THE lowdown on some of the events happening in Oswestry and the surrounding area...

ARTS & EVENTS

Thursday, January 24 at 7.30pm: Diane Setterfield at Booka Bookshop, Church Street Oswestry.

Spend a captivating evening in the company of Diane Setterfield as she talks about her new novel Once Upon a River, a multi-layered mystery set in the 19th century.

Tickets are £5 – redeemable against a signed copy of Once Upon a River – which includes a glass of wine/soft drink on arrival.

To book, call in at Booka Bookshop or visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/diane-setterfield-once-upon-a-river-tickets-53568372444 (online purchase includes a booking fee).

Doors open at 7pm.

MUSIC

Tuesday, January 22 from 8-10pm: Oswestry Jazz Orchestra open rehearsals at Hermon Chapel Arts Centre, Chapel Street, Oswestry.

Come and see the Oswestry Jazz Orchestra (OJO) in action, working through old and new material.

Those who might like to join OJO can get in touch with the Hermon on 01691 662196.

Rehearsals are every Tuesday evening.

CINEMA LISTINGS

Wednesday, January 16 at 7.30pm: Juliet, Naked (15), Kinokulture, Arthur Street, Oswestry.

Annie (Rose Byrne) is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan (Chris O’Dowd) – an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe (Ethan Hawke).

When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s hit record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to a life-changing encounter with the elusive rocker himself.

Based on the novel by Nick Hornby, Juliet, Naked is a comic account of life’s second chances.

Also showing on January 16.

For more information, visit http://www.kinokulture.org.uk or call 01691 238167.

Friday, January 18 at 7.30pm: Widows (15) at Kinokulture.

From Academy Award-winning director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) and bestselling author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) comes a blistering, modern-day thriller set against the backdrop of crime, passion and corruption.

Widows is the story of four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands’ criminal activities. Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time of turmoil, tensions build when Veronica (Viola Davis), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) and Belle (Cynthia Erivo) take their fate into their own hands and conspire to forge a future on their own terms.

Widows also stars Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya, Lukas Haas and Brian Tyree Henry.

Kinokulture is also screening Widows on January 19 and 21.

For more information, visit http://www.kinokulture.org.uk or call 01691 238 167.

Tuesday, January 22: Royal Opera House Live: The Queen Of Spades (12A) at Kinokulture.

IN TCHAIKOVSKY’S intense opera of obsession and the supernatural, Gherman is caught between the woman he loves and a destructive fixation.

The Queen of Spades is based on a short story by Pushkin, and comes to the Royal Opera House in a new production that has already garnered five-star reviews in Amsterdam.

The production is set in 1890, the year of the opera’s premiere.

In his study, Tchaikovsky imagines the opera into life as his own story, its characters giving voice to his unfulfilled desires.

Aleksandrs Antonenko and Eva-Maria Westbroek head the cast and Royal Opera Chorus, conducted by Antonio Pappano, music director of The Royal Opera

For more information, visit www.kinokulture.org.uk or call 01691 238167.