Month: September 2017

After over 178 productions and over 28,000 audience members through the door since moving to the Bedford in 2015, Theatre N16 is looking for a new home from December 2017.

Theatre N16 was set up in 2015 to be a stomping ground for new companies and a place to try out new work, offering affordable deals on rehearsal and performance space. It has offered a ground-breaking, risk-free deal to all companies, which 95% of our guests have taken, guaranteeing that creatives do not leave our space owing the venue money. This is all under the auspices of an Equity Fringe Agreement, with Theatre N16 one of the few London venues to have signed up to the deal to guarantee pay to all creatives working for the venue.

Within this structure, Theatre N16 has offered performance space to 110 new writers, with over 200 first credits for new and young performers, and 42 productions transferring into other venues all over the world. In reaction to industry issues, they have started encouraging and promoting more successfully for female directors and writers, and worked hard to find productions and casting processes that favour BAME performers.

“The increasingly important Theatre N16” British Theatre

Executive director Jamie Eastlake says: “I was sick to death of watching theatre companies get ripped off under business models that relied on funding the theatre first. Instead, we kept finding new innovative ideas to keep a space open. The fringe is the lifeblood of theatre. Having good solid fringe theatre models is what creates new work and new artists and feeds the West End.“

Now, the new owners of The Bedford, Theatre N16’s home for the last two years, have decided to redevelop the pub. The theatre is looking for a new home, to continue their model of offering affordable space to give creatives a first rung on the ladder. Jamie Eastlake says: “This is a call to arms. We have to find somewhere – and we need help.”

“There’s a clear passion radiating from this venue” View From The Gods

Hamleys, Trafford Centre, Manchester.

Sunday September 24th 2017 – attended by Julie Noller

5*****

They say Elf is on everyones most favourite Christmas Films list, it’s certainly the one I watch every year to get the Christmas spirit flowing. How could I not jump at the chance to meet Buddy (Ben Forster) and Jovi (Liz McClarnon) and did I mention it was held in everyones favourite toy shop; Hamleys. We arrived whilst the shop was actually closed and the interviews were in full swing. Music from the musical was playing giving us a chance to listen to what lies ahead. It was also a chance to grab some sneaky photos and then I found myself up close and personal with what can only be described as Buddys dream cake, full of sugar and looking amazing, time to step away before my excitement exceeded all known levels. Ben and Liz looked relaxed and were laughing away, surrounded by Christmas trees and sparkling lights why wouldn’t they be happy. Ben expressed his delight that Elf is a family musical to be enjoyed over Christmas, Liz claimed she loved the film and felt it was perfect to be a musical. We also had the opportunity to meet the four boys playing the part of Michael, they are extremely excited as are their friends, they handled all the interviews, camera cues and photographs like true professionals. There were competition winners looking forward to Buddys performance on the Elf Stage, people attempting to enter and being refused made me feel very exclusive for what was to come. Then came the goodies that made us all feel like we were living Christmas Day, there were Sausage Baps, tea and coffee, Café Nero croissants and choc au pain, Juice Boost strawberry smoothies. Elf Bags for Life and Hamley Goodie Bags, Wow the excitement levels were rising and everyone was smiling.

Then Ben took to the stage as his alter ego Buddy, to perform ‘Worlds Greatest Dad’ We all loved it; young and old alike. If one song could sell a Musical then this is it. Of course Ben is reprising his role of Buddy having originally played him on the West End stage. He slipped those pixie boots on like they were meant to fit. We were then introduced to Liz who plays Jovi and Producer, Michael Rose. Liz is a true fan of Christmas and as well as being excited to play Jovi is over the moon to be based close to her home town of Liverpool and family. Michael explained why he brought Elf to the Uk, he wanted to give it a British twist with a British crew and cast, this he has done to perfection. Why Manchester? Simply in Liz’s eyes The Lowry is stunning, a modern theatre that’s welcoming. Michael chose The Lowry in Manchester to take Elf away from the West End, because of the community and family spirit of Manchester. Following recent tragic events and noticing how the community had pulled together, it’s perfect for a musical that encapsulates Christmas at it’s very heart. It’s a feel good musical that gives everyone a Christmas cheer, he is also aware that some people may just well be fed up of Christmas by the time they sit to watch Elf, but then they will enjoy the humour that runs throughout. The Salford Quays and Manchester itself also has a fantastic transport network and is easy to reach. It was uplifting to see Producer and cast talk with passion, they genuinely love Elf. Other stars of Elf include Joe McGann, Jessica Martin and Louis Emerick as Santa Claus.

Afterwards there was photo opportunities for selfies with the Elfies. I have no doubt theres quite a few profile photos being changed now for Elf shots.

Thank You to The Lowry for inviting me, I’m now off after speaking to my entire family to try to beat Liz McClarnons family to book the rest of the seats left, so be warned tickets are selling fast and it looks like being an amazing musical with Christmas memories. Don’t wait too long to book those tickets. The run starts on November 24th and finishes on January 14th all performances over the Christmas period are classed as peak times.

Theatre N16, 19 September – 7 October.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Lucy Light is a funny, feisty and life affirming new play about friendship and cancer that tackles the disease with searing honesty and irreverence.

Opening on a wave of nostalgia as BFFs Lucy and Jess celebrate the end of their GCSEs with cheap plonk and dancing to Atomic Kitten, the stark reality of Lucy’s situation is made clear by her no-nonsense description of chemotherapy, delivered straight to the audience. As Lucy wishes for her breasts to develop into C cups, her mum is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Fast forward a few years to Lucy’s 22nd birthday and Lucy’s mum has died, and she has discovered that she carries the BRCA One gene – meaning that she is 80% more likely to develop breast cancer – and makes the decision to have her breasts removed.

Sarah Milton has written two fully rounded and believable characters, with Jess and Lucy’s teenage conversations and obsessions laugh out loud familiar and cringeworthy. This makes the moments when the girls speak to the audience, telling the truth when they have just dissembled to their friend, more poignant and hard-hitting. There are lots of flippant throwaway lines about boobs and cancer, mostly from Jess, who does her best to keep Lucy’s spirits up, hiding her own confusion and rage as she tries to find hilarity in every situation. Only when she is confronted with the wait for results from an abnormal smear test does she let her mask slip, in a quietly devastating scene that Georgia May Hughes absolutely nails. The fury of their arguments is palpable and shocking, and the ease with which they eventually get over their differences rings true with Milton’s intuitive writing and Scott Ellis’s assured direction.

Hughes’ character has the energy of the Duracell bunny, in contrast to the quieter stoicism of Bebe Sanders’ Lucy. Sanders gives Lucy a truthfully fluctuating strength and vulnerability, and is positively luminous in the beautifully written final scene that will fill you with hope and get you fumbling for a tissue. The emotional integrity of Milton’s writing makes Lucy Light shine defiantly in the face of cancer – GO SEE THIS.

New Wimbledon Theatre 21 – 30 September, UK Tour until December 2017.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Will Young’s Emcee has the audience in the palm of his hand from the moment he appears on stage in this touring production of Cabaret. Rufus Norris’s production never shies away from the growing menace as the people of Berlin enjoy their final year of freedom and decadence before the Nazis take power.

The Emcee oversees the action as American Cliff arrives in Berlin and is taken under the wing of genial Ernst Ludwig. Cliff bumps into his old boyfriend Bobby at the Kit Kat Club, and meets Sally Bowles, who moves in with him. Their whirlwind life of parties, sex, drugs and drink can’t carry on forever, but Sally is determined to ignore what is happening in the country, become a star and enjoy herself. Rufus Norris portrays the growing unease, and the persecution of untermenschen stylishly and brutally, and the final downbeat and devastating scene will bring a lump to your throat.

Will Young was born to play Emcee, with wonderfully over the top mannerisms, switching from fey and funny to threatening, to lovelorn and bereft with consummate ease. You can’t take your eyes off him when he is onstage. And his voice is gorgeous – his vocals on Tomorrow Belongs to Me are sublime, and I Don’t Care Much will give you goose-bumps. Louise Rednapp does well in her first theatrical role. Her voice is strong and wrings the emotion from her solos, and as she has more stage experience over the tour, I think she will grow into the role as her acting confidence develops. Charles Hagerty is impressive as Cliff, with deliciously smooth vocals. Susan Penhaligon and Linal Haft are a joy to watch as Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, their sweet romance is a lovely counterpoint to the shallowness of the younger characters, and the two actors bring gravitas and humour to the roles.

Javier De Frutos’s bawdy and athletic choreography, performed flawlessly by the ensemble, compliments Kander and Ebb’s glorious musical numbers. This production is just the complete musical package. If it’s coming to a theatre near you, beg, borrow or steal a ticket.

UK Tour Dates:

Blackpool Winter Gardens, Blackpool 3 – 7 October

Festival Theatre, Malvern 10 – 14 October

New Theatre, Cardiff 17 – 21 October

Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds 24 – 28 October

MK Theatre, Milton Keynes 31 October – 4 November

The Lowry, Salford 7 – 11 November

Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh 14 – 18 November

Churchill Theatre, Bromley 21 – 25 November

Theatre Royal, Brighton 5 – 9 December

Musical Rewrites – Shoots: Wonky Musicals!

Aldridge Studio, The Lowry, Manchester – 20th September 2017.  Reviewed by Julie Noller

3***

This is an important week for The Lowry Members, it’s also a week I would’nt normally witness and get to see, so I feel very priveledged. It’s a chance to see snipets of various works at various stages. Fresh raw talent, from early budding careers, a chance to showcase early writings. It’s all brand new and quite possibly over a year away from being stage ready.

The evening was hosted by Sam Brady who as a comic is himself being supported through The Lowry’s Developed With programme. He brought humour to a rather tense and nervous room, introduced each of the acts after they’d set up their stage dierection. I did feel somewhat like I was walking into a drama workshop at school on arriving, but it was my first time inside Aldridge Studio and being honest a workshop is exactly what was happening.

We watched each of the four acts perform two songs, each one very different in design and ideas. Below is a quick synopsis of the four musicals to look out for over the next year.

Witches of the World Unite (working title)

By Ali Matthews and Leo Burtin; with Julia Nelson, Sophie Galpin & Sashwati Mira Sangupta, supported by Arts Council England.

It’s billed as a piece of protest theatre, a call to arms for feminists to form a magical thinking sisterhood. It’s a fun idea to see a witch rockstar on stage with her punk band. Perhaps to see more of the witch rockstar belting out her rock classics would suit, as I loved the rough and ready screeches of punk rock.

Ubuesque! The Scientific Musical of Imaginary Solutions

Directed by Collette Murray and Mark Winstanley. Music and Performance by Alex McCoy and Sarah Coyne.

It’s not entirely clear from the title, but I feel it’s a very tongue in cheek retelling of that age old story of political aspirations. Using song which borders into Opera, I found it confusing to follow the story. I am aware that we only saw a snipet, I have to say the audience was giggling and I know my teenagers would’ve loved the very obvious toilet humour.

Operation Mincemeat

By David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts.

This is already quite polished and the humour flowed, a very British story, told in a fun musical hall way. Ian Fleming (yes the creator of 007) was a central character and his input into the mission devised by secret services had the audience giggling over tuxedos, vodka martinis, beautiful women. Not to mention the whole team getting carried away by fights on top of moving trains. This slapstick comedy will draw the crowds in as it covers not only comedy but also historical genre too.

Writer Writes (working title)

By Derek Martin and Giles Deacon. Directed by Dan Jarvis. Performed by Robert Clement-Evans, Lara Hancox, Tom Lloyd and Rebecca Ward.

What happens when you get writers block? What happens to your characters when they take over your imagination? Watching this musical develop you realise the possibilities are endless including the chance to adlib. It will take some good acting and singing to change direction with different direlects but ultimately could be a very good fun packed to the rafters comedy.

Well done to everyone who got up in front of the small audience and also their peers to showcase their talents, I enjoyed watching a different aspect of theatre life, saw the hard work and dedication that goes into producing plays. Each snipet was delivered professionally, the singing was great. Good luck to each team for future development, I hope I get to see the finished acts and compare the fresh, rawness to the polished, finished article.

CHRISTOPHER HARPER AND JOHN MIDDLETON

LEAD A STAR CAST WITH

JACK ASHTON AND HANNAH TOINTON

IN

A major new production of Strangers on a Train is set to steam into theatres across the UK next year. The masterful and gripping thriller is based on the taught psychological drama by the celebrated writer Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol), immortalised by Hitchcock’s Academy Award-winning film.

Opening at Brighton’s Theatre Royal on 5^th January 2018, Strangers on a Train is presented byAmbassador Theatre Group and Smith and Brant Theatricals, and directed by Anthony Banks – the team behind the critically acclaimed and phenomenally successful tour of Patrick Hamilton’sGaslight.

Casting is led by John Middleton (Detective Arthur Gerard) who left Emmerdale earlier this year in a deeply moving storyline, having played the village’s beloved Vicar Ashley Thomas for over 20 years.

Christopher Harper – currently appearing on the nation’s screens as Coronation Street’s Nathan Curtis in the show’s explosive grooming storyline – plays the charismatic and manipulative Charles Bruno, a psychopathic playboy who has a chance encounter with a troubled stranger, Guy Haines (played by Jack Ashton, Call The Midwife). Hannah Tointon, starring as Guy’s fiancé, Anne Faulkner, is famed for her roles in Mr Selfridge (alongside her sister, Kara), The Inbetweeners and Hollyoaks.

A fateful encounter takes place between two men in the dining carriage of a train crossing America. Guy Haines is the successful businessman with a nagging doubt about the fidelity of his wife. Charles Bruno is a cold, calculating chancer with a dark secret. A daring and dangerous plan develops from this casual conversation, setting in motion a chain of events that will change the two men’s lives forever.

Strangers On A Train was written by Craig Warner and based on the world renowned 1950 novel byPatricia Highsmith, latterly made universally famous by the classic Alfred Hitchcock film. In the great tradition of Hitchcock, this spine-chilling tale will delight audiences with its marriage of dark wit and edge-of-the-seat tension.

Director Anthony Banks’ credits include this year’s hugely successful production of Gaslight starring Kara Tointon and Keith Allen, as well as Dennis Kelly’s DNA (National Tour); Bryony Lavery’s Cesarioand More Light, Lucinda Coxon’s The Eternal Not and Michael Lesslie’s Prince of Denmark (National Theatre); Snoo Wilson’s Pignight (Menier); Mark Ravenhill’s The Experiment (Soho Theatre & Berliner Ensemble); Tennessee Williams’ The Hotel Plays; Patrick Marber’s After Miss Julie (Theatre Royal Bath & National Tour). Anthony was an associate director at the National Theatre until 2014 where he commissioned and developed one hundred new plays for NT Connections.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

2018 TOUR DATES

5 – 13  January                                                  0844 871 7650

Theatre Royal, Brighton                                www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-brighton/

15 – 20 January                                                 0114 249 6000

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield                          www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

22 – 27 January                                                 0844 871 7647

Theatre Royal, Glasgow                                www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-glasgow/

29 January – 3 February                                0844 871 3011

Birmingham New Alexandra                       www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-alexandra-theatre-birmingham

5 – 10 February                                                 0844 871 3018

Opera House, Manchester                          http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/manchester/

12 – 17 February                                              0844 871 7645

New Victoria Theatre, Woking                   www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-victoria-theatre

19 – 24 February                                               0844 871 7651

Richmond Theatre, Richmond                    www.atgtickets.com/richmond

26 February – 3 March                                   01223 503333                                    

Arts Theatre, Cambridge                              www.cambridgeartstheatre.co.uk

5 – 10 March                                                      0844 871 3024                                                                   

Grand Opera House, York                            www.atgtickets.com/york

19 – 24 March                                                    0844 871 7607

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre                    www.atgtickets.com/venues/aylesbury-waterside-theatre

27 – 31 March                                                    029 2087 8889                                   

New Theatre, Cardiff                                     www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk                                                

Wilton’s Music Hall, 12 – 23 September.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Wales Millennium Centre’s production of Man to Man is a tour de force of storytelling. Inspired by the true story of Ella Gericke, who took her dead husband’s identity in the Weimar Republic era, Alexandra Wood’s translation of Manfred Karge’s 1982 play portrays the lengths to which a person will go to survive in a hostile and dangerous world.

Beginning with bitter pensioner Max alone in his apartment, complaining bitterly about the attitude of the unemployed loitering on the streets below, we are rapidly taken back to Ella’s youth, and her lost loves, before she tells the story of her brief marriage to Max. When he dies of cancer, desperately needing his wages, Ella buries him under her name in her home town, and begins her new life as Max the crane operator.

As political upheaval erupts in Germany, and Hitler rises to power, Max keeps his head down, knowing that he has an escape plan if the Nazis ever come for him – he can use Ella’s old passport and slip back into that identity. When Max uses the passport for a different purpose, the choice made is selfless and self-serving, as becoming Ella would kill Max all over again. This ambiguity of identity is always present as Max’s thick Glaswegian accent switches with Ella’s soft English tones throughout the narrative. The story continues throughout the war, the cold war, and up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, by which time Max has become disillusioned with society and his fragmenting mind intertwines his story with traditional German tales. The language is poetic and sometimes meandering, but these are the recollections of an old man, and Wood’s translation keeps Max/Ella’s history completely gripping and convincing.

This tradition of storytelling is mined beautifully by the creative team. Richard Kent’s design is deceptively simple, a chair and bed in a room with bare slatted walls and a single window is transformed repeatedly by Andrzej Goulding’s inspired projections and Rick Fisher’s lighting effects. As Ella describes the frost flowers on the window, they spread across the wall producing a magical effect that elicited gasps of wonder from the audience. The use of shadow projections illustrates some heart-breaking episodes in Ella’s story, and Mike Walker’s sympathetic sound design ensures a feast for the ears as well as the eyes.

The show belongs to Maggie Bain. She transforms herself with nuanced movements into a multitude of characters. Her physicality adds extra layers to the narrative as she climbs the walls, throws herself around the stage and squeezes herself into the window frame as she describes Max’s life.

A spellbinding performance to compliment this amazing story – Man to Man is a visually stunning and thought provoking show. Grab a ticket and see for yourself.

Tour Dates

Birmingham, REP 26 – 30 September

Edinburgh, Traverse Theatre 11 – 14 October

Newcastle, Northern Stage 17 – 18 October

Liverpool, Everyman Theatre 25 – 28 October

New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music 7 – 11 November

Dust by Milly Thomas
Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE
Tuesday 20th February – Saturday 17th March 2018, 7.15pm
Press Night: Friday 23rd February 2018, 7.15pm

Fresh from an award-winning, sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe 2017, Dust by Milly Thomas (Clique, BBC3; Clickbait and A First World Problem, Theatre503), directed by Sara Joyce, now transfers to London’s Soho Theatre. Dust is a refreshing, caustic and comedic treatment of one woman’s depression, suicide and everything that happens afterwards.

A woman. A suicide. A choice. A fly on the wall. A funeral. A Bakewell tart. A life. A lie. A truth. An ending. Of sorts. Alice thinks that life isn’t worth living. So she kills herself. Sort of. She is stuck, a fly on the wall. Forced to watch the aftermath of her suicide and its ripple effect on her family and friends, Alice quickly learns that death changes people. And that death is not the change she hoped for.

Milly Thomas comments, I’m beyond excited to bring Dust to a London audience. For the show to come to Soho Theatre after the support and nurturing they have given me from the very start of my career feels like a dream come true. So much of my very favourite work have grown from this venue and I’m hugely excited for this next chapter in Dust’s afterlife.

Written using Thomas’ own experience of depression and her desire to talk more about suicide and mental health in society today, Dust is very much about life, about those who remain behind and how squeamish we are around death. How do you quantify a life? What if you lived as an arsehole but suddenly, in death, you’re a saint? And, if push came to shove, would your mother get your funeral right?

Written and performed with dynamism by Thomas herself, there’s a candour about Dust that looks the audience in the eye and dares it to either pass judgement or else be sympathetic. Alice wouldn’t be satisfied with either, one suspects, in a show where sex is a matter of life, death and much more besides (The Herald).

Thomas was awarded a Stage Edinburgh Award for her performance in Dust in Edinburgh 2017