Live and Local, the Rural and Community Touring Networks, returns to South Kesteven this autumn to bring a wide variety of cultural offerings including music, comedy, drama and dance to villages across the district.

Smaller community venues - including at Swayfield, Irnham, Aisby and Ropsley - will welcome performers to delight audiences - and bring communities closer together after the restrictions of the pandemic.

The venues may be less well known but will be hosting some real hidden gems. It's a chance for audiences to experience top-notch shows in the intimacy of a village hall, community centre – or other surprising space – giving a chance to experience events closer to home.

Pentabus theatre – well regarded for producing high quality theatre and bringing it to communities in rural areas – offers its new play 'Jacaranda', by award-winning playwright Lorna French at Ropsley Village Hall on 27 October.

If you're looking for live music, Scratchy Beard offer up bluesy jazz with added storytelling songs inspired by English and Celtic folk music. This quartet of dyed-in-the-wool touring musos, classically trained instrumentalists and a celebrated illustrator are sure to impress and will be live in Swayfield Village Hall on 16 October. Other events are throughout October, November, and December at Swayfield plus West Deeping Village Hall and The Old Town Hall in Bourne.

The full listing is here:

Sunday, 10th October 2021, 7:30 PM

Irnham Hall

Forget Me Not - The Alzheimer's Whodunnit presented by Rob Gee

A compassionate, honest, clever and 'seriously funny' (Sunday Mirror) one-man murder mystery about a retired police detective whose memory is failing but who is determined to solve one last whodunnit, very close to home.

Box Office: 07801 865780

Saturday, 16th October 2021, 7:30 PM

Swayfield Village Hall

Scratchy Beard in Concert presented by Scratchy Beard

An evening of songs and storytelling inspired by the swing and melodies of gypsy jazz, adorned by the storytelling spirit of Anglo-Celtic folk and spiced with a gentle nod to rootsy blues. Experienced performers, Scratchy Beard are an upbeat and enjoyable live quartet.

Box Office: 01476 550909

Friday, 22nd October 2021, 8:00 PM

West Deeping Village Hall

Florence 'Flo' Smith - Now and Then presented by Kick in The Head

Funny and poignant, Flo is an engaging personal story and the best kind of history lesson. In 1969 Flo Smith looks back on her life in London from the Boer War to The Summer of Love. Daughter, sister, wife, mother, widow and grandmother she recalls with horror, humour, tears and joy turbulent times at home and in the wider world.

Box Office: 01778 380197

Saturday, 23rd October 2021, 7:30 PM

Heydour Parish Village Hall, Aisby

Florence 'Flo' Smith - Now and Then presented by Kick in The Head

Funny and poignant, Flo is an engaging personal story and the best kind of history lesson. In 1969 Flo Smith looks back on her life in London from the Boer War to The Summer of Love. Daughter, sister, wife, mother, widow and grandmother she recalls with horror, humour, tears and joy turbulent times at home and in the wider world. Wednesday, 27th October 2021, 7:30 PM

Ropsley Village Hall

Jacaranda presented by Pentabus Theatre Company

A deeply affecting new drama about acceptance and belonging, as two unlikely strangers - a wary gamekeeper and a 'not local' - find themselves embroiled in a mission to save an endangered bird.

Box Office: 01476 585739 Friday, 19th November 2021, 7:30 PM

Ropsley Village Hall

Bonfire Radicals in Concert presented by Bonfire Radicals

One of the most exciting and eclectic groups on the folk/ world scene, translating a wide variety of influences - medieval and Celtic folk, eastern European jazz-swing and world-beats - into a distinctive and gloriously high-spirited live stage show.

Friday, 26th November 2021, 7:30 PM

Heydour Parish Village Hall, Aisby

The Beast in Me presented by The Devil's Violin Company

The Devil's Violin return! Since their inception in 2006, they have developed a huge following for their gripping and powerful storytelling. 'The Beast in Me' will feature their trademark fusion of timeless story and beautiful live music, as well as a few surprises! Saturday, 11th December 2021, 7:00 PM

The Old Town Hall, Bourne

Essex Girl presented by Maria Ferguson

This show is a monologue about growing up surrounded by expectation, of inappropriate relationships, female friendship, secrets, desires and alcopops. It questions how the Essex Girl stereotype influences young girls, what they want, what they think they deserve, and how they are treated. Wonderfully funny and ultimately hard-hitting it will resonate with a wide audience, particularly millennials, or anyone who has got too drunk at a house party.