Category: Uncategorized

WEST END DIVA ROSEMARY ASHE PLAYS TRIBUTE

TO DORA BRYAN IN TOUR OF ADORABLE DORA

‘Tarts and barmaids. I just took whatever came along!’ – Dora Bryan

West End Diva Rosemary Ashe pays tribute to national treasure Dora Bryan in a tour of Adorable Dora. opening at the Lighthouse Theatre, Poole on 19 October before visiting Guildford, Bromley, Bingley, Bracknell, Surbiton and Hastings.

Over nearly eight decades Dora did it all, from pantomime and Carry On to Shakespeare, from Last of the Summer Wine and Ab Fab to Dinner Ladies, and perhaps most importantly her iconic and BAFTA Award winning performance in the film A Taste Of Honey. She earned the title national treasure in so many ways.

Now that legend is being brought to the life by West End star and Olivier Award nominee Rosemary Ashe (The Phantom of the Opera, The Witches of Eastwick, Mary Poppins) and Paul Knight (42nd Street, Forbidden Broadway) Who will take you on a fascinating musical voyage through Dora’s life. Expect fun, music & laughter with excerpts from Hello Dolly, The Water Gypsies and many more. The show tells the tale of Dora’s often turbulent life and recreates some of Dora’s best known and best loved theatrical creations.

Adorable Dora is written by Rosemary Ashe who says “I’ve always been a huge fan or Dora and during a clear out in Lockdown I discovered an old cassette of hers which inspired me to write the show.  After months of research into Dora’s life and speaking with many people who had known and worked with her Adorable Dora was born.  It’s a privilege to play her and to keep her spirit alive on stage”

Produced in association with DMP Theatre Limited. Adorable Dora, directed by Ben Stock with Musical Direction from Paul Knigh,t has recently played the Fringe, Above the Stag, The Pheasantry and Jermyn Street Theatre to the delight of critics and audience members alike .

“Not only does Rosie look and sound like her, she manages to convey the very essence, fun, eccentricity and flamboyance of this wonderful, wonderful actress. I urge everyone to beg, steal or borrow a ticket.” – Christopher Biggins (long-time friend of Dora)

“you close your eyes, you hear Dora”  – Brian Butler Brighton Fringe

“Ashe’s characterisation is perfect, the gamut of voices superbly nuanced, and the show itself, whilst light, points up the darkness with a few telling songs”  Fringe On Line

Don’t miss your chance to see this extraordinary tribute to one the comedy greats this Autumn book direct at venue websites.

LISTINGS

ADORABLE DORA

Wednesday 19 October 7pm Studio, Lighthouse Poole   –  www.lighthousepoole.co.uk   

Friday 28 October 7.45pm, Mill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford  –  www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk   

Sunday 30 October 1pm & 4.30pm Studio Theatre Churchill Theatre Bromley –  www.churchilltheatre.co.uk  

Friday 4 November 7.00pm.  Little Theatre Bingley –  www.bingleyartscentre.co.uk    

Sunday 6 November 5.00pm   Wilde Theatre, South Hill Pk, Bracknell –  www.southhillpark.org.uk  

Friday 18 November 7.30.   The Cornerhouse, Surbiton www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/surbiton/the-cornerhouse-community-arts-centre   

Saturday 19 November 7.30pm.   The Stables, Hastings www.stablestheatre.co.uk    

CHEEK BY JOWL ANNOUNCES TOUR DATES AND CAST FOR

THEIR FIRST SPANISH-LANGUAGE PRODUCTION LIFE IS A DREAM (LA VIDA ES SUEÑO) AS PART OF THE BARBICAN’S 2023 SEASON

Cheek by Jowl, led by Artistic Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, today announce tour dates and cast for their first Spanish-language production Life is a Dream (La Vida Es Sueño) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. One of the most famous plays of the Spanish Golden Age, this production has its première at Teatro Lope de Vega in Seville, before touring to Girona, Valladolid, Valencia, Madrid and Albi (France) in its first season. The production will then return to the Barbican where the company are Artistic Associates, for its UK premiere from 13 April to 16 April 2023, with further dates to be announced.

Performed by an ensemble of Spanish actors, Donnellan directs Ernesto Arias, Prince Ezeanyim, David Luque, Manuel Moya, Rebeca Matellán, Alfredo Noval, Goizalde Núñez, Antonio Prieto and Irene Serrano.

The production is a co-production with Spain’s foremost classical theatre, the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico in Madrid, under the Artistic Direction of Lluís Homar and LAZONA Productions.

Declan Donnellan today commented: “It is great to be working with this wonderful company of Spanish actors – and on this play, arguably the greatest achievement of the Spanish Golden Age. We performed in Spain before we ever performed in London, in the autumn of 1984. That was with Pericles which subsequently toured widely across the UK, Europe and beyond. In the spirit of that odyssey and adventure, we look forward to bringing our new production of Life is a Dream home to the Barbican and sharing it with audiences far and wide in the coming season…. We are very grateful to our partners in Spain, France and the UK who helped us to make this Dream a reality”

Co-produced by Cheek by Jowl, Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico (CNTC Madrid) and LAZONA; in collaboration with the Barbican, London and Scène Nationale d’Albi, France.

LIFE IS A DREAM (LA VIDA ES SUEÑO)

Written by Pedro Calderón de la Barca

In a version by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod

Cast: Ernesto Arias, Prince Ezeanyim, David Luque, Rebeca Matellán, Manuel Moya, Alfredo Noval, Goizalde Núñez, Antonio Prieto and Irene Serrano.

Director: Declan Donnellan; Designer: Nick Ormerod; Assistant Director: Josete Corral; Lighting: Ganecha Gil; Sound Design and Composer: Fernando Epelde; Movement Director: Amaya Galeote; Dramaturgy Advisor: Pedro Villora; Assistant Designer: Alessio Meloni; Lighting Assistant:

Javier Hernandez; Costume Assistant: Elena Colmenar; Sound Assistant: Gastón Horischnik; Interpreter: Juan Ollero; Publicity Design: Javier Naval; Executive Producer (LAZONA):

Miguel Cuerdo; Company Manager (LAZONA): Elisa Fernández

European Tour (see listings below)

14 October 2022 – April 2023

A prince chained in a mountain. A young woman disguised as a man, in search of vengeance. Revolution, love and murder – but in Life is a Dream, is the real truly real or is it all just a dream?

Written in verse in 1635, Life is a Dream is one of Spanish dramatist Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s best-known and most studied works and was listed as one of the 40 greatest plays of all time by The Independent.

LA VIDA ES SUEÑO

LISTINGS

Teatro Lope de Vega, Seville, Spain

14-16 October 2022

https://icas.sevilla.org/espacios/teatro-lope-de-vega/agenda/la-vida-es-sueno-calderon-de-la-barca-declan-donnellan-compania-nacional-de-teatro-clasico-lazona-y-cheek-by-jowl

Teatro Municipal, Girona, Spain

22-23 October 2022

https://www.girona.cat/teatremunicipal/cat/programacio_fitxa.php?id=3482

Teatro Calderón, Valladolid, Spain

12-13 November 2022

Institut Valencia de Cultura, Valencia, Spain

19-20 November 2022

https://taquilla.ivc.gva.es/janto/main.php?Nivel=Evento&idEvento=VLCLAVIDA

Teatro ClásicoMadrid, Spain

15 December – 26 February 2023

https://teatroclasico.mcu.es/https://teatroclasico.mcu.es/2022/06/16/la-vida-es-sueno-9/

Scène Nationale d’Albi, France

9-10 March 2023

http://www.sn-albi.fr/spectacle.php?id_spectacle=1282

Barbican, London

13-16 April 2023

www.barbican.org.uk

An imitating the dog  production

MACBETH

By William Shakespeare

Retold and directed by Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks

Set and Video Design by Simon Wainwright

Lighting Design by Andrew Crofts

Original music composed by James Hamilton

Touring from 21 February – 6 May 2023

imitating the dog to premiere daring new production of Macbeth  

From imitating the dog, the creators of the critically acclaimed production of Dracula: The Untold Story (the UK Theatre Award nominee for Best Design) and the unique shot-for-shot stage recreation of George A. Romero’s classic 1968 zombie movie – Night of The Living Dead ™ –  Remix,comes Macbeth, an audacious and dazzling new retelling of William Shakespeare’s tale of ambition, betrayal, and downfall.

Fusing live action with striking video technology, for which imitating the dog are renowned, Macbeth will open at CAST, Doncaster from 21-22 February and then tour till 6 May.

Three mysterious figures enter the stage. They talk of the hurly-burly, of thunder and lightning, and of a young couple who believe they can overthrow the old regime. They conjure the Macbeths, placing them in a dangerous new world where paranoia, betrayal, and brutality rule.

imitating the dog’s daring retelling of Macbeth is a neon noir thriller where Shakespeare’s original language collides with startling new scenes, stunning visuals, and a powder-keg intensity.

Andrew Quick, Co-Director and Artistic Director of imitating the dog said:

“Macbeth is such an extraordinary play. Shakespeare’s exploration of power, ambition, violence, and love seems so relevant to today.  We’re bringing a unique take to the original, while being true to the spirit of all those amazing words and scenes.  It will be a Macbeth as you’ve never seen before – but it’s still Shakespeare.”

imitating the dog have been making ground-breaking work for theatres and other spaces for 23 years. Their work, which fuses live performance with digital technology, has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people in venues, outdoor festivals, and events across the world. Past productions have included Hotel Methuselah, A Farewell to Arms, Heart of Darkness, Night of The Living Dead ™ –  Remix,  Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show and most recently Dracula – The Untold Story . Earlier this year the company staged Cinema Inferno, a ground-breaking new show for the Parisian haute couture house Maison Margiela, based on an original concept by creative director John Galliano, for Maison Margiela’s Artisanal 2022 collection, presented on the official Paris Haute Couture Calendar.

Macbeth will open at CAST, Doncaster from 21-22 February then will tour to Harrogate Theatre (24-25 Feb), The Dukes, Lancaster (28 Feb – 4 March); The Lowry, Salford Quays (8-11 March); Gala, Durham (16-17 March); Mercury Theatre Colchester (18-19 April); Liverpool Playhouse (25-29 April) and Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield (3-6 May). The production will also be touring Switzerland from 21-25 March.

For more information on the imitating the dog production of Macbeth visit www.imitatingthedog.co.uk

Cahoots Theatre Company Ltd  

in association with Jamie Clark Theatre 

presents the premiere of 

Wodehouse in Wonderland 

Starring Robert Daws 

Written by William Humble 

Directed by Robin Herford 

Tour opening at Malvern Theatres on 26 January 2023 

Cahoots Theatre Company Ltd in association with Jamie Clark Theatre presents the UK premiere of William Humble’s play Wodehouse in Wonderland, starring Robert Daws and directed by Robin Herford, on a UK Tour which opens at Malvern Theatres on 26 January 2023.  

Based on the life and writings of P.G. Wodehouse, Wodehouse in Wonderland takes place in P.G. Wodehouse’s New York State home in the 1950’s. Plum, as he is known to family and friends, is working away at the latest adventures of Bertie Wooster but is interrupted by a young would-be biographer, his adored wife, daughter Snorkles, and his two Pekingese. He shares stories about how Jeeves entered his life, how he became addicted to American soap operas and why he wrote books that were ‘like musical comedies without music’. He sings songs composed by Broadway legends with lyrics written by himself, and entertains the audience with characters such as Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth, Gussie Fink-Nottle and the squashily romantic Madeline Bassett…but there’s also a darker story beneath the fun. 

Wodehouse in Wonderland features songs byJerome Kern, George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Ivor Novello.   

The production is performed by arrangement with the Wodehouse Estate. 

The 2023 Tour will visit Malvern Theatres (26-28 Jan), Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford (2-4 Feb), Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury (6-8 Feb), Theatre Royal Windsor (9-11 Feb), Derby Theatre (13-15 Feb), Key Theatre, Peterborough (16-18 Feb), Exeter Northcott Theatre (24-25 Feb), The Haymarket, Basingstoke (2-4 Mar), Churchill Theatre, Bromley (9-11 Mar), Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham (13-14 Mar), New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (16-18 Mar), Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen (22-24 Mar), Queen’s Theatre, Barnstable (6-8 Apr), Alnwick Playhouse (13-15 Apr), Chelmsford Civic (17-19 Apr), York Theatre Royal (20-22 Apr), Octagon Theatre, Yeovil (25-27 Apr) and The Albany Theatre, Coventry (28-29 April). 

Robert Daws is well known for his work in television including leading roles in Jeeves and Wooster; John Sullivan’s Roger Roger and Rock and Chips; the British Comedy Award winning Outside Edge; Casualty, Midsomer Murders, Death in Paradise, Poldark, Sick Note, Father Brown, Agatha Raisin and eight series of The Royal as well as the BBC’s murder mystery series, Sister Boniface. With countless stage credits to his name, Robert has most recently been playing Pischik in The Cherry Orchard with Ian McKellen and directed by Sean Mathias. His many BBC Radio portrayals include Chief Inspector Trueman in Trueman and Riley, the long-running police detective series he co-created with writer Brian B Thompson (available on Kobo and Audible). Robert is the author of the best-selling Rock detective novels set in Gibraltar and Spain. He co-presents the popular crime fiction podcast Partners in Crime. 

William Humble has written a number of highly-acclaimed films for BBC TV, including the Emmy-Award winning On Giant’s Shoulders, with Judi Dench, the BAFTA-nominated Hancock, with Alfred Molina as Tony Hancock, and Frances Barber, and Virtuoso, about the concert pianist John Ogdon, also with Alfred Molina, and Alison Steadman. Other BBC films include Ex, starring Griff Rhys Jones and Geraldine James and Royal Celebration, with Minnie Driver, Leslie Phillips and Rupert Graves. For ITV, William wrote Too Good To Be True, a two-part psychological thriller with Niamh Cusack and Peter Davison and the film Whatever Love Means with Laurence Fox, Olivia Poulet and Richard Johnson. He dramatised Rosie Thomas’s novel Every Woman Knows A Secret, P.D. James’s An Unsuitable Job For A Woman as a six-part series with Helen Baxendale and Annette Crosbie, P.D. James’s The Black Tower as a series with Roy Marsden and Pauline Collins, and Mary Wesley’s The Vacillations of Poppy Carew with Tara Fitzgerald and Joseph Fiennes. William’s stage plays include What A Performance, with David Suchet as comedian Sid Field, on tour and at the Queen’s Theatre Shaftesbury Avenue, Facades, with Frances de la Tour as Edith Sitwell and directed by Simon Callow at the Lyric Hammersmith, Fly Away Home with Hywel Bennett, Diana Quick and Roger Lloyd-Pack at the Lyric Hammersmith, Talk To Me with Alan Dobie and Robert Daws at the New End Theatre Hampstead, and Virtuoso with Oliver Ford Davies at the Wolsey Theatre Ipswich. In 2021, William’s one-person stage play The Performer, starring Stephen Fry, was successfully broadcast on Radio 4. He has written several radio plays and two comic novels.  

Much of Robin Herford’s early career was involved with Sir Alan Ayckbourn and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, first solely as an actor, then also as Associate Director, and finally as Artistic Director from 1986-88. By that time, he had appeared in the original production of more Ayckbourn plays than any other actor. Robin’s most successful production The Woman in Black, which he commissioned and directed in 1987, has now been running in the West End for over 30 years, and has completed 12 UK tours. Directing, and occasionally performing in this play, has taken him around the world. Most recently, Robin directed Barefoot in the Park at The Mill at Sonning. He and Robert Daws have known each other for many years. Robin first directed Robert as Dr Watson in The Secret of Sherlock Holmes at the Duchess Theatre, and most recently playing the lead in a national tour of Ayckbourn’s Ten Times Table. A shared passion for P.G. Wodehouse makes this an irresistible project for them both. 

2023 TOUR LISTINGS 

26-28 January             Malvern Theatres (on sale now) 

2-4 February               Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford (on sale now) 

6-8 February               Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury (on sale now) 

9-11 February             Theatre Royal Windsor (on sale soon) 

13-15 February           Derby Theatre (on sale soon) 

16-18 February           Key Theatre, Peterborough (on sale now) 

23-25 February           Exeter Northcott Theatre (on sale soon) 

2-4 March                   The Haymarket, Basingstoke (on sale now) 

9-11 March                 Churchill Theatre, Bromley (on sale soon) 

13-14 March               Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham (on sale now) 

16-18 March               New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (on sale soon) 

22-24 March               Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen (on sale now) 

6-8 April                      Queen’s Theatre, Barnstable (on sale now) 

13-15 April                  Alnwick Playhouse (on sale now) 

17-19 April                  Chelmsford Civic (on sale now) 

20-22 April                  York Theatre Royal (on sale soon) 

25-27 April                  Octagon Theatre, Yeovil (on sale now) 

28-29 April                  The Albany Theatre, Coventry (on sale soon) 

A GOLDEN LINE-UP FOR DICK WHITTINGTON

Dick Whittington cast members came together for the first time this week (3 October), to launch this year’s spectacular pantomime at Birmingham Hippodrome.

The UK’s biggest regional panto features an all-star cast with Marti Pellow as The Ratman, Matt Slack as Dick Whittington, Dr Ranj as Spirit of the Bells, Suzanne Shaw as Alice, Doreen Tipton as Doreen the Cat and Andrew Ryan as Felicity Fitzwarren.

Later on in the day Birmingham Hippodrome opened its doors to Hippodrome Friends for an exclusive event which included an audience Q&A as well as an opportunity to meet cast members ahead of December’s production.

The production follows Dick Whittington and his trusty cat as he seeks fame, fortune, and happiness journeying to become the Lord Mayor in an action-packed adventure full of laughter, music and dance.

Featuring sets and costumes from The London Palladium, spectacular special effects and plenty of audience participation, Dick Whittington is the perfect chance for audiences to come together and share the magic of live theatre.

Dick Whittington will run at Birmingham Hippodrome from Saturday 17 December 2022 and will play until Sunday 29 January 2023.

Tickets for Dick Whittington can be booked at www.birminghamhippodrome.com or by calling 0844 338 5000*

 *0844 calls will cost you 4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge.

BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME, BIRMINGHAM – UNTIL SATURDAY 15TH OCTOBER

REVIEWED BY NADIA DODD

5*****

First time for me watching this musical but I’ve certainly watched the film plenty of times and if you are expecting the same as the film you may be slightly (only slightly) disappointed. New songs such as Take Me To Heaven, The Life I Never Led and Raise Your Voice certainly do create earworms for the audience to clap their hands and tap their feet along to.

What a way to show the importance of unity, sisterhood and then friendship between the wanna be hit singer and a group of nuns.

The musical is set in the late 1970’s in Philadelphia where the audience is introduced to Deloris Van Cartier, played by Sandra Marvin. Wanting to be a regular entertainer at her married, gangster boyfriends club. Deloris gets turned down, then accidently witnesses him committing a murder and has to end up in police protection.

Where can such a vibrant and outspoken character be placed where no one would think of looking for her – a convent of course! Convent life was always going to be difficult for Deloris to adjust to but when they discover common ground in music and singing, Deloris helps the choir attract more people from the local community to join the congregation in turn raising more money for the church to secure its future which was looking extremely bleak.

If Sandra Marvin was nervous about filling those boots of the talented Whoopie Goldberg, she certainly did not let this show. Her voice was powerful and strong. She bought the comedy to her character with some fabulous facial expressions too even when wearing her habit!

What a stellar cast Sister Act has to offer, in addition to Sandra, there’s Lesley Joseph playing the Mother Superior, Clive Rowe playing the police officer Eddie Souther and Lizzie Bea ….. what a voice ….. playing the timid and shy Sister Mary Robert who Deloris, known to her as Sister Mary Clarence helps to evolve out of her shell, unveiling this powerful voice that just mesmerises the audience.

Bright colourful costumes including sequins and glitter. Fabulous bright lighting and staging plus so many joyous, heavenly and talented voices this musical just has it all. Throw in the comedy and it’s no surprise why the crowd were on their feet clapping and cheering tonight.

Gaiety Musical Theatre Festival to launch in 2023
bringing unique festival experience to the fans
Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49 5NJ
Sunday 30th April 2023

The highly anticipated Gaiety Musical Theatre Festival is launching in April 2023 at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire. Following its postponement in 2022, this one-of-a-kind epic multi-stage festival will bring together some of the biggest West End and Broadway stars for a day packed with musical theatre performances and experiences. With two professional stages, a silent disco, theatre village, backstage hub, community bandstand, a funfair and food and drink stalls, Gaiety Musical Theatre Festival promises to be a must for any musical theatre fan.

The first of the headliners of the 2022 postponed festival are returning for the re-launched event in 2023. Fresh from her toe-tapping turn in Anything Goes, Kerry Ellis (We Will Rock You; Wicked) will be joined by fellow headliners and Britain’s Got Talent winners Collabro, in one of their last ever performances; stage and TV star Lee Mead (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Wicked; Legally Blonde: The Musical); Olivier Award-winning singer and actress Cassidy Janson (& Juliet; Beautiful: The Carol King Musical; Avenue Q); and Over the Rainbow contestants and musical stars Lauren Samuels (Bend It Like Beckham; Grease; We Will Rock You) and Sophie Evans (Wicked; The Wizard of Oz; Lord of the Dance).

The amazing line up will perform their favourite musical theatre songs on the Main Stage, accompanied by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra (Royal Albert Hall; London Palladium; Dominion Theatre). Further names are to be announced in due course.

As well as the amazing Main Stage line up, festivalgoers can dance the day away to their favourite Broadway belters in the silent disco tent, browse a wide variety of independent and official show merchandise in the theatre village and get involved with an exciting programme of events and activities across the 20 acre site.

Mike Wilson, producer of Gaiety Festival comments, We are delighted that Gaiety Festival is back, and bigger than ever! Our production team continue to work tirelessly to stage an event unlike anything seen before; a festival where musical theatre fans from across the country can immerse themselves in the best entertainment and experiences on offer. Today’s announcement is just the beginning, and we can’t wait to share even more exciting news over the coming months as we count down to the big day. It’s going to be spectacular!

The outdoor Gaiety Festival will bring the best of musical theatre to the stunning grounds of Ragley Hall Warwickshire, a magnificent stately home near Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon. Alongside standard, family, and VIP tickets, there will be return travel packages from Birmingham, London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Worcestershire and Coventry from Gaiety Festival’s Official Coach Partner, Big Green Coach, so musical fans from around the country can easily get to Ragley Hall.

Gaiety Festival will launch with 2,000 early bird tickets at £25. This incredible offer will allow musical theatre fans the chance to grab their spot at the festival straight away, at an amazing discount of over 40%. Since LMTO’s public launch in June 2016, the orchestra has performed in concert at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, the Dominion, the Lyceum and Cadogan Hall to sell-out crowds and rave five-star reviews. LMTO is Orchestra-inResidence at Bishopsgate Institute. www.lmto.org.

Marylebone Theatre – until 5th November 2022

Reviewed by Alun Hood

4****

At a time when attracting audiences is a challenge thanks to the dreaded cost of living crisis and onslaught of autumn, one can only applaud in admiration the audacity of opening a new theatre space. Even more remarkably, Marylebone Theatre debuts with a challenging political-historical drama by a long dead German writer set in 1600s Russia and Poland, about a real life figure whose name is unlikely to be recognised by your average ticket-buying punter. But here we are, with an inaugural production of Schiller’s Dmitry, as re-imagined and completed (the playwright died before finishing his original manuscript) by Peter Oswald and director Tim Supple….and it turns out to be stirring stuff.

To be fair, Oswald has form with adapting and reshaping Schiller (he fashioned a gripping Don Carlos, and his Donmar version of Mary Stuart with Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter was a massive international hit fifteen years ago) and Tim Supple has sundry classical credits under his belt at the Young Vic, the RSC and beyond, so we are in safe hands here. Once again, Oswald provides a verse text that is muscular, vivid and, crucially, never sounds like a translation. If it’s a little hard to follow at times, that’s more a fault of the original source material, but the story – the deposed Russian Tsar’s son, allegedly murdered in infancy and subsequently near-deified, turns up as an adult in early 1600s Poland to incite political and religious war, but is it really him? – is fascinating enough to repay the effort of concentration. There are shades of Martin Guerre, Anastasia and even Macbeth in this tale of violent power grabs, false, or at least unreliable, memory, and mistaken identity

Dmitry often feels more like a thriller than a bone dry history play, and Supple’s predominantly modern dress staging embraces and enhances that with almost constant underscoring – everything from Thrash metal through Hans Zimmer-style orchestral moodiness to religious choral flamboyance – and a rapid pace that enthrals but could occasionally benefit from slowing down a tad to allow us in the audience to absorb the astonishing story. And it really IS astonishing: allegiances switch in the blink of an eye, a breathtaking deceit is embarked upon, battles are fought and the push-pull of religious observance with political expedience is laid bare.

It’s engrossing material that resonates across the centuries, and it’s shot through with shards of macabre humour. Supple’s staging is heavy on the symbolism, both secular and, most strikingly, the religious, invoking the passion of Christ and other iconography in a series of tableaux depicting Dmitry’s demise, but never feels overdone.

The performances are uniformly terrific, and alive to the whiplash-inducing variations in tone and plot development. Lesser actors might struggle with rendering these flawed, intriguing figures into something consistently credible, but not Supple’s cast. Tom Byrne finds a relatable ordinariness as well as a natural authority and compelling dynamism in the young man who initially has no idea if he’s really of Tsarist lineage or not. Poppy Miller is very powerful as the former Tsarina relegated to an anonymous religious life before seeing her fury and pain devastatingly reactivated.

Daniel York Loh does thrilling, fiery work as the ruling Tsar Boris Godunov, matched by a turn of extraordinary passion and wayward energy by Piotr Baumann as a Cossack warrior. Aurora Dawson-Hunte’s Princess betrothed to Dmitry is an intriguing mixture of ferocity and acquiescence that feels refreshingly modern but not implausibly so, and Mark Hadfield invests her father with the appropriate mixture of authority and comic bafflement. In another striking performance, Clifford Samuel brings a riveting watchfulness, and a particularly strong command of the verse, to one of the few characters with a full handle on the bewildering facts surrounding the unconventional hero.

Robert Innes Hopkins’s set extends the blonde wood of the auditorium onto the stage in a sort of natural continuation that feels fitting for the first production in a brand new theatre. However, the suspended overhead grid, in similar wood, slightly impedes the directing of Jackie Shemesh’s moody lighting, leaving key figures in darkness at dramatic moments while lesser characters are fully illuminated. Max Pappenheim’s vivid, edgy and pretty much constant soundscore is quite wonderful though, almost like another character in the play.

It will be interesting to see a production at the Marylebone that seeks to transform the space a little more. As it is, the venue is attractive and comfortable, but feels like a lecture theatre and performance space hybrid. Still, it’s exciting to welcome a new central London theatre, and highly impressive that they’re opening up with a bold, grandiose, high quality production that would not look out of place on one of the National stages or at somewhere like the Donmar or the Almeida. Bravo.

Salisbury Playhouse, Salisbury – until 8 October 2022 

Reviewed by Gemma Gibson 

5***** 

Spike Milligan was a comedy genius, inspiring the likes of Monty Python and Eddie Izzard with his witty humour, unique sketches, and hilarious one-liners. 

Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s latest show ‘Spike’ pays homage to just that, as we explore the inner workings of this complex comic during the booming fifties and his successful radio show – The Goon Show. 

As comrades Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers become overnight celebrities, chief writer and fellow goon Spike finds himself pushing the boundaries of comedy to make The Goon Show one of the most loved features on the airwaves… albeit with a bit of resistance from the BBC. The Big Brother Corporation as he put it.  

Reflecting on the life of such a unique and inspirational comic, it was a given this production had to be funny, and it did not disappoint.  

Right from the start – a brief introduction to BBC sound effects from Janet (played by Margaret Cabourn-Smith), I was already laughing and hooked. Transported to the world of retro radio, I could have watched that for the two hours. 

The leading comedy trio however, Spike, Harry and Peter, played by Robert Wilfort, Jeremy Lloyd, and Patrick Warner, were of course the stars of both The Goon Show and ‘Spike’.  

Their physical comedy, timing for a punch line, and fun-to-watch chemistry and banter, all while staying true to character, left the audience bellowing with laughter throughout.  

A subtle look to the audience here, chaotic dance moves and a trumpet there, Wilfort’s interpretation of Spike is to be truly commended. He embodied Spike’s energy, enthusiasm and unique, and sometimes satirical, humour brilliantly. 

What was also great about this show was that it went beyond Spike’s fame as a goon, tapping into his war experiences and how this affected both health and humour.  

This was done incredibly through flashbacks, cleverly tied into the storyline to explain Spike’s goon-like behaviour. It made the audience look deeper into his funny side and background, a moving, humanising layer to the show.  

The sound and lighting of course enhanced ‘Spike’, but it truly deserves a shout out for creating the shifts between past and present. 

If you enjoy fast-paced sketches, jokes, jokes, jokes, and just plain silly-ness, this show will provide just that, while helping you learn all about one of the greats that brought this style to the forefront of British radio comedy. 

Two hours of explosive scenes, endless puns, a sprinkle of romance and a close encounter with a potato peeler – it’s not to be missed. 

Theatre Royal Nottingham – until Saturday 8 October 2022

Reviewed by Louise Ford

4****

Oh Carole!

Before I start this review I think it is wise to confess that I don’t own a copy of Tapestry (although I have heard of it!) and who knew so many songs were written by the King/ Goffin partnership! More than 400 of their compositions have been recorded by over 1,000 artists and includes more than 100 hit singles.

Beautiful is the incredible story of singer- songwriter, Carole Klein/ King (Molly-Grace Cutler) and  is told through her songs . It charts the rise of pop music from the 1960s to the 1970s. The King/Goffin songs have a depth and emotion that is a million miles away from the light pop songs in the charts of the early 1960s, as one character points out these songs (Stupid Cupid, Yakety Yak or Splish Splash) could have been written by a dolphin.

The play is book-ended by King performing solo at New York Carnegie Hall. However the story starts with  King at home in Brooklyn with her mother (Claire Greenway), a music teacher who wants King to follow in her footsteps and be a teacher, rather than pursue a career as a writer. King’s early life isn’t really touched upon, her father is a largely absent figure (he never appears in the play)  and is only mentioned by her mother as an adulterer, who will always be the love of her life. King is seen playing the piano and composing lyrics. Although it is mentioned how clever she is and that she skipped two grades and is in classes two years above her age, it isn’t really explored what drives her to compose.

King meets Gerry Goffin (Tom Milner) at High School and there is a mutual attraction and their song writing partnership is born. With a school friend King decides to take one of her compositions to the genial music mogul Don Kirshner (Garry Robson). He takes on her song and the rest is history. In the writers hot house there is another pair of writers Cynthia Weil (Seren Sandham-Davies) and Barry Mann (Jos Slovick) . The friendly rivalry between the pairs to produce songs and the elusive No 1 is nicely portrayed.

The story is interspersed with embryonic songs, picked out by King on the piano which then develop into full blown productions complete with sharp suits, sequins, furs and glamour (costumes by Edd Lindley)

The over arching feeling of the play is the pressure and chaos of the music industry where writers struggle to get the peace and space to write. It all seems very frenetic and pressurised.

The beauty of the play is the music. The instruments are played by all members of the cast from percussion to piano to saxophone, it’s smart and slick. The contrast between the big band glitzy sound to the quiet solo performances by King is very moving.

All in all whilst we don’t learn a great deal about the back stories of the main characters there are enough hints and clues to give an outline, it is rather a tapestry of songs and music covering the rise of pop music in the 1960s.