huge night of stand-up, comedy heavyweight Ed Byrne takes the headline spot — and when Ed’s name is on a bill, tickets disappear fast. One of the UK’s most celebrated comedians, Ed has sold out countless national tours and lit up Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo, QI and more. His razor-sharp wit and masterful storytelling have packed theatres across the country ...
Bootleg Boss are a UK based seven-piece band that perform the classic songs of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Formed in 2012 this accomplished and exciting Live Band feature Kev Jamieson as the vocal-singing, guitar-playing, harmonica-blowing, band-leading, audience-engaging, dance-inducing, singalong-inspiring Boss. If you were born to run down backstreets, across badlands and to go danci...
Exhibition on Screen presents FRIDA KAHLO Frida Kahlo is a phenomenon. She is arguably the world’s favourite female artist – beloved by young and old. Exhibition on Screen’s award-winning film is back by popular demand with an exciting new addition from the curators of the blockbuster transatlantic exhibition from Tate Modern and MFA Houston ‘Frida Kahlo: the Making of an Icon’ .
Woman in Mind is a darkly comic play by Alan Ayckbourn that follows Susan, a woman trapped in an unfulfilling marriage whose imagination creates a vivid fantasy family to replace her disappointing real one. As the boundaries between her idealised world and her everyday life begin to blur, Susan’s grip on reality slips with both hilarious and heartbreaking consequences. Witty, unsettling, and emoti...
2026 deserves something special — and it doesn’t get better than our return to the fantastic Southwold Arts Centre on Bank Holiday Saturday- 23rd May, 2026. This isn’t just a gig. It’s a time machine. Classic Rock Revival takes you straight back to the greatest nights of your life — when the amps were loud, the choruses were massive, and every song felt like an anthem. Expect note-for-note p...
Southwold Community Cinema: One Battle After Another
Wed 27 May
Washed-up revolutionary Bob (DiCaprio) exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis Steven J Lockjaw (Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and Willa goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past. REFRESHMENTS INCLUDED
The Hijacked Hollies had their most successful year ever in 2025, performing to literally thousands of people at the Butlin’s ‘Festival of the 60s’, the Southern Motorhome & Campervan show at Newbury Showground, Warner Leisure Hotels, 60s themed weekends for ‘Yesterday Once More’ & ‘GN Holidays’.. In this show, The Hijacked Hollies pay tribute to the legacy of The Hollies and feature all the class...
From the pen of the best-selling author Kate Ellis. Enjoy a delicious meal from Café 51 and test your abilities as a sleuth. The year is 1925 and in a small seaside town, local businessman, Charlie Montgomery, has been found dead behind the Crippengate Hotel. The doctor was called and, from the smell of bitter almonds on the body, he concluded that the victim was poisoned with cyanide. Only f...
Millicent Binks is a writer, former costume designer and burlesque performer. Her work includes a column for The Evening Standard and a cover story for The Sunday Times Magazine that was optioned for TV by NBCUniversal. Her first book series, featuring English milliner and amateur sleuth Opal Laplume, is set in Paris, Hollywood and Scotland. Her latest book is “Murder at the Scottish Ball”. Dec...
Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer and broadcaster from London. His three previous novels (“The Last Day”, “The Sanctuary”, and “A Beginner’s Guide To Breaking And Entering”) have between them hit the Sunday Times top 10 bestseller charts, been Waterstones' Thriller of the Month and have been nominated for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize. When not writing, Andrew presents The Naked Week on BB...
Harriet Tyce grew up in Edinburgh and studied English at Oxford University before doing a law conversion course at City University. She practised as a criminal barrister in London for nearly a decade and subsequently completed an MA in Creative Writing - Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia. She lives in north London. Her first novel, “Blood Orange”, published in 2019 to huge critical ac...
Elly Griffiths is a multi-award-winning author & a No. 1 bestseller. She has written 27 crime novels for adults; 4 for children, & a volume of short stories. Her books for adults include the Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, the Brighton Mysteries and the Detective Harbinder Kaur series, as well as “The Frozen People”, the first book in the Ali Dawson Mysteries. Elly's many accolades include the CWA Da...
Julie Wassmer is a professional television drama writer, working on various series including ITV's “London's Burning”, C 5's “Family Affairs” and BBC 's “Eastenders” – which she worked on for 20 years. “Murder at St. Alfred’s” is the brand-new book in the Whitstable Pearl crime series, starring restauranteur and detective Pearl Nolan (now a major TV drama, starring Kerry Godliman). For almost tw...
