An enthusiastic audience welcomed Bowjangles back to Corsham with their new show, Bowjangles on the Box. This sees the hugely talented string quartet, Bertie Anderson, Ezme Gaze, Ed Bruggemeyer and Mitch McGugan, sing, dance and play their way through a day in the TV schedules of The Bowjangles Broadcasting Corporation, from breakfast show to evening feature film.

The weather forecast medley is particularly fun, with a snippet of every weather-related song you can think of, seamlessly woven together. The soap opera is hilarious; Bertie is outstanding as she leads the quartet in mock-operatic style. Ed and Ezme excel in a send-up of Strictly, with their fleet-footed Charleston.

Indeed, the audience become so engrossed with the dancing, singing and fast pace of the performances that it is easy to forget that they are playing all the music, all the time, without missing a beat. Dancing while playing a violin is clever, but a cello? Amazing.

All four performers are strong and perfectly in harmony with each other, both in music and movement, but Ezme is the master in character portrayal with her expressive face never still for a moment.

This is truly original entertainment and a joy to watch. The audience joined in with the final song, to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory, concluding with the line “Help save the arts that keep our spirits alive.” A noble sentiment indeed and one that The Pound plays a strong part in fulfilling.

If you missed this show, you can catch Bowjangles when they return to the area from March 12-15 touring for Rural Arts Wiltshire, another string to the bow of The Pound Arts Trust, visiting Seend and Kington Langley. See poundarts.org.uk for full details and ticket information.