CASTING AND TOUR ANNOUNCED FOR SMASH-HIT MUSICAL PARODY
UNFORTUNATE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF URSULA THE SEA WITCH
Disney villain. Octo-woman. Plus-size icon
Presented by Fat Rascal Theatre and Wildpark Entertainment
Book and Lyrics by Robyn Grant & Daniel Foxx and Music by Tim Gilvin
Fat Rascal Theatre and Wildpark Entertainment announce casting and tour dates for critically acclaimed hit parody musical Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch opening at Underbelly Festival Earls Court from 21 June – 16 July before splashing into The Lowry, MAST and Cast Doncaster in September – things are gonna get wet.
Join everyone’s favourite Disney Diva, Ursula, as she gives her take on what really happened all those years ago under the sea. With an original hot pop soundtrack and trademark filthy humour, it’s time to take the plunge and dive in to this year’s hottest night out.
Fresh from sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and around the UK the cast of ‘Unfortunate’ will be led by Elliotte Williams- N’Dure(Sylvia, The Old Vic. Jesus Christ Super Star, Regents Park. Hairspray, Uk Tour) in the title role of Ursula along with Miracle Chance(Be More Chill, Shaftesbury Theatre & The Other Palace. The Rocky Horror Show ,UK Tour. The Wedding Singer, UK Tour) as Ariel, Jack Gray(Badgers Can’t Be Friends, Southwark Playhouse& Kings Head Theatre. Anticlimax. Theatre503) as Scuttle, Jamie Mawson (Vulvarine: A New Musical. King’s Head Theatre & UK Tour Beauty & the Beast- A Musical Parody) as Eric, Allie Munro (Vulvarine: A New Musical . King’s Head Theatre & UK Tour. Buzz: A New Musical, Pleasance. Waiter! There’s a murder in my Soup!, Troubadour Wembley Park) as Sebastian and George Whitty (Hello Again, The New Union Theatre) as Triton.
Robyn Grant – Writer of the Book and Lyrics and Director said:
“We’re beyond thrilled to be making our return this Summer, after spending the last two years upscaling the design, expanding the show into its two fast paced and electric acts, finding our wildly talented new cast and dreaming up what we know this show has the potential to be. ‘Unfortunate’ is brimming with the passion and persistence of a magnificent team of individuals fully committed to our vision of pure silliness, eccentricity and joy. Ursula’s lair is finally ready to welcome you back and brimming with surprises, we just need our final ingredient… you!”
When Disney released ‘The Little Mermaid’ in 1989, they had no idea they were giving birth to an icon. Ursula the Sea Witch quickly took her place as the queen of Disney villains: a pop culture legend and a feminist badass. She’s loud. She’s clever. She’s a ruthless businesswoman, and oh boy. is she sexy. Sexy, and unapologetically fat. She’s not defined by slipper-sized feet, or enchanted blonde hair, or snow-white skin. Ursula is plump, purple and proud. For the LGBTQ+ community stands Ursula, defiant against her creator and with a message for all us ‘poor unfortunate souls’: love the skin you’re in, value your voice over your body, and don’t be afraid to be a little bit nasty” Who better to take us on a scorching trip through the problematic minefield that is Disney?
Unfortunate is produced by Wildpark Entertainment and Fat Rascal Theatre. The London Premiere is produced in association with Underbelly. It will be directed by Robyn Grant with Musical direction from Arlene McNaught. Choreography is by Melody Sinclair, Set Design by Abby Clarke, Costume Design by Cory Shipp, Sound Design by Dominic Cusack and Joe Cusack and Puppet Design by Abby Clarke and Hugh Purves, with Additional Casting by Pearson Casting.
★★★★★ “Damn near perfection” – Theatre Weekly
★★★★★ “A must see – ready for the West End” – Fringe Review
★★★★★ “Does to The Little Mermaid what Wicked did to The Wizard of Oz” – Musical Theatre Musings
Cruella told her side, and Maleficent’s had her moment. Now the legendary queer queen is ready to spill, in this tell-all tale of sex, sorcery and suckers.
Tickets are on sale now visit fatrascaltheatre.com/tickets and to find out more follow us on Twitter: @WeAreFatRascal / #UnfortunateMusical Facebook & Instagram: /WeAreFatRascal
This is Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! as you’ve never seen it before, re-orchestrated and reimagined for the 21st century. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Daniel Fish’s bold interpretation transfers to the Young Vic, direct from an acclaimed run on Broadway and a U.S. tour. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! tells a story of a community banding together against an outsider, and the frontier life that shaped America. Seventy-five years after Rodgers and Hammerstein reinvented the American musical, this visionary production is funny and sexy, provocative and probing, without changing a word of the text.
Arthur Darvill plays Curly McLain, with James Davis as Will Parker, Stavros Demetraki as Ali Hakim, Anoushka Lucas as Laurey Williams, Olivier Award winner Liza Sadovy as Aunt Eller, Patrick Vaill as Jud Fry and Marisha Wallace as Ado Annie. The cast is complete with Raphael Bushay as Mike, Greg Hicks as Andrew Carnes, Rebekah Hinds as Gertie Cummings, Ashley Samuels as Cord Elam, and Marie Mence as the lead dancer.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! is Co-Directed by Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein, with
Orchestrations, Arrangements by Daniel Kluger and Co-Music Supervision by Daniel Kluger and Nathan Koci, Choreography by John Heginbotham, Co-Set Design by Laura Jellinek and Grace Laubacher, Costume Design by Terese Wadden, Lighting Design by Scott Zielinski, Sound Design by Drew Levy, Projection Design by Joshua Thorson, Musical Director Tom Brady and Casting by Jacob Sparrow.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! will run at the Young Vic from 26 April – 25 June
Phil Bartlett, the Artistic Director of The Hope Theatre, today announces details of the theatre’s summer 2022 season, including five main productions running from June to September, the continuation of the theatre’s Sunday and Monday two-night programme, and a selection of shows encompassing new writing, drama, comedy and performance art as part of the CAMDEN FRINGE during August.
The season kicks off with the world-premiere of HEN, a surreal comedy about two flatmates who must keep a chicken alive for a year in order to inherit a vast fortune. Hen is written by Josh Husselbee and has been shortlisted for the New Diorama & Underbelly Untapped Award 2022.
Also premiering at the Hope this summer, HAND OF GODis raucous garage-music gig-theatre about men’s mental health and the worst five-a-side football team in Birmingham. The debut production from TECTUM Theatre, Hand of God was originally programmed for this year’s cancelled Vault Festival.
OH! SUBURBIA!is a one-man avant-garde theatrical revue from award-winning performer, musician and raconteur Bob Karper. Packed full of songs, stories and film, this unique interrogation of suburban life features an audio cast of UK seniors and is equal parts tongue-in-cheek and profound.
2022 marks 35 years since Princess Diana opened the first HIV/AIDS unit in the United Kingdom, and Bren Gosling’s play MOMENT OF GRACE tells the story of her visit to the unit and how it affected some of the people she met that day. The production, which is supported by the National HIV Story Trust, will see the return of matinee performances to the Hope Theatre, and the run overlaps with this year’s London Pride celebrations in July.
Closing the summer season is ANGEL, Torch Theatre’s internationally-acclaimed production of Henry Naylor’s play about a Kurdish woman who defended her town against Isis fighters, allegedly killing hundreds, and subsequently became an internet sensation.
The theatre also continues its popular Sunday-Monday programme of two-night runs, including ROAD TO NOWHERE, a dazzling comedy about a queer film-making collective on a misjudged road-trip, which comes to the Hope following sold-out performances at the Bread and Roses. Also in the Sunday-Monday programme are LETTERS TO MY DEAD MOTHER and PERIOD DRAMAS.
Phil Bartlett said: ‘I’m delighted by the range and ambition of the productions in our summer season, which is a testament to the boldness and brilliance of the many theatre-makers involved. The Hope remains the little theatre with big ideas, and I can’t wait to experience these productions with audiences over the coming months.’
Tickets are now on-sale via the Hope Theatre website.
HEN
Written by Josh Husselbee, directed by Sarah Fox
World premiere
Shortlisted for the New Diorama & Underbelly Untapped Award 2022
7– 15 June @ 7:45pm
Two privileged, East London-dwelling flatmates have to keep a chicken alive for a year in order to inherit a large fortune. Hen is a percussive, surreal examination of intergenerational trauma, addiction and the madness of grief. Crucially, it is also a comedy about an invisible chicken. As the challenges of living with a barn animal become more and more unbearable, Alister and Andrew have to ask themselves what they are willing to forgo of their sanity for the sake of money.
OH! SUBURBIA!
Directed by Gary Winters from Lone Twin and performed and written by Bob Karper (Herald Angel, Live Theatre New Writing and Anti-Fest Best of the Best Award winner)
17 – 25 June @ 7:45pm
Oh! Suburbia! is a One-Man Avant-Garde Theatrical Revue from multi-award-winning performer/raconteur/musician Bob Karper. Bob’s sheltered, hum-drum suburb in the American Midwest transforms into a rollicking number-packed show full of surprising, funny, intriguing stories, songs and film. Part tongue-in-cheek, part profound, and all true, with an audio cast of UK seniors considering the lofty questions of life: Where are the suburbs of our consciousness? The suburbs of ourselves? and Is there any greater injustice than getting blamed for something your sisters did?
MOMENT OF GRACE
Written by Bren Gosling, directed by Su Gilroy
Coincides with London Pride 2022 on 2 July
28 June – 16 July
Tues – Sat @ 7:45pm, Sat 9 & Sat 16 @ 4pm
Based on personal testimonies, Moment Of Grace by Bren Gosling (Arcola, Pleasance, New Wimbledon Studio, Bloomsbury Studio, RADA Studio and King’s Head Theatre) tells the story of the famous visit by Diana Princess of Wales to Britain’s first AIDS Unit and its impact on three people: Andrew, a patient, Jude, a nurse, and Donnie, a fireman estranged from his son. AIDS was taboo. Even being seen to work on this ward could cost you everything. Worldwide interest, news crews and a televised interview followed. To change public misconceptions, would you have risked it? This one act play showcased to acclaim at Bloomsbury Festival 2018 and in 2020 won the NO: INTERMISSION International One Act Play Competition. A filmed version was streamed from The Actors Centre, and this was awarded an ONCOM Commendation by The Offies.
HAND OF GOD
Written by Sam Butters, Lyrics and Direction by Charlie Derrar and Joseph Siddle, Music by Charlie O’Connor. The debut play from TECTUM Theatre
World premiere – originally programmed for Vault Festival 2022
19 – 30 July @ 7:45pm
TECTUM Theatre & Brutal Snake Productions are proud to present the raucous, electric world-premiere of Hand of God, a piece of gig-theatre about the worst five-aside football team in Birmingham. With music inspired by old-school garage, Hand of God follows the passionate footballing wonder-kid Kieron who, devoted on winning, winds up captaining the local drug dealers’ five-a-side team.
ANGEL
The Torch Theatre production. Directed by Peter Doran, designed by Sean Crowley, performed by Yasemin Özdemir.
30 August – 17 September @ 7:45pm
Angel is the legendary story of Rehana; In 2014 Kurdish families were fleeing Kobane to avoid the inevitable ISIS onslaught; Rehana stayed to fight and defend her town; as a sniper, she allegedly killed more than 100 ISIS fighters. When her story came out, she became an internet sensation and a symbol of resistance against Islamic State and dubbed the ‘Angel of Kobane’. Now, this legendary story comes to the stage in Henry Naylor’s award-winning play Angel. Angel, a one-woman show, is the third story in Henry Naylor’s Arabian Nightmares trilogy and was first staged to great acclaim at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2016. Since then it has been seen around the world to great critical acclaim, winning awards at many international festivals. The Torch Theatre bring you their own production, directed by Peter Doran, designed by Sean Crowley and featuring Yasemin Özdemir as the eponymous Angel. This is a hard-hitting exploration of Angel’s story, during a time when the themes are very much still relevant and present in modern society.
LETTERS TO MY DEAD MOTHER
12 & 13 June @ 7:45pm
“People don’t feel comfortable talking about death. People don’t know what to say. But that’s the only time it feels real.” After losing her mum to cancer in March 2019, Ana started writing her letters as a coping mechanism. The subject of these letters would vary from random things that happened on her day, things that were going through her head, to deep raw feelings she was experiencing after her mum’s departure. Reading back these letters, she realized they told a story. Letters To My Dead Mother is a one-woman, auto-fictional show about grief – its stages and the radically contrasting ways it manifests itself.
ROAD TO NOWHERE
19 & 20 June @ 7:45pm
‘Do you want to fuck me or be me?’ ‘Is there a difference?’ As London goes into lockdown 1, a queer filmmaking collective are on the verge of being evicted from their London home. The only thing to do is clearly going on a misjudged road trip to Paris to find the one successful movie-star they once knew to convince him to help them, willing or not. Road To Nowhere is a dazzling new comedy that questions what it means to create art without hope of success. Told with a diverse group of characters and short films, Road To Nowhere presents the difficult time of artists struggling through the pandemic with wicked humour and multimedia flair. Road To Nowhere is Little Creatures Theatre’s first production, and comes to the Hope Theatre after a sold-out run at the Bread & Roses Theatre in February 2022.
PERIOD DRAMAS
3 & 4 July @ 7:45pm
Have you ever wondered how people in the past dealt with their periods? If Queen Victoria coasted* through her cramps? And what if period dramas really were about… periods? Comedy, cabaret and tap collide in this hilarious one-woman show, teaching the history you never learnt at school. Armed with glitter, blood, some history books and an arsenal of embarrassing stories, Heather is on a mission to push through the menstrual taboo and change the way we think about bleeding. Audiences are invited to embrace themselves fully, let loose and have a BLOODY good time! *Obviously she didn’t. It was 1837.
Opening in 2013, The Hope Theatre was originally a sister theatre of Islington’s King’s Head Theatre, renovated from a function room above the famous Hope & Anchor pub and music venue into a black box studio theatre. The Hope Theatre has transferred two productions to the West End (Ushers to the Charing Cross Theatre and the Snoo Wilson’s Lovesong Of The Electric Bear to The Arts) and has been home to many world premieres. It also housed the professional world premiere of Joe Orton’s Fred And Madge.
Although The Hope Theatre has received no regular public subsidy since its 2013 opening, it was the first Off West End venue to open with a house agreement with Equity. This ensures a legal wage for all actors, stage managers and box office staff working at the theatre.
Phil Bartlett was appointed Artistic Director in September 2021, and his first in-house production will be announced later this year.
Oscar Wilde’s gloriously ghoulish The Canterville Ghost is brought to life at Southwark Playhouse Tuesday 11th October – Saturday 5th November 2022 Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
Step right up to Oscar Wilde’s uproarious vaudeville spectacular The Canterville Ghost which is coming to haunt and delight audiences at the Southwark Playhouse this autumn, as part of a wider UK Tour. The gloriously ghoulish show, directed by Olivia Jacobs, is part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the award-winning theatre company Tall Stories.
The Canterville Ghost features four valiant vaudevillians – a mysterious magician, a crazy comedian, a spirited psychic and their charismatic compere – with original music played live on stage
These extraordinary entertainers will bring their sensational variety acts to the stage – woven into Oscar Wilde’s spooky story of the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville, who vanished without a trace 300 years ago.
When the Otis family move into Canterville Hall, they’re warned about the fearsome ghost that stalks its corridors. But the Otis family are a thoroughly modern bunch – has anyone warned the Canterville Ghost about them?
Toby Mitchell, artistic director and co-founder of Tall Stories, comments Over the last 25 years, Tall Stories has become best known for producing work for family audiences. The Canterville Ghost is a spookier show for grown-ups – well, everyone over 12 years old. Our interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s ghoulish story is performed by four music-hall entertainers who reveal their own secrets, using music, ventriloquism, magic and psychic abilities. It’s a lot of fun! As Covid forced the cancellation of our 2020 tour (alongside so many other companies), it’s great that we’re finally able to perform the show at Southwark Playhouse this autumn. If you’ve got it, haunt it!
Tall Stories was founded in 1997 by Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell, who have created all the company’s shows since then. The award-winning company is celebrating their 25th anniversary year and continues to create shows for all ages. As a registered charity, Tall Stories has become internationally recognised for its exciting blend of storytelling theatre, original music and lots of laughs.
The hauntingly thrilling cast is due to be announced soon.
Ivan Menchell, Don Black and Frank Wildhorn’s brilliant Bonnie and Clyde has finally landed on London’s West End for a 4 month run at the Arts Theatre and boy, it does not disappoint. Debuting in San Diego before moving to a brief run on Broadway, this musical has been snowballing attraction everywhere it goes, selling out concerts at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with Jeremy Jordan reprising his role as Clyde and Frances Mayli McCann taking the role of Bonnie.
Our Bonnie and Clyde at the Arts Theatre are the ravishing Frances Mayli McCann as Bonnie, and Jordan Luke Gage as the daring criminal Clyde. The pair share a chemistry that is absolutely magnetic, that mirrors the messed up danger, passion and love shared between the couple. The electricity between the two is what makes this show something truly special. The most popular and well-known song of the show “This World Will Remember Us” is where the story gets kicked up a notch, and the electricity between the pair intensifies, running off burning love, passion for each other and pure adrenaline rushes.
The supporting actors of this story are George Maguire (Buck Barrow) and Natalie McQueen (Blanche Barrow) who show a wholesome love and also provide some much needed comic relief in all the right places when the story starts to get a little heavy. McQueen’s vocals are strong and clean and the character shines through her voice on certain words and phrases naturally. The song “You’re Going Back To Jail” shows the kind-hearted determination in Blanche’s character, and McQueen sang it very clearly with all of those things in mind. Her determination, faith and kind-heartedness carried her through the show and shine through in the songs “You Love Who You Love” and “That’s What You Call a Dream”.
The staging cannot go without a mention. Those that have been to the Arts Theatre will know it is not as big and grand as its other Shaftesbury Avenue Theatre Land neighbours. However, every inch of space was utilised and used with definition and layering. The lighting was the star of the show on this front. From lights mimicking the shots fired during shoot-outs, to the on-stage visual projection, the story is brought to life on stage and then some.
The music in this show has a brilliant mix of old-timey Jazz and blues with the influences of rock thrown into the mix too. This is especially notable in the song “Raise a Little Hell”. Littered with rock motifs and riffs this is the pinnacle song for Clyde as he switches over from petty criminal to the heartthrob bad boy we know and love in this show. Another notable song with this similar mix is “Made in America” giving context to the audience on life in the great depression of America.
Overall this show was outstanding. From the magnetic chemistry between Bonnie and Clyde to the fantastic mix of musical influences. The characters rise and fall with the show and all of the ingredients put together make for a wildly wicked night of theatre that will transport you back to the hard times of the great depression. One thing can be certain, London will certainly remember you, Bonnie and Clyde.
The Taxidermist’s Daughter is a new play by internationally best-selling author Kate Mosse, adapted from her novel of the same name. The play is a Gothic thriller, using the local Fishbourne marshes as a menacing backdrop in this story of injustice and revenge.
The play centres around the eponymous hero, Connie Gifford (Daisy Prosper), who we learn suffered a childhood trauma, and as a consequence lost all of her childhood memories. The play sees her struggling to piece together what happened, through a series of flashbacks prompted by the strange events happening around her. As a storm hits the Sussex community, the past crashes with the present. One woman, unable to escape her past, takes dramatic action to get the justice that was denied to her.
The play, although set in 1912, draws many contemporary parallels. At its core, it is a story of two women, unheard and unseen, and their struggle to obtain justice. It is also about the imbalance of power, of men in positions of trust exploiting their positions without facing consequences.
The harrowing atmosphere is enhanced throughout by the staging, lighting and sound, with echoes of Wuthering Heights in the use of the weather to develop the sinister, haunting mood. The audience is plunged straight into the drama at the start of Act One, with flashing lights and pounding rain creating an almost immersive storm experience. From that point onwards the audience are on the edge of their seats waiting to see what will happen next, always with the promise of a greater storm to come. When this does arrive, in a dramatic final confrontation, the power of the elements is used to great effect to heighten feelings of anger, desperation and revenge.
Led by Daisy Prosper and Pearl Chanda (Cassie Pine), the whole cast draws the audience into the gripping mystery of what has happened to these two women. This sometimes gruesome thriller is a heart breaking story, of revenge, of family and ultimately of hope.
An extraordinary piece of theatre which brings the landscape of the location onto the stage, we are constantly reminded of the marsh, wind, rain and the power of nature. A dark gripping Gothic revenge tale of a wrong that needs to be righted, of retribution and revenge.
New Victoria Theatre Woking – until Saturday 23rd April 2022
Reviewed by Liberty Noke
4****
The Nutcracker is perhaps the most well known ballet so when I arrived at Woking theatre I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. This is the Nutcracker as you have never seen it before. Tchaikovsky’s amazing score is now being used to entertain a whole new audience with this modern take on a classic. The ballet opens in an orphanage and the orphans enter one by one some scared of the audience, others showing off, each with their own personalities. The first act is mostly set in the orphanage where the Orphans dance for the orphan governors at Christmas. The orphans are terrified of Dr Dross (Danny Reubens) and the Matron (Daisy May Kemp) both of whom have a powerful stage presence. Their children Sugar (Ashley Shaw) and Fritz (Dominic North) dance in front of the orphans both performers facial expressions and body language is perfect for the prideful, conceited characters. The orphans are given toys and Clara (Cordelia Braithwaite) is given a nutcracker which Sugar and Fritz become jealous of and try to break. Dr Dross confiscates the nutcracker and puts him in a cupboard. In the night the nutcracker comes to life and breaks out of the cupboard transporting Clara to a frozen lake. The colours in the orphanage are very dull and the orphans timid and frightened but this is in great contrast to Sweetieland which we are introduced to in act 2
In Sweetieland we meet a whole host of weird and wonderful characters. The humbug bouncer guards the door to a party and dancers dressed as sweets try to gain entry. These costumes are simply remarkable. They are like something from a child’s dream. Anthony Ward did an amazing job. The attention to detail was incredible. Fritz wore ice cream epaulettes and a candy cane crown. The Knickerbocker Glory (Jonathan Luke Baker) had an incredible ice cream wig and black harem pants. I also loved the marshmallow girls’ wigs. Much like the orphans each sweet had their own personality. The gobstoppers in particular were such unusual characters for a ballet they were very masculine their movements more modern but I loved this take. Clara loses the Nutcracker ( Harrison Dowzell) to Sugar and she chases him through Sweetieland but is too late and they get married. The audience share Clara’s disappointment as she watches but then her dream ends and we see her back in the orphanage. It appears the ballet will have an unhappy ending until the nutcracker awakes from her bed and they escape the orphanage together out the window.
This ballet is untraditional in so many ways there are no pointe shoes or traditional tutus but it is by no means less entertaining. I think the bright costumes and set and the changed plot make this ballet more accessible to a wider audience. The fun personalities and larger-than-life sets captured the imaginations of everyone young and old. I think it makes the perfect first ballet for a younger audience. Every dancer gave an amazing performance, when they were dancing as a company they moved as one. Overall a fantastic, if unconventional, ballet.
For one night only, the BBC Big Band mesmerised the audience in York with the music of James Bond… and beyond. The BBC Big Band has been internationally acclaimed, performing regularly on BBC radio and in concerts around the world, the BBC Big Band have performed at some of the best-known venues in the world including the Royal Albert Hall and at the Proms in Hyde Park. Lead by conductor Barry Forgie, (who is also musical director and has been with the band since 1977) the band consists of 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 5 saxophones, a double bass player, who also plays the bass guitar, a keyboard player and a drummer. The Saxophone players also play a range of other instruments, with one member playing 5 instruments on the night including the flute and piccolo. The skill of each member is clear, with members each having the chance at their own solo throughout the night.
The band is joined by guest vocalists, Iain Mackenzie and Emer McParland who delight with renditions of some of the best known and most loved Bond themes including Diamonds are Forever, Thunderball and Goldfinger. The music spans decades with both the first Bond film Dr. No and the most recent No Time to Die featured. Interspersed with the odd number from other films including the Austin Powers and Pink Panther themes.
As someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience with this type of music, it is simply stunning, you will be engrossed from start to finish and the level of skill involved for all members is astounding. I urge everyone to give this a go.
The thought of an outdoors team-building weekend might seem like an opportunity to make new friends and have some gentle adventure. On the other hand, you might find yourself a member of a mismatched group of middle managers, stranded on an island somewhere in the Lake District. Welcome to Sheila’s Island.
We take our seats to the cheery strains of songs like ‘Summer Holiday‘ and ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ before the tone changes with Sheila (Judy Flynn) staggering on stage literally soaking wet. Closely followed by her three equally wet companions, the scene for the story is set as we learn how they have come to be ‘shipwrecked’, all the while performing a wonderfully unglamorous full costume change in plain sight. Now, all they have to do is survive long enough to get rescued – which strangely never happens, given that they are on the island for a couple of days and not far from where they are supposed to be, which is in a nearby hotel on the mainland with the organisers of the weekend.
This gentle comedy, with characters who belong somewhere between The Office and Miranda, have to face their own Lord Of The Flies as the true nature of each of their characters is revealed whilst they bicker, sometimes good-naturedly, sometimes less so.
Written by Tim Firth, whose previous credits include Calendar Girls and Kinky Boots, the play was originally written as Neville’s Island for an all-male group but, at the prompting of director Joanna Read, Firth re-wrote it for an all-woman cast. Although he wondered whether the transition would be successful, the play, as he himself puts it, is “largely about being human, rather than being male or female”.
Abigail Thaw as Denise probably gets the most comic lines and her caustic wit is a good foil for the other-worldly Faye (Sara Crowe) and the hapless Julie (Rina Fatania). ‘Denise’ also provides a good portrait of the kind of team member who is never happier than sniping at Sheila’s slightly inept leadership, whilst never actually taking on the role herself.
There are some funny lines and quite a few sight-gags that work very well. We are early on in the run so perhaps the cast have not yet quite honed their comic timing, but we found enough humour and gags to laugh at.
This show provides a couple of hours of amusing diversion and, although it will not leave you with tears streaming down your face and your sides aching with laughter, it does provide gentle amusement and the changes our heroines have to undergo gives us plenty of pause for thought.
Theatre Royal Nottingham – until Saturday 23 April 2022
Reviewed by Louise Ford
4****
Few people are completely normal, deep down in their private lives.
Private Lives was written by Noel Coward in 1930. He wrote the play with himself and Gertrude Lawrence as the two main characters. They were in their early thirties and the toast of London Society. At the time of the first performance the play was judged to be controversial and too risqué and Coward had to plead his case to the Lord Chamberlain. The cause for alarm in the 1930s was divorce, co-habitation and sex, I’m not sure those issues would cause anyone to bat an eyelid today, however the issue of domestic violence may be of a concern.
The main characters are Elyot and Amanda, a divorced couple who meet again whilst on honeymoon with their new spouses in not only the same hotel and but in adjacent rooms. In the current production the roles are played by the slightly more mature Nigel Havers and Patricia Hodge. Whilst a “change is as good as a rest” should be welcomed when looking at the casting of a play or a role to ensure that the production stays fresh and new; the age of the main characters did not sit very comfortably for me. I think that the issue is that you would not expect the second time around relationship to be anymore aware if they were still relatively young. You would perhaps expect people to get more sensible with age, or maybe not! Having said that the lines delivered after the tryst on the sofa are given more poignancy ,”It certainly is horrid when one begins to crumble”. The respective entrances on to the stage by Havers and Hodge were greeted with applause and appreciation from the audience.
The opening scene is a softly lit (lighting by Mark Jonathan) confectionery of a hotel (set by Simon Higlett) complete with a sound track of breaking waves and seagulls. It’s a world of cocktails, dressing for diner and speculating on just whose yacht it is in the harbour. Where the only mention of money is the casino and the only person who does any work is the maid. The action and dialogue are nicely paced and build to the climax which changes the location completely. The second act is a beautiful contrast to the innocent wedding cake hotel. It is set in Amanda’s Parisienne flat,all deep reds,dark curtains and passion! This is where the pace picks up, with drinking, singing, dancing and fighting.
The new spouses Sibyl (Natalie Walter) and Victor (Dugald Bruce-Lokhart), provide a strong contrast to the originals. Both are neurotic and insecure in not only themselves but also in this new adventure….marriage. Sibyl is a little shrill and has hopes and expectations which are overshadowed by the glamorous first wife. Whereas Victor is a decent dependable country chap at home in his tweeds and at sea in his evening dress. How could they ever compete with their witty,urbane predecessors ?
As you would expect from Coward it is a delightful comedy of icy manners and politeness with some lovely one-liners and rallies of insults and put downs. On the whole the dialogue has stood the test of time. The repartee is delivered beautifully by Havers and Hodge. With the odd knowing look to the audience as the more double entendre lines are delivered. Havers looks particularly dashing in his dressing gown and monogrammed slippers. The final scene in the flat when the roles are reversed and the gloves are off is a delightful tennis match of jibes and blows, with Elyot and Amanda eating their petit-dejeuner and watching the private lives of the English abroad.
