Category: Uncategorized

The Vaults, London – until 12 January 2020

Reviewed by Serena Norgren

4****

“The Prince has ruled for a thousand days, to celebrate his reign, the Red Palace is hosting a masquerade ball of fantastical proportions”. The Palace is an immersive dining show set in the atmospheric Vaults, once part of Waterloo Station. Stepping into the venue you are transported into a gothic world with a glass of prosecco in hand and anonymous behind a Venetian mask. The venue, has been transformed into a fairy tale palace complete with ball room and VIP dining area but there is no pink nor princesses on display here.

After an excellent dinner (created by Masterchef semi-finalist Annie Mackenzie) the story telling begins with the Prince (Eleanor Dillon-Reams) recounting the prophecy of his reign. The audience are then encouraged to visit various spaces within the palace to learn more about the machinations and plotting going on from characters straight out of the Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm playbook, but with a twist. The bizarre Seer, Baba Yaga (Porscha Present) tells us of the terrible things the prince has done; Red, played by Emily Essery, brings you into her confidence about her intentions in the damp and chilling Forest. Steffi Walker makes for a marvellous mermaid in the Bathhouse recounting the quest for her lover in a hilariously macabre fashion from her decadent bathtub. The “sets”, if that’s what you call each room, are undeniably good and the performers convincing as they weave their macabre tales in a sybaritic yet threatening atmosphere. It is easy to get carried away, although from time to time it is confusing and not altogether clear what or where the audience are supposed to do or go. This does not detract from the frisson, enhanced by the cavernous and damp nature of the venue.

The denouement at the end is no surprise (although no spoilers!) leaving the audience feeling up beat and left to dance the rest of the night away in celebration while the bar continues to serve cocktails and more prosecco.

This all women, non-binary cast combines improvisation, physicality and energy in a multidimensional space with aplomb. Notable are Joanna Vymeris as Cat: despite her mask often getting in the way of being able to hear her, compensates for this with her feline physicality. Emily Essery’s Red, a sort of Joan of Arc meets Red Riding Hood figure is both fragile and fearless while Steffi Walker’s Mermaid is charming, comedic and deadly all at the same time.

The production can’t really be described as some of the press claims: “to be a look behind the mask to explore power, duplicity, and the complexity of identity” but it certainly “sheds the binds of gender and sexual conformity to release a world of pleasure and freedom” and makes for a jolly good night out!

A Christmas Carol heads on UK tour
UK Tour: November – December 2019

This festive season European Arts Company returns following a highly successful 2018 run of A Christmas Carol. Inspired by Dickens’s own charitable work, the 2019 tour is in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital, reflecting the heart-warming message of Scrooge’s philanthropic transformation in this perfect Christmas story

Audiences will be thrilled to experience A Christmas Carol as Dickens himself performed it over 150 years ago. He was the first writer to publicly act out his own work and, in doing so, invented a new genre of performance. Working with the script Dickens used, actor John O’Connor plays over 20 characters, skilfully drawing the audience into this Victorian ghost story about the power of compassion and generosity to transform lives

Deftly taking them from Dickens’s own warm study, to Scrooge’s freezing house and the Cratchits’ welcoming dinner table even the most miserly of hearts will be stirred this festive season. Beautiful sets by Tom Paris are based on a combination of Dickens’s travelling cases and the warmth of his London sitting room, lending real intimacy to this poignant production. This Christmas, audiences can experience what it must have been like to be in the presence of Charles Dickens himself!

This is a beautifully intimate piece of storytelling with a familial, cosy atmosphere. It embraces its classical origin and has a true heart-warming Christmas spirit (York Press, 2018)

John O’Connor lives in Rochester where Dickens grew up and set many of his stories including Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. O’Connor says, In these times of austerity and uncertainty, this beautiful story is as relevant now as it was in 1843. It’s fascinating to see how Dickens communicated it so directly to his audiences in public performances. He made them laugh and cry in equal measure, taking them on a magical journey and imparting the true spirit of Christmas. The show is a chance for audiences to feel what that was like. It’s a joy to do and we will have some fun along the way

Laura Savory, Head of Community Fundraising at Great Ormond Street Hospital says We are delighted that European Arts Company is raising money through their production of A Christmas Carol to support the valuable work of Great Ormond Street Hospital. Charles Dickens was instrumental in helping to support the hospital when it was founded in 1852 and did some early public readings of A Christmas Carol in aid of GOSH

This production has been generously supported by Arts Council England

Performance Dates

27th November Theatre Royal, Margate
Addington St, Margate CT9 1PW

28th November Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells
Church Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells TN1 1JP

29th November Discovery Centre, Winchester
Jewry St, Winchester SO23 8SB

30th November Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes
Stantonbury, MK14 6BN

1st December Mumford Theatre, Cambridge
Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT

2nd December Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford
Eastgate St, Stafford ST16 2LT

3rd December The Lights, Andover
Andover College, Andover SP10 1AH

4th December Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead
High St, Hemel Hempstead HP1 3AE

5th – 7th December The Old Courtroom, Brighton
118 Church St, Brighton BN1 1UD

9th December Greenwich Theatre Studio, London
Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES

10th – 11th December Stamford Arts Centre, Stamford
27 St Mary’s St, Stamford PE9 2DL

12th – 13th December The Courtyard, Hereford
The Courtyard, Edgar St, Hereford HR4 9JR

15th December Loughborough Town Hall
Market Place, Loughborough LE11 3EB

17th – 21st December York Theatre Royal, The De Grey Rooms
St Leonard’s Place, York YO1 7HD

23rd December Greenwich Theatre Studio, London
Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES

DARLINGTON HIPPODROME STAFF HIT WITH STRICTLY FEVER

Staff at Darlington Hippodrome are tuning in every weekend to Strictly Come Dancing to watch several stars appear live before the nation before they appear live in Darlington.

Darlington Hippodrome staff have more than one reason to be glued to their TVs this autumn.

Strictly Fever has struck Hippodrome staff as not only do they have the Head Judge of Strictly Come Dancing, Shirley Ballas, starring in their annual festive pantomime Jack and The Beanstalk but dance professional Giovanni Pernice (who is partnered with Michelle Visage) will be bringing his spectacular stage show, This Is Me, to Darlington in June 2020 and comedian Chris Ramsay (who is partnered with Karen Hauer) has just announced another one-night date at Darlington Hippodrome in October 2020.

Shirley Ballas will appear as Mother Nature in Jack and the Beanstalk at Darlington Hippodrome from Friday 6 December to Sunday 5 January alongside Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson as Jack, comedian Phil Walker as Simple Simon and actor Daniel Taylor as the evil Fleshcreep.

Strictly favourite Giovanni Pernice will be touring his brand new dance spectacular This Is Me next year and is bringing it to Darlington on Monday 22 June. Giovanni is set to light up the stage, along with a full cast of professional dancers.

North east comedian Chris Ramsay will be swapping his dance shoes for a single microphone as he embarks on a UK wide tour, stopping off in Darlington for one night only on Wednesday 7 October. Tickets are already in short supply.

For full information on all the shows at Darlington Hippodrome or to book visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk or call the box office on 01325 405405

THE RECORD-BREAKING HIT MUSICAL RETURNS!

‘HONEY WHAT YA WAITIN’ FOR?’

BY LAURENCE O’KEEFE & KEVIN MURPHY

BEST NEW MUSICAL

WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS 2019

****

Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, Daily Express,

The Stage, Attitude, The Arts Desk, Broadway World

*****

The New European, City AM

Following two record-breaking seasons at London’s The Other Palace and West End transfer to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2018 and having won the WhatsOnStage 2019 award for ‘BEST NEW MUSICAL’, Heathers the Musical will embark on a highly anticipated UK tour from 2020.

Produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, this high octane, black comedy, rock musical based on one of the greatest cult teen films of all-time starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, is back with a bang!

The 2020 Class of Westerberg High and the full tour timetable will be announced shortly.

Greetings and salutations! Welcome to Westerberg High, where popularity is so very a matter of life and death, and Veronica Sawyer is just another of the nobodies dreaming of a better day.

But when she’s unexpectedly taken under the wings of the three beautiful and impossibly cruel Heathers, her dreams of popularity finally start to come true.

Until JD turns up, the mysterious teen rebel who teaches her that it might kill to be a nobody, but it’s murder being a somebody.

The award-winning writing team, Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy’s hit musical adaptation has enjoyed successful runs in Los Angeles and New York, and its European premiere saw it become the highest grossing show at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Other Palace, having sold over 20,000 tickets across the run and selling out prior to its opening gala performance. It had a similar success on transferring to the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

The musical is directed by acclaimed American screen and stage director Andy Fickman, with choreography by Thriller Live’s Gary Lloyd, design by David Shields, lighting by Ben Cracknell and sound by Dan Samson.

LISTINGS

BILL KENWRIGHT & PAUL TAYLOR-MILLS PRESENT

HEATHERS THE MUSICAL

2020 UK TOUR

BY LAURENCE O’KEEFE & KEVIN MURPHY

DIRECTED BY ANDY FICKMAN

CHOREOGRAPHY BY GARY LLOYD

DESIGN BY DAVID SHIELDS

LIGHTING BY BEN CRACKNELL

SOUND BY DAN SAMSON

Calling all #CornNuts – Be the first to hear the latest Heathers the Musical gossip and further details on dates, venues and on-sales by following us on the following:

Website: www.kenwright.com

King’s Head Theatre – until 26 October 2019

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

5*****

This brilliant new English version of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore is a joint production from the King’s Head and Opera’r Ddraig, set on sunny Barry Island in 1982. Way before today’s ubiquitous coffee chains, most Welsh valleys villages had an Italian Bracchi (or three) serving fabulous ice creams and frothy coffee. Adina (Alys Roberts) runs her Bracchis on the island, helped by Gina (Caroline Taylor). Lovesick Nicky (David Powton) can’t find the words or the courage to tell Adina how he feels, so is fair game for the travelling quack Dulcamara (Matthew Kellett) who sells him a love elixir that he claims will make him irresistible to Adina. Nicky’s plans are scuppered by the return of Captain Brandon (Themba Mvula), Barry’s resident Casanova, who also has his eye on Adina.

The plot is gloriously silly, and Chris Harris and David Eaton’s lyrics are hilarious. The details in the Bracchi set got the Welsh people in the audience very nostalgic and some hilarious colloquialisms are included, along with lots of swearing. It’s Barry, and nobody there is going to sing “oh Dear”, so hearing the men calling each other twat and dick with voices soaring to the beautiful melodies feels gleefully anarchic, authentic and very, very funny. The cast all have incredible voices, but Matthew Kellett steals the show as Dulcamara – he has all the best lyrics and channels Groucho Marx and Delboy Trotter in his comic delivery.

This is perfect entertainment for opera buffs and newbies alike – stunning performances and charming, joyful, and daft – just lush.

Menier Chocolate Factory – until 16 November 2019

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

5*****

Jane Austen’s unfinished novel is the starting point for Laura wade’s smart and witty play. In The Watsons, Austen had written a plucky heroine, Emma, who has no prospect of finding a suitor but longs to return to the financial comfort she has become used to while living with her aunt. Her two unmarried sisters are polar opposites, one dutifully caring for their dying father, and the other desperate to marry any available man. The three eligible men in town – the parson, the handsome cad and the lord of the manor – are all instantly recognisable Austen characters, and Wade introduces Emma’s world with a delightfully light touch before pulling a theatrical handbrake turn and introducing a mysterious maid, Laura. Laura reveals herself to Emma as the writer of the play, who wrote herself into it to stop Emma making a huge mistake. Emma, being an Austen heroine, doesn’t take the news that she is merely a character meekly, and very soon all the characters have notes for Laura.

The debate between Laura and her characters is twisty and gleefully clever, without ever becoming smug. Whether the characters are voicing their own ideas or Laura’s is unclear at first, and there are lots of familiar Brexit tropes about democracy and taking back power alongside ideas from Rousseau and Hobbes. Wade both mocks and lauds writers and the creative process in her engaging and freewheeling script, and Emma’s reactions are exactly what you’d hope for if Austen had written her entire story.

Director Samuel West handles the action with a light touch, and the stellar cast are all on fine form, with Grace Molony as Emma and Louise Ford as Laura shining as their verbal sparring escalates. Joe Bannister is a hoot as the awkward Osborne, who is much more comfortable talking to his dogs and horses than to human beings, and Laurence Ubong Williams oozes charm and arrogance as the ridiculously caddish Tom Musgrave. Jane Booker and Sophie Duval are lots of fun as the type of awful older women that inhabit Austen’s stories.

Bursting with intelligence and impish wit, The Watsons is crying out for a West End transfer.

Mayflower Theatre, Southampton – until 12 October 2019

Reviewed by Jo Gordon

4****

Based on Berry Gordy’s book about the ups and downs of setting up and maintaining his Motown label, Motown the Musical is proving to be popular with theatre goers. Starting right at the very beginning when an ambitious young Berry (Edward Baruwa)  convinces his family to give him $800 to fund the birth of his record company we see how through hard-work and his nurturing of rising stars such as Smokey Robinson (Nathan Lewis), Marvin Gaye (Reece Richard) and the great Diana Ross (Karis Anderson), Motown Records becomes the biggest company of its time producing hit after hit. It was however, not just about the hits, it was bringing black artists to the forefront in a time where Martin Luther King was fighting for the rights of black people, the anti Vietnam war rallies were happening and JFK had been assassinated. As bigger record companies began offering Berry’s artists more money to jump ship would his established musical institution be no more?

Put simply, the whole cast are an amazingly talented bunch and each costume change, dance move and characteristic bring the glamour and soul that is Motown to life. Sixty-three huge tunes are used in the show and most probably you will know most if not all of them and there is plenty of opportunity for audience participation!

Clever use of projection on set shows news stories, film, TV and photographs of the time which all help add to the magic of placing us in the right decades and providing backdrops to the performers as they rise through the billings.

Not just a show for fans of the record label as the younger generation will recognise the music as even now Motown influences can be heard in many modern artists music. Alongside the story at the very heart of Berry’s empire it makes an absolute hit of a show. I left with not only a better knowledge of that story but also a warm fuzzy glow as I recollected memories of many an 80’s family wedding where my Mother and Aunties, possibly fuelled by one to many a Babycham would congregate on the dance floor like the West Midlands answer to Diana and her Supremes …..and long may they continue!

The Lowry, Salford – until Saturday 5 October 2019

Reviewed by Joseph Everton

4****

What is it about blonde men, or just men for that matter, in positions of power that makes them so corruptible? Gregory Doran’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure felt a bit like watching the 10 o’ clock news when young nun, Isabella (Lucy Phelps) pleaded to Angelo (Sandy Grierson) for her brother’s life, only for him to abandon his principles and proposition her for sex. Isabella’s decision, her chastity for her brother’s life, made for a gripping watch, full of emotion.

To watch Isabella writhe as she was groped by Angelo was particularly difficult and for many women, probably all too relatable. The juxtaposition of comedy and desperately sad moments was striking, with the story moving at pace, as much as the Shakespearean script allowed. Lively scenes involving the effervescent and highly watchable Joseph Arkley as Lucio faded into the sombre ones where Isabella begged for mercy.

A mirrored set created interest as, even with few cast members on stage, movement was reflected all around. Chains aplenty, actors were dragged and prams loaded with illegitimate babies were wheeled this way and that, bringing life to the stage regularly to keep the audience interested. Sound came from a gallery above, the illegitimate babies cried and prison bars crashed down from during scenes in the cells. Convicts, with their crimes hung around their necks, were paraded through streets and sex workers strutted around in stockings in a Vienna that was short on morality and long on sin.

Although bleak, Measure for Measure was an enjoyable watch, featuring some entertaining individual performances.

Rising Tides announce Sir Mark Rylance as Patron

“I have been a campaigner for the environment for years,
and I want to support Rising Tides as they are dedicating all their efforts towards the Climate Emergency. The arts have a huge role to play in helping society weather the changes ahead.”

On Friday, 20th September, Rising Tides, announced that Oscar-winner and theatre star, Mark Rylance, has become its Patron.

Rising Tides, a theatrical collective, formed of experienced and emerging artists, was founded in 2014 and aims to advance the understanding of climate change through the delivery of new theatre productions, educational and corporate workshops.

Artistic Director and Creative Producer Neil Sheppeck, said: “We are delighted to announce Mark Rylance as Rising Tides’ new Patron. Mark is considered to be one of the greatest actors of his generation, receiving an Academy Award, two Olivier Awards and three Tony Awards for his work.”

“In 1995 Mark was also the first artistic director of Globe Theatre, until 2006. Mark’s long- standing concern about the issue of climate change and his actions to promote these issues are shared by Rising Tides and we are hugely honoured to call him our Patron.”

Rising Tides first project was a takeover at HighTide Festival with four exciting pieces of new writing (Two Fish, and Fracture by Steve Casey, Limpets by Jonnie Bayfield, Fridge! by Polly Churchill) and an immersive multi-media experience (Think Tank, devised by Chris Lawson & Paul Webster).

Rising Tides was subsequently awarded Arts Council funding to research and develop Two Fish, Fridge! and Think Tank in partnership with the Arcola Theatre.

Rising Tides held a rehearsed reading of Mu’assel by Riad Ismat (previous Syrian Minister of Culture) at Diorama Arts Centre, with donations going towards the The Red Crescent.

Most recently, they hosted Letters to The Earth with The Space, Isle of Dogs, performing and discussing letters contributed by poets, citizens, playwrights and politicians, from all over the globe, connecting to the Climate Emergency.

Rising Tides next productions will be Gasping by Ben Elton and Between Two Waves by Ian Meadows 22 October – 24 October 2019, The Space, Isle of Dogs, London, E14 3RS.

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh – until 5 October 2019

Reviewed by James Knight

4****

“You are unjust to women in England. And till you count what is a a shame in a woman to be an infamy in a man, you will always be unjust, and Right, that pillar of fire, and Wrong, that pillar of cloud, will be made dim to your eyes, or be not seen at all, or if seen, not regarded.”

Oscar Wilde’s suitably scathing social comedy comes to the King’s this week, and in the time of Time’s Up and #MeToo, it couldn’t feel more relevant.

At a party at Lady Hunstanton’s estate, the upper classes arrive for a typical afternoon and evening of wining, dining and witty remarks. The young Gerald Arbuthnot (Tim Gibson) has been offered a job as secretary to the witty, daring and amoral Lord Illingworth (Mark Meadows), a position that would grant him high status in ‘society’. However, when his mother, Mrs Arbuthnot (Katy Stephens) arrives later, scandalous secrets are revealed – Gerald is actually Lord Illingworth’s illegitimate son. Illingworth had courted Mrs Arbuthnot in their youth, and after conceiving a child, refused to marry her. And so, the tensions rise and battle lines are drawn – how does Mrs Arbuthnot keep her son, whom she has had to raise alone in a world that would shun her if the truth came out, but keep the man who wronged her as far away as possible.

It is clear whose side the audience should be on. It is clear whose side Oscar Wilde was on. The play shows the hypocrisy and double standards enacted by the upper classes and lays bare Mrs Arbuthnot’s pain. In the Victorian era, scandals such as hers could easily destroy her life and her son’s. Wilde usually has a stand-in for himself in his plays, the lackadaisical figure who pokes and prods at the conventions of society, the lounging rogue who punctures arguments with effortless wit, and here, the stand-in is Illingworth. But here, instead of being admirable, Illingworth gradually turns into a vile man, his character laid bare by Mrs Arbuthnot. His attempted kiss on Hester Worsley (Georgia Landers), his outrageous flirting with the equally amoral Mrs Allonby (Emma Amos) reveal a man who in this day and age would be named in the same sentence as Weinstein, Affleck and the rest of them. Thankfully, Mrs Arbuthnot does get the last word here, just as you think Illingworth is getting too many of them.

Katy Stephens and Mark Meadows’ scenes together are electric, firing shots at each other laced with undisguised loathing. Wilde’s acerbic wit is on fine form here, even if at other times his words are delivered with less finesse – more than a few of his more famous lines were delivered with a pointed ‘look, this is one is REALLY clever’ almost-fourth-wall-break, rendering it more pantomime than pointed jab at society’s failings.

The pace of the play is swift, each act a breezy 55 minutes, the huge set changes covered ably by Roy Hudd’s Reverend Daubney and other members of the cast performing classic music hall a la post-dinner entertainment.

A highly relevant look at the treatment of women both then and now, ‘A Woman of No Importance’ remains topical and enjoyable.