James Sheldon and Hanora Kamen in The Importance Of Being Earnest. Photo by Mark McNulty
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
August 16, 2024
Grosvenor Park Theatre, Chester, until September 1, 2024
Wilde is tricky to do well. Alongside precision timing, it requires a trust that the comedy is all there in the script. So the danger of adding anachronistic songs, audience participation and even food fights is that the playwright’s elegant and sparkling wit becomes subsumed in blunt, broad farce.
For the most part, Natasha Richardson’s production for Storyhouse’s open-air summer theatre in Grosvenor Park manages to tread just the right side of the line. Designer Elizabeth Wright presents each of the three acts in a bright colour – blue, pink or yellow – and her bold statement sets the tone for the performances, which are also clear and well-defined.
Wilde’s comedy of manners, of course, revolves around two friends, Algernon and Jack, who fall in love with two young society ladies, and the obstacles they have to overcome to achieve matrimony. Chief among these is the questionable nature of their names (Ernest, apparently, is the only desirable name for a husband), so follows a convoluted and sharply witty quest involving assumed identities, social transgressions and cucumber sandwiches. Oh, and a handbag.
James Sheldon as Jack and understudy Tom Benjamin – stepping seamlessly into the role of Algy – make a fine pair of lovelorn bachelors, and Yolanda Ovide and Hanora Kamen are wonderfully light and/or frosty, depending on the scene, as the objects of their desire. Joanne Howarth’s Lady Bracknell strikes a well-judged tone somewhere between caricature and icon and director Rickman deploys her acting forces capably to mine plenty of laughs from the proceedings.
This matinee performance was interrupted by an audience member being taken ill – fortunately not too seriously – so the flow was somewhat interrupted, but the theatre’s staff dealt with things superbly and the cast didn’t allow the interlude to throw them off, picking up just where they’d left off in true trouper fashion. One would like to think that Wilde would have been proud that the colourful, lively show went on.
August 16, 2024
Grosvenor Park Theatre, Chester, until September 1, 2024
Wilde is tricky to do well. Alongside precision timing, it requires a trust that the comedy is all there in the script. So the danger of adding anachronistic songs, audience participation and even food fights is that the playwright’s elegant and sparkling wit becomes subsumed in blunt, broad farce.
For the most part, Natasha Richardson’s production for Storyhouse’s open-air summer theatre in Grosvenor Park manages to tread just the right side of the line. Designer Elizabeth Wright presents each of the three acts in a bright colour – blue, pink or yellow – and her bold statement sets the tone for the performances, which are also clear and well-defined.
Wilde’s comedy of manners, of course, revolves around two friends, Algernon and Jack, who fall in love with two young society ladies, and the obstacles they have to overcome to achieve matrimony. Chief among these is the questionable nature of their names (Ernest, apparently, is the only desirable name for a husband), so follows a convoluted and sharply witty quest involving assumed identities, social transgressions and cucumber sandwiches. Oh, and a handbag.
James Sheldon as Jack and understudy Tom Benjamin – stepping seamlessly into the role of Algy – make a fine pair of lovelorn bachelors, and Yolanda Ovide and Hanora Kamen are wonderfully light and/or frosty, depending on the scene, as the objects of their desire. Joanne Howarth’s Lady Bracknell strikes a well-judged tone somewhere between caricature and icon and director Rickman deploys her acting forces capably to mine plenty of laughs from the proceedings.
This matinee performance was interrupted by an audience member being taken ill – fortunately not too seriously – so the flow was somewhat interrupted, but the theatre’s staff dealt with things superbly and the cast didn’t allow the interlude to throw them off, picking up just where they’d left off in true trouper fashion. One would like to think that Wilde would have been proud that the colourful, lively show went on.
Oisin Thompson and Yolanda Ovide in The Gangs of New York. Photo by Mark McNulty.
THE GANGS OF NEW YORK
August 15, 2024
Grosvenor Park Theatre, Chester, until August 31, 2024
It’s certainly a bold undertaking: a new stage adaptation of a novel that is better known as a violent and epic Martin Scorsese movie, presented on a summer evening in the specially-built open-air Grosvenor Park Theatre courtesy of Chester’s own Storyhouse.
The choice of subject matter is intriguing, not least because the 1928 novel by Herbert Asbury, set on the 19th-century streets of a young city ruled by competing mobs, feels a million miles from the calm niceness of modern-day genteel Chester. Adapter Kieran Lynn tackles this discrepancy head-on, with references to immigrants arriving on filthy boats and taking over the territory of the ‘nativists’ that are so plentiful and laboured that even any lurking Faragists would get the message.
But it’s also somewhat problematic, threaded through as it is with utterly unlikable, unpleasant and unsympathetic characters doing horrible things to each other with gratuitously explicit stage violence. Indeed, there are two gang fights within the first five minutes, and designer Elizabeth Wright’s simple set of wooden paths is splattered with blood from the off. Tonally, it never settles, with director John Young veering uncomfortably between audience-participation comedy and ugly thuggery, and there’s little respite from the grim tale of internecine street warfare and illicit romantic pairings.
On the plus side, the ten-strong cast, supplemented by four graduates of the Storehouse Young Company making their professional debuts, bring enough energy and commitment to their multi-roling to engage the audience and keep the sweeping narrative moderately comprehensible.
Oisin Thompson and Yolanda Ovide are at the heart of the story as new Irish immigrant John and his unlikely American wife Suzie, and both are well cast for their strength and watchability. Lucas Button and Hanora Kamen also excel in their mismatched coupling of squeamish cop and Irish songbird, while James Sheldon plays baddie Bill the Butcher with relish and considerable accomplishment.
There are some musical interludes, performed by the company, which feel largely superfluous, and the aforementioned violence is unjustifiably long and graphic, but the overall effect is of a genuinely theatrical experience, delivered with real teamwork by a spirited company, and much of the audience appeared to be won over by its exuberance. I just wish I understood why Storyhouse chose such a miserable, seedy story in the first place.
August 15, 2024
Grosvenor Park Theatre, Chester, until August 31, 2024
It’s certainly a bold undertaking: a new stage adaptation of a novel that is better known as a violent and epic Martin Scorsese movie, presented on a summer evening in the specially-built open-air Grosvenor Park Theatre courtesy of Chester’s own Storyhouse.
The choice of subject matter is intriguing, not least because the 1928 novel by Herbert Asbury, set on the 19th-century streets of a young city ruled by competing mobs, feels a million miles from the calm niceness of modern-day genteel Chester. Adapter Kieran Lynn tackles this discrepancy head-on, with references to immigrants arriving on filthy boats and taking over the territory of the ‘nativists’ that are so plentiful and laboured that even any lurking Faragists would get the message.
But it’s also somewhat problematic, threaded through as it is with utterly unlikable, unpleasant and unsympathetic characters doing horrible things to each other with gratuitously explicit stage violence. Indeed, there are two gang fights within the first five minutes, and designer Elizabeth Wright’s simple set of wooden paths is splattered with blood from the off. Tonally, it never settles, with director John Young veering uncomfortably between audience-participation comedy and ugly thuggery, and there’s little respite from the grim tale of internecine street warfare and illicit romantic pairings.
On the plus side, the ten-strong cast, supplemented by four graduates of the Storehouse Young Company making their professional debuts, bring enough energy and commitment to their multi-roling to engage the audience and keep the sweeping narrative moderately comprehensible.
Oisin Thompson and Yolanda Ovide are at the heart of the story as new Irish immigrant John and his unlikely American wife Suzie, and both are well cast for their strength and watchability. Lucas Button and Hanora Kamen also excel in their mismatched coupling of squeamish cop and Irish songbird, while James Sheldon plays baddie Bill the Butcher with relish and considerable accomplishment.
There are some musical interludes, performed by the company, which feel largely superfluous, and the aforementioned violence is unjustifiably long and graphic, but the overall effect is of a genuinely theatrical experience, delivered with real teamwork by a spirited company, and much of the audience appeared to be won over by its exuberance. I just wish I understood why Storyhouse chose such a miserable, seedy story in the first place.
The cast of Alice in Wonderland at Williamson Park. Photo by Gabi Dawkins.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
July 28, 2024
Dukes Theatre, Williamson Park, Lancaster
There can be few more idyllic settings for outdoor theatre than Lancaster’s extraordinary Williamson Park, with its versatile locations ranging from wooded glade to majestic palatial folly. Safe to say, the team from the city’s Dukes Theatre makes the most of them all.
For this year’s summer show in the park, Alice in Wonderland gets a thoroughly modern overhauling by regular writer Andrew Pollard and director Kirstie Davis, placing the story in the context of a school camping trip under the stern eye of a red-kagouled ‘Miss’ – later inevitably to return as the Queen of Hearts.
Similar doubling sees Alice’s school chums Lewis, Carol (geddit?) and Dinah becoming characters in her fever dream, from the Mad Hatter and March Hare to Tweedledum and Tweedledee. There’s a narrative thread superimposed on the original whimsy in the shape of a rescue bid to save Lewis from the clutches of the terrifying Jabberwocky, but the shaping is mostly superfluous as all that really matters is how the magical world is created.
Here, theatrical devices and clever tricks are woven beautifully into the four scenes, with the audience promenading between them in the summer sunshine (hopefully). Pollard deploys much of Lewis Carroll’s linguistic wordplay, adding some witticisms of his own, and there are a handful of snappy, tuneful songs by Steven Markwick to prevent any lull in the action.
Eve Pereira makes a delightfully wide-eyed Alice, with a discernible journey from bullying victim to defender of justice, and her five colleagues all enjoy standout moments. Helen Longworth is suitably imperious as the Queen of Hearts, Katie Ball and Kira Hayes work as a fine double act in various pairings, Emma Nixon entertains the crowd as chief marshal between locations, and Ross Telfer steals the show with his Elvis-impersonating Dormouse.
Despite the liberties with the framing device, the production remains true to Carroll’s innocent playfulness and there’s plenty to keep both adults and youngsters entertained. In keeping with Dukes tradition, it’s another winner for the summer season.
July 28, 2024
Dukes Theatre, Williamson Park, Lancaster
There can be few more idyllic settings for outdoor theatre than Lancaster’s extraordinary Williamson Park, with its versatile locations ranging from wooded glade to majestic palatial folly. Safe to say, the team from the city’s Dukes Theatre makes the most of them all.
For this year’s summer show in the park, Alice in Wonderland gets a thoroughly modern overhauling by regular writer Andrew Pollard and director Kirstie Davis, placing the story in the context of a school camping trip under the stern eye of a red-kagouled ‘Miss’ – later inevitably to return as the Queen of Hearts.
Similar doubling sees Alice’s school chums Lewis, Carol (geddit?) and Dinah becoming characters in her fever dream, from the Mad Hatter and March Hare to Tweedledum and Tweedledee. There’s a narrative thread superimposed on the original whimsy in the shape of a rescue bid to save Lewis from the clutches of the terrifying Jabberwocky, but the shaping is mostly superfluous as all that really matters is how the magical world is created.
Here, theatrical devices and clever tricks are woven beautifully into the four scenes, with the audience promenading between them in the summer sunshine (hopefully). Pollard deploys much of Lewis Carroll’s linguistic wordplay, adding some witticisms of his own, and there are a handful of snappy, tuneful songs by Steven Markwick to prevent any lull in the action.
Eve Pereira makes a delightfully wide-eyed Alice, with a discernible journey from bullying victim to defender of justice, and her five colleagues all enjoy standout moments. Helen Longworth is suitably imperious as the Queen of Hearts, Katie Ball and Kira Hayes work as a fine double act in various pairings, Emma Nixon entertains the crowd as chief marshal between locations, and Ross Telfer steals the show with his Elvis-impersonating Dormouse.
Despite the liberties with the framing device, the production remains true to Carroll’s innocent playfulness and there’s plenty to keep both adults and youngsters entertained. In keeping with Dukes tradition, it’s another winner for the summer season.
Les Dennis as Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare North. Photo by Patch Dolan.
TWELFTH NIGHT
June 11, 2024
Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot, until Saturday, June 29, 2024
Ever since the casting was announced for this production, the big question seems to have been: can Les Dennis do Shakespeare? Well, he’s already proved himself worthy of the RSC stage – albeit not in a Shakespeare play – and here in Prescot the question becomes redundant. The fact is that Dennis is a strong actor, with superb comic timing and more than a dash of pathos in his repertoire. The real question is: can Shakespeare survive this frenetic, dumbed-down treatment?
Warrington theatre company Not Too Tame were responsible for the first ever play by the Bard to be performed in this Globe-style auditorium, tucked away in a corner of the north-west but with a style and authenticity all of its own. Their Midsummer Night’s Dream two years ago proved a lively, irreverent take on Will’s most popular play, and now they’ve adopted the same tactics with Twelfth Night, targeting the comedy above all else and making the piece accessible to the widest possible audience.
This involves dumping much of the original language as archaic, and replacing it with modernisms that will certainly jar for the purists. Director Jimmy Fairhurst and his creative team deploy a concept that casts the Countess Olivia as a pop queen and Count Orsino as a star rapper, which allows them to insert songs and gig-like paraphernalia in a crowd-pleasing transformation of the text. While the concept falls apart at the first sign of serious analysis, its boisterousness has an infectious quality that leaves the audience not really caring.
Around Dennis circulates a cast of seven, doubling and trebling to fill the roll-call of characters. This causes problems but also allows for some meta comedy moments – Orsino’s quick change into a bloodied Andrew Aguecheek wins laughs and applause, for instance – and the central narrative thread remains intact, even if Fairhurst takes considerable liberties with the actual words.
The best pairing comes in the shape of Reuben Johnson as the aforementioned Aguecheek and Jack Brown as Sir Toby Belch, sparring and ragging each other with a boyish innocence. Georgia Frost is both tough and touching as the cross-dressing Viola, while Tom Sturgess displays huge musical and vocal talent in his rather sidelined Sebastian.
Benny Goodman’s lighting does much to add Glasto verisimilitude while Good Teeth’s design keeps things simple and uncluttered. And if it could easily have twenty minutes shaved off its running time by losing some of the superfluous songs, it’s definitely a production that aims squarely at the populist and delivers with some success.
June 11, 2024
Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot, until Saturday, June 29, 2024
Ever since the casting was announced for this production, the big question seems to have been: can Les Dennis do Shakespeare? Well, he’s already proved himself worthy of the RSC stage – albeit not in a Shakespeare play – and here in Prescot the question becomes redundant. The fact is that Dennis is a strong actor, with superb comic timing and more than a dash of pathos in his repertoire. The real question is: can Shakespeare survive this frenetic, dumbed-down treatment?
Warrington theatre company Not Too Tame were responsible for the first ever play by the Bard to be performed in this Globe-style auditorium, tucked away in a corner of the north-west but with a style and authenticity all of its own. Their Midsummer Night’s Dream two years ago proved a lively, irreverent take on Will’s most popular play, and now they’ve adopted the same tactics with Twelfth Night, targeting the comedy above all else and making the piece accessible to the widest possible audience.
This involves dumping much of the original language as archaic, and replacing it with modernisms that will certainly jar for the purists. Director Jimmy Fairhurst and his creative team deploy a concept that casts the Countess Olivia as a pop queen and Count Orsino as a star rapper, which allows them to insert songs and gig-like paraphernalia in a crowd-pleasing transformation of the text. While the concept falls apart at the first sign of serious analysis, its boisterousness has an infectious quality that leaves the audience not really caring.
Around Dennis circulates a cast of seven, doubling and trebling to fill the roll-call of characters. This causes problems but also allows for some meta comedy moments – Orsino’s quick change into a bloodied Andrew Aguecheek wins laughs and applause, for instance – and the central narrative thread remains intact, even if Fairhurst takes considerable liberties with the actual words.
The best pairing comes in the shape of Reuben Johnson as the aforementioned Aguecheek and Jack Brown as Sir Toby Belch, sparring and ragging each other with a boyish innocence. Georgia Frost is both tough and touching as the cross-dressing Viola, while Tom Sturgess displays huge musical and vocal talent in his rather sidelined Sebastian.
Benny Goodman’s lighting does much to add Glasto verisimilitude while Good Teeth’s design keeps things simple and uncluttered. And if it could easily have twenty minutes shaved off its running time by losing some of the superfluous songs, it’s definitely a production that aims squarely at the populist and delivers with some success.
Duane-Lamonte O'Garro as Lola in Storyhouse's production of Kinky Boots.
KINKY BOOTS
May 12, 2024
Storyhouse, Chester, until Saturday, May 18, 2024
If you’re expecting Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe to be strutting his stuff in the big red boots, then you’re in the wrong theatre. That’s the forthcoming Curve production which will head off on a UK tour after making its debut in Leicester early next year. If you can’t wait till then, Chester’s imaginative and vibrant venue Storyhouse has got its own home-grown version on offer.
Now there are some people who absolutely love Kinky Boots, with its Harvey Fierstein book and Cyndi Lauper songs. As a native of its location, Northampton, and actually having been to school with the man on whose story the show is based, for me there is just too much about it that doesn’t sit quite right to be won over by it. The tale of a last-ditch bid to save a shoe factory by switching production to high-heeled boots for drag queens feels formulaic, to say the least, and the by-numbers script fails to mine any real depth of emotion or characterisation.
There are, of course, plenty of devoted fans who simply adore it, and its seemingly permanent presence on the touring circuit suggests it may have hidden depths that have managed to elude me. Decent numbers of those avid fans seem to be travelling to Chester to lend their support to Amber Sinclair-Case’s production, which features actor-musicians in droves – full credit to Storyhouse for not stinting there.
Danny Becker plays Charlie, who inherits the ailing factory, and Duane-Lamonte O’Garro sings his guts out as Lola, the drag queen with whom Charlie has to forge an unlikely partnership. But it’s Leah Vassell who steals the show as Lauren, the shop floor worker who develops an unexpected crush on the new boss. Her comic timing is impeccable and she somehow crafts a three-dimensional character out of the underwritten but beautifully performed role.
The musicianship may be patchy but there’s no denying the vocal quality of the large cast, harmonising a cappella at various points to sublime effect. Designer Rachael Ryan creates a credible rundown factory set, while director Sinclair-Case and choreographer Nicole Bondzie give the performers plenty to do, some to greater purpose than others.
Unfortunately, the decision to move the Milan catwalk finale out of the theatre space and into the foyer, hauling the entire audience from their seats and destroying any sense of momentum, is ill-conceived to the point of disastrous, with some ringside viewers getting into the spirit of things while too many drift away at the back. (Incidentally, this is no spoiler: the production itself announces it before the show even begins.)
This version won’t get anything like the attention lined up for Nikolai Foster’s 2025 tour, but if you must have your Kinky Boots fix before then, you’ve got another week to flounce your way to Chester.
May 12, 2024
Storyhouse, Chester, until Saturday, May 18, 2024
If you’re expecting Strictly Come Dancing star Johannes Radebe to be strutting his stuff in the big red boots, then you’re in the wrong theatre. That’s the forthcoming Curve production which will head off on a UK tour after making its debut in Leicester early next year. If you can’t wait till then, Chester’s imaginative and vibrant venue Storyhouse has got its own home-grown version on offer.
Now there are some people who absolutely love Kinky Boots, with its Harvey Fierstein book and Cyndi Lauper songs. As a native of its location, Northampton, and actually having been to school with the man on whose story the show is based, for me there is just too much about it that doesn’t sit quite right to be won over by it. The tale of a last-ditch bid to save a shoe factory by switching production to high-heeled boots for drag queens feels formulaic, to say the least, and the by-numbers script fails to mine any real depth of emotion or characterisation.
There are, of course, plenty of devoted fans who simply adore it, and its seemingly permanent presence on the touring circuit suggests it may have hidden depths that have managed to elude me. Decent numbers of those avid fans seem to be travelling to Chester to lend their support to Amber Sinclair-Case’s production, which features actor-musicians in droves – full credit to Storyhouse for not stinting there.
Danny Becker plays Charlie, who inherits the ailing factory, and Duane-Lamonte O’Garro sings his guts out as Lola, the drag queen with whom Charlie has to forge an unlikely partnership. But it’s Leah Vassell who steals the show as Lauren, the shop floor worker who develops an unexpected crush on the new boss. Her comic timing is impeccable and she somehow crafts a three-dimensional character out of the underwritten but beautifully performed role.
The musicianship may be patchy but there’s no denying the vocal quality of the large cast, harmonising a cappella at various points to sublime effect. Designer Rachael Ryan creates a credible rundown factory set, while director Sinclair-Case and choreographer Nicole Bondzie give the performers plenty to do, some to greater purpose than others.
Unfortunately, the decision to move the Milan catwalk finale out of the theatre space and into the foyer, hauling the entire audience from their seats and destroying any sense of momentum, is ill-conceived to the point of disastrous, with some ringside viewers getting into the spirit of things while too many drift away at the back. (Incidentally, this is no spoiler: the production itself announces it before the show even begins.)
This version won’t get anything like the attention lined up for Nikolai Foster’s 2025 tour, but if you must have your Kinky Boots fix before then, you’ve got another week to flounce your way to Chester.
From left, Shaun Mason, Menyee Lai and Reuben Johnson. Photo by Marc Brenner.
THE LEGEND OF NED LUDD
April 24, 2024
Liverpool Everyman until Saturday, May 11, 2024
From the moment you take your seat in the three-sided Everyman auditorium, you know nothing is going to be quite what you expect. For a start, there’s a thudding, machine-like soundtrack (Kieran Lucas) prefacing the show which, at every sixteenth beat, adds a quarter-note, throwing things very slightly off-kilter and unsettling you before the performance even begins.
Hazel Low’s set design and costumes recreate an Amazon-type warehouse – all hazard warnings and conveyor belts – reinforced by stark overhead lighting (Laura Howard) that gives way to atmospheric warmth or sinister moodiness, depending on the scene that’s being played out.
All this and more feeds into the overall theme of the production: how globally we have allowed machines to fit into our lives over the centuries, and whether that has ended up being the best idea. Director Jude Christian plays with some of these notions in the staging but it is Joe Ward Munrow’s bold and bizarre script that grabs the attention and demands complete focus.
It’s almost impossible to describe. Out of 23 scripted scenes, only seven are fixed in place, following a central narrative about Nottingham lace-makers destined for the scrapheap after the arrival of the mechanical loom in the early 19th century. It is from this thread that the legend of Ned Ludd emerges, a quasi-mythical figure, rather like Robin Hood, whose violent opposition to the new technology leads to clashes, destitution and even execution for many of the erstwhile workers.
The remaining sixteen scenes are left in the hands of fate, in this case a random selecting machine that drops a ball into a hopper to decide which of two scenes is to be played out. The resulting eight vignettes highlight stories from around the world and across the centuries, all revolving around machines, work and capitalism and woven – like lace – into the Nottingham action. In theory, there could be 256 distinct versions of the performed play.
In form, it’s weird, meticulously designed and a marvel of head-scratching complexity and, for the trio of actors who never quite know what’s coming next, probably a complete nightmare. As an experiment it’s brave, but the logistics of laboriously setting a new scene every ten minutes, coupled with the baked-in brevity of each scenario, mean it never gets below the surface of any characters or engages its audience emotionally.
Which is a shame, as the actors do sterling work, ignoring age, gender and race to play whichever characters come out of the box next, mastering accents and idiosyncrasies along the way. Thus Shaun Mason ranges from Karl Marx to a five-year-old Ecuadorian girl, Menyee Lai conjures up a Scouse decorator alongside a Chinese game-playing prisoner, and Reuben Johnson offers everything from a tealady to a Nigerian schoolgirl. It’s a measure of their versatility that each character is credible and clearly drawn.
Munrow’s text is an interesting exploration of interwoven narratives and, while the central message becomes rather engulfed by the machinations around it, it’s an adventurous pushing of dramatic boundaries that is well worth the resources the Everyman has lavished on it.
April 24, 2024
Liverpool Everyman until Saturday, May 11, 2024
From the moment you take your seat in the three-sided Everyman auditorium, you know nothing is going to be quite what you expect. For a start, there’s a thudding, machine-like soundtrack (Kieran Lucas) prefacing the show which, at every sixteenth beat, adds a quarter-note, throwing things very slightly off-kilter and unsettling you before the performance even begins.
Hazel Low’s set design and costumes recreate an Amazon-type warehouse – all hazard warnings and conveyor belts – reinforced by stark overhead lighting (Laura Howard) that gives way to atmospheric warmth or sinister moodiness, depending on the scene that’s being played out.
All this and more feeds into the overall theme of the production: how globally we have allowed machines to fit into our lives over the centuries, and whether that has ended up being the best idea. Director Jude Christian plays with some of these notions in the staging but it is Joe Ward Munrow’s bold and bizarre script that grabs the attention and demands complete focus.
It’s almost impossible to describe. Out of 23 scripted scenes, only seven are fixed in place, following a central narrative about Nottingham lace-makers destined for the scrapheap after the arrival of the mechanical loom in the early 19th century. It is from this thread that the legend of Ned Ludd emerges, a quasi-mythical figure, rather like Robin Hood, whose violent opposition to the new technology leads to clashes, destitution and even execution for many of the erstwhile workers.
The remaining sixteen scenes are left in the hands of fate, in this case a random selecting machine that drops a ball into a hopper to decide which of two scenes is to be played out. The resulting eight vignettes highlight stories from around the world and across the centuries, all revolving around machines, work and capitalism and woven – like lace – into the Nottingham action. In theory, there could be 256 distinct versions of the performed play.
In form, it’s weird, meticulously designed and a marvel of head-scratching complexity and, for the trio of actors who never quite know what’s coming next, probably a complete nightmare. As an experiment it’s brave, but the logistics of laboriously setting a new scene every ten minutes, coupled with the baked-in brevity of each scenario, mean it never gets below the surface of any characters or engages its audience emotionally.
Which is a shame, as the actors do sterling work, ignoring age, gender and race to play whichever characters come out of the box next, mastering accents and idiosyncrasies along the way. Thus Shaun Mason ranges from Karl Marx to a five-year-old Ecuadorian girl, Menyee Lai conjures up a Scouse decorator alongside a Chinese game-playing prisoner, and Reuben Johnson offers everything from a tealady to a Nigerian schoolgirl. It’s a measure of their versatility that each character is credible and clearly drawn.
Munrow’s text is an interesting exploration of interwoven narratives and, while the central message becomes rather engulfed by the machinations around it, it’s an adventurous pushing of dramatic boundaries that is well worth the resources the Everyman has lavished on it.
CINDERELLA
November 22, 2023
Liverpool Everyman until Saturday, January 20, 2024
If only all pantos were made this way. There’s not an ounce of the cynicism or world-weariness that so often afflicts much bigger, more expensive and celebrity-laden efforts around this time of year. Instead, the Everyman serves up its rollicking rock ’n’ roll offering with buckets of festive glee and some good old-fashioned traditions.
That’s not to say writer Luke Barnes is stuck in the past – far from it. His smart, entendre-filled script is bang up-to-the-minute, with a wonderfully modern take on the Cinderella story. In this version, downtrodden sister Ellanora (Grace Venus) is a frustrated artist sketching the fairytale story in her notebook until Dame Fairy Godmother (Ben Welch) comes along to bring it to life – with a twist in the ending.
Every member of the eight-strong cast – plus musical director Tara Litvack – shares the intensive burden of a complicated and pacy show. Venus is delightful as the feisty girl forbidden to go to the ball by her overbearing father Mr Ooglay, played with villainous glee by Zoe West.
Rebecca Levy and Folarin Akinmade make a fine double act as her siblings – Ooglay sisters, geddit? – although the traditional dame role is occupied by Welch’s formidable fairy, ostensibly on her farewell mission to make one last couple fall in love. He’s cast opposite veteran Adam Keast as hapless sidekick Graham, while powerhouse vocals from Aminita Francis and multi-skilling galore by Thomas Fabian Parrish complete the line-up as the Queen and her comic-loving son, Prince Charming.
Barnes and director James Baker spread the load evenly, foregrounding everyone at one point or another and showcasing a cast of enormous talent – and infectious joy. Everyone doubles as a musician when they’re not on stage (and sometimes when they are), with plenty of rotation on drums, guitars and assorted other instruments, and boy what a difference a live band makes. There’s an energy and drive that you just don’t get from a backing track, and it’s the engine room of the whole show.
Sign language interpreter Jude Mahon gets a spotlight all of her own, and she’s one of the accidental highlights of the performance, integrated and celebrated in her own right. But it’s the sense of a love of the ensemble work and a passion for the art form that really impresses, alongside Isla Shaw’s superb set and costume designs, Ryan Joseph Stafford’s intelligent lighting and Ian Davies’s pulsating sound.
It’s not overstating it to suggest that some of the big producers could benefit from a trip to Merseyside for a glimpse of heart, soul and Christmas cheer, Everyman-style.
November 22, 2023
Liverpool Everyman until Saturday, January 20, 2024
If only all pantos were made this way. There’s not an ounce of the cynicism or world-weariness that so often afflicts much bigger, more expensive and celebrity-laden efforts around this time of year. Instead, the Everyman serves up its rollicking rock ’n’ roll offering with buckets of festive glee and some good old-fashioned traditions.
That’s not to say writer Luke Barnes is stuck in the past – far from it. His smart, entendre-filled script is bang up-to-the-minute, with a wonderfully modern take on the Cinderella story. In this version, downtrodden sister Ellanora (Grace Venus) is a frustrated artist sketching the fairytale story in her notebook until Dame Fairy Godmother (Ben Welch) comes along to bring it to life – with a twist in the ending.
Every member of the eight-strong cast – plus musical director Tara Litvack – shares the intensive burden of a complicated and pacy show. Venus is delightful as the feisty girl forbidden to go to the ball by her overbearing father Mr Ooglay, played with villainous glee by Zoe West.
Rebecca Levy and Folarin Akinmade make a fine double act as her siblings – Ooglay sisters, geddit? – although the traditional dame role is occupied by Welch’s formidable fairy, ostensibly on her farewell mission to make one last couple fall in love. He’s cast opposite veteran Adam Keast as hapless sidekick Graham, while powerhouse vocals from Aminita Francis and multi-skilling galore by Thomas Fabian Parrish complete the line-up as the Queen and her comic-loving son, Prince Charming.
Barnes and director James Baker spread the load evenly, foregrounding everyone at one point or another and showcasing a cast of enormous talent – and infectious joy. Everyone doubles as a musician when they’re not on stage (and sometimes when they are), with plenty of rotation on drums, guitars and assorted other instruments, and boy what a difference a live band makes. There’s an energy and drive that you just don’t get from a backing track, and it’s the engine room of the whole show.
Sign language interpreter Jude Mahon gets a spotlight all of her own, and she’s one of the accidental highlights of the performance, integrated and celebrated in her own right. But it’s the sense of a love of the ensemble work and a passion for the art form that really impresses, alongside Isla Shaw’s superb set and costume designs, Ryan Joseph Stafford’s intelligent lighting and Ian Davies’s pulsating sound.
It’s not overstating it to suggest that some of the big producers could benefit from a trip to Merseyside for a glimpse of heart, soul and Christmas cheer, Everyman-style.
Katherine Jenkins topped the bill at Lytham Festival's Last Night of the Proms.
LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS
August 27, 2023
Lytham Hall
Never mind the West End – Lytham Festival’s spin-off Last Night of the Proms was all about the North-West End, with stars of stage musicals bringing top-quality entertainment to a grey bank holiday evening at Lytham Hall.Even headliner Katherine Jenkins got into the spirit with a set of songs from the shows leading up to the obligatory – and rousing – Proms finale of Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory.
Local favourites D3va kicked things off with a full-voiced menu that included a stirring James Bond medley and some upbeat tunes to get the party started. Then it was over to a quintet of singers with a West End pedigree to die for.
Nicholas McLean gave an inspired version of Friend Like Me from Aladdin and a moving and witty Mr Cellophane from Chicago, while Georgi Mottram showcased her impressive voice with Phantom’s Think of Me before duetting with an actual Phantom, Ben Forster, on Come What May from Moulin Rouge.
Forster – who also delivered a powerful Music of the Night and crowd-pleasing Bring Him Home – was competing for male lead honours with Danny Mac, whose rendition of Sunset Boulevard and Luck Be a Lady revealed his versatility with the musical theatre canon. Louise Dearman, meanwhile, blew the cobwebs away with iconic tunes such as I Dreamed a Dream, Defying Gravity and Don’t Rain on my Parade.
Jenkins, hotfoot from being installed as ‘godmother’ to new battleship HMS Cardiff, provided the second half of the night’s entertainment, with a varied set ranging from a Queen medley to musical classics such as Somewhere from West Side Story and I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady. Her warmth and likability were matched by her accomplished voice which, even on a crisp August evening, sparkled like the lights of Lytham Hall, for whose benefit the event was staged.
The performance was underpinned by the superb Novello Orchestra under the baton of David Mahoney and Jenkins’s MD Anthony Inglis. As a band, they were just as at home with rock as with classical favourites – and proved it with a stunning encore of Barcelona from Jenkins and Forster to send the vast crowd off humming happily into the night.
August 27, 2023
Lytham Hall
Never mind the West End – Lytham Festival’s spin-off Last Night of the Proms was all about the North-West End, with stars of stage musicals bringing top-quality entertainment to a grey bank holiday evening at Lytham Hall.Even headliner Katherine Jenkins got into the spirit with a set of songs from the shows leading up to the obligatory – and rousing – Proms finale of Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory.
Local favourites D3va kicked things off with a full-voiced menu that included a stirring James Bond medley and some upbeat tunes to get the party started. Then it was over to a quintet of singers with a West End pedigree to die for.
Nicholas McLean gave an inspired version of Friend Like Me from Aladdin and a moving and witty Mr Cellophane from Chicago, while Georgi Mottram showcased her impressive voice with Phantom’s Think of Me before duetting with an actual Phantom, Ben Forster, on Come What May from Moulin Rouge.
Forster – who also delivered a powerful Music of the Night and crowd-pleasing Bring Him Home – was competing for male lead honours with Danny Mac, whose rendition of Sunset Boulevard and Luck Be a Lady revealed his versatility with the musical theatre canon. Louise Dearman, meanwhile, blew the cobwebs away with iconic tunes such as I Dreamed a Dream, Defying Gravity and Don’t Rain on my Parade.
Jenkins, hotfoot from being installed as ‘godmother’ to new battleship HMS Cardiff, provided the second half of the night’s entertainment, with a varied set ranging from a Queen medley to musical classics such as Somewhere from West Side Story and I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady. Her warmth and likability were matched by her accomplished voice which, even on a crisp August evening, sparkled like the lights of Lytham Hall, for whose benefit the event was staged.
The performance was underpinned by the superb Novello Orchestra under the baton of David Mahoney and Jenkins’s MD Anthony Inglis. As a band, they were just as at home with rock as with classical favourites – and proved it with a stunning encore of Barcelona from Jenkins and Forster to send the vast crowd off humming happily into the night.
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
June 16, 2023
Heartbreak Productions tour, Lytham Hall
You could hardly find a more perfect backdrop for Jane Austen’s 1811 story Sense and Sensibility than the stunning Georgian features of Lytham Hall. The combination of charm, elegance and classic appeal make for a delightful summer’s evening. And the hall’s not bad either.
Open-air touring specialists Heartbreak Productions kick off a season of shows from visiting troupes with Austen’s comedy of love, longing and latent libertines, and they’ve set the bar high.
A company of just four delivers the narrative: Naomi Moffet-Cook and Angharad Mortimer play the repressed and rebellious sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood respectively, with Stuart Reid and Magnus Gordon creating a host of other entertaining characters – both male and female – to fill out the numbers. Gordon’s Fanny and Reid’s Lucy are particularly entertaining and threaten to steal the show but all four are accomplished performers, fully committed to the tale.
Adapter and director Lowell Walker inevitably has to dispense with much of Austen’s large supporting cast but there’s enough of a spine of the original to hold things together beautifully. Similarly, the danger of a succession of two-person conversations in drawing rooms or on lawns is neatly avoided with some fun audience participation and clever use of props, parasols doubling as carriage wheels, for instance.
It’s a charming production, supplemented with some beautiful music by Josh Maddison, and with the accompaniment of popping corks and picnic baskets in such an appropriate setting, makes a fine curtain-raiser for a summer of al fresco theatre.
Sense and Sensibility is on tour around the country until September 15, 2023. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
June 16, 2023
Heartbreak Productions tour, Lytham Hall
You could hardly find a more perfect backdrop for Jane Austen’s 1811 story Sense and Sensibility than the stunning Georgian features of Lytham Hall. The combination of charm, elegance and classic appeal make for a delightful summer’s evening. And the hall’s not bad either.
Open-air touring specialists Heartbreak Productions kick off a season of shows from visiting troupes with Austen’s comedy of love, longing and latent libertines, and they’ve set the bar high.
A company of just four delivers the narrative: Naomi Moffet-Cook and Angharad Mortimer play the repressed and rebellious sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood respectively, with Stuart Reid and Magnus Gordon creating a host of other entertaining characters – both male and female – to fill out the numbers. Gordon’s Fanny and Reid’s Lucy are particularly entertaining and threaten to steal the show but all four are accomplished performers, fully committed to the tale.
Adapter and director Lowell Walker inevitably has to dispense with much of Austen’s large supporting cast but there’s enough of a spine of the original to hold things together beautifully. Similarly, the danger of a succession of two-person conversations in drawing rooms or on lawns is neatly avoided with some fun audience participation and clever use of props, parasols doubling as carriage wheels, for instance.
It’s a charming production, supplemented with some beautiful music by Josh Maddison, and with the accompaniment of popping corks and picnic baskets in such an appropriate setting, makes a fine curtain-raiser for a summer of al fresco theatre.
Sense and Sensibility is on tour around the country until September 15, 2023. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
BAD DAD
June 15, 2023
Heartbreak Productions tour, Moss Bank Park, Bolton
There’s no denying that TV personality-turned-children’s author David Walliams has picked up the mantle of popularity from the likes of Roald Dahl. His focus on gruesome caricatures and comic unpleasantness has made him one of the biggest selling writers for kids in the world over the past 15 years.
And for around half that time, touring company Heartbreak Productions have made a speciality out of adapting his books for the stage, taking them round the UK and Ireland for audiences to enjoy a spot of Walliams absurdity alongside a picnic and – if the weather allows – some sunshine.
This year the company has two teams of actors out with a production of Bad Dad, Walliams’s 2017 novel about one-legged banger-racing driver Gilbert Goodie and his attempt to keep on the straight and narrow after his wife leaves him, all in a bid to look after his adoring son Frank.
This version of the cast – Darren Thorpe as Dad, Gareth Tilley as Frank and Sarah Wynen and Annie Charnock in a dizzying multitude of other roles – bring the story to life in an entertaining and enthusiastic way, never letting the pace flag and quietly but determinedly winning the attention and admiration of a young and occasionally boisterous audience.
The relationship between Dad and Frank is particularly poignant and perfectly judged, with Tilley capably evoking an 11-year-old boy with his mannerisms and delivery. Thorpe is given a tough job encompassing everything from madcap humour to real drama but achieves them all with empathy and believability.
Wynen and Charnock, meanwhile, make a fine double act, whether it’s as Mr Big and his dim-witted sidekick Fingers or as the poetry-declaiming Aunt Flip and her newfound ‘friend’ Rev Judith. There’s plenty of knockabout comedy and full-throated singing to keep the youngsters entertained, alongside a moral message that isn’t overplayed in David Kerby-Kendall’s script and Derry Pope’s songs.
Director Scott Worsfold marshals his forces superbly, with the huge cast list delivered somehow by just the four players and a wide range of props, and with the delightful accompaniment of some summer sunshine, it’s a seasonal treat to join the roster of previous Heartbreak successes.
Bad Dad is on tour around the country until September 3, 2023. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
June 15, 2023
Heartbreak Productions tour, Moss Bank Park, Bolton
There’s no denying that TV personality-turned-children’s author David Walliams has picked up the mantle of popularity from the likes of Roald Dahl. His focus on gruesome caricatures and comic unpleasantness has made him one of the biggest selling writers for kids in the world over the past 15 years.
And for around half that time, touring company Heartbreak Productions have made a speciality out of adapting his books for the stage, taking them round the UK and Ireland for audiences to enjoy a spot of Walliams absurdity alongside a picnic and – if the weather allows – some sunshine.
This year the company has two teams of actors out with a production of Bad Dad, Walliams’s 2017 novel about one-legged banger-racing driver Gilbert Goodie and his attempt to keep on the straight and narrow after his wife leaves him, all in a bid to look after his adoring son Frank.
This version of the cast – Darren Thorpe as Dad, Gareth Tilley as Frank and Sarah Wynen and Annie Charnock in a dizzying multitude of other roles – bring the story to life in an entertaining and enthusiastic way, never letting the pace flag and quietly but determinedly winning the attention and admiration of a young and occasionally boisterous audience.
The relationship between Dad and Frank is particularly poignant and perfectly judged, with Tilley capably evoking an 11-year-old boy with his mannerisms and delivery. Thorpe is given a tough job encompassing everything from madcap humour to real drama but achieves them all with empathy and believability.
Wynen and Charnock, meanwhile, make a fine double act, whether it’s as Mr Big and his dim-witted sidekick Fingers or as the poetry-declaiming Aunt Flip and her newfound ‘friend’ Rev Judith. There’s plenty of knockabout comedy and full-throated singing to keep the youngsters entertained, alongside a moral message that isn’t overplayed in David Kerby-Kendall’s script and Derry Pope’s songs.
Director Scott Worsfold marshals his forces superbly, with the huge cast list delivered somehow by just the four players and a wide range of props, and with the delightful accompaniment of some summer sunshine, it’s a seasonal treat to join the roster of previous Heartbreak successes.
Bad Dad is on tour around the country until September 3, 2023. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
Jessica Walker and Joseph Atkins in Scene Unseen. Photo by David Lefeber.
SCENE UNSEEN
November 21, 2022
Royal & Derngate, Northampton, online until December 31, 2022
The pedigree for this one-hour autobiographical song cycle could hardly be stronger. Cabaret artist Jessica Walker has assembled a powerful and personal collection of revelations about her childhood and life, culminating in a rather unusual wedding day. They are set to music with composer-pianist Joseph Atkins, whose uncategorisable score flows freely from bluesy bar to operatic cadenzas.
It’s directed by Royal & Derngate artistic director James Dacre and features animation by award-winning illustrator Tom Hicks, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Paul McCartney, and the combination of sound and image is one of the strengths of this show, filmed by David Lefeber, which barely knows what to call itself: self-descriptions range from ‘cutting-edge new musical’ to ‘intimate cabaret’.
Essentially, Walker sings to camera for the whole hour, sometimes sweetly, with fond memories of her youth, more often angrily or defiantly, delineating how she emerged from a confused and confusing upbringing to emerge as the strong and assured character delivering this material.
Along the way there are bombshells, narrative twists and moments of emotional rawness: you never doubt that Walker believes every syllable. And yet she also reveals herself to be an unreliable narrator, claiming first that this is not a piece about gender identity before launching into a song about the disorientation of her tomboy childhood, or admitting frankly that she doesn’t know how to end the whole thing. Her own uncertainty adds to the tensions within the cycle, reinforced by Atkins’s frequently agitated but highly accomplished accompaniment.
There are shades of Kurt Weill, nods to Sondheim, and it does indeed defy genres. It’s hardly an easy watch, in terms of both musical accessibility and uncomfortable content, but in many ways that only adds to its underlying message of non-visibility, hinted at in the title. Under the Royal & Derngate’s banner of Made in Northampton, and co-produced with English Touring Opera, this is a piece that has earned the right to be seen.
November 21, 2022
Royal & Derngate, Northampton, online until December 31, 2022
The pedigree for this one-hour autobiographical song cycle could hardly be stronger. Cabaret artist Jessica Walker has assembled a powerful and personal collection of revelations about her childhood and life, culminating in a rather unusual wedding day. They are set to music with composer-pianist Joseph Atkins, whose uncategorisable score flows freely from bluesy bar to operatic cadenzas.
It’s directed by Royal & Derngate artistic director James Dacre and features animation by award-winning illustrator Tom Hicks, who has worked on music videos for the likes of Paul McCartney, and the combination of sound and image is one of the strengths of this show, filmed by David Lefeber, which barely knows what to call itself: self-descriptions range from ‘cutting-edge new musical’ to ‘intimate cabaret’.
Essentially, Walker sings to camera for the whole hour, sometimes sweetly, with fond memories of her youth, more often angrily or defiantly, delineating how she emerged from a confused and confusing upbringing to emerge as the strong and assured character delivering this material.
Along the way there are bombshells, narrative twists and moments of emotional rawness: you never doubt that Walker believes every syllable. And yet she also reveals herself to be an unreliable narrator, claiming first that this is not a piece about gender identity before launching into a song about the disorientation of her tomboy childhood, or admitting frankly that she doesn’t know how to end the whole thing. Her own uncertainty adds to the tensions within the cycle, reinforced by Atkins’s frequently agitated but highly accomplished accompaniment.
There are shades of Kurt Weill, nods to Sondheim, and it does indeed defy genres. It’s hardly an easy watch, in terms of both musical accessibility and uncomfortable content, but in many ways that only adds to its underlying message of non-visibility, hinted at in the title. Under the Royal & Derngate’s banner of Made in Northampton, and co-produced with English Touring Opera, this is a piece that has earned the right to be seen.
Nadine Shah as Titania at the new Shakespeare North Playhouse. Photo by Patch Dolan.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
September 27, 2022
Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot
The new Elizabethan theatre for the north of England opens on Merseyside with the nation’s favourite Shakespeare play.
For Michael Davies’s full review, visit whatsonstage.com.
September 27, 2022
Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot
The new Elizabethan theatre for the north of England opens on Merseyside with the nation’s favourite Shakespeare play.
For Michael Davies’s full review, visit whatsonstage.com.
The cast of The Book Thief, a new musical at Bolton Octago. Photo by Pamela Raith.
THE BOOK THIEF
September 22, 2022
Bolton Octagon
A new musical adaptation of Markus Zusak’s bestselling book hits the stage with a libretto co-written by Jodi Picoult.
For Michael Davies’s full review, visit whatsonstage.com.
September 22, 2022
Bolton Octagon
A new musical adaptation of Markus Zusak’s bestselling book hits the stage with a libretto co-written by Jodi Picoult.
For Michael Davies’s full review, visit whatsonstage.com.
The cast of The Jungle Book in Williamson Park. Photo: Gabi Dawkins/Jess Turton.
THE JUNGLE BOOK
August 18, 2022
Dukes Theatre, Williamson Park, Lancaster
A steaming river, an overgrown temple, a rain-lashed ravine – it’s almost as if Williamson Park were built especially to accommodate this wildly imaginative production of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 stories of deepest India.
Playing out the performance between four locations in the park has huge benefits in terms of atmosphere and site-specific action. The benign bear Baloo, for instance, wades amiably through a lake to establish both her free-spiritedness and her understanding of the way jungle law works. Kaa the snake – a brilliantly realised puppet with appropriately mesmerising eyes – uncoils between two watching banks of audience members, accentuating her movement and size.
And even when the weather contributes to the show in the form of a downpour, transforming the jungle into a sodden rainforest, you can’t help just going along with it and relishing the forces of nature that are so central to the story.
Director Sarah Punshon and designer Amanda Mascarenhas exploit every opportunity afforded by the terrain and backdrops, while Adam Foley’s lighting adds heaps of atmosphere. Andrew Pollard’s adaptation nods as much to Disney as it does to Kipling, sticking to the few tales that revolve around Mowgli’s adoption by the wolf pack, and that’s all to the good for the youngsters in the crowd who will know the characters best from the animated version. Ziad Jabero’s original songs sit firmly in the Disney realm too, easy on the ear but adding authentic rhythms and style.
But it’s the five-strong ensemble who truly create the world of the jungle with their movements, vocal versatility and emotional depth. With choreography by Zak Yates, they evoke their creature counterparts with warmth and wit, from Helen Longworth’s bumbling Baloo to Lisa Howard’s marvellous Shere Khan, a tiger with a stunning fur coat and some cool shades.
Pushpinder Chani’s sleek, greying Bagheera is a reassuring presence, contrasting beautifully with his crazed Bandar-log monkey, while Purvi Parmar as Akela the grey wolf offers a welcoming introduction to the setting for both audience and Mowgli, the man-cub found abandoned in the river. Jason Patel represents us all as he learns the jungle ways, discovers its hierarchy and treads inquisitively through its dangerous paths, and his combination of innocence and childish bravura make for a thoroughly likeable protagonist.
Old hands at Williamson Park will know that it offers a wonderful canvas for theatrical magic. The Jungle Book delivers it by the bucketload.
August 18, 2022
Dukes Theatre, Williamson Park, Lancaster
A steaming river, an overgrown temple, a rain-lashed ravine – it’s almost as if Williamson Park were built especially to accommodate this wildly imaginative production of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 stories of deepest India.
Playing out the performance between four locations in the park has huge benefits in terms of atmosphere and site-specific action. The benign bear Baloo, for instance, wades amiably through a lake to establish both her free-spiritedness and her understanding of the way jungle law works. Kaa the snake – a brilliantly realised puppet with appropriately mesmerising eyes – uncoils between two watching banks of audience members, accentuating her movement and size.
And even when the weather contributes to the show in the form of a downpour, transforming the jungle into a sodden rainforest, you can’t help just going along with it and relishing the forces of nature that are so central to the story.
Director Sarah Punshon and designer Amanda Mascarenhas exploit every opportunity afforded by the terrain and backdrops, while Adam Foley’s lighting adds heaps of atmosphere. Andrew Pollard’s adaptation nods as much to Disney as it does to Kipling, sticking to the few tales that revolve around Mowgli’s adoption by the wolf pack, and that’s all to the good for the youngsters in the crowd who will know the characters best from the animated version. Ziad Jabero’s original songs sit firmly in the Disney realm too, easy on the ear but adding authentic rhythms and style.
But it’s the five-strong ensemble who truly create the world of the jungle with their movements, vocal versatility and emotional depth. With choreography by Zak Yates, they evoke their creature counterparts with warmth and wit, from Helen Longworth’s bumbling Baloo to Lisa Howard’s marvellous Shere Khan, a tiger with a stunning fur coat and some cool shades.
Pushpinder Chani’s sleek, greying Bagheera is a reassuring presence, contrasting beautifully with his crazed Bandar-log monkey, while Purvi Parmar as Akela the grey wolf offers a welcoming introduction to the setting for both audience and Mowgli, the man-cub found abandoned in the river. Jason Patel represents us all as he learns the jungle ways, discovers its hierarchy and treads inquisitively through its dangerous paths, and his combination of innocence and childish bravura make for a thoroughly likeable protagonist.
Old hands at Williamson Park will know that it offers a wonderful canvas for theatrical magic. The Jungle Book delivers it by the bucketload.
JANE EYRE
July 15, 2022
Heartbreak Productions tour, Lytham Hall
What connects the Victorian classic novel Jane Eyre with a carnival centred around the act of a celebrated escapologist? At first glance, the link may seem tenuous, but in the intelligent, witty hands of touring theatre company Heartbreak Productions, all is cleverly revealed.
The company’s relentless ingenuity allows them, with annual refreshing, to take classics of theatre and literature and reinvent them for modern, Prosecco-swilling audiences in a variety of delightful settings throughout the UK. So, for instance, this year’s fellow production of Twelfth Night has been recrafted as a thinly-disguised version of a television reality show set on an island dedicated to passion. You can read it about it below.
With Charlotte Bronte’s iconic tale of a moral girl’s journey of ups and downs negotiating life and love, the conceit is even more radical. Writer-director Emma Hodgkinson has mined a recurring theme from the novel: Jane is trapped in a series of ever-tightening cages of one form or another. Whether it’s her cruel relatives to whom she’s sent as an orphan, the authoritarian regime at Lowood School or the strange constraints at Thornfield Hall, where her feelings for Edward Rochester are another kind of cage, Jane is constantly called on to escape.
The framing device for the theatrical adaptation of her story takes this metaphor literally, placing her at the heart of a touring carnival in which her challenge is to escape the confines in which she is held. At each turn, the audience is invited to applaud her skill and dexterity – but will she allow herself to be caught in the ultimate trap, love?
It’s a neat device that works really well to structure the episodic story. The fact that it’s performed by a troupe of five versatile young actors adds to the charm and makes for yet another Heartbreak evening of warmth and appealing theatricality.
Faye Lord is a touching, vulnerable Jane with, appropriately, a strength at her core. Rory Dulku is powerful and striking in the role of Rochester, providing a complex foil for Jane’s emotions. Samantha Moorhouse, Benjamin Darlington and recent drama school graduate Megan Dunnico all provide a wealth of entertaining figures as they supply the supporting cast of multiple characters, ranging from doddery old schoolteachers to ardent suitors with a simple change of hat or shawl.
Straightforwardly presented in the round in the grounds of the elegant Lytham Hall, this Jane Eyre offers a fascinating and enlightening new take on an old classic, without ruffling the traditionalists’ feathers too much. Roll up, roll up for another Heartbreak hit!
Jane Eyre is on tour around the country until September 3, 2022. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
July 15, 2022
Heartbreak Productions tour, Lytham Hall
What connects the Victorian classic novel Jane Eyre with a carnival centred around the act of a celebrated escapologist? At first glance, the link may seem tenuous, but in the intelligent, witty hands of touring theatre company Heartbreak Productions, all is cleverly revealed.
The company’s relentless ingenuity allows them, with annual refreshing, to take classics of theatre and literature and reinvent them for modern, Prosecco-swilling audiences in a variety of delightful settings throughout the UK. So, for instance, this year’s fellow production of Twelfth Night has been recrafted as a thinly-disguised version of a television reality show set on an island dedicated to passion. You can read it about it below.
With Charlotte Bronte’s iconic tale of a moral girl’s journey of ups and downs negotiating life and love, the conceit is even more radical. Writer-director Emma Hodgkinson has mined a recurring theme from the novel: Jane is trapped in a series of ever-tightening cages of one form or another. Whether it’s her cruel relatives to whom she’s sent as an orphan, the authoritarian regime at Lowood School or the strange constraints at Thornfield Hall, where her feelings for Edward Rochester are another kind of cage, Jane is constantly called on to escape.
The framing device for the theatrical adaptation of her story takes this metaphor literally, placing her at the heart of a touring carnival in which her challenge is to escape the confines in which she is held. At each turn, the audience is invited to applaud her skill and dexterity – but will she allow herself to be caught in the ultimate trap, love?
It’s a neat device that works really well to structure the episodic story. The fact that it’s performed by a troupe of five versatile young actors adds to the charm and makes for yet another Heartbreak evening of warmth and appealing theatricality.
Faye Lord is a touching, vulnerable Jane with, appropriately, a strength at her core. Rory Dulku is powerful and striking in the role of Rochester, providing a complex foil for Jane’s emotions. Samantha Moorhouse, Benjamin Darlington and recent drama school graduate Megan Dunnico all provide a wealth of entertaining figures as they supply the supporting cast of multiple characters, ranging from doddery old schoolteachers to ardent suitors with a simple change of hat or shawl.
Straightforwardly presented in the round in the grounds of the elegant Lytham Hall, this Jane Eyre offers a fascinating and enlightening new take on an old classic, without ruffling the traditionalists’ feathers too much. Roll up, roll up for another Heartbreak hit!
Jane Eyre is on tour around the country until September 3, 2022. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
TWELFTH NIGHT
June 24, 2022
Heartbreak Productions tour, Rufford Old Hall, Rufford
Declarations of love in the villa, secret confessions to viewers, would-be couples competing for the top spot – it’s Love Island, right? Well no, in fact. It’s William Shakespeare. Just not as we know it.
The ever-imaginative summer touring company Heartbreak Productions has spotted the frankly uncanny parallels between television’s show-of-the-moment and the Bard’s 400-year-old comedy of gender-bending shenanigans and turned them into a delightful evening’s entertainment by the simple expedient of taking the best of both and scrambling them together.
The Love Island side of things is treated, quite rightly, with tongue firmly in cheek, exploiting elements such as the confessional diary room and the semi-cruel intervention of the judge-cum-host to stir things up. But old Shaky himself is treated no more reverently – and why should he be? – so that some of the most memorable lines from his well-loved play are tortured into service of the mash-up. Thus Sir Toby Belch’s wooing advice to Sir Andrew Aguecheek – ‘Accost!’ – becomes, in this version, ‘Crack on!’. Purists may baulk but it’s all part of the raucous fun.
The concept is framed around the finale of a two-week run of the television show Twelve Nights, with the Bard’s play providing flashback scenes leading up to the announcement of the winning couple. Will it be Orsino and Viola, Sebastian and Olivia or Sir Toby and Maria? Your ever-grinning host Feste has the results…
Given the complicated relationships in the play, it’s ambitious to stage it with a cast of just five. But thanks to some inspired doubling and clever video work, director Peter Mimmack and his co-writer Emma Hodgkinson pull off an impressive feat, even if it might more accurately be titled Twelve Nights than Twelfth Night itself. The basics of the original play are definitely there, but don’t expect a traditional production of Shakespeare.
Instead, sit back with your picnic and bubbly and enjoy Stuart Ash’s mischievous Feste and mournful Malvolio, or Eloise Hare’s aloof Olivia and feisty Maria. Erin Claire Spence is energetic and likeable as Viola, with Deakin van Leeuwen finding humour and pathos in Aguecheek, among others, while Simon Garrington’s Toby Belch is boisterous and breathless.
Forget that stuffy old blank verse you learned at school: this is Shakespeare for the 21st century.
Twelfth Night is on tour around the country until September 8, 2022. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
June 24, 2022
Heartbreak Productions tour, Rufford Old Hall, Rufford
Declarations of love in the villa, secret confessions to viewers, would-be couples competing for the top spot – it’s Love Island, right? Well no, in fact. It’s William Shakespeare. Just not as we know it.
The ever-imaginative summer touring company Heartbreak Productions has spotted the frankly uncanny parallels between television’s show-of-the-moment and the Bard’s 400-year-old comedy of gender-bending shenanigans and turned them into a delightful evening’s entertainment by the simple expedient of taking the best of both and scrambling them together.
The Love Island side of things is treated, quite rightly, with tongue firmly in cheek, exploiting elements such as the confessional diary room and the semi-cruel intervention of the judge-cum-host to stir things up. But old Shaky himself is treated no more reverently – and why should he be? – so that some of the most memorable lines from his well-loved play are tortured into service of the mash-up. Thus Sir Toby Belch’s wooing advice to Sir Andrew Aguecheek – ‘Accost!’ – becomes, in this version, ‘Crack on!’. Purists may baulk but it’s all part of the raucous fun.
The concept is framed around the finale of a two-week run of the television show Twelve Nights, with the Bard’s play providing flashback scenes leading up to the announcement of the winning couple. Will it be Orsino and Viola, Sebastian and Olivia or Sir Toby and Maria? Your ever-grinning host Feste has the results…
Given the complicated relationships in the play, it’s ambitious to stage it with a cast of just five. But thanks to some inspired doubling and clever video work, director Peter Mimmack and his co-writer Emma Hodgkinson pull off an impressive feat, even if it might more accurately be titled Twelve Nights than Twelfth Night itself. The basics of the original play are definitely there, but don’t expect a traditional production of Shakespeare.
Instead, sit back with your picnic and bubbly and enjoy Stuart Ash’s mischievous Feste and mournful Malvolio, or Eloise Hare’s aloof Olivia and feisty Maria. Erin Claire Spence is energetic and likeable as Viola, with Deakin van Leeuwen finding humour and pathos in Aguecheek, among others, while Simon Garrington’s Toby Belch is boisterous and breathless.
Forget that stuffy old blank verse you learned at school: this is Shakespeare for the 21st century.
Twelfth Night is on tour around the country until September 8, 2022. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
Jeanna de Waal as Diana. Photo by Evan Zimmerman/Matthew Murphy.
DIANA THE MUSICAL
October 4, 2021
Netflix
I must confess that the vitriol being copiously spooned on to Diana the Musicalhas left me rather bemused. One-star reviews, out-of-context gifs and howls of derision have greeted this Netflix filmed version of the American musical that’s being streamed worldwide before it opens on Broadway next month.
There’s been a clamour over its gaudy, brash treatment of the People’s Princess, its apparent superficiality and its supposed lyrical banality, with rhyming couplets such as “Harry, my ginger-haired son, you’ll always be second to none” mocked and derided with a passion I’ve rarely seen across the critical spectrum.
But could there be something else going on here? Could the almost universally vituperative attacks be more about some nationalistic sense of protectiveness of Diana and her story than about the quality of the work itself?
Because for my money, as a piece of musical theatre, Diana the Musicalis really rather good.
Leaving aside the tricky question of whether, with so many of the main players still around, the subject matter isn’t rather awkward – that lurking disquiet is for another day – the musical itself has a great deal going for it.
Its writers are playwright Joe DiPietro and Bon Jovi keyboard player David Bryan, whose solid track record includes the musicals Memphisand The Toxic Avenger, both winners of high accolades. There’s a hoary old trope that Americans can’t do irony, but if you accept (as most reviewers haven’t) that the pair had their tongues firmly in their cheeks throughout the creation of their latest collaboration, then its outrageous rhymes start to look deliciously witty – even brilliantly funny.
And you’re not telling me that Judy Kaye’s star cameo doubling Her Majesty with a fantastically over-the-top Barbara Cartland is anything less than genius.
Production values are superb, Christopher Ashley’s direction sharp and well-focused, and Kelly Devine’s choreography sparkling and lively. There are some belting tunes and some of the best voices in the industry, with Jeanna de Waal’s touching Diana at the heart of an ensemble that has no weak links and harmony singing to die for.
The story – there can be no spoilers, surely? – is clearly told and it’s a well-structured piece with plenty of variety and a fine balance of comedy and drama. Really, what’s not to like? Or is it the notion that a largely American cast and crew have taken a tale so inalienably British and done something rather wonderful with it that has really got under the critics’ collective skin?
My advice? Don’t be put off by the vitriol: sit back and enjoy a couple of hours of shameless, starry Broadway pizzazz.
October 4, 2021
Netflix
I must confess that the vitriol being copiously spooned on to Diana the Musicalhas left me rather bemused. One-star reviews, out-of-context gifs and howls of derision have greeted this Netflix filmed version of the American musical that’s being streamed worldwide before it opens on Broadway next month.
There’s been a clamour over its gaudy, brash treatment of the People’s Princess, its apparent superficiality and its supposed lyrical banality, with rhyming couplets such as “Harry, my ginger-haired son, you’ll always be second to none” mocked and derided with a passion I’ve rarely seen across the critical spectrum.
But could there be something else going on here? Could the almost universally vituperative attacks be more about some nationalistic sense of protectiveness of Diana and her story than about the quality of the work itself?
Because for my money, as a piece of musical theatre, Diana the Musicalis really rather good.
Leaving aside the tricky question of whether, with so many of the main players still around, the subject matter isn’t rather awkward – that lurking disquiet is for another day – the musical itself has a great deal going for it.
Its writers are playwright Joe DiPietro and Bon Jovi keyboard player David Bryan, whose solid track record includes the musicals Memphisand The Toxic Avenger, both winners of high accolades. There’s a hoary old trope that Americans can’t do irony, but if you accept (as most reviewers haven’t) that the pair had their tongues firmly in their cheeks throughout the creation of their latest collaboration, then its outrageous rhymes start to look deliciously witty – even brilliantly funny.
And you’re not telling me that Judy Kaye’s star cameo doubling Her Majesty with a fantastically over-the-top Barbara Cartland is anything less than genius.
Production values are superb, Christopher Ashley’s direction sharp and well-focused, and Kelly Devine’s choreography sparkling and lively. There are some belting tunes and some of the best voices in the industry, with Jeanna de Waal’s touching Diana at the heart of an ensemble that has no weak links and harmony singing to die for.
The story – there can be no spoilers, surely? – is clearly told and it’s a well-structured piece with plenty of variety and a fine balance of comedy and drama. Really, what’s not to like? Or is it the notion that a largely American cast and crew have taken a tale so inalienably British and done something rather wonderful with it that has really got under the critics’ collective skin?
My advice? Don’t be put off by the vitriol: sit back and enjoy a couple of hours of shameless, starry Broadway pizzazz.
Emma McDonald as shop worker Rae, performing as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
GOING THE DISTANCE
October 3, 2021
Online until Sunday, October 17, 2021
There’s no denying the ambition of writer-director Henry Filloux-Bennett. The artistic director of Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre has been at the forefront of digital theatre production since the Covid pandemic began, and has shown little sign of letting up the momentum he’s built up.
Perhaps highest in his achievements during this spell has been an updated streaming version of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, headlined by Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry, which won plaudits from the likes of the New York Times. In his latest outing, Filloux-Bennett returns to Fry in voiceover form to provide narration for an original 75-minute comedy, Going the Distance.
Co-written with EastEnders scriptwriter Yasmeen Khan, the show champions the fighting spirit of theatres across the UK, which have been faced with disaster thanks to the pandemic. Its heart is unquestionably in the right place, and Filloux-Bennett has also assembled a first-rate company, not to mention the co-producing resources of the Watermill Theatre, Oxford Playhouse and Lancaster’s Dukes alongside the Lawrence Batley itself.
Directed by Felicity Montagu – perhaps best-known for her turn as Alan Partridge’s long-suffering sidekick Lynn – the production features a stellar line-up. Matthew Kelly plays the weary, weatherbeaten Frank, struggling to hold the Matchborough Community Theatre together in the teeth of non-existent audiences and financial ruin.
Shobna Gulati is beautifully fragile as his ex-wife Vic, tasked with writing an ill-fated adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, while Sarah Hadland (she of Miranda fame) sparkles venomously as the self-appointed ‘head of marketing’ who sees it as her destiny to save the theatre from oblivion. There’s also a delightful cameo from Sara Crowe as a self-serving local radio host.
But the real gems are to be found among the lesser-known names, not least Emma McDonald as a shopworker encouraged to audition for the role of Dorothy by her doting and quietly enamoured boss Merch Husey. The pair have a gentle chemistry on screen that brings a touch of charm to the lightweight tale.
The script is sprinkled with witty lines but it’s pathos, rather than laugh-out-loud comedy, that is the driving force, and the message of resilience and tenacity is one that will be recognised by theatre folk of all varieties.
October 3, 2021
Online until Sunday, October 17, 2021
There’s no denying the ambition of writer-director Henry Filloux-Bennett. The artistic director of Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre has been at the forefront of digital theatre production since the Covid pandemic began, and has shown little sign of letting up the momentum he’s built up.
Perhaps highest in his achievements during this spell has been an updated streaming version of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, headlined by Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry, which won plaudits from the likes of the New York Times. In his latest outing, Filloux-Bennett returns to Fry in voiceover form to provide narration for an original 75-minute comedy, Going the Distance.
Co-written with EastEnders scriptwriter Yasmeen Khan, the show champions the fighting spirit of theatres across the UK, which have been faced with disaster thanks to the pandemic. Its heart is unquestionably in the right place, and Filloux-Bennett has also assembled a first-rate company, not to mention the co-producing resources of the Watermill Theatre, Oxford Playhouse and Lancaster’s Dukes alongside the Lawrence Batley itself.
Directed by Felicity Montagu – perhaps best-known for her turn as Alan Partridge’s long-suffering sidekick Lynn – the production features a stellar line-up. Matthew Kelly plays the weary, weatherbeaten Frank, struggling to hold the Matchborough Community Theatre together in the teeth of non-existent audiences and financial ruin.
Shobna Gulati is beautifully fragile as his ex-wife Vic, tasked with writing an ill-fated adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, while Sarah Hadland (she of Miranda fame) sparkles venomously as the self-appointed ‘head of marketing’ who sees it as her destiny to save the theatre from oblivion. There’s also a delightful cameo from Sara Crowe as a self-serving local radio host.
But the real gems are to be found among the lesser-known names, not least Emma McDonald as a shopworker encouraged to audition for the role of Dorothy by her doting and quietly enamoured boss Merch Husey. The pair have a gentle chemistry on screen that brings a touch of charm to the lightweight tale.
The script is sprinkled with witty lines but it’s pathos, rather than laugh-out-loud comedy, that is the driving force, and the message of resilience and tenacity is one that will be recognised by theatre folk of all varieties.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
September 2, 2021
Heartbreak Productions tour, Royal Spa Centre Studio, Leamington
Covid has claimed many casualties over the months, but for touring production company Heartbreak, the summer season was always going to go ahead, regardless of the restrictions on audience numbers or requirements for social distancing. It’s a company so dedicated to bringing its unique style to eager aficianados that it was going to take more than the odd symptom scare to halt the merriment.
Not that the virus hasn’t tried. And the chief weapon in its arsenal this season was the targeting of director Alan Atkins, who was denied the opportunity to bring his modern, environmentally-themed version of the Dream to life himself. Instead, Heartbreak artistic director Peter Mimmack stepped in to the role, tasked with realising Atkins’s vision.
Fortunately, Mimmack’s vast experience over 30 years with the company, not to mention numerous personal encounters with the play, meant the show was in safe hands. Even in the unfamiliar surroundings of a theatre building – Heartbreak performances are usually open-air – and with only a day to reconstruct an in-the-round production as an end-on staging, this Dream is playful, warm-hearted and clearly told.
The master stroke is the ingenuity of the doubling. Somehow, a cast of five manage to people the stage with Athenians, rude mechanicals and a host of fairies via a simple change of shirt or donning of a headdress. (The costumes are a highlight too, with stunning creations designed by Libby Esler, fashioned from plastic bags and scrap material.)
Thanks to some nifty tweaking of scenes and gender-fluid casting of roles, all five performers make the scarcity of their numbers work to their advantage. Thus Puck is played by no less than three actors, adding a magical mystery to the character’s elusiveness, while Heartbreak trademarks such as audience participation are used to full advantage to make up the numbers.
Faye Lord, Emma Hodgkinson, Charlie Tantam, Simon Garrington and Caitlin Wood share the multitude of roles, each just as generous to the rest of the team as a touring cast requires, especially after a difficult summer, and the camaraderie crosses the footlights convincingly.
The company may have faced its problems over the past few months, but on this evidence, Heartbreak has risen admirably to the challenges of Covid.
September 2, 2021
Heartbreak Productions tour, Royal Spa Centre Studio, Leamington
Covid has claimed many casualties over the months, but for touring production company Heartbreak, the summer season was always going to go ahead, regardless of the restrictions on audience numbers or requirements for social distancing. It’s a company so dedicated to bringing its unique style to eager aficianados that it was going to take more than the odd symptom scare to halt the merriment.
Not that the virus hasn’t tried. And the chief weapon in its arsenal this season was the targeting of director Alan Atkins, who was denied the opportunity to bring his modern, environmentally-themed version of the Dream to life himself. Instead, Heartbreak artistic director Peter Mimmack stepped in to the role, tasked with realising Atkins’s vision.
Fortunately, Mimmack’s vast experience over 30 years with the company, not to mention numerous personal encounters with the play, meant the show was in safe hands. Even in the unfamiliar surroundings of a theatre building – Heartbreak performances are usually open-air – and with only a day to reconstruct an in-the-round production as an end-on staging, this Dream is playful, warm-hearted and clearly told.
The master stroke is the ingenuity of the doubling. Somehow, a cast of five manage to people the stage with Athenians, rude mechanicals and a host of fairies via a simple change of shirt or donning of a headdress. (The costumes are a highlight too, with stunning creations designed by Libby Esler, fashioned from plastic bags and scrap material.)
Thanks to some nifty tweaking of scenes and gender-fluid casting of roles, all five performers make the scarcity of their numbers work to their advantage. Thus Puck is played by no less than three actors, adding a magical mystery to the character’s elusiveness, while Heartbreak trademarks such as audience participation are used to full advantage to make up the numbers.
Faye Lord, Emma Hodgkinson, Charlie Tantam, Simon Garrington and Caitlin Wood share the multitude of roles, each just as generous to the rest of the team as a touring cast requires, especially after a difficult summer, and the camaraderie crosses the footlights convincingly.
The company may have faced its problems over the past few months, but on this evidence, Heartbreak has risen admirably to the challenges of Covid.
WONDER WITH GRIMM
June 12, 2021
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington
How do you set about retelling the stories of the Brothers Grimm for a modern audience in a way that makes them accessible, yet retains their inherent mythological roots and sense of wonder? Sondheim did it brilliantly with Into the Woods, but when your resources are restricted to five actors and an open-air space, the challenges are multiplied.
Heartbreak Productions are no stranger to challenges, and have made a speciality of small-cast, open-air theatre events across nearly 30 years of touring the UK. Here, they take on the challenges posed by the brothers’ folklore fairytales and weave them into something new and fresh.
The premise is that the audience has arrived for an annual festival of storytelling, with six randomly-selected children from the locality put forward to recount their tales in order to appease a mystical unseen creature, the Grimm. If the Grimm should be displeased, he has been known to steal a child’s voice. In keeping with the originals, there’s enough darkness and menace in the set-up to keep children on the edge of their seats (or in this case, picnic blankets).
Adding to the danger, only five of the chosen children have turned up to the ceremony, placing everyone’s vocal cords in jeopardy. Will the brave quintet succeed in satisfying the Grimm and keeping everyone safe for the summer?
Faye Lord, Simon Garrington, Charlie Tantam, Emma Hodgkinson and Caitlin Wood supply the eager youngsters, striking a nice balance of fresh-faced enthusiasm and fearful innocence as they tackle their tales with a modern twist and in a variety of imaginative ways.
Thus Rumpelstiltskin becomes a fable about ‘buying’ popularity at school, while Simple Simon is given a golden goose beanie which seems to have a magical effect on his life. Meanwhile, Rapunzel is told entirely in song, while Little Red Riding Hood is beautifully performed through the medium of interpretive dance and mime.
It’s an idea that allows for plenty of improvisation on the fairytale themes, and the stories are not only relatable for youngsters but full of entertaining parallels for the grown-ups too. With a decent helping of audience participation and a fine setting for some theatrical shenanigans, the Grimm ceremony looks set for a sizzling summer.
Wonder with Grimm is on tour around the country until September 3. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
June 12, 2021
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington
How do you set about retelling the stories of the Brothers Grimm for a modern audience in a way that makes them accessible, yet retains their inherent mythological roots and sense of wonder? Sondheim did it brilliantly with Into the Woods, but when your resources are restricted to five actors and an open-air space, the challenges are multiplied.
Heartbreak Productions are no stranger to challenges, and have made a speciality of small-cast, open-air theatre events across nearly 30 years of touring the UK. Here, they take on the challenges posed by the brothers’ folklore fairytales and weave them into something new and fresh.
The premise is that the audience has arrived for an annual festival of storytelling, with six randomly-selected children from the locality put forward to recount their tales in order to appease a mystical unseen creature, the Grimm. If the Grimm should be displeased, he has been known to steal a child’s voice. In keeping with the originals, there’s enough darkness and menace in the set-up to keep children on the edge of their seats (or in this case, picnic blankets).
Adding to the danger, only five of the chosen children have turned up to the ceremony, placing everyone’s vocal cords in jeopardy. Will the brave quintet succeed in satisfying the Grimm and keeping everyone safe for the summer?
Faye Lord, Simon Garrington, Charlie Tantam, Emma Hodgkinson and Caitlin Wood supply the eager youngsters, striking a nice balance of fresh-faced enthusiasm and fearful innocence as they tackle their tales with a modern twist and in a variety of imaginative ways.
Thus Rumpelstiltskin becomes a fable about ‘buying’ popularity at school, while Simple Simon is given a golden goose beanie which seems to have a magical effect on his life. Meanwhile, Rapunzel is told entirely in song, while Little Red Riding Hood is beautifully performed through the medium of interpretive dance and mime.
It’s an idea that allows for plenty of improvisation on the fairytale themes, and the stories are not only relatable for youngsters but full of entertaining parallels for the grown-ups too. With a decent helping of audience participation and a fine setting for some theatrical shenanigans, the Grimm ceremony looks set for a sizzling summer.
Wonder with Grimm is on tour around the country until September 3. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
THE GREAT GATSBY
June 3, 2021
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa, then touring until September 4
Anyone familiar with the summer open-air theatre tours produced by the Warwickshire company Heartbreak Productions will know what to expect: they’re generally a riot of picnics, playfulness and plenty of audience participation.
With Covid lurking and social distancing in place, this year seems to have enforced a rather more muted tone. While the picnic blankets are still out in force, the atmosphere feels a touch more serious, a little less frivolous.
Of course, that might just be down to the choice of play: The Great Gatsby may be emblematic of a golden age of jazz and prohibition-busting parties, but at its core it’s a sombre, sobering tale of moral outrage and squalid deception.
It’s entirely possible that Heartbreak’s other offerings this season – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, David Walliams’s Mr Stink and the fairytale-based Wonder with Grimm – will provide the usual summer lightness, but Gatsby feels like something different.
That’s not to say it’s a downer of an evening – far from it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the strongest Heartbreak shows for a long time. And there’s no shortage of partying either, with some delightful jazzy numbers and heaps of audience interaction keeping things fun and energetic.
The five-strong cast are central to this, playing multiple roles as well as musical instruments and keeping the storytelling clear and emotionally engaging. Conor Hinds is the linchpin as narrator Nick Carraway, whose observation of Gatsby becomes increasingly unreliable as he gets snared in the great man’s bon-vivant lifestyle. Alongside Matt Williams in the title role (among others), the pair make a striking partnership.
Eloise Hare makes an elegant, flighty Daisy, Gatsby’s erstwhile love, while Rory Dulku is full of simmering rage as her husband Tom. Rachel Dussek provides Nick’s love interest, and between them, the quintet work seamlessly and impressively, especially for a performance so early in the run.
But perhaps the greatest credit should go to writer-director Lowell Walker, whose adaptation is rather brilliantly achieved to bring out both the sassiness of the era and the seedy undertones that feed into the tragedy which unfolds. The contrast of light and dark is powerfully drawn and you’re left with something much meatier than simply a charming night out. Here, alongside the party food, you get food for thought.
The Great Gatsby is on tour around the country until September 4. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
June 3, 2021
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa, then touring until September 4
Anyone familiar with the summer open-air theatre tours produced by the Warwickshire company Heartbreak Productions will know what to expect: they’re generally a riot of picnics, playfulness and plenty of audience participation.
With Covid lurking and social distancing in place, this year seems to have enforced a rather more muted tone. While the picnic blankets are still out in force, the atmosphere feels a touch more serious, a little less frivolous.
Of course, that might just be down to the choice of play: The Great Gatsby may be emblematic of a golden age of jazz and prohibition-busting parties, but at its core it’s a sombre, sobering tale of moral outrage and squalid deception.
It’s entirely possible that Heartbreak’s other offerings this season – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, David Walliams’s Mr Stink and the fairytale-based Wonder with Grimm – will provide the usual summer lightness, but Gatsby feels like something different.
That’s not to say it’s a downer of an evening – far from it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the strongest Heartbreak shows for a long time. And there’s no shortage of partying either, with some delightful jazzy numbers and heaps of audience interaction keeping things fun and energetic.
The five-strong cast are central to this, playing multiple roles as well as musical instruments and keeping the storytelling clear and emotionally engaging. Conor Hinds is the linchpin as narrator Nick Carraway, whose observation of Gatsby becomes increasingly unreliable as he gets snared in the great man’s bon-vivant lifestyle. Alongside Matt Williams in the title role (among others), the pair make a striking partnership.
Eloise Hare makes an elegant, flighty Daisy, Gatsby’s erstwhile love, while Rory Dulku is full of simmering rage as her husband Tom. Rachel Dussek provides Nick’s love interest, and between them, the quintet work seamlessly and impressively, especially for a performance so early in the run.
But perhaps the greatest credit should go to writer-director Lowell Walker, whose adaptation is rather brilliantly achieved to bring out both the sassiness of the era and the seedy undertones that feed into the tragedy which unfolds. The contrast of light and dark is powerfully drawn and you’re left with something much meatier than simply a charming night out. Here, alongside the party food, you get food for thought.
The Great Gatsby is on tour around the country until September 4. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
Sarah Earnshaw and Joe Pasquale in April in Paris.
APRIL IN PARIS
May 17, 2021
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Wednesday, May 19, 2021
There was something distinctly special about being part of the first audience to be back in a regional theatre after the first closure of playhouses since 1642. It almost didn’t matter what occurred on stage: the point was that we were there.
As it happens, what occurred on stage was as entertaining and uplifting as you could wish for on such an occasion. John Godber’s April in Paris, updated and tweaked to suit the unique talents of Joe Pasquale, provides exactly the kind of light, unchallenging but jolly fare to bring us out of lockdown.
Staged on a minimal set – three panels painted as the French tricolore, with two chairs and a bicycle strung with onions – it makes a virtue out of necessity by giving us a stripped-back two-hander with nothing to distract.
Pasquale has acting talent alongside his natural clowning skills, and he's always careful not to let his physicality obstruct the gentle humour in the script or the occasional touching moment between him and his performing partner Sarah Earnshaw. Together, the couple are plausible and likeable as a long-married pair whose relationship has gone off the boil and needs a trip to the city of love to help revive it.
If Godber’s script rolls along rather predictably, there’s no harm in that, and there are plenty of witty gags to keep the laughs coming. At a one-act, 75-minute rattle-through, it also averts any concerns about sitting interminably in a germ-laden room.
In fact, the Belgrade’s handling of the whole Covid safety issue is impeccable, from the frequent friendly reminders to retain masks to the helpful staffers offering advice along with the hand sanitiser. Nobody asked for a clean start in theatre, but if you've got to have one, this is about as good as it gets.
May 17, 2021
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Wednesday, May 19, 2021
There was something distinctly special about being part of the first audience to be back in a regional theatre after the first closure of playhouses since 1642. It almost didn’t matter what occurred on stage: the point was that we were there.
As it happens, what occurred on stage was as entertaining and uplifting as you could wish for on such an occasion. John Godber’s April in Paris, updated and tweaked to suit the unique talents of Joe Pasquale, provides exactly the kind of light, unchallenging but jolly fare to bring us out of lockdown.
Staged on a minimal set – three panels painted as the French tricolore, with two chairs and a bicycle strung with onions – it makes a virtue out of necessity by giving us a stripped-back two-hander with nothing to distract.
Pasquale has acting talent alongside his natural clowning skills, and he's always careful not to let his physicality obstruct the gentle humour in the script or the occasional touching moment between him and his performing partner Sarah Earnshaw. Together, the couple are plausible and likeable as a long-married pair whose relationship has gone off the boil and needs a trip to the city of love to help revive it.
If Godber’s script rolls along rather predictably, there’s no harm in that, and there are plenty of witty gags to keep the laughs coming. At a one-act, 75-minute rattle-through, it also averts any concerns about sitting interminably in a germ-laden room.
In fact, the Belgrade’s handling of the whole Covid safety issue is impeccable, from the frequent friendly reminders to retain masks to the helpful staffers offering advice along with the hand sanitiser. Nobody asked for a clean start in theatre, but if you've got to have one, this is about as good as it gets.
Joanna Lumley as Lady Narborough in The Picture of Dorian Gray.
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
March 15, 2021
Online until Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Oscar Wilde was, of course, famous for his shimmering wit, but it is sometimes forgotten that beneath the cynical veneer was an artist of real substance. His memorable aphorisms and catty characters could, in some circumstances, be just as much of a social commentary as any Dickens caricature.
On the surface, then, the idea of transposing his cautionary tale about the vacuity of transient beauty to the modern-day world of apps, filters and fame-by-follower-count seems a stroke of genius. And in many ways it is. This five-way co-production, adapted by Henry Filloux-Bennett and directed by Tamara Harvey, has all the glitziness of a Wilde first night and retains much of the seedy glamour of its source material.
It enjoys the substantial benefit of the presence of one Joanna Lumley, here camping it up delicately as Lady Narborough, the socialite matriarch who introduces the eponymous Gray to the demi-monde that will become (spoiler alert) his downfall. She anchors the production completely, with some assistance from a sadly underused bit-part performance by Stephen Fry, and has the chilling crispness of delivery judged to perfection.
The other feminine presence in the cast is Emma McDonald as Sibyl Vane, the enigmatic ingenue who gets caught up in Gray’s less-than-salubrious world with consequences neither of them can foresee. She is brittle, bold and always watchable.
Elsewhere, the cast underwhelm somewhat, which is disappointing given the high production values and ambition of the show. Alfred Enoch’s upper-crust accent and disdain as Gray’s pal Harry Wotton are never quite convincing, Russell Tovey as the sinister Basil Hallward is mostly in ponderous off-screen voiceover, while Fionn Whitehead in the title role is neither glamorous nor engaging enough to believe in his sell-your-soul appeal as a social media influencer.
There is also a serious issue with pace. Where Wilde’s novel is a tense, terse read packed with subtext and intrigue, this straight-through 90-minute performance is languid almost to the point of soporific, with long, slow exchanges that do little to add atmosphere but significantly undermine the narrative drive.
It looks terrific, has some helpful underscoring from Harry Smith, and that divine performance by Joanna Lumley in its favour. But it’s hard to escape the nagging feeling that there’s little of substance behind the veneer.
March 15, 2021
Online until Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Oscar Wilde was, of course, famous for his shimmering wit, but it is sometimes forgotten that beneath the cynical veneer was an artist of real substance. His memorable aphorisms and catty characters could, in some circumstances, be just as much of a social commentary as any Dickens caricature.
On the surface, then, the idea of transposing his cautionary tale about the vacuity of transient beauty to the modern-day world of apps, filters and fame-by-follower-count seems a stroke of genius. And in many ways it is. This five-way co-production, adapted by Henry Filloux-Bennett and directed by Tamara Harvey, has all the glitziness of a Wilde first night and retains much of the seedy glamour of its source material.
It enjoys the substantial benefit of the presence of one Joanna Lumley, here camping it up delicately as Lady Narborough, the socialite matriarch who introduces the eponymous Gray to the demi-monde that will become (spoiler alert) his downfall. She anchors the production completely, with some assistance from a sadly underused bit-part performance by Stephen Fry, and has the chilling crispness of delivery judged to perfection.
The other feminine presence in the cast is Emma McDonald as Sibyl Vane, the enigmatic ingenue who gets caught up in Gray’s less-than-salubrious world with consequences neither of them can foresee. She is brittle, bold and always watchable.
Elsewhere, the cast underwhelm somewhat, which is disappointing given the high production values and ambition of the show. Alfred Enoch’s upper-crust accent and disdain as Gray’s pal Harry Wotton are never quite convincing, Russell Tovey as the sinister Basil Hallward is mostly in ponderous off-screen voiceover, while Fionn Whitehead in the title role is neither glamorous nor engaging enough to believe in his sell-your-soul appeal as a social media influencer.
There is also a serious issue with pace. Where Wilde’s novel is a tense, terse read packed with subtext and intrigue, this straight-through 90-minute performance is languid almost to the point of soporific, with long, slow exchanges that do little to add atmosphere but significantly undermine the narrative drive.
It looks terrific, has some helpful underscoring from Harry Smith, and that divine performance by Joanna Lumley in its favour. But it’s hard to escape the nagging feeling that there’s little of substance behind the veneer.
Abigail Castleton and Jason Ryall do daft things in Heartbreak's updated Alice in Lockdown.
ALICE IN LOCKDOWN
* * * *
August 2, 2020
Heartbreak Productions tour, Leamington Rugby Club
It’s been 140 days since my last trip to the theatre, and comfortably the longest break from live performance in my extremely lengthy adult life. In spite of the much-applauded £1.57bn government support for the arts, only a tiny fraction of the bigger companies will benefit to any significant degree.
Which means that there is a vast swathe of smaller, independent and shoestring operations who are facing complete disaster. In the true spirit of fortitude and theatrical stoicism – the show must, after all, go on – many of them are fighting a defiant rearguard action. And what better way to thumb one’s artistic nose at this indiscriminating but devastating virus than to stage a brilliant comeback show?
Heartbreak Productions, the professional Warwickshire touring company, has carved out an essential place in many people’s summer diaries with its annual expeditions around the country (and beyond), taking everything from Shakespeare and Wilde to David Walliams premieres and original plays to country houses, parks and gardens across the UK.
Picnicking families have learned to love their sense of fun, coupled with some fine acting and high-quality productions, for nearly 30 years. So when coronavirus wiped out the planned schedule of tours for this summer, the team was hardly going to sit back and let their eager audiences be disappointed.
Instead, in three weeks flat since the rules on outdoor performances were relaxed, they have reconstructed their production of Alice in Wonderland, repositioning it brilliantly as Alice in Lockdown, and recast it as a bubbled two-hander for a mini-tour throughout August. With an entertainingly appropriate script from Dani Carbery, referencing home-schooling, banana bread and all our lockdown favourites in between – including an appearance from Joe Wicks as the White Knight – this Alice is absolutely of the moment.
It all makes for a particularly impressive showcase for Abigail Castleton as Alice and the indefatigable Jason Ryall as every other character in the play, each distinguishable by their hats, costumes and outrageous accents. Between them, the pair never allow the pace to flag, wringing every possible laugh out of the occasion and coupling some exhausting physical theatre with songs and some rather excruciating rhymes.
Updated to a theme park setting and packed with weird and wonderful characters – from a matador Mad Hatter to a Brummie Tweeedledum and Tweedledee – it’s tautly directed by Scott Worsfold, who throws in plenty of daftness from his extensive panto background, and superbly played by both actors.
As an antidote to the virus restrictions – and as a delightful event in its own right – Alice makes a perfect companion for the first live performance since March.
Alice in Lockdown is on tour around the country throughout August. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.ukfor details.
* * * *
August 2, 2020
Heartbreak Productions tour, Leamington Rugby Club
It’s been 140 days since my last trip to the theatre, and comfortably the longest break from live performance in my extremely lengthy adult life. In spite of the much-applauded £1.57bn government support for the arts, only a tiny fraction of the bigger companies will benefit to any significant degree.
Which means that there is a vast swathe of smaller, independent and shoestring operations who are facing complete disaster. In the true spirit of fortitude and theatrical stoicism – the show must, after all, go on – many of them are fighting a defiant rearguard action. And what better way to thumb one’s artistic nose at this indiscriminating but devastating virus than to stage a brilliant comeback show?
Heartbreak Productions, the professional Warwickshire touring company, has carved out an essential place in many people’s summer diaries with its annual expeditions around the country (and beyond), taking everything from Shakespeare and Wilde to David Walliams premieres and original plays to country houses, parks and gardens across the UK.
Picnicking families have learned to love their sense of fun, coupled with some fine acting and high-quality productions, for nearly 30 years. So when coronavirus wiped out the planned schedule of tours for this summer, the team was hardly going to sit back and let their eager audiences be disappointed.
Instead, in three weeks flat since the rules on outdoor performances were relaxed, they have reconstructed their production of Alice in Wonderland, repositioning it brilliantly as Alice in Lockdown, and recast it as a bubbled two-hander for a mini-tour throughout August. With an entertainingly appropriate script from Dani Carbery, referencing home-schooling, banana bread and all our lockdown favourites in between – including an appearance from Joe Wicks as the White Knight – this Alice is absolutely of the moment.
It all makes for a particularly impressive showcase for Abigail Castleton as Alice and the indefatigable Jason Ryall as every other character in the play, each distinguishable by their hats, costumes and outrageous accents. Between them, the pair never allow the pace to flag, wringing every possible laugh out of the occasion and coupling some exhausting physical theatre with songs and some rather excruciating rhymes.
Updated to a theme park setting and packed with weird and wonderful characters – from a matador Mad Hatter to a Brummie Tweeedledum and Tweedledee – it’s tautly directed by Scott Worsfold, who throws in plenty of daftness from his extensive panto background, and superbly played by both actors.
As an antidote to the virus restrictions – and as a delightful event in its own right – Alice makes a perfect companion for the first live performance since March.
Alice in Lockdown is on tour around the country throughout August. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.ukfor details.
Daniel Healy as the Guy in the touring production of Once.
ONCE
* * *
March 10, 2020
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, March 14, then tour continues
Once began life as a small, independent Irish film with an award-winning, folksy theme tune called Falling Slowly, telling the story of a struggling musician about to quit who meets an eastern European free spirit who turns his life upside. Full disclosure: I didn’t really like it.
Now the film has been reinvented for the stage, with a score full of songs by the same writing duo, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and a book by celebrated Irish playwright Enda Walsh. And while lots of the same things that disappointed so much about the film are still there, the musical adaptation seems like a vastly improved enterprise all round.
Sure, the story is so slight as to be invisible when it turns sideways. Boy meets girl… er, that’s it. Yes, they’re both immensely irritating in their own special ways, either through self-indulgent misery signalling (him) or relentless blind optimism (her). And you’ve really got to like guitar-based, Irish-tinged folksy tracks to cope with two-and-a-half hours of back-to-back balladeering that renders this more of a gig than a theatrical experience.
All that said, this Ipswich-Hornchurch touring co-production certainly has energy, with 14 on-stage musicians bashing out the tunes with some sumptuous harmonies and a full, rich sound. Peter Rowe’s direction exploits the actor-musicianship to the full, with choreography and movement (Francesca Jaynes) supplementing the singing and playing. And Libby Watson’s set design conjures up a Dublin pub, a recording studio and even a quay on the Liffey with atmosphere and charm.
Daniel Healy and Emma Lucia play the Guy and Girl with commitment, and both sing and play beautifully. While some of the other characters are as flimsy as the storyline, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm among the players, and there’s a certain joie de vivre about the experience that helps carry much of the weight of expectation.
Hindered by its source material, the musical version of Once is, at the same time, hard to recommend and hard to criticise. Maybe worth seeing… once.
* * *
March 10, 2020
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, March 14, then tour continues
Once began life as a small, independent Irish film with an award-winning, folksy theme tune called Falling Slowly, telling the story of a struggling musician about to quit who meets an eastern European free spirit who turns his life upside. Full disclosure: I didn’t really like it.
Now the film has been reinvented for the stage, with a score full of songs by the same writing duo, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, and a book by celebrated Irish playwright Enda Walsh. And while lots of the same things that disappointed so much about the film are still there, the musical adaptation seems like a vastly improved enterprise all round.
Sure, the story is so slight as to be invisible when it turns sideways. Boy meets girl… er, that’s it. Yes, they’re both immensely irritating in their own special ways, either through self-indulgent misery signalling (him) or relentless blind optimism (her). And you’ve really got to like guitar-based, Irish-tinged folksy tracks to cope with two-and-a-half hours of back-to-back balladeering that renders this more of a gig than a theatrical experience.
All that said, this Ipswich-Hornchurch touring co-production certainly has energy, with 14 on-stage musicians bashing out the tunes with some sumptuous harmonies and a full, rich sound. Peter Rowe’s direction exploits the actor-musicianship to the full, with choreography and movement (Francesca Jaynes) supplementing the singing and playing. And Libby Watson’s set design conjures up a Dublin pub, a recording studio and even a quay on the Liffey with atmosphere and charm.
Daniel Healy and Emma Lucia play the Guy and Girl with commitment, and both sing and play beautifully. While some of the other characters are as flimsy as the storyline, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm among the players, and there’s a certain joie de vivre about the experience that helps carry much of the weight of expectation.
Hindered by its source material, the musical version of Once is, at the same time, hard to recommend and hard to criticise. Maybe worth seeing… once.
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON
February 19, 2020
North Hall, Spencer Yard, Leamington until Saturday, February 22
It began as a short story in 1959, based on some real-life experiences in the life of American writer Daniel Keyes. Nominally falling into the science fiction genre, Flowers for Algernon tells the story of Charlie Gordon, a sweet but ultra low-intelligence young man who struggles with reading and writing and most forms of social interaction.
Keyes’s main theme was whether it’s possible to surgically intervene to improve someone’s intelligence. In the story, having succeeded with a laboratory mouse – the eponymous Algernon – the two eminent doctors Strauss and Nemur put their theories to the test with Charlie.
The narrative is inherently episodic: the original takes the form of a succession of Charlie’s first-person “progress reports”, and this stage adaptation cleverly updates the concept to turn it into a video diary, screened intermittently as a kind of commentary on scenes that are staged in the round.
Director Greg Cole is nothing if not ambitious, weaving together sound, video, live action and, yes, a real scene-stealing mouse to keep the story constantly moving through a series of short, snappy vignettes. The playing space is used imaginatively, the tempo never allowed to flag, and the poignancy and sadness of the tale are always at the heart of the production.
The man tasked with portraying Charlie’s huge emotional arc is actor Ben Thorne, and his journey is unenviable. From the slow-witted but amiable floor-sweeper to the brilliant academic, the range he has to cover is enormous – and all in the space of 75 tight minutes. With eight dedicated supporting players helping him to chart the epic transformation, the production manages to strike chords of empathy and moral introspection that ask thought-provoking questions and even dare to implicate the viewer.
It’s challenging stuff, especially in these days of nascent eugenicists in Number 10, and makes a strong case for the revivification of this 60-year-old story. Just don’t get too distracted by the (criminally uncredited) mouse.
Running time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Flowers for Algernon runs at North Hall, Leamington Spa, until Saturday, February 22, 2020.
February 19, 2020
North Hall, Spencer Yard, Leamington until Saturday, February 22
It began as a short story in 1959, based on some real-life experiences in the life of American writer Daniel Keyes. Nominally falling into the science fiction genre, Flowers for Algernon tells the story of Charlie Gordon, a sweet but ultra low-intelligence young man who struggles with reading and writing and most forms of social interaction.
Keyes’s main theme was whether it’s possible to surgically intervene to improve someone’s intelligence. In the story, having succeeded with a laboratory mouse – the eponymous Algernon – the two eminent doctors Strauss and Nemur put their theories to the test with Charlie.
The narrative is inherently episodic: the original takes the form of a succession of Charlie’s first-person “progress reports”, and this stage adaptation cleverly updates the concept to turn it into a video diary, screened intermittently as a kind of commentary on scenes that are staged in the round.
Director Greg Cole is nothing if not ambitious, weaving together sound, video, live action and, yes, a real scene-stealing mouse to keep the story constantly moving through a series of short, snappy vignettes. The playing space is used imaginatively, the tempo never allowed to flag, and the poignancy and sadness of the tale are always at the heart of the production.
The man tasked with portraying Charlie’s huge emotional arc is actor Ben Thorne, and his journey is unenviable. From the slow-witted but amiable floor-sweeper to the brilliant academic, the range he has to cover is enormous – and all in the space of 75 tight minutes. With eight dedicated supporting players helping him to chart the epic transformation, the production manages to strike chords of empathy and moral introspection that ask thought-provoking questions and even dare to implicate the viewer.
It’s challenging stuff, especially in these days of nascent eugenicists in Number 10, and makes a strong case for the revivification of this 60-year-old story. Just don’t get too distracted by the (criminally uncredited) mouse.
Running time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Flowers for Algernon runs at North Hall, Leamington Spa, until Saturday, February 22, 2020.
The cast of Club 2B launch their immersive experience on the audience. Photo by Robert Day.
CLUB 2B
* * * *
December 12, 2019
B2 Studio, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Tuesday, December 31, 2019
How to describe this elusive, effervescent theatrical event? Part cabaret show, part dinner entertainment, part historical feminist mythological tract, Club 2B is impossible to pin down.
It’s the product of Strictly Arts Theatre Company, which has previously won support from Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre as part of its talent development programme. If the talent developed here is anything to go by, the programme is a palpable hit.
Director Corey Campbell has devised the show with his cast and crew, and plays the central character, Zeus. Ostensibly, the narrative follows the Greek god vaguely through human history in pursuit of his lost queen, Hera, who transforms herself into a variety of real and fictional female icons from Lady Godiva (well, this is Coventry) to Marilyn Monroe. Along the way, he learns that male domination is a thing of the past and these days, to borrow from another pair of female icons, sisters are doing it for themselves.
It’s a spirited, enjoyable thread that doesn’t develop much from its straightforward theme. But what makes Club 2B stand out is its unique range of media and performances. Starting with dinner at cabaret-style tables in the Belgrade’s studio space, the show evolves over a couple of frantic hours to take in every performance form you can imagine.
On the musical front, there’s rap, smoky jazz, American standards – even a bit of Bruce Springsteen – and it’s all delivered with style and panache by the versatile cast and a smooth three-piece band. But it doesn’t stop there, not by any means. Along the way, there’s close-up magic, video projection, tap-dancing, slapstick comedy, casino gambling tables and more, all deployed to keep the audience immersed in this most immersive of experiences. Invited from the outset to dress for the occasion, guests are frequently, delightedly, involved in the performance itself.
The cast are universally talented and engaging, even when the audience is unsure how to react to whatever’s coming next. Campbell is a charismatic central figure, but the five women who play different incarnations of Hera match him step for step. Iona Coburn transmutes from diffident cleaner to fearless goddess with ease; Aimee Powell’s Daisy, from The Great Gatsby, is brash and ballsy; Meg Forgan’s Monroe is as sexy as you could wish for; Charis McRoberts plays Godiva as a vibrant rebel in her own land; and Katy Anna-Southgate holds things together as a feisty maître d’ with her own line in keeping order.
Alicia Gardener-Trejo, Graham Campbell and Jonathan Campbell maintain a steady impetus with their wide-ranging musical accompaniment, Gardener-Trejo’s sultry, rasping saxophone adding much to the atmosphere of an underground club, and the mood is both intoxicating and mesmerising.
For a very different night out as an alternative to all those Christmas parties and pantos, Club 2B has an awful lot going for it. Check your expectations at the door and prepare for an experience that’s not quite like any other.
* * * *
December 12, 2019
B2 Studio, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Tuesday, December 31, 2019
How to describe this elusive, effervescent theatrical event? Part cabaret show, part dinner entertainment, part historical feminist mythological tract, Club 2B is impossible to pin down.
It’s the product of Strictly Arts Theatre Company, which has previously won support from Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre as part of its talent development programme. If the talent developed here is anything to go by, the programme is a palpable hit.
Director Corey Campbell has devised the show with his cast and crew, and plays the central character, Zeus. Ostensibly, the narrative follows the Greek god vaguely through human history in pursuit of his lost queen, Hera, who transforms herself into a variety of real and fictional female icons from Lady Godiva (well, this is Coventry) to Marilyn Monroe. Along the way, he learns that male domination is a thing of the past and these days, to borrow from another pair of female icons, sisters are doing it for themselves.
It’s a spirited, enjoyable thread that doesn’t develop much from its straightforward theme. But what makes Club 2B stand out is its unique range of media and performances. Starting with dinner at cabaret-style tables in the Belgrade’s studio space, the show evolves over a couple of frantic hours to take in every performance form you can imagine.
On the musical front, there’s rap, smoky jazz, American standards – even a bit of Bruce Springsteen – and it’s all delivered with style and panache by the versatile cast and a smooth three-piece band. But it doesn’t stop there, not by any means. Along the way, there’s close-up magic, video projection, tap-dancing, slapstick comedy, casino gambling tables and more, all deployed to keep the audience immersed in this most immersive of experiences. Invited from the outset to dress for the occasion, guests are frequently, delightedly, involved in the performance itself.
The cast are universally talented and engaging, even when the audience is unsure how to react to whatever’s coming next. Campbell is a charismatic central figure, but the five women who play different incarnations of Hera match him step for step. Iona Coburn transmutes from diffident cleaner to fearless goddess with ease; Aimee Powell’s Daisy, from The Great Gatsby, is brash and ballsy; Meg Forgan’s Monroe is as sexy as you could wish for; Charis McRoberts plays Godiva as a vibrant rebel in her own land; and Katy Anna-Southgate holds things together as a feisty maître d’ with her own line in keeping order.
Alicia Gardener-Trejo, Graham Campbell and Jonathan Campbell maintain a steady impetus with their wide-ranging musical accompaniment, Gardener-Trejo’s sultry, rasping saxophone adding much to the atmosphere of an underground club, and the mood is both intoxicating and mesmerising.
For a very different night out as an alternative to all those Christmas parties and pantos, Club 2B has an awful lot going for it. Check your expectations at the door and prepare for an experience that’s not quite like any other.
Dangerous: Angie Smith, Mark Huckett and Michael Sherwin in NJ Crisp's whodunnit.
DANGEROUS OBSESSION
October 11, 2019
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, October 12, 2019, then touring
When I first started reviewing, back in the early 1980s (yes, I am that old), there was a particular type of stage whodunnit that formed a stock element of what were then the fading days of regional rep theatre. I was reminded of those long-distant evenings by this solid, workmanlike production that is set to tour some pretty hefty venues between now and Christmas.
NJ Crisp, who cut his teeth on television behemoths such as Dixon of Dock Green and Dr Finlay’s Casebook before co-creating the iconic 1970s drama The Brothers, wrote for the stage as confidently and prolifically as he did for TV, and Dangerous Obsession is one of his better-known plays. Written in 1987, it had a decent West End run and was later turned into the movie Darkness Falls – although Crisp hated that so much he demanded his name be taken off the credits.
It’s easy to argue, with 30 years’ distance and a welter of beautifully crafted thrillers crowding the intervening years, that Dangerous Obsession now looks very much of its time – even, dare one say it, slightly creaky. A three-hander set in the conservatory of middle-class couple Mark and Sally Driscoll, it follows in real time the drama that plays out when an odd little man turns up unexpectedly and drags the secrets of the past firmly into the present.
It’s perfectly sound, neatly constructed and solidly played by Angie Smith, Michael Sherwin and Mark Huckett on a nicely dressed set by designer Duncan Hands. Director Karen Henson moves everyone about efficiently and the plot unfolds engagingly and in a way that retains interest right across the two-hour playing time.
Perhaps it’s unfair to draw comparisons, but thrillers these days are so tightly written, elegantly fashioned and pacily delivered that anything more thoughtful or sedately played is in danger of looking pedestrian, and there are definitely moments when the narrative could be driven along with more verve and attack.
But if you like your whodunnits in the more gentle Sunday evening telly vein, without too many challenges or too much grittiness, Dangerous Obsession offers much to please.
October 11, 2019
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, October 12, 2019, then touring
When I first started reviewing, back in the early 1980s (yes, I am that old), there was a particular type of stage whodunnit that formed a stock element of what were then the fading days of regional rep theatre. I was reminded of those long-distant evenings by this solid, workmanlike production that is set to tour some pretty hefty venues between now and Christmas.
NJ Crisp, who cut his teeth on television behemoths such as Dixon of Dock Green and Dr Finlay’s Casebook before co-creating the iconic 1970s drama The Brothers, wrote for the stage as confidently and prolifically as he did for TV, and Dangerous Obsession is one of his better-known plays. Written in 1987, it had a decent West End run and was later turned into the movie Darkness Falls – although Crisp hated that so much he demanded his name be taken off the credits.
It’s easy to argue, with 30 years’ distance and a welter of beautifully crafted thrillers crowding the intervening years, that Dangerous Obsession now looks very much of its time – even, dare one say it, slightly creaky. A three-hander set in the conservatory of middle-class couple Mark and Sally Driscoll, it follows in real time the drama that plays out when an odd little man turns up unexpectedly and drags the secrets of the past firmly into the present.
It’s perfectly sound, neatly constructed and solidly played by Angie Smith, Michael Sherwin and Mark Huckett on a nicely dressed set by designer Duncan Hands. Director Karen Henson moves everyone about efficiently and the plot unfolds engagingly and in a way that retains interest right across the two-hour playing time.
Perhaps it’s unfair to draw comparisons, but thrillers these days are so tightly written, elegantly fashioned and pacily delivered that anything more thoughtful or sedately played is in danger of looking pedestrian, and there are definitely moments when the narrative could be driven along with more verve and attack.
But if you like your whodunnits in the more gentle Sunday evening telly vein, without too many challenges or too much grittiness, Dangerous Obsession offers much to please.
STARDUST
September 20, 2019
B2 Studio, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, September 21, 2019
This new play with music by Phizzical Productions has an important message about the liberation of the LGBT community in Asian cultures, and its desire to normalise same-sex relationships by presenting them on stage as completely acceptable is thoroughly laudable.
The piece itself has some great strengths, most notably on the music and dance side, where its soundtrack and choreography are brilliantly realised by music producer Devesh Sodha and choreographer Leena Patel. With a story based in the world of the music business, there’s plenty of opportunity for stadium-style performances and flashy footwork, and these are the moments when the show really comes alive, lit frenetically by Grant Anderson and drenched in sparkles by costume designer-cum-director Samir Bhamra.
Less successful are the reflective numbers in which characters press the pause button to sing big ballads about their state of mind – these felt less helpful to the narrative and more obstructive to the smooth running of the tale. In fact, although it’s billed as a ‘musical thriller’, it feels more like a straight play with a few songs added in.
This unevenness of tone affects things elsewhere: the plot ranges wildly, including elements of murder mystery, LGBT love, reincarnation and even the #MeToo movement – with a twist – and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with tackling big subjects, the scattergun approach unfortunately induces a lack of focus that undermines the potentially interesting story at the heart of the play.
Robby Khela, whose song Unashamed inspired the original development of the piece, plays Amar, a rising Youtube star hoping to be taken under the wing of music giant Cyrus (Christoph L Dorocant). But complications arise from Amar’s clandestine relationship with Seth (Aizaac Sidhu) and his discovery of secrets from Cyrus’s dodgy past.
The size of the ensemble reflects the bold ambition of the company, to tell a big story in a stylish and provocative way, and that ambition is helped enormously by Richard Evans’s set design, which uses neon lighting, shiny surfaces and ingenious theatrical tricks to great effect. If the overall impact of the show is less convincing, it’s not for want of effort.
September 20, 2019
B2 Studio, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, September 21, 2019
This new play with music by Phizzical Productions has an important message about the liberation of the LGBT community in Asian cultures, and its desire to normalise same-sex relationships by presenting them on stage as completely acceptable is thoroughly laudable.
The piece itself has some great strengths, most notably on the music and dance side, where its soundtrack and choreography are brilliantly realised by music producer Devesh Sodha and choreographer Leena Patel. With a story based in the world of the music business, there’s plenty of opportunity for stadium-style performances and flashy footwork, and these are the moments when the show really comes alive, lit frenetically by Grant Anderson and drenched in sparkles by costume designer-cum-director Samir Bhamra.
Less successful are the reflective numbers in which characters press the pause button to sing big ballads about their state of mind – these felt less helpful to the narrative and more obstructive to the smooth running of the tale. In fact, although it’s billed as a ‘musical thriller’, it feels more like a straight play with a few songs added in.
This unevenness of tone affects things elsewhere: the plot ranges wildly, including elements of murder mystery, LGBT love, reincarnation and even the #MeToo movement – with a twist – and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with tackling big subjects, the scattergun approach unfortunately induces a lack of focus that undermines the potentially interesting story at the heart of the play.
Robby Khela, whose song Unashamed inspired the original development of the piece, plays Amar, a rising Youtube star hoping to be taken under the wing of music giant Cyrus (Christoph L Dorocant). But complications arise from Amar’s clandestine relationship with Seth (Aizaac Sidhu) and his discovery of secrets from Cyrus’s dodgy past.
The size of the ensemble reflects the bold ambition of the company, to tell a big story in a stylish and provocative way, and that ambition is helped enormously by Richard Evans’s set design, which uses neon lighting, shiny surfaces and ingenious theatrical tricks to great effect. If the overall impact of the show is less convincing, it’s not for want of effort.
Debut: Tyger Drew-Honey stars in Posh.
POSH
* * * *
September 6, 2019
Oxford Playhouse, then touring
Outnumbered and Cuckoo favourite Tyger Drew-Honey makes his professional stage debut in a pertinent revival of Laura Wade’s shocking deconstruction of power through the lens of a fictional version of Oxford University’s Bullingdon Club.
Read Michael Davies’s full review at whatsonstage.com
* * * *
September 6, 2019
Oxford Playhouse, then touring
Outnumbered and Cuckoo favourite Tyger Drew-Honey makes his professional stage debut in a pertinent revival of Laura Wade’s shocking deconstruction of power through the lens of a fictional version of Oxford University’s Bullingdon Club.
Read Michael Davies’s full review at whatsonstage.com
PRIVATE LIVES
* * *
August 31, 2019
Heartbreak Productions tour, Hanbury Hall, Droitwich
If you thought a Prime Ministerial resignation, a Tory leadership election and the vagaries of the British weather had made for a particularly long summer, spare a thought for the acting teams out on the road come rain or shine delivering open-air theatre in the setting of parks, gardens and National Trust houses.
This year, Heartbreak have added David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny to their roster, as well as consolidating previous successes with Wuthering Heights and a digital-era Romeo and Juliet (reviewed below). Noel Coward’s vicious, snarky comedy Private Lives completes this season’s assortment, which comes to an end in early September as the various tours wind up.
Months on the road can do interesting things to a production: on one hand, there’s a sense of security and confidence about the delivery that gives an audience reassurance and helps them to relax. On the other, tired players with half an eye on the end of the tour can seem just a little too comfortable in their well-trodden performances.
The late-summer outing of this particular production fortunately steers the right side of confident – easygoing without being complacent. Much of this is down to the self-assured talents of leading company member Abigail Castleton, who plays Coward’s acidic heroine Amanda with a judicious mix of recklessness and rancour. She’s consistently watchable, with a finely tuned ear for a comic aside or astute ad lib.
Alexander Gordon’s Elyot, her former husband now thrown together with her once more in an exquisite tussle of wits and charms, has a challenge on his hands keeping up with her, while Jason Ryall is excellent as her new husband Victor, sparring capably with Bethany Down’s Sibyl, Elyot’s new wife. William Keetch provides an entertaining French maid to complete the Coward cast list.
But of course, this being Heartbreak, that’s not the whole picture. The play is delivered with a framing device – in this case, the staff of a French hotel using Coward’s script as a means of demonstrating how not to behave in their Gallic establishment. It’s the cue for much humour at the expense of our European neighbours, but also a showcase for Keetch, who is also the master of ceremonies in a nightmarish alternative ’Allo ’Allo episode.
In some ways, the device draws attention away from the sparkling Coward dialogue, but it’s all delivered in such a warm and high-spirited way that it would be positively curmudgeonly to pick holes. And that’s part of the winning Heartbreak formula: the energy and enthusiasm of the whole enterprise carries all before it – and that invariably includes the audience.
* * *
August 31, 2019
Heartbreak Productions tour, Hanbury Hall, Droitwich
If you thought a Prime Ministerial resignation, a Tory leadership election and the vagaries of the British weather had made for a particularly long summer, spare a thought for the acting teams out on the road come rain or shine delivering open-air theatre in the setting of parks, gardens and National Trust houses.
This year, Heartbreak have added David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny to their roster, as well as consolidating previous successes with Wuthering Heights and a digital-era Romeo and Juliet (reviewed below). Noel Coward’s vicious, snarky comedy Private Lives completes this season’s assortment, which comes to an end in early September as the various tours wind up.
Months on the road can do interesting things to a production: on one hand, there’s a sense of security and confidence about the delivery that gives an audience reassurance and helps them to relax. On the other, tired players with half an eye on the end of the tour can seem just a little too comfortable in their well-trodden performances.
The late-summer outing of this particular production fortunately steers the right side of confident – easygoing without being complacent. Much of this is down to the self-assured talents of leading company member Abigail Castleton, who plays Coward’s acidic heroine Amanda with a judicious mix of recklessness and rancour. She’s consistently watchable, with a finely tuned ear for a comic aside or astute ad lib.
Alexander Gordon’s Elyot, her former husband now thrown together with her once more in an exquisite tussle of wits and charms, has a challenge on his hands keeping up with her, while Jason Ryall is excellent as her new husband Victor, sparring capably with Bethany Down’s Sibyl, Elyot’s new wife. William Keetch provides an entertaining French maid to complete the Coward cast list.
But of course, this being Heartbreak, that’s not the whole picture. The play is delivered with a framing device – in this case, the staff of a French hotel using Coward’s script as a means of demonstrating how not to behave in their Gallic establishment. It’s the cue for much humour at the expense of our European neighbours, but also a showcase for Keetch, who is also the master of ceremonies in a nightmarish alternative ’Allo ’Allo episode.
In some ways, the device draws attention away from the sparkling Coward dialogue, but it’s all delivered in such a warm and high-spirited way that it would be positively curmudgeonly to pick holes. And that’s part of the winning Heartbreak formula: the energy and enthusiasm of the whole enterprise carries all before it – and that invariably includes the audience.
ROMEO AND JULIET
* * * *
July 17, 2019
Heartbreak Productions tour, Brueton Park, Solihull
Updating Shakespeare to the modern world is often fraught with difficulties. How, for instance, do you address the problem of 21st century technology, or weaponry, or even language?
For this new touring version from longstanding outdoor theatre experts Heartbreak Productions, director Alan Atkins doesn’t so much embrace the difficulties as grab them in a headlock and force them into submission. Set in a hyper-modern world of celebrity vacuity and social media warfare, this Romeo and Juliet is brash, bold and often beguiling.
Technology is seamlessly woven into the narrative, with television news bulletins, Skype calls and text messages made integral to the action; the knives used in the internecine fighting feel utterly of the moment; and Atkins’s decision to ‘translate’ some of Shakespeare’s lines to a present-day idiom works, for the most part, pretty well.
His logic here is certainly sound: each character’s use of language is a reflection of their authenticity. Thus the vapid Lord and Lady Capulet frequently speak in strangled estuary tones, while the earnest romantic leads stick mainly to the Bard’s poetry. When the emotions soar, so do the words.
There’s a rather superfluous framing device, in which the audience is supposedly awaiting the launch of a new ‘R&J’ perfume, but when the launch goes wrong, the hapless PR team are forced to tell the story of Romeo and Juliet to fill the time. But the greatest fun – and, ironically, most authentic storytelling – comes from the main body of the tale, told clearly and with a real sense of drama.
Five performers tackle the army of characters with energy and enthusiasm. William Keech and Bethany Down play the star-cross’d lovers with youthful brio and no little tenderness. Abigail Castleton and Jason Ryall offer a dizzying range of accents and characterisations in their multiple roles, while Alex Gordon’s East European Nurse (among many other parts) threatens to steal the show. The only shame is that his character isn’t in the end allowed to play Juliet (despite having the legs).
It may not be for the purists – there are too many linguistic liberties for that – but it’s absolutely in keeping with Heartbreak’s trademark style of great storytelling with a twinkle in the eye. Aficionados already have Heartbreak’s shows in their summer diaries. Newcomers should take note too.
Romeo and Juliet plays in repertory with Private Lives at venues across the country until September 5, 2019. Other Heartbreak shows touring this summer are Wuthering Heights and David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
* * * *
July 17, 2019
Heartbreak Productions tour, Brueton Park, Solihull
Updating Shakespeare to the modern world is often fraught with difficulties. How, for instance, do you address the problem of 21st century technology, or weaponry, or even language?
For this new touring version from longstanding outdoor theatre experts Heartbreak Productions, director Alan Atkins doesn’t so much embrace the difficulties as grab them in a headlock and force them into submission. Set in a hyper-modern world of celebrity vacuity and social media warfare, this Romeo and Juliet is brash, bold and often beguiling.
Technology is seamlessly woven into the narrative, with television news bulletins, Skype calls and text messages made integral to the action; the knives used in the internecine fighting feel utterly of the moment; and Atkins’s decision to ‘translate’ some of Shakespeare’s lines to a present-day idiom works, for the most part, pretty well.
His logic here is certainly sound: each character’s use of language is a reflection of their authenticity. Thus the vapid Lord and Lady Capulet frequently speak in strangled estuary tones, while the earnest romantic leads stick mainly to the Bard’s poetry. When the emotions soar, so do the words.
There’s a rather superfluous framing device, in which the audience is supposedly awaiting the launch of a new ‘R&J’ perfume, but when the launch goes wrong, the hapless PR team are forced to tell the story of Romeo and Juliet to fill the time. But the greatest fun – and, ironically, most authentic storytelling – comes from the main body of the tale, told clearly and with a real sense of drama.
Five performers tackle the army of characters with energy and enthusiasm. William Keech and Bethany Down play the star-cross’d lovers with youthful brio and no little tenderness. Abigail Castleton and Jason Ryall offer a dizzying range of accents and characterisations in their multiple roles, while Alex Gordon’s East European Nurse (among many other parts) threatens to steal the show. The only shame is that his character isn’t in the end allowed to play Juliet (despite having the legs).
It may not be for the purists – there are too many linguistic liberties for that – but it’s absolutely in keeping with Heartbreak’s trademark style of great storytelling with a twinkle in the eye. Aficionados already have Heartbreak’s shows in their summer diaries. Newcomers should take note too.
Romeo and Juliet plays in repertory with Private Lives at venues across the country until September 5, 2019. Other Heartbreak shows touring this summer are Wuthering Heights and David Walliams’s Gangsta Granny. See www.heartbreakproductions.co.uk for details.
LYTHAM FESTIVAL
* * * * *
July 10-15, 2019
Lytham
As the husband of a genuine Blackpool lass, it’s a bit shaming to admit that the Lytham Festival has so far managed to evade my radar. The tenth anniversary event – staged, as always, on the sea front of this elegant Lancashire town – has instantly turned it into an annual landmark on my calendar.
It doesn’t have the colossal audiences, hype or sheer scale of Glastonbury, but it more than makes up for it with atmosphere, charm and a line-up that the Eavis family would be proud to offer. Arriving too late for the opening night act The Human League (who went down a storm, by all accounts), my own inauguration came with a two-hour, hit-laden set from Welsh favourites The Stereophonics, capably supported by Tom Grennan and short-notice stand-ins Sophie and the Giants.
By Friday night, the whole town was in party mood and up for a roaring set courtesy of headliner Kylie Minogue. Radio 2 DJ Ana Matronic warmed things up, which was just as well for the good-natured Sophie Ellis Bextor, who followed her into the forceful breeze wearing little more than a sunshine-coloured nightie. Her clutch of singable, chart-friendly tunes laid down exactly the right tone for the main event, and when the Aussie songstress herself arrived on a fully-staged set, complete with dancers, scenery and more costumes than you could throw a boomerang at, the night was complete.
Now the question would be, could Saturday’s headliner match up to Kylie’s high-energy, infectious compilation of hits? Step forward Sir Rod Stewart and his superb live band, dressed in pink jackets and as laid-back and comfortable as the man himself. Reeling off hit after hit from his extraordinary career, the septuagenarian looked as fit and as happy to be there as someone half his age, and the songs sounded as fresh as if he’d put the records out this year. Winding up with a rousing Maggie May and a powerful, moving rendition of Sailing, there was more than one handbag being plundered for tissues around the arena.
The Lytham Festival had modest origins, starting in 2009 as One Night on Lytham Green, when it featured Lesley Garrett and Alfie Boe delivering musical theatre favourites. In the intervening years, it has hosted the likes of Tom Jones, Bryan Adams and Noel Gallagher, but the musical theatre element has never gone away, and Sunday night’s finale paid fitting tribute to that legacy.
Headlined by stage giants Michael Ball and Sheridan Smith, the evening was titled Hollywood Proms – and there were some surprises in store. A host of musical theatre stars emerged, one after another, to deliver songs from Sondheim to Stiles and Drewe, Bernstein to Bond. Collabro gave us The Circle of Life, Leanne Jones reprised her West End Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray, Louise Marshall stopped the show with her stunning Licence to Kill, Lea Salonga gave us a touch of Mulan and Marisha Wallace and Rachel John competed stunningly with their Dreamgirls and Whitney Houston numbers.
Sheridan Smith had everyone reaching for those tissues again as patron of TramShed, an inclusive local theatre company of youngsters who showcased their talents with her on This Is Me, before Michael Ball rounded things off with a varied selection of numbers culminating in a boa-wearing You Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray. Then the flags were out and the fireworks released as the week’s barnstorming activities came to a fitting end in the shape of Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory – not so much Hollywood as homegrown, but nobody was about to complain about that.
With stars like these, and performances of this calibre, Lytham Festival looks well placed to continue far into its second decade. They might not have released the dates and line-up for 2020’s event yet, but I’m certainly keeping my diary clear until they do.
* * * * *
July 10-15, 2019
Lytham
As the husband of a genuine Blackpool lass, it’s a bit shaming to admit that the Lytham Festival has so far managed to evade my radar. The tenth anniversary event – staged, as always, on the sea front of this elegant Lancashire town – has instantly turned it into an annual landmark on my calendar.
It doesn’t have the colossal audiences, hype or sheer scale of Glastonbury, but it more than makes up for it with atmosphere, charm and a line-up that the Eavis family would be proud to offer. Arriving too late for the opening night act The Human League (who went down a storm, by all accounts), my own inauguration came with a two-hour, hit-laden set from Welsh favourites The Stereophonics, capably supported by Tom Grennan and short-notice stand-ins Sophie and the Giants.
By Friday night, the whole town was in party mood and up for a roaring set courtesy of headliner Kylie Minogue. Radio 2 DJ Ana Matronic warmed things up, which was just as well for the good-natured Sophie Ellis Bextor, who followed her into the forceful breeze wearing little more than a sunshine-coloured nightie. Her clutch of singable, chart-friendly tunes laid down exactly the right tone for the main event, and when the Aussie songstress herself arrived on a fully-staged set, complete with dancers, scenery and more costumes than you could throw a boomerang at, the night was complete.
Now the question would be, could Saturday’s headliner match up to Kylie’s high-energy, infectious compilation of hits? Step forward Sir Rod Stewart and his superb live band, dressed in pink jackets and as laid-back and comfortable as the man himself. Reeling off hit after hit from his extraordinary career, the septuagenarian looked as fit and as happy to be there as someone half his age, and the songs sounded as fresh as if he’d put the records out this year. Winding up with a rousing Maggie May and a powerful, moving rendition of Sailing, there was more than one handbag being plundered for tissues around the arena.
The Lytham Festival had modest origins, starting in 2009 as One Night on Lytham Green, when it featured Lesley Garrett and Alfie Boe delivering musical theatre favourites. In the intervening years, it has hosted the likes of Tom Jones, Bryan Adams and Noel Gallagher, but the musical theatre element has never gone away, and Sunday night’s finale paid fitting tribute to that legacy.
Headlined by stage giants Michael Ball and Sheridan Smith, the evening was titled Hollywood Proms – and there were some surprises in store. A host of musical theatre stars emerged, one after another, to deliver songs from Sondheim to Stiles and Drewe, Bernstein to Bond. Collabro gave us The Circle of Life, Leanne Jones reprised her West End Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray, Louise Marshall stopped the show with her stunning Licence to Kill, Lea Salonga gave us a touch of Mulan and Marisha Wallace and Rachel John competed stunningly with their Dreamgirls and Whitney Houston numbers.
Sheridan Smith had everyone reaching for those tissues again as patron of TramShed, an inclusive local theatre company of youngsters who showcased their talents with her on This Is Me, before Michael Ball rounded things off with a varied selection of numbers culminating in a boa-wearing You Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray. Then the flags were out and the fireworks released as the week’s barnstorming activities came to a fitting end in the shape of Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory – not so much Hollywood as homegrown, but nobody was about to complain about that.
With stars like these, and performances of this calibre, Lytham Festival looks well placed to continue far into its second decade. They might not have released the dates and line-up for 2020’s event yet, but I’m certainly keeping my diary clear until they do.
The strange tale of identical twins Nora and Dora is played out in Emma Rice's Wise Children.
WISE CHILDREN
* * *
April 4, 2019
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, April 6, 2019
The tale of Emma Rice’s unhappy spell at the helm of The Globe in London has been well documented. Since her departure from that traditionalist Shakespearean playhouse, she has returned to what could probably be argued to be her roots, with touring, fantastical theatre aimed at reaching the parts other theatre doesn’t reach.
There’s more than a whiff of her former company Kneehigh about her new project, Wise Children, which takes its name from the Angela Carter novel she has adapted for its first show. Co-produced by the Belgrade, the Old Vic, Oxford Playhouse and York Theatre Royal, it’s a glossy, glamorous affair of stylized faded grandeur, feting a lost world of vaudeville and 20th century England.
Rice herself performs in the last leg of the show’s UK tour, but it’s very much an ensemble piece, with a cast of 12 and a band of three attempting to cram the sprawling, unwieldy narrative into two-and-a-half hours of stage time. It’s a tall order, and much of the story is necessarily whizzed through as the lives of identical twins Nora and Dora Chance are played out from before their birth to their 75th birthday.
There are some nice theatrical flourishes. Three sets of performers play the girls at different stages in their lives, with the oldest pair narrating the tale as a kind of Greek chorus. Old Kneehigh tricks with props, puppets, costumes and sleight-of-hand are used very effectively as part of the storytelling magic, and there’s a warmth to the endeavour, along with the yellow lighting, that adds much to its appeal.
Personally, I’m not greatly engaged by the story itself. There’s something seedy about the misogyny, selfishness and even child molestation at its heart, especially when contrasted with the merry vaudevillian slapstick way in which much of it is presented, that leaves an extremely uncomfortable taste. Far too many of the characters are just plain unpleasant, making an evening in their company rather testing at times.
There’s also something relentless about the insistent musical underscore – although the occasional jazz standard along the way provides a welcome interlude.
But it’s all done very proficiently, with high production values and a twinkle in its eye. And the ovation from much of the audience suggests there’s plenty of room for this kind of end-of-the-pier, easily digestible fantasy.
* * *
April 4, 2019
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, April 6, 2019
The tale of Emma Rice’s unhappy spell at the helm of The Globe in London has been well documented. Since her departure from that traditionalist Shakespearean playhouse, she has returned to what could probably be argued to be her roots, with touring, fantastical theatre aimed at reaching the parts other theatre doesn’t reach.
There’s more than a whiff of her former company Kneehigh about her new project, Wise Children, which takes its name from the Angela Carter novel she has adapted for its first show. Co-produced by the Belgrade, the Old Vic, Oxford Playhouse and York Theatre Royal, it’s a glossy, glamorous affair of stylized faded grandeur, feting a lost world of vaudeville and 20th century England.
Rice herself performs in the last leg of the show’s UK tour, but it’s very much an ensemble piece, with a cast of 12 and a band of three attempting to cram the sprawling, unwieldy narrative into two-and-a-half hours of stage time. It’s a tall order, and much of the story is necessarily whizzed through as the lives of identical twins Nora and Dora Chance are played out from before their birth to their 75th birthday.
There are some nice theatrical flourishes. Three sets of performers play the girls at different stages in their lives, with the oldest pair narrating the tale as a kind of Greek chorus. Old Kneehigh tricks with props, puppets, costumes and sleight-of-hand are used very effectively as part of the storytelling magic, and there’s a warmth to the endeavour, along with the yellow lighting, that adds much to its appeal.
Personally, I’m not greatly engaged by the story itself. There’s something seedy about the misogyny, selfishness and even child molestation at its heart, especially when contrasted with the merry vaudevillian slapstick way in which much of it is presented, that leaves an extremely uncomfortable taste. Far too many of the characters are just plain unpleasant, making an evening in their company rather testing at times.
There’s also something relentless about the insistent musical underscore – although the occasional jazz standard along the way provides a welcome interlude.
But it’s all done very proficiently, with high production values and a twinkle in its eye. And the ovation from much of the audience suggests there’s plenty of room for this kind of end-of-the-pier, easily digestible fantasy.
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STAGES AT SEA - FLOATING FESTIVAL
* * * * *
October 15-19, 2018
Southampton to Amsterdam cruise
Somebody somewhere had a stroke of genius. Combining musical theatre and a cruise makes for a genuinely engaging personal experience wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of spectacle and showmanship.
Find out what else our editor Michael Davies had to say about his time on board the Navigator of the Seas, where he also hosted Q&A sessions with Collabro and Lee Mead (above). Read the full review at whatsonstage.com
* * * * *
October 15-19, 2018
Southampton to Amsterdam cruise
Somebody somewhere had a stroke of genius. Combining musical theatre and a cruise makes for a genuinely engaging personal experience wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of spectacle and showmanship.
Find out what else our editor Michael Davies had to say about his time on board the Navigator of the Seas, where he also hosted Q&A sessions with Collabro and Lee Mead (above). Read the full review at whatsonstage.com
Chaos: Elizabeth McGovern, Amanda Abbington and Ralf Little in God of Carnage.
GOD OF CARNAGE
* * * *
September 6, 2018
Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday September 15, 2018
Hailed as a riotous satire on the pretensions of the middle classes, Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage holds a fascinating place in modern French theatre, second only to her earlier play Art. Its English adaptation by Christopher Hampton has never quite worked for me, usually performed in a slightly awkward, stilted manner that creates obstacles to its barbs really hitting home.
No such problems beset Lindsay Posner’s new version at Bath, which fizzes and frazzles through a blistering 75 minutes or so with barely a pause for breath and every thorn sticking pointedly. It’s still a not-very-nice play about four rather unpleasant people, but in the hands of Posner and his wonderful cast, it carries a fresh menace in its Gallic humour.
In their classy, tasteful home, Veronica and Michael are playing host to Annette and Alan to discuss the unruly playground behaviour which has led to their son being injured by the boy of the other couple. A meeting that begins with civility and apparently common purpose descends, in real time, into warring chaos just as savage and lawless as that of their offspring.
So far, so farcical. But the quartet of actors take their raw material and craft something so delightfully painful that it is simply mesmerising to watch. Elizabeth McGovern’s pretence at a higher moral code is wonderfully shattered as her beloved possessions and nurtured pomposity are ripped apart. Nigel Lindsay’s working-class boy made good makes the perfect foil for her, sometimes feeding her idiosyncrasies, sometimes exposing them cruelly.
As the visiting parents, Amanda Abbington and Ralf Little are a joy to behold. Abbington is feisty and forthright on the front foot but vulnerable and defenceless in retreat, while Little imbues his lawyer character with just the right amount of disdain and disinterest – until he’s brought crashing into the real world in a moment of theatrical brilliance.
On a beautiful set by Peter McKintosh, elegantly lit by Howard Harrison, Posner manoeuvres his players like a chess grandmaster, never allowing the action to fall too still and using the space and angles to carefully-judged effect throughout. The laughs are never cheaply bought but always well deserved, and the interaction between and within the two couples is impeccably drawn.
It’s as fine a representation of this tricky play as I’ve seen and should, if there’s any justice, get a life beyond its run in Bath.
* * * *
September 6, 2018
Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday September 15, 2018
Hailed as a riotous satire on the pretensions of the middle classes, Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage holds a fascinating place in modern French theatre, second only to her earlier play Art. Its English adaptation by Christopher Hampton has never quite worked for me, usually performed in a slightly awkward, stilted manner that creates obstacles to its barbs really hitting home.
No such problems beset Lindsay Posner’s new version at Bath, which fizzes and frazzles through a blistering 75 minutes or so with barely a pause for breath and every thorn sticking pointedly. It’s still a not-very-nice play about four rather unpleasant people, but in the hands of Posner and his wonderful cast, it carries a fresh menace in its Gallic humour.
In their classy, tasteful home, Veronica and Michael are playing host to Annette and Alan to discuss the unruly playground behaviour which has led to their son being injured by the boy of the other couple. A meeting that begins with civility and apparently common purpose descends, in real time, into warring chaos just as savage and lawless as that of their offspring.
So far, so farcical. But the quartet of actors take their raw material and craft something so delightfully painful that it is simply mesmerising to watch. Elizabeth McGovern’s pretence at a higher moral code is wonderfully shattered as her beloved possessions and nurtured pomposity are ripped apart. Nigel Lindsay’s working-class boy made good makes the perfect foil for her, sometimes feeding her idiosyncrasies, sometimes exposing them cruelly.
As the visiting parents, Amanda Abbington and Ralf Little are a joy to behold. Abbington is feisty and forthright on the front foot but vulnerable and defenceless in retreat, while Little imbues his lawyer character with just the right amount of disdain and disinterest – until he’s brought crashing into the real world in a moment of theatrical brilliance.
On a beautiful set by Peter McKintosh, elegantly lit by Howard Harrison, Posner manoeuvres his players like a chess grandmaster, never allowing the action to fall too still and using the space and angles to carefully-judged effect throughout. The laughs are never cheaply bought but always well deserved, and the interaction between and within the two couples is impeccably drawn.
It’s as fine a representation of this tricky play as I’ve seen and should, if there’s any justice, get a life beyond its run in Bath.
THE MIDNIGHT GANG
* * * *
July 21, 2018
Heartbreak Productions tour, Coventry Cathedral
One of the UK’s leading open-air touring companies, Heartbreak Productions, has had something of an extra feather in its cap in recent years: the rights to stage adaptations of the children’s books of David Walliams. This year, following in the footsteps of the likes of Ratburger and Mr Stink, they are taking The Midnight Gang out on the road for a huge nationwide expedition.
This performance, unusually staged indoors, is the first time the company has taken on the vast, echoing vaults of Coventry Cathedral. In truth, the venue does the six-strong ensemble few favours, swallowing up their lines and leaving the observers straining to hear some of the nuances of Derry Pope’s clever songs.
Leaving aside the constraints of the venue, however, there is a wealth of entertaining material to enjoy in David Kerby-Kendall’s spirited adaptation. Director Kristoffer Huball wisely keeps the action moving swiftly from scene to scene, never allowing the attention of the captivated young audience to wander.
And among the cast, there’s a whole host of likeable, laughable characters on display in the hospital children’s ward where the titular Midnight Gang get up to out-of-hours shenanigans, from the too-sick-to-join-in Sally (Meg Chaplin) to the eager, slightly dim-witted protagonist Tom (Adam Simmons). Benjamin Darlington, Grace Hussey-Bird and Matthew Cooper complete the gang very capably, while Howard Scott Walker provides plenty of fun with both his hunchback porter and his panto-dame matron.
It may be aimed predominantly at the youngsters, but there’s good fun to be had for the grown-ups too, whether it’s a sly poke at the Health Secretary or a charming polar bear ripping up the stage in one daft sequence. Importantly, it never takes itself too seriously, even when the message becomes potent. And ultimately, that’s where Heartbreak consistently scores highest.
* * * *
July 21, 2018
Heartbreak Productions tour, Coventry Cathedral
One of the UK’s leading open-air touring companies, Heartbreak Productions, has had something of an extra feather in its cap in recent years: the rights to stage adaptations of the children’s books of David Walliams. This year, following in the footsteps of the likes of Ratburger and Mr Stink, they are taking The Midnight Gang out on the road for a huge nationwide expedition.
This performance, unusually staged indoors, is the first time the company has taken on the vast, echoing vaults of Coventry Cathedral. In truth, the venue does the six-strong ensemble few favours, swallowing up their lines and leaving the observers straining to hear some of the nuances of Derry Pope’s clever songs.
Leaving aside the constraints of the venue, however, there is a wealth of entertaining material to enjoy in David Kerby-Kendall’s spirited adaptation. Director Kristoffer Huball wisely keeps the action moving swiftly from scene to scene, never allowing the attention of the captivated young audience to wander.
And among the cast, there’s a whole host of likeable, laughable characters on display in the hospital children’s ward where the titular Midnight Gang get up to out-of-hours shenanigans, from the too-sick-to-join-in Sally (Meg Chaplin) to the eager, slightly dim-witted protagonist Tom (Adam Simmons). Benjamin Darlington, Grace Hussey-Bird and Matthew Cooper complete the gang very capably, while Howard Scott Walker provides plenty of fun with both his hunchback porter and his panto-dame matron.
It may be aimed predominantly at the youngsters, but there’s good fun to be had for the grown-ups too, whether it’s a sly poke at the Health Secretary or a charming polar bear ripping up the stage in one daft sequence. Importantly, it never takes itself too seriously, even when the message becomes potent. And ultimately, that’s where Heartbreak consistently scores highest.
THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
* * * *
June 15, 2018
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
Like the regular steam train that the three Waterbury children look out for every day in Edith Nesbit’s children’s classic, The Railway Children has become a firm favourite with Heartbreak audiences. So much so that this production – first toured in 2006 – remains very much at the heart of the company’s repertoire.
That’s not to say that it feels in any way stale or by-numbers. In fact, quite the reverse is true. Thanks to the constant focus and energy of the cast and a deft though uncredited adaptation, the production feels fresh, vibrant and endlessly entertaining.
A cast of five perform on a cleverly designed traverse stage from designer Kate Wragg, which converts in the blink of an eye from station platform to steam engine footplate and the pace of Miriam Higgins’s direction never flags. Ashleigh Aston narrates as the oldest Waterbury child Roberta – or Bobby – who shepherds her siblings Phyllis and Peter (delightful, believable performances from Faye Lord and George Naylor) alongside her anxious mother (Bryony Tebbutt) while their father is away undergoing some indeterminate trial for unspecified but trumped-up charges of treason.
The fifth member of this capable ensemble is Shaun Miller, and full credit must be given for his extraordinary versatility, in both characters and accents. From a broad Scottish stationmaster Perks to a Russian emigre, via a grammar-school boy and a couple of feisty female roles, Miller repeatedly threatens to steal the show, saved from doing so only by virtue of the talents of the rest of the cast.
The Railway Children is one of four shows being toured by Heartbreak Productions this season – the others are Much Ado About Noghting, Pride and Prejudice and a new adaptation of David Walliams’s The Midnight Gang – and in the open-air setting of a British summertime, regardless of the weather, it genuinely warms the cockles like a steam locomotive’s firebox.
* * * *
June 15, 2018
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
Like the regular steam train that the three Waterbury children look out for every day in Edith Nesbit’s children’s classic, The Railway Children has become a firm favourite with Heartbreak audiences. So much so that this production – first toured in 2006 – remains very much at the heart of the company’s repertoire.
That’s not to say that it feels in any way stale or by-numbers. In fact, quite the reverse is true. Thanks to the constant focus and energy of the cast and a deft though uncredited adaptation, the production feels fresh, vibrant and endlessly entertaining.
A cast of five perform on a cleverly designed traverse stage from designer Kate Wragg, which converts in the blink of an eye from station platform to steam engine footplate and the pace of Miriam Higgins’s direction never flags. Ashleigh Aston narrates as the oldest Waterbury child Roberta – or Bobby – who shepherds her siblings Phyllis and Peter (delightful, believable performances from Faye Lord and George Naylor) alongside her anxious mother (Bryony Tebbutt) while their father is away undergoing some indeterminate trial for unspecified but trumped-up charges of treason.
The fifth member of this capable ensemble is Shaun Miller, and full credit must be given for his extraordinary versatility, in both characters and accents. From a broad Scottish stationmaster Perks to a Russian emigre, via a grammar-school boy and a couple of feisty female roles, Miller repeatedly threatens to steal the show, saved from doing so only by virtue of the talents of the rest of the cast.
The Railway Children is one of four shows being toured by Heartbreak Productions this season – the others are Much Ado About Noghting, Pride and Prejudice and a new adaptation of David Walliams’s The Midnight Gang – and in the open-air setting of a British summertime, regardless of the weather, it genuinely warms the cockles like a steam locomotive’s firebox.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
* * * *
June 3, 2018
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
What do you get if you combine one of English literature’s favourite comedies of manners, a glorious evening by a pretty lake and a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek theatre? It’s that time of year when open-air performances declare that the British summer has well and truly arrived.
Like the first swallows, the launch of a Heartbreak Productions tour is as good a signal as any that we’re into the season of lazy evenings in picturesque surroundings, possibly with a glass of something fizzy and the prospect of a charming couple of hours in the hands of some talented actors and a spot of engaging storytelling. As long as the weather holds.
Pride and Prejudice, revived by Heartbreak after its last outing in 2014, does not disappoint. It features a sparkling script by resident writer David Kerby-Kendall, remaining true to the spirit of Jane Austen’s original much-loved novel while introducing a few twinkly-eyed moments all of its own, and a hard-working cast of five who bring to life the entire population of Austen’s book with a wonderful array of characterisations and hats.
Abigail Castleton provides the linchpin as Elizabeth Bennet, narrator and protagonist of the tale of five sisters in want of husbands, but it’s entirely an ensemble affair, with Samantha Dart and Lauren Moakes creating Elizabeth’s sisters, mother, friends and foes with endless variety. George Attwell relishes his own clutch of cameos – particularly enjoyable is his creepily ingratiating clergyman Mr Collins – while Ben Thorne is dark and dashing as Mr Darcy and witty and withering as Mr Bennet.
Director Rebecca Gadsby keeps the action moving briskly, and the story is never less than crystal clear and elegantly drawn. The evening sunshine in Jepson Gardens might help, but the entertainment alone is more than enough to warm the heart.
* * * *
June 3, 2018
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
What do you get if you combine one of English literature’s favourite comedies of manners, a glorious evening by a pretty lake and a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek theatre? It’s that time of year when open-air performances declare that the British summer has well and truly arrived.
Like the first swallows, the launch of a Heartbreak Productions tour is as good a signal as any that we’re into the season of lazy evenings in picturesque surroundings, possibly with a glass of something fizzy and the prospect of a charming couple of hours in the hands of some talented actors and a spot of engaging storytelling. As long as the weather holds.
Pride and Prejudice, revived by Heartbreak after its last outing in 2014, does not disappoint. It features a sparkling script by resident writer David Kerby-Kendall, remaining true to the spirit of Jane Austen’s original much-loved novel while introducing a few twinkly-eyed moments all of its own, and a hard-working cast of five who bring to life the entire population of Austen’s book with a wonderful array of characterisations and hats.
Abigail Castleton provides the linchpin as Elizabeth Bennet, narrator and protagonist of the tale of five sisters in want of husbands, but it’s entirely an ensemble affair, with Samantha Dart and Lauren Moakes creating Elizabeth’s sisters, mother, friends and foes with endless variety. George Attwell relishes his own clutch of cameos – particularly enjoyable is his creepily ingratiating clergyman Mr Collins – while Ben Thorne is dark and dashing as Mr Darcy and witty and withering as Mr Bennet.
Director Rebecca Gadsby keeps the action moving briskly, and the story is never less than crystal clear and elegantly drawn. The evening sunshine in Jepson Gardens might help, but the entertainment alone is more than enough to warm the heart.
What did you expect? Nichola McAuliffe as Miss Havisham and Sean Aydon as Pip in Great Expectations.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
* * * *
May 2, 2018
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, May 5, 2018
It’s an ambitious project to take one of the weightiest, wordiest works of literature and translate it into a pacy, punchy piece of theatre. So full marks to the team at Tilted Wig, co-producers with Malvern Theatres, for living up to the Great Expectations which Dickens’s popular novel placed upon them.
The densely-populated, fast-moving narrative of the episodic original has been deftly distilled by writer Ken Bentley into a little under three hours of gripping storytelling. Much more than simply putting Dickens’s words onto the stage, the script manages to create genuinely dramatic moments and scenes, even when vast chunks of exposition are being downloaded.
In this endeavour, the play is aided enormously by a nine-strong cast of highly talented performers. They’re led by Nichola McAuliffe as the impenetrable Miss Havisham, a kind of prototype Kate Bush character whose whims and weirdness are beautifully drawn and who provides a central axis around which the sprawling action revolves.
Sean Aydon’s Pip ages extraordinarily from small rustic child to educated city gent as a host of bizarre but three-dimensional creations enter and exit from his life, all woven into a kind of thriller narrative uncovering who did what to whom and why. Standout characterisations include Edward Ferrow’s deeply moving Joe Gargery, Daniel Goode’s terrifying criminal Magwitch and James Dinsmore’s scheming lawyer Jaggers, but the whole company bring energy and variation to their multiple roles, peopling the production with memorable cameos and powerful moments.
It’s all accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Ollie King, who’s nifty with a mournful melodeon and feisty with a fiddle, and it plays out on an inventive, clever set (James Turner) consisting of a kind of iron-framed cube from which props, scenery and effects emerge and interact as required.
Sophie Boyce Couzens keeps a clear directorial hand on proceedings, with the aim evidently of keeping things rolling relentlessly on, and the pace never drags for a second. This doesn’t prevent her from finding moments of stillness and emotion, while some of the big set-pieces – a fire or a dramatic encounter on the Thames – are achieved with brilliant simplicity and effectiveness.
It’s a classy version of the classic tale and a fine tribute to this small but perfectly formed company, only in its second year of operation. But don’t hang about to catch it: it’s only in town until Saturday.
* * * *
May 2, 2018
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, until Saturday, May 5, 2018
It’s an ambitious project to take one of the weightiest, wordiest works of literature and translate it into a pacy, punchy piece of theatre. So full marks to the team at Tilted Wig, co-producers with Malvern Theatres, for living up to the Great Expectations which Dickens’s popular novel placed upon them.
The densely-populated, fast-moving narrative of the episodic original has been deftly distilled by writer Ken Bentley into a little under three hours of gripping storytelling. Much more than simply putting Dickens’s words onto the stage, the script manages to create genuinely dramatic moments and scenes, even when vast chunks of exposition are being downloaded.
In this endeavour, the play is aided enormously by a nine-strong cast of highly talented performers. They’re led by Nichola McAuliffe as the impenetrable Miss Havisham, a kind of prototype Kate Bush character whose whims and weirdness are beautifully drawn and who provides a central axis around which the sprawling action revolves.
Sean Aydon’s Pip ages extraordinarily from small rustic child to educated city gent as a host of bizarre but three-dimensional creations enter and exit from his life, all woven into a kind of thriller narrative uncovering who did what to whom and why. Standout characterisations include Edward Ferrow’s deeply moving Joe Gargery, Daniel Goode’s terrifying criminal Magwitch and James Dinsmore’s scheming lawyer Jaggers, but the whole company bring energy and variation to their multiple roles, peopling the production with memorable cameos and powerful moments.
It’s all accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Ollie King, who’s nifty with a mournful melodeon and feisty with a fiddle, and it plays out on an inventive, clever set (James Turner) consisting of a kind of iron-framed cube from which props, scenery and effects emerge and interact as required.
Sophie Boyce Couzens keeps a clear directorial hand on proceedings, with the aim evidently of keeping things rolling relentlessly on, and the pace never drags for a second. This doesn’t prevent her from finding moments of stillness and emotion, while some of the big set-pieces – a fire or a dramatic encounter on the Thames – are achieved with brilliant simplicity and effectiveness.
It’s a classy version of the classic tale and a fine tribute to this small but perfectly formed company, only in its second year of operation. But don’t hang about to catch it: it’s only in town until Saturday.
NORTHANGER ABBEY
* * *
September 5, 2017
Heartbreak Productions, Bridge House Theatre, Warwick
There’s something utterly charming about the notion of Jane Austen hosting a writing group that might have included William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Shelley. The charm provides an underscore of delightful daftness to Dani Carbery’s twinkling adaptation of Austen’s first completed novel. And it’s also a trademark of the company delivering the evening, the Leamington-based touring group Heartbreak Productions.
The company’s versatile teams of actors are more usually to be found in country house gardens, public parks and other open-air spaces for their summer tours, now in their 26th year. Here, the Northanger Abbey sextet are kicking off a week of indoor performances that will wrap up this year’s schedule.
At the risk of sounding like one of Austen’s more churlish characters, the show seems to lose some its innate sparkle by being confined to the indoor setting. While offering welcome respite from a downpour beyond the four walls, the limitations of a building put a restrictive formality around the proceedings which the open-air format manages to avoid.
Having said that, the performers do their utmost to whip up an audience-involving atmosphere of jolliness and frivolity, peaking in a wonderfully silly storm sequence in which sections of the crowd provide increasingly bizarre sound effects.
Somewhere in there, Austen’s tale of Catherine Morland and her introduction to Bath society and the travails of love is played out with verve and conviction, employing all manner of improvised props from chalkboards to chests. A world of characters is brought amiably to life, with no opportunity missed for a laugh from a cross-dressing matron or a coconut-bashing ‘horse’.
Dominic Waldron’s direction keeps the pace lively, and the cast are relentless in their enthusiasm and energy, whether they’re playing a Bath beau or a bunch of daffodils. To maintain these levels of freshness and commitment this late in the nationwide tour is not only a reflection on them but also a tribute to the spirited Heartbreak ethos.
* * *
September 5, 2017
Heartbreak Productions, Bridge House Theatre, Warwick
There’s something utterly charming about the notion of Jane Austen hosting a writing group that might have included William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Shelley. The charm provides an underscore of delightful daftness to Dani Carbery’s twinkling adaptation of Austen’s first completed novel. And it’s also a trademark of the company delivering the evening, the Leamington-based touring group Heartbreak Productions.
The company’s versatile teams of actors are more usually to be found in country house gardens, public parks and other open-air spaces for their summer tours, now in their 26th year. Here, the Northanger Abbey sextet are kicking off a week of indoor performances that will wrap up this year’s schedule.
At the risk of sounding like one of Austen’s more churlish characters, the show seems to lose some its innate sparkle by being confined to the indoor setting. While offering welcome respite from a downpour beyond the four walls, the limitations of a building put a restrictive formality around the proceedings which the open-air format manages to avoid.
Having said that, the performers do their utmost to whip up an audience-involving atmosphere of jolliness and frivolity, peaking in a wonderfully silly storm sequence in which sections of the crowd provide increasingly bizarre sound effects.
Somewhere in there, Austen’s tale of Catherine Morland and her introduction to Bath society and the travails of love is played out with verve and conviction, employing all manner of improvised props from chalkboards to chests. A world of characters is brought amiably to life, with no opportunity missed for a laugh from a cross-dressing matron or a coconut-bashing ‘horse’.
Dominic Waldron’s direction keeps the pace lively, and the cast are relentless in their enthusiasm and energy, whether they’re playing a Bath beau or a bunch of daffodils. To maintain these levels of freshness and commitment this late in the nationwide tour is not only a reflection on them but also a tribute to the spirited Heartbreak ethos.
THE SECRET GARDEN
* * * *
August 23, 2017
Heartbreak Productions, Foundry Wood, Leamington Spa, then tour continues
What better place for a production of The Secret Garden than… a secret garden?
Touring company Heartbreak Productions did not have to venture far from their Leamington Spa base to find the intriguing pocket park Foundry Wood, where an open-air classroom serves as an intimate arena for their latest summer outing.
Adapted from the much-loved children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden is an Edwardian perennial which blossoms into a tale of friendship, loyalty and optimism. As its adapter David Kerby-Kendall admits, distilling the host of characters into a manageable story delivered by a hard-working cast of just five presents something of a challenge, but it’s one that the ebullient team overcome with plenty of goodwill and bags of likeability.
The five – Abigail Castleton, Lucy Formby, George Attwell, Ross Ford and Gareth Cary – are relentlessly enthusiastic and good-natured and the audience, ranging in age from toddlers to pensioners, are won over from the pre-performance games through to the final bows.
Using the framing device of the 10th annual Misselthwaite horticultural show, the team tell Burnett’s classic story of 12-year-old Mary Lennox, sent back to England from India after her parents’ death to live with an uncle she’s never met. There, she faces the challenges of a new country, new people and even a new language – the Yorkshire dialect. The way she meets these challenges unfolds with an upbeat charm that is never less than winning.
Staged against a clever but simple backdrop designed by Kate Wragg and enhanced by the innocence of some a cappella singing and solo flute, Paul Chesterton’s production maintains a well-judged pace and tells its story clearly and entertainingly. Formby develops Mary believably from spoilt brat to open-hearted heroine, while her colleagues relish every opportunity for comedy and fun.
There can be few greater compliments than the rapt attention of an entire audience, from wide-eyed child to delighted grandparent.
* * * *
August 23, 2017
Heartbreak Productions, Foundry Wood, Leamington Spa, then tour continues
What better place for a production of The Secret Garden than… a secret garden?
Touring company Heartbreak Productions did not have to venture far from their Leamington Spa base to find the intriguing pocket park Foundry Wood, where an open-air classroom serves as an intimate arena for their latest summer outing.
Adapted from the much-loved children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden is an Edwardian perennial which blossoms into a tale of friendship, loyalty and optimism. As its adapter David Kerby-Kendall admits, distilling the host of characters into a manageable story delivered by a hard-working cast of just five presents something of a challenge, but it’s one that the ebullient team overcome with plenty of goodwill and bags of likeability.
The five – Abigail Castleton, Lucy Formby, George Attwell, Ross Ford and Gareth Cary – are relentlessly enthusiastic and good-natured and the audience, ranging in age from toddlers to pensioners, are won over from the pre-performance games through to the final bows.
Using the framing device of the 10th annual Misselthwaite horticultural show, the team tell Burnett’s classic story of 12-year-old Mary Lennox, sent back to England from India after her parents’ death to live with an uncle she’s never met. There, she faces the challenges of a new country, new people and even a new language – the Yorkshire dialect. The way she meets these challenges unfolds with an upbeat charm that is never less than winning.
Staged against a clever but simple backdrop designed by Kate Wragg and enhanced by the innocence of some a cappella singing and solo flute, Paul Chesterton’s production maintains a well-judged pace and tells its story clearly and entertainingly. Formby develops Mary believably from spoilt brat to open-hearted heroine, while her colleagues relish every opportunity for comedy and fun.
There can be few greater compliments than the rapt attention of an entire audience, from wide-eyed child to delighted grandparent.
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
* * * *
July 7, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire
What could be more quintessentially English than a brisk, rousing production of Shakespeare on the terrace of a glorious stately home?
Yes, it’s that time of year again when the popping of corks and the clink of champagne flutes heralds the energetic, relentlessly likeable performances of Heartbreak Productions, a Leamington-based professional touring company dedicated to taking a range of shows out across the country come rain or shine.
It helps a bit when the venue is a country house of significant style and beautiful location, and the weather is dry and conducive to an evening’s elegant entertainment, rather than blowing some kind of summer storm. But the enthusiasm and commitment of the Heartbreak casts means that a smile is never far away and the audiences invariably go home happy.
In an accomplished act of bravado, this production – one of five that are out on the road this season – performs the Bard’s complicated, difficult battle of the sexes with a cast of just five. Some smart doubling accounts for most of the roles, but there’s a delightful twist involving audience participation and a running name gag when it proves a step too far having two particular characters in the same scene. The knowing wink and sense of collusion that is mined from making a feature out of a problem only adds to the fun.
Ross Ford’s Petruchio is a blustering bully of a leading man, willfully and deliberately destroying his Katherine, only to crumble into regret in the final moments. Abigail Castleton plays his victim with a delicate balance of fiery resistance and stoic compliance, and her late speech on how women should submit to their husbands is rendered with more than a hint of irony and accusation.
Lucy Formby and Gareth Cary gamely supply a multitude of supporting roles, with George Atwell getting perhaps the greatest opportunity for extracting comedy from his scenes as, variously, servant, suitor and senior citizen. And director Paul Chesterton certainly finds the humour in the text, pacing things rapidly so that the momentum never flags. There’s also a neat framing device that allows a smooth transition both into and out of the Shakespeare play, while maintaining the illusion of the country house soiree perfectly.
With The Secret Garden, Murder on the Terrace, Northanger Abbey and David Walliams’s Billionaire Boy also on the menu around the UK, Heartbreak have served up another veritable summer picnic.
* * * *
July 7, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire
What could be more quintessentially English than a brisk, rousing production of Shakespeare on the terrace of a glorious stately home?
Yes, it’s that time of year again when the popping of corks and the clink of champagne flutes heralds the energetic, relentlessly likeable performances of Heartbreak Productions, a Leamington-based professional touring company dedicated to taking a range of shows out across the country come rain or shine.
It helps a bit when the venue is a country house of significant style and beautiful location, and the weather is dry and conducive to an evening’s elegant entertainment, rather than blowing some kind of summer storm. But the enthusiasm and commitment of the Heartbreak casts means that a smile is never far away and the audiences invariably go home happy.
In an accomplished act of bravado, this production – one of five that are out on the road this season – performs the Bard’s complicated, difficult battle of the sexes with a cast of just five. Some smart doubling accounts for most of the roles, but there’s a delightful twist involving audience participation and a running name gag when it proves a step too far having two particular characters in the same scene. The knowing wink and sense of collusion that is mined from making a feature out of a problem only adds to the fun.
Ross Ford’s Petruchio is a blustering bully of a leading man, willfully and deliberately destroying his Katherine, only to crumble into regret in the final moments. Abigail Castleton plays his victim with a delicate balance of fiery resistance and stoic compliance, and her late speech on how women should submit to their husbands is rendered with more than a hint of irony and accusation.
Lucy Formby and Gareth Cary gamely supply a multitude of supporting roles, with George Atwell getting perhaps the greatest opportunity for extracting comedy from his scenes as, variously, servant, suitor and senior citizen. And director Paul Chesterton certainly finds the humour in the text, pacing things rapidly so that the momentum never flags. There’s also a neat framing device that allows a smooth transition both into and out of the Shakespeare play, while maintaining the illusion of the country house soiree perfectly.
With The Secret Garden, Murder on the Terrace, Northanger Abbey and David Walliams’s Billionaire Boy also on the menu around the UK, Heartbreak have served up another veritable summer picnic.
RACING DEMON
* * * *
June 28, 2017
Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday July 8, 2017
David Hare’s forensic examination of the state of the Church of England around the turn of the 1990s may seem a little dated nearly 30 years on. But start to dig deeper into his sensitive, subtle subtext and you realise that Racing Demon is far more than a snapshot of one dusty corner of English life: it is a true state-of-the-nation play.
Written as one of a trilogy – the others looked at politics and the law – the piece is not simply a moment of time caught in Hare’s lens. It’s about how a certain kind of middle English society lives with itself in a changing world and manages to sweep difficult decisions away from public view and even private consideration. Closing one’s eyes and running away seems the favoured approach. And how resonant is that today?
Director Jonathan Church has taken over responsibility for the annual Bath summer season and kicks it off here with a strong opener. The production may feel a little static at times, and Simon Higlett’s designs not quite smoothly enough delivered for easy scene transitions, but there’s plenty in the way of atmosphere, drama and brilliance on view.
The ensemble is headed by a wonderfully vacillating David Haig as Lionel, the city centre priest who refuses to thrust religion on his worldly parishioners for fear of frightening them away. This brings him into conflict with both his boss, the fiery traditionalist Bishop of Southwark, and his new curate, a wide-eyed neophyte with all the misguided passion of the fundamentalist.
This crucial trio holds the narrative thread together superbly. Haig is relentlessly polite, making his defensive points with slightly wavering tones to emphasise the uncertainty of his position, and makes a terrific lightning rod through which the action strikes. Paapa Essiedu, fresh from an acclaimed Hamlet at the RSC, captures exactly the right kind of naïve certainty as his exuberant underling. And Anthony Calf is wonderfully authoritative as the bishop, constrained by his robes until finally driven to the point of explosion.
There are some delicate, thoughtful performances among the supporting cast too, notably Lionel’s clerical colleagues, the cheerfully oblivious Donald (Sam Alexander) and the touching Harry (Ian Gelder), struggling with his forbidden homosexuality. Hare’s women are generally less successfully drawn, but where he’s at his most powerful is when he skewers the attitudes and psychological motivations of his central characters to enormous dramatic effect.
Significantly, too, in Racing Demon he offers little in the way of answers, leaving the audience to make up its mind about exactly where it stands on some of these thorny issues. Far from being a period piece, that makes it a challenging work of contemporary theatre.
* * * *
June 28, 2017
Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday July 8, 2017
David Hare’s forensic examination of the state of the Church of England around the turn of the 1990s may seem a little dated nearly 30 years on. But start to dig deeper into his sensitive, subtle subtext and you realise that Racing Demon is far more than a snapshot of one dusty corner of English life: it is a true state-of-the-nation play.
Written as one of a trilogy – the others looked at politics and the law – the piece is not simply a moment of time caught in Hare’s lens. It’s about how a certain kind of middle English society lives with itself in a changing world and manages to sweep difficult decisions away from public view and even private consideration. Closing one’s eyes and running away seems the favoured approach. And how resonant is that today?
Director Jonathan Church has taken over responsibility for the annual Bath summer season and kicks it off here with a strong opener. The production may feel a little static at times, and Simon Higlett’s designs not quite smoothly enough delivered for easy scene transitions, but there’s plenty in the way of atmosphere, drama and brilliance on view.
The ensemble is headed by a wonderfully vacillating David Haig as Lionel, the city centre priest who refuses to thrust religion on his worldly parishioners for fear of frightening them away. This brings him into conflict with both his boss, the fiery traditionalist Bishop of Southwark, and his new curate, a wide-eyed neophyte with all the misguided passion of the fundamentalist.
This crucial trio holds the narrative thread together superbly. Haig is relentlessly polite, making his defensive points with slightly wavering tones to emphasise the uncertainty of his position, and makes a terrific lightning rod through which the action strikes. Paapa Essiedu, fresh from an acclaimed Hamlet at the RSC, captures exactly the right kind of naïve certainty as his exuberant underling. And Anthony Calf is wonderfully authoritative as the bishop, constrained by his robes until finally driven to the point of explosion.
There are some delicate, thoughtful performances among the supporting cast too, notably Lionel’s clerical colleagues, the cheerfully oblivious Donald (Sam Alexander) and the touching Harry (Ian Gelder), struggling with his forbidden homosexuality. Hare’s women are generally less successfully drawn, but where he’s at his most powerful is when he skewers the attitudes and psychological motivations of his central characters to enormous dramatic effect.
Significantly, too, in Racing Demon he offers little in the way of answers, leaving the audience to make up its mind about exactly where it stands on some of these thorny issues. Far from being a period piece, that makes it a challenging work of contemporary theatre.
JOANNA STRAND AND JACQUELINE TATE
December 18, 2016
The Pheasantry, Pizza Express, London
Cabaret is alive and well and living in a cosy basement in Chelsea. Those who have told of its demise clearly haven’t seen the classy pairing of Joanna Strand and Jacqui Tate in performance with their beautifully compact and well-judged band.
Each a West End soloist in their own right – Strand is currently in Phantom of the Opera, Tate most recently in the ‘lost’ Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro – together their act is more than the sum of its parts and creates an infectious blend of fun and finesse.
Strand is every inch the elegant chanteuse, effortlessly commanding material as varied as opera and the Great American Songbook, while Tate is a cheeky natural comedienne with a belter of a voice to match. Their rendition of the Flower Duet from Lakmé, delivered as two air hostesses on a British Airways flight, brings the house down.
The set list is a smart mix of laughs and lushness and the pace is never allowed to flag. Coupling smooth jazz with light-hearted silliness showcases both performers to superb effect, and both are equally comfortable with every aspect of the fare on offer. Every note is pitch-perfect and there’s clearly as much enjoyment on stage as in the audience.
The band are a vital component in this terrific package. Seldom is the accordion regarded as an essential part of a jazz combo, but Romano Viazzani’s subtle and supportive playing adds real texture to the line-up, occasionally breaking out as an unusual lead instrument. Pianist John Bailey runs the music impeccably, his own playing a virtuoso combination of thoughtful accompaniment and jazz brilliance, while Yaron Stavi and Jason Reeve provide a solid yet imaginative backline on bass and drums respectively.
Pizza Express’s downstairs venue, The Pheasantry in Kings Road, plays its part too. A slightly awkwardly-shaped room, with the stage plonked almost in the middle of the diners, it manages to overcome its architectural limitations to generate intimacy, warmth and an atmosphere of camaraderie that’s hard to resist.
Strand and Tate unveil their cabaret act from time to time, when other commitments allow. Keep an eye out for them and circle the next date.
December 18, 2016
The Pheasantry, Pizza Express, London
Cabaret is alive and well and living in a cosy basement in Chelsea. Those who have told of its demise clearly haven’t seen the classy pairing of Joanna Strand and Jacqui Tate in performance with their beautifully compact and well-judged band.
Each a West End soloist in their own right – Strand is currently in Phantom of the Opera, Tate most recently in the ‘lost’ Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Allegro – together their act is more than the sum of its parts and creates an infectious blend of fun and finesse.
Strand is every inch the elegant chanteuse, effortlessly commanding material as varied as opera and the Great American Songbook, while Tate is a cheeky natural comedienne with a belter of a voice to match. Their rendition of the Flower Duet from Lakmé, delivered as two air hostesses on a British Airways flight, brings the house down.
The set list is a smart mix of laughs and lushness and the pace is never allowed to flag. Coupling smooth jazz with light-hearted silliness showcases both performers to superb effect, and both are equally comfortable with every aspect of the fare on offer. Every note is pitch-perfect and there’s clearly as much enjoyment on stage as in the audience.
The band are a vital component in this terrific package. Seldom is the accordion regarded as an essential part of a jazz combo, but Romano Viazzani’s subtle and supportive playing adds real texture to the line-up, occasionally breaking out as an unusual lead instrument. Pianist John Bailey runs the music impeccably, his own playing a virtuoso combination of thoughtful accompaniment and jazz brilliance, while Yaron Stavi and Jason Reeve provide a solid yet imaginative backline on bass and drums respectively.
Pizza Express’s downstairs venue, The Pheasantry in Kings Road, plays its part too. A slightly awkwardly-shaped room, with the stage plonked almost in the middle of the diners, it manages to overcome its architectural limitations to generate intimacy, warmth and an atmosphere of camaraderie that’s hard to resist.
Strand and Tate unveil their cabaret act from time to time, when other commitments allow. Keep an eye out for them and circle the next date.
Multi-talented: Gary Sefton directs and plays Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Photo by Graeme Braidwood.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
* * * * *
December 10, 2016
The Core at Corby Cube until Saturday, December 31, 2016
No offence to the good folk of Corby, but nobody could honestly say that the unremarkable East Midlands town was high on their list of cultural attractions. There are tidings of comfort and joy, however: Gary Sefton appears to be on a mission to change that.
Fresh from appearing alongside Glenda Jackson in King Lear, the multi-talented performer and director now presents his own adaptation of the Charles Dickens Christmas classic, playing the role of Scrooge himself and leading a company of seven through a blistering, boisterous hour of drama with just the right mix of thrills and fun.
Sefton has form in this area. He directed another version of the story at Royal & Derngate in nearby Northampton four years ago, and the wise men there – who also oversee this smart, modern venue – clearly realised the gold that they had. The same warmth and wit that characterised that adaptation, albeit on a larger scale with bigger budgets, shine through in this confident new staging.
Sefton, as deft and inventive on stage as his direction is off it, brings with him Andy Williams from that earlier cast, here playing (among many others) a mildly terrifying Jacob Marley and a merry master-of-ceremonies in the shape of Mr Fezziwig. Audience participation in the Fezziwig Christmas ball is one of the highlights of the show, although the anarchic snowball fight comes close.
On the subject of mildly terrifying, it’s probably worth noting that some of the ingenious and impressive theatrical effects may need to be flagged up in advance for those of a nervous disposition. While the production is emphatically a wonderful introduction to Dickens’s tale for theatregoers of all ages, the Ghost of Christmas Future, for one, has the potential to astonish and perhaps alarm if you’re not prepared for it.
Michael Taylor’s simple design provides a huge brick-wall backdrop to a bare thrust stage, with all the atmospheric work done by props, costumes and copious amounts of cobwebbing. Richard Godin and Aaron Dootson’s lighting adds much in the way of spectacle, while Tom Kelly’s musical arrangements of some old festive favourites are utterly charming, refreshing them in exactly the same way that Sefton’s adaptation does for Dickens himself.
The ensemble are uniformly excellent, with much doubling and some capable local youngsters helping to flesh out the sizeable list of characters. Stuart Angell and Miriam Grace Edwards are especially touching as the Cratchits and Tom Wainwright skillfully reveals the avaricious change that occurs in the young Scrooge.
There’s no high-tech wizardry at work here, just quality old-fashioned stagecraft and some genuine talent telling a story that’s as meaningful and good-hearted as it ever was. And a merry Christmas to you all.
* * * * *
December 10, 2016
The Core at Corby Cube until Saturday, December 31, 2016
No offence to the good folk of Corby, but nobody could honestly say that the unremarkable East Midlands town was high on their list of cultural attractions. There are tidings of comfort and joy, however: Gary Sefton appears to be on a mission to change that.
Fresh from appearing alongside Glenda Jackson in King Lear, the multi-talented performer and director now presents his own adaptation of the Charles Dickens Christmas classic, playing the role of Scrooge himself and leading a company of seven through a blistering, boisterous hour of drama with just the right mix of thrills and fun.
Sefton has form in this area. He directed another version of the story at Royal & Derngate in nearby Northampton four years ago, and the wise men there – who also oversee this smart, modern venue – clearly realised the gold that they had. The same warmth and wit that characterised that adaptation, albeit on a larger scale with bigger budgets, shine through in this confident new staging.
Sefton, as deft and inventive on stage as his direction is off it, brings with him Andy Williams from that earlier cast, here playing (among many others) a mildly terrifying Jacob Marley and a merry master-of-ceremonies in the shape of Mr Fezziwig. Audience participation in the Fezziwig Christmas ball is one of the highlights of the show, although the anarchic snowball fight comes close.
On the subject of mildly terrifying, it’s probably worth noting that some of the ingenious and impressive theatrical effects may need to be flagged up in advance for those of a nervous disposition. While the production is emphatically a wonderful introduction to Dickens’s tale for theatregoers of all ages, the Ghost of Christmas Future, for one, has the potential to astonish and perhaps alarm if you’re not prepared for it.
Michael Taylor’s simple design provides a huge brick-wall backdrop to a bare thrust stage, with all the atmospheric work done by props, costumes and copious amounts of cobwebbing. Richard Godin and Aaron Dootson’s lighting adds much in the way of spectacle, while Tom Kelly’s musical arrangements of some old festive favourites are utterly charming, refreshing them in exactly the same way that Sefton’s adaptation does for Dickens himself.
The ensemble are uniformly excellent, with much doubling and some capable local youngsters helping to flesh out the sizeable list of characters. Stuart Angell and Miriam Grace Edwards are especially touching as the Cratchits and Tom Wainwright skillfully reveals the avaricious change that occurs in the young Scrooge.
There’s no high-tech wizardry at work here, just quality old-fashioned stagecraft and some genuine talent telling a story that’s as meaningful and good-hearted as it ever was. And a merry Christmas to you all.
ABSENT
* * * *
August 20, 2016
Winter Gardens, Blackpool, until September 29, 2016
There are a multitude of questions waiting to be answered about this clever, intriguing creation in the shell of Blackpool’s iconic Winter Gardens. Is it a show? Is it an art installation? Is it theatre?
Tristan Sharps, the man behind the whole project through his dreamthinkspeak company, calls it “site-responsive performance”, and that seems pretty fair, so we’ll go with that. “Site-responsive” as it uses the Winter Gardens and a fictional version of its history to provide the atmospheric backdrop to the mystery-drama narrative. “Performance” because it combines film, theatrical staging techniques and live actors and supporting cast to weave its strange and unique effect on the participating visitors.
It’s almost impossible to describe, and any detailed attempt might well undermine the impact of what Sharps and his team set out to achieve. Broadly, there’s a plot about a Blackpool woman, Maggie Morgan, who apparently won big on Premium Bonds in the 1950s and immediately checked into the famous (although, in reality, non-existent) Winter Gardens Hotel, where she’s lived ever since. But now developers are moving in to convert the rundown premises into a budget hotel, and Maggie has to go.
Visitors, in groups sometimes as small as one or two, are shepherded into the “hotel” and invited to explore at will. What they find ranges from the fascinating and bizarre to the moving and melancholic. There are staged evocations of Maggie’s 50s heyday alongside subtle clues about her (and the hotel’s) gradual decline, and the whole enterprise is designed to provoke, bemuse and entertain.
Sharps has plenty of form in this area – he’s worked on similar projects across the world – and his experience and technical expertise contribute enormously to the success of Absent. Local tourism groups, companies and the Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre are also to be congratulated for their open-mindedness in bringing such an imaginative project to Blackpool.
There’s a sadness to the piece that echoes the worn, world-weary town outside the doors, but there’s also a nod to the former splendour of the place, encapsulated in the magnificent Empress Ballroom, which plays host to Absent’s grand finale.
It’s hardly your run-of-the-mill Blackpool pier-style show, but it’s one that’s well worth exploring during its all-too-brief run.
* * * *
August 20, 2016
Winter Gardens, Blackpool, until September 29, 2016
There are a multitude of questions waiting to be answered about this clever, intriguing creation in the shell of Blackpool’s iconic Winter Gardens. Is it a show? Is it an art installation? Is it theatre?
Tristan Sharps, the man behind the whole project through his dreamthinkspeak company, calls it “site-responsive performance”, and that seems pretty fair, so we’ll go with that. “Site-responsive” as it uses the Winter Gardens and a fictional version of its history to provide the atmospheric backdrop to the mystery-drama narrative. “Performance” because it combines film, theatrical staging techniques and live actors and supporting cast to weave its strange and unique effect on the participating visitors.
It’s almost impossible to describe, and any detailed attempt might well undermine the impact of what Sharps and his team set out to achieve. Broadly, there’s a plot about a Blackpool woman, Maggie Morgan, who apparently won big on Premium Bonds in the 1950s and immediately checked into the famous (although, in reality, non-existent) Winter Gardens Hotel, where she’s lived ever since. But now developers are moving in to convert the rundown premises into a budget hotel, and Maggie has to go.
Visitors, in groups sometimes as small as one or two, are shepherded into the “hotel” and invited to explore at will. What they find ranges from the fascinating and bizarre to the moving and melancholic. There are staged evocations of Maggie’s 50s heyday alongside subtle clues about her (and the hotel’s) gradual decline, and the whole enterprise is designed to provoke, bemuse and entertain.
Sharps has plenty of form in this area – he’s worked on similar projects across the world – and his experience and technical expertise contribute enormously to the success of Absent. Local tourism groups, companies and the Winter Gardens and Grand Theatre are also to be congratulated for their open-mindedness in bringing such an imaginative project to Blackpool.
There’s a sadness to the piece that echoes the worn, world-weary town outside the doors, but there’s also a nod to the former splendour of the place, encapsulated in the magnificent Empress Ballroom, which plays host to Absent’s grand finale.
It’s hardly your run-of-the-mill Blackpool pier-style show, but it’s one that’s well worth exploring during its all-too-brief run.
RATBURGER
* * * *
August 16, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, St John’s Museum Gardens, Warwick
THE ever-innovative Heartbreak Productions enjoyed a major success with their tour last year of David Walliams’s Mr Stink. Now they’re revisiting Walliams territory with a new adaptation of his children’s book Ratburger. The show already has the stamp of approval of its author, who saw it recently and favoured it with a standing ovation. It’s not hard to see why.
The tale of 12-year-old Zoe and her pet rat Armitage (named after the toilet manufacturer Armitage Shanks – it’s a long story) has everything its young intended audience could wish for: sidekicks and villains, a feisty heroine trying to find her place in the world, and lots of knockabout humour to make sure things are never taken too seriously.
That’s not to say that David Kerby-Kendall’s entertaining script and Peter Mimmack’s pacy direction shy away from some of the more difficult issues. In fact, their handling of Zoe’s mother’s death, bullying at school and the occasional unfairness of life all have a ring of authenticity to them. But the comedy is never far from the surface, and the joyous resolution quite rightly has the crowd singing happily along.
The five-strong cast work incredibly hard – as always with these multi-talented Heartbreak companies – although special mention should perhaps go to Samantha Dart, stepping into a variety of roles at extremely short notice. Her wicked, prawn-cocktail-crisp-munching stepmum Sheila is a beautifully drawn comic character and her willingness to pitch in at the last minute merely typical of the Heartbreak mentality.
Janette McManus holds the story together superbly as the wide-eyed, boisterous Zoe, with Georgina Scott wonderfully playful as she represents Armitage himself. Ahmed Ali throws himself into the roles of Zoe’s shopkeeper friend Raj and the evil, rat-murdering burger boy Burt, and Edward Pinner steals the show, doubling as Zoe’s downtrodden dad and – in a hilarious contrast – her disciplinarian, old-school headmaster.
Kate Wragg’s simple stage is highly effective, coupled with some brilliant and imaginative tricks with the props and scenery. A supermarket stacking cage, for instance, serves multiple uses from bed to toilet cubicle, while some cafe tables are cleverly transformed into a meat pulveriser.
It’s all good, heartwarming stuff and in the regular vein of this ambitious, upbeat company. Ratburger is one of four shows of theirs touring the country this season, and summer wouldn’t be quite the same without them.
* * * *
August 16, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, St John’s Museum Gardens, Warwick
THE ever-innovative Heartbreak Productions enjoyed a major success with their tour last year of David Walliams’s Mr Stink. Now they’re revisiting Walliams territory with a new adaptation of his children’s book Ratburger. The show already has the stamp of approval of its author, who saw it recently and favoured it with a standing ovation. It’s not hard to see why.
The tale of 12-year-old Zoe and her pet rat Armitage (named after the toilet manufacturer Armitage Shanks – it’s a long story) has everything its young intended audience could wish for: sidekicks and villains, a feisty heroine trying to find her place in the world, and lots of knockabout humour to make sure things are never taken too seriously.
That’s not to say that David Kerby-Kendall’s entertaining script and Peter Mimmack’s pacy direction shy away from some of the more difficult issues. In fact, their handling of Zoe’s mother’s death, bullying at school and the occasional unfairness of life all have a ring of authenticity to them. But the comedy is never far from the surface, and the joyous resolution quite rightly has the crowd singing happily along.
The five-strong cast work incredibly hard – as always with these multi-talented Heartbreak companies – although special mention should perhaps go to Samantha Dart, stepping into a variety of roles at extremely short notice. Her wicked, prawn-cocktail-crisp-munching stepmum Sheila is a beautifully drawn comic character and her willingness to pitch in at the last minute merely typical of the Heartbreak mentality.
Janette McManus holds the story together superbly as the wide-eyed, boisterous Zoe, with Georgina Scott wonderfully playful as she represents Armitage himself. Ahmed Ali throws himself into the roles of Zoe’s shopkeeper friend Raj and the evil, rat-murdering burger boy Burt, and Edward Pinner steals the show, doubling as Zoe’s downtrodden dad and – in a hilarious contrast – her disciplinarian, old-school headmaster.
Kate Wragg’s simple stage is highly effective, coupled with some brilliant and imaginative tricks with the props and scenery. A supermarket stacking cage, for instance, serves multiple uses from bed to toilet cubicle, while some cafe tables are cleverly transformed into a meat pulveriser.
It’s all good, heartwarming stuff and in the regular vein of this ambitious, upbeat company. Ratburger is one of four shows of theirs touring the country this season, and summer wouldn’t be quite the same without them.
MURDER ON THE TERRACE
* * * *
July 13, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
After the best part of a decade as the resident adapter of Heartbreak’s summer touring shows, writer David Kerby-Kendall has come up with an original script for this new production, playing in repertoire with The Tempest around the stately homes and parks of Britain.
All the usual Heartbreak hallmarks are there – pre-show picnics, plenty of audience participation and a healthy dose of British pluck whatever the weather – and it makes for another highly enjoyable performance to add to the company’s extraordinary 25-year catalogue.
Murder on the Terrace is an unashamedly tongue-in-cheek spoof of the Agatha Christie genre, complete with toffs, Thirties cliches and some topical social comment to boot. The comedy is broad to the point of risqué at times, and the six-strong cast never take themselves too seriously, allowing the spirited audience variously to cheer, scoff and supply the dramatic musical accompaniment, depending on the requirements of the script.
The plot is appropriately labyrinthine, with lots of red herrings and quite a few sidelong digs at the likes of Downton Abbey, and Ben Thorne as Inspector Back of the Yard gently and capably guides the audience towards the suitably expositional denouement. Along the way, his improvisational skills and personable character help make the journey pleasingly jolly.
The rest of the company supply at least two characters apiece, one from the ‘Upstairs’ aristocrats, the other from the ‘Downstairs’ drudges, and all have some measure of suspectability in the murder of wine-making heir Charles Cava. The twists are elegantly unravelled as the evening goes by, while Maddy Kerr’s well-paced direction reaches its peak in a wonderful set piece in which more than thirty Christie novel titles are cleverly referenced in a brilliantly choreographed sequence.
With fun explicitly at the top of the priority list, Heartbreak have put together a production of warmth, wit and well-judged silliness. Just the thing for these bitter summer evenings…
* * * *
July 13, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire
After the best part of a decade as the resident adapter of Heartbreak’s summer touring shows, writer David Kerby-Kendall has come up with an original script for this new production, playing in repertoire with The Tempest around the stately homes and parks of Britain.
All the usual Heartbreak hallmarks are there – pre-show picnics, plenty of audience participation and a healthy dose of British pluck whatever the weather – and it makes for another highly enjoyable performance to add to the company’s extraordinary 25-year catalogue.
Murder on the Terrace is an unashamedly tongue-in-cheek spoof of the Agatha Christie genre, complete with toffs, Thirties cliches and some topical social comment to boot. The comedy is broad to the point of risqué at times, and the six-strong cast never take themselves too seriously, allowing the spirited audience variously to cheer, scoff and supply the dramatic musical accompaniment, depending on the requirements of the script.
The plot is appropriately labyrinthine, with lots of red herrings and quite a few sidelong digs at the likes of Downton Abbey, and Ben Thorne as Inspector Back of the Yard gently and capably guides the audience towards the suitably expositional denouement. Along the way, his improvisational skills and personable character help make the journey pleasingly jolly.
The rest of the company supply at least two characters apiece, one from the ‘Upstairs’ aristocrats, the other from the ‘Downstairs’ drudges, and all have some measure of suspectability in the murder of wine-making heir Charles Cava. The twists are elegantly unravelled as the evening goes by, while Maddy Kerr’s well-paced direction reaches its peak in a wonderful set piece in which more than thirty Christie novel titles are cleverly referenced in a brilliantly choreographed sequence.
With fun explicitly at the top of the priority list, Heartbreak have put together a production of warmth, wit and well-judged silliness. Just the thing for these bitter summer evenings…
THE TEMPEST
* * *
June 8, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
Oh, the irony. For 20 minutes before its scheduled start time, Mother Nature supplied a tempest of her own to batter down the wills and threaten the very existence of this open-air touring production.
But she hadn’t allowed for the iron resolve and show-must-go-on ethos of Heartbreak Productions, which drags its stiff-upper-lip audience along with it in such circumstances and goes ahead and does the performance anyway. And, as if in meek compliance with the spirit of the thing, the torrent abated within a few minutes of the start and everyone settled in for the main event.
Director Peter Mimmack’s concept for this enjoyable Shakespearean jaunt is to place it within a company of druids, telling the ancient story of Prospero and his enchanted island. Astutely, he draws links with Shakespeare as the ultimate Bard, and makes much coherent use of the notion to further the storytelling, which is consistently clear and always intelligible.
Kate Wragg’s set enhances the idea, with a raised circular platform at the heart of a ring of stones providing the in-the-round playing space, topped with a rather precarious stone table which allows for great variety in the physical levels of the actors but also leaves one’s heart in one’s mouth as the players leap up onto its rain-soaked surface.
Happily, the company survived the evening almost intact, give or take the odd slip and knock. So, too, did Shakespeare’s late play, which resonates with the druidic concept surprisingly effectively and makes for a likeable, spirited rendition accompanied by floaty recorder tunes and mystical percussion underscoring.
The six-strong cast cover a multitude of roles, with Howard Scott Walker the only single-role performer as Prospero. The versatility and good-humoured pitching in of the company is one of Heartbreak’s hallmarks, and this troupe – who are also playing a spoof murder mystery in repertory with the Shakespeare – carry the banner with aplomb.
Audibility is occasionally an issue, exacerbated by the elements and outdoor acoustics, but there’s no doubting the enthusiasm and energy of everyone involved for the whole enterprise, and the bulldog spirit we Brits recognise so well from a lifetime of meteorologically-challenged summers pulls everything through in the end.
* * *
June 8, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
Oh, the irony. For 20 minutes before its scheduled start time, Mother Nature supplied a tempest of her own to batter down the wills and threaten the very existence of this open-air touring production.
But she hadn’t allowed for the iron resolve and show-must-go-on ethos of Heartbreak Productions, which drags its stiff-upper-lip audience along with it in such circumstances and goes ahead and does the performance anyway. And, as if in meek compliance with the spirit of the thing, the torrent abated within a few minutes of the start and everyone settled in for the main event.
Director Peter Mimmack’s concept for this enjoyable Shakespearean jaunt is to place it within a company of druids, telling the ancient story of Prospero and his enchanted island. Astutely, he draws links with Shakespeare as the ultimate Bard, and makes much coherent use of the notion to further the storytelling, which is consistently clear and always intelligible.
Kate Wragg’s set enhances the idea, with a raised circular platform at the heart of a ring of stones providing the in-the-round playing space, topped with a rather precarious stone table which allows for great variety in the physical levels of the actors but also leaves one’s heart in one’s mouth as the players leap up onto its rain-soaked surface.
Happily, the company survived the evening almost intact, give or take the odd slip and knock. So, too, did Shakespeare’s late play, which resonates with the druidic concept surprisingly effectively and makes for a likeable, spirited rendition accompanied by floaty recorder tunes and mystical percussion underscoring.
The six-strong cast cover a multitude of roles, with Howard Scott Walker the only single-role performer as Prospero. The versatility and good-humoured pitching in of the company is one of Heartbreak’s hallmarks, and this troupe – who are also playing a spoof murder mystery in repertory with the Shakespeare – carry the banner with aplomb.
Audibility is occasionally an issue, exacerbated by the elements and outdoor acoustics, but there’s no doubting the enthusiasm and energy of everyone involved for the whole enterprise, and the bulldog spirit we Brits recognise so well from a lifetime of meteorologically-challenged summers pulls everything through in the end.
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
* * * *
June 4, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
IT’S June so it must be Heartbreak time. And if celebrating 25 years of this hard-working national touring company wasn’t enough to put the sparkle in your champers, then a version of Wilde’s timeless classic transposed to the flapper era should certainly put a spring in your Charleston.
With all the ingenuity and charm that have rightly earned Heartbreak a regular spot in the summer calendar at open-air venues across the UK, the production is somehow staged by five versatile young actors with a mobile bandstand and a tent. This occasionally means some hilarity in the cross-gendering department (Ross Townsend Green’s giggly Miss Prism is a particularly entertaining example) and one or two liberties with character entrances and exits, but the overall effect merely adds to the Roaring Twenties daftness of it all.
From Lottie Johnson’s opening turn as the ultra-dry butler Lane, it’s clear Wilde is to be given no special reverence. And quite right too. Much fun is derived from Tania Staite’s knowing Gwendolen and Arthur Velarde’s nice-but-rather-dim Jack, while Yvette Bruin tackles the imposing figure of Lady Bracknell with panache and comes out on top.
Director Milla Jackson has clearly guided her ensemble to play it fast and crisply and – given this was the opening night of a three-month tour – the pace never falters, even if one or two of Wilde’s more biting lines lose some of their edge in the process.
The 1920s setting works perfectly, too, exploiting the popularity of television’s Downton Abbey to great effect and allowing the audience to be inveigled into proceedings via a device in which we purport to be visitors to a secret country house party where Wilde’s play is being staged by the hosts.
To the accompaniment of clinking glasses of fizz and other picnic accoutrements brought along by experienced Heartbreak aficionados, it’s a delightful way to kick off the summer. Playing alongside three other Heartbreak tours this year – The Tempest, David Walliams’s Ratburger and a new murder mystery entitled Murder on the Terrace – this open-air confection is as quintessentially English as one of Algie’s cucumber sandwiches.
* * * *
June 4, 2016
Heartbreak Productions tour, Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa
IT’S June so it must be Heartbreak time. And if celebrating 25 years of this hard-working national touring company wasn’t enough to put the sparkle in your champers, then a version of Wilde’s timeless classic transposed to the flapper era should certainly put a spring in your Charleston.
With all the ingenuity and charm that have rightly earned Heartbreak a regular spot in the summer calendar at open-air venues across the UK, the production is somehow staged by five versatile young actors with a mobile bandstand and a tent. This occasionally means some hilarity in the cross-gendering department (Ross Townsend Green’s giggly Miss Prism is a particularly entertaining example) and one or two liberties with character entrances and exits, but the overall effect merely adds to the Roaring Twenties daftness of it all.
From Lottie Johnson’s opening turn as the ultra-dry butler Lane, it’s clear Wilde is to be given no special reverence. And quite right too. Much fun is derived from Tania Staite’s knowing Gwendolen and Arthur Velarde’s nice-but-rather-dim Jack, while Yvette Bruin tackles the imposing figure of Lady Bracknell with panache and comes out on top.
Director Milla Jackson has clearly guided her ensemble to play it fast and crisply and – given this was the opening night of a three-month tour – the pace never falters, even if one or two of Wilde’s more biting lines lose some of their edge in the process.
The 1920s setting works perfectly, too, exploiting the popularity of television’s Downton Abbey to great effect and allowing the audience to be inveigled into proceedings via a device in which we purport to be visitors to a secret country house party where Wilde’s play is being staged by the hosts.
To the accompaniment of clinking glasses of fizz and other picnic accoutrements brought along by experienced Heartbreak aficionados, it’s a delightful way to kick off the summer. Playing alongside three other Heartbreak tours this year – The Tempest, David Walliams’s Ratburger and a new murder mystery entitled Murder on the Terrace – this open-air confection is as quintessentially English as one of Algie’s cucumber sandwiches.
MR STINK
* * *
August 7, 2015
Heartbreak Productions tour, St John’s Museum, Warwick
THE founding producers of regular summer tourers Heartbreak Productions have pulled off a genuine coup with their open-air stage adaptation of David Walliams’s popular children’s book Mr Stink.
Walliams – due to see the production during its nationwide run – is fast becoming the 21st Century’s challenger to the undisputed king of offbeat kids’ tales, Roald Dahl. His book about a friendless tramp with a secret past is a favourite of many youngsters, not least for its themes of outsider isolation and pubescent discomfort. Throw in some political messages about homelessness, greed and naked consumerism, and it makes for a heady cocktail.
The fact that this new show (it’s touring alongside Love’s Labour’s Lost and Emma this year) manages to speak to adults and their eager offspring alike says much about the charm of the Heartbreak approach. While the grown-ups can sip their pinot grigio and soak up the atmosphere, the children are lapping up the frenetic activity of five hard-working actors and the host of characters they create. Naturally, there’s plenty of audience participation too, and the attention of even the youngest is never allowed to wander.
David Kerby-Kendall’s adaptation features a broad range of comic characters brought to life enthusiastically from the pages of his source material, and director Peter Mimmack makes sure the pace never flags. Howard Scott Walker in the title role is endearing and challenging in equal measure – and quite rightly so – while Georgie Hull and Samantha Dart make nicely contrasting siblings as the birthdaying ten-year-old Annabelle and her overlooked older sister Chloe respectively. Danny Milwain plays their father, among a host of entertaining others, while Lily Carrie almost steals the show in the comedic role of their domineering mother.
It may not feel quite as slick or rounded as some previous Heartbreak shows, but it’s a definite hit with the little ones and ultimately comes up smelling of roses. So sit back, soak up the sun and a slosh of something sociable, and let yourself be entertained.
* * *
August 7, 2015
Heartbreak Productions tour, St John’s Museum, Warwick
THE founding producers of regular summer tourers Heartbreak Productions have pulled off a genuine coup with their open-air stage adaptation of David Walliams’s popular children’s book Mr Stink.
Walliams – due to see the production during its nationwide run – is fast becoming the 21st Century’s challenger to the undisputed king of offbeat kids’ tales, Roald Dahl. His book about a friendless tramp with a secret past is a favourite of many youngsters, not least for its themes of outsider isolation and pubescent discomfort. Throw in some political messages about homelessness, greed and naked consumerism, and it makes for a heady cocktail.
The fact that this new show (it’s touring alongside Love’s Labour’s Lost and Emma this year) manages to speak to adults and their eager offspring alike says much about the charm of the Heartbreak approach. While the grown-ups can sip their pinot grigio and soak up the atmosphere, the children are lapping up the frenetic activity of five hard-working actors and the host of characters they create. Naturally, there’s plenty of audience participation too, and the attention of even the youngest is never allowed to wander.
David Kerby-Kendall’s adaptation features a broad range of comic characters brought to life enthusiastically from the pages of his source material, and director Peter Mimmack makes sure the pace never flags. Howard Scott Walker in the title role is endearing and challenging in equal measure – and quite rightly so – while Georgie Hull and Samantha Dart make nicely contrasting siblings as the birthdaying ten-year-old Annabelle and her overlooked older sister Chloe respectively. Danny Milwain plays their father, among a host of entertaining others, while Lily Carrie almost steals the show in the comedic role of their domineering mother.
It may not feel quite as slick or rounded as some previous Heartbreak shows, but it’s a definite hit with the little ones and ultimately comes up smelling of roses. So sit back, soak up the sun and a slosh of something sociable, and let yourself be entertained.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
* * * *
August 12, 2014
Heartbreak Productions tour, St John’s Museum, Warwick
VETERANS of Heartbreak Productions’ outdoor travelling summer shows are well used to the drill: wine-infused picnics on manicured country house lawns preceding beautifully presented productions of classics, standards and the odd surprise. Of course, there’s always the other side of the British summer, requiring thermal underwear, scarves and brollies galore. But it all adds to the immeasurable pleasure of these charming occasions.
St John’s Museum in Warwick delivers in so many of these areas. There are the delightful gardens, the plentiful picnics and the Arctic temperatures by the end of the evening. But, crucially, there are also the impeccable performances of five sterling players offering a nice twist on Jane Austen’s 200-year-old love story.
Elegantly adapted by David Kerby Kendall within the framework of a lesson in etiquette, the story unfolds faithfully and surefootedly as the five indefatigable actors march, curtsey, stride and totter through Austen’s army of characters (with the running gag exception of Mr Bennet’s studious daughter Mary – permanently hidden from view in the library).
Each performer takes on a host of different characters, successfully rendering them as rounded individuals with their own foibles and features, and with plenty of fun to be had along the way. Jack Fairley’s Mr Bennet and Mr Darcy are equally credible though miles apart. Phillipa Flynn is not just a feisty heroine as Elizabeth, but also suitably girlish as her younger sister Kitty. Tania Staite and Jenny Jenkins provide a veritable smorgasbord of supporting female characters, while Max Attard offers everything from comedy to melodrama in his selection of characters.
Under the assured direction of Maddy Kerr, the ensemble and the action never falter, and the evening rattles along at a highly enjoyable pace. As always with Heartbreak, there’s also plenty of audience participation and lots of laughter to be found, both in the source material and in the vagaries of the changeable setting and weather.
If you haven’t experienced this capable touring troupe before, they’re also staging Peter Pan and Macbeth in venues across the UK this year. Meanwhile, Pride and Prejudice offers the ideal initiation into what has rightly become a staple of the summer season.
THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE
* * * *
April 26, 2014
Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday, April 26, 2014, then touring
ALL the talk about this show has been to do with the stage debut of onetime Neighbours starlet turned pop singer Natalie Imbruglia: can she actually do it live? Well, the short answer is yes, but there’s so much more to this production than a theatrical coming-of-age.
Alan Ayckbourn’s 1997 play shows the writer at his most barbed. Not only does it microscopically and uncomfortably examine the nature of what we call love, but it does so at the expense of all of its four characters. None escapes without brutal treatment at the hands of at least one of the others and, with the possible exception of Imbruglia’s character Nikki, all are left morally exposed, without much decency.
All this is handled with the customary Ayckbourn mixture of high comedy and extreme poignancy, adding extra power to its punch, although there’s more than a hint of discomfort about the use of domestic violence for comic effect. What stands out most in this production, however, are the sublime performances of the destructive pair at its core.
Imbruglia gives a fine account of herself, but her newly-in-love ingenue serves as a foil to the wonderful Edward Bennett as her fiancé Hamish and the feisty, prickly Claire Price as her former school prefect Barbara, with whom the couple stay while their new home is reconfigured by builders.
Giles Cadle’s clever set places the action on three floors of Barbara’s house – the ground floor, where she lives, the upstairs flat, where Nikki and Hamish are staying, and the basement apartment of dodgy lodger Gilbert, played for maximum farce by Simon Gregor.
Director Laurence Boswell employs the trick of only showing us the bottom two feet of the upstairs flat and the top two feet of the basement, which focuses the attention fully on Barbara as her happy spinsterhood comes crashing down around her. Fortunately, Price is more than up to this tricky job, making her character both horribly believable and paradoxically sympathetic. Bennett, meanwhile, displays immaculate comic timing and an extraordinary variety of facial expressions, and their partnership is crucial to the flow and success of the whole enterprise.
Go and see it for Natalie Imbruglia, by all means, but don’t fail to be impressed by the rest of this classy package as well.
FARCICALS / TIME OF MY LIFE / ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES
* * * * *
February 15, 2014
Ayckbourn Ensemble, Warwick Arts Centre, then tour continues
CAN you have too much of a good thing? Well, possibly, if the good thing is all more of the same in large doses. But when those doses, spread across three productions throughout a single day, are as varied, thought-provoking and moving as the current Ayckbourn Ensemble on tour, they simply leave the audience hungry for more.
Sir Alan himself, this country’s most prolific living playwright, has concocted this menu of delights for touring the country before a five-week stint off-Broadway later in the spring, directing his own work as usual.
And what a feast it is. It starts with the amuse-bouche of Farcicals, two one-act plays featuring the same pair of neighbouring couples in varying degrees of miscommunication, undress and outright silliness. There’s no pretence of a deeper message, just laugh after laugh as the straightforward farce gets dafter and dafter, all played with appropriately straight faces by the quartet of actors.
It’s worth paying particular tribute here to Peter Halpin, stepping into his role as an understudy for the first time and pulling off the extraordinary trick of looking as if he was cast in the part in the first place and has been playing it all tour.
Next up is a revival of the 1992 play Time of my Life, in which Ayckbourn explores his fascination with time and its relevance to our lives. Here, a family gathering in a favourite restaurant forms the central focus in real time, while two nearby tables play out the storylines of the family’s two sons, one advancing in time, the other retreating backwards through a series of vignettes.
It’s poignant, clever and surprisingly dark, but with plenty of wit to leaven the heavy themes. Ben Porter as a collection of waiters earns most laughs, but the real substance of the piece is in the women’s roles, and Sarah Parks, Emily Pithon and Rachel Caffrey excel as their distinctive characters.
The day’s Ayckbourn-athon rounds off with his latest piece, Arrivals & Departures, which takes a step further into the darkness as it ponders the unreliability of memory and the pursuit of happiness. That’s not to say it’s short of comedy – it certainly isn’t – but it’s more concealed, offset by real pathos and consequently more thoughtfully won.
At the heart of this striking production are two magnificent performances from Elizabeth Boag and Kim Wall. She’s a young Army officer, buttoned-up and giving nothing away as she performs babysitting duties for a witness who can identify a terrorist suspect about to arrive at a large London train station. He’s the aforementioned witness, a jolly, naïve Yorkshireman with a penchant for talking aimlessly and an ill-founded optimism. Adding to the complexity, they’re surrounded by a large supporting cast of chaotic Army personnel pretending to be civilians as they await their suspect.
Act one reveals her backstory in a series of flashbacks, while act two does the same for him. Each is devastating in its own way but it’s the sheer bravado of Ayckbourn’s juxtaposition of these two completely separate figures that gives the piece its emotional punch.
Boag and Wall grab their roles with glee, relishing the opportunity to bring these quirky, three-dimensional characters to life. The denouement is probably as moving and heartbreaking as anything in the entire Ayckbourn oeuvre, and yet this central pair uncover a simple redemptive quality that stays with you long after leaving the theatre.
* * * *
August 12, 2014
Heartbreak Productions tour, St John’s Museum, Warwick
VETERANS of Heartbreak Productions’ outdoor travelling summer shows are well used to the drill: wine-infused picnics on manicured country house lawns preceding beautifully presented productions of classics, standards and the odd surprise. Of course, there’s always the other side of the British summer, requiring thermal underwear, scarves and brollies galore. But it all adds to the immeasurable pleasure of these charming occasions.
St John’s Museum in Warwick delivers in so many of these areas. There are the delightful gardens, the plentiful picnics and the Arctic temperatures by the end of the evening. But, crucially, there are also the impeccable performances of five sterling players offering a nice twist on Jane Austen’s 200-year-old love story.
Elegantly adapted by David Kerby Kendall within the framework of a lesson in etiquette, the story unfolds faithfully and surefootedly as the five indefatigable actors march, curtsey, stride and totter through Austen’s army of characters (with the running gag exception of Mr Bennet’s studious daughter Mary – permanently hidden from view in the library).
Each performer takes on a host of different characters, successfully rendering them as rounded individuals with their own foibles and features, and with plenty of fun to be had along the way. Jack Fairley’s Mr Bennet and Mr Darcy are equally credible though miles apart. Phillipa Flynn is not just a feisty heroine as Elizabeth, but also suitably girlish as her younger sister Kitty. Tania Staite and Jenny Jenkins provide a veritable smorgasbord of supporting female characters, while Max Attard offers everything from comedy to melodrama in his selection of characters.
Under the assured direction of Maddy Kerr, the ensemble and the action never falter, and the evening rattles along at a highly enjoyable pace. As always with Heartbreak, there’s also plenty of audience participation and lots of laughter to be found, both in the source material and in the vagaries of the changeable setting and weather.
If you haven’t experienced this capable touring troupe before, they’re also staging Peter Pan and Macbeth in venues across the UK this year. Meanwhile, Pride and Prejudice offers the ideal initiation into what has rightly become a staple of the summer season.
THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE
* * * *
April 26, 2014
Theatre Royal, Bath, until Saturday, April 26, 2014, then touring
ALL the talk about this show has been to do with the stage debut of onetime Neighbours starlet turned pop singer Natalie Imbruglia: can she actually do it live? Well, the short answer is yes, but there’s so much more to this production than a theatrical coming-of-age.
Alan Ayckbourn’s 1997 play shows the writer at his most barbed. Not only does it microscopically and uncomfortably examine the nature of what we call love, but it does so at the expense of all of its four characters. None escapes without brutal treatment at the hands of at least one of the others and, with the possible exception of Imbruglia’s character Nikki, all are left morally exposed, without much decency.
All this is handled with the customary Ayckbourn mixture of high comedy and extreme poignancy, adding extra power to its punch, although there’s more than a hint of discomfort about the use of domestic violence for comic effect. What stands out most in this production, however, are the sublime performances of the destructive pair at its core.
Imbruglia gives a fine account of herself, but her newly-in-love ingenue serves as a foil to the wonderful Edward Bennett as her fiancé Hamish and the feisty, prickly Claire Price as her former school prefect Barbara, with whom the couple stay while their new home is reconfigured by builders.
Giles Cadle’s clever set places the action on three floors of Barbara’s house – the ground floor, where she lives, the upstairs flat, where Nikki and Hamish are staying, and the basement apartment of dodgy lodger Gilbert, played for maximum farce by Simon Gregor.
Director Laurence Boswell employs the trick of only showing us the bottom two feet of the upstairs flat and the top two feet of the basement, which focuses the attention fully on Barbara as her happy spinsterhood comes crashing down around her. Fortunately, Price is more than up to this tricky job, making her character both horribly believable and paradoxically sympathetic. Bennett, meanwhile, displays immaculate comic timing and an extraordinary variety of facial expressions, and their partnership is crucial to the flow and success of the whole enterprise.
Go and see it for Natalie Imbruglia, by all means, but don’t fail to be impressed by the rest of this classy package as well.
FARCICALS / TIME OF MY LIFE / ARRIVALS & DEPARTURES
* * * * *
February 15, 2014
Ayckbourn Ensemble, Warwick Arts Centre, then tour continues
CAN you have too much of a good thing? Well, possibly, if the good thing is all more of the same in large doses. But when those doses, spread across three productions throughout a single day, are as varied, thought-provoking and moving as the current Ayckbourn Ensemble on tour, they simply leave the audience hungry for more.
Sir Alan himself, this country’s most prolific living playwright, has concocted this menu of delights for touring the country before a five-week stint off-Broadway later in the spring, directing his own work as usual.
And what a feast it is. It starts with the amuse-bouche of Farcicals, two one-act plays featuring the same pair of neighbouring couples in varying degrees of miscommunication, undress and outright silliness. There’s no pretence of a deeper message, just laugh after laugh as the straightforward farce gets dafter and dafter, all played with appropriately straight faces by the quartet of actors.
It’s worth paying particular tribute here to Peter Halpin, stepping into his role as an understudy for the first time and pulling off the extraordinary trick of looking as if he was cast in the part in the first place and has been playing it all tour.
Next up is a revival of the 1992 play Time of my Life, in which Ayckbourn explores his fascination with time and its relevance to our lives. Here, a family gathering in a favourite restaurant forms the central focus in real time, while two nearby tables play out the storylines of the family’s two sons, one advancing in time, the other retreating backwards through a series of vignettes.
It’s poignant, clever and surprisingly dark, but with plenty of wit to leaven the heavy themes. Ben Porter as a collection of waiters earns most laughs, but the real substance of the piece is in the women’s roles, and Sarah Parks, Emily Pithon and Rachel Caffrey excel as their distinctive characters.
The day’s Ayckbourn-athon rounds off with his latest piece, Arrivals & Departures, which takes a step further into the darkness as it ponders the unreliability of memory and the pursuit of happiness. That’s not to say it’s short of comedy – it certainly isn’t – but it’s more concealed, offset by real pathos and consequently more thoughtfully won.
At the heart of this striking production are two magnificent performances from Elizabeth Boag and Kim Wall. She’s a young Army officer, buttoned-up and giving nothing away as she performs babysitting duties for a witness who can identify a terrorist suspect about to arrive at a large London train station. He’s the aforementioned witness, a jolly, naïve Yorkshireman with a penchant for talking aimlessly and an ill-founded optimism. Adding to the complexity, they’re surrounded by a large supporting cast of chaotic Army personnel pretending to be civilians as they await their suspect.
Act one reveals her backstory in a series of flashbacks, while act two does the same for him. Each is devastating in its own way but it’s the sheer bravado of Ayckbourn’s juxtaposition of these two completely separate figures that gives the piece its emotional punch.
Boag and Wall grab their roles with glee, relishing the opportunity to bring these quirky, three-dimensional characters to life. The denouement is probably as moving and heartbreaking as anything in the entire Ayckbourn oeuvre, and yet this central pair uncover a simple redemptive quality that stays with you long after leaving the theatre.
