TALISK are well and truly one of the fastest rising bands in the UK folk world.

Winners of the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award and 2017 Folk Band of the Year, at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, they certainly cut the mustard

when it comes to making captivating, energetic and dynamic music.

In a relative short time concertina player, Mohsen Amini, guitarist, Graeme Armstrong and fiddler Hayley Keenan have landed a string of awards and plenty of nationwide media and audience approval.

In 2016, Mohsen Amini was crowned BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year, adding even more silverware to their collective trophy cabinet that far belies their years.

BBC radio and television presenter Mark Radcliffe describes them as "extraordinary." A pretty good recommendation coming from one of the nation's most authoritative voices on the folk scene.

Talisk have also scored highly through appearances at top notch festivals such as the Cambridge Folk Festival, Fairport's Cropredy Convention and Denmark’s Tonder, as well as playing live sessions on both BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship folk programmes.

With a second album in the pipeline, and a heavy touring schedule throughout 2018 and beyond, the tuneful trio's star is firmly on the ascent.

Check them out on Thursday, April 5 (7.30pm), when they perform at the Laundrama, Bowness as part of the Old Laundry theatre's spring season.

Also featured in the Bowness theatre's new season's mix of music and theatre is an Old Laundry favourite, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

A world class drama school, training actors, directors, designers, technicians and stage managers for sustainable careers in the industry, LAMDA plays a vital role in shaping the dramatic arts and its talented graduates can be found in the National Theatre, the RSC, Shakespeare's Globe, London's West End and Hollywood, as well as on the BBC and Broadway.

LAMDA stages playwright Blake Morrison's We Are Three Sisters at the Old Laundry on Thursday, April 19 (performances 2.30pm and 7.30pm).

Set against the backdrop of the windswept Yorkshire village of Haworth, the play tells of three remarkable young women enduring life in a gloomy parsonage.

With no curtains or comforts, Charlotte, Anne and Emily Bronte live quiet, dutiful lives, surrounded by gravestones and plagued by illness.

However, they find solace in each other and their reading, lighting up their small world with outspoken wit, aspirations, dreams and ideas.

With exquisitely drawn characterisations, a nod to Chekhov and a touch of poetic licence, We Are Three Sisters evokes with piercing clarity the personalities of these three spirited women.

Friday, April 20 (2.30pm, 7.30pm) sees LAMDA follow on with Samuel D Hunter's award-winning dark comedy A Bright New Boise.

In this, centre stage is Will - a gentle and fractured man - who having fled his rural hometown after a scandal at his church, arrives at the Hobby Lobby Craft Store in Boise, Idaho, looking for a new job and a fresh start. While getting to know the eclectically group of employees, the truth about his past and the real reason behind his motivation for being back in Boise is revealed.

Bouncing adventurously back into the Old Laundry from May 26, is the hit musical Where is Peter Rabbit? running until September 2.

Inspired by Beatrix Potter’s wonderful stories, the innovative show for all the family which enjoyed a sell-out run last year, stars Miss Potter's favourite characters in a special visual spectacular.

The production is a combination of live performance, uplifting songs, inventive staging, projection and beautifully created puppets: all designed with exquisite attention to detail, staying faithful to BP's original stories and illustrations. The cast of six actors bring to life many of her much-loved characters - the ferocious Mr McGregor, scheming Mr Tod, the disagreeable Tommy Brock, the headstrong and foolish Jemima and, of course, the adorable Peter Rabbit. Accompanying the performers are the distinguished voices of Miriam Margolyes, who reads the stories of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and Jemima Puddle-duck, and Old Laundry trustee, Griff Rhys Jones, who lends his dulcet tones to the Tale of Jeremy Fisher and Peter Rabbit.

There are also some surprise star appearances from lesser known characters; from Lucie and Ptolemy Tortoise, to the an enormous trout which swallows Jeremy Fisher and Kep the collie dog.

As an added treat, visitors can enjoy special ticket packages, including afternoon tea with Peter Rabbit himself, and there are extra special packages for schools, including free tickets to the attraction.

For tickets and further information about the spring season telephone the Old Laundry box office on 015394-40872.