Getting physical: Joe Pasquale as Smee in Peter Pan. Picture by Manuel Harlan.
PETER PAN
* * *
December 9, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Sunday, January 4, 2015
I THINK I must be getting old. Is it too much to hope for in a seasonal panto to expect some traditional, innocent fun with a dash of silliness and a sprinkling of fairydust? Maybe today’s youngsters are so mature and cynical that innocent fun carries no appeal any more. I hope not.
The level of the latest festive offering at Derngate is pitched very early by star name Joe Pasquale with a joke of dubious taste about a shitzu dog. Do I really need to fill in the punchline? The humour goes on in much the same vein throughout, with Pasquale adding plenty of uncomfortable physical knockabout – including among his victims one poor lady from the front row, as well as his long-suffering colleagues on stage.
Money has been spent on the production, with expensive sets, lots of enthusiastic and well-drilled dancers, and a giant crocodile to terrify the audience, let alone Captain Hook. Despite the pre-recorded backing tracks, singing voices are generally excellent, particularly Amy Beadel as Wendy and Lindsey Tierney as Tiger Lily, and Alex Giannini manfully delivers a suitably villainous Hook. Drag act Ceri Dupree, meanwhile, has a lovely array of wacky frocks to show off as the dame, but once more we’re primarily in the territory of grown-up humour.
Along the way, the Peter Pan narrative gets pretty much lost, and I worry about any children in the audience who are being introduced to theatre for the first time in their lives. It’s colourful, chaotic and loud, and I’m clearly not the target market. By about 40 years, probably.
* * *
December 9, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Sunday, January 4, 2015
I THINK I must be getting old. Is it too much to hope for in a seasonal panto to expect some traditional, innocent fun with a dash of silliness and a sprinkling of fairydust? Maybe today’s youngsters are so mature and cynical that innocent fun carries no appeal any more. I hope not.
The level of the latest festive offering at Derngate is pitched very early by star name Joe Pasquale with a joke of dubious taste about a shitzu dog. Do I really need to fill in the punchline? The humour goes on in much the same vein throughout, with Pasquale adding plenty of uncomfortable physical knockabout – including among his victims one poor lady from the front row, as well as his long-suffering colleagues on stage.
Money has been spent on the production, with expensive sets, lots of enthusiastic and well-drilled dancers, and a giant crocodile to terrify the audience, let alone Captain Hook. Despite the pre-recorded backing tracks, singing voices are generally excellent, particularly Amy Beadel as Wendy and Lindsey Tierney as Tiger Lily, and Alex Giannini manfully delivers a suitably villainous Hook. Drag act Ceri Dupree, meanwhile, has a lovely array of wacky frocks to show off as the dame, but once more we’re primarily in the territory of grown-up humour.
Along the way, the Peter Pan narrative gets pretty much lost, and I worry about any children in the audience who are being introduced to theatre for the first time in their lives. It’s colourful, chaotic and loud, and I’m clearly not the target market. By about 40 years, probably.
Period punk: Left to right, James Clay as Art, Francesca Zoutewelle as Gwen and Will Merrick as Merlin.
Picture by Manuel Harlan.
MERLIN
* * *
November 28, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Sunday, January 4, 2015
CHRISTMAS at the Royal has a longstanding tradition of being magical, with shows such as The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol and 101 Dalmatians enchanting young audiences in recent years. Now the magical theme is being taken even more literally with a new version of Merlin, scripted by Ella Hickson and with music and songs by Jon Nicholls.
If the result is somewhat less successful than those earlier counterparts, it’s not for lack of ambition. With effects including flying flames, a floating army and a fire-breathing dragon, all played out on Yannis Thavoris’s extraordinary book-lined set, it’s a handsome and highly technical production.
Under Liam Steel’s punk-inspired direction, there are witty gags, impressive stunts and clever moments, all designed to keep the younger elements of the audience entertained, and with central characters ‘Art’ and ‘Gwen’ (d’you see what they did there?) telling each other to “bog off” and Merlin himself rapping about “poo”, it’s certainly aimed at a particular clientele.
For me, it never quite takes off, and this may be the result of its ambition outreaching its content. Hickson’s script tends awkwardly towards self-conscious yoof-speak, while Nicholls’s songs are fine without ever being essential. The cast of eight work hard, playing a multitude of roles with a multitude of accents to varying degrees of success, but French knights (a market already cornered by Monty Python) and Scottish stereotypes don’t really help.
There’s plenty to amuse – not least the imaginative staging of a medieval joust using library book trolleys as horses – and one has to admire the epic scale of the effort. Whether it manages to capture the public imagination in the same way as its predecessors on this stage remains to be seen.
* * *
November 28, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Sunday, January 4, 2015
CHRISTMAS at the Royal has a longstanding tradition of being magical, with shows such as The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol and 101 Dalmatians enchanting young audiences in recent years. Now the magical theme is being taken even more literally with a new version of Merlin, scripted by Ella Hickson and with music and songs by Jon Nicholls.
If the result is somewhat less successful than those earlier counterparts, it’s not for lack of ambition. With effects including flying flames, a floating army and a fire-breathing dragon, all played out on Yannis Thavoris’s extraordinary book-lined set, it’s a handsome and highly technical production.
Under Liam Steel’s punk-inspired direction, there are witty gags, impressive stunts and clever moments, all designed to keep the younger elements of the audience entertained, and with central characters ‘Art’ and ‘Gwen’ (d’you see what they did there?) telling each other to “bog off” and Merlin himself rapping about “poo”, it’s certainly aimed at a particular clientele.
For me, it never quite takes off, and this may be the result of its ambition outreaching its content. Hickson’s script tends awkwardly towards self-conscious yoof-speak, while Nicholls’s songs are fine without ever being essential. The cast of eight work hard, playing a multitude of roles with a multitude of accents to varying degrees of success, but French knights (a market already cornered by Monty Python) and Scottish stereotypes don’t really help.
There’s plenty to amuse – not least the imaginative staging of a medieval joust using library book trolleys as horses – and one has to admire the epic scale of the effort. Whether it manages to capture the public imagination in the same way as its predecessors on this stage remains to be seen.
The cast of The Full Monty.
THE FULL MONTY
* * * *
November 10, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, November 15, 2014, then tour continues
SIMON Beaufoy's debut screenplay was turned into one of the best British films of the last 20 years in the hands of a cast that included Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson and Lesley Sharp. Now he's taken the bold step of adapting his script into a play that started life in Sheffield, the location for the film's action.
It's hard to imagine anyone doesn't know the story of the unemployed steelworkers who somehow get their act together to form, for one night only, a troupe of male strippers who are prepared to go the full monty. But it's a poignant, funny, heartwarming tale that well deserves its latest outing on this national tour.
The fact that there are soap stars in the cast on a promise to get their kit off by the end of the night is probably one of the selling points. In fact, the stripping is almost totally incidental to the emotional ups and downs of the characters' lives, and you don't get to see anything much anyway. What you do get is a genuinely touching comedy drama packed with clever gags, moving moments and a finale to beat anything the Chippendales can offer.
Highlights among the cast include Martin Miller as the fat friend Dave, who almost bottles it because he can't believe anyone would want to see him naked, and the highly accomplished Andrew Dunn as the one-time works foreman Gerald, roped in to choreograph the routines because of his passing knowledge of ballroom dancing.
If the soap stars are your thing, there are representatives of EastEnders, Brookside and Corrie in the shape of Gary Lucy, Louis Emerick and Rupert Hill, while 12-year-old Fraser Kelly (one of four boy actors on the tour) comes perilously close to stealing the entire show with a stunning, assured performance.
Director Roger Haines wisely retains many of the film's classic sequences, albeit smartly adapted for the stage, and it's all played out on an ingeniously versatile set by Robert Jones. The iconic music tracks are still there, too, helping to make this not just a trip down memory lane but a memorable event in its own right.
* * * *
November 10, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, November 15, 2014, then tour continues
SIMON Beaufoy's debut screenplay was turned into one of the best British films of the last 20 years in the hands of a cast that included Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson and Lesley Sharp. Now he's taken the bold step of adapting his script into a play that started life in Sheffield, the location for the film's action.
It's hard to imagine anyone doesn't know the story of the unemployed steelworkers who somehow get their act together to form, for one night only, a troupe of male strippers who are prepared to go the full monty. But it's a poignant, funny, heartwarming tale that well deserves its latest outing on this national tour.
The fact that there are soap stars in the cast on a promise to get their kit off by the end of the night is probably one of the selling points. In fact, the stripping is almost totally incidental to the emotional ups and downs of the characters' lives, and you don't get to see anything much anyway. What you do get is a genuinely touching comedy drama packed with clever gags, moving moments and a finale to beat anything the Chippendales can offer.
Highlights among the cast include Martin Miller as the fat friend Dave, who almost bottles it because he can't believe anyone would want to see him naked, and the highly accomplished Andrew Dunn as the one-time works foreman Gerald, roped in to choreograph the routines because of his passing knowledge of ballroom dancing.
If the soap stars are your thing, there are representatives of EastEnders, Brookside and Corrie in the shape of Gary Lucy, Louis Emerick and Rupert Hill, while 12-year-old Fraser Kelly (one of four boy actors on the tour) comes perilously close to stealing the entire show with a stunning, assured performance.
Director Roger Haines wisely retains many of the film's classic sequences, albeit smartly adapted for the stage, and it's all played out on an ingeniously versatile set by Robert Jones. The iconic music tracks are still there, too, helping to make this not just a trip down memory lane but a memorable event in its own right.
Mariah Gale as Maggie the Cat.
Picture by Topher McGrillis.
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
* * *
October 2, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, October 18, 2014, then touring
ACKNOWLEDGED by its author Tennessee Williams as his favourite among his own plays, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was made into an iconic movie starring Liz Taylor and Paul Newman. You might think this would be a tough act to follow, but James Dacre’s production has a sultry heat and simmering tension all of its own.
Co-produced with Newcastle’s Northern Stage – where it has already played – and Manchester’s Royal Exchange, where it goes next, this Royal & Derngate show recreates the 1950s Mississippi Delta plantation home of Big Daddy and his imploding family with glaring precision.
The stark, gleaming white design by Mike Britton serves a doubly important purpose, providing a minimalist yet luxurious backdrop to throw the focus onto the words and action, but also, with its shadowy louvres, caging in the characters and hemming them into their disintegrating world.
With the original Big Daddy, Daragh O’Malley, indisposed through ill health, Terence Wilton steps manfully into the breach, script in hand but still giving a powerful performance as the patriarch battling with a possible diagnosis of cancer.
Charles Aitken is beautifully restrained his alcoholic son Brick, struggling with a few demons of his own, while Matthew Douglas offers a neat counterpoint as the upright, legalistic older brother Gooper. There’s fine support, too, from Kim Criswell as Big Mama and Victoria Elliott as Gooper’s wife Mae.
The production relies, in the end, on Brick’s relationship with his wife Maggie, the Cat of the title, and here Mariah Gale gives a brittle, subtle performance that veers from feisty fighter to fragile ingénue barely able to hold herself together, let alone her marriage. The interplay with Brick is sometimes a little drawn out, like the drawling Southern accent, but there’s electricity, if not repressed sensuality, between the two of them.
It’s not an easy watch. Partly due to the inherent uncertainty of a stand-in Big Daddy and partly to the grim, relentless bickering, it makes for an uncomfortable time. But as a rendering of Williams’s bleak view of family collapse, it does a sound job.
* * *
October 2, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, October 18, 2014, then touring
ACKNOWLEDGED by its author Tennessee Williams as his favourite among his own plays, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was made into an iconic movie starring Liz Taylor and Paul Newman. You might think this would be a tough act to follow, but James Dacre’s production has a sultry heat and simmering tension all of its own.
Co-produced with Newcastle’s Northern Stage – where it has already played – and Manchester’s Royal Exchange, where it goes next, this Royal & Derngate show recreates the 1950s Mississippi Delta plantation home of Big Daddy and his imploding family with glaring precision.
The stark, gleaming white design by Mike Britton serves a doubly important purpose, providing a minimalist yet luxurious backdrop to throw the focus onto the words and action, but also, with its shadowy louvres, caging in the characters and hemming them into their disintegrating world.
With the original Big Daddy, Daragh O’Malley, indisposed through ill health, Terence Wilton steps manfully into the breach, script in hand but still giving a powerful performance as the patriarch battling with a possible diagnosis of cancer.
Charles Aitken is beautifully restrained his alcoholic son Brick, struggling with a few demons of his own, while Matthew Douglas offers a neat counterpoint as the upright, legalistic older brother Gooper. There’s fine support, too, from Kim Criswell as Big Mama and Victoria Elliott as Gooper’s wife Mae.
The production relies, in the end, on Brick’s relationship with his wife Maggie, the Cat of the title, and here Mariah Gale gives a brittle, subtle performance that veers from feisty fighter to fragile ingénue barely able to hold herself together, let alone her marriage. The interplay with Brick is sometimes a little drawn out, like the drawling Southern accent, but there’s electricity, if not repressed sensuality, between the two of them.
It’s not an easy watch. Partly due to the inherent uncertainty of a stand-in Big Daddy and partly to the grim, relentless bickering, it makes for an uncomfortable time. But as a rendering of Williams’s bleak view of family collapse, it does a sound job.
ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
* * * *
September 22, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, September 27, 2014
THIS National Theatre production of Richard Bean’s frenetic farce has been doing the rounds for a couple of years now, but with some new faces and a cast as committed and energetic as you could wish for, it still looks fresh as a daisy.
Bean took an 18th Century Commedia dell’Arte play by Carlo Goldoni and completely reworked it, originally as a vehicle for James Corden. Set in Brighton in 1963, it now focuses on the hapless Francis Henshall and his attempt to serve two masters apparently at deadly odds with each other without either finding out.
It now also features the supreme comic talents of Gavin Spokes, last seen on a Northampton stage as Toad in the Royal’s equally frenetic Wind in the Willows. Spokes assumes the role of Henshall as if it had been written for him, engaging in audience banter, asides and carefully rehearsed improvisation with consummate skill.
Around him runs a team of well-drilled supporting players, among them former EastEnders Emma Barton and Shaun Williamson, but they are very much second fiddle to the star turn. There’s bucketloads of physical comedy, plenty of belly laughs and some of the funniest audience participation you’re likely to see.
It’s all played fast and furious, with some high-class musical interludes from a snappily dressed and harmonious skiffle band, and the pace rarely lets up, even if the best moments – including a beautifully choreographed panto-style food scene – are in the first half.
If you haven’t seen it, then all the hype is pretty much on the button. If you have, it certainly stands a second viewing. Either way, it’s only in town for a week before the tour rolls on. You have been warned.
* * * *
September 22, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, September 27, 2014
THIS National Theatre production of Richard Bean’s frenetic farce has been doing the rounds for a couple of years now, but with some new faces and a cast as committed and energetic as you could wish for, it still looks fresh as a daisy.
Bean took an 18th Century Commedia dell’Arte play by Carlo Goldoni and completely reworked it, originally as a vehicle for James Corden. Set in Brighton in 1963, it now focuses on the hapless Francis Henshall and his attempt to serve two masters apparently at deadly odds with each other without either finding out.
It now also features the supreme comic talents of Gavin Spokes, last seen on a Northampton stage as Toad in the Royal’s equally frenetic Wind in the Willows. Spokes assumes the role of Henshall as if it had been written for him, engaging in audience banter, asides and carefully rehearsed improvisation with consummate skill.
Around him runs a team of well-drilled supporting players, among them former EastEnders Emma Barton and Shaun Williamson, but they are very much second fiddle to the star turn. There’s bucketloads of physical comedy, plenty of belly laughs and some of the funniest audience participation you’re likely to see.
It’s all played fast and furious, with some high-class musical interludes from a snappily dressed and harmonious skiffle band, and the pace rarely lets up, even if the best moments – including a beautifully choreographed panto-style food scene – are in the first half.
If you haven’t seen it, then all the hype is pretty much on the button. If you have, it certainly stands a second viewing. Either way, it’s only in town for a week before the tour rolls on. You have been warned.
The singers from New Jersey Nights.
NEW JERSEY NIGHTS
* * * *
September 15, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, September 20, 2014, then tour continues
ONE of the new breed of jukebox shows, New Jersey Nights is neither a musical nor a tribute act. Like its Beatles counterpart Let It Be, it occupies a strange middle ground, a nether territory where production values are those of a cruise ship presentation and the emphasis is on the songs instead of any kind of story.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that in itself, especially when the songs are the back catalogue of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and the musicianship and vocal talents are of such a wonderfully high standard.
Four singers – Damion Scarcella, Jonathan Hawkins, Adam Dougal and William Hazell – deliver the material with stunning clarity, warm vocal harmonies and a cheeky dose of fun. None “plays” Frankie as such, with the trademark falsetto lines shared out between them, and they’re all given a chance to display their individual capabilities with the human voice.
An onstage band of four (guitar, keyboard, drums and sax) makes a rather unusual musical combination but they’re all superb musicians and keep the backing consistently tight and solid, while six dancers complete the line-up with some frenetic, impressive moves courtesy of director/choreographer Emma Rogers.
The two-hour show travels the whole Seasons journey, from early successes such as Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry to later hits including Grease and December 1963. While the catalogue may not be quite as extensive as The Beatles, there’s plenty of well-known material to keep the audience happy – and happy is exactly what they are by the end, leaping to their feet for an encore of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
It’s definitely a gig rather than the kind of narrative show you get with Jersey Boys, but it’s a high-class gig.
* * * *
September 15, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, September 20, 2014, then tour continues
ONE of the new breed of jukebox shows, New Jersey Nights is neither a musical nor a tribute act. Like its Beatles counterpart Let It Be, it occupies a strange middle ground, a nether territory where production values are those of a cruise ship presentation and the emphasis is on the songs instead of any kind of story.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that in itself, especially when the songs are the back catalogue of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and the musicianship and vocal talents are of such a wonderfully high standard.
Four singers – Damion Scarcella, Jonathan Hawkins, Adam Dougal and William Hazell – deliver the material with stunning clarity, warm vocal harmonies and a cheeky dose of fun. None “plays” Frankie as such, with the trademark falsetto lines shared out between them, and they’re all given a chance to display their individual capabilities with the human voice.
An onstage band of four (guitar, keyboard, drums and sax) makes a rather unusual musical combination but they’re all superb musicians and keep the backing consistently tight and solid, while six dancers complete the line-up with some frenetic, impressive moves courtesy of director/choreographer Emma Rogers.
The two-hour show travels the whole Seasons journey, from early successes such as Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry to later hits including Grease and December 1963. While the catalogue may not be quite as extensive as The Beatles, there’s plenty of well-known material to keep the audience happy – and happy is exactly what they are by the end, leaping to their feet for an encore of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.
It’s definitely a gig rather than the kind of narrative show you get with Jersey Boys, but it’s a high-class gig.
REGENERATION
* * * *
September 5, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, September 20, 2014
WITH the centenary of the First World War, the staging of a new adaptation of Pat Barker’s novel about shell shock and the war poets is extremely timely. Nicholas Wright’s script distils the complex book into a manageable two hours, despite a slight sense of skipping hurriedly along simply to get the story told.
Director Simon Godwin returns to the site of his first professional job, Northampton’s Royal Theatre, to kick off a national tour of the show, co-produced with the Touring Consortium Theatre Company. The production makes a fine homecoming.
Evocatively designed and lit by Alex Eales and Lee Curran, the action plays out primarily at the Craiglockhart Hospital near Edinburgh, where psychologist Captain WHH Rivers treats, among others, Siegfried Sassoon, who’s been bundled off there in an attempt to suppress – and preferably change – his increasingly anti-war opinions. Sassoon meets and forms a close affection for Wilfred Owen, another inmate, while both struggle with their motives for returning to the front, as well as with their poetry.
While Wright’s adaptation may not quite pin down a satisfying through line – we’re never quite sure whose story the piece is trying to tell – there is plenty of atmospheric dialogue and a couple of genuinely affecting coups de theatre.
The production is well served by some finely crafted central performances, not least Stephen Boxer, Tim Delap and Garmon Rhys as Rivers, Sassoon and Owen respectively. Each brings a carefully judged reserve to the portrayal of the conflicted officers and their secret inner lives, drawing a clear picture of the kind of mental turmoil faced by all those involved.
There’s a wonderful performance, too, from Jack Monaghan as the invented character Billy Prior, an officer promoted from the lower classes because of a shortage of ‘gentlemen’. Monaghan’s ability to engage and move the audience is one of the highlights of a show that is both powerful and poignant, a fitting tribute to the millions who died so senselessly one hundred years ago.
DEALER’S CHOICE
* * * *
May 27, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, June 14, 2014
PATRICK Marber’s debut play about poker, addiction and male bonding looks remarkably fresh and exciting nearly twenty years on. In the meantime, he’s written Closer and Notes on a Scandal, as well as picking up Olivier awards and Oscar nominations, but he still holds a special affection for Dealer’s Choice.
It’s easy to see why. Not only does it carry telltale marks of authenticity from his own self-confessed gambling compulsion, it’s also got the hallmarks of a passion project, written from the heart. And in this powerful production – the latest in the Royal & Derngate’s Made in Northampton season – it gets a worthy outing thanks to director Michael Longhurst and his team.
On a spare set designed by Helen Goddard, five characters meet for their weekly poker game at the restaurant owned by Stephen (Richard Hawley). Three are his employees, one his son – but this week there’s a gatecrasher, whose involvement and intervention threatens to overthrow the delicate economic ecosystem that’s built up around the game.
All six performances are impressive and imposing, from Stephen’s painted-on air of authority to the thinly-veiled violence of Ian Burfield’s thuggish interloper. Cary Crankson gives a particularly touching rendition of Mugsy, the dim-witted but lovable waiter with delusions of grandeur, while Carl Prekopp is centred but poignant as the chef with a compulsion he can’t control. Tom Canton is raw and rough-edged as a would-be tough guy waiter, and Oliver Coopersmith utterly believable as the son who can’t live up to his father’s expectations no matter what he does.
The tensions of the game are well explored and its dramatic possibilities plumbed, although there is a sense that Marber’s background in television informed the writing, and it could easily make a film for the small screen. It’s raucous, fruity and full of testosterone as the participants jockey for advantage, and it still packs quite a punch.
LET IT BE
* * * *
May 26, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, May 31, 2014, then tour continues
IS it a concert? Is it a musical theatre show? Are they actors or musicians? Is it an impersonation or a tribute act? Let It Be can never quite decide for itself, and so it leaves the audience in a state of uncertainty.
There’s no plot, narrative or story to follow, no scenes with dialogue or exposition, nothing other than the popular consciousness to provide any kind of context.
But then, let’s be honest, does anyone really need the story? What this show does – and does brilliantly – is serve up a delicious helping carefully selected from the extraordinary back catalogue of the greatest pop group of all time. The performance is made up of small sets of a handful of numbers from each of the definable eras through their career.
So we start in The Cavern with a rip-roaring race through the early rock ’n’ roll barnstormers before switching into mop-top mode, then on through the Shea Stadium gig, Sergeant Pepper, Abbey Road and the rooftop finale. It gives a flavour of each without labouring any of them unnecessarily, pleasing anyone with a particular favourite from the various styles and spanning the spectacular range of material intelligently.
But the single biggest asset this production enjoys is its musicians. A company of twelve tours the show, with five of them playing on any given night – a quartet portraying the Fab Four themselves, with a fifth musical director supplying additional material such as orchestras, Mellotrons and sitars. In this performance, Emanuele Angeletti offered a spookily accurate Paul, Reuvon Gershon his equally uncanny John, Stephen Hill a brooding George and Luke Roberts a cheeky Ringo, backed by the ‘fifth Beatle’ Steve Geere. All are consummate musicians and the sound they create is astonishingly accurate, from guitar-playing styles (Angeletti even learned to play a bass left-handed) to the vocal intonations and harmonies.
As long as you’re not expecting a Buddy-style retelling of the history of The Beatles, this is as good a recreation of their music as you can expect on a live stage, and the crowd goes wild accordingly.
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
* * * *
May 12, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, May 17, 2014, then tour continues
THE idea is nothing new: a play within a play in which things go horribly wrong, to the endless amusement of the audience. Most famously, Michael Frayn did it in Noises Off, and now Mischief Theatre are touring their acclaimed version of the performer’s nightmare.
The acclaim is duly deserved, because this is a riotous production of meticulously timed slapstick exploiting a vast range of possible disasters, from malfunctioning props to collapsing sets, with injuries, infighting and indolent sound engineers to add to the mayhem.
The show has already proved hugely successful both on the Edinburgh Fringe and in the West End, and the eight-strong cast work exhaustingly to achieve the polished precision timing that the comedy requires.
Co-writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields also perform in the piece as the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society stages The Murder at Haversham Manor, where convoluted plots and hammy overacting are the norm. This allows for plenty of broad humour, physical comedy and hilarious complications.
There’s a hint of flabbiness about some of the script, and the comedy has a tendency towards the obvious – as reflected in the title itself – but there’s no arguing that the laughs come thick and fast and much of the audience are on their feet by the end as a result.
EVERY LAST TRICK
* * * *
April 24, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, May 10, 2014
WHAT happens when you mix two internationally famous physical comedy companies, the grandfather of modern farce and an award-winning playwright? The answer is this production at the Royal & Derngate, which fizzes and sparkles and rollicks from start to finish.
The theatre companies are Spymonkey and Told by an Idiot – the first of which, at least, are well known to local audiences for their inspired anarchy in shows such as Cooped, Moby Dick and Oedipussy. The leading farceur is the 19th Century French writer Georges Feydeau, on whose original play this production is based. And the present-day writer paying homage in a properly disrespectful way is Tamsin Oglesby, who’s worked with everyone from the RSC to the National Theatre.
If the sum of these parts doesn’t quite have the polish and panache of some of its antecedents, it’s not for want of trying. Oglesby’s script is witty, daft and suitably improbable, while Told by an Idiot’s Paul Hunter directs with pace and imagination on a beautiful 1920s drawing-room set by Lucy Bradridge.
Aitor Basauri and Toby Park from Spymonkey work best together, their comic genius sparking off one another in free-flowing lunacy, but they’re superbly accompanied by Adrien Gygax and Sophie Russell in a quartet of silliness that keeps the laughs coming relentlessly.
There’s hardly any point outlining the story – it’s something about the wife of the Spanish ambassador trying to uncover her husband’s suspected infidelity – but it’s a mere device to serve the farce, which is impeccably handled. Outrageous costumes and wigs, unlikely magic tricks and a random grasshopper love song all combine to make an evening of classy entertainment. Not forgetting the elephant…
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
* * * *
April 22, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, April 26, 2014
THERE are pros and cons to the increasingly popular trend for actor-musicians instead of a separate pit band. It’s easy to see why producers do it: to save money. That, to me, seems like a big fat con. After all, the audience aren’t getting any reduction in the ticket price as a result.
On the plus side, live music – as regular readers will know – is always welcome because of the dramatically improving effect it has on any production.
Fiddler on the Roof is an interesting case which amply illustrates many of the positives and negatives of the genre. Whenever the musicians are seamlessly integrated into a scene, such as at the inn or the wedding, they look perfectly at home and the notion makes good sense. When they start to interfere with the action – for instance, when the young couple Tzeitel and Motel tootle on clarinet and piccolo as they court – it’s just an unnecessary nuisance.
But enough of that. What of the show? Director Craig Revel Horwood has been blessed with a stunning, versatile design by Diego Pitarch which unquestionably aids the narrative with its unfolding houses and cleverly used props. The on-stage musical direction of Tarek Merchant also adds much to Sarah Travis’s intelligent orchestrations for the musicians she has at her disposal.
And the performances? Well, among a host of energetic, enthusiastic performers juggling singing, dancing, acting and playing, there’s really only one person you look at, and that’s Paul Michael Glaser as Tevye the milkman. Having played the role of the young revolutionary Perchik on film before finding bigger fame as television cop Starsky in the 70s, he’s a genuine superstar and a real coup for the producers of this tour.
Holding the story together from start to finish, his blue eyes sparkle, his rich voice rolls through the well-known numbers and his charisma grabs the attention every moment he’s on stage. In a production that pays handsome tribute to this much-loved tale of a Jewish community in pre-revolutionary Russia, Glaser is the standout reason to sit back, pour a glass of vodka and raise a toast: “To Life!”
THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN
* * * * *
February 28, 2014
Royal & Derngate Underground, Northampton, until March 8, 2014
YOU wait six months for a production from the Royal & Derngate’s new artistic director and then two come along in a week. But what a week.
Hot on the heels of James Dacre’s stunning version of A Tale of Two Cities comes this transfer from London’s Gate Theatre of a blistering two-hander about war, photography and the questionable morality of writers.
Mined from the correspondence and stuttering real-life relationship between American playwright Dan O’Brien and Canadian photojournalist Paul Watson, the 90-minute uninterrupted narrative plays out in a cramped, claustrophobic transverse space in the R&D’s Underground. The specially constructed studio is designed by Alex Lowde to resemble some kind of Arctic tent – where much of the action takes place when the two finally meet after years of email exchanges.
The intensity of the setting creates the perfect atmosphere for the driven, choppy story, which follows O’Brien’s attempts to make sense of Watson’s global quest for the grim truth of war, as seen through the lens of his camera.
There are no easy answers in the volatile, gripping text, nor in the striking, moving and often horrendously tough images projected at either end of the space. But William Gaminara and Damien Molony as the snapper and the playwright respectively make no apology for the full-on, graphic nature of their subject matter, and it’s all the more powerful because of it.
Never more than inches away from the audience, theirs are terrific performances of bravery and honesty, and director Dacre takes full advantage of their copious talents.
It’s harrowing, eye-opening and hugely entertaining and probably deserves a much wider audience than the tiny space and extremely short run allow. Together with the Dickens, it makes a fine start to the tenure of the theatres’ new incumbent.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
* * * * *
February 25, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, March 15, 2014
CHARLES Dickens’s sweeping story of love and duty set against the backdrop of the French revolution is nothing short of epic. It’s easy to see the attraction for new Royal & Derngate artistic director James Dacre in selecting this reliable classic as his first homegrown production.
And the scale of Dacre’s ambition certainly matches his raw material: he’s gone big on everything. There’s a big-name adapter in Mike Poulton, an Oscar-winning composer in Rachel Portman and an ensemble cast of more than 30 that busts all logistical sense on the small but beautiful Royal Theatre stage.
Appropriately enough, it’s the sense of grandeur and scale that impresses most. Poulton’s script deftly fillets the dense narrative, while Mike Britton’s design perfectly captures the spirit of the times with its decaying decadence and an appreciative nod to Dickens’s original illustrator Phiz. Meanwhile, Portman’s subtle but highly evocative music serves as an emotional underscore to the production, adding texture and an almost filmic quality to the relentlessly unfolding tragedy.
A well-drilled mob of London and Parisian characters further adds to the dynamics, providing a constantly shifting, uneasy canvas on which Dacre allows his main cast to paint their Dickensian portraits with style and passion.
At the heart of the tale is Oliver Dimsdale’s Sydney Carton, a dissolute drunk whose self-pitying worthlessness leads inexorably to the story’s climactic resolution. Dimsdale conveys Carton’s wretchedness without ever descending into pathos and his ultimate redemption is all the more powerful because of it.
Around him, a gallery of lively and well-drawn figures create a layered but clear narrative, with fine performances across the board. Michael Mears is particularly touching as Carton’s ageing mentor Mr Lorry, while Yolanda Kettle and Joshua Silver make a strong impression as the principled young lovers Lucie and Charles.
It’s a tall order to hold on to subtlety and nuance in a story so epic but the meticulous direction and movement manage to achieve just that, offering a stunning series of tableaux and arresting visual moments along the way.
If Dacre’s intention with this curtain-raiser was to put down a marker for his tenure at the Royal & Derngate, he’s set the bar rewardingly high.
DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS
* * * *
January 27, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, February 1, 2014, then tour continues
JUKEBOX musicals are seemingly everywhere these days, exploiting the back catalogues of endless artists and music companies by appealing to a ready-made audience of fans. What makes Dreamboats and Petticoats that little bit different is the quality of the framework on which these wonderful old songs are hung.
With a sharp, witty book by Birds of a Feather creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the script is a cut above the average, even if the story of teenage love in a 1961 youth club is as light and fluffy as a soufflé. It simply doesn’t matter when the pace, energy and sheer fun of the production carry you along on a wave of nostalgia and tapping toes.
The use of music is impeccably judged, and Bob Tomson’s direction is as sure-footed as his well-drilled dancers, choreographed authentically by Carole Todd. There are some evocative characterisations from the likes of Greg Fossard and Hannah Boyce as the innocent Bobby and Laura, and from Matthew Colthart and Louise Olley as the more knowing Norman and Sue.
But the biggest single factor in this show’s deserved popularity is the live performance of the fabulous soundtrack, bringing to life a vast and exciting collection of early rock ’n’ roll numbers with panache and enormous exuberance.
The on-stage band, who are as much a part of the action as the central characters, create an irresistible atmosphere with their superbly performed backing, while the stunning a capella singing provides some of the show’s standout moments. Full credit, therefore, must go to musical director Sheridan Lloyd and his talented team for supplying the beating heart of this highly enjoyable show.
* * * *
September 5, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, September 20, 2014
WITH the centenary of the First World War, the staging of a new adaptation of Pat Barker’s novel about shell shock and the war poets is extremely timely. Nicholas Wright’s script distils the complex book into a manageable two hours, despite a slight sense of skipping hurriedly along simply to get the story told.
Director Simon Godwin returns to the site of his first professional job, Northampton’s Royal Theatre, to kick off a national tour of the show, co-produced with the Touring Consortium Theatre Company. The production makes a fine homecoming.
Evocatively designed and lit by Alex Eales and Lee Curran, the action plays out primarily at the Craiglockhart Hospital near Edinburgh, where psychologist Captain WHH Rivers treats, among others, Siegfried Sassoon, who’s been bundled off there in an attempt to suppress – and preferably change – his increasingly anti-war opinions. Sassoon meets and forms a close affection for Wilfred Owen, another inmate, while both struggle with their motives for returning to the front, as well as with their poetry.
While Wright’s adaptation may not quite pin down a satisfying through line – we’re never quite sure whose story the piece is trying to tell – there is plenty of atmospheric dialogue and a couple of genuinely affecting coups de theatre.
The production is well served by some finely crafted central performances, not least Stephen Boxer, Tim Delap and Garmon Rhys as Rivers, Sassoon and Owen respectively. Each brings a carefully judged reserve to the portrayal of the conflicted officers and their secret inner lives, drawing a clear picture of the kind of mental turmoil faced by all those involved.
There’s a wonderful performance, too, from Jack Monaghan as the invented character Billy Prior, an officer promoted from the lower classes because of a shortage of ‘gentlemen’. Monaghan’s ability to engage and move the audience is one of the highlights of a show that is both powerful and poignant, a fitting tribute to the millions who died so senselessly one hundred years ago.
DEALER’S CHOICE
* * * *
May 27, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, June 14, 2014
PATRICK Marber’s debut play about poker, addiction and male bonding looks remarkably fresh and exciting nearly twenty years on. In the meantime, he’s written Closer and Notes on a Scandal, as well as picking up Olivier awards and Oscar nominations, but he still holds a special affection for Dealer’s Choice.
It’s easy to see why. Not only does it carry telltale marks of authenticity from his own self-confessed gambling compulsion, it’s also got the hallmarks of a passion project, written from the heart. And in this powerful production – the latest in the Royal & Derngate’s Made in Northampton season – it gets a worthy outing thanks to director Michael Longhurst and his team.
On a spare set designed by Helen Goddard, five characters meet for their weekly poker game at the restaurant owned by Stephen (Richard Hawley). Three are his employees, one his son – but this week there’s a gatecrasher, whose involvement and intervention threatens to overthrow the delicate economic ecosystem that’s built up around the game.
All six performances are impressive and imposing, from Stephen’s painted-on air of authority to the thinly-veiled violence of Ian Burfield’s thuggish interloper. Cary Crankson gives a particularly touching rendition of Mugsy, the dim-witted but lovable waiter with delusions of grandeur, while Carl Prekopp is centred but poignant as the chef with a compulsion he can’t control. Tom Canton is raw and rough-edged as a would-be tough guy waiter, and Oliver Coopersmith utterly believable as the son who can’t live up to his father’s expectations no matter what he does.
The tensions of the game are well explored and its dramatic possibilities plumbed, although there is a sense that Marber’s background in television informed the writing, and it could easily make a film for the small screen. It’s raucous, fruity and full of testosterone as the participants jockey for advantage, and it still packs quite a punch.
LET IT BE
* * * *
May 26, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, May 31, 2014, then tour continues
IS it a concert? Is it a musical theatre show? Are they actors or musicians? Is it an impersonation or a tribute act? Let It Be can never quite decide for itself, and so it leaves the audience in a state of uncertainty.
There’s no plot, narrative or story to follow, no scenes with dialogue or exposition, nothing other than the popular consciousness to provide any kind of context.
But then, let’s be honest, does anyone really need the story? What this show does – and does brilliantly – is serve up a delicious helping carefully selected from the extraordinary back catalogue of the greatest pop group of all time. The performance is made up of small sets of a handful of numbers from each of the definable eras through their career.
So we start in The Cavern with a rip-roaring race through the early rock ’n’ roll barnstormers before switching into mop-top mode, then on through the Shea Stadium gig, Sergeant Pepper, Abbey Road and the rooftop finale. It gives a flavour of each without labouring any of them unnecessarily, pleasing anyone with a particular favourite from the various styles and spanning the spectacular range of material intelligently.
But the single biggest asset this production enjoys is its musicians. A company of twelve tours the show, with five of them playing on any given night – a quartet portraying the Fab Four themselves, with a fifth musical director supplying additional material such as orchestras, Mellotrons and sitars. In this performance, Emanuele Angeletti offered a spookily accurate Paul, Reuvon Gershon his equally uncanny John, Stephen Hill a brooding George and Luke Roberts a cheeky Ringo, backed by the ‘fifth Beatle’ Steve Geere. All are consummate musicians and the sound they create is astonishingly accurate, from guitar-playing styles (Angeletti even learned to play a bass left-handed) to the vocal intonations and harmonies.
As long as you’re not expecting a Buddy-style retelling of the history of The Beatles, this is as good a recreation of their music as you can expect on a live stage, and the crowd goes wild accordingly.
THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
* * * *
May 12, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, May 17, 2014, then tour continues
THE idea is nothing new: a play within a play in which things go horribly wrong, to the endless amusement of the audience. Most famously, Michael Frayn did it in Noises Off, and now Mischief Theatre are touring their acclaimed version of the performer’s nightmare.
The acclaim is duly deserved, because this is a riotous production of meticulously timed slapstick exploiting a vast range of possible disasters, from malfunctioning props to collapsing sets, with injuries, infighting and indolent sound engineers to add to the mayhem.
The show has already proved hugely successful both on the Edinburgh Fringe and in the West End, and the eight-strong cast work exhaustingly to achieve the polished precision timing that the comedy requires.
Co-writers Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields also perform in the piece as the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society stages The Murder at Haversham Manor, where convoluted plots and hammy overacting are the norm. This allows for plenty of broad humour, physical comedy and hilarious complications.
There’s a hint of flabbiness about some of the script, and the comedy has a tendency towards the obvious – as reflected in the title itself – but there’s no arguing that the laughs come thick and fast and much of the audience are on their feet by the end as a result.
EVERY LAST TRICK
* * * *
April 24, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, May 10, 2014
WHAT happens when you mix two internationally famous physical comedy companies, the grandfather of modern farce and an award-winning playwright? The answer is this production at the Royal & Derngate, which fizzes and sparkles and rollicks from start to finish.
The theatre companies are Spymonkey and Told by an Idiot – the first of which, at least, are well known to local audiences for their inspired anarchy in shows such as Cooped, Moby Dick and Oedipussy. The leading farceur is the 19th Century French writer Georges Feydeau, on whose original play this production is based. And the present-day writer paying homage in a properly disrespectful way is Tamsin Oglesby, who’s worked with everyone from the RSC to the National Theatre.
If the sum of these parts doesn’t quite have the polish and panache of some of its antecedents, it’s not for want of trying. Oglesby’s script is witty, daft and suitably improbable, while Told by an Idiot’s Paul Hunter directs with pace and imagination on a beautiful 1920s drawing-room set by Lucy Bradridge.
Aitor Basauri and Toby Park from Spymonkey work best together, their comic genius sparking off one another in free-flowing lunacy, but they’re superbly accompanied by Adrien Gygax and Sophie Russell in a quartet of silliness that keeps the laughs coming relentlessly.
There’s hardly any point outlining the story – it’s something about the wife of the Spanish ambassador trying to uncover her husband’s suspected infidelity – but it’s a mere device to serve the farce, which is impeccably handled. Outrageous costumes and wigs, unlikely magic tricks and a random grasshopper love song all combine to make an evening of classy entertainment. Not forgetting the elephant…
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
* * * *
April 22, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, April 26, 2014
THERE are pros and cons to the increasingly popular trend for actor-musicians instead of a separate pit band. It’s easy to see why producers do it: to save money. That, to me, seems like a big fat con. After all, the audience aren’t getting any reduction in the ticket price as a result.
On the plus side, live music – as regular readers will know – is always welcome because of the dramatically improving effect it has on any production.
Fiddler on the Roof is an interesting case which amply illustrates many of the positives and negatives of the genre. Whenever the musicians are seamlessly integrated into a scene, such as at the inn or the wedding, they look perfectly at home and the notion makes good sense. When they start to interfere with the action – for instance, when the young couple Tzeitel and Motel tootle on clarinet and piccolo as they court – it’s just an unnecessary nuisance.
But enough of that. What of the show? Director Craig Revel Horwood has been blessed with a stunning, versatile design by Diego Pitarch which unquestionably aids the narrative with its unfolding houses and cleverly used props. The on-stage musical direction of Tarek Merchant also adds much to Sarah Travis’s intelligent orchestrations for the musicians she has at her disposal.
And the performances? Well, among a host of energetic, enthusiastic performers juggling singing, dancing, acting and playing, there’s really only one person you look at, and that’s Paul Michael Glaser as Tevye the milkman. Having played the role of the young revolutionary Perchik on film before finding bigger fame as television cop Starsky in the 70s, he’s a genuine superstar and a real coup for the producers of this tour.
Holding the story together from start to finish, his blue eyes sparkle, his rich voice rolls through the well-known numbers and his charisma grabs the attention every moment he’s on stage. In a production that pays handsome tribute to this much-loved tale of a Jewish community in pre-revolutionary Russia, Glaser is the standout reason to sit back, pour a glass of vodka and raise a toast: “To Life!”
THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN
* * * * *
February 28, 2014
Royal & Derngate Underground, Northampton, until March 8, 2014
YOU wait six months for a production from the Royal & Derngate’s new artistic director and then two come along in a week. But what a week.
Hot on the heels of James Dacre’s stunning version of A Tale of Two Cities comes this transfer from London’s Gate Theatre of a blistering two-hander about war, photography and the questionable morality of writers.
Mined from the correspondence and stuttering real-life relationship between American playwright Dan O’Brien and Canadian photojournalist Paul Watson, the 90-minute uninterrupted narrative plays out in a cramped, claustrophobic transverse space in the R&D’s Underground. The specially constructed studio is designed by Alex Lowde to resemble some kind of Arctic tent – where much of the action takes place when the two finally meet after years of email exchanges.
The intensity of the setting creates the perfect atmosphere for the driven, choppy story, which follows O’Brien’s attempts to make sense of Watson’s global quest for the grim truth of war, as seen through the lens of his camera.
There are no easy answers in the volatile, gripping text, nor in the striking, moving and often horrendously tough images projected at either end of the space. But William Gaminara and Damien Molony as the snapper and the playwright respectively make no apology for the full-on, graphic nature of their subject matter, and it’s all the more powerful because of it.
Never more than inches away from the audience, theirs are terrific performances of bravery and honesty, and director Dacre takes full advantage of their copious talents.
It’s harrowing, eye-opening and hugely entertaining and probably deserves a much wider audience than the tiny space and extremely short run allow. Together with the Dickens, it makes a fine start to the tenure of the theatres’ new incumbent.
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
* * * * *
February 25, 2014
Royal Theatre, Northampton, until Saturday, March 15, 2014
CHARLES Dickens’s sweeping story of love and duty set against the backdrop of the French revolution is nothing short of epic. It’s easy to see the attraction for new Royal & Derngate artistic director James Dacre in selecting this reliable classic as his first homegrown production.
And the scale of Dacre’s ambition certainly matches his raw material: he’s gone big on everything. There’s a big-name adapter in Mike Poulton, an Oscar-winning composer in Rachel Portman and an ensemble cast of more than 30 that busts all logistical sense on the small but beautiful Royal Theatre stage.
Appropriately enough, it’s the sense of grandeur and scale that impresses most. Poulton’s script deftly fillets the dense narrative, while Mike Britton’s design perfectly captures the spirit of the times with its decaying decadence and an appreciative nod to Dickens’s original illustrator Phiz. Meanwhile, Portman’s subtle but highly evocative music serves as an emotional underscore to the production, adding texture and an almost filmic quality to the relentlessly unfolding tragedy.
A well-drilled mob of London and Parisian characters further adds to the dynamics, providing a constantly shifting, uneasy canvas on which Dacre allows his main cast to paint their Dickensian portraits with style and passion.
At the heart of the tale is Oliver Dimsdale’s Sydney Carton, a dissolute drunk whose self-pitying worthlessness leads inexorably to the story’s climactic resolution. Dimsdale conveys Carton’s wretchedness without ever descending into pathos and his ultimate redemption is all the more powerful because of it.
Around him, a gallery of lively and well-drawn figures create a layered but clear narrative, with fine performances across the board. Michael Mears is particularly touching as Carton’s ageing mentor Mr Lorry, while Yolanda Kettle and Joshua Silver make a strong impression as the principled young lovers Lucie and Charles.
It’s a tall order to hold on to subtlety and nuance in a story so epic but the meticulous direction and movement manage to achieve just that, offering a stunning series of tableaux and arresting visual moments along the way.
If Dacre’s intention with this curtain-raiser was to put down a marker for his tenure at the Royal & Derngate, he’s set the bar rewardingly high.
DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS
* * * *
January 27, 2014
Derngate, Northampton, until Saturday, February 1, 2014, then tour continues
JUKEBOX musicals are seemingly everywhere these days, exploiting the back catalogues of endless artists and music companies by appealing to a ready-made audience of fans. What makes Dreamboats and Petticoats that little bit different is the quality of the framework on which these wonderful old songs are hung.
With a sharp, witty book by Birds of a Feather creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the script is a cut above the average, even if the story of teenage love in a 1961 youth club is as light and fluffy as a soufflé. It simply doesn’t matter when the pace, energy and sheer fun of the production carry you along on a wave of nostalgia and tapping toes.
The use of music is impeccably judged, and Bob Tomson’s direction is as sure-footed as his well-drilled dancers, choreographed authentically by Carole Todd. There are some evocative characterisations from the likes of Greg Fossard and Hannah Boyce as the innocent Bobby and Laura, and from Matthew Colthart and Louise Olley as the more knowing Norman and Sue.
But the biggest single factor in this show’s deserved popularity is the live performance of the fabulous soundtrack, bringing to life a vast and exciting collection of early rock ’n’ roll numbers with panache and enormous exuberance.
The on-stage band, who are as much a part of the action as the central characters, create an irresistible atmosphere with their superbly performed backing, while the stunning a capella singing provides some of the show’s standout moments. Full credit, therefore, must go to musical director Sheridan Lloyd and his talented team for supplying the beating heart of this highly enjoyable show.
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