Author: FairyPoweredProductions

Award Winning Theatre Makers premiere Petrification at Live Theatre in May

 

Presented by Telltale in association with LittleMighty.  Petrification, a new play written by Zoe Cooper (Nativities, Live Theatre) and directed by Mark Maughan (National Theatre, Paines Plough) will make its premiere at Live Theatre in May.

 

“You can sense the buzz developing from Petrification” – British Theatre Guide

 

Award winning theatre makers Zoe Cooper and Mark Maughan have come together to create a new theatre production Petrificationthat will begin its national tour on Live Theatre’s main stage from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 May.  The show boasts an engaging and innovative script that recreates the atmosphere of a booze-fuelled night out at the pub.

 

Simon and Sean’s dad is dead. Returning home from London, Simon is shocked to find Sean in a relationship with a man called Aidan. Sean is irritated by Simon’s new cosmopolitan ways. And Aidan? He just wants to be part of the family.

 

Attempting to find common ground, they head for a night out in Gateshead.  But before long they’re arguing. What is it about the memory of a childhood trip to Whitby that sets them off? Darts, pints and fists fly across the room, as past and present collide with dizzying consequences. Joining the characters in the pub, the audience is thrust into the heart of one family’s search for truth.

 

Petrification began its life at the Gateshead International Festival of Theatre (GIFT) in May 2013, originally developed as a thirty-minute piece on a shoestring budget. The show was awarded festival prizes from Northern Stage and Live Theatre, which secured time and space to develop the full-length play. Over the summer of 2013, the company successfully applied for an Arts Council England Grants for the Arts award. This enabled the company to expand the creative team and realise a full-length draft of the script, ready to take to full production.

 

The show was later shortlisted for the Kevin Spacey Foundation Award, making the final round of 6 from over 1000 applications. The show will now premiere at Live Theatre, before heading out on an extensive UK tour.

 

Writer Zoe Cooper and director Mark Maughan lead Telltale’s work, having first met while working at Live Theatre. They then collaborated on the Old Vic New Voices 24 hour plays project, cementing the creative partnership and fuelling the decision to make more work together. They make bold, ambitious theatre telling stories from their native Northeast in extraordinary ways.

 

Zoe’s credits as a playwright include Nativities (Live Theatre), Utopia (Live Theatre / Soho Theatre), The Winter’s Tale (adaptation for The Globe Theatre), Longshore Drift (Old Vic New Voices) and Learning How to Swim (ATC/Root Theatre). She has also had work developed or produced with the RSC and National Theatre Studios, as well as with Ovalhouse, Theatre503, Nabakov and the Tristan Bates Theatre.

 

Mark has recently worked as staff director on the National Theatre’s hugely successful production of Les Blancs. Other credits include Made in China’s Tonight I’m Gonna Be The New Me, How Was It for You? (Brighton Dome), Address Unknown (JW3 for Soho Theatre) and The Money $hot Cabaret. He was resident trainee director at Paines Plough.

 

Director Mark Maughan commented “This is a play for anyone who’s ever left home and come back to find everything changed. And also for anyone who never went away in the first place. We hope the show is immersive, incisive and intoxicating.”

 

Writer Zoe Cooper commented “The play was partly inspired by my family’s annual holiday growing up. Each year my family returned to the same beach, giving me a host of memories, through toddler tantrums to teenage friendships formed in a day and then forgotten. When I compare my memories to those of my sister’s I was really aware that there are loads of gaps and differences in what we recall. I have also wanted to write something about the north/south divide for a while, as well as the ways class can split a family – especially when everyone is forced to spend too much time together!”

 

The show’s cast will be announced soon.

 

Telltale’s work is produced by LittleMighty. The company works with remarkable artists to make brilliant theatre happen. Recent successes include Move to Stand’s FAT MAN (“For theatre like this I’d follow them anywhere” – The Times); Unfolding Theatre’sLANDS OF GLASS (“charming, harmonizing, enchanting” – The Telegraph) and Testament’s BLAKE REMIXED, a co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse (“An entertaining fusion of hip-hop, rap and beatboxing that thrusts the Blake mythology into the 21^stcentury – The Stage).

 

@we_are_telltale / @littlemightyuk / #Petrification

Running time: 75mins / Suitable for ages 14+

 

Company Information

 

Written by Zoe Cooper

Directed by Mark Maughan

Design by Emma Bailey

Lighting Design by Josh Pharo

Sound Design by Guy Connelly

Produced by LittleMighty

 

Development supported by Live Theatre, Northern Stage, GIFT and the Kevin Spacey Foundation.

 

Listings information

 

Live Theatre, Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 3DQ

Thursday 26 – Saturday 28 May, 7.30pm

Saturday 28 May, 2pm

£18 – £10 full, £16 -£12 over 60s, £10 – £6 other concessions

Box Office: (0191) 232 1232

www.live.org.uk

 

Future Tour Dates

 

2 June: The Victorian Craft Beer Cafe

In Association with Halifax Square Chapel Centre for the Arts Plays in Pubs

www.squarechapel.co.uk

 

3 June: Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

www.brewaryarts.co.uk

 

15 June: Customs House, South Shields

www.customshouse.co.uk

 

16 June: CAST, Doncaster

www.castindoncaster.com

 

18 June: The Lowry, Salford Quays

www.thelowry.com

 

20 – 22 June: Pub gigs with 2’s Company Festival in association with Harrogate Theatre

20 June – The Mitre Inn, Knaresborough

21 June – So Bar, Ripon

22 June – Tap and Spile, Harrogate

www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk

 

26 June: The HUB, Leeds

www.slunglow.org

The Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza

Starring

The Osmonds

 

with special guests

 

Ventriloquist – Steve Hewlett (Britain’s Got Talent) &

Singer Charlie Green (Britain’s Got Talent)

Plus

The Moon River Singers & Dancers

 

Newcastle City Hall

Friday 30 December

Tickets on sale Friday 15 April from 9am

 

Newcastle City Hall is proud to announce the return of the ‘Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza’ for the second year running starring The Osmonds to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.  This dazzling, must-see holiday extravaganza comes directly from the historic stage of Branson USA’s beautiful Andy Williams Moon River Theatre. The tour will culminate with a performance at Newcastle City Hall on Friday 30 December.

Jimmy Osmond said, “It’s truly the most wonderful time of the year, and my brothers Jay, Merrill and I are looking forward to once again bringing back some of that Christmas cheer.   Last year’s UK Christmas tour was so much fun, that we are bringing it back following the run in the USA. The Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza, is an American tradition that started in the 60s and beloved around the world.  It was Andy’s wishes and now my great honor and privilege to continue his amazing legacy of family friendly action-packed variety at its best. This award-winning show has proven to warm hearts and get you in that warm and fuzzy Christmas mood. Come celebrate Christmas with us”.

Treat your entire family to this award winning variety production featuring nostalgic footage of the legendary Andy Williams from Christmases past.  Sing along to your favourite Christmas Classics including “Silent Night”, “Last Christmas”, “Merry Christmas Everybody” and “Sleighride”. The Osmonds will also perform their mega hits made famous during more than five decades of entertaining around the world. Osmond fans will hear “Love Me for a Reason”, “Crazy Horses”, “Down By The Lazy River”, “Goin Home”, “Let Me In”, “The Proud One” and more.

 

Special guest stars from Britain’s Got Talent – ventriloquist Steve Hewlett and one of the show’s stand out young singers Charlie Green complete this unforgettable festive family tradition alongside the Moon River Singers and dancers.

The Andy Williams Christmas Spectacular with The Osmonds plays Newcastle City Hall on Friday 30 December Tickets are £38.50 and can be purchased at www.newcastlecityhall.org or from the Theatre Royal Box office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge.

Welsh actor Owen Teale will play ‘Briggs’ in Sean Mathias’ production of Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land, coming to Newcastle Theatre Royal from Mon 15 – Sat 20 Aug. Tony Award-winning Teale joins the already confirmed Ian McKellen as ‘Spooner’ and Patrick Stewart as ‘Hirst’ in the play, with further casting still to be announced.

 

Known recently for playing Ser Alliser Thorne in HBO’s Game of Thrones, Owen Teale won the 1997 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for his portrayal of Torvald in A Doll’s House, for which he was also nominated for an Olivier Award. Other notable theatre credits include Dance of Death (also alongside Ian McKellen and directed by Sean Mathias), Ivanov at the National Theatre, Julius Caesar, King Lear and Henry IV for the RSC. Starring in HBO’s Conspiracy alongside Kenneth Branagh, Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth, Teale’s other screen credits include The Cherry Orchard opposite Charlotte Rampling and ITV’sTorchwood.

 

No Man’s Land was first performed at the iconic Wyndham’s Theatre in 1975 with Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, following its premiere at the National Theatre.

Directed by Sean Mathias, this production of No Man’s Land received highly acclaimed reviews at the Cort Theatre in New York whilst in repertory alongside Waiting for Godot, also starring stage and screen friends, McKellen and Stewart and directed by Mathias. The production of Waiting for Godot had transferred from London where it celebrated a sell-out run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the last time McKellen and Stewart shared a West End stage.

 

One summer’s evening, two ageing writers, Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst’s stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversation soon turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men.

No Man’s Land will have set and costume design by Stephen Brimson Lewis and lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski.

This production of No Man’s Land is produced by Stuart Thompson, Flying Freehold Productions and Playful Productions.

 

No Man’s Land plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Monday 15 – Saturday 20 August. Tickets are from £16 and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge).

Civic Theatre, Darlington – 20 April 2016

Darlington Operatic present Legally Blonde The Musical, Jerry Mitchell’s west end production with a score by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin.

The stage show has its tongue in its cheek throughout, it knows it is ridiculous and infantile, and celebrates the fact with knowing wit.  It’s a high-octane show with wildly energetic dance routines imaginatively choreographed by Joanne Hand that makes sure the pace never flags.

The plot concerns a spoilt dizzy blonde from Malibu, Elle Woods (shared by Claire Willmer and Rachel Slattery), who is studying “fashion merchandising” at UCLA. She is far more interested, however, in her boyfriend, and when, on the night she’s expecting him to propose, he actually dumps her because she’s too low-rent and he’s moving on to a serious life at Harvard Law School, she is first distraught, then determined to follow him there.

Things don’t exactly go to plan and she finds Warner (Michael Hirst) has a new girlfriend, Vivienne (Hannah Gawthorpe) and that Harvard isn’t like her old sorority days at UCLA.

With some help and inspiration from hairdresser Paulette (Hayley Walker) and attorney, Emmett (Nicholas Holmes), Elle ends up defying expectations using her fashion expertise to crack the prosecution case yet manages to stay true to herself in a world of “sharks”. And escape her sleazy Professor Callaghan (Julian Cound)

The star of the show was undoubtedly Rachel Slattery in the high-energy, demanding title role. She barely left the stage and was outstanding throughout.

She had a strong voice and confident stage presence and a beautiful beaming smile just perfect for the part.

Hayley Walker stole some of the best lines and songs in her supporting role of Paulette.  Her flirtation with the delivery man Kyle played by the hilarious Luke Oldfied was superbly entertaining.

As Emmett Forester, Holmes has a likeable charm and charisma that will immediately delight audiences. His chemistry with Slattery is endearing and Holmes portrays genuine excitement and pride as her character grows and transforms. The song “Chip on My Shoulder” gives the first glimpse at Holme’s vocal abilities which are by far one of the best in the show. His duet with Slattery in the song “Legally Blonde” is emotional and Holme’s and Slattery’s  voices takes your breath away.

There were a few teething problems though in this show which has fantastic potential.  A few technical problems with the microphones not working properly and not being muted off stage, a few missed cues are all problems which can be ironed out of this two week run.  And outstanding as they were, the orchestra mainly over powered the performers, so maybe turn down the music and turn up the singers

However, if you only go for the hilarious Irish dance sequence then you will have had your moneys worth.

This show is saccharine sweet and full of fun and Darlington Operatics are clearly enjoying themselves presenting it

In Darlington until 30 April

Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre 12 – 30 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

All Star Productions have done it again – what a show!

The London premiere of Cole Porter’s brilliantly bonkers musical about lusty gods is a triumph.

Jupiter has his eye on newly married mortal Helen, so sends Mercury down to earth to get rid of husband Art and arrange a rendezvous in Greece. Jupiter’s wife, Juno suspects he’s up to something, so sets off to catch Jupiter in the act. Mercury gets distracted by Chloe, the niece of Niki Skolianos, a Chicago gangster in hiding, but the plan works and Jupiter has his way.

It is all ridiculous fluff, and it is gloriously funny. Porter’s innuendo laden lyrics are a joy – Mercury’s appraisal of his back catalogue of lovers “They Couldn’t Compare” whilst wooing Chloe, is full of the sort of filth you can share with your gran. These may not be Porter’s best known tunes, but they are still sublime. Kate McPhee’s choreography is a lovely match for the music, full of familiar motifs, buzzing with energy and delivered with knowing looks by the ensemble. The faces of the male dancers when they are dancing as gods are almost worth the ticket price alone. Even the ballet sequence, my least favourite part in these musicals, was performed with a wink to the audience, with Austin Garrett’s hapless Strephon thinking he’d finally pulled.

Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence’s script fizzes in the hands of this talented group of actors – the timing and reactions are superb. And they can all sing – no weak links in this production at all, with some delightful harmonies and belting vocals. Rhiannon Moushall owns the stage as Juno – wonderful in whatever accent she is using – and her powerhouse solos are full of sly humour and regret. Cameron Bernard Jones has a god-like voice, but a devilish twinkle in his eyes, and is a fantastic Jupiter, bringing the house down with his “Song Of The Night”. Hugo Joss Catton is great as Mercury, his reactions when his mother starts discussing sex with him are hysterical. Ruth Betteridge and Adam Hepworth (Helen and Art) have a lovely rapport, he does hangdog very well, and Betteridge manages to make you care about the least interesting character in the story. Their version of “From This Moment On” is full of fun and sexual frustration.

Director Randy Smartnick has created a crowd pleasing, feel-good show. The set design is simple, with a hysterically ramshackle Mount Olympus that feels perfect for this bunch of clownish gods. Sky Bembury’s lighting is warm and nostalgic, evoking Hollywood musicals.

Out Of This World is a superbly silly night of song and laughter that definitely deserves a wider audience. I loved it.

The Bread & Roses Theatre in Clapham 12 – 30 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Set in a bathroom in a shared house, Clare McIntyre’s 1988 play about three very different women is an interesting but disjointed piece. Jo Jones’ set is fantastic – a big claw foot bath on a black and white tiled floor, overflowing washing basket and a wall covered in scraps of stained floral paper suggesting a slightly grubby shared house.

When the audience walk in, Jo (Rebecca Pryle) is already in the bath, shaving her legs. We don’t learn much about Jo throughout the play, apart from her fantasies about meeting rich men and the life she could have, if only she were prettier and thinner. Pryle gives Jo lots of spirit, and just about manages to portray the underlying loneliness and lack of self-worth in her quieter moments, but the lines she has to churn out get repetitive and undermine any sympathy you feel for her.

Mary (Tessa Hart) begins the play having just set fire to a deckchair. Mary appears on the edge of a breakdown at first, ranting about other people’s lives having nothing to do with her and being left alone, but then, after a sexual assault and a party, somehow appears to have had an epiphany and stoically reassures Jo that nothing will change, so just get on with life. How the hell did that happen? Did I doze off and miss a vital scene? Hart makes Mary slightly annoying with her constant questioning of men and sexual values (not her fault – script again), and shines in her first monologue describing her sexual assault. I was expecting more fear, but the subtle reactions Hart chose were exactly in keeping with her earlier performance. Her second monologue about the giant billboard however was where I started to lose patience, yes, it is important to question the objectification of women, but what a cliché to use.

The third housemate is Celia (Sassy Clyde), a character who seems to have wandered in from another play. Posh and head girl like, Celia provides the much needed comic relief – with Clyde revelling in her pre and post coital scenes, conveying so much without words.

And it’s the words that are the problem here. The panic of the title is not present in the meandering conversations about sexual fantasies and pornography. Nothing seems to gel, and the play just feels like a set of monologues thrown together. It may be that the play hasn’t aged well in this era of social media, internet porn and body shaming, even though the main theme is sadly still relevant, but for me, this was a bit of a misfire.

Union Theatre 6 – 30 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Not so great Gatsby.

On paper, I’m sure this musical based on the iconic novel seemed like a good idea. In reality, however, it is an unmitigated disaster. The production almost gets away with it in the sections at parties and bar scenes, but most of the show plays as if songs had to be shoehorned into the plot to fulfil a quota. Joe Evans’ music is lively but forgettable, and every song was performed at a pitch that was either too high or too low to evoke any appropriate feelings in the audience. The most badly judged is All Seeing Eyes, where the poor actors playing Myrtle and George have to act out a huge fight whilst singing/shouting trite lyrics at each other. Truth be told, I was relieved when she got run over, at least the song had ended. Evans’ habit of ending “emotional” songs with a lingering high note is increasingly irritating and caused problems amongst the male performers. Having the actors playing instruments around the room just doesn’t work in this space, whenever the trumpeter comes near, everything else is drowned out. The staging and design is messy, with over complicated lighting (the mechanisms are extremely loud – at one point I was convinced the whirring noise was F Scott Fitzgerald spinning in his grave) and needless choreographed faffing about between scenes; the climatic murder suicide almost goes unnoticed because of another badly placed song, turning what could have been a huge moment into a damp squib.

The cast do their best, and over the run I am sure their accents and singing voices will improve. But the casting is questionable, with Wolfshiem about as criminal as the Pope, Daisy blinking and gurning like an American version of Peggy from Hi-de-Hi, and Gatsby – enigmatic, charismatic Jay Gatsby – as dull as ditch water. The “romantic” duet when Gatsby and Daisy are reunited involved a lot more yawning than yearning. The actors are not helped by the tedious and uninspiring book. The scene where Tom confronts Gatsby, revealing his true past, should be seething with tension, but instead it was stilted and one dimensional, which really sums up the whole show.

Grand Opera House, York.  Reviewed by Marcus Richardson

The ‘Rocky Horror Show’ at York Grand Opera House was outstandingly orgasmic, with its sensual songs, sexy cast and strange audience (with rude remarks about the character)

Frank-N-Furter an out of this world scientist played by Liam Tamne, his two loyal servants Riff Raff (Kristian Lavercombe) a hunchback with an eerie nature and his sister Magenta (Kay Murphy) a flexible maid. Not forgetting his own little groupie Columbia (Sophie Linder-Lee) who also happens to be madly in love with Eddie (Richard Meek) a tough nut biker.

They all performed very well and the relationship between the characters are comical and slightly melodramatic. By god they all had great singing voices combining for a perfect show.

Our two lovers Brad (Ben Freeman but understudied by Ben Kerr) and Janet (Diana Vickers) were helplessly in love when the meet the sweet transvestite Frank-N-Furter.

The staging was fairly sparse besides the sides/walls of the stage, but I wasn’t looking at that since I was distracted but the rippling abs of Rocky (Dominic Anderson), all that aside I found the set to be very effective as it made for great dances with the team of phantoms and the crew.

I think alot of the plays success comes from the script by Richard O’Brian as it is both sexy and funny, the film version also made the play a much more mainstream play also this also sparked the audience participation that the show is famous for.

The cult classic blew me… Away, I found that it made for an enjoyable night with the whole audience giving a standing ovation. I have to give great credit to the actors for their confidence and amazing acting, Lavercombe is in fact a RHS veteran and has performed in the play nearly 1000 times!

The audience made the performance for me, and great compliments to the narrator (Steve Punt) for putting up with such lunacy. This chaotic relationship between the cast and audience will and forever always be a RHS necessity. With the whole audience joining in the time warp it was clear that the play please eager fan and newcomers alike. Especially for my RHS virgin partner to which they found it very shocking. I fully recommend any one to go and see this as its one of the greatest plays to ever land on this earth

Empire Theatre, Sunderland – 6 to 30 April 2016

Billy is coming home declares the publicity and what a triumphant home-coming it was. The theatre goers at Sunderland Empire certainly thought so, rising as one to give a very much deserved standing ovation at the end.

Set in Easington, less than 10 miles away from the Empire and we were entertained by Easington Colliery Brass band as we entered the theatre, which was a nice touch.

As the theatre waited to judge the show, it wasn’t found wanting. The accents were authentically Durham (not Geordie), with not a consonant out of place or a vowel over elongated.

With Billy Elliot, dance is the thing. Adapted from the 2000 movie of the same name, the musical (two hours and 35 minutes with intermission) is the story of an aspiring dancer who also happens to be a motherless lad living with his father, brother and grandmother in a rough British coal-mining community.

It’s an especially tough time. As the play opens, the year is 1984, and the community is threatened by a battle of wills between the unionised miners and the intractable prime minister Margaret Thatcher, heard in vintage footage as the play begins. The first song, The Stars Look Down, is a shout-out to a not-dissimilar 1940 movie of the same name about a young man who attempts to break out of the mining community in which he was raised.

The role of Billy is shared between 4 exceptionally talented young men: Adam Abbou, Matthew Lyons, Lewis Smallman and Haydn May who performed for us on his 11th birthday. Billy is just a kid with extraordinary expressive potential, who may or may not make it as an adult, and that is exactly what this show delivers. The strength of the emotional connection flows to the rest of

Billy’s family: his beloved but dotty gran (played by Andrea Miller) and his brother Tony (Scott Garnham). Garnham’s deeply wrenching performance made me believe for the first time that his Tony was cut from the same cloth as young Billy. In other productions, he often seemed just angry, but in this he seems to be remembering his broken dreams. And his gruff dad (a suitably marshmallow-centred Martin Walsh, who gives a sensitive and honest performance)

Annette McLaughlin is absolutely wonderful as the inspiring Mrs Wilkinson. She sings with a cabaret singer’s sexy, smoky voice, has a fantastic sense of humour and dances like a professional. She also gets one of the most moving moments of the play as this surrogate mother sings a duet with the ghostly real one, Nikki Gerrard.

Billy is hooked, although he worries that male dancers are deemed “poofs.” That anxiety is addressed in Billy’s subsequent encounter with his cross-dressing friend Michael (Henry Farmer, Elliot Stiff, Samuel Torpey all sharing the role) in the comic number Express Yourself (“Get some earrings, some mascara, heels and a fan/Pretty soon you will start to feel a different man.”) Surreptitiously taking a few lessons from Mrs. Wilkinson, Billy proves to be a dancing prodigy. The teacher he believes he has what it takes to go to a professional ballet school in London.

That effort will require a radical change of attitude, not just from Billy’s macho family, but from an entire community seemingly built on a foundation of masculine bluster. With great comic interaction from Debbie, Mrs Wilkinson’s 10 year old daughter (Lily Cadwallender, Evie Martin and Italia Ross)

The interplay between ballet lessons and battles on picket lines is well done and gives the stage version a harder edge than the film. The first half is tremendous fun, assisted greatly by Sir Elton John’s music which is often anthemic and uplifting. Whilst the show seems to just be about an unlikely kid from an anti-arts environment trying to get into the Royal Ballet School it’s really about how artistic truth flows from deep within us and how a dancer dances because

nothing else makes him or her feel the same way. And it’s about how as parent, one thing matters most of all: that you get behind your kids

Yes, the language can be fruity and maybe more shocking when uttered by a 10 year old – but this is a wonderful show. It’s a living, breathing, feeling musical, one of the most political ever created for the theatrical stage.

In Sunderland until 30 April and on tour around the UK

King’s Head Theatre 6 – 23 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

To Kill a Machine tells the story of Alan Turing in a hard-hitting yet tender production.

Catrin Fflur Huws, inspired by Cabaret, presents pivotal moments in Turings’ life from his time at Sherborne School, through the war years at Bletchley and finally at Wilmslow, between grotesque rounds of a game show he just can’t win. The gurning hosts gleefully plot his downfall as Turing insists on truth and tries to understand the ever changing rules of society. The Imitation game is shown very cleverly, and Turing’s ideas about machines and intelligence are explored in simple and inspiring terms.

The set, with a metallic tree of life containing significant props, is starkly effective, allowing continuous references to Snow White and the poisoned apple hanging over Turing’s head.

Having only seen Gwydion Rhys in Only the Brave, where he shows his comedy and musical chops wonderfully, I was a little dubious about him playing Turing, but he blew me away. It helps that Huws has written the character with affectionate humour, but Rhys gives Turing an almost otherworldly innocence. His mannerisms and ticks do not define the character, being just one layer of his performance, creating a much more natural and sympathetic Alan Turing than other recent portrayals. One of the best performances you’ll see this year. Francois Pandolfo plays Turing’s brother, his beloved school friend, and Bletchley colleague, and manages to show each character’s exasperation and love for Turing with a deftly subtle touch. Robert Harper as the Interrogator is a very creepy gameshow host, and is fantastically dour as policeman, lawyer and other pillars of the establishment. Rick Yale just made me want to slap him as Arnold Murray, so he did a fantastic job! His sly response in court when asked if he was a homosexual is all the more shocking as it is taken from an actual court case, and the hypocrisy of the establishment is shown brilliantly with the actions accompanying his questioning.

To Kill a Machine succeeds in portraying the unfairness and hypocrisy of Turing’s treatment in a beautifully brutal way. A fantastic piece of thought-provoking writing performed brilliantly.