There's a wealth of things to do this weekend, including supporting some local drama groups as they bring some first class entertainment to the stage.

*YOUNG talent takes to the stage this weekend as WOW youth musical theatre group perform smash-hit musical CATS at Weymouth Pavilion.

There's a performance tonight at 7.30pm, tomorrow at 2.30pm and tomorrow at 7.30pm.

Based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, WOW’s production is set in an abandoned theatre which comes alive as the colourful cat characters tell their stories through song and dance.

The terms of the licence to perform CATS do not allow WOW to replicate the dance routines and costumes from the original production, so professional director/choreographer, Jeremy Tustin, has used these restrictions as an opportunity to reimagine the show. After reading about local charity Feral Cat Care in the Echo, WOW has decided to support the charity with a bucket collection. Contact the box office for tickets.

*DON'T miss Dorchester Drama's version of Noel Coward's Present Laughter at Dorchester Corn Exchange.

This light, semi-autobiographical comedy will be performed at the Corn Exchange tonight and tomorrow at 7.30pm and there is also a matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm.

Tickets are available from dorchesterdrama.org.uk, by calling 01305 268692 or on the door.

*ENTHUSIASTIC Venezuelan/British conductor Arturo Serna will be leading Dorset County Orchestra in their autumn concert at the Dorford Centre, Dorchester, at 7.30pm tomorrow.

Arturo leads an incredibly busy schedule conducting several orchestras in Devon and Dorset, leading cello masterclasses, performing, teaching and studying for a masters degree in conducting all done with great good humour and attention to detail.

The orchestra will be joined by Joe Pritchard, a BBC Young Musician of the Year Finalist, graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School and former Principal Cellist with the National Youth Orchestra to play the Haydn C Major Cello Concerto.

The concert opens with Saint-Saens Dance Bacchanale from the opera Samson and Delilah.

The major work in the concert is Sibelius Second Symphony.

Tickets cost £12 and are available at the door or in advance from Shoetrees, 6,Trinity Street, Dorchester.

*THE Lives and Loves of Claude Debussy at Dorchester Corn Exchange on Sunday at 7pm is a fitting programme for the centenary year of the composer’s death.

Last year Lucy Parham brought Nocturne to the county town, narrated by Dame Harriet Walter and Guy Paul. She returns with another brilliant narrator, Henry Goodman, in Rêverie, The Lives and Loves of Claude Debussy.

Rêverie evokes Debussy’s complex emotional life through a personal and revealing journal, illuminated by a sequence of his most famous and atmospheric solo piano works. Contact Dorchester Arts for tickets.

*SEE the Great War through a Tommy's eyes with Meet Tommy Atkins in Yetminster tonight (16) at 7.30pm.

On August 4, 1914, reservist Tommy Atkins was immediately called up to serve his country. Within weeks he saw his first action in the fields of France and subsequently experienced the full scale of life in the Western Front trenches of the First World War - the horror, the pain, the misery, the boredom and even the moments of joy. Call 01935 873719 for tickets.

*LONDON based singer Ranjana Ghatak is touring to rural Dorset this weekend.

Singing in Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindi and English, Ranjana takes inspiration from Indian Classical music, mystic poetry and her own writing, performing new material written by herself and songs composed to mystic poets such as Kabir and Meera Bai.

You can see her at Buckland Newton Village Hall tomorrow at 7.30pm and Portesham Village Hall on Sunday at 7.30pm. See artsreach.co.uk for tickets.

*HEAD out to Eype on Sunday to see an unusual market.

A makers' market is being held at Highlands Ends Holiday Park between 10am and 4pm.

There will be a unique mix of more than 40 artisans and makers at this popular annual market which raises money for the RNLI and local charities.

*THERE'S a final chance to catch the Trade Union Congress 150th anniversary exhibition at Dorchester's Shire Hall in High West Street this weekend.

This is a story with particular relevance to Dorchester, because the trade union movement from which the TUC was formed came from events that took place in this very building – the trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs and the subsequent campaign for justice and freedom. The exhibition is seven metres long, featuring images and text and the exhibition also includes a laptop showing a film of a selection of 150 inspiring trade unionists' stories. You can catch it today, tomorrow and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.