This week’s arts and entertainment hitlist

Piaf

BE drawn into the extraordinary world of Édith Piaf, at The Watermill, Bagnor, until May 17. Pam Gems’ play, starring Audrey Brisson, charts The Little Sparrow’s dramatic rise from the squalor of the streets of Paris to the glamour of international stardom. Piaf intertwines the great loves, losses and questionable decisions of this complex and fragile star with her raw, spellbinding songs, performed live by an ensemble cast of actor-musicians. Still revered as an icon, decades after her untimely death, she lived a life of no regrets. http://watermill.org.uk

Ridgeway art competition exhibition

'Colours and Hues of the Ridgeway' will fill the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall in Uffington on Saturday and Sunday (April 26 and 27) for the Swire Ridgeway Arts Exhibition. More than 130 works of art including photographs, sculpture, paintings, ceramics and poetry have been entered by artists from Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. The exhibition will be open from 10am to 5pm both days. Entrance is free and many works are for sale. Judging will be on Friday 25 April and prizegiving at 3pm on Sunday. The Swire Ridgeway Arts Prize and Exhibition is run annually by the Friends of the Ridgeway, a charity set up to raise awareness of the Ridgeway between Overton Hill near Avebury and Ivinghoe Beacon near Tring.

Duck - a cricket coming of age story

Cricket coming of age story, Duck, bowls onto the Corn Exchange stage on Wednesday. Written by award-winning playwright and producer maatin, Duck is about adolescence, the pressures of sporting competition and finding your identity in an environment that doesn’t cater for difference. It’s the summer of 2005 as England get ready to win the Ashes. 15-year-old British Indian student Ismail (Smiley to his friends) goes to the sort of school you hear about because of how many Prime Ministers went there and there is literally nothing he doesn’t love about cricket. Ever since he can remember, he’s been obsessed. A star player full of ambition and talent, Ismail sets his sights on immortality – breaking the school batting record and getting his name into Wisden. But at the start of the season, new coach Mr. Eagles takes a particular dislike to him, for reasons Ismail can’t quite put his finger on. Playwright maatin says “I'm thrilled that this exciting new tour will bring new audiences into the seldom-seen perspective of a British Indian, Muslim teenage boy. It is my biggest goal to purposefully invite communities that have been excluded – whether deliberately or otherwise – into the theatre, both on and off the stage.” Age guide 12+. For tickets and more information, visit www.cornexchangenew.com or contact the box office on 01635 522733.

Joan Miró lithographs

Explore the works of one of the 20th century’s most influential and recognisable artists at The Base, Greenham at the Joan Miró: Painting and Poetry touring lithograph exhibition. Joan Miró’s highly individual style placed him at the forefront of Surrealism and Dadaism. This exhibition brings together the series of lithographs Miró created in response to the writings of the celebrated French surrealist poet Robert Desnos. The artwork features abstract elements in dazzling colours and unique symbolic narratives. Continues to Sunday. Open Tues-Sun, 10am-5pm). Book a time slot. Entry £8.50; concessions. https://thebasegreenham.co.uk/