THE WINTER’S TALE
* * * *
October 19, 2013
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, until Saturday, November 2, 2013
PROVING, as David Tennant opens in Stratford as Richard II, that the RSC doesn’t have a monopoly on Shakespeare, the Crucible offers a crystal-clear, elegiac version of his late, complicated play. Performed on a simple, planked stage, with almost minimal design by Simon Daw, Paul Miller’s production allows the textured words to tell their story with accomplished maturity and nuance.
The setting is vaguely Edwardian, with its uniforms and stiff upper lips, and the atmosphere of the King of Sicilia’s court is captured beautifully not only by the lighting of Mark Doubleday but also by the sensitivity of the performances. Daniel Lapaine’s Leontes is extremely persuasive as he achieves the tough task of convincing the audience that he is suddenly, shockingly overtaken by a rampaging jealousy over his wife’s cosy relationship with the visiting Bohemian king Polixenes. The injustice and horror of subsequent events are firmly rooted in this sound, believable performance that ranges from pure rage to retrospective regret.
Jonathan Firth, as the undeserving target of his wrath, is equally impressive, delivering the lines with clarity and sense, while Claire Price as the wronged queen is simply sublime and quite possibly the finest Hermione of recent years.
The switch to rustic Bohemia in the second half provides some delightful comedy and light relief, notably in the father-son pairing of Gareth Williams and Patrick Walshe McBride. Sam Graham makes much of the kings’ servant Camillo, while Barbara Marten matches her fury with a calm dignity as Paulina, the queen’s confidante.
It’s an assured production with some memorable performances, and confirms once again that Sheffield is more than capable of creating some of the country’s strongest theatre.
SEASIDE SPECIAL
* * * *
August 10, 2013
Pavilion Theatre, Cromer Pier, until Saturday, September 28, 2013
A RECENT article in one of our national newspapers suggested that Cromer Pier’s Seaside Special might be marking “the end of the end of the pier show”. Well all I can say is, if that’s true, there are some pretty enjoyable death throes to be seen.
What’s tragic – and indisputable – is the shocking decline in the number of shows being performed at the end of Britain’s piers. Indeed, Cromer’s may well be the last permanent in-house production in the country giving ten performances a week of two shows in repertoire, for eighteen weeks of a full summer season. The others around our coastline are a mish-mash of short runs, visiting one-nighters and tribute acts.
But if the quantity is lacking, it’s more than made up for in the quality of Cromer’s offering, devised and directed by Di Cooke and produced under a fifteen-year contract with the local council by Openwide Coastal. Housed in the Pavilion Theatre, a charming, comfortable venue with great acoustics and a real holiday atmosphere, Seaside Special has everything the discerning Norfolk vacationer could possibly want.
There’s magic from headliner Dain Cordean, dancing girls (and boys) with enough energy to power the pier’s illuminations, and comedy galore from Danny Posthill and pint-sized Yorkshire powerhouse Jo Little.
To a musical accompaniment that never lets up, courtesy of multi-skilled musical director and company manager Nigel Hogg, this is true variety in the old-fashioned sense. But what Cooke and her talented team have crafted is anything but old-fashioned.
In fact, it’s designed and delivered specifically to encompass all age ranges, making it a genuinely welcoming family show. The gags are child-friendly for the most part, the choreography and sets are glitzy and professional, and the stunning singing voice of Aussie vocalist David Jon O’Neill punctuates the running order of dance, magic and comedy in exactly the right balance.
What’s more, the whole company are involved throughout. There’s no room for egos in the kind of show where the comic, singer and magician all serve as backing vocalists to the hilarious Little in a routine that brings the house down.
With a Christmas season already lined up and at least a couple of years left on the council contract, this lively, likeable package of sunshine suggests there’s still plenty of life at the end of the pier, if you just know where to look.
INVISIBLE
July 13, 2013
Next Page Productions, Harborough Theatre, Market Harborough
NEW writing can be a hard sell, particularly for self-funded production companies committed to nurturing fresh, vibrant material for new audiences. Next Page Productions does exactly that, and has found plenty of willing punters for its latest show, the witty and intriguing comedy Invisible.
Written by Birmingham partnership Liz John and Julia Wright, the piece – which plays without an interval and maintains considerable momentum as a result – is a three-hander centred on the sisterly friction between hairdresser Jackie and her just-turning-forty younger sibling Lisa.
Lisa, it quickly transpires, is having a minor midlife crisis, having lost her husband, her job and her home on the eve of the big birthday. She calls on Jackie for the first time since their father’s funeral six months earlier, and the family skeletons start tumbling out of their mutual closet.
Directed with pace by Janice Connolly, Invisible features strong performances from its leads Alison Belbin and Caroline Nash, whose relationship is both believable and poignant. The writers are experienced enough to know the value of leavening moments of high farce and even audience participation with tender touches of emotion, and it’s a winning combination.
Robert Harper adds a collection of nice cameos as all the men the sisters encounter and the simple but functional set works effectively to enhance the production.
The show has found theatregoers across the Midlands willing to try new experiences, and they have been rewarded for their readiness to give new writing a go. It’s a virtuous circle that earns Next Page a happy commendation for its farsighted approach.
THIS IS MY FAMILY
* * * * *
July 6, 2013
Crucible Studio, Sheffield, until Saturday, July 20, 2013
HE did it with Calendar Girls, he did it with Kinky Boots, now comedy writer Tim Firth has done it again. With a heady mix of humour, pathos and simple, recognisable truth, he has created a show that has you laughing and wincing in equal measure. To top all that, he has you humming the tunes as you leave the theatre.
This Is My Family is a new British musical two years in the making. Nurtured by Sheffield’s artistic director Daniel Evans, Firth has crafted a witty, lively and endlessly entertaining piece, weaving songs and spoken dialogue seamlessly together in a way that will inevitably draw parallels with Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers.
But where that show builds to a tragic drama, this one is unashamedly fun, focusing on 13-year-old Nicky and her attempts to bring her family together on a holiday she wins in an online competition. Forgoing potential exotic locations, she opts instead for the prize of a tent. Predictable mayhem ensues.
But for all the simplicity and unassuming nature of the plot, Firth’s brilliance lies in the minutiae of the family’s bonds, from the hapless DIY of dad Steve to the incipient dementia of Gran. Throw in a monosyllabic Goth of a brother, a wine-loving auntie and a weary mum just trying to hold things together, and you’ve got the recipe for a completely believable slice of family life.
Firth’s music is wonderfully displayed by the five-piece on-stage band under Caroline Humphris, while Richard Kent’s superb set converts the intimate studio space into everything from a suburban family home to the big outdoors with ease.
Evans’s direction is faultless and is matched every step of the way by his impeccable cast. Evelyn Hoskins is extraordinary as the new teenager at the heart of the tale, while Clare Burt and Bill Champion are fine-voiced and hugely enjoyable as her childhood-sweetheart parents. Terence Keeley and Rachel Lumberg do sterling comic duty as brother and aunt respectively, while Sian Phillips is at turns haunted and hilarious as the Gran whose fading memory brings the most heartbreaking moments of the show.
It’s a winner in every respect and should have a much wider audience than the studio allows. Who knows – maybe its success will win it a much-deserved place in the main house before too long.
ALICE – AN EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE
* * * *
June 22, 2013
Heartbreak Productions, Brixworth Country Park and touring nationwide until September 1, 2013
OPEN-air theatre practitioners must be wondering, even more than the rest of us, what on earth has happened to the climate. It’s the night after Midsummer Night and the prospect of a magical evening in the company of Alice as she journeys through Wonderland and the Looking-Glass could not be more inviting. Unless it wasn’t blowing a gale in temperatures more suited to a refrigerator.
To their endless credit, the team at Heartbreak Productions always go on, whatever the weather. They make the courteous gesture of acknowledging that the audience do too.
And whatever the elements may throw at the four-actor cast of Alice – An Extraordinary Adventure, they also generate and maintain that essential ingredient of magic in the way the story plays out.
Writer Dani Carbery places Lewis Carroll’s original characters in a modern setting – Alice’s eleventh birthday, which she spends playing on her new iPad, much to the irritation of her younger brother and sister. But when a new hypnosis app sucks her into a weird and wonderful sleep, Alice’s adventures take on a very recognisable form, with well-known and much-loved characters making highly entertaining appearances.
The White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and a baby that turns into a pig – they’re all here and all as crazy as Carroll first invented them. Indeed, one of the delights of the evening is the ability of cast members Rhian McLean, Alex Moore and Nathan Smith to conjure this huge range of characters so convincingly from a few props and odd bits of wardrobe. Lily Carrie’s Alice – the only one not to play a multitude of parts – wanders wide-eyed through this assortment of bizarre creations, taking the enchanted audience willingly with her as she tries to find her way home.
Director Peter Mimmack and designer Kate Wragg use their limited resources intelligently, including interactive elements, fun and games to keep younger eyes and ears constantly engaged.
And in the end, the indomitable British spirit allows the weather to be turned to advantage as everyone – cast, crew and audience – shares the thrill of having triumphed over adversity to enjoy a thoroughly heartwarming theatrical experience.
Heartbreak Productions are also touring Romeo and Juliet and Dracula this summer. See the website www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
FIFTY WORDS
* * * *
May 24, 2013
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday, June 15, 2013, then Arcola Theatre, London
THERE are fifty words in the Eskimo language for snow. So runs the logic in this American import by Michael Weller, which aims to shed the same kind of subtle shading onto the intricacies of love.
The framework for this attempt is a night in the company of Adam and Janine, enjoying their first child-free evening for more than nine years. Adam wants to make the most of it, with chilled champagne and Chinese takeaway. Janine’s mind is elsewhere – on her business, one her sensitive son away at his first sleepover, on the hamster the boy has insisted on taking with him.
The resulting, uninterrupted hundred minutes are a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from shared tenderness to blistering lashing out as secrets emerge, feelings are trashed and the entire marital edifice comes under unendurable strain.
Weller’s play, confidently directed by Laurence Boswell and impeccably designed and lit by Simon Kenny and Richard Howell, is not an easy one to watch. There’s some terrific writing encompassing wit and warmth as well as vituperative viciousness, but this is a couple whose private lives come crawling out from under a stone that you end up wishing had been left undisturbed.
That said, the performances in this tough two-hander are simply sensational. Claire Price and Richard Clothier wring every nuance of emotion out of each twist and turn, and are never less than utterly believable and grimly compelling. These are two actors at the height of their powers, relishing the battle they play out, and holding nothing back in the process. Their honesty and vulnerability brings a truth to the action that is both essential and haunting.
The mutual destruction may be difficult to witness, but the performances are extraordinarily powerful and highly recommended.
* * * *
October 19, 2013
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, until Saturday, November 2, 2013
PROVING, as David Tennant opens in Stratford as Richard II, that the RSC doesn’t have a monopoly on Shakespeare, the Crucible offers a crystal-clear, elegiac version of his late, complicated play. Performed on a simple, planked stage, with almost minimal design by Simon Daw, Paul Miller’s production allows the textured words to tell their story with accomplished maturity and nuance.
The setting is vaguely Edwardian, with its uniforms and stiff upper lips, and the atmosphere of the King of Sicilia’s court is captured beautifully not only by the lighting of Mark Doubleday but also by the sensitivity of the performances. Daniel Lapaine’s Leontes is extremely persuasive as he achieves the tough task of convincing the audience that he is suddenly, shockingly overtaken by a rampaging jealousy over his wife’s cosy relationship with the visiting Bohemian king Polixenes. The injustice and horror of subsequent events are firmly rooted in this sound, believable performance that ranges from pure rage to retrospective regret.
Jonathan Firth, as the undeserving target of his wrath, is equally impressive, delivering the lines with clarity and sense, while Claire Price as the wronged queen is simply sublime and quite possibly the finest Hermione of recent years.
The switch to rustic Bohemia in the second half provides some delightful comedy and light relief, notably in the father-son pairing of Gareth Williams and Patrick Walshe McBride. Sam Graham makes much of the kings’ servant Camillo, while Barbara Marten matches her fury with a calm dignity as Paulina, the queen’s confidante.
It’s an assured production with some memorable performances, and confirms once again that Sheffield is more than capable of creating some of the country’s strongest theatre.
SEASIDE SPECIAL
* * * *
August 10, 2013
Pavilion Theatre, Cromer Pier, until Saturday, September 28, 2013
A RECENT article in one of our national newspapers suggested that Cromer Pier’s Seaside Special might be marking “the end of the end of the pier show”. Well all I can say is, if that’s true, there are some pretty enjoyable death throes to be seen.
What’s tragic – and indisputable – is the shocking decline in the number of shows being performed at the end of Britain’s piers. Indeed, Cromer’s may well be the last permanent in-house production in the country giving ten performances a week of two shows in repertoire, for eighteen weeks of a full summer season. The others around our coastline are a mish-mash of short runs, visiting one-nighters and tribute acts.
But if the quantity is lacking, it’s more than made up for in the quality of Cromer’s offering, devised and directed by Di Cooke and produced under a fifteen-year contract with the local council by Openwide Coastal. Housed in the Pavilion Theatre, a charming, comfortable venue with great acoustics and a real holiday atmosphere, Seaside Special has everything the discerning Norfolk vacationer could possibly want.
There’s magic from headliner Dain Cordean, dancing girls (and boys) with enough energy to power the pier’s illuminations, and comedy galore from Danny Posthill and pint-sized Yorkshire powerhouse Jo Little.
To a musical accompaniment that never lets up, courtesy of multi-skilled musical director and company manager Nigel Hogg, this is true variety in the old-fashioned sense. But what Cooke and her talented team have crafted is anything but old-fashioned.
In fact, it’s designed and delivered specifically to encompass all age ranges, making it a genuinely welcoming family show. The gags are child-friendly for the most part, the choreography and sets are glitzy and professional, and the stunning singing voice of Aussie vocalist David Jon O’Neill punctuates the running order of dance, magic and comedy in exactly the right balance.
What’s more, the whole company are involved throughout. There’s no room for egos in the kind of show where the comic, singer and magician all serve as backing vocalists to the hilarious Little in a routine that brings the house down.
With a Christmas season already lined up and at least a couple of years left on the council contract, this lively, likeable package of sunshine suggests there’s still plenty of life at the end of the pier, if you just know where to look.
INVISIBLE
July 13, 2013
Next Page Productions, Harborough Theatre, Market Harborough
NEW writing can be a hard sell, particularly for self-funded production companies committed to nurturing fresh, vibrant material for new audiences. Next Page Productions does exactly that, and has found plenty of willing punters for its latest show, the witty and intriguing comedy Invisible.
Written by Birmingham partnership Liz John and Julia Wright, the piece – which plays without an interval and maintains considerable momentum as a result – is a three-hander centred on the sisterly friction between hairdresser Jackie and her just-turning-forty younger sibling Lisa.
Lisa, it quickly transpires, is having a minor midlife crisis, having lost her husband, her job and her home on the eve of the big birthday. She calls on Jackie for the first time since their father’s funeral six months earlier, and the family skeletons start tumbling out of their mutual closet.
Directed with pace by Janice Connolly, Invisible features strong performances from its leads Alison Belbin and Caroline Nash, whose relationship is both believable and poignant. The writers are experienced enough to know the value of leavening moments of high farce and even audience participation with tender touches of emotion, and it’s a winning combination.
Robert Harper adds a collection of nice cameos as all the men the sisters encounter and the simple but functional set works effectively to enhance the production.
The show has found theatregoers across the Midlands willing to try new experiences, and they have been rewarded for their readiness to give new writing a go. It’s a virtuous circle that earns Next Page a happy commendation for its farsighted approach.
THIS IS MY FAMILY
* * * * *
July 6, 2013
Crucible Studio, Sheffield, until Saturday, July 20, 2013
HE did it with Calendar Girls, he did it with Kinky Boots, now comedy writer Tim Firth has done it again. With a heady mix of humour, pathos and simple, recognisable truth, he has created a show that has you laughing and wincing in equal measure. To top all that, he has you humming the tunes as you leave the theatre.
This Is My Family is a new British musical two years in the making. Nurtured by Sheffield’s artistic director Daniel Evans, Firth has crafted a witty, lively and endlessly entertaining piece, weaving songs and spoken dialogue seamlessly together in a way that will inevitably draw parallels with Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers.
But where that show builds to a tragic drama, this one is unashamedly fun, focusing on 13-year-old Nicky and her attempts to bring her family together on a holiday she wins in an online competition. Forgoing potential exotic locations, she opts instead for the prize of a tent. Predictable mayhem ensues.
But for all the simplicity and unassuming nature of the plot, Firth’s brilliance lies in the minutiae of the family’s bonds, from the hapless DIY of dad Steve to the incipient dementia of Gran. Throw in a monosyllabic Goth of a brother, a wine-loving auntie and a weary mum just trying to hold things together, and you’ve got the recipe for a completely believable slice of family life.
Firth’s music is wonderfully displayed by the five-piece on-stage band under Caroline Humphris, while Richard Kent’s superb set converts the intimate studio space into everything from a suburban family home to the big outdoors with ease.
Evans’s direction is faultless and is matched every step of the way by his impeccable cast. Evelyn Hoskins is extraordinary as the new teenager at the heart of the tale, while Clare Burt and Bill Champion are fine-voiced and hugely enjoyable as her childhood-sweetheart parents. Terence Keeley and Rachel Lumberg do sterling comic duty as brother and aunt respectively, while Sian Phillips is at turns haunted and hilarious as the Gran whose fading memory brings the most heartbreaking moments of the show.
It’s a winner in every respect and should have a much wider audience than the studio allows. Who knows – maybe its success will win it a much-deserved place in the main house before too long.
ALICE – AN EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE
* * * *
June 22, 2013
Heartbreak Productions, Brixworth Country Park and touring nationwide until September 1, 2013
OPEN-air theatre practitioners must be wondering, even more than the rest of us, what on earth has happened to the climate. It’s the night after Midsummer Night and the prospect of a magical evening in the company of Alice as she journeys through Wonderland and the Looking-Glass could not be more inviting. Unless it wasn’t blowing a gale in temperatures more suited to a refrigerator.
To their endless credit, the team at Heartbreak Productions always go on, whatever the weather. They make the courteous gesture of acknowledging that the audience do too.
And whatever the elements may throw at the four-actor cast of Alice – An Extraordinary Adventure, they also generate and maintain that essential ingredient of magic in the way the story plays out.
Writer Dani Carbery places Lewis Carroll’s original characters in a modern setting – Alice’s eleventh birthday, which she spends playing on her new iPad, much to the irritation of her younger brother and sister. But when a new hypnosis app sucks her into a weird and wonderful sleep, Alice’s adventures take on a very recognisable form, with well-known and much-loved characters making highly entertaining appearances.
The White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and a baby that turns into a pig – they’re all here and all as crazy as Carroll first invented them. Indeed, one of the delights of the evening is the ability of cast members Rhian McLean, Alex Moore and Nathan Smith to conjure this huge range of characters so convincingly from a few props and odd bits of wardrobe. Lily Carrie’s Alice – the only one not to play a multitude of parts – wanders wide-eyed through this assortment of bizarre creations, taking the enchanted audience willingly with her as she tries to find her way home.
Director Peter Mimmack and designer Kate Wragg use their limited resources intelligently, including interactive elements, fun and games to keep younger eyes and ears constantly engaged.
And in the end, the indomitable British spirit allows the weather to be turned to advantage as everyone – cast, crew and audience – shares the thrill of having triumphed over adversity to enjoy a thoroughly heartwarming theatrical experience.
Heartbreak Productions are also touring Romeo and Juliet and Dracula this summer. See the website www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
FIFTY WORDS
* * * *
May 24, 2013
Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday, June 15, 2013, then Arcola Theatre, London
THERE are fifty words in the Eskimo language for snow. So runs the logic in this American import by Michael Weller, which aims to shed the same kind of subtle shading onto the intricacies of love.
The framework for this attempt is a night in the company of Adam and Janine, enjoying their first child-free evening for more than nine years. Adam wants to make the most of it, with chilled champagne and Chinese takeaway. Janine’s mind is elsewhere – on her business, one her sensitive son away at his first sleepover, on the hamster the boy has insisted on taking with him.
The resulting, uninterrupted hundred minutes are a rollercoaster ride of emotions, from shared tenderness to blistering lashing out as secrets emerge, feelings are trashed and the entire marital edifice comes under unendurable strain.
Weller’s play, confidently directed by Laurence Boswell and impeccably designed and lit by Simon Kenny and Richard Howell, is not an easy one to watch. There’s some terrific writing encompassing wit and warmth as well as vituperative viciousness, but this is a couple whose private lives come crawling out from under a stone that you end up wishing had been left undisturbed.
That said, the performances in this tough two-hander are simply sensational. Claire Price and Richard Clothier wring every nuance of emotion out of each twist and turn, and are never less than utterly believable and grimly compelling. These are two actors at the height of their powers, relishing the battle they play out, and holding nothing back in the process. Their honesty and vulnerability brings a truth to the action that is both essential and haunting.
The mutual destruction may be difficult to witness, but the performances are extraordinarily powerful and highly recommended.
