The Public Reviews

RACHEL LYNES: Puppy Love

2011-03-11T13:09:00.000Z

As an actress, writing a blog for a theatre website, I want to give you razzle-dazzle, Hollywood glamour, backstage dirt, debauchery and drama. But this week’s blog is written from a place of confinement. There’s only so much drama that can be achieved, housebound, inside a small basement flat.

To paint the picture…

Around me, there is a strong smell of disinfectant. Not a great smell but preferable to the smell of wee. Before assumptions are made, I will stress to you, no, it’s not me. I may be mad but I’m not the one who’s incontinent. Not me.

A bit of history…

Throughout childhood, I had a dog phobia that was quite debilitating. Parks were a terror-zone: played in, with one eye to the horizon, watching and listening for a woof or a blur of teeth on it’s way over to eat me. Even now, I come out in a cold sweat if a dog takes me by surprise. So why, as I write, is there a pair of large brown eyes looking up at me with a tail wagging so hard her little bottom looks it’s going to take off? Why is a there little puddle on the floor behind the chair and, why is there, sitting at my feet, a small furry little chew machine also know as a puppy?

Reason 1) I made a resolution a while back- “If something scares you… DO IT “. It seems a good way to push yourself and keep life interesting.

Reason 2): Duster, the puppy

Last summer, I met Duster. I watched him scampering about and began to admire his outlook on life. Everything was worth a sniff, everything a potential friend. I wondered if (excluding all the sniffing of bottoms) more of those qualities should be applied to life… openness, exploration, instinct…

Reason 1 + reason 2 = Nula = life in disarray

But minus the mess, being on puppy watch is a great. She’s great and I’m smitten. It’s also an excuse to re write the feature film I completed before my run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. It’s a good incentive to sit and write without feeling obliged to get out and do something. Forced to get up at 6am, I’ve been managing to work for a good 12 hours a day. That wouldn’t have happened pre Nula.

And she’s helpful. She sits at my feet and encourages me. She’s also a great help when practising lines. In anticipation of next week’s Tempest audition, she’s being a fabulous Prospero and a wonderful Caliban. With the frequent Shakespeare speeches and Classic FM to keep her calm, I think she’ll understand French by the time she’s 6 months old (and certainly be the star of the class in puppy training)

*Note to stop the high expectations before the pup develops a guilt complex and I become a clichéd Jewish mother

Whilst multi tasking the pup, the writing and the acting, I was interested to read James Franco’s interview in the Guardian magazine. Franco, known as much for his university double life as for his acting (and recent Oscar nomination) is the subject of much speculation: is his academic pursuit a PR stunt, a clever way to make him more than a pretty face?

I think there’s little point in questioning why James Franco is doing all this. I’d rather just be impressed. After all, even if his incentive to go to back to school is PR, the action stands up for itself: He’s there, turning up, doing homework and putting in the hours. Lets just applaud the hard work

One of his comments, that the hard slog brings gratitude for the acting, makes sense. He also said that stops him being engulfed in Hollywood. It rings true that becoming consumed can be destructive, be it for a person or for an important audition.

Simon Beaufoy (writer of Slumdog Millionaire) said something similar in his Bafta lecture

“If you concentrate too much you’re going to fail.”

As a singer, I make the best sound when I’m fully relaxed. I was on my 4th recall for Mimi in the most recent West End version of Rent and the casting director told me to run around the room and roll on the floor. I looked like a loony but the sound flew out.

With acting, it’s the same. In an audition, if you try to be good, you’re often at your worst. If you’re not playing… if you’re not free, open and relaxed, then your head is in the wrong place. Before a show I use music, meditation, exercise or just being silly with friends to try and find this state.

There’s no way of switching off the wants, dreams and the hopes to do your best but filling life with other joys can make work seem a lot less “live or die”

The puppy agrees. She thinks that it is very silly to put so much pressure on being perfect and, really, we should just run around sniffing things and wiggling our bottoms.

Woman Bomb - Tristan Bates Theatre, London

2011-03-11T12:53:00.000Z

Writer: Ivana Sajko
Translator: Vana Butkovic
Director: Maja Milatovic-Ovadia & Vanda Butkovic
Reviewer: Toni Stott-Rates
[Rating: 3.5]

“Is this an act of heroism ending in my suicide, or is this a suicide hidden behind an act of heroism”?

Ivana Sajko’s play is an interesting and fun concept; two actors play different parts of a playwright’s consciousness that is trying to work through her creative process and find the character of a female suicide bomber. It is an interesting look at the thoughts and frustrations of the writer as she works through the information she gathers, the opinions of others and her own understandings; her love, like disgust, hatred, sympathy, pity, disdain for this character. It is a wonderful subject to look into as the reasons for becoming a suicide bomber are so intrinsically personal that in a way its completely up to the writer to decide how and why for her character because who knows why this or that woman went through with it.

The play recites many statistics to and for us, many facts and stories, examples and realities for who suicide bombers can be and why they might do this. Its an eye opener, the character of the bomber herself, because of the changing ideas of the writer, goes through many transitions doing it at first for hatred and disgust, for fear, for fanaticism, for any of the numerous ways women may be willing and then forced into doing it, atoning for their sins real or perceived, for money, for social acceptance, and finally and ultimately for suicide.

The directors’ choice to cast a young pretty blonde girl who is well groomed and healthy as the bomber really grated me, I thought ‘good grief why on earth someone like this’ surely its not that hard to get someone who looks closer to the part, but its humbling to realise that this was precisely the reason she was cast because as a westerner is so easy to think about suicide bombers as ethnically, racially, religiously different from us. It’s comforting that down deep without ever consciously acknowledging it we assume none of them look like us, that we are different, it’s not OUR problem. Being made to look at that is a bit shaming and wonderful for the show if they are able to get that reaction from their audience.

This is just one part of how this play challenges you to think about how you think, to examine your preconceived ideas about suicide bombers, and in this way the show is a success and well done. In other ways there were some issues, for example it often veered into melodrama, sometimes it quickly reversed that and even questioned the melodrama, but at times it was just too irking to watch and therefore pulls you out of the voyeurs dream and into a state where you are actively criticizing the play and not watching it.

The acting choices that both the actors and the directors kept did at times rankle me, Laura Harling’s portrayal of the bomber, for example, keeps going back to a kind of femme fatale noir’ish character or at other times someone unhinged and still at other times a sexualised unhinged person, which unfortunately gave the impression that it was the “writer’s” view of the bomber as some sort of sexy crazy person, which is clichéd in the worst and just not true to the psychology of women who choose to do this. Part of me wonders if this was intentional, the actor and director exploring how in theatre we often create easy recognisable characters before we give them depth, but the fact was that the change in the portrayal wasn’t enough, there wasn’t enough depth given later on for me to believe this was intentional, or if it was it wasn’t executed as well as it should have been.

This play has some beautiful and horrid images, quite apart from the screen projections which I often found seriously distracting from the play, the actors themselves created beautiful images that stay with you. The bomber’s naked back in the dim glowing light bathing from a small bowl in preparation, the bomber getting her hair repeatedly plaited for her by the writer, pages of the script from the writer that through an act of violence becomes a bomb being forcefully put into the bombers womb.

I say this is a play to take friends to; I certainly enjoyed debating it afterwards with mine. As a play calculated to make you think about who these women are and why they do it, and about creation and theatre making it succeeds very well. For me the acting let it down, but for my friend she thought the acting was great and the script let the actors down…all I can do is say how I feel, and while I hated it right after I have grown to appreciate it, it leaves strong images and thoughts in your head which is all any of us ask for from good theatre.

Runs untill: 14 May 2011

Interview: Richard McCabe (Yes Prime Minister)

2011-03-11T12:49:00.001Z

Since taking on the role of Prime Minister, Richard McCabe has new respect and sympathy for the man at the top, he explains to The Public Reviews journalist Jemma Crowston.

The top West End comedy Yes, Prime Minister will grace the stage at Leicester’s Curve theatre at the end of the month with a six-night stop in the city.

Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, the original writers of the classic TV series, Yes Minister and the sequel Yes, Prime Minister have reunited for this anniversary production.

Heading the coalition government, Prime Minister Jim Hacker (McCabe) and cabinet secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby (Simon Williams) face a country in financial meltdown. The only salvation comes from a morally dubious deal with the Foreign Minister of Kumranistan.

McCabe said, “It’s a 21st century version of the much loved TV series. The characters are recognisable but they have modern twists.”

He added, “It’s a wonderfully funny script about the government and those that make the decisions. The show doesn’t talk down to the audience and can be very silly. The second half is basically a farce but it can be very clever at times too.”

The 50-year-old actor said the show is not portrayed in any one particular political party. He said, “What’s great about it is that Jim has qualities of a lot of the prime minister’s over the years and there’s no obvious political party involved.”

The show has completed six weeks of its 20 week tour.

McCabe, whose played in numerous stage and TV productions including BBC’s Wallander, said, “This version of the show has the addition of a woman which reflects the changes in government now compared to when it was originally written.“There are a lot of stories in the show which you’d think were written yesterday because they’re so current and reflect what’s in the news today.”

McCabe hinted at the current controversial story of Italian politician Berlusconi and said it bares some resemblance to a part in the play.

When asked if he had ever dreamed of being the Prime Minister, the Glasgow-born actor who grew up near Brighton, said, “It’s an impossible job. I have deep sympathy for them. You have to really watch what you say because anything you say could be taken out of context in this media age.”

The set used to play out this production represents the drawing room of the well-known country residence Chequers used by many politicians. The stage is filled with oak panelling, book cases and posh furniture.

He said, “Everyone would love this show because it’s a great comedy. The older ones will come with pre-conceptions from the TV series but they might find something quite different. It’d be great to see younger people there who will just see it for what it is. It’s a very intelligent play.”

McCabe, who last came to Leicester in the 1980s to perform at the late Haymarket Theatre, is excited to return to the city.

After the tour finishes in July, McCabe is hoping to head back to Sweden for a second series of Wallander.

To book tickets for Yes, Prime Minister, which will be at Curve from March 28 to April 3 visit www.curveonline.co.uk

Keepers - Contact Theatre, Manchester

2011-03-11T12:45:00.000Z

Creators: The Plasticine Men
Reviewer: Ian Winterton
[Rating:4]

1801. A lighthouse standing sentry over the Smalls, a stretch of water 22-miles off the coast of Pembrokeshire is home to Thomas and Thomas, its keepers. Senior Thomas is dedicated and dour, while his companion is a day-dreamer; he’s as interested in aiding ailing seabirds as he is safeguarding sailors.

The promise of this claustrophobic scenario is realised by a strong, slightly surreal script, but what elevates it to the level of mini-masterpiece is its rendering as a piece of bravura physical theatre. With only two chairs, a ladder and a trapdoor, Newbury-based The Plasticine Men, manage to recreate the keepers’ environment through mime so fully that this reviewer isn’t sure he didn’t hallucinate waves crashing over railings at one point.

The two astounding performers are backed up by an incredibly rich soundscape – everything from the squeak as they polish the windows to a roaring gale – to which their every move is choreographed. Add to this an inventive staging – the scenes switch so often that this most theatrical of experiences seems at time almost cinematic; it’s like watching a film you can’t quite see, or a radio drama you sort of can…

The imagination well and truly unlocked during the first half of the play, one’s brain is primed for the story to lurch into the arena of madness, as one Thomas is drowned and the other, with no hope of being rescued, starts to lose his mind. Unsettling, funny and, ultimately, both moving and beautiful.

A hit at 2010’s Edinburgh Fringe and well-deserved winner of many awards, Keepers is a truly unique piece that will haunt your dreams for many months to come…

Touring UK until 9 April 2011. Details at:
http://www.theplasticinemen.co.uk/pages/keeperspages/tourdates.html

74 Georgia Avenue - New End Theatre, Hampstead

2011-03-11T12:39:00.000Z

Writer: Murray Schisgal
Director: Paul Blinkhorn
Reviewer: Alexei Edwards
[rating:3]

After conducting a modicum of research on the writer, Murray Schisgal, of 73 Georgia Avenue, I learned that he had some rather impressive credentials. He was Oscar nominated as the co writer of Tootsie and an award winning playwright so I was surprised, and hugely excited, to be given the opportunity to see a UK premier of a play that was first penned way back in the 20th Century, in 1988.

The play was incredibly short, a mere 40 minutes, and told the story of a middle-aged Jewish man, Marty, returning to the house he grew up in which is now occupied by Joseph, a black man who has set aside his work commitments to look after his terminally ill wife. Within a matter of minutes, the gregarious Marty strides in and is immediately met with hostility by the bewildered Joseph who refers to him as a ‘honky.’ My immediate impression was that I was to witness a short play dealing with the cultural differences of the two players but that was soon dispelled as the play established Marty as a man desperately searching to put to rest the ghosts of his past and Joseph as a man trying to escape the inevitable onset of tragedy that had permeated his life due to his wife’s inescapable illness. They both became warped kindred spirits, feeding off each other’s melancholy and internal suffering whilst celebrating some of the characters of their shared past.

Both of the main actors offered insightful and at times, emotive performances that really plunged me into the world they so warmly discussed.

This play spoke to me about two men wanting to escape their immediate surroundings and celebrate and, at times, commiserate a life they once had.

The set perfectly illustrated the mild degradation that seemed to permeate Joseph and Marty’s lives but the main concern I had was not with the production itself but rather Schisgal’s script. On the undercurrent, there was a celebration of the Jewish community and culture these two men were a part of but there was also a nod towards the supernatural that I felt did not belong. From my perspective, it confused the play a little and exposed the frailties of the actor who played Joseph.

A shame as I felt it was a play that at times, threatened to be brilliant and truly memorable.

Runs until 19th March

No Loss, Joe Loss – The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-11T12:35:00.000Z

Writer: Christine Marshall
Director: Colin Muir
Reviewer: Jo Beggs
[rating:1]

After 30 years married to the hapless Frank (Stephen Tomlin), Mona (Meriel Schofield) has reached the end of her patience, and of her sanity. Hospitalised and put through endless therapy sessions she manages to pull through and get the piece of paper that says she’s sane. But what she comes home to is enough to make her turn right round and head back to the relative peace and quiet of the psychiatric hospital. Frank’s mother, Lillian (Jacqueline Pilton) suffers a stroke, and because of the prospect of an MRSA riddled ward, comes ‘home’ to be cared for by Mona.

Labelled a comedy drama there’s few laughs unless you count the moments of silliness that Mona allows herself just to get through the day. Tending to the every need of the spiteful old woman, Mona’s mental health starts veering back downwards. Something has to give.

And what gives is the veneer of normal family life. Secrets and horrible truths start to seep out, all the bitterness that has been held in over the years. It starts with accounts of petty irritations and builds to reveal a lifetime of unspoken misery and terrible abuse.

No Loss, Joe Loss tackles some tough, emotional subjects head on. It should shock and move, but it’s such a clumsy, overlong piece of writing that it fails to affect at all. The characters are hateful and fail to ignite any sense of empathy, as they dramatically reveal their long held secrets, revelations fall flat. It really is hard to care.

Two members of the cast do put in credible performances considering they have almost nothing to work with. Meriel Schofield is best in monologue scenes early on, bringing a painful, muddling through sort of humour to a woman who’s really spiralling out of control. Jacqueline Pilton as Lillian is suitably acidic and matriarchal in Act One and frighteningly senile in Act Two. There’s a plausible bond between the two women underpinned by rivalry, guilt and Mona’s urge to nurture. It's a shame the hard work they’ve put into this production isn’t matched by either the writing or the performances from the rest of the cast.

Frank delivers profanity and Shakespeare in the same tired tone. He’s an ordinary man bent on bettering himself. But it’s unbelievable that Mona would have stuck marriage out this long with such an ignorant and unlikeable man, and, having got her groove back and finally bundled the old lady off to spend the rest of her days in a hospital, even more unlikely she’d stay. Stephen Tomlin’s lacklustre performance doesn’t help, his mumbling delivery and accent make some parts of the script hard to follow. Not that it’s worth the effort to translate.

Rachel Priest as their transsexual son David/Danni and Louise Nulty as Mona’s psychiatrist (and in a particularly irritating scene, a mock-judge) do nothing to expand their one-dimensional, and, in Nulty’s case, nauseating characters.

The whole thing is a waste of what could be a credible and moving domestic drama. Marshall had something promising and has completely lost control of it. No Loss, Joe Loss is a wearisome, seriously flawed production with little to redeem it.

Runs until the 12th March 2011

Up Out o’ The Sea (eastern Angles) – The Town Hall, Maldon

2011-03-11T12:30:00.000Z

Writer: Andrew Holland
Director: Ivan Cutting
Reviewer: Michael Gray
[Rating:3.5]

Off the lonely Suffolk coast, eroded by the relentless waves, a wreck has lain for thirty years. Now it is to be brought to the surface, just as a prickly journalist from London turns up in the the tight-knit local community, with her laptop and her searching questions.

That's the starting point for Andrew Holland's Up Out o' the Sea, an atmospheric piece dealing with those Eastern Angles stock-in-trade themes of origins, ghosts and time-slips.

A simple, weathered set sits across the Town Hall in Maldon, replicating the John Mills Theatre back in Ipswich. “Fresh Fish For Sale – Special Offer Herring £1.50 lb” at one end, with a suggestion of the mooring and the remote Point. At the other, the village library.

The company of five bring some pretty complex characters to life, as their stories unfold and intertwine. Rough-edged chancer Tweedie, looking for love and a way out of the dead-end, was played by Francis Woolf, who caught precisely the mixture of bravado and vulnerability. His colleague, Dolphie, the only survivor of the volunteer crew that attempted the rescue on that fatal night, was Mike Aherne, who managed to make the grumpy old fishermen both believable and sympathetic.

Lisa-Marie Hoctor played two linked characters, both immature, both young mothers; sometimes hard to grasp all her words in this less than ideal acoustic, but I loved her Emily, the mysterious girl with a touch of the devil, who dreams of passing through into glory …

Laura Harding was brilliantly convincing as the writer with secrets of her own – the picnic at the Point was movingly done, as was the “information versus emotion” dialogue with Lisa-Marie's modern Milly.

And Lisa Tramontin played the Librarian, by no means a stock character, despite her stereotype hair and cardigan. Though not all of the dialogue she was given rang true, she did provide some of the most touching moments in a play of many layers and textures. Including the key revelation, a real goosebumps realisation.

Music was powerfully used – a Bach Passion mainly – and simple but effective lighting suggested the sunshine and the showers, the night and the storm. The setting was practical and versatile - I admired the imagination that turned a door with oilskins hanging from hooks into a stretcher for the victims of the storm.

In the end, after a rescue which echoes the earlier disaster, they decide to leave the wreck where it lies – a memorial draws a line under a past event whose details are gradually revealed in this intriguing piece, directed, with his usual sure touch for the intangible, by Eastern Angles' Artistic Director Ivan Cutting.

Tours until 4th June

Interview: George Banks (History Boys)

2011-03-11T12:23:00.000Z

Playing a cocky and boisterous teenager is something new for the understated George Banks who will be heading to Curve next month to star in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.

The Public Reviews reporter, Jemma Crowston, caught-up with the 23-year-old during the show’s tour in Bath.

Director, Christopher Luscombe has revived the show for the first time since its original National Theatre production.

The History Boys, which has picked up three Olivier Awards, six Tony Awards, the Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards, will tell it’s tale of a Yorkshire Grammar School at Leicester’s Curve theatre from March 21 to March 26.

Known as one of the great plays of the decade, The History Boys is set in a school in the North of England where a sprightly bunch of bright, funny, sixth-form boys are attempting to gain entrance to Oxford or Cambridge whilst evading the distractions of sport and sex.

“The headmaster brings in a new history teacher to give the boys an edge in their exams and what you see on stage is a very enjoyable show with complex relationships between the students and the teacher and the teacher and the headmaster”, said Banks.

Banks will play Dakin, the leader-of-the-pack. He said, “Dakin is very cocky and impressive. He’s quite charming and a big flirt.

“I was a bit of nerd in school so nothing like Dakin. I can be a bit of a flirt I guess but I’d love to be like Dakin and have all that confidence.”

Banks said his favourite scenes are the ones with Dakin and the new teacher Hector played by Philip Franks (Darling Buds of May, Absolutely Fabulous). Banks said, “They’ve got quite a unique relationship. I also love the scenes when all the boys are in the classroom. We’re all very cheeky and like to cause mischief so we’re on stage drawing pictures and showing each other for a laugh.

“We’re all around the same age so the tour has been great because we’ve been out socialising.”

The 12-strong cast including Banks have been touring since January and Leicester will be there penultimate stop.

When asked if he could would he re-live his school days again, Banks replied, “I’ve got fond memories from school but I know some of them are through rose-tinted glasses so I wouldn’t want to ruin the memories I have.”

The Watford born actor has starred in many theatre and some TV roles but has also lent his voice for documentaries and computer games including Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup.

Banks said the show would be suitable by anyone whose been in education. He said, “Everyone whose gone through education has fond memories and this show has a character that everyone can relate to.

“It’s a beautiful play and I defy any audience member who doesn’t come out asking whoever is nearest ‘who was your Hector?’ Who was the teacher that inspired you?”

Banks added, “My GCSE English teacher was the first teacher to respect me as an individual. I think I was about 14 or 15 and for the first time we were treated as adults – not vacuous children. He ignited my passion for text and was very much like Hector in that he opened up the possibilities of everything to us.

“It was great to be in his lessons. I can still feel his influence on how I approach a text and in the way I try to reach a deeper understanding of what it is saying.”

In 2005, a film was made with the entire original cast of The History Boys, many of whom, including James Corden and Dominic Cooper, who have subsequently became household names.

To book tickets visit www.curveonline.co.uk

Richard III - The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-10T12:10:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Edward Hall

Reviewer: Helen Jones

[Rating: 3.5]

Propeller have returned to the Lowry, this time with one of Shakespeare's histories: Richard III, playing in tandem with The Comedy of Errors.

Propeller is one of very few companies that use an all male cast for Shakespeare, and in this production it works very well. As with all Propeller's productions this is not a classical take on the play. The setting is medical, with Michael Pavelka's set using moveable screens, plastic curtaining and surgical implements to create both the sets and the scene changes. It is also monochromatic, an aspect which is used to great effect in the battle between Richard and Richmond.

Richard Clothier is a tall, ungainly Richard, limping and missing a hand, he is monstrous only in his actions rather than his physical appearance. Clothier plays the role with a controlled skill, the menace of his intentions underlying every speech. His methodical destruction of all those who lie between him and the crown is carried out with mercurial precision.

His brothers, George, Duke of Clarence (John Dougall) and King Edward IV (Robert Hands) are both neatly disposed of by his scheming and his ill health. Both actors are convincing in their roles and then pick up on other roles later in the play. The young princes are done as puppets, which are quite spooky in their movements, provided by Sam Swainsby and Richard Frame. Dominic Tighe as Queen Elizabeth, Edward's wife, portrays the character as feminine without being effeminate - which works well, as do the other female roles in the hands of Jon Trenchard, Tony Bell and Kelsey Brookfield.

Director Edward Hall has a distinct style: he excels at creating strong imagery as well as strong physical performances from his actors. The masked ensemble are an ever present menace with their weapons, and Hall uses percussion and song as both an emphasis and a backing. However, as with a previous production I have seen, the graphic violence and stage blood is overused; the inference always having a stronger effect, I think, than the obvious.

Overall, though, Propeller manage to make a long winded history play more accessible without losing the wonderful language of Shakespeare; and for that they should be heartily commended.

Runs in rep until Sat 12th March

Puckoon – Leicester Square Theatre, London

2011-03-10T12:05:00.000Z

Writer: Spike Milligan
Music: Paul Boyd
Director: Zoë Seaton
Reviewer: Raylene Robertson
[rating:3.5]

I turned up to review this play knowing nothing more about it than it is based on a novel, written by a famous author quite a few years ago, that is set in Ireland. I left the theatre dying to read this, to me, elusive novel!

Puckoon is based on the novel written by Spike Milligan, a great children’s poet and a ground breaker in British radio with ‘The Goon Show’. The play is set in Ireland, 1922 and is considered a comic masterpiece. It tells the story of the separation of Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland. The story is an absurd comedy punctured with poignant moments.

This production of Puckoon is definitely one for the family. There maybe one or two swear words, yet the visuals will definitely leave a more lasting effect. The kids, and grown-ups too, will love the visual and sound elements, the super quick costume and character changes merging with the ever quickening music are a quite a delight. I was surprised to see a number of young children in the audience, yet the more I thought about it the less I could argue against it.

I myself am of a somewhat younger generation. I had only vaguely heard the name Milligan and I had an unexpected, wholly wonderful evening. I had never been taught about our history with Ireland and I had just missed out on the ‘Carry on …’ era, yet I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and am inclined to find out more about Spike Milligan!

The only thing that I can comment on is that on a couple of occasions the music was a little too loud, that those at the back could not quite hear the fast paced lines as well as those at the front.

However, the cast is great! They make the play feel like a collection of comedy sketches, they argue over who is to play the next ‘extra’, whilst not once loosing the plot and never do they become predictable. Most characters take on a numerous roles. Bryan Quinn’s transition from Mrs O’Toole to a male punter in her pub happens in the space of a second and is utterly hilarious!

Paul Boyd playing the role as the writer is a good move. He sits for most of the play, yet he gives the impression that his is a hard job, constantly being asked when will Dan Milligan’s legs become manlier? Organising who goes where and who is to do what, he delivers joke after joke and then hits you square in the eye with the truth. You are made to think. Yet not for too long … you are allowed to enjoy your night … but it gets under your skin!

Runs until 27 March 2011

Blithe Spirit – Apollo Theatre, London

2011-03-10T10:34:00.000Z

Writer: Noel Coward
Director: Thea Sharrock
Reviewer: Catherine Love
[rating:4]

Death may not be an obvious subject for comedy, but Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, brought back to the West End by award-winning director Thea Sharrock, creates plenty of laughs from beyond the grave. Joining Ghost Stories and the long running Woman in Black as the third ghoulish drama in the West End, this revival is more likely to produce giggles than goosebumps, taking a decidedly playful approach to the afterlife.

Writer Charles Condomine (Robert Bathurst) invites eccentric medium Madame Arcati (Alison Steadman) to dinner in the spirit of research, hoping for material for his latest novel and to provide some entertainment for his dinner guests into the bargain. Charles, his wife Ruth (Hermione Norris) and their guests are sceptical to say the least and their doubts appear to be confirmed by a ludicrous, scene-stealing display of spirit-summoning grunts and gestures from Steadman, who once again demonstrates her comic prowess in this deliciously silly role. She makes a hilarious, charmingly batty psychic and enthusiastically throws herself – often quite literally – into the part.

Although the project initially appears to be a failure, Madame Arcati’s energetic antics have unwittingly summoned the mischievous spirit of Charles’s first wife Elvira (Ruthie Henshall), who does not plan to be returning to the ‘other side’ any time soon. From here on in Elvira’s playful ghost reigns over the chaos as she trips lightly around the stage barefoot, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Henshall is a delightfully impish spirit, by turns charming and petulant, her luminosity rarely dimming. Her mischief is nicely offset by the fiery complaints of spurned Ruth, played with poise by Norris in the standout performance of the night. As Charles’s elegant, aloof and understandably irascible second wife Norris dazzles, confidently striding around the stage, spitting out her furiously clipped vowels and delivering Ruth’s acid retorts with aplomb.

Charles, as Ruth states at one point, has been dominated throughout his life by women, and Bathurst seems to follow in his character’s footsteps. His performance is by no means bad, painting an amusing picture of exasperation, but he is overshadowed by the three strong women. Nevertheless, in the spiky exchanges with his two wives Coward’s witty dialogue fizzes and crackles, rattling along at impressive speed. Sharrock’s direction successfully exploits these quick-fire quarrels for the most part, although the swift pace sometimes skates over some of the jokes.

The domestic chaos, like Charles’s marriages, occasionally threatens to turn stale, although these moments are few and brief. There is also the danger of the comedy tipping over the edge into absurdity, particularly when the over-the-top Madame Arcati puts in an appearance, but by the second half the urge to embrace the silliness is irresistible. Hildegard Bechtler’s set completes the descent into the ridiculous with a magnificent finale of cascading books and sparking light fixtures, not to mention a Phantom of the Opera-esque falling chandelier.

Coward’s 1940s comedy, with its clipped Queen’s English and jokes at the expense of the servants, stands now as something of a period piece; an eccentric, quintessentially British antiquity, rather like Madame Arcati. This new production may not be earth-shattering, but Sharrock’s light and playful directorial touch dusts off this quirky, entertaining play and preserves it as an enjoyable, sepia-tinted portrait of the past.

Runs until 18 June

Guys and Dolls - New Theatre, Cardiff

2011-03-10T10:28:00.000Z

Writer: Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling & Abe Burrows
Director/Choreographer: Peter Rowe
Reviewer: Lucy Thackray
[rating:3.5]

Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Sailsbury Playhouse & the New Wolsely Theatre, Ipswich’s tour of this classic Broadway musical is a winning production. It ticks many of the boxes for this well-loved material: high-energy choreography (by Francesca Jaynes), tight harmonies and crucially, not taking itself too seriously. Based on the short stories of Damon Runyon, and a huge hit on Broadway and the big screen, Guys and Dolls is guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Having reviewed the Chess tour last week, where the actors doubled as musicians onstage, I was surprised to see the company employing the same trick here. The Clwyd actors provided the brass and woodwind instruments for Frank Loesser’s big-band score, lingering upstage before or after their scenes to provide a trumpet solo or flute accompaniment to the core band of piano, bass and drums.

While this was an impressive showcase of the talents of the cast and musical director (Greg Palmer), I found it more of a distraction than a delight, as it was in Chess. During some intense dialogue scenes, my eyes were drawn to the cast members watching in the background, waiting for their cue. The band’s presence onstage was effective in the Hot Box and Havana scenes, but runs the risk of drawing you out of the action each time the musicians enter for their next number.

The cast is not listed in the programme in any hierarchy, which seems fitting once you realise who the true stars of the show are. While Robbie Scotcher and Laura Pitt-Pulford provide a sweet romance between Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown, the limelight is well and truly stolen by Gavin Spokes and Anthony Hunt as bumbling duo Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet, and most of all, by Rosie Jenkins as Miss Adelaide. Doll-like and dainty, Jenkins has exactly the right appeal for her headlining cabaret character – you find it hard to take your eyes off her in most numbers.

She earns most of the evening’s laughs with her brilliant timing, striking the perfect balance between caricature and realism in a character that has the potential to be annoying. Her witty renditions of Adelaide’s Lament and the wonderfully sinister Marry the Man Today are real highlights. Gavin Spokes and Anthony Hunt set the bar high with the opening trio Fugue for Tinhorns (with Christopher Fry), and their slickly-choreographed duet Guys and Dolls.

Robbie Scotcher’s Sky Masterson is a little low-key, with not quite enough sex appeal for the romantic storyline to be believable, while Laura Pitt-Pulford as his pious lover has a little too much. Although offering a pleasant soprano sound at times, she is a little too husky, belty and knowing for the pure Sergeant Sarah Brown. Her inebriation in Havana is portrayed as a raucous, sexually voracious drunkenness, rather than becoming innocently tipsy, and what should be a sexually-charged, pivotal scene when the two first meet in the mission becomes merely an argument between two confident, headstrong people.

Ben Fox is suitably henpecked and lovable as wheeler-dealer Nathan Detroit, and his voice is one of the strongest. Paul Kissaun produces some of the best one-liners as intimidating gambler Big Jule, and Kraig Thornber as Harry the Horse perfectly encapsulates the oddball magic of Detroit’s crowd of sinners. Some accents are impeccably Runyonesque, others fall a little short.

The ensemble numbers with the gamblers are superbly sung and choreographed, and while the production feels overlong, Clwyd Theatr Cymru get away with it by performing all the favourites – the title number, The Oldest Established and Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat – with such panache. Overall, this is a toe-tapping night out for anyone who loves the punchy score and screwball-comedy plot of this classic show.

Runs until 12th March

The Usual Auntijies - Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

2011-03-10T10:20:00.000Z

Writer: Paven Virk
Director: Barry Kyle
[rating:3]

In an interview the author, Paven Virk, “wanted to create real drama along with the comedy” and also “wanted to highlight something darker than just a group of women living together”. I feel that she did achieve this aim with her play The Usual Auntijies that was presented in the studio of the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.

Set in a women’s refuge in Coventry three nameless women are trying to rebuild their lives after leaving their husbands. Through a mixture of comedy and bitter honesty each woman’s past experiences and dreams are slowly revealed.

The three inhabitants of the refuge were performed with sensitivity and feeling by Jamila Massey, Mamta Kaash and Shelley King. The audience really felt for their plight and the feeling of friendship visibly grew between the three ladies as the play progressed. Shalini Peris as the idealistic Gurpreet and Pushpinder Chani as Raj provided the counter point to the ladies as the young newlyweds.

Staging the play in the studio meant that the play benefited from the space’s intimacy and gave the living room of the refuge a real feeling of safety and warmth. The set is simple but very effective and the space is utilised well by having the set on three levels. These levels clearly separated the living room of the refuge from the bedroom of the married couple and from the outside world. The use of a large screen worked particularly well, not only to project images onto but also to create atmospheric shadows during the park scenes.

Overall this production held my interest well and with issues that included, arranged marriages, desertion and domestic abuse, there was a lot to think about, and maybe this was the piece’s problem. A couple of moments in the first and second half confused me and I found myself anxiously trying to work out what was going on as I felt that I had not been given enough details about the individual characters to understand the situations I was seeing. Also at some points I found it difficult to engage with the characters or feel any sympathy for them because I wasn’t given a chance to find out about them before the issues of the piece were introduced. This problem eased as the story progressed and by the end it had almost completely disappeared, as by then I knew a lot about the characters and was able to empathise with them. I particularly enjoyed the moment where two of the Auntijies were playing Twister together; at that moment the audience knew that they would be alright and that they were well and truly beginning to bury their demons.

This play is full of strong women, humour, friendship and determination. It is a beautifully staged piece with strong performances from its cast that will give you much to think about for long after you have left the theatre.

Runs till Saturday 26th March

Cheek by Jowl: The Tempest / Буря - Oxford Playhouse

2011-03-09T10:57:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Declan Donnellan
Reviewer: Ali Lantukh
[rating:4.5]

Theatre group Cheek By Jowl’s Russian sister company the Chekhov International Theatre Festival are gracing our shores with this vibrant, unsettling and innovative production of ‘The Tempest’ for March and April only (by way of Oxford, Southampton and London) - and you absolutely must see it whilst you have the chance. Bringing Shakespeare to life in a totally new and powerful way, this production floods the senses with language, sound and vigour.

Essentially, The Tempest follows the story of a magician, Prospero (Igor Yasulovich), the usurped Duke of Milan, who causes a tempest to break out at sea, in order to avenge his betrayal by his political enemies, and to restore his position. Prospero uses his spirit Ariel (Andrey Kuzichev) to manipulate the others to his ends, and the results play out before the audience on stage.

It may seem an odd choice to perform Shakespeare entirely in Russian (subtitles in Shakespearean English are projected onto the stage - although performances in France went without translation). As a student of Russian language it was quite a disconcerting experience hearing Russian whilst simultaneously reading the Shakespearian text. But for Russian and non-Russian speakers alike, I believe there was something very compelling and powerful in using this language - something strong, poetic, rhythmic. And as other reviewers before me have noted, it reveals the astounding dramatic qualities of Shakespeare’s play, his mastery of plot, emotion and humour, his understanding of humanity, that transcend language.

Not only did the production portray this linguistically, but in a number of other devices that proved captivating. Ariel’s magical mischief is accompanied by live music played on stage, the strains of the accordion enchanting his victims. These moments were, simply, magical. Kuzichev’s presence on stage was something so other-worldly that I felt utterly drawn into the enchantment. This was truly an ensemble performance however, and it is very difficult to pick out any ‘star’ players, all of the actors giving top-class performances, adeptly engineering the mood of the play from all-out comic to dark and enigmatic with a moment’s notice.

The initially rather bare-looking stage was also used creatively and intelligently. Lights, imagery and film were reflected onto the back wall to create different scenes; doorways were used to reveal apparitions, characters, and scenes within scenes. The lack of props also allowed the extensive use of water throughout the play - a dramatic symbol of power, control, human fragility, torture, cleansing. The wet clothes of the characters washed up by the tempest also served to underline the play with an uncomfortable feeling. I would like to have seen a little more of the use of the creative projection of imagery from the beginning of the play, but this is only a very minor gripe.

The Tempest was my first experience of a Cheek by Jowl production, but I will now be on the look out for their next performance. This play comes very highly recommended.

Runs until 12th March

Keeping Mum - The Brockley Jack Theatre, London

2011-03-09T10:51:00.000Z

Writer: Judith Bryan
Director: Rebecca Manson Jones
Reviewer: Toni Stott-Rates
[Rating: 4.5]

White flecks the set like pebble dash on a house, bringing the snow that howls outside in the world of the play, into the environment of the set. A fitting symbol, as the snow in Judith Bryan’s play is a strange foreign thing that covers the psychological landscape of this play, imposing a sort of alienation both emotional and mental to the characters, most especially to ‘Emilia’ the focal voice of this play.

Keeping Mum is one of three plays chosen from many submissions for ‘Write Now, 2’ a festival which looks to celebrate and bring to the fore new unperformed plays and encourage playwrites, and they chose well, this is a beautiful beautiful play Judith Bryan has woven, a story that is at once deeply familiar and yet the story is so successful that while I felt the strains of its familiar and often told story I was so caught up in the telling of it that I couldn’t wait to see how it would be revealed.

Inspired by the winter of 1962-63 when the snow started on Boxing Day and only stopped in April, Judith Bryan explores the relationship of a young couple just moved to England from the Caribbean as they deal with the extreme weather and their issues that come to change the course of their lives forever. Skilfully and subtly directed by Rebecca Manson Jones the play moves cleverly from the now to the then, as a ‘stranger’ prompts Emilia to recall memories of her husband, her brother Godfrey and the winter of 1962 when her baby was born. Taking up the same physical space on the set, Emilia moves erratically between times unfolding her tragedy and revealing the source of her current sorry mental status.

I have nothing but good to say about the actors, Evadne Ricketts is miraculous in her restrained performance of an obviously emotionally overwrought woman, Marcus Adolphy charming and Howard Saddler impressive as a man struggling to retain his pride and provide for his family the best way he knows how. Donna Berlin is great as Jacs but I must say the show is almost stolen by Matt Christian Reed’s seething creepiness as Jay, the stranger with motives. He captivates with his portrayal of Jay, drawing you in as you try to understand whether he is emotionally unstable or if the things that drive him are causing his unsteady behaviour.

I don’t want to say much more about this show as I don’t want to reveal any of its secrets and spoil your viewing. Suffice to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait for more plays to come from Judith Bryan.

Running: 8-12 March 2011

The December Man/L’homme de Décembre - The Finborough Theatre, London

2011-03-09T10:46:00.000Z

Writer: Colleen Murphy
Director: Lavinia Hollands
Reviewer: Ian Foster
[rating:3.5]

There are mini-seasons within seasons now at the Finborough and so the three Sunday/Monday slots of the women playwrights programme, In Their Place, are being used to introduce the work of Canadian writer Colleen Murphy: the first of these features The December Man or L’homme de Décembre. Wanting to commemorate the horrifically tragic events of a massacre at the École Polytechnique in Montréal on December 6, 1989 where a gunman killed fourteen women for being ‘feminists’ but not be guilty of exploiting it, Murphy shifts her focus onto what might have happened to those that survived the attack and the ongoing consequences it has on their lives.

The play centres on the Fournier family: Jean, a man ordered out of the room before the massacre began and his working-class parents, Benoît and Kathleen, who struggle to deal with their son’s survivor guilt and the destructive impact it is having on his psyche and on the family as a whole as well. And to further deflect attention from the event itself, the story is told in reverse chronology, starting with shocking events in March 1992 and working backwards to 1989 to reveal just how we’ve arrived at these final actions.

Powerfully persuasive performances from all three actors means that this is never a dull evening, but choosing this format means that any sense of mystery about why things have happened is resolved by about the third scene and so from then on we know the whole story of what is going to happen, in reverse of course, but even then, there are scenes which seemed to do little but further establish the mood rather than revealing anything. Where the problem really lies is in not delving deep enough into the psychological motivations of the characters to give us at least some clue of why they are driven to such extremes. Keeping the actual events at L’École Polytechnique at arms length promises a universality of experience which is somewhat undone by the unexplained responses here.

Matthew Hendrickson’s grizzled father, weighted down by a lifetime of frustration yet fiercely proud of his son and Linda Broughton’s suffocatingly well-intentioned mother, clinging onto childhood memories of her family, both did excellent work, pulling us in straightaway with the hardest of opening scenes but also playing the lighter side of the family dynamic well too, bursting with pride at their first university-going relation. And Michael Benz also impressed as the introverted Jean, emotionally damaged by his inaction and the subsequent inability to deal with the fallout whilst sequestered in his tightly repressed family unit, although never given the opportunity to really explore why he is so particularly affected, likewise with the later decisions of his parents, we’re never really shown what drives them to such lengths.

One can see why Murphy has made the choices she has, in pulling back the lens to show how the effects of tragedies can ripple out far beyond the initial impact but in making it such a specific response to a specific event, the universality never really rings true. Part of it also comes back to the fact that she can afford to play fast and loose with the connections to the Montréal massacre because of the emotional resonance that association has with a Canadian audience, an analogous example would be a British play circling the Dunblane tragedy which would be sadly meaningless to other nationalities as we all have our own tragedies in this world. That said, it is very well-acted with some really moving moments within, and forms the first part of what I am sure will be an interesting journey through this playwright’s work over the next few months.

Booking until 21st March

Comedy of Errors - The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-09T10:39:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare

Adaptor: Edward Hall and Roger Warren

Director: Edward Hall

Reviewer: Jim Gillespie

[rating:4.0]

All male drama productions are interesting beasts. I saw my first a few years ago: Twelfth Night at the Globe Theatre with the wonderful Mark Rylance playing Viola, who of course spends most of the play disguised as a boy, being courted by both the Duke Orsino and the lady Olivia. My abiding memory is of how this added a special richness, and new subtlety to the comedy of the romantic interplay between the trio.

All male company Propeller are at the Lowry Theatre in Salford this week with two productions, alternating the gruesome Richard III, with the near-slapstick Comedy of Errors. I only saw the latter, so judgement on the added flavour brought to the tragedy by single sex casting is in the hands of others.

So does an all male cast add anything extra to the play? If not, does it detract in any way? Well, the pantomime dame remains an archetype of gender displacement for comic effect, and the good men of Propeller venture close to this territory to extract the maximum humour from the comic twists. The female characters are as over the top as the Courtesan’s cantilevered bosoms, but this reading of the play can stand it.

Shakespeare threw the kitchen sink into this one. Not one but two sets of estranged identical twins, separated at birth, turn up in the same city 25 years later. This is Ephesus twinned with 1980’s Benidorm: cheesy, brazen, cheeky, loud and lewd. Music pumps the show along, and sound effects create a constant backdrop to supplement the frenzy of the convoluted plot. Mistaken identities, disguises, misunderstandings, mishaps and mayhem - the staples of Elizabethan comedy taken to the extreme; with knobs on.

If Shakespeare gave us Elizabethan comic farce at 110%, Propeller up the ante considerably by adding some extra spice of their own manufacture. Puritans might lament the liberties taken with the text, and the modernity of the interpretation, but Shakespeare never had much time for puritans, and neither did the audience at the Lowry. The Lyric Theatre contained several groups of teenagers, who chanted, cheered, jeered and clapped along with the carnival atmosphere created by the on stage band. On stage? Also out in the foyer at the interval, sustaining the fiesta with a riotous mix of school disco favourites.

But was it Shakespeare? You bet your boots. While some liberties were taken to tweak some of the text for a meaning that would register with the Catherine Tate generation, the Director handled these with respect. Or perhaps that should read RESPECT! I don’t think the Bard would have minded.

There was not a weak aspect to the whole performance. The acting, particularly that of the two sets of twins, was perfectly weighted. Robert Hands, playing Adriana, stole several scenes as the deserted diva wife, but others were guilty of similar thefts. Tony Bell as the conjurer, Pinch, had a hoard of cases to be taken into account as his deranged bible basher brought the second half to a climactic musical crescendo, and later made a memorable exit, not pursued by a bear, but with a bare behind, and a perilously positioned sparkler illuminating his passage through the auditorium.

The set was startlingly simple, but very effective. Shutters sprayed with graffiti tags that formed an appropriately urban backdrop, but had enough flexibility - used imaginatively - to create all the spaces required for the plot to develop. It never intruded. Lighting was similarly unobtrusive, and the few special effects were well judged.

Propeller created a joyous evening’s entertainment. It is too restrictive to describe it as a play. It was just enormous fun from start to finish.

Runs until 12th March at the Lowry, and on tour until 23rd July (but mainly outside UK)

As You Like It: Nice Swan Theatre Company at The People’s Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne

2011-03-09T10:34:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Ben Hunt
Reviewer: Steve Burbridge
[Rating:4]

It’s Shakespeare, but not as you know it!

Nice Swan Theatre Company have taken ‘As You Like It’, the bard’s pastoral comedy, and given it a unique and innovative twist. Set in the modern day, the action begins with the characters enjoying a night on the town, where flirting, snogging, bitching, binge-drinking and all manner of other drunken revelry are the order of the evening. The famous wrestling scene is transformed into a ‘dance-off’ in the nightclub and there’s even a McDonald’s to boot!

This modern and ambitious production is presented by Nice Swan Theatre Company, a student-based group in Tyne and Wear, which provides a stepping stone between amateur and professional theatre for young talent, aged between 16 and 25, from all over the North East region.

Director Ben Hunt and Producer Jamie Gray have, once again, assembled a stellar cast – as they did for their production of ‘Spring Awakening’ - and they all play their parts to perfection, although there are a number of stand-out performances. Andy McAdam presents us with a charismatic Orlando and Laura Stoker is a feisty Rosalind. Thomas Whalley, as an outrageously camp Touchstone (in a tutu!) , leads the comic relief and is well-supported by Sean Bell as Adam/Audrey.

As usual, one cannot fault the production values of Nice Swan’s work. A sparse stage is transformed into the dance floor of the nightclub by some nifty neon lighting and then into Arden Alley by the inclusion of several overflowing dustbins. Andrew Milburn and Tom Jefferson accentuate mood and dramatic potential with their effective lighting design.

The creativity and innovation of this highly talented group is to be applauded. Who’d have thought that the language of Shakespeare would translate so well to being spoken in a broad Geordie accent? Shakespeare traditionalists may not approve of this particular interpretation of the play and might deride it as heresy, although, personally speaking, I strongly suspect that the bard would wholeheartedly approve.

If you appreciate Shakespeare being performed with a modern slant, and aren’t easily offended by some infrequent bad language then I’m sure you’ll find this production exactly ‘As You Like It’. However, the production has only a three night run and ticket sales are extremely high, so you’ll have to hurry if you don’t want to miss out!

Runs until Wednesday 9th March 2010

Journey's End - Richmond Theatre

2011-03-08T13:43:00.001Z

Writer: R.C. Sherriff
Director: David Grindley
Reviewer: James Higgins
[rating: 5]

The first thing I saw when I took my seat for Journey's End was the huge iconic Lord Kitchener poster telling me 'Your Country Needs You' , which filled the whole of the stage. As this lifted up I sensed the audience was in for a treat, the set (Jonathan Fensom) was magnificent. I haven't seen such meticulous detail for a while, it really did take you straight back to the damp inhospitable setting of the Trenches.

The top half of the stage was completely pitch black and the bottom half an officers' dugout. An exit to the left led to a bunk room, an exit to the right to the kitchens and stores whilst straight down the middle ran muddy wooden steps up to the lines. We could see two bunks, a table with candles and several makeshift chairs in the form of old crates.

The characters that inhabit this underground world are stationed behind British lines near St Quentin, France in March 1918 and we join them six days before the last great German offensive of the First World War. This event saw the British suffer 38 000 casualties in just one dark day, as a result of over one million shells being fired at the lines in just 5 hours. The play begins with Captain Hardy (Tim Chipping) preparing to go on leave as we await the officers that will replace his men for the next six days. Captain Stanhope (James Norton) has been at the front for 3 years, is mentally on the edge and drinks too much whisky; he is joined by Lieutenant Osbourne (Dominic Mafham) and 2nd Lieutenants' Raleigh (Graham Butler), Trotter (Christian Patterson), and Hibbert (Simon Harrison). Tony Turner (Private Mason) is the omnipresent cook that we see hour after hour.

We watch them as they eat, smoke and drink, all to excess as there is nothing else to do in between being on duty. There is tension, sadness and constant fear but stories and laughter too. There are huge arguments but also touching shoulders to cry on. The lighting design (Jason Taylor) is excellent and really helps to set the scene, as day breaks the sun streams down the steps from the trenches but at night the candles and oil lamps glow in the dingy dugout as the fog of tobacco fills the stage.

Journey's End seems even more evocative and genuine than other Great War plays and stories maybe because RC Sherriff saw the horror of the trenches first hand with the East Surrey 9th. He then returned to a very different world where he loved to row through Kingston On Thames and Journey's End was born just 10 short years after it was set.

There has been some criticism of the fact that this play is based on Officers but it is far from elitist, we do not see the toffs depicted in *Blackadder Goes Forth *and it is only Raleigh, whose uncle is a General that thinks everything is 'topping' when he first arrives and seems to think it will be all chaps together just like the 'rugger' team. Hibbert is well-off, but Trotter has come up from private with an London accent to match. Osbourne is a school teacher and Stanthorpe a vicars' son.

The performance from the eleven strong ensemble is exceptionally good with brilliant performances from many. The sound design (Gregory Clarke) really set the tone of the play and rather than drown us with constant gun fire, gave us deafening bombardment to spectacular effect when necessary but mostly just eerie silence and pops of distant shells. Inevitably the end of the journey is a sad one, but story of the journey is highly recommended and after the audience fell silent momentarily then loud applause rang out.

Runs until 12th March.

Pick Yourself Up - Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch

2011-03-08T12:24:00.002Z

Writer: Stephen Wyatt
Director: Matt Devitt
Reviewer: Michael Gray
[Rating:5]

“Make it another old-fashioned,please,” - coming right up, the first show of the new Queen's season, a gloriously enjoyable musical, giving the lie to those who moan that they don't write them like that any more. Of course writer Stephen Wyatt has chosen his collaborators wisely – Cole Porter and Molière, though Pick Yourself Up is by Molière only in the sense that last year's hit “Forum” was by Plautus.

There are so many show-stoppers – my favourite from a thoroughbred field the Don't Fence Me In quartet – that you wonder how the plot can progress. And the 17th century stock characters are replaced by familiar stereotypes from the song-and-dance stage.

This is Bob Carlton's unique Cut to the Chase company, so the impressive dance band we hear in the overture is made up of the actors in the show, many of them familiar faces in this house.

The new boy first, though. Greg Last plays a mean trombone and an even meaner hood – one of the two hitmen employed by Joe Hatchetface Tamales (Simon Jessop). His partner in organised crime is the excellent Matthew Quinn (bass and guitar).

The Fred and Ginger of the Trocadero, East 47th, are Tom and Ruby (Elliot Harper and Natasha Moore) – both rising to the considerable challenge of hoofing, singing and slapstick, and both very watchable performers.

It's Tom - “terrible dancer and hopeless husband” - who becomes the reluctant shrink, donning a ridiculous false beard to effect a cure for lovelorn trumpeter Gloria (Sarah Scowen). With a second opinion from the object of her affections, Harry (Jared Ashe, clarinet and sax).

A hit with the audience was Allison Harding's floozy Tallulah, who gave a breathtaking masterclass in musical comedy character work, proved a stylish drummer, and also spectacularly revived a couple of lesser known Cole Porters: Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love and Find Me A Primitive Man. The other revival was entrusted to Tom Jude's superbly characterized fiddle-playing maestro – The Leader of a Big-Time Band.

Rodney Ford's set – built as ever in the Queen's own workshop – caught the style exactly. The band-stand seemed to take up most of the performance area, but then, impressively, glided smoothly back on a truck, with screens sliding in to represent the street (hydrant, trash-can, lamp-post!) and Joe's mansion (lovely thirties fauna motif here).

“Times are hard at the Trocadero ...” - tell us about it, we might reply. But this superb extended revival, directed by Matt Devitt with Julian Littman in charge of the music, shows no sign of recession. It never puts a foot wrong, presses all the right feel-good buttons, and makes a superb pick-me-up for these difficult days.

Runs until 26th March

Notes to Future Self - Birmingham Rep at The Mac

2011-03-08T12:06:00.002Z

Writer: Lucy Caldwell

Director: Rachel Kavanaugh

Reviewer: Tabitha McGrath

[rating:4.5]

There is one small negative to attending hundreds of concerts a year and that is sometimes one feels numb to the range of emotions that are displayed to you, so it is wonderful to occasionally stumble across a piece of theatre that truly moves you. The Birmingham Rep’s Notes to Future Self is such an occasion. I cried. So did the rest of the audience.

Lucy Caldwell’s moving story is a mergence between reality and the dream world. Sophie, is 13, daughter to a new-age hippy, Judy, and sister to a self-conscious 16-year old, Calliope. She has been diagnosed with terminal Stage 3 bone cancer, and this one-act play sets out the last few weeks of her life.

Faced with the reality of death, Sophie finds her only solace in the hope that she is re-incarnated in another body. She “doesn’t allow” us (her future), as she describes she is, smelly, thin, bald, dying. Instead we see her in a whimsical costume, full of life, energy and understandably, rage.

Having lived all over the world due to Judy’s new-age ways, they are forced to move back to King’s Heath and live with Daphne, the sisters granddaughter, a practicing Christian and the antithesis of the hippy lifestyle that the girl’s were brought up in. The consistent daily routine, dinner at 5, prayers etc is an excellent back drop to the broad spectrum of emotions that the characters go through as they try to cope with this horrific situation.

The disjointed family talk bluntly of what is to come, which is both refreshing and heart-breaking. Religion is discussed heavily, and we see some lose theirs and others gain a new perspective. Caldwell’s plot and dialogue are eloquently written, the characters have superb depth and this is only match by the skill of the talented performers.

The young Imogen Doel, as Sophie, is superb. She is witty and humourous which is in itself heart-breaking. She shows skill that are often not seen even in performers three times her age. Her supporting sister, Jayne Wisener, is just as skilled and one would think that these two girls had known each other their entire lives. Jane Lowe as Daphne, holds the poise and stability that the play needs and the subtle glimmer of her breakdown was one of the most emotional moments of the piece. Judy’s selfishness yet caring attitude was just as excellently played by Amanda Ryan.

This production was apart of the Rep’s Change of Scenery season and was performed at the brand new Mac Theatre in Edgbaston. Colin Richmond’s setting was simple and complimentary. Director and Creative Director of the Rep, Rachel Kavanaugh has produced a emotional and touching experience that could warm the hearts of even the most unemotional audience.

Runs until 9th April

Footloose – Empire Theatre, Liverpool

2011-03-08T12:00:00.000Z

Music: Tom Snow

Book/Lyrics: Dean Pitchford

Addition Music: Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar, Kenny Loggins, Jim Steinman

Director/Choreographer: Karen Bruce

Reviewer: John Roberts

[Rating:4]

From the onset Footloose starts you are propelled into a high octane, sexually charged, creatively choreographed smash hit musical, one that is guaranteed to keep you tapping your feet and standing in outright jubilation at the end.

Based on the 1980s film starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Kevin Bacon, which in itself is based on the true story of Elmore City in Oklahoma that had banned dancing for over 90 years – however the film relocates the action to Belmont a small minded town that is run by the Reverend Shaw, who is so tied down by the loss of his son in a tragic car accident that he fails to see that his actions within the town are stifling individuality and expression much to the detriment of the young people within the community. It is only when the McCormack’s move to the town and young Ren starts to questions the Parish Councils actions do things slowly but surely start to change.

Now let’s get to the point, the book of this musical is wafer thin, so thin perhaps that it is almost non-existent, but what the show lacks in script it more than makes up for it in all other departments.

Karen Bruce directs and choreographs a sharp and slick production that moves with such pace and speed, it leaves you breathless just watching it – her choreography is exuberant, it oozes sexual tension and combines all the elements of traditional line dancing with the powerhouse dance style of Modern Jazz, combine this with some excellent comedic moments and there really is something for everyone in this well thought out production.

Morgan Larges’ set design is sleek and although may look sparse compared to current west end musicals – still adds impact, whether that be in the garage forecourt or the burger joint, the church or the railway lines.

Headlining the current cast is local actor Stephen Pinder, best known for his role in Liverpool soap Brookside as Reverend Shaw. Pinder has always been reliable in providing a string stage presence and it came as a pleasant surprise to find he is also a reasonable warm and strong singer able to hold his own amongst a strong triple threat cast. In the role of rebel youth and violent boyfriend Chuck Cranston is ex Busted member and King of the Jungle Matt Willis – it has to be said though that despite Willis clearly giving everything he really is the weakest member of the cast – his menace translates on stage as camp and mincing and his acting leaves little to be desired, however he does come into his own during his solo song.

Max Milner as Ren McCormack is instantly likable, and gives a powerhouse performance, even though it was clear from his vocals on press night that he was suffering from the effects of a cold. Lorna Want as love interest Ariel Moore makes for a wonderful modern ingénue and it is clear to see why any boy in the town would fall head over heels for her.

Excellent support is given from Giovanni Spano as the small-town simpleton with a big heart Willard and Jodie Jacobs (Rusty) proves yet again that she has lungs of steel and is worthy of a leading role in any musical. This is a true ensemble production, every cast member pushing themselves to the max through every dance and song.

An energetic fun filled evening that comes highly recommended.

Runs until Sat 12^th March

Stand Up & Be Counted - Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

2011-03-08T11:09:00.000Z

Writer: Jim Davidson
Director: Clare Kissane
Reviewer: Ann Bawtree
[Rating:0.5]

In “Stand Up and Be Counted” Jim Davidson has cleverly created a two hour vehicle for his own well known genre. The evening is more a situation than a play. The setting is alternately on stage and backstage at a charity performance for AIDS victims.

Jim has given himself the part of “Eddie”, a fading comedic figure from the past. He has surrounded himself with five stereotypical characters, the oversexed cocaine snorter, the naïve starlet, the luckless wife, the show’s camp compere and the faithful retainer. None of these is allowed to develop or overshadow Eddie. Even when one of the men reveals himself as one of those homosexuals Eddie despises so much is there any reaction from or effect on the rest of the cast.

The characters attempt to discuss how comedy has changed over the last few decades since Eddie’s heyday as a high earning celebrity. There is not much clarity of reasoning on the topic as the conversations are peppered so highly with expletives that it is hard to follow the argument. The action is punctuated with, presumably, simulated acts of copulation between two of the characters. Part two is a carefully crafted descent from the blatantly vulgar to the unmitigatingly obscene.

The evening ends with that age old solution to “how to get off the stage” with Eddie murdering that lovely Billy Joel song “In Every Heart” in a suitably maudlin manner. The evening is a very succinct depiction of a career in decline.

One of the main remits of “The Public Reviews” is to suggest the kind of audience who would most appreciate the show under review. In this case the broad appeal would be to those who would enjoy a lengthy and graphic account of a middle aged drunk performing oral sex on his mother.

However the set, costumes, lighting and sound effects were excellent.

Runs until 12 March 2011

Corrie! - Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

2011-03-08T10:49:00.000Z

Writer: Jonathan Harvey

Director: Fiona Buffini
Reviewer: Audrey Pointer
[Rating:4.5]

Corrie! is a new comedy play written to mark half a century of Britain’s longest-running soap and is an affectionate look back at the show's five decades. It is cited in the programme as “an attempt to honour and replicate in some small way onstage” the history of Weatherfield and its colourful and well loved characters.

With fifty years of choice moments to select from, writer Jonathan Harvey has cherry-picked many of the key scenes and woven them together in a play that is nostalgic and lots of fun and yet at times unexpectedly touching. The Narrator, played in this production by Gaynor Faye, pops up at various times and in various parts of the set to provide necessary continuity between the scenes. It is she, who, in the prologue and epilogue, acts as a kind of Saint Peter faced with the decision of whether or not to admit Blanche through the Pearly Gates. Some sections are represented through comic dance or movement sequences – with elements of ballet, flappers and silent movies. We are treated to the highlights of Corrie across the decades from the first ever episode to present day.

Liz Ascroft's incredibly functional, multi-level set shows both the famous Manchester's street's cobbles and chimneys and provides alleyways, rooftops, doorways and flights of stairs for the characters to explore. It even serves as a viewpoint from heaven where past departed street residents look down and comment on the present. Other props and set additions are wheeled on as needed, such as the Rovers Return bar and a bed under the stairs. Inventive ways of showing the tram that mows down villain Alan Bradley and the canal boat that houses Ken Barlow's romantic fling are particularly enjoyable. Costume ranges from the sixties to present day, from Elsie Tanner's five-inch high-heels to Becky's pink tracksuit. Ian Scott's lighting serves the show well, delivering the right ambience for each scene, whilst Gareth Owen's sound effects depict the mutterings of the locals in The Rovers Return to the massive gas explosion.

The play uses multirole, in other words, actors playing several parts and switching very quickly between them, to convey a much larger cast than the six principal players. The hardworking cast get the chance to both celebrate and send up the show in a play that feels very much like a good-humoured, end-of-term skit. No opportunity is missed to deliver entertainment, whether it be the Duckworth's family rows, Hilda Ogden's “murial” or the car-in-the-canal scene complete with comic inflated cheeks and still-working windscreen wipers.

There are so many stand out performances it is hard to know where to start. Simon Chadwick's Ken Barlow is a gem, amusingly capturing the long serving actor's mannerisms and speech patterns. Leanne Best's Gail is similarly entertaining, not least the running gag of her endless optimism despite a very unfortunate string of husbands. Lucy Thackeray plays through an astonishing age range with total credibility from the sneering Annie Walker to the delightfully dim Raquel. Also worth mentioning is Peter Temple's Roy. For me, Jo Mousley takes the honours. Her recreation of Ena Sharples and Deirdre are perfect and her skill as a performer evident in the moving and faithful depiction of Hilda Ogden opening up the parcel of deceased husband Stan's belongings and crying, griefstricken, as she clutches his glasses case. You could hear a pin drop followed by thunderous appreciative applause as the scene ended.

The whole thing is engineered like a Swiss watch, with incredible timing from all concerned. As a social documentary, exploring the morals and respectability of a typical northern community, it depicts a changing Britain. Five decades on from its first transmission, some of the characters' irresponsible actions would not be out of place on Jeremy Kyle. This show is as addictive as the original. Catch the chance to relive all those magic moments you enjoyed on the box but thought were gone for ever.

Runs until 12 March.

Murdered to Death : Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

2011-03-08T10:43:00.000Z

Writer: Peter Gordon
Director: Giles Watling
Reviewer: Katherine Kirwin

[Rating:1/5]

Murdered to Death is, according to the programme, a “hilarious pastiche on the ever-popular ‘whodunnit’ detective genre” made famous by the likes of Agatha Christie. However, I can honestly say that I did not genuinely laugh once during the entire performance. It was not hilarious, it was just poor, not quite hitting the right genre but instead coming across as a poorly acted and staged farce. I’ve seen better, similar productions at am-dram societies.

Peter Gordon’s play apparently aims to spoof the traditional features of the ‘whodunit’ genre i.e. the characters, the crime and the setting. I think the intention was to have a variety of farcically stereotyped characters as the suspects in a country house; the bumbling ex-colonel, the butler who likes a drink, the timid, put-upon niece, and the rich aunt/house-owner/first dead-un. Yet the performances of these characters was not pitched at the right level and it just came across as poor acting rather than a farce or sending up of a genre – it wasn’t entertaining, it wasn’t fun, and that, to my mind, is what a spoof should be. The majority of the characters resorted to a series of forced gestures along with pushed emotions, put not played to a high enough level to be mockingly amusing. The addition of a character called Miss Maple who brings death with her wherever she goes should have been amusing, but it just didn’t engage me and the joke was lost the minute the bumbling police detective accidentally called her ‘Miss Marple’.

I felt that Sandra Dickinson as Margaret Craddock had the best stage presence and awareness of the function of her character within the scheme of the play and how to deliver the style. Equally, the second half of the play was more watchable due to the performance of Christopher Elderwood as Constable Thompkins – he embraced the farcical nature of his character and hit the right balance between farce and sincerity.

The jokes within the script were weak and so predictable that I heard one gentleman tutting at them from behind me in the audience. They appeared to make several people laugh within the audience but I found myself beginning to laugh at the fact that other people were finding this play funny – one the biggest laughs went to the inspector’s introduction “I’m Inspector Pratt.” Perhaps I am of the wrong generation to appreciate this production, it must be said that the average audience member’s age must have been 60+.

Furthermore, I cannot particularly compliment the wobbly set design circa Crossroads, or the costume, which although mainly appropriate to the era I was distracted by the fact that nearly all the females were wearing character shoes. It’s a sign of how poor this production was that I spent several minutes admiring the brown brogue-heels of Miss Maple.

Runs at Yvonne Arnaud until 12th March 2011

WHAT'S HOT - 7th March 2011

2011-03-07T00:42:00.000Z

War has always provided a handy backdrop for high drama and our top picks for this week have turned to various different conflicts for inspiration. One of the hottest tickets in London this week is for Trevor Nunn’s highly anticipated revival of Flare Path, Terrence Rattigan’s World War II based play, which opens on Thursday. Outside the capital, there is more Second World War drama in the form of the touring Goodnight Mister Tom, while the classic Journey’s End can also be caught on tour. Meanwhile, the Wars of the Roses are brought to the stage in Propeller’s Richard III and the award-winning Black Watch, dramatising the much more recent conflict in Iraq, makes a welcome return. - picked by Catherine Love

1) FLARE PATH – THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET

Trevor Nunn kicks off his stint as artistic director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket with this production of Terrence Rattigan’s Second World War drama Flare Path, starring Sienna Miller, James Purefoy and Sheridan Smith. It is 1942 and bomber pilot Teddy is thrust into the centre of a love triangle when his wife’s Hollywood heartthrob ex-lover makes an unwelcome appearance. Based on Rattigan’s own wartime experiences, this is a tale of love, loyalty and courage.

Runs until 4 June

2) RICHARD III – SALFORD LOWRY

Internationally acclaimed all-male company Propeller return to the Lowry this week with their production of Richard III. The play follows the murderous rise of one of Shakespeare’s most villainous kings in a dark and bloody production that has toured to rave reviews. Theatregoers looking for a bit less blood and guts can also catch Propeller’s version of The Comedy of Errors.

Runs 9 – 12 March

3) BLACK WATCH – WARWICK ARTS CENTRE

Winner of numerous awards, including four Oliviers, the National Theatre of Scotland’s Black Watch makes a return at the Warwick Arts Centre. The play follows the legendary Scottish regiment to the war in Iraq, based around interviews conducted by the playwright Gregory Burke with former serving soldiers and brought to life with movement, music and song.

Runs 8 – 12 March

4) GOODNIGHT MISTER TOM – THEATRE ROYAL NORWICH

Based on Michelle Magorian’s beloved children’s novel, this new stage adaptation follows the experiences of young William Beech during the Second World War. He is evacuated out of London to the English countryside, where he is sent to live with the gruff, reclusive Tom Oakley and surprisingly grows to form a close and moving friendship with the old man.

Runs 9 – 12 March

5) JOURNEY’S END – RICHMOND THEATRE

R. C. Sherriff’s First World War play is a moving reminder of the horrors of war, following a group of young men in the trenches in the days leading up to the last great German offensive of the war. Based on the playwright’s own experience of trench life, Journey’s End is by turns funny and tragic and remains as relevant as ever in the light of ongoing conflicts.

Runs until 12 March

Tom Stade - The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-07T00:33:00.000Z

Reviewer: Poppy Helm

[Rating:4/5]

Tonight's stand-up at the Lowry is an international affair; with Candian born Tom Stade supported by Australian Ro Campbell (now living in Edinburgh and Glasgow, respectively). Having firmly established himself on the comedy circuit through performances ranging from Edinburgh festival to BBC2's Mock The Week, Stade's debut UK tour has been eagerly awaited by his fans.

Self styled 'North Sea Porn Star', Ro Compbell's, laid back warm up act takes us on a tour of the UK (including some valiant if experimental attempts at the Mancunian accent) and reaches a surprisingly graphic conclusion. His relaxed delivery seems to extend to an audience who don't offer much in the way of interaction, but definitely laugh in all the right places. Although the content of his material isn't earth-shatteringly original, it's entertaining enough to make you forget he's not actually the one you're here to see.

Stade launches into the second half with his trademark husky-voiced confidence ('it's what the doctor likes to call "damage"'). With beer in hand, he invites us to join his reminiscences of an imagined journey through the Middle-East and beyond in a satirical take on the Taliban, African poverty and Muslim radio. The story may be elaborate, but there is no lengthly anticipation of a punchline here; the laughs are constant and stike the right balance between observational comedy and the odd bit of random filth. Although not playing on his migrant status quite as strongly as his support act, Stade does provide an entertaining 'outsider's' view of the British, finding amusement amongst even the most mundane of experiences.

Runs at the Lowry until 8th March

Chinese State Circus: Mulan - Venue Cymru, Llandudno

2011-03-07T00:27:00.000Z

Story adaptors: Tony Wilkie-Millar & Tian Run Min

Music: Mr. Wu Jia Ji

Choreography: Ms. Zhang Hongtao

Reviewer: Sarah Medcalf

[rating:4]

The Chinese State Circus was established in the 1990s by Carol and Phillip Gandey after they had seen a group of oriental acrobats performing to widespread acclaim at the Monte Carlo Circus Festival with a quality, depth and diversity they had never seen before in acrobatic circus. In creating Chinese State Circus productions to tour the world, Gandey World Class Productions continues to celebrate a traditional Chinese art form, the history of which can be traced back over thousands of years.

The current tour bills itself as a ‘live action spectacular’, depicting the traditional legend of Mulan, one of China’s great heroines. The performance at Venue Cymru in Llandudno was certainly spectacular – without a doubt one of the most exciting and exhilarating circus shows I have ever had the pleasure to see, with each act more ambitious and thrilling than the last. The performance brings together spectacular costumes and props, brilliant choreography, a unique musical score, traditional martial arts, circus skills and daredevil acrobatics to create a truly dazzling show to delight young and old.

The incarnation of the legend of Mulan was less successful – not least because it seemed unnecessary, as the show was more than entertaining enough without requiring the thread or theme of the story to tie all the aspects together. The storyline was also difficult to follow: the links made by the narrators between events in the story and each new circus act were at best tenuous, and the narration itself wasn’t easy to understand as the voices of the characters telling the story were not those of the performers on stage, which sometimes gave the unfortunate effect of watching a poorly dubbed film. The two principal narrators – Monkey and Pig – were talented acrobats, but appeared sometimes to adopt personas more suited to a British pantomime than a thrilling circus performance.

Despite these drawbacks, however, I don’t believe that any adult or child in the audience could fail to be impressed and astounded by the talented performances, which literally had the whole theatre hanging breathless with suspense and gasping with delight. Conventional circus acts such as plate spinning, juggling and diablo are taken into a whole new dimension of difficulty and skill and unique acts such as the cup-throwing girls on unicycles have the audience laughing out loud with astonishment. The martial arts performed by the Shaolin Warriors demonstrate incredible acrobatic skill and a terrifying immunity to pain and discomfort, while the traditional Chinese lion and dragon dances are a spectacle of colour and movement.

Although billed as ‘entertainment for all the family’, this should not imply that the show is only suitable for those with young children: I would not hesitate to recommend the show to all, young and old. It is impossible not to be delighted, amazed and entertained by the precision, daring, skill and zest for life that is embodied by each and every act and performer.

Runs until 8 March 2011.

The Soldiers – Floral Pavilion, New Brighton

2011-03-06T22:21:00.000Z

Musical Director – Toby Chapman
Reviewer: Stephanie Rowe
[rating:4.5]

If I am perfectly honest I was a bit wary of going to see ‘The Soldiers’ perform live , after going to numerous concerts in my life and leaving very disappointed, having found that the artist had been helped considerably by the recording studio and the use of technology. So I set off full of trepidation to review these three wonderful men who have raised over half a million pounds in their two years as recording artistes for the three charities they support, these being the British Legion, Help The Hero’s and the charity that has now become known as the Soldiers charity, the Army Benevolent fund.

In the first half of the show we were entertained by Texan singer Jessica Clemmons who had a wonderful voice but somehow lacked that magical charisma that made her stage performance mesmerizing. She was followed by Gianulca Paganelli who treated us to songs from around the globe and was assisted by two very talented dancers doing the tango.

Then the time arrived for ‘The soldiers’ to take to the stage and the cheer that went up around the auditorium was deafening, and may I be the first to say they deserved every cheer, clap, whistle, scream (from adoring females and who knows males?) These three serving Soldiers are a credit to our Queen and Country and remind us of why we are known as ‘Great’ Britain. They sang a range of songs from the Monkees to Take That and of course they sang songs of their own, their first hit “Coming Home” along with “I will Carry You” and of course the song taken from Tony (Neil) Downes last letter home when he Tragically lost his life in 2007 aged just 20 aptly named “Letters Home” and of which this tour takes its name, caused many a person to shed a tear, including myself.

Sergeant Major Gary Chilton, Staff Sergeant Richie Maddocks and Lance-Corporal Ryan Idzi have so much energy on stage and have such a phenomenal way of keeping you fully entertained and interested throughout, with their witticisms and silly dances not to mention their magnificent enthralling voices, that I for one (and believe me I was not alone) walked out of that theatre feeling absolutely uplifted and proud to be British. The standing ovation they received at the end was well earned. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings I have spent and applaud the men for their amazing talent. Keep Going Fella’s your outstanding.

The Soldiers can be seen at various locations around the Country until March 20th 2011

I Want That Hair – The Chesterfield Room: Sydney, Australia

2011-03-06T19:27:00.000Z

Writer: Jane Thornton
Director: Andrew Mead
Reviewer: David Kary
[Rating:4/5]

British playwright Jane Thornton’s (‘Shakers’) play ‘I Want That Hair’ sees two women, hair salon work colleagues, owner Bex and associate Heidi, share stories, in between the occasional client, about their lives, their hopes, insecurities and disappointments. Bex, in particular, is in a reflective mood, she has just turned 40.

Bex wonders whether she would have had a better life for herself if she had done something with her University degree rather than slot into the family hairdressing business, after her mother died of cancer. She reveals to Heidi how in her youth she was a bit of a wild child, a punk with bright pink hair and leather boots. Heidi can’t quite believe it!

Cheap champers are popped and chocolate boxes are prised open as they imbibe and indulge and go on to compare their sex lives! Bex has only been with her husband whilst Heidi has had casual encounters as well as relationships. Heidi opens up to Bex about how she lost her son at fifteen after he was bashed senseless outside a pub, where he had been underage drinking. She sat with him in a coma for four days in hospital before they turned off his life support.

They talk about their fear of ageing, joke about their waistlines and the woes of plastic surgery, and of-course their customers- who want them to run a quick conditioning fix through their hair, create a miracle, and change their lives! There are lighter moments too as when Heidi complains about, and demonstrates explicitly, the perils of a recalcitrant thong, much to the audience’s amusement.

Life is a moveable feast and the women keep a constant eye on the new, trendier salon that has opened across the road and has taken a lot of business away with their enticements of nibblies, exotic teas and even bum massages. Bex doesn’t want to follow suit, and won’t budge from her comfort zone of the ‘shabby chic’ of her late mother’s salon.

Andrew Mead’s production serves Thornton’s touching, funny character study of two very different, but very natural and feisty women. The style of play suited the pub venue, and Elizabeth Rutter as Bex and Maggie Scott as Heidi achieved a good rapport with a relaxed, receptive audience.
Runs until Sunday 13th March, 2011

The Haunting - The Lantern Theatre, Liverpool

2011-03-06T19:18:00.001Z

Writer/Director: Liam Scott

Reviewer: Clare Howdon

[Rating:4/5]

‘The Haunting’, currently playing at The Lantern Theatre tells the story of young couple Mark and Stacey’s weekend break at a secluded cottage in Wales. What was intended as a well deserved and relaxing trip quickly transcends into a night of terror, as the couple begin to discover that they are not alone in this old and sinister cottage.

‘The Haunting’ both written and directed by Liam Scott is genuinely scary and this is one of the plays biggest strengths. Whilst many plays often promise an evening of ‘spine tingling terror’, Liam Scott’s production truly delivers. Scott’s innovative direction creates knife cutting tension throughout and this coupled with the intimacy of the Lantern Theatre space would require you to possess a cast-iron constitution not to be reduced to a nervous, twitching wreck by the end of the two hours. The first half of the play, despite feeling fairly slow paced serves well in building up this bubbling tension and the equally important relationship between Mark and Stacey. The mixture between comedy and horror is fairly well balanced although there are perhaps a few too many ‘Fancy a quick shag love?’ jokes. However the dialogue is natural and the relationship between the two characters is entirely comfortable and convincing to watch.

Anna Hudson and Barry Mason both give solid performances as Mark and Stacey. Anna Hudson has a natural ease on stage and portrays the character of the exasperated, put-upon partner excellently, never allowing her fear of the cottage to descend into ham-horror exaggeration. Barry Mason is a little less consistent. His portrayal of Mark in the first half is sometimes a tad too large and clown-like for the small space and there is a lot of playing for laughs. However his performance really comes alive in the second half of the play and you are left with an unfeigned fondness for this loveable rogue.

Terence Keating also has to be a given a mention for an outstanding set design and this coupled with Ben Whitmore’s inventive lighting and Soundtech Solutions imposing soundscape and special effects all contribute to the threatening and claustrophobic feel of this piece.

As a first timer to The Lantern Theatre, I also feel obliged to congratulate Liam Scott and his team on what a wonderful space this is. There is something really special about the Lantern Theatre; warm, welcoming and unpretentious – this is exactly what fringe theatre is about. What makes this theatre company even more exceptional is that they are producing high spec theatre such as ‘The Haunting’ without any funding or grants. In our current political climate, The Lantern Theatre Company are an inspiration to the arts community, and a company that the people of Liverpool should be very proud of.

Reviewed on the 5^th March 2011

The Return of Boothby Graffoe - The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-06T19:09:00.000Z

Writer: James Martyn Rogers

Reviewer: Dave Cunningham

[Rating:3.5/5]

Comedians use the occasional song to add variety to their act. Boothby Graffoe does the reverse – music dominates his performance. He goes so far as to enlist the support of talented multi-instrumentalist Nick Pynn to boost the sound of the show. Less successfully he uses, and comes into conflict with, pre-recorded sampled backing tracks.

The nature of the material is extremely varied. The witty wordplay of ‘ Spelling Sheep’, written to combat the effects of insomnia, is worthy of Elvis Costello. The theme of animals from his latest album brings a surprising degree of innocence and even sentimentality.

Few of the songs can be said to be entirely comedic and are better described as funny peculiar. One tells of a stalker who finds the object of his obsession to be even more perverse than himself. As you might expect from a song called ‘ Kittens in a Bag’ some of the numbers have a dark, sinister quality.

Graffoe does not depend on the songs alone but draws laughter from simple techniques of facial expression and timing. He is capable of spontaneous improvisation – disrupting Pynn’s solo spot by larking around on a trolley he found backstage.

Despite an inspired update of the ‘ Who’s on First?’ routine the comic patter between the songs is under-prepared with topical references being particularly weak.

The late Frank Zappa once asked ‘ Does Humour Belong in Music?’ Boothby Graffoe helps you believe that it does although the eccentric nature of the material may not be to everyone’s taste.

Reviewed on 5^th March 2011 and tours until 9^th April 2011

A Distant Country Called Youth – Mercury Theatre Studio, Colchester

2011-03-06T18:55:00.003Z

Writer: Tennessee Williams
Adaptor: Steve Lawson
Reviewer: Michael Gray
[Rating:5/5]

“The play is memory.” This little jewel of a piece is simply a litany of letters. Letters penned, or typed, to an unseen supporting cast of family, friends, professional associates, by the young Thomas Lainer Williams.

Skilfully adapted by Steve Lawson, and faultlessly performed by Oliver Andrews, who takes the text and makes it come to life, with subtle changes of mood and meaning adding value to the words. This is a totally believable Williams, with his waspish wit and his effete Southern drawl.

We follow the writer's colourful career – letters to publishers, waiting tables in a hospital canteen, selling Pictorial subscriptions, working in a shoe warehouse, living at the YMCA – and his travels – notorious cabarets in Paris, a gay whorehouse in Mexico – and his long struggle to get his plays staged.

American Blues is accepted; Tom adopts his nom-de-plume. He gratefully employs an agent, polishes a vehicle for Lana Turner, and works hard on The Gentleman Caller, which we know as the Glass Menagerie, “I think it contains my sister ...”, resisting producer pressure for a happy ending.

Tennessee's relationships are difficult - “sadder and wilder” than a Chekhov play. We hear his passionate letter of “robust manly love” to the dancer Kip Kiernan; we glimpse his fragile friendship with Laurette Taylor, the first Amanda Wingfield.

We are briefly aware of his being harassed by Blue Devils, and he reaches more frequently for the bottle of Bourbon on the sideboard. But we are spared the decline and the “accidental” death. The play ends as he resolutely types the final act of The Moth – the one where Blanche throws herself under a train in the freight yards. One lady confided as we walked thoughtfully out of the studio, “ I'm so glad he decided to go on with it ...”

The setting is evocative - I loved the floorboards with his correspondents' names written on them – the props sparingly but eloquently used: the tailor's dummy, the gramophone just once, his sister's strange green dress. “Tenn” is a restless letter-writer. He flits from desk to chaise longue, from hat-stand to suitcase, as he evokes his Southern puritan family, his one-night-stands, his grandmother's death, his sister's illness. And all the time we are aware that all these influences, all these characters, will shape the plays he is yet to write.

A wonderful tour-de-force from Andrews, engaging the audience, effortlessly persuading us that these long-faded letters are freshly penned as we eavesdrop. Through them, and his perfect performance, we are able to spend 90 minutes in the company of this “whining spineless cissy” whose plays have become classics of world theatre, and whose centenary we celebrate this month.

Reviewed on 4th March 2011

24th - 26th March: Theatre By the Lake Keswick (Studio)

6th - 7th May: Theatr Clwyd Cymru, Emlyn Williams Studio

www.throughthelookingglassproductions.co.uk

Screaming Blue Murder- Royal & Derngate, Northampton

2011-03-06T18:48:00.001Z

Compere: Dan Evans
Performers: Dan Antopolski, Martin Coyote, Chris Lynam
Reviewer: Rachael Martin
[rating:4]

Having promoted live comedy from comedians of all walks of life, the Screaming Blue Murder comedy club hosts in venues across the UK, bringing unique acts to audiences everywhere. One venue which hosts the Screaming Blue Murder comedy club once a fortnight is the Royal & Derngate in Northampton, where your reviewer went to suss whether or not whether the comedy club would be a good choice of entertainment for your Friday night.

As usual the evening is hosted by a compere, who guides us through the evening and introduces us to the three chosen acts, segregated by two intervals where revellers can flock to the nearby bar for refreshments. In the case of the evening I reviewed the three acts were Martin Coyote, Chris Lynam and the leading act Dan Antopolski, hosted by compere Dan Evans.

To kick off the evening Dan Evans warmed the cockles of the audience, seamlessly performing gags and clever one liners that in my opinion deemed him worthy of a act all to himself. He then introduced Martin Coyote, a charming, laddish man in his 50’s with a distinctly ‘Have I Got News For You’ sense of humour, combining witty anecdotes on Britain today with wry observations on politicians and heads of state.

Next up was Chris Lynam, a manic performer with an almost circus-like ability to pull things out of thin air, performing stunts with an almost improvisational feel (although I am sure his escapades with a fire extinguisher were well rehearsed!) Lynam’s performance seemed to split the audience 50/50, a ‘Marmite’ reaction if you will- half the audience, including myself, felt detached from his rather odd, crazed and unpredictable performance style, whilst the other half (including g my partner) responded with great enthusiasm, one person even dubbing him ‘the weirdest, best thing I’ve ever seen’.

The final act of the evening was the headline act Dan Antopolski, and Edinburgh Fringe regular and winner of the Dave Award for ‘Joke of the Year’. As you can imagine, I had high expectations of this performer- and unfortunately this was when the evening’s entertainment fell a little short. Although some of his jokes were admittedly clever and he humorously shared his relatable views on having children and living in a big city, some f his jokes seemed very well rehearsed, making me feel his performance could have been so much stronger if he had only brought soe new material to work with. However, when he was (unfortunately) heckled by an audience member near the end of his act, Antopolski really came into his own with witty and improvisational put downs that were, ironically, the best part of his performance.

All in all, the evening of comedy courtesy of ‘Screaming Blue Murder’ did not fail to provide comedic variety and a evening of entertainment for all ages. If you are looking for something new to do on a Friday night, stepping away for the television and towards the Derngate’s live comedy would be fully recommended.

Screaming Blue Murder currently can be viewed at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, for one Friday each fortnight.

I never Get Dressed Till After Dark On Sundays – Cock Tavern Theatre, London

2011-03-05T10:23:00.000Z

Writer: Tennessee Williams

Director: Hamish MacDougall

Reviewer: Jemma Bicknell

[Rating:4/5]

I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark On Sundays is one of two plays by Tennessee Williams that are premièring at The Cock Tavern to mark his 100^th birthday. Williams, a prolific and celebrated playwright certainly had his ups and downs in life, and this play was written after a stint in rehab for substance abuse, so is predictably cynical. A tiny theatre with a modestly quirky set, the nature of the space puts us almost physically in the room with the main couple, emphasised by actors popping up elsewhere. There's no other mucking about with props, just effectively precise lighting, which let's the story unfold effortlessly.

What's surprising about this play as a whole is its simplicity. We begin by feeling disengaged with the artificiality of the actors when they are 'in role' but soon the Russian doll effect pulls us into the inner play, and we find ourselves double-gripped. Shelley Lang (Jane) and Lewis Hayes (Tye) do a terrific job of gradually losing themselves in the inner play, and as their acting 'improves' we as an audience get to feel the satisfaction of being in on the asides. Their sceptical remarks flecked throughout, bemoaning the sexist and melodramatic lines they're forced to say, are opportunely timed, and delivered with just the right amount of sarcasm to generate knowing snickers from the audience.

The plot is suspended in time, perhaps an embodiment of Williams' bogged down mind at the time he wrote the play. The action takes place in one room and around that, one theatre. What is explored is the notion of being stuck in a rut, the couple's inescapable social position in New Orleans, enveloped in Williams' frustration at the inevitable etiquette and politics of the thespian world. Williams mocks this aspect throughout, not to mention the archetypal theatrical histrionics that his peers might have been guilty of in their writing. In a similar vein to a Fitzgerald novel, we receive snippets of extravagant tales from the mouth of someone unable to be shocked, the contrast elevating the gangster-lore further into preposterousness.

A sprinkling of a few suddenly racy and aggressive parts brings some psychological clout to the very dialogue driven action, and they deftly enable us to empathise with both Jane and Tye, moral sureties see-sawing. But it's when the pair collaborate with the drunken yet whimsical playwright that they truly reach the crux of the matter, a search for some sincerity in a world full of egos and uncertainty.

Runs until 26^th March

The Red Shoes – Battersea Arts Centre, London

2011-03-04T10:51:00.000Z

Director: Emma Rice
Reviewer: Toni Stott-Rates
[Rating: 3.5]

Why are folktales so threaded through the fabric of human existence that they endure and are recognisable in all their different forms, all their altered manifestations? Whimsical and dark, practical and honest these stories are to people that listen and those that tell them a way of passing on wisdom, societal norms and advice. The Red shoes is a variation on the folktale theme, a tale of a young innocent girl, who is led through need and yearning into putting on the red shoes, against the wishes of those who care for her. she does not heed the warnings and the red shoes spell her doom, as she is cursed to dance past reason, past health, past ability, till she reaches the gates of hell itself. I guess the story is one of accepting that not all things we want are going to bring us ultimate joy, even if they are the fulfilment of what we most desire, that and the fact that young girls with no parents will always end up being pursued by some sort of evil.

Many of us will recognise this premise from the Hans Christian Anderson tale and famously the 1948 film the red shoes directed by Powell and Pressburger. In Kneehigh’s version, the girl is given a lovely pair of red clog-like shoes which she is very proud of, having yearned for a pair and gone so far as painting her feet to make them look like they had shoes on. This version explores many of the same issues that all versions of this story might look into, the sadness of those who warn her not to wear the shoes, the society who judges her for allowing herself to be carried away by the passion and obsession of the shoes, and ultimately the despair of the girl as she realises she is trapped to dance till her death unless in this version she finds another way.

This show is enjoyable, massively enjoyable, but as is always the case with stories that have been told hundreds of times it is predictable, because you already know it inside out. Kneehigh however make it fun. The macabre story is presided over and told by a creature who looks like a cross between the MC from Cabaret and Dr Frank N Furter from Rocky horror and enacted by his minions who look like holocaust survivors until they enthusiastically transform into any of the numerous characters in this account.

Fun is simply the best way to describe this show, never letting us dwell in the macabre elements, the sad and the mundane, the actors nimbly scrabble about pulling hilarious grinning gurning faces as they entertain and make us laugh, while asking us why we are laughing at the sad tale of the girl. Kneehigh indulge themselves and the audience with the use of simple objects transformed into many different things, memorably one floppy felt hat being folded and refolded as the actor used it to portray all the members of a church congregation.

The actors are all vastly enjoyable and talented; nimbly changing into many characters before our eyes with an energetic physical ability and a knack for clowning around.

The tale is bloody, it is not nice, nor is it meant to be, it is a kind of nightmare landscape in which we are invited to look, listen and benefit from, and while it is fun and almost magical you can never forget that it is dark and sad too. I enjoyed it extremely, but I don’t think it is necessarily for everyone. A certain amount of expectation has to be left behind and don’t assume you will see anything new, but if you sit back and enjoy the rough magic that is unfolded I think you just might be charmed.

Running till the 9th April

The Wizard of Oz - The London Palladium

2011-03-04T10:10:00.001Z

Music by: Harold Arlen

Lyrics by: E.Y. Harburg with additional lyrics by Tim Rice

Adapted by: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams

Musical Director: Graham Hurman

Choreography: Arlene Philips

Director: Jeremy Sams

Reviewer: Jenni Rymer

[Rating:4]

From the BBC talent show ‘Over The Rainbow’ to the recently refurbished Palladium this new ultra commercialised musical is a must see not only for the hard core Garland fans amongst us, but also for anyone who wants to at last see what a 21^st century musical looks like.

The production of this show is literally out of this world- and to be completely honest pretty much steals the show. From the outstanding twister scene (bravo indeed) to the terrifying Wicked Witch of the West and the legendary (really scary) flying monkeys that fly above the auditorium, audiences are in for a treat indeed. Let’s just say you can certainly see where your ticket money is going.

Aside from these breath-taking moments, there is the additional outstanding staging that together truly takes you into the Land of Oz. The yellow brick road is a revolving track surrounded by bright coloured flowers, and the Munchkins are thankfully endearing rather than creepy.

To be honest the main buzz of the night (pre curtain) was the winner of the BBC talent show- Danielle Hope. For an actress partaking in her debut professional performance she was brilliant. Her rendition of ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ is stunning and her Kansas accent is maintained throughout. You can however tell the experience she lacks in comparison to some of the other performers, although as the show grew so did she. Danielle is certainly a star in the making and if I were to go and see her perform in a couple of months’ time I’m confident she would blow me away.

The performance that did blow me away right away though was Hannah Waddingham as The Wicked Witch of the West. Her performance injected the theatrical enthusiasm into the show necessary and brought all of the characters together in the most entertaining way possible. Her performance of ‘Red Shoes Blues’ (the only new song by Lloyd Webber and Rice worth mentioning) was fabulous. David Ganley’s camp portrayal of the cowardly lion is also one to watch out for.

All in the all the standing ovation at the end of this visual masterpiece says it all. I was unsure of what my perceptions of this much hyped show would be, and I am delighted to say that I was thoroughly entertained and impressed by this fabulous new west end marvel.

Tickets on sale until: September 2011

After Troy – Oxford Playhouse

2011-03-04T10:02:00.000Z

Writer: Glyn Maxwell
Director: Alex Clifton
Reviewer: Mary Tapper
[Rating:4]

The stage is set. As you enter the theatre you get a sense of what is to come - steely colours, a huge origami style construction towering high on one side, broad metal spikes in clusters around the stage, erupting from the ground …and you know that this is a serious play with serious intent.

And the play has a tough job to do. It takes Hecuba and Women of Troy, two plays by Euripides written about 400 years BC, and re-imagines them. It is successful as the writing is lyrical, modern and thoughtful. Having seen the play I would like to re-read it at leisure to capture some of the phrases used – Maxwell has a real talent for dialogue .The play has a pleasing structure with a scribe providing a link into the story and helping the audience to feel involved in the fates of the characters. The tale is a simple one. Troy has been defeated and we gradually learn the fate of the remaining members of the royal family, the Women of Troy. The programme provides a family tree for the Trojans and I strongly advise having a quick peek at this if you are unfamiliar with it – it only adds to the understanding of the play and contains no spoilers!

The play is set in a cave where the women are being held and the scenery does a fine job of creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. Costumes were rather random with rags for the Women of Troy and a rag tag collection of modern military outfits for the conquering soldiers. Rather strange and yet they didn’t seem to detract from the telling of the tale! Lighting was excellent, subtly changing and highlighting speeches, unobtrusive and used with a very light and skilful touch.

From the start we are treated to excellent acting performances as the cast clearly enjoy the natural sounding script. Characters have all been well cast but Iain Batchelor as Kratos was particularly impressive, bringing clarity and great naturalness to the role. Hannah Barrie provides one of the most moving performances in a scene where news of her son arrives, as she realises his fate and her part in it. Nicholas Tennant is extraordinary in his mercurial performance as Mestor. It is impossible to take your eyes off him and he manages to pull of the difficult trick of being hilarious at one moment and tragic the next, with ease. His performance adds a splendid dimension to the play and I was rather startled to find myself laughing so much in a Greek Tragedy! It seems unfair not to mention the other actors as they too are excellent – throughout the play there is not a jarring note and each brings something quite different to the production. The dialogue is all well spoken and clearly enunciated and the story well told with pointers being quite subtle, leading the audience along the storyline with just enough explanation.

So, an excellent, modern, lyrical treatment of this story. A well-structured play that keeps the audience involved and entertained. Slight reservations? I never at any stage felt the emotional force of the story – it was very nearly there but even at the end I never got the “shivers down the spine” moment. This may come in time, as the cast get even more involved in the production. In the meantime I would highly recommend the play – it provided an excellent treatment of an ancient tale, updating in a sympathetic and witty way. Great fun!

Plays until 5th March

Fen - The Finborough Theatre, London

2011-03-04T09:58:00.000Z

Writer: Caryl Churchill

Music: Dave Price

Director: Ria Parry

Reviewer: Jemma Bicknell

[Rating:3]

Bleak, intelligent, evocative. Fen was originally written in 1983 about the desolate lives of village farm workers on the Fens, and it is a Zeitgeist that has matured with age. It is foremost a tragic tapestry of melancholic lives, but there are some skillful moments of comedy threaded through that serve to wrench the audience out of depression's depths when it gets a bit much. Six actors play a staggering twenty two characters, and with ease. Clear-cut and astoundingly quick costume changes make the transitions easy, and Nicola Harrison's interchanges between the utterly nasty, manipulative and abusive Angela to childish Deb are incredible, revealing the two ends of her spectrum as an actress.

The stage is literally a field of soil, and use of props as clean and illustrative as the costumes. A particularly pleasing aspect of this production is how quickly you feel you know the characters, and the way stereotypes, particularly those of kids at play, are drawn upon. A fantastic sequence where the young Becky makes up a song and dance about small-town dreams with the sisters Deb and Shona is insightful and nostalgic. Rosie Thomson is superb in all of her roles. She is somehow able to amalgamate both comedy and tragedy at once, in one facial expression, and to incarnate very diverse roles.

Val's desperate sadness (very poignantly played by Katharine Burford) runs through the play as the sombre and calamitous main motif, which the rest of the village goings-on centre around. We are reminded here of the mulishness of small-town mentality and of some of the changes in society that have taken place in less than thirty years. Interestingly, at the time the play was first shown this could have been a comment highlighting the difference between city and country life, two lifestyles that have now merged in terms of social structures. Or maybe this just signifies the end of 'country life' as we knew it? We get wind of this in the visit Mr Tewson receives from government official Miss Cade, whose inappropriate high heels create the most subtly funny moment in the show.

The relationship between Val and her lover Frank is intense but sometimes feels a little lacklustre, perhaps a few too many long, loaded gazes from a distance. These stretched episodes could explain the wax and wane of the production's power; at times, breath-batingly emotive, at others it feels somewhat like procrastination. Slimmed down it could sustain its strength, but that said, the quieter parts do give the peaks more height. The occasional references to folklore also sit uncomfortably in the plot, despite their historical value. The monologue of Val's ghost feels a bit random, like a truncated version of scene-setting that should have laid the foundations of the play, rather than acting as a palimpsest of background information. The ending regroups the characters and brings us back to small-town sadness, rounding off Val's frenetic monologue with the best aspect of the play, absurdity tinged with sorrow, in the expressive face of Rosie Thomson.

Runs until 26th March

The Portrait (Opera North) – The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-04T09:48:00.000Z

Music: Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Libretto: Alexander Medvedev
Director: David Pountney
Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace
[rating:4]

Written in 1980 and first performed in 1983, Opera North now present the belated British premiere of The Portrait, an intriguing opera by prolific Russian composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a man compared favourably to the more well known composers Shostakovich and Prokofiev.

Based on a short story by Nikolai Gogol and with a libretto by Alexander Medvedev translated with mixed results into English by Director David Pountney and Anastasia Koshkina, the ghostly tale tells of talented artist Chartkov who, after buying a strange painting from a junk shop finds fame and fortune only for his world to dramatically fall apart as he descends into madness and ultimately death.

It is not a cheerful story, but the telling of it is littered with humour, something Pountney as Director appears to have deliberately emphasised. The piece is rich with outrageous characters whose quirks and absurdities are at once amusing yet also deeply unsettling.

Musically, it is somewhat uneven. The piece is tonal and at times reasonably lyrical, but there are no memorable tunes. However, there is some brilliant orchestration work which, alongside the stunning tenor voice of Nicholas Sharratt as the Lamplighter, renders the opening to acts 1 and 3 deeply atmospheric and spine chilling.

This is Opera North on top form, both from a performer and orchestral point of view. Along side the aforementioned Nicholas Sharratt, Paul Nilon also possesses a fine tenor voice and proves his worth as an actor with his excellent portrayal of the artist Chartkov. An excellent performance is also given by Richard Burkhard as Chartkov’s servant Nikita.

The remaining nine singing cast exert themselves superbly with crystal clear diction and under the direction of Rossen Gergov the ever excellent Orchestra of Opera North and the cast maintain a near perfect dynamic balance.

Dan Potra is responsible for both costumes and set, and scores success with both. His colourful and textured set for acts 1 and 2 contrasts effectively with the stark and empty setting for act 3 and the costume designs achieve a similar effect. There is a very clever lighting design by Linus Fellbom which accentuates the more mysterious elements and Pountney’s decision to use video in act 3 heightens the drama of the affecting conclusion.

Although The Portrait is not likely to enter the repertoire of commonly performed and popular operas, it is an opera well worthy of the production values afforded to it by Opera North and whilst it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it has much to recommend it and thoroughly deserved the enthusiastic response the audience delivered in Salford.

Reviewed on the 3rd March

Journey’s End – Darlington Civic Theatre

2011-03-03T17:23:00.003Z

Writer: R.C. Sherriff
Director: David Grindley
Reviewer: Ian Cain
[Rating:4/5]

Having seen a previous production of ‘Journey’s End’ (although not in the capacity of a reviewer) I was looking forward to the experience again. It was only when I took my seat in the auditorium that I began to realise that the production that was about to commence was not the same one that I watched back in March 2010. Last time round, as you entered the auditorium, you were confronted with the immediate presence of the magnificent set – a rat-infested, claustrophobic , dank dug-out – whereas this time it was concealed from view by a drop-cloth featuring the iconic image of Lord Kitchener, imploring the fact that ‘Your Country Needs You’.

Once the curtain was raised, I was equally as impressed by Jonathan Fensom’s set as I had been by that of Victoria Spearing’s last time. The dark, dingy dug-out looked remarkably similar in construction and was every bit as evocative.

‘Journey’s End’ is a classic story of war and humanity, set in the trenches of the Somme during World War One, based upon Robert Cedric Sherriff’s own personal experiences of trench life. The central character is the young, charismatic, but ill-tempered, Captain Stanhope (James Norton) who must lead his men whilst also attempting to control his own war-weariness and increasing dependency on copious amounts of whiskey. Stanhope is just about holding it all together until the arrival of the fresh-faced 2nd Lieutenant Raleigh (Graham Butler), a former schoolmate and the brother of the girl Stanhope hopes to woo, sets in motion a chain of events that ends with devastating consequences.

The piece is very much an ensemble one and other characters provide moments of light and shade throughout: the father figure of Lieutenant Osborne (Dominic Mafham) is a reassuring, level-headed presence and he is affectionately referred to as ‘Uncle’ by the younger men; 2nd Lieutenant Hibbert (Simon Harrison) claims that he is suffering from neuralgia and is derided as a coward, although he is clearly suffering from what we would now term post-traumatic stress disorder; 2nd Lieutenant Trotter (Christian Patterson) is larger than life in character and body and seems as concerned about what will be served for the next meal as he does about the progress of the offensive, and Private Mason (Tony Turner) is the much maligned cook who has to concoct culinary creations from the most basic of ingredients.

Despite the fact that ‘Journey’s End’ is a compelling story that serves to remind us of the futility of war, a couple of things marred this production for me: firstly, too much emphasis was placed upon the ‘class’ of the officers – situations, people and events were too frequently referred to as ‘topping’, ‘thrilling’ or ‘jolly good’ – and this pomposity somewhat prevented me from really engaging with the characters; secondly, Gregory Clarke’s sound design was, at times, highly excessive and the theatre literally shook when some of the on-stage explosions went off.

That said, the performances of the eleven-strong cast were excellent and the applause from the audience at curtain-call was long and enthusiastic.

Runs until Saturday 5th March 2010

The Cleansing of Constance Brown - A E Harris Building, Birmingham

2011-03-03T13:47:00.001Z

Creators: Gerard Bell, Jake Oldershaw, Graeme Rose, Bernadette Russell, Craig Stephens, Andy Watson

Music: Nina West with Richard Chew

Director: James Yorker

Reviewer: Tabitha McGrath

[rating:3/5]

Boundaries were broken and this evening’s performance by the Birmingham-based Theatre Group Stan’s Cafe. The Cleansing of Constance Brown is something that you will never have experienced before, even from the most avant-garde, contemporary theatre group.

Set in a 14m long corridor, with a series of doors on either side, the seven cast members flit between characters, time periods and stories. It is worth mentioning from the outset that there was no dialogue in the one-act play, only an intrusive and ear-splitting soundtrack. The audience sit at one end of the long corridor and it as if we are just observing. Nothing was presented to us, and in a sense there wasn’t really a typical plot. We were merely shown a series of different mini stories. Some were shown only once, such as a dramatic telling of the horrific treatment of prisoners of war in Afghanistan. Some were shown and then referred back to numerously, a story of a high-flying business going into turmoil that saw hundreds of sheets of paper hurriedly shredded and an eventual suicide. Most of the time, they were left un-ended. And they were always busy, shifting from one to another, often crossing paths and this unfortunately was not always clear.

Upon leaving the interesting metal works building in the Jewelry Quarter in Birmingham, we were directed through the set, and I thought that this might have answered a few of my questions as we walked up the ominous, dark corridor, alas this was not the case.

Since the dialogue and essentially, a clear plot, is removed, the productions relies heavily on all of the other aspects of performance. In other words, it is vital that the rest of the production is enhanced to make up for this. Kay Wilson’s bespoke costumes were well-designed, instantly dragging us from modern day Iraq to Elizabethan England using the typical dress of both eras, yet keeping them extremely simple when there were simultaneous sub-plots. This was the highlight of the play, along with the superb silent acting from the cast. In this situation, one realises that half of language does not come from words, but from gestures, actions and facial expressions.

This also means that the only sound in the play came from the music, which was blasted at the audience through large seemingly invisible speakers. The music was just as contemporary as the concept of the play, and in some cases very clever, mixing several loop tracks together to create a tension-filled wonderful mess. However, it seemed as though the peak of the music happened far too early and the only way to build intensity for the latter half of the production was to increase the volume. This became quite uncomfortable in places and left the lady next to me with fingers in her ears. I would have also preferred a higher quality sound producer, since some of it sounded particularly false and poor quality.

Especially due to the lack of obviousness in the play, it requires a lot of work from the audience. Are they always re-enacting famous moments in history? Do they expect you to know every story that they re-enact? Are they testing one’s prejudices? Or do they just expect you to take the piece as face value? I don’t know and this forces me to question whether this is ground-breaking or a little bit too try-hard? However, it certainly makes for an interesting and entertaining evening, especially if you like to have your mind stretched.

Runs until 19^th March

The Devil Has Quentin’s Heart – Contact Theatre, Manchester

2011-03-03T13:40:00.000Z

Writer: Ray Shell, Benji Reid, Peader Kirk,
Director: Peader Kirk
Reviewer: Ruth Lovett
[Rating:3.5/5]

Heavily influenced by Ray Shell’s ‘Iced’, The Devil Has Quentin’s Heart is the tragic pathos filled story of Quentin; originally from Moss Side, Quentin’s father moves to New York with his son for a better a life; a chance to chase the American dream and become a success. Constant pressure to make something of himself and a strained relationship with is father makes for an easily lead and self doubting Quentin.

After an encounter with a beautiful crack addict, Quentin gives his heart to the Devil who promises to give him the start in life he dreams of, the opportunity to be a success. Reaching dizzying heights on Wall Street Quentin certainly makes plenty of money but cannot resist the temptation of alcohol and loses everything to end up a homeless drunk who cannot accept that it is he who did not maximise the opportunities he was given. Instead he blames everyone else and becomes a lost tortured soul.

Benji Reid is a captivating performer. He holds the audience in the palm of his hands and creates the various characters with a finesse and ease rarely seen in solo performers. He transitions between the Devil and Quentin when the deal is being made is particularly chilling and effective with only some dry ice and fantastic lighting (Paul Colley) to assist him. Reid is an accomplished performer who fills the stage with his presence and the auditorium with his clear voice. A creator of physical and hip hop theatre Reid moves his body in the manner of a proficient dancer and uses some dance moves to convey moods better than any words could suffice in certain scenes and this production certainly allows him to utilise some of his skills expertly.

At times some scenes do drag a little and it is obvious the direction the play is moving in therefore they need not be so unnecessarily long. Also, although the audio created by Wong although skilful and works well as an enhancement to the writing- it is at times too loud and Reid is fighting to make himself heard over it and from my positioning the third row this was a little disappointing however can be easily remedied.

Overall this is a brilliantly performed piece of modern theatre that tells a familiar story well. Reminiscent of the film the Devil’s Advocate it touches on themes of loss, despair, selling your soul and heart to the Devil and the fallibility of man in a relevant way. Easily identifiable themes and a well executed performance and quality production make this an enjoyable experience and a credit to Breaking Cycles Production Company.

Reviewed on the 2nd March

Opera North: The Merry Widow – The Lowry , Salford

2011-03-03T00:39:00.003Z

Writer: Franz Lehar
Director: Giles Havergal
Conductor: Wyn Davies
Reviewer: Lorna Andrewes
[Rating5/5]

The Merry Widow was one of the last of its genre to be written and less than ten years after its first performance on 3oth December1905, at the Theater an den Wien, the First World war had swept away the light-hearted frivolity of the time and place forever. The story is set in Paris, where the Pontevedren Ambassador, Baron Zeta has a major problem to resolve. Stefan Glawari, a banker who held all the nations wealth, has died, leaving his young widow to inherit. This money is needed by Ponevedro to stave off bankruptcy.

The widow, Hanna, brilliantly sung by Stephanie Corley, has arrived in Paris and Ambassador Zeta, sung by Geoffrey Dolton, is desparate to ensure that she finds a husband from amongst the resident Pontevedrans, not the French. To that end, he orders his nephew Danilo to court and marry Hanna Unknown to zeta, Hanna and Danilo, however, have a past history. Danilo hadfallen for Hanna but was forced to reject her because of her low social position at thetime. Danilo was so devastated when she quickly married Glawari, that he embarked on a life of loose living, drinking and meeting call girls at Maxim's Night Club. Danilo refuses to entertain the idea of wooing Hanna, but promises to at least prevent her choosing a french husband.

There are other flirtatios and sub-plots skilfully woven through the main theme, but Hanna and Danilo continue to torment each other, refusing to admit their love to each other. Only when Hanna tricks Danilo by telling him that she will loose all her money if she marries, does he feel free to declare himself. Ahappy ending is clearly a must and comes when Hanna confesses that all her money will belong to her husband when she marries.

This entire production was full of joyful entertainment and it's simply not possible to pick out any aspect for negative criticism. The singing, unsurprisingly, sine it is Opera North, was a delight to hear and it's tough to single anyone out, but besides the above-mentioned Stephanie Corley, William Dazeley as Danilo gave a fine performance and Allan Clayton as de Rossillon has a clear, splendid tone. The whole piece flowed so well with many moments of humour , lyricism and spectacle.

The set and costumes were excellent, reminders of an age of colour and opulence. The decor, red floor, chandeliers and statuettes worked well, a fairly restrained foil for the exhuberent costumes. The choreography of Tim Claydon added so much to the success of the performance, full of livliness and wit, and the versatility of the singers' involvement in the chorography was unusual and accomlished, Even the great conductor of the very fine orchestra gave a quick jig when taking his applause!

This production was an absolute joy to see from start to finish.

Reviewed on 2nd March 2011

Sex Idiot - Contact Theatre, Manchester

2011-03-03T00:20:00.000Z

Writer/Performer: Bryony Kimmings
Reviewer: Jo Beggs
[rating:4/5]

When it comes to sex, Bryony Kimmings has had plenty of it. She’s been a fun loving, love’em and leave ‘em kind of gal. So when she found she had a common sexual disease, retracing her steps to locate its source was an activity she could well have done without. Picking up the phone to people she’d loved and lost and to those she’s loathed and dumped seemed an equally unappealing way to spend an evening. But the subsequent journey took her in a whole different direction and gave her some tough stuff to think about. And she thought about it lots…and she made this show.

Part performance art, part comedy, part cabaret, part story-telling, Sex Idiot is a rude, poignant and funny look back at the past ten years of Bryony’s life. In spoken word, song and dance she knits together the numerous events which have made up her ‘sex life’ to date, recalling the fun, the love, the jealousy and the hurt.

Kimmings is an accomplished writer and performer. She weaves calm, still performance art with manic dancing and angry songs, moving seamlessly between them and never letting go of an enthralled audience. She’s a convincing comic both in her writing and delivery. She gently encourages audience participation without making anyone feel the least bit awkward, including what has to be an absolute theatre first - she asks for pubic hair samples from the audience – and she gets them.

Kimming’s world is reflected in David Ring Curtis’s ramshackle and rather beautiful design. Piles of odd, unexplained objects, suitcases with trees growing out of them, coloured flags, flowers, liquor. Strange talismans. Kimmings moves around from scene to scene around the space, unpacking, revealing the next part of her story. She dons extraordinary hats, a glittering kaftan, a matador suit, red patent leather killer heels. At the end of the show it’s this detritus of Kimming’s life which becomes a ritual circle in which she offers up her past.

Kimmings is delivering a rare form of theatre, a genuine cross-over between narrative and non-narrative, the popular and the alternative. Yes, the show contains all the things that theatres are duty bound to warn you about when you buy a ticket – swearing, nudity, sexual references – but the shock value is almost entirely negated by the show’s tenderness, honesty and humour. Sex Idiot is a shocking show that fails to shock, because it has no need to.

Runs until the 5th March 2011

Corrie! - Churchill Theatre, Bromley

2011-03-02T17:15:00.000Z

Writer: Jonathan Harvey
Director : Fiona Buffini
Reviewer: Johnny Fox
[Rating:3/5]

We’re like that, in Lancashire. We build you up and then we knock you down … just so’s you don’t forget where you come from and get a bit above yerself down in that there Lundun. The script of Corrie! Is by much-garlanded author Jonathan Harvey, not only a long-time stalwart of the show’s writing team, but also originator of ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme’, ‘Beautiful Thing’ and the Pet Shop Boys musical ‘Closer To Heaven’ and on his way to becoming something of a national treasure.

In the Bromley local paper, the headline is ‘Former Thamesmead Teacher writes ultimate Corrie experience’. It couldn’t have been a better putdown if it had been a headline in ‘t Weatherfield Gazette.

The structure condenses two thousand Coronation Street plotlines into a couple of hours (and a bit) and the technique follows the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s breakneck trolley dash through 31 of the bard’s works: niceties of nuance or characterization are ditched in favour of trademark wigs and glasses, and hit or miss vocal impressions. With only six actors, even though none is late for an entrance or a cue, it’s all a bit breathless.

Most of the stories are dismissed in an instant, but two Corrie anti-heroines get closer examination: Gail Potter Tilsley Platt Hillman McIntyre, in a weak showing by Leanne Best, and better when Jo Mousley has enough stage time to develop Deirdre Hunt Langton Barlow Rachid Barlow’s popping neck-veins and fag-raddled throatiness whilst chronicling Dierdre’s grande affaire with Mike Baldwin, wrongful imprisonment, spawning of devil child Tracey, acquisition of toy boy Samir, and constant grinding disappointment in Ken.

Ken as played by Simon Chadwick is the most convincingly heroic performance, as vocally and physically he manages to pin down both the Barlow character and Bill Roache’s slightly diffident acting of it, Chadwick is equally strong as Jack Duckworth and Richard Hillman.

Mousley’s also authentic as Hilda, particularly in the ‘Muriel’ scene and when she challenges Annie Walker for shortchanging her wage packet, but disappointing as Ena Sharples. Lucy Thackeray’s Elsie is visually spot on with the cinched waist, the five-inch-heel tittup and the only decent wig in the show, but her Annie Walker and Raquel are less crisply defined. Besides, anyone can ‘do’ Raquel’s French lesson – I’m sure I’ve been caught in the kitchen at parties offering ‘voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir’ in a Salford accent.

Chadwick and Best are the only survivors from the original run at the Lowry last August. The show could do with adding a couple of more mature actresses to the cast to make Ena, Annie, Vera and Audrey less cartoonish: most of the older women are played by youngish men, a device that works well enough for Peter Temple’s alarmingly Alan Bennett-like Blanche meeting St Peter at the Pearly Gates but grates when Bet Lynch is portrayed as an ugly bloke in drag, and reminds you how much more accurately impressionists like Dustin Gee and Les Dennis delivered Vera and Mavis, or Victoria Wood, Lill Roughley and Julie Walters copied the trio in the snug.

The multi-layered set by Liz Ascroft is very fine, and quite elaborate for one which will undergo a six-month tour, as are the lighting and special effects particularly the slow-motion it’s-curtains-for-Alan-Bradley on Blackpool seafront and the recent ‘Corriepocalypse’ explosion of the tram coming off the viaduct.

In Moira Buffini’s deliberately staccato direction, it’s all played as a series of disconnected vignettes and the evening feels long. But there’s a moment towards then end when the ghost of Elsie finds common ground with present-day Becky where the seed of a more durable idea seems to germinate. Pity there wasn’t more of that.

Obviously some favourites are going to be missed: there’s no Alma testing the underwater road handling of Don Brennan’s taxi, no scenes in the raincoat (later knicker) factory, no Sean or Norris, no return to the Gamma Garments of Miss Nugent and Mr Swindley, no Phyllis Pearce, Alf Roberts, ‘Sunny Jim’ or Eddie Yates.

Most unforgiveably, there’s no Mavis. What do you say to that?

Well, I don’t really KNOW, Rita …

Runs until Sat 5th March

Sprint Festival 2011 - Camden People's Theatre, London

2011-03-02T15:33:00.001Z

Reviewer: Ian Foster

[rating:4/5]

The Sprint festival has been running for the last 14 years at the Camden People’s Theatre and has returned for the month of March for another ‘festival of adventurous experiences in theatre’. It focuses on emerging artists pushing the boundaries of what we know as theatre, presenting a huge range of different experimental theatrical formats – one-on-one confessions, audio walks around King’s Cross, a theatre kit that is sent to your home for you to perform in your kitchen...there’s literally something for everyone here.

Our evening started off with Mamoru Iriguchi’s Projector/Conjector, a journey of two strange beings, one called Projector with a projector on their head and the other Conjector with a screen, on a journey to the planet Swanlake demonstrated through projected images and scrolling on-screen text. The storyline echoes that of Swan Lake but also involved unexpected pregnancies, changing genders and space invaders amongst other things and whilst it was funny, there was also a quiet emotion to the piece which was rather spoiled by an over-laughing audience member.

In the foyer, we got Francesca Millican-Slater, a beneficiary of the CPT’s artist development programme, who presented her I Promise To Swim The Channel (or the story of how I might) with a refreshing openness and warm wit as she prepared for a training session, complete with goose fat rubbing, pulling us into her story with amusing details about previous cross-Channel attempts interweaved with her own journey of being ever-so-slightly obsessed with water. We also got Circo Ridiculoso’s balloon antics which were at times impressive and intermittently amusing although I felt the joke was stretched rather thin towards the end.

Doris Day Can Fuck Off is the result of Greg McClaren’s decision to communicate through the medium of song varying from the fun audience participation of getting people to sing their names in a range of styles to his own singing and playing of recorded voice samples which was amusing but ultimately felt a little disjointed as a whole. But it was The Honourable Society of Faster Craftswomen’s Patchwork which was my favourite of the shows I saw, a pulsing mega-monologue by the lead singer of a punk band as she deals with the realities of individual ambition, maintaining relationships and the vagaries of having a wasps’ nest in the attic. A spoken-word gig but accompanied by a rocking soundtrack and some beautifully crafted illustrations, it was both epic and nakedly personal and ensured we left with a smile on our faces: this would be my top tip for booking.

To have your own Sprint experience, you should visit the Camden People’s Theatre website and look at the timetable to see what takes your fancy from the vast array of shows both onsite and off, some are ticketed some are free, one is ‘pay what you think it was worth’ but move quickly as some are very limited in capacity and already close to selling out.

Booking until 28^th March

Chess, - The Hippodrome, Bristol

2011-03-02T14:08:00.000Z

Book/Lyrics: Tim Rice
Music: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Director/Choreographer: Craig Revel Horwood
Reviewer: Lucy Thackray
[rating:4/5]

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the revival of Chess. Widely known for the breakaway pop duet I Know Him So Well and being co-written by the boys from ABBA, I knew from a brilliant amateur production I’d seen in my teens that there was a lot more to this rock-opera than board games.

Set amidst the icy tensions of the Cold War, the show focuses on the 1979 world chess championship, where the USA’s egomaniac champion Freddie Trumper must defend his title against the USSR’s Anatoly Sergievsky. This evolves into a passionate love triangle over Freddie’s assistant and lover, Florence, as the two men are pitted against each other by their nations and the media, reflecting the politics of the time.

This production, promoted heavily as the brainchild of Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood, is clearly on crystal meth and styled by Lady Gaga, a whirlwind of pop-culture elements that really shouldn’t work – but it does. The show-stealing ensemble are dressed as flamboyant, Westwood-esque chess pieces, with black-bobbed, black lipped pawns in military dress. Christopher Woods’ incredible designs animate the politics of the chessboard, each piece vivid and charismatic in its own right.

One of the main triumphs of this staging is that 25 of the 30-strong cast play instruments on stage (orchestrated by Tony-winner Sarah Travis), deftly built around their witty and macabre choreography and flawless vocals. The three principals, although sometimes obscured by the intensity of the chorus, are equally fantastic in their rockstar vocals and stage presence. James Fox is the standout performer, with just the right amount of American smarm and rage, and owns the stage in One Night in Bangkok and even the somewhat whiny Pity the Child. His range seems endless and his vocals are constantly at full-throttle.

More light and shade is provided by Shona White in the Elaine Paige-originated role, Florence Vassy; a fairly one-dimensional character with undoubtedly the best songs in the show. White’s powerful voice and feisty yet fragile character earned her the biggest applause of the night. Daniel Koek as the introspective, forceful Anatoly provides a very different but complimentary sound with his rich tenor, although in some of his more wordy songs the meaning is lost, due to amped-up sound and too much ensemble backing.

Slick support is provided by David Erik as the devilish, trumpet-playing Arbiter, clad in a full-length leather coat, and Steve Varnom as the seedy Molokov. Poppy Tierney is graceful and steely as Anatoly’s wronged wife Svetlana, but the material doesn’t offer much of an insight into her character. The choreography, under scrutiny due to its star creator, is frenetic and varied, dipping into classical as well as hardcore gay-club territory. Though the dance numbers were undeniably entertaining, I would still say the vocals were the best part, making me long for a touring cast soundtrack.

Chess had a meagre three-year West End run in the 80s, and quickly flopped on Broadway. Not only does it demand of its audience a basic understanding of Cold War politics, but Tim Rice’s sublime lyrics are fast-paced and intellectual – this is a musical which requires concentration. Contrastingly, its standout numbers (bar the rousing Anthem at the end of Act I) are recognisably-ABBA pop ballads, with some haunting music-box waltzes and rock numbers to combat the cheese factor. It is a challenging show, but a thoroughly enjoyable one if you are open to the humour and genius within. Entertaining touches such as ‘broadcasts’ by the characters into cameras hidden in the onstage instruments and projected on to the minimalist scenery, really add flavour.

This dark story of media hype, global superpowers and on a smaller scale, one woman’s emotional survival, is still compelling and thought-provoking stuff more than two decades after its creation. Highly recommended for Rice fans, although ABBA’s may be in for a shock.

Runs until 5th March in Bristol.

Dinnerladies: Second Helpings – New Theatre, Cardiff

2011-03-02T13:57:00.000Z

Writer: Victoria Wood

Adaptor/Director: David Graham

Reviewer: Jacqui Onions

[rating:3.5/5]

The second stage show to be adapted from Victoria Wood’s successful television sitcom ‘Dinnerladies’, The Comedy Theatre Company’s production of Dinnerladies: Second Helpings transports the audience to the familiar surroundings of the factory canteen and invites them to observe the everyday and not so ordinary lives of the people working there.

All the favourite characters from the TV show are there and in the cases of canteen manager Tony and crazy customer Jane are played by their original television actors (Andrew Dunn and Sue Devaney). This gives the show a comforting familiarity and helps to suppress any fears the audience have about seeing the characters they have grown to love being played by different people. The rest of the cast do a fantastic job of staying true to the characters as we know them. Laura Sheppard has the biggest shoes to fill, playing Bren; the role made famous by Victoria Wood herself. Although while interacting with the others her characterisation is spot on, there are moments during her longer speeches that in impersonating Victoria Wood the essence of the character is lost slightly.

The other characters introduced are handyman Stan (Barrie Palmer), personnel officer Philippa (Rebecca Wingate), and canteen staff Twink (Emily Houghton), Dolly (Gay Lambert), Anita (Krupa Pattani) and Jean (Margaret Preece). Plus Bren’s mother Petula pops in and out to cause chaos. Supporting roles are played by Mark Huckett, Alice Bell and Gary Hanks. The real star of the show is Sue Devaney. She gives a rather unexpected and extremely funny performance that alone makes the show well worth seeing.

Although this adaptation stays very true to the television series, it is not essential to have watched either the TV show or the first Dinnerladies play to enjoy this piece. The characters are subtly introduced to the audience so as not to bore a Dinnerladies fan by telling them what they already know, but still enables a stranger to the format to relate quickly to the people and their situations.

There is always a concern with anything based on a half hour television show that it will not stand up as a full length play, but this adaptation is very well written with a good pace and the laughs come thick and fast making it entertaining throughout. The story deals with everyday situations and stresses such as relationships, family and job threats in a light hearted and funny way. However, there were occasional references that went over my head so anyone much younger than their late twenties may not get some of the many allusions to old films, celebrities and television shows.

Mind blowing theatre this may not be but if you’re looking for a bit of light hearted fun in true Victoria Wood style then this show will not disappoint.

Runs until Saturday 5^th March 2011

The Laundry – Brockley Jack Studio Theatre, London

2011-03-02T11:21:00.000Z

Writer: Joe Ward Munrow
Director: Mark Leipacher
Reviewer: Gareth Ellis
[rating:3/5]

I accepted the opportunity to the see The Laundry at the Brockley Jack because it is set in Liverpool, and being a Liverpudlian I was excited to get a taste of the city I miss. Although a couple of references are made to the city, I feel the play might have worked better if the exact location was not defined, as saying it was set in Liverpool seemed quite inconsequential, being that it is in a basement; the same as any basement in any other city, the only difference being this one has an old scouser in it.

Moving onto the aforementioned scouser (Terry, played by Chris Bearne), when he began to speak I was very surprised to hear one of the worst scouse accents ever uttered on stage. His voice was animated if nothing else…maybe it would be better if Terry spoke in a Beatles-esque lilt, rather than sounding like a cockney who has lived in the midlands impersonating Leonard Rossiter in Rising Damp. It was akin to Dick Van Dyke’s cockney, but worse. Hearing it might be worth the ticket price alone.

Although Chris Bearne’s performance was marred by his chosen accent, his performance was full of the required aplomb and comedy moments were handled with skill. The relationship between Terry and Ben, played by the brilliant Sam Millard, was also portrayed in a skilful manner. Millard played Ben in a sensitive and powerful way which left us feeling deeply for the character, he must be commended for his powerful performance.

The first act established the setting and characters well, but at times seemed like some things in the writing were just there for the sake of it. Also, the development of the main characters’ relationship seemed rushed at times, and may have benefited in the writing focusing on the truth and not rushing instead of opting for cheap laughs at times, though most of the comedy was well placed. The second act was gripping compared to the first, and unravelled to reveal an unpredictable climax; which turned this play from a piece about the relationship between young and old, one life ending and one beginning, into a play questioning how we spend our lives and the choices we make and how our actions impact upon others.

Runs until 5th March.

The ‘All New’ Original Tribute to The Blues Brothers - Palace Theatre, Manchester

2011-03-02T11:02:00.000Z

Director: Brad Henshaw

Reviewer: Cathy Crabb

[Rating:4/5]

It’s a Blues Brother’s tribute show and so is an uplifting light hearted and joyous event with original rhythm and blues and soul numbers to dance and clap along to, if that’s what gets you going. And though Jake and Elwood, The Bluettes and the band were fantastic, we the audience took a bit to warm up.

This wasn’t helped by someone in the circle waiting for silent breaks so she could gob off. Being a Tuesday night, it allowed for a cloud of embarrassment and fear to dampen our spirits and we (the rest of the audience) weren’t over it until the second half when we decided we would get up and dance when asked to. And so we did and we put aside her attempts to scupper our fun (she had grown silent- perhaps being sick in her handbag) as we clapped and danced throughout the rest of the show.

I was impressed by the show as a whole which captures the essence of the film and musical and Brad Henshaw (who also directed the show) as Jake and Daniel Fletcher as Elwood pay a thoughtful tribute to Belushi and Ackroyd, big boots to fill of course and I’m not sure anyone could.

All the favourites were there ‘Soul Man’, ‘Respect’ ‘Everybody’ and ‘Shake a Tail Feather’, as well as some unexpected songs like ‘Minnie the Moocher’ (sung by a charismatic performer- Luke Jasztal) and ‘Do You Love Me’. The set had an LA night club feel to it- brick walls with posters on and the band scattered about the stage. There were some funny moments too, as Jake and Elwood came down on ropes which snapped and they plummeted to the stage, a few gags here and there which weren’t the best but we were there for the music and the seven piece band didn’t disappoint- I particularly enjoyed the harmonised version of ‘Under the Boardwalk’.

For those who love The Blues Brothers, you won’t be disappointed, go and experience it this weekend, you will have a great time, don’t take a heckler though, it’ll ruin it for you.

Runs until Sat 5^th March

Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical - New Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon

2011-03-02T10:31:00.000Z

Music: Frank Wildhorn

Lyrics: Leslie Bricusse

Director: Martin Connor

Reviewer: Michelle Smith

[rating:4/5]

You’re plunged into Jekyll & Hyde with Henry Jekyll (Marti Pellow) desperately trying to convince the authorities to allow testing of his controversial experiments. Nearly condemned as a heretic, Jekyll is forced to test his findings on himself with disastrous results. After having his good and evil side separated, Jekyll’s alter ego Hyde supresses Jekyll, becoming all the more dangerous whilst on the streets of London. There are comedic offerings throughout this production where, for a minute here and there, you’ll be caught so unaware that you almost jump in shock at the toe-tapping numbers such as Bring on the Men you will be giggling in no time, which makes the darker elements all the more ominous.

Split into two acts, the first is primarily dedicated to setting the historical and social context creating a complete understanding of Jekyll’s reasoning. Pellow does well to set up Jekyll’s personal context as well as his passion for his work which only serves to isolate him more. His ability to maintain the audience’s attention is inconsistent but when the two sides of his character start to swap and change, he demands your attention be right on him. Pellow introduces his Edward Hyde to you in a rather childish fashion at first, popping children’s balloons and hiding behind false walls, wreaking havoc and darting around the stage.

Straight away you’re treated to the surprisingly chipper Façade, a song which, whilst providing a spectacular opening, introduces the main themes. Emphasised by mirrors and the constant presence of at least three doorways, the idea of moving between different aspects of each character and how a person changes according to the social roles they are expected to perform is all too apparent. Thus Jekyll & Hyde is just as much about the shedding of social norms and giving into your deepest darkest desires as it is about the relationship between good and evil. This strength and literal interpretation-you see Hyde astonishingly taking on a life of his own-come about when Jekyll feels the guilt of Hyde’s actions, instantly knowing that he has done wrong as soon as his social consciousness returns. When Hyde becomes stronger, Pellow’s Jekyll is truly heart breaking as he becomes serpent like in movement showing Jekyll aching over what he has created, Pellow portrays this inner turmoil perfectly.

The supporting cast help make this show, the song by Henry’s fiancé Emma (Sarah Earnshaw) and a local ‘dancer’ Lucy (Sabrina Carter) provides a lighter tone that soothes the audience before the big finale. A west end star in the making, Earnshaw portrays Emma’s innocence and concern for Henry with such emotion it will move even the coldest of hearts. Alternatively is Lucy (Carter) who portrays such sadness and vulnerability effortlessly.

Applause needs to be given to the orchestra here as not only is the mood set but, at times, manages to outshine what’s happening on stage. Most impressive here was the reinforcement of the themes which run through the famous gothic novel, remaining true to it and leaving no doubt as to the genre of this piece with its haunting tones which grab and astound you. Transporting you into Victorian London the music is one of the many factors which portray the dichotomy between Jekyll and Hyde.

Overall Jekyll & Hyde is a rollercoaster of a show with its memorable songs which you’ll be singing for at least the train ride home. With Martin Connor at the helm as director this great gothic novel has become something that can be enjoyed by everyone. Although starting slow, Jekyll & Hyde is exceptionally entertaining.

Runs until: Saturday 5^th March 2011

Romeo and Juliet – Curve, Leicester

2011-03-02T10:15:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare

Composer: Sandy Nuttgens

Director: Marcus Romer/Katie Posner

Reviewer: Jemma Crowston

[Rating:3.5/5]

Last night saw the timeless tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet come to life in a contemporary context at Curve, Leicester. The award-winning company Pilot Theatre returned to the city after the success of their production of Lord of the Flies in February 2009.

Their contemporary version of the classic love story sees the actors wearing everyday clothes but it uses the original text from Shakespeare but condensed to make the play more accessible. The stage props includes stunning visuals and the set, designed by Chloe Lamford (winner of Best Set design at the 2007 TMA awards) is filled with over 600 bunches of silk flowers to create a 21^st century scene for the love story to take place.

Pilot Theatre’s production at Curve gave me a chance once again to tackle my deep-rooted fear of Shakespeare’s work. Following Filter’s Twelfth Night last year, I decided it was better to face my fears head on than hide away from a challenge. Like when watching a fast-paced show, I feel like I have to concentrate real hard when watching Shakespeare’s words spoken to be able to grasp their understanding.

The last time I read/watched this classic story was at school so seeing it performed in a professional theatre is a new experience for me which means I have no comparisons to draw it against. Although the cast were using the original text their mannerisms and playful charms had an air of modernity.

I was particularly taking aback by Chris Lindon’s performance as Mercutio as his boisterous presence was strong and at times refreshing to see against the narrative. The chemistry between Juliet (Rachel Spicer) and Romeo (Oliver Wilson) was beautiful. Despite having to concentrate on the spoken words I was mesmerised by the physical actions between the star-crossed lovers.

The infamous balcony scene was apt. Instead of a traditional tall structure on the stage, Pilot used a neon framed cube for the balcony and sloped stage flooring to represent the wall in which Romeo climbs up. As the two meet for the second time and declared their love and fascination for one another I sat their hoping it wouldn’t end but then Juliet’s nurse calls to her.

Unlike most theatre shows, this production includes a continuous cutting edge, specially-commissioned soundtrack by composer Sandy Nuttgens, which is available to download on iTunes. From the moment you’re sat in your seats waiting for the show to begin you hear a very eerie sound which builds up the atmosphere for the play which can be quite dark at times.

I’d recommend this play to anyone who, like me, finds Shakespeare a challenge because I’ll guarantee you’ll find some enjoyment through watching the eight talented actors portray a traditional story with modern twists.

Runs until Saturday March 12.

Danish Dance Theatre - Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

2011-03-02T10:07:00.000Z

Choreographer: Tim Rushton
Reviewer: Audrey Pointer
[rating:4.5]

Danish Dance Theatre is one of Scandinavia's most prestigious contemporary dance companies. The company performs worldwide and has a huge international following.

This event is part of the Dance Touring Partnership's Danceworks season, a project promoting UK and international dance through a network of theatres including Sheffield Theatre and which promises the finest of British and European contemporary work, ballet and classic tango. The tour represents the first visit to the UK by Danish Dance Theatre as they celebrate their 30^th anniversary.

This show runs for 90 minutes with a 20 minute interval and a 10 minute pause. It features three dances: Enigma, CaDance and Kridt. Enigma has sensual duets in a dance about communication and understanding. CaDance is a macho competition dance between male dancers. In the award-winning Kridt (Chalk), a man about to die looks back on his life, aided by former friends.

Moody lighting and smoke pervades Enigma, which begins atmospherically without music. CaDance, the second work, features two onstage drummers, hidden at first, then suddenly visible and shockingly raucous. The third piece, Kridt, is the most ambitious, featuring a long chalkboard wall that spans the width of the stage. The music for this is Peteris Vasks's moving suite for strings Musica Adventus. All three pieces are choreographed by Tim Rushton, the Birmingham-born artistic director who has headed the company for the past ten years. Rushton's unique choreography combines the classical lines of ballet with the power of modern dance. Having had almost 30 years experience as a dancer and choreographer he was awarded an MBE in the 2011 New Years Honours for his services to dance. His interpretation is striking and thrilling. He nurtures the dancers' expression in creating their own stories. The dancers are given freedom to interpret emotions whilst the structure remains strong.

Four male and three female dancers feature in Enigma and Kridt and five male dancers (and two drummers) in CaDance. All the performers explore a scintillating palette of movements using high energy, rise and fall, levels, tension and diffusion. Each dancer successfully conveys the essence of the piece using everything they have both physically and emotionally. Although dancers and venues change and new interpretations are invented and absorbed into the work, the strong structure keeps the raw emotional power of Tim Rushton's original vision.

Danish Dance Theatre's production is an intense and captivating experience. Whether or not you understand all the abstract elements of contemporary dance, the powerful choreography and brilliantly executed movements are enough to make this worth seeing.

Runs until 2 March.

Hamlet - New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-Under-Lyme

2011-03-02T10:00:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Conrad Nelson

Reviewer Lorna Andrewes

[Rating 4/5]

A little about Northern Broadsides first.One of their great characteristics has been the fine vocal qualities displayed over the years by members of the company. There is no reason to assume that either northern English or Southern sounds in itself better than the other, but perhaps the company's (originally deliberate) use of northern speech put special attention on the overall sound of their voices.

The result has been a superior resonance and gravity that has reinforced the power of expression in its production. For me some of this was missing in the early stages.

The excellent programme notes tell us that this tale has been known in various forms over several hundred years and in many countries. It is possibly the most frequently produced of Shakespeare's works, so it's hard to think what there can be that is new. As usual, Northern Broadsides have succeeded in refreshing this old favourite.

The opening of the play was its least successful element, the air-raid sirens added nothing and I found their inclusion puzzling. The ghostly pipes heralding the appearances of the dead King, Hamlet's father, worked better and the'nod' towards bunraki puppetry for the ghost was one of many clever production moments.Throughout this production Conrad Nelson's music played a major role and is used with skill. I particularly liked the two renditions of Ophelia's valentine song, one in happy times and one when her sanity was crumbling.

This production was a little stilted and rushed for the first ten or so minutes, but it then engaged me and drew me in The company has strenghth in depth, but Hamlet, played by Nicholas Shaw in his first outing for Northern Broadside, was superb, showing all facets of Hamlet vividly.

I had wondered what could be done to set his soliloquy apart from the many others. The chalking onto the stage of a be/not to be flow chart was inspired and helped Nicholas Shaw to make the speech his own.

Ophelia, played by Natalie Dew, gave another strong performance throughout, convincingly potraying the gradual destruction of a girl who had seemed confident and stable. Gertrude, played by Becky Hindley, and Claudius, played by Fine Time Fontayne, seemed to take a while to to flow, but, particularly in the later scenes they gave very fine portrayals of their characters.

The stage set was spare but exactly right for the production style and along with clever use of corridors and doors outside the 'round', facilitated easy understanding of the various changes of scene throughout.

All in all, this was an interesting production which worked for me after its shaky start. By the end, I found myself moved at Hamlet's death, and if any company can achieve that in its audience with such a familiar play, then they've achieved their purpose.

This was my first visit to the New Vic, so a word in its praise. It,s a great space, intimate and warm, so in spite of the distance, I'll probably be back , especially having seen their tempting forthcoming repertory programme.

Runs until 19th March

Dancing at Lughnasa - Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford

2011-03-02T00:44:00.000Z

Writer: Brian Friel
Director: Alastair Whatley
Reviewer: Sue Locke
[Rating:4/5]

Brian Friel’s award winning play was revived a couple of years back at London’s Old Vic, a stunning production produced in the round. Having loved that I came to Alastair Whatley’s The Original Theatre Company’s new touring version with some amount of trepidation but the gift of great storytelling shone through yet again.

The play is set in the imaginary village of Ballybeg, Donegal in the summer of 1936. The story is seen through the eyes of Michael the seven year old illegitimate son of Chris (Siobhan O’Kelly) who is bringing him up with her four sisters, the Mundys. Agnes, the eldest sister, a local school teacher, runs the family as if she is the mother of them all; she brings in the money whilst Agnes and Rose do home knitting and Maggie looks after the animals. Their brother, Father Jack, a priest, has recently returned after many years abroad in Uganda and is suffering from malaria. The sisters feel he should be feted as a returning missionary but it appears that Jack may have “gone native” and has trouble remembering English. The one joy in the sister’s lives is the radio they call Marconi. It brings them music and they reminisce of their earlier lives when they would go dancing and when the hopes of love and marriage were still alive in them. Into their lives comes Michael’s errant father, a Welshman called Gerry. Gerry is a dreamer who manages to stir emotions in more than one sister.

The whole play takes place in an open fronted cottage where the heart of living occurs around the kitchen and stove and then the action spills outside into the garden alongside the cottage. An imaginative set by designer Victoria Spearing and the costumes by Anna Harding convey the hardship of life in mid 20^th Century Ireland.

This was a great ensemble piece with standout performances by Mairead Conneely as Agnes whose self righteous control of her sisters still left space for our pity at her lost life. Also special mention to Patricia Gannon as Maggie whose love of dance is only matched by her love of cigarettes and a good time. Director Alastair Whatley also played the narrator as a grown up Michael.

A beautifully written and produced tale of women who have seen their dreams and desires dashed by poverty and the loss of eligible young men to emigration. The drabness of their lives rescued by memories and music and the ability to dance their troubles away no matter how briefly. A very moving tale with hope and love at the centre of it.

Runs until 5^th of March, 2011

National Theatre: Hamlet - Milton Keynes Theatre

2011-03-02T00:32:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakespeare

Director: Nicholas Hytner

Reviewer: Maggie Constable

[Rating:5/5]

Following 80 sell out performances at the National Theatre this is the last opportunity to see Hamlet. Do not miss it! How lucky are we to have the National Theatre’s acclaimed tour at Milton Keynes theatre. After his much-praised performances at the National in Burnt by the Sun and The Revenger's Tragedy ,to name but two, the Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet.

A fighter plane rumbles overhead. Lights glare over the desolate black-and-grey castle that is Elsinore. Armed soldiers sporting camouflage pose strikingly…Two young men — Hamlet and Laertes — lose their fathers and seek revenge, leading to bloody carnage and misery aplenty. The plot is well-known but celebrated director, Nicholas Hytner, creates a modern take on his first retelling of this tale. He plumps for a contemporary militarised setting with the new king, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius(Patrick Malahide, the Putin look-alike), ruling a surveillance state, and David Calder’s excellent Polonius who is not the doddery fool we sometimes see, but the “spymaster general”, actually a head of the secret service.

Something is truly rotten in the state of Denmark! The set(cleverly designed by Vicki Mortimer) is a large room framed by huge doorways, themselves usually framed by a security man with an earpiece. It is unusual here for people to have a conversation alone. Nearly always there is someone is watching, listening, moving off to report or following. Big brother indeed. In this state where everything is watched and noted, Patrick Malahide’s cold, calculating and unrepentant Claudius is totally believable as a man who would kill his own brother, take over the crown, and run a state with a mix of paranoia, harsh control and mistrust that would make Machiavelli look lenient. His men are all around.

Osric, is not in this production a fop, but a somewhat steely enforcer, who knows only too well the probable result of the fight he is ordered to arrange between Hamlet and Laertes. Ruth Negga’s superb and stroppy Ophelia, after she goes mad, is followed everywhere by two government agents. Clare Higgins’ Gertrude is superb, especially in her very moving scene with Hamlet in Act 2. Against this backdrop then Rory Kinnear gives us Hamlet, the ordinary man(even with the strange voices). He is a lone soul, his friendship with Horatio(intelligently performed by Giles Terera) quite understated, a youth struggling to work out a plan against insurmountable forces and after his emotional and disturbing encounter with his father’s ghost (beautifully and quietly played by James Laurenson ).

But something amazing happens after Hamlet welcomes the travelling players and observes the player king act out his grief, whilst realising the parallels with his own situation. The soliloquy that follows “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I” is delivered with such sadness that you are literally grabbing the edge of your seat. It is not just that Hamlet changes, but Rory Kinnear’s performance appears from then on to change also, his voice seems darker, his movements sharper and more disconcerting. He is almost mesmerising.

This is Hamlet in deep and oft ‘manic’ depression rather than ‘madness’, as the character is often portrayed. The line “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself the king of infinite space were it not that I have bad dreams.” says it all. Rory Kinnear’s delivery of the very familiar “to be or not to be” soliloquy, fag in hand, perfectly shows Hamlet’s bewilderment and desperation. Of the three Hamlets I’ve seen, this is by far the best yet. Awesome.Contemporary productions of Shakespeare plays are not new, not even with the dissonant music, but it’s remarkable just how modern this feels, whilst remaining faithful to the original text. The language of the play is vibrant, alive and exciting and Rory Kinnear is brilliantly unorthodox in his approach.

I felt privileged to be at the National Theatre’s tour production. It is a ‘marathon’ three and a half hours long but we were so engrossed the time just whizzed by.

.Runs until Saturday 5^th March 2011

Opera North: Carmen - The Lowry, Salford

2011-03-02T00:25:00.000Z

Composer: George Bizet

Text: Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halevy

Director: Daniel Kramer

Conductor: Alexander Ingram

Reviewer: Laura Stimpson

[rating: 5/5]

For many, opera is like marmite, you either love it or you hate it, it also seems that this particular production of Carmen, by Opera North, has the same effect on its audience. Personally I found that tonight I loved both.

After reading other reviews of the opening night of this production I was interested to see what I would find, it seemed seasoned opera goers weren’t keen on this modern interpretation of Bizet’s classic and tragic final work, Bizet died three months after the first performance, therefore he didn’t get the chance to find out the success that this production would eventually become.

As a relative new comer to opera I couldn’t help but be impressed by how accessible this production is. The show spectacularly dazzles the audience with its wonderful music, beautiful singing, and stunning set.

This performance directed by Daniel Kramer keeps most of the original plot and emotions of the work, however changes the location. It is still set in Seville, but Seville in Ohio.Throughout his life, Bizet, like many other composers in Paris in this period, had a love for opera, writing six full opera’s in his short lifetime. As Carmen was Bizet’s final opera you feel that he has spent his life refining and developing his musical ideas culminating in this wonderful, depictive score. As you listen to the work unfold you hear motifs used throughout the performance and the orchestra which link the many different moods in the piece.

The orchestra of Opera North were on top form throughout the evening, their sense of balance, drama and ensemble was breath taking at times, with some particularly fine playing in many exposed areas of the score. In the louder sections you were blown away by the impact that the chorus had to offer, their presence on stage, with choreography by Lucy Burge, provided interesting, busy and very powerful scenes.

The set design by Soutra Gilmour contributed enormously to the impact of the performance. There were 3 full set changes, my favourite being in scene three when the set is transformed into a beautiful forest. This together with snow and the lighting by Charles Balfour provided a magical feeling.

All of the cast gave a solid performance. Carmen played by Heather Shipp portrayed the emotions of the wild character very well. Despite being unwell her vocal performance was faultless. Anne Sophie Duprels gave an outstanding performance as Micaela, her ability to act out highly physical movements whilst singing long, high notes was particularly impressive.

Stealing the show for me however, were two of the supporting characters, Zuniga played by Keel Watson gave a witty and powerful performance and his stage presence was always noticed. Frasquita played by Claire Wild had a stunning singing voice and played her part incredibly well. It was difficult to take your eyes off her when she was on stage.

All in all an excellent, energetic, visually wonderful performance, it has certainly changed my view of opera and I am looking forward to attending many more performances by Opera North in the future. I would urge all of you who “don’t do opera” to give it a go. Those of you who “do, do opera” go with an open mind.

Reviewed on the 1^st March 2011

Avenue Q – Richmond Theatre

2011-03-01T15:09:00.000Z

Music & Lyrics: Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx

Book: Jeff Whitty

Director: Jason Moore/Evan Ensign

Reviewer: Marco Jacobs

[Rating:4.5/5]

Avenue Q is the type of show that every new musical aspires to be – it is the “little show” that made it big. It originated off-Broadway before transferring and triumphing over Wicked with the Tony Award for Best New Musical. Since arriving in the UK in 2006, it has played at three consecutive West End theatres and now its magic is hitting the roads on this UK tour.

And it is easy to see why the show has been such a success. It still feels incredibly fresh and inventive, and manages that careful juxtaposition of sending the audience into fits of laughter but retains a real heart throughout the action.

The show’s comic premise is that cute, furry puppets, living in a run-down street in an outer borough of New York, get up to all kind of adult activities. They enjoy energetic and varied sex, they get drunk, betray each other and worry about where their lives are heading. In other words: like any number of twenty/thirty-somethings out there.

The cast is made up of a mixture of puppets and humans, including Princeton, an English Literature graduate who doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do with his degree, a homely kindergarten assistant, Kate Monster, who dreams of establishing a “School For Monsters”, a closeted gay banker, a Miss Piggy-esque sex-goddess called Lucy The Slut and Trekkie Monster, whose chief belief is that The Internet Is For Porn.

The puppets are manipulated by the actors in full view, and very quickly the eye attunes to viewing them as the same person, rather than separate entities, and it is fascinating to watch both move in exact unison, expressing the same thoughts and emotions with ease.

It is an example of an ensemble show at its best. Actors work in partnerships to control some puppets, several actors maneouvre the same puppet (although voiced only by one) and it needs to have the community feel of a street to succeed. This touring cast is excellent and all work their socks off to provide such high quality performances. Rachel Jerram is instantly lovable as Kate Monster with her wide grin and endearing nature, moving several audience members to a quiet tear with her rendition of A Fine, Fine Line. She also doubles as the sultry Lucy The Slut, which allows her wild side to be unleashed and her vocal dexterity is astonishing. Chris Thatcher as Nicky/Trekkie Monster/Bad Idea Bear had impeccable comic timing (along with his puppeterring partner, Katharine Moraz) and with just the slightest facial expression brought the house down. As Princeton/Rod, Adam Pettigrew is good and has a lovely voice, but he lacks the detail of expression that Jerram and Thatcher have in spades, and consequently the focus of the show tilted ever so slightly. Jacqueline Tate also deserves special mention for a brilliant portrayal of Christmas Eve, the wannabe therapist who isn’t afraid to mince her words.

Watching the demographic audience was fascinating as it crossed over many age groups: several teenagers were sat entranced with no sense of distraction, whilst a large number of elderly viewers smiled wryly and nudged their partners knowingly. It can be appreciated by all, but I feel it really speaks to those in their 20s and 30s who understand every line and problem from their own life. It is the generation that has been brought up to believe they can achieve anything, yet find it hard to achieve, well, anything.

It is very refreshing to see a show that isn’t afraid to express a dissatisfaction with life. At one point, Kate Monster expresses the thought, “Some people’s dreams come true, but I don’t think I’m one of those people. That’s the way life is, Princeton. Nobody teaches you that when you’re a kid, because if you knew, no one would ever dream. Or want to grow up. But you can’t stop growing up.” And although, things do resolve themselves essentially, there is still a sense of “not knowing” and an ambiguity around the ending that resonates around.

Whilst Avenue Q might be known as “the puppet musical”, it is perhaps the closest match to life for those growing up in the twentieth century that we have. For this reason, it is very much a show for those who hate musicals, as well as those who love them, and I defy you to maintain a straight face during the very graphic puppet sex scene!

Runs until Sat 5^th March

Pagliacci - Kings Head Theatre, London

2011-03-01T12:26:00.001Z

Composer: Ruggero Leoncavallo 

Direction/Adaptor: Anna Gregory 

Musical Director: Kelvin Lim

Reviewer: Sarah Nutland

[rating:3.5/5]

The Kings Head Theatre in Islington is now home to the worlds first ever Fringe Opera House (I think) and Pagliacci is a great addition to their rep season.

The story is of a band of players that come to town to perform their show. Nedda one of the clowns is pregnant and possibly not by her husband. Her husband, Pagliacci is suspicious and then discovers the two lovers planning to run away. When the players begin to act out their play, it soon becomes apparent that art is imitating life and Nedda’s deceit and Pagliacci’s subsequent revenge seeps in to the performance. The play within a play ends with Pagliacci stabbing her in the stomach.

The setting of the production is simple, which is necessary in such a small space, with a view into the players’ dressing room centre stage. This becomes a Punch and Judy show in the second act, with the actors and puppets acting out the same story. The space was used well with every entrance and exit utilised and lots of the action taking place in the audience. This added to the dynamics of the piece, breaking up the action and audience’s attention well; especially when I was jumped over by Pagliaccio.

Actor Paul Featherstone portrayed the character brilliantly, really giving a sense of the sinister and sleazy side to him. The husband and wife characters, played by Adam Kowalczyk and Emma Smith, were also planted in the audience and they really added humour to the piece. The action spilled into the bar at the interval, with ballet dancers, who would have been part of the band of players, moving through the space. This tied the whole evening together nicely, however, it did feel a little random, as they weren’t seen at any other point in the production.

The cast demonstrated strong vocals, in particular Nedda, played by Katie Bird, who was really able to showcase her voice during the solo she sang to her baby in the first act. The three musicians were excellent. They produced a wonderful sound that filled the pub theatre and really made Leoncavallo’s lively and emotive composition come to life.

Generally the performance was very engaging, with some very convincing performances, but there were some occasions when my attention drifted. This happened less in the second act, which had much greater pace.

I’m not an Opera expert but I really enjoyed this performance! Anna Gregory’s production worked very well, producing a witty and emotive interpretation of Leoncavallo’s opera. It was the perfect length at 1hr 25mins

Runs in Rep until 31st March

The Rivals – Mercury Theatre, Colchester

2011-03-01T12:20:00.000Z

Writer: Richard Sheridan

Director: Gari Jones

Reviewer: Michael Gray

[Rating:3.5/5]

Why not treat Sheridan to what Shakespeare has been accustomed to for years, now ? A director-led, concept-driven production to point up the play's relevance to our times.

So this was Gari Jones's Rivals, done as in-your-face Burlesque, with hints of the circus and the catwalk. “Garish, gaudy, cheap and obscene,” as poor Fag sings from the Tiger Lillies' songbook at the top of the show.

Amy Yardley's design was a striking blend of glitzy glamour and almost industrial grimness: the black walls, floor, chairs, setting off the colourful costumes, which were a stylish gallimaufry of cabaret, punk, New Romantic, and, of course Eighteenth Century Bath.

The production boasted a first-rate cast, including many familiar repertory faces. The two major character roles were played by Christine Absalom, as a vulgar but vulnerable Mrs Malaprop, and Ignatius Anthony as a barnstorming, bluff and ruddy Sir Anthony. Both brilliantly characterized, not missing a nuance in this comedy of manners. Marshall Griffin was a fiery Sir Lucius, and I particularly enjoyed Graeme Brookes's Brummy Bob Acres, a cowardly country boy out of his depth in society. Clare Humphrey played a lippy Lucy the maid, with a voice like a foghorn.

Lydia Languish, longing for a romantic elopement, was beautifully done by Katherine Manners, like a delicate doll in her palest pink dress; her Captain Jack was Will Norris – his energetic performance kept the intrigue moving. The other pair of lovers were Nadia Morgan's Julia and her Faulkland, played with subtle comedy and some pathos by David Tarkenter.

Roger Delves-Broughton caught the style nicely as the servant Fag – almost an Auguste in this circus.

Hard to describe the overall effect of the production. A Fellini dream, maybe, with more than a little Luhrmann. I wasn't entirely persuaded by the programme note. The songs – Avarice, Send in the Clowns [!] - were often a distraction, and of course made a long show even longer. Though I did think the two numbers either side of the interval – Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Evelyn Evelyn's pastiche Have You Seen My Sister – worked real show-business magic.

I felt somewhat battered by the end – the bright lights, the top—of-the-voice delivery. And it was noticeable that most of the laughs came in the more traditional moments when Sheridan was left to speak for himself.

But nobody walked out, much less threw apples. The applause at the end was enthusiastic. This is a young man's piece, after all, and I hope audiences of all ages will find it a refreshing re-working of an old favourite. We are fortunate to have a regional stage ready to take risks with a production which, like it or not, makes superb use of limited resources, and showcases the best of this enterprising company.

Runs until 12^th March 2011

LOL – Curve, Leicester

2011-03-01T11:51:00.000Z

Artistic Director: Luca Silvestrini

Video animation and film: Rachel Davies
Composer: Andy Pink

Reviewer: Jemma Crowston
[Rating:5/5]

Using our obsession with everything online as the primary theme for Luca Silvestrini’s LOL was pure genius. This hour and fifteen minute physical theatre performance uses abstract dance movements and intertwined stories to express our lives on the information highway.

Protein Dance company mesmerised the audience in Leicester’s Curve theatre studio last night (Feb 28). The show began with some fantastic video footage from Rachel Davies portraying the six dancers staring blankly into what were presumably computer screens. What follows is a very witty portrayal of the way we update our social network statuses and how often we use this tool. The dialogue from the dancers was mirrored by the metaphorical dancing with the dancers moving each other’s bodies to represent the narrative.

The majority of the audience members were those who have grown up with technology and social networks as a staple in their lives. So when the dancers used the symbols/emoticons in the dialogue you could hear the quiet hums of recognition around the room which gave them a connection to the story.

Two dancers started to perform to the sounds of keyboard keys tapping, produced by composer Andy Pink, and it was clear the two were having a conversation via a chat room or messenger. When a third dancer came barging between the two it was an interpretation of a conversation interrupted and then one of the dancers veers off the set which triggers another to type/dance furiously at the person who had interrupted their conversation.

The second part of the show delved into the issues with our obsession. A combination of the dance performance and video gave an illusion of information overload which can be the case when surrounded by a wealth of knowledge online.

The show also looked at the ever complicated world of online dating and how communication is moving away from being personal and how you can feel loneliness despite having 1,000 friends on Facebook. LOL (Lots of Love) looks at the world of electronic communications to uncover the evolutionary shift that social networking and the internet are having upon the way we live and love.

This imaginative performance would appeal to young people or those who are web savvy.

Reviewed on the 28^th February 2011 and tours the UK

Private Lives – The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

2011-03-01T11:43:00.000Z

Writer: Noel Coward

Director: Micahel Buffong

Reviewer: Richard Hall

[Rating: 4/5]

Written by Noel Coward in only four days in 1929, as a star vehicle for himself and his lifelong friend, Gertrude Lawrence, PRIVATE LIVES has become an enduring classic of 20^th Century drama. It is often billed as Coward’s greatest comedy but in spite of the dazzling dialogue and irresistible one liners, it is for the most part a bitter sweet and desolate play.

In Michael Buffong’s excellent revival at the Royal Exchange, the darker side of the play is brought fully to the fore, especially in the scenes when divorced couple Elyot and Amanda are alone on stage. Reunited in bizarre circumstances, honeymooning with their new spouses at the same hotel in France, the former couple soon return to tantalising and teasing each other in equal measure, as they resume their volatile relationship. Played as comedy, the relationship between Elyot and Amanda is to begin with highly amusing but as it starts to break down, even Coward’s sophisticated wit cannot disguise some of the more shocking aspects of the play such as physical and verbal abuse.

Having deservedly recently won a Manchester Evening News Theatre Best Actor Award for his performance as Higgins in the Royal Exchange’s production of PYGMALION, Simon Robson is a formidable Elyot. In playing the part he appears to have merely swapped Higgins shabby clothes for a set of smarter suits from Saville Row. Robson is the master of portraying languid gentlemen of a certain age and his performance echoes that of Coward’s in the role, about which a critic wrote, that his “maddening smile... would incite an archangel to murder.” A regular at the Royal Exchange, Robson is an exciting actor who always delivers a captivating and powerful performance. As his foil, Imogen Stubbs as Amanda is perfect casting. Her natural beauty hides a will of iron that is more than a match for her former husband. Together Robson and Stubbs dominate the stage, strutting around like two spoilt peacocks intent on self destruction. Theirs is a passion that uncontrolled could surely kill. Congratulations are due to the Royal Exchange’s casting department for pairing these two great actors together.

In the roles of the spurned spouses, Clive Hayward and Joanna Page provide solid support and Ruth Johnson makes a brief but memorable appearance as a French maid. Director Buffong succeeds brilliantly in capturing the period feel of the piece as well as breathing new life into Coward’s familiar but at times, (for a modern audience at least), disturbing play. Strongly recommended.

Runs at the Royal Exchange Theatre until 9 April

Tell me on a Sunday – Theatre Royal, Brighton

2011-03-01T11:36:00.000Z

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics: Don Black
Director: Tamara Harvey
Reviewer: Gina Skillings

[Rating:3.5/5]

Tell me on a Sunday charts the romantic misadventures of a young English girl (Laura) in New York. Brimming with optimism, she seeks success and love. But as is the way with life, nothing seems to work out in the way that she hopes, and with each relationship turning into a disaster, she is forced to keep starting from the beginning again whilst pushing aside her doubts and insecurities.

Remodelled for Claire Sweeney to incorporate the nuances of the liverpudlian accent and the moving times and with a new song Dreams Never Run On Time, this will be the 4^th incarnation of ‘Tell me on a Sunday’ and Laura (Sweeney) telling her story of failure and success. It’s not a long show with a running time of just over an hour, but with only the one performer this is not surprising.

Being slightly dubious about a musical with only one person in it, it was a pleasant surprise to find this show engaging and enjoyable. The set was used to full potential and with constant movement and continuous costume changes it was not uninteresting to watch or stagnant in any way. Claire Sweeny does a lovely job portraying the unlucky in love Laura. Her upbeat personality and sense of spirit really shine through into the character and make her immediately likeable. Its no mean feat holding the attention of an audience with no one else supporting you and with 27 songs back to back she certainly has her work cut out but it all seems to work and I was in no doubt of what the story was all about. On occasion the singing did sound slightly nasally and reminiscent of Cilla Black in her hey day and she seemed to struggle a little with the lower notes but all in all she held her own and has a surprisingly good singing voice.

The small re-writes that have clearly been introduced for Claire Sweeny were really amusing and I think most people, well women anyway, in the audience could relate to at least one experience as we follow Laura’s story.

With favourites like ‘Take that look off your face’ and ‘Tell me on a Sunday’ within the score and a surprisingly good performance by Claire Sweeny, this makes for an enjoyable night out, and with such a short running time you leave feeling you have had a good night without being saturated in musical theatre.

Runs until the 5^th March 2011

To Kill A Mocking Bird – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

2011-03-01T11:32:00.000Z

Writer: Harper Lee

Music: Christopher Madin
Director: Damian Cruden
Reviewer: Nick Hutchinson

[Rating:4.5/5]

To Kill a Mocking Bird is such an immense and well known novel that coming to it as a stage production, one could be forgiven for having too much expectation and therefore be willing to expect disappointment. However this production does not disappoint.

Set in rural Alabama in the deep south of America in 1935, the story is told by an adult Jean Louis Finch (Jacqueline Wood) of a summer from her childhood. She narrates throughout as the story unfolds of a wrongly accused Tom Robinson (Cornelius Macarthy) who is put on trial for assault and rape of a white woman, Mayella Ewell (Clare Corbett). He is defended by the liberal thinking (for those days) Atticus Finch (Duncan Preston) who is then on the receiving end of taunts and prejudice for defending a ‘nigger’. We see the tale through the eyes of his children Scout Finch (Grace Rowe), Jem (Matthew Pattimore) and their friend Dill (Graeme Dalling). The trial is gripping as the evidence shows that the accused Tom is innocent. But will that alter the way the jury will see the decision they have to make about the life of a black man? The outcome and then the tragic but ultimately uplifting ending also brings into sharp relief all the many subtle prejudices present in the story. Not least so about the hidden and therefore feared Boo Radley. Is he the monster that everyone in the community thinks he is? Or will he be more important to everyone by the time the story is done? We see the way justice is often not clear cut but complicated and unsatisfying.

The stage set was constructed of a series of large white wooden structures made to look like houses, stairways and fences. Perhaps the idea was to show how we build fences through our views and at the start of the play there was a moment of invitation from the narrator who then went into a doorway and the front piece withdrew so we could be part of the action. At times during the play video footage of the players themselves reproduced scenes they were in on stage but slightly out of time. I couldn’t tell whether this was deliberate or not but if it was it gave the impression of how memory can be distorted and that all stories re-told are out of time with the present. The set though worked well as a back yard, court room, jail house etc.

One of the things that stood out was the care the players had taken to get the southern accent right and this is why I have included the name of the dialogue coach in the credits above. It was very well done and came over as authentic and not as English people trying to be American. They didn’t drop it once. All of the performances were very good but the stand outs were really from Grace Rowe as Scout Finch who held the story together as she drew us into her childlike world of discovery, and Mark White as the drunk and violent Bob Ewell, who really gave him that disagreeable and hateful edge. Duncan Preston, the most recognisable actor (from his TV and movie roles) was also tremendous as Atticus Finch, persuasively arguing the case for the defence.

This was a great production. Very much enjoyed and very moving, especially at the final scene. I give it a high star rating because you quickly forgot that there were actors on stage and were only concerned with the characters and their plight. The applause from the audience at the end was fierce and deservedly so. Go and see it.

Runs until 5^th March 2011

The Mikado - English National Opera at The London Coliseum

2011-02-28T13:31:00.000Z

Writer: Gilbert & Sullivan
Director: Jonathan Kent
Conductor: Peter Robinson
Reviewer: Jeffrey Mayhew
[Rating:5/5]

It is not in any way to denigrate the multitude of Mikados performed at many different levels (all with love and enthusiasm) to say that a flawlessly sung and acted version is not merely a wonderful experience but almost a new perspective on such a well known piece.

This jewel of a production with Sue Clane's beautifully characterised costumes in Stefan Lazarides stunning surrealist deco set is entertainment of the highest order from beginning to end. This is a production which seems to be permanently on its toes; tripping exquisitely from set piece to set piece with a whiff of inter-war campery adding discreet spice to the convolutions of the plot. The corps de ballet (original choreographer Anthony van Laast, revival choreographer Stephen Speed) punctuate and support the wonderful singing and pacy action with deft, witty flourishes as the baggage bearing and feather duster wielding staff of some Hotel Splendide where the (very British) "gentlemen of Japan" and the equally British schoolgirls gather to see through the suitably comica opera machinations.

The bill boards talk in terms of a stellar cast and they are not wrong. Alfie Boe is a brilliant Nankie-Poo; a preppy Bertie Wooster meeting Algernon with perfect comedic touches and wonderful movement. All this is so good that had he Rex Harrisoned his way through the role he would have been loved but, of course, he has a beautiful tenor voice so cue audience rapture!There are no howevers and caveats in the rest of the cast either. Pooh-Bah's quintessentially Ealing vicar is an inspired piece of characterisation sung with delicacy and refinement by William Robert Allenby. Donald Maxwell allows the Scot in him full rein to truly great effect as the completely corrupt, grasping and cheerfully unrepentant Pooh-Bah. It is no surprise that Sophie Bevan (Yum-Yum) has a repertoire featuring many baroque roles and that Pamina is soon to be performed by her. She brings a truly beautiful voice to this role as well as wit and verve. "The Sun Whose Rays..." surely has rarely been better sung and performed. Fiona Canfield (Peep-Bo) and Claudia Huckle (Pitti-Sing) complete a delicious and irresistible trio. Claudia Huckle made particularly charming work of trying to deceive the Mikado. Richard Suart's Ko-Ko has to be a classic take on a fabulous role. Skittering between refeened and Fools and Horses his diminutive, perky chancer is a heart stealer as well as a scene stealer. All the time, of course, particularly in a fine production, those in the know eagerly await the coming of Katisha. Just how Katisha-like will she be. Expectations here were fulfilled to the brim and over. Anne Marie Owens was Katisha and the vision of her suffocating Ko-Ko in her bosom will remain with me for a long time. Again, also beautiful singing. But then it all is.

All the audience could possibly have hoped for was a second half as good but this was not to be. The second half exceeded any expectations we could have had when the cast was joined by the Mikado himself. and what subtle artistry Richard Angas brought to the role. Stylish, amusing and deeply disturbing his inflated Robert Morley of a Mikado was a supreme element in an already supreme production. Jonathan Miller come forward and be thanked for it all! And he did - with Peter Robinson who conducted with both tact and bravura - and the audience were loathe to let any of them go. A magnificent night!

Runs until 10th March

10cc at The Lowry, Salford

2011-02-28T10:42:00.000Z

Reviewer:  Helen Jones

[rating:5/5]

“Old men of rock and roll came bearing music” and boy did they rock the Lowry!   10cc have hit Salford and left it reeling in the aftermath.

Although only Graham Gouldman remains of the four known members, both lead guitarist Rick Fenn and drummer Paul Burgess have been with the band both in the studio and live since the 70s.  The other two current members, although with a shorter membership, have been there many years and this closeness shines through the whole concert.

The show opened with a half hour acoustic set on guitars alone. Gouldman and his companions performed a number of songs from his back catalogue including The Hollies (Bus Stop) and Herman's Hermits (No Milk Today), finishing with the little known gem “Love is Not For Me”,
which one he wrote for the animated film “Animalympics”.

After a break, the full 10cc sound is unleashed, opening with The Wall Street Shuffle and seguing through all the old favourites and a few lesser known ones as well.   The tracks everyone wanted to hear were there: Art For Art's Sake; Oh Donna; I'm Mandy, Fly Me; and of course
I'm Not In Love.

Having grown up through my teenage years with all these tracks, I was unsure as to how they'd come over with mainly different musicians, but I was not disappointed.  Gouldman's bass guitar  still tied the whole thing together, and the rest of the band were more than competent to
follow him. He sang some songs, but most were voiced with complete panache by Mick Wilson, sounding so much like Eric Stewart that  he was hardly missed.  In fact watching Wilson play acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion and sing lead vocals in the same track left me
boggling at his abilities.

However some of the most spine-tingling moments came from Rick Fenn's lead guitar, which provided all those well-remembered 10cc licks and then went off into Pink Floyd-like solos which somehow fitted each track perfectly. The man made most other professional guitarists
look like amateurs.

The 10cc numbers were all hugely enjoyable, with a fullness of sound that should be impossible with only five men on stage.  The energy remained high throughout and kept the audience enthralled.

Finishing the show with Rubber Bullets and the audience on their feet, these may be 'old wild men' but they can still rock and long may they continue.

Reviewed on the 27th Feb 2011

Peter and the Wolf - The Lowry, Salford

2011-02-28T10:37:00.000Z

Writer: Sergei Prokofiev

Adaptor: Stephen Smart and Leigh McCalister

Reviewer: Laura Stimpson

[rating:2.5/5]

Peter and the Wolf is a story we have all heard of, written by the renowned Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. It has been adapted numerous times including by Walt Disney in the 1940’s. This adaptation is the work of Stephen Smart and Leigh McCalister both original members of Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre, a 55 minute performance aimed at 4-10 year old children.

At the beginning of the play the audience are introduced to the main characters, one by one. The puppets are cute and used well by the two actors Stephen Smart and Leigh McCalister, working with the puppets as if an extension of their own body.

The story itself is not interesting in the slightest, leading me to wonder why this one was chosen. The original Peter and the Wolf was written by a composer, it was a musical piece with each instrument representing a character, the actual plot being secondary to the music. Music in this performance was not a feature, it was just played in the background under the puppets performance, it would have been nice to have incorporated some of the original music in the piece.

However, the cast did manage to make the story interesting in parts through their acting skills and excellent puppetry techniques. Both actors are good, however Stephen Smart really stands out, he seems natural in all of his roles and very versatile. Especially impressive is his ability to play the masked character of Grandad, who he portrays through bodily expression alone.

All in all a strong performance, let down by a story that at times seemed not to go anywhere.

Runs nationally throughout the year for information can be found on their website: http://www.clydebuiltpuppet.co.uk/itinerary.htm

Reviewed on the 27th Feb 2011

Shakespeare's Mistress - The Lowry, Salford

2011-02-28T10:33:00.000Z

Writer: William Shakepeare

Adaptor/Performer: Louise Jameson

Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace

[Rating:3.5/5]

Accurately dexcribed as Desert Island Discs of Shakespeare's speeches, Louise Jameson's one woman show is a delight from start to finish.

At only 45 minutes long Jameson gives a whistle stop tour through some of her favourite speeches from several of the Bard’s plays performing each one with a depth of character and understanding one would expect from a seasoned Shakespeare performer.

Along the way she also regales the audience with several amusing anecdotes and stories drawn from her extensive and varied career in both the theatre and on television. She fondly remembers her time on Doctor Who and Bergerac, and is particularly complimentary about working with John Nettles.

Jameson adds further interest to the evening by inviting an audience member to share her stage and perform an exchange between characters with her. This could have gone disastrously wrong but on the night I attended the volunteer was very game indeed and gave Jameson a real run for her money in the acting stakes.

An enjoyable and informative evening.

Reviewed on 27^th Feb 2011

Simply Big Band - Sheffield City Hall

2011-02-27T11:50:00.000Z

Conductor: Steve Parr

Reviwer: Audrey Pointer

[Rating:4.5/5]

Simply Big Band is more than simply big band. It is a flashy two hour mix of music, song and dance, complimented by archive big screen footage, which promises the audience “a dazzling roller coaster ride through the golden age of the American big band”. The production features an energetic dance troupe alongside a 26-piece orchestra and female vocalist SuEyo, and is compered by singer, Iain McKenzie. The show is touring the UK throughout 2010 and 2011 with upcoming dates in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The band consists of three sections. The rhythm section sits centre stage, featuring five talented performers on piano, electric guitar, percussion, double bass and drums. Each gets the chance to do impressive solos during the show. This is very much the musical engine of the band. On the right is the thirteen piece brass section, the section that gives the music its warmth, attitude, sexiness and flare. Many of these players get the chance to solo too and they do so with aplomb, rising to the challenge well. On the left is an eight piece string section who are not employed quite as much as the other sections and sometimes seem like part of the audience, gazing in awe at the nimble bravado of their fellow blowers, strikers and pluckers. Band leader Steve Parry also deserves a mention, both for his conducting and his stunning virtuoso trumpet playing.

The six dancers, four girls and two boys ably choreographed by one of the dancers, Lizzie Sianni, wear a colourful range of costumes to suit several different numbers from different time periods ranging from the thirties through to the sixties. The sound balance is pretty good in the main, although kinder to the strings when the brass boys are tacet. Lighting, at least in Sheffield's City Hall, seemed fairly basic, with no follow-spots on the singers, and occasions where some dance action was in relative darkness, although this may well vary at different venues.

Singer Iain McKenzie and Sueyo, his female counterpart, croon their way through a broad range of standards, individually and together with duets, including "A Tisket A Tasket", "Let's Face the Music and Dance", "Georgia", "Fever", "Minnie the Moocher", "Mercy" and "It Don't Mean a Thing". The show paints a musical tapestry of several decades, taking in Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones and The Beatles, amongst others.

Michael Parkinson complained recently that there wasn't much big band on TV or radio any more. This appreciative Sheffield audience had paid large ticket prices for tonight's show and although there were many empty seats in this beautiful venue (The Irwin Mitchell Oval Hall), those who came certainly did not seem disappointed. This tour will help to fill a need for those who enjoy big band, or are simply curious to widen their musical horizons, but a spectacle like this is expensive to produce and therefore tickets are pricier. Certainly the contemporary music CD played in the interval and pre-show seemed bland in comparison with the remarkable, thrilling, multi-dimensional sound of Simply Big Band. Well worth catching if you can.

Reviewed on 26th Feb 2011 - Runs until: Tour continues in July