Mayflower Theatre Southampton – until 7 December 2019
Reviewed by Jo Gordon
5*****
Adapted to stage from the 2009 film, you really will not be disappointed by this production. It contains everything we love about the theatre during the festive period like sparkly costumes, faux snow, heroes and those to be booed at. Set in a Coventry primary school Mr Maddens (Scott Garnham) has been given the task of the school Nativity, a task which he does not revel in due to Christmas heartbreak and previous Nativity disasters but along comes the Teaching Assistant of dreams to save the day in the glorious form of Mr Poppy (Scott Paige).
From here on, hilarity ensues as the Nativity comes together alongside the developing Nativity at the rival snooty school which takes on a much darker but very funny slant on the festive season! With Mr Maddens connections with Hollywood it is rumoured there is going to be a visitor so everything that is loved about the annual production steps up 1000%. The old Coventry Cathedral as its backdrop, it turns into something special with added wow factor from a very brave Angel Gabriel dropping in from the spire on a 250ft death wire, 5 wise men in a boy band and the most beautiful star there has ever been.
The musical score is brilliant with songs taken from the film plus new ones for the stage production, they have that familiar christmassy feel about them but absolute comedy gold lyrically wise. Add the fantastically creative set to the mix and you are in for a cracker of a night as the glitter and fairylights of my wildest dreams shine and sparkle away lifting everyones spirits on a dark cold Decembers night.
The whole cast bought the house down but I believe that the standing ovation was especially for the talented and funny younger cast members that really made the production come alive as we remembered our own school Nativity’s with Mom’s best tea towels as shepherds head wear and ratty old tinsel draped mangers while we proudly belted out Little Donkey….and yes even at the age of 43 I’m still bitter I wasn’t Mary!
DEBUT MUSICAL BASED ON THE BRITISH NOVEL BY NICK HORNBY
HIGH FIDELITY
THE MUSICAL COMEDY COMPLETES ITS SUCCESSFUL RUN ON
07 DECEMBER 2019
Jonathan Ray (The Cat), Grace Kelly Miller (Sally/Fish), Nick Brittain (The Boy/Thing One), and Matt Jay Ryan (Thing Two), will star in Katie Mitchell’s acclaimed stage adaptation of The Cat In The Hat, directed by Lillie Collier. Based on the much loved tale by Dr Seuss, the Turbine Theatre’s festival family show runs for a strictly limited Christmas season from 11 December – 11 January.
From the moment his tall, red-and-white-striped hat appears around the door, Sally and her brother know that the cat in the hat is the funniest, most mischievous cat they have ever met.
With the trickiest of tricks and craziest of ideas, he turns a rainy afternoon into an amazing adventure. But what will mum find when she gets home?
The Cat In The Hat was first published in 1957 as Dr Seuss’s second book for children. It marked the transition of Theodor Seuss Geisel from successful advertising executive and political cartoonist, to world-famous illustrator and children’s author. The curious and intricate rhyming found in The Cat In The Hat is still adored decades later with over 250 million copies sold worldwide in more than 20 different languages. Katie Mitchell’sstageadaptation of The Cat In The Hat first played in the National Theatre’s Cottesloe Theatre in December 2009, before transferring to the Young Vic in 2010, and returning in a new staging at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Pleasance Theatre, Islington and subsequent UK tour in 2015.
***
Before The Cat arrives at the Turbine’s Battersea home, audiences have six performances left to catch the UK premiere of the irresistible new musical comedy High Fidelity. Based on the acclaimed British novel by Nick Hornby (State Of The Union/About A Boy/Fever Pitch), and directed and choreographed by Tom Jackson Greaves, the first musical to open at the new Battersea Power Station based theatre, completes its celebrated run on 7 December 2019.
Rob is the thirty-something owner of a London record shop who’s mastered the art of finding rare vinyl and losing girlfriends. Laura just dumped him, and Rob is totally moving on. Hopefully. Well, there’s a chance it could still work out!
Could Laura actually be “the one”? Might this turn out to be one of the Top 5 Most Romantic Comebacks Ever?!
Leading the incredibly talented ensemble cast is musical theatre star Oliver Ormson as vinyl shop owner, Rob. The rest of the cast includes: Carl Au (Dick), Robbie Durham (Barry), Rosie Fletcher (Anna), Joshua Dever (Neil Young/Bruce Springsteen), Shanay Holmes (Laura), Eleanor Kane (Marie), Jessica Lee (Ensemble), Bobbie Little (Liz), Lauran Rae (Ensemble) and Robert Tripolino(Ian).
High Fidelity is written by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), with music by Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal), lyrics by Tony Award nominee Amanda Green (Bring It On), andbook and lyric adaptations by Vikki Stone.
***
The Cat In The Hatand High Fidelity form part of the Turbine Theatre’s inaugural season, which opened August 2019 with Harvey Fierstein’s ground breaking play, Torch Song, directed by Olivier Award winning director/choreographer, Drew McOnie. The theatre’s debut season continues into 2020 with Paul Taylor-Mill’s festival of new musical theatre writing, MTFestUK 2020, which runs from 3 – 15 February.
Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester launches ‘First Curtain’ scheme to help fund tickets for young people to the UK theatrical premiere of the Broadway version of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Saturday 9th May – Saturday 6th June 2020
Tickets Now On Sale
Tickets are now on sale forthe UK theatrical premiere of the Broadway version of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, running at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester in Spring 2020.
Cinderella will be the first musical produced by A Factory of Creativity – the charity recently formed to take over the running of Hope Mill Theatre. Co-founders of Hope Mill Theatre Joseph Houston and William Whelton will direct and choreograph Cinderella, respectively.
The production will run at Hope Mill Theatre from Saturday 9th May to Saturday 6th June 2020 and then at Clonter Opera Theatre, Cheshire from Tuesday 9th to Sunday 14th June 2020.
To coincide with Cinderella tickets going on sale, Hope Mill Theatre is launching its new ‘First Curtain’ scheme. The scheme allows customers to purchase an additional ticket at checkout with the extra tickets purchased helping fund a first trip to the theatre for local young people. Hope Mill Theatre will be working with local primary schools and community groups within Greater Manchester to help welcome children of all ages to the show.
Joseph Houston, Artistic Director, said:“At Hope Mill Theatre we are passionate about making theatre accessible and instilling at a young age the magic, escapism and education which live theatre can offer – as well as nurturing theatregoers of the future.
“I recently visited a local primary school and spoke to many children who said that they loved acting and performing at school but had never actually seen a piece of live theatre – many families do not have spare funds to visit the theatre. We believe in the importance of young people feeling that arts are accessible and so wanted to help give some children the chance to have their first theatre experience in a smaller more intimate setting.
“Our ‘First Curtain’ scheme will allow us to work with schools within Greater Manchester as well as local community groups to fund trips to our production of Cinderella as well as running workshops.”
Cinderella will be the first show staged at Hope Mill Theatre to have allocated seating – meaning early booking is advised.
Cinderella is the only musical written for the television by legendary duo Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II (South Pacific, Carousel, The Sound of Music). Originally broadcast live in 1957 starring Julie Andrews, the broadcast was watched by more than 100 million people, before subsequently being remade for TV again in 1965 and 1997 (starring Whitney Houston).
This new Broadway version with a Tony-nominated book by Douglas Carter Beane premiered in 2013 featuring several fresh characters and songs. The show features songs including “In My Own Little Corner”, “Impossible”, “Ten Minutes Ago” and “Stepsister’s Lament.”
This will be the first time a fully-staged version of the 2013 Broadway version of the show has been performed in the UK.
The smart and beautiful young Ella lives in the care of her wicked, self-absorbed stepmother Madame and her two stepsisters Charlotte and Gabrielle. In another part of the kingdom, Prince Topher is trying to find himself and learn his place in the world. When his scheming advisor Sebastian suggests throwing a ball so the Prince can meet potential brides, Ella and Topher’s different worlds come together. Expect the unexpected in this clever retelling of the beloved fairy tale.
Hope Mill Theatre will be holding open auditions in its search for the title role of Cinderella. The venue is committed to finding new and emerging talent across the regions and will be sharing details very soon of how to register interest in auditioning.
Ted Chapin, President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, said: “I am thrilled that the modern Broadway version of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella will be getting its U.K. theatrical premiere at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. Yes, the tale is tried-and-true, and yes, Ella of the Cinders has inspired many an adaptation, but there is only one time that the great team of Rodgers and Hammerstein put her squarely in their focus – and it took many years after the U.S. television premiere to find a proper theatrical footing. When this version opened on Broadway in 2013, its tagline was “Glass slippers are so back.” With a wink to the Cinderella traditions of the past – except pantos! – and a solid foot in a world where people take more control over their own lives, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella has already charmed new generations of musical theater enthusiasts.”
Produced by A Factory of Creativity for Hope Mill Theatre, director Joseph Houston, associate director and choreographer William Whelton, set and costume design Elly Wdowski, orchestrations Jason Carr, projection design George Reeve, LX design Aaron Dootson and casting by Jane Deitch.
The Company’s Partnership with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust adds a unique dimension to this intense play, about trust and survival. Chekhov expressed his own thoughts about conservation through the character of Doctor Astroff (David Tudor). The cast cleverly reflects the complex social structure of the beehive, through the player’s relationships.
The entrance of the queen bee, Yelena (Ventia Twigg) is impactful and Twigg maintains her superior status throughout. The drones that succumb to her beauty, leaving them powerless to be productive, in their attempts to be near her, are Uncle Ivan Vanya (Matthew Houlihan) and Dr Mikhail Astroff (David Tudor). Tudor (Astroff) delivers a convincing intelligent suitor, desperately battling with his hate of rural life and lust for Yelena (Twigg). Houlihan (Uncle Vanya) manages to encapsulate the plight of the humble, the poor and the over worked, in a passionate, often tormented performance. Professor Alexandr (Jeremy Drakes), husband of Yelena, is the catalyst for Vanya’s (Houlihan) outbursts, oblivious to the privilege he has and pain he is inflicting. Foxey Hardman (Sonia) has a deliberate and measured delivery that captures the audience’s interest and support. The honesty of her character is often funny and refreshing at the same time.
The Creative’s give us clear signposts to the status of each character through their costumes. The set is well stripped back – maybe a little too far, leaving everything to your own imagination. However, the choreographed physical scenes speak a thousand words and are a key part of the performance.
Chekov would be pleased with the parallels with the natural world made by Venetia Twigg. A clever adaptation that sticks to the original story.
Oh Spencer Jones! A joy to watch and a show that is not only right up my street but is moving in to my house and living in the spare room.
The perfect antidote for a lousy day at the office. What better than 50 minutes of utterly silly sod silliness? The show is a feast of household object characters, creepy puppets, masks, props and of course the things we all leave behind. Spencer himself, a sweet and genuine ‘dickhead’ who seems to just effortlessly make the audience fall in love with him whilst introducing us to his crazy ‘home’ and very odd looking ‘family’ has a style of communication with the audience that is so special. Yes, we know he is ridiculous and it looks at times like he is ad-libbing but it is clear that this show is beautifully crafted with love and care. We were treated to a few tracks on the loop machine that were not only bloody funny but incredibly clever and really catchy songs and using sound bytes from his children and the audience were little moments of gold.
In and amongst the crackers stuff, there were touching moments of sincerity and I felt a stillness in the room when he pondered what of all of us will be remembered? What would we leave behind?
You may be an acquired taste but for me, Spencer Jones, more please! You embrace the silly with such style and (although may be an obvious thing to say) something utterly endearing and warm is that you appeared to be genuinely chuffed when you made us laugh. If your objective is to bring joy and laughter then job done. You simply make me happy!
MONSOON WEDDING A NEW MUSICAL BY MIRA NAIR A Leeds Playhouse production in association with the Roundhouse
A NEW MUSICAL THEATRE ADAPTATION OF THE HIT FILM MONSOON WEDDING WILL PLAY AT LEEDS PLAYHOUSE AND LONDON’S ROUNDHOUSE IN SUMMER 2020
DIRECTED BY THE FILM’S DIRECTOR MIRA NAIR, THE NEW MUSICAL FEATURES A BOOK BY SABRINA DHAWAN AND ARPITA MUKHERJEE AND LYRICS BY MASI ASARE AND SUSAN BIRKENHEAD WITH MUSIC BY VISHAL BHARDWAJ
Nearly 20 years after the multi award-winning Monsoon Wedding broke all moulds by becoming one of the most successful international films of all time and introducing a worldwide audience to Indian culture through the joy of the rom-com, the beautiful story of finding love against the odds returns as a brand-new musical.
In Delhi, preparations are under way for a lavish, nonstop, four-day celebration to mark the arranged marriage of Aditi and Hemant. Aditi is the only daughter of an upper middle-class family in India. She is about to meet her groom, an Indian-American from New Jersey. It should be the perfect wedding, but the bride is having an affair, her father is in financial trouble, and as members of the family descend from around the world, dark family secrets surface.
At its heart Monsoon Wedding is an anthem to modern India. In the way that the film introduced the world of a globalizing India, the musical is a celebration of the exuberant chaos of contemporary India and its vibrant diaspora. The musical explores the ever-increasing difference and discrepancy in India between the rich and the poor, the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, the east and the west.
The brand-new musical will open at Leeds Playhouse on 17th June and play there until 11th July. Following that it will transfer to London’s Roundhouse to play a strictly limited season from 17th July to 29th August.
The creative team will also include: Movement Director Scott Graham (Frantic Assembly, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time), and Casting Director Karishma Balani. Full casting will be announced in due course.
Tickets for Leeds Playhouse are on sale today at leedsplayhouse.org.uk and you can sign up at MonsoonWeddingmusical.co.uk to be given priority opportunity to book for the Roundhouse season on Wednesday 18th December ahead of general on sale on Thursday 19th December .
LISTINGS
Monsoon Wedding
Leeds Playhouse
First performance: Monday 22nd June 2020 Local Leeds Press Night: Tuesday 30th June 2020 Final performance: Saturday 11th July 2020 Performance schedule: Monday – Saturday evenings with Thursday/Saturday matinees
OPENING AT MANCHESTER OPERA HOUSE ON 10 SEPTEMBER 2020
AHEAD OF A UK TOUR
TICKETS ON SALE MONDAY 9 DECEMBER
The producers of the award-winning Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, featuring Jim Steinman and Meatloaf’s greatest hits, are delighted to announce the musical will be returning to tour the UK, following an Australian tour, with performances beginning at Manchester Opera House from 10 – 26 September 2020. The other tour dates include The Alexandra Birmingham from 29 September – 10 October, New Wimbledon Theatre from 13 – 24 October, New Theatre Oxford from 27 October – 7 November, Glasgow King’s Theatre from 10 – 21 November and Liverpool Empire from 8 December – 2 January 2021. Further tour dates and casting to be announced.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical wowed critics and public alike when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House, London Coliseum and London’s Dominion Theatre from 2017 – 2019. The musical also ran successfully in Canada, Germany and at New York’s City Centre last summer.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical won the Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical at the Evening Standard Awards and was nominated for 8 WhatsOnStage Awards, including Best New Musical.
Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide. 16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.
In Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, the electrifying rock songs of Mr Steinman propel an epic story of rebellious youth and passion as Strat, the immortal leader of The Lost, has fallen in love with Raven, the beautiful daughter of the tyrannical ruler Falco.
The UK tour of Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, with musical supervision and additional arrangements by Michael Reed, set and costume design by Jon Bausor, original costume designs by Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell and casting by Anne Vosser.
The UK tour of Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl & Tony Smith, with executive producer Julian Stoneman.
& JULIET LEADS THE MUSICAL CATEGORIES WITH 13 NOMINATIONS,
EVITA FOLLOWS WITH 8 NOMINATIONS, AND MAME WITH 7 NOMINATIONS
PRESENT LAUGHTER LEADS THE STRAIGHT PLAY AWARDS WITH 8 NOMINATIONS
Tyrone Huntley today announced the nominations for the 20th annual WhatsOnStage Awards via WhatsOnStage’s social channels, the only major theatre prize-giving decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves. The announcement of the nominations marks the opening of the final voting stage (until 27 January), with winners announced at the annual Awards Concert held on 1 March 2020 at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
WhatsOnStage’s Chief Operating Officer Sita McIntosh said today, “As we enter our 20th year, we’re thrilled to announce the nominations for the WhatsOnStage Awards. 2019 has proved a strong year for musicals with & Juliet dominating the field with 13 nominations – more than either Hamilton or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in previous years. There’s also been a strong showing for work outside the capital with venues including Hope Mill Theatre, Curve Leicester and Sheffield Theatres receiving multiple nominations. This is the particular joy of the WhatsOnStage Awards, that work from across the breadth of the UK is represented and championed.”
Leading this year is the new musical & Juliet – currently running at the Shaftesbury Theatre, with 13 nominations across acting and creative categories including nominations for leading actors Miriam-Teak Lee and Oliver Tompsett who play Juliet and Shakespeare respectively, supporting actor nominations for Jordan Luke Gage, Cassidy Janson and Melanie La Barrie, Best New Musical, Best Choreography, Best Costume Design, Best Graphic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Set Design, Best Sound Design and Best Video Design. In the musical categories, Evita follows with 8 nominations and Mame with 7 nominations, ahead of Waitress with 6 nominations, and Come from Away and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with 5 nominations each.
For Best Actress in a Musical Miriam-Teak Lee faces competition from Tracie Bennett for Mame, Katharine McPhee and Lucie Jones – both for Waitress, and Zizi Strallen for Mary Poppins; and in the Best Actor in a Musical category Oliver Tompsett is nominated alongside David Hunter for Waitress, Charlie Stemp for Mary Poppins, Sam Tutty for Dear Evan Hansen, and Jac Yarrow for Joseph.
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical sees the stars of Waitress face off again with nominations for both Laura Baldwin and Marisha Wallace; who in turn are up against Cassidy Janson and Melanie La Barrie, both for & Juliet, and Rachel Tucker from Come From Away; and Best Supporting Actor nominees are & Juliet’s Romeo Jordan Luke Gage, Joe Sugg from Waitress, Jack Loxton from Dear Evan Hansen, Oscar Conlon-Morrey for Only Fools and Horses The Musical, and Joseph’s Jason Donovan.
Best New Musical will see a closely fought battle between & Juliet, Waitress, Dear Evan Hansen, Come From Away and Only Fools and Horses; Best Musical Revival nominees are Mary Poppins, Evita, Josephand the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Mame, and 9 to 5 The Musical.
In the straight play categories, Best New Play is a contest between The Doctor, The Son, My Beautiful Laundrette, Life of Pi and Appropriate; and Best Play Revival nominees are Betrayal, Death of a Salesman, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lungs and Present Laughter. The latter of these leads the play categories with 8 nominations; including Best Actor in a Play for Andrew Scott, Best Supporting Actress in a Play nominations for Sophie Thompson and Indira Varma and Best Direction for Matthew Warchus.
In a heavily nominated year for The Old Vic, Warchus receives a double nomination in the Best Direction category – for Lungs, as well as Present Laughter. His rivals are Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell for Death of a Salesman, Robert Icke for The Doctor and Jamie Lloyd for Evita.
Andrew Scott faces Tom Hiddleston for Betrayal, Matt Smith for Lungs, Wendell Pierce for Death of a Salesman, and Laurie Kynaston for The Son for the Best Actor in a Play Award – both Scott and Kynaston were recently honoured for their respective roles at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. For Best Actress in a Play, the nominations are Claire Foy for Lungs, Zawe Ashton for Betrayal, Hayley Atwell for Rosmersholm, Sharon D. Clarke for Death of a Salesman, and Juliet Stevenson for The Doctor.
For Best Supporting Actor in a Play, nominated are Alexander Vlahos for Peter Pan, Charlie Cox for Betrayal, Hareet Deol for My Beautiful Laundrette, Hammed Animashaun for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Giles Terera for Rosmersholm; and for Best Supporting Actress in a Play, Thompson and Varma are up against Ria Zmitrowicz for The Doctor, Monica Dolan for All About Eve, and Isabella Pappas for Appropriate.
Best Off-West End production nominees are The View UpStairs (Soho Theatre), Falsettos (The Other Palace), High Fidelity (The Turbine Theatre), Preludes and Fiver – both at Southwark Playhouse; and the Best Regional Production are Mame (Hope Mill Theatre), Life of Pi (Sheffield Theatres), West Side Story (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), My Beautiful Laundrette (Curve, Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production), and The Color Purple (Curve, Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome co-production).
LAMBERT JACKSON PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCE THIRD SEASON OF
MONDAY FAVOURITES AT THE OTHER PALACE
Due to the phenomenal success of the first two seasons of Sunday Favourites at The Other Palace, Lambert JacksonProductions today announce the line-up of their third season of intimate West End concerts. The line-up includes Divina de Campo (finalist of RuPaul’sDrag Race UK) on Monday 2nd March, Jordan Luke Gage (& Juliet, Bat Out of Hell) on 16th March, John Owen Jones (Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera) on 30th March, and Maiya Quansah-Breed (Six) on 20th April.
Monday Favourites is designed to bring musical theatre lovers closer to their favourite stars of the West End. With just over 300 seats, the main theatre of The Other Palace is a beautifully intimate concert space where every seat feels close to the stage and everyone has the perfect view to see these superstars perform an acoustic show of their favourite songs. Meet and greet options are available.
Jamie Lambert and Eliza Jackson today said “We have had such an amazing reaction to our first two season of Sunday Favourites at The Other Palace we just had to create another season. The line-up we have for this season is made up of some of the most talented and inspiring performers in the industry today, they are so diverse and interesting – from the finalist of the first season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Divina de Campo; to the legend that is John Owen-Jones; with the fresh, new energy of Jordan Luke Gage (currently in & Juliet as Romeo) and Maiya Quansah-Breed (currently in Six as Catherine Parr) we really do think this could be our best season yet.”
I had the opportunity to watch the opening night of Peter Pan Goes Wrong which is the most recent offering from the Mischief Theatre Company who are the company responsible for the smash hit production of The Play That Goes Wrong. It is probably right to say that, very few play directors want the production they are involved in to go wrong every night. But, Henry Lewis the man behind Peter Pan Goes Wrong wants exactly that! The Mischief Theatre Company play the members of Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society who are putting on a production of JM Barrie’s pantomime favourite Peter Pan which as you can imagine doesn’t go quite to plan.
From the moment you walk into the theatre audience participation is encouraged with the cast mingling and engaging with the audience resulting in mishaps as the cast search for the stage managers missing hammer. It is safe to stay that everything which could go wrong will go wrong thick and fast, sometimes predictable such as broken sets, broken legs, falls/slips but at other times not – technical glitches, forgotten lines and the sudden collapse of the children’s bunk beds crushing Michael and John leaves the audience in stitches with loud screams of laughter.
The show starts with multiple mis-starts with Katy Daghorn appearing on stage with an exaggerated and enthusiastic portrayal of Wendy/Sandra, which is then followed by Ciaran Kellgren in his portrayal as Jonathan/Peter who flies on to the stage; chaotically, resulting in a broken set and nearly breaking his neck. As the production goes on, the injuries and mishaps pile up with all cast members taking centre stage. Phoebe Ellabani was outstanding with versatility playing four amusing roles with quick costume changes.
The show has a low cost, low budget feel; a one-way dog door, Tinkerbell’s fairy light skirt with an extension lead which electrocutes her, the wonky pirate ship and hand made feel of the set. At times I felt, the show was too chaotic and ‘too much’ with the deliberate errors wearing thin towards the end but the audience seemed to love it; I have never heard so much laughter during a theatre production. The finale was a perfect conclusion with the cast chaotically trapped in the revolving stage whilst everything falls apart around them which adds to the mayhem. It was great to see the stage crew come on stage at the end for bows as for things to go purposely wrong is a work of art.
If you want some light hearted comedy and laughter get your tickets for Peter Pan Goes Wrong which is on at The Lowry until the 7th December.
