Author: FairyPoweredProductions

KILN THEATRE, TAMASHA AND LIVE THEATRE ANNOUNCE FULL CAST FOR THE WORLD PREMIÈRE OF ISHY DIN’S APPROACHING EMPTY

 

Kiln Theatre, Tamasha and Live Theatre presents

The World Première of

Approaching Empty

by Ishy Din | Directed by Pooja Ghai

Kiln Theatre 9 January – 2 February 2019

Then on tour until 13 April 2019

 

Designer: Rosa Maggiora; Lighting Designer: David Plater

Composer and Sound Designer: Arun Ghosh; Dramaturg: Lin Coghlan; Casting Director: Polly Jerrold

 

Kiln Theatre, Tamasha and Live Theatre today announce the full cast for the world première of Ishy Din’s Approaching Empty in a first-time creative collaboration for the three companies. Pooja Ghai directs Kammy Darweish (Mansha), Rina Fatania (Sameena), Karan Gill (Shazad), Nicholas Khan (Raf), Nicholas Prasad (Sully) and Maanuv Thiara (Tany). The production opens at Kiln Theatre on 14 January, with previews from 9 January, and runs until 2 February. Following performances at Kiln Theatre, the production tours to Live Theatre, Newcastle; Tron Theatre, Glasgow; Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh; Derby Theatre; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry; Curve, Leicester; Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, and Coliseum Theatre, Oldham.

 

‘Forget friendship… this is business.’

 

In a scruffy minicab office, Mansha decides it’s time to create his own destiny and offers to buy a business from his lifelong friend Raf. As the realities of the state of the business slowly unravel, these two best friends must confront the difficulties of going into business with those closest to them.

Set in North East England, in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher’s death, this compelling drama by award-winning playwright Ishy Din, lays bare the everyday struggles of a post-industrial generation of South Asian British men.

Ishy Din’s theatre work includes Snookered (Tamasha, Oldham Coliseum and Bush Theatre) and Beats North(Edinburgh Fringe). He was the 2012 Pearson Writer in Residence at the Manchester Royal Exchange and in 2013 Snookered won Best New Play at the Manchester Theatre Awards. For television, his work includes Ackley Bridge, Taxi Tales and Doughnuts; for film, Fraud, Perfume and Our Lad; and for radio John Barnes Saved My Life.

Kammy Darweish plays Mansha. His theatre credits include All My Sons (Nottingham Playhouse), East is East(Nottingham Playhouse/Northern Stage/UK tour), Wild Honey (Hampstead Theatre), Antony and Cleopatra, Holy Warriors (Shakespeare’s Globe), City Madam, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marat Sade (RSC), Blood and Gifts, Conduct Unbecoming, Romeo and Juliet, Hiawatha, Peer Gynt (National Theatre), Mirror for Princes, The Bottle, Pericles, Midnight’s Children (Cardboard Citizens/RSC), Dance Like a Man (Tara Arts), The Merchant of Venice (Phoenix Theatre), The Snow Queen, Don’t Drink the Water, Julius Caesar, Woyzeck (Bristol Old Vic). His television credits include Ackley Bridge, Saddam’s Tribe: Bound by Blood, White Teeth; and for film Skyfall, 31 North 62 East, The Omen and Colour Me Kubrick.

 

Karan Gill plays Shazad. His theatre credits include The Lovely Bones, Child of the Divide (UK tour), The Captive Queen and That the Eye of Heaven Visits (Shakespeare’s Globe); and for film, Boogieman.

Nicholas Khan plays Raf. His theatre credits include Wonderland (Nottingham Playhouse), Our Town, Animal Crackers (Royal Exchange Theatre), A Tale of Two Cities (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Kite Runner(Wyndham’s Theatre/UK tour), Love N Stuff (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Beaux’ Stratagem, Dara(National Theatre), Nur Du (Pina Bausch/Barbican), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Liverpool Playhouse), Mincemeat (Cardboard Citizens), Meet the Mukherjees (Octagon Theatre Bolton), Ramayana (Lyric Hammersmith), Gaddafi: A Living Myth (Coliseum, London), A Passage to India (UK tour), The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, Henry V (RSC), Arabian Nights(Young Vic) and Maa! (Royal Court Theatre). His television credits include Outnumbered and Genie in the House.

               
Rina Fatania plays Sameena. Her previous credits for Tamasha include The House of Bilquis Bibi, Wuthering Heights, A Fine Balance, Child of the Divide and Strictly Dandia. Other theatre credits include The Village, Sinbad the Sailor, Anita and Me, Love N Stuff, Guantanamo Boy (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Tin Drum, Dead Dog in a Suitcase (HOME Manchester), Oliver Twist (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Roller Diner (Soho Theatre), Paradise of the Assassins (Tara Arts), Mummyji Presents (Birmingham Rep), The Empress (RSC), Wah! Wah! Girls (Sadler’s Wells), Britain’s Got Bhangra, It Ain’t All Bollywood, Meri Christmas, The Deranged Marriage (UK tour) and Bombay Dreams (Apollo Victoria). Her television credits include Wanderlust; and for film, Connection.

Nicholas Prasad plays Sully. His theatre credits include Henry V (New Generation Festival), Much Ado About Nothing (Rose Theatre Kingston), Miss Meena and the Masala Queens (Watford Palace Theatre), Treasure Island, The BFG, The Wind in the Willows (Birmingham Rep), Ross (Chichester Festival Theatre), A Mad World, My Masters (RSC/Barbican), Titus Andronicus, Maydays (RSC),The Tempest (Tobacco Factory), Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre), Colours (Bloomsbury Theatre) and Mustard (Bristol Old Vic). His television credits include Krypton, Drifters and The Five; and for film, Hearts & Minds.

Maanuv Thiara plays Tany. His theatre credits include King Lear (Bristol Old Vic), Hamlet (Almeida Theatre), and A Passage to India (Park Theatre); and for television, Hamlet and The Boy with the Topknot.

Pooja Ghai directs. She was the Associate Director at Theatre Royal Stratford East where she directed Rapunzel, Counting Stars, The House of In Between, Home Theatre and Angelic Tales. Other theatre credits as director include Lions and Tigers (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), The Empress (The Embassy Theatre), Vestige for Wayne Parsons Dance (Wilton’s Music Hall/ Rich Mix/ 2018 tour), Tamasha 25, Shakti & Seva, Mother India (Rich Mix), 13 (Corbett Theatre), As You Like It (Ellen Terry Theatre), The Accordian Shop (Curve), The Tune is Always Better on the Outside, Oysters, Mirad a boy from Bosnia (The Bedford) and The Difference (Soho Theatre). Theatre credits as an associate /assistant director include The Infidel The Musical (Theatre Royal Stratford East) and The Memory of Water (UK tour).

 

KILN SEASON AT A GLANCE

WHITE TEETH

26 October – 22 December 2018

Audio Described: 11 December

Captioned: 27 November

Relaxed: 24 November

 

APPROACHING EMPTY

9 January – 2 February 2019

Audio Described: 22 January

Captioned: 31 January

THE SON

20 February – 23 March 2019

Audio Described: 21 March

Captioned: 14 March

 

THE HALF GOD OF RAINFALL

26 April – 17 May 2019

Audio Described: 16 May

Captioned: 9 May

 

WIFE

30 May – 6 July 2019

Audio Described: 4 July

Captioned: 20 June

 

BLUES IN THE NIGHT

18 July – 7 September 2019

A FRIENDLY SOCIETY (WORKING TITLE)

26 – 29 September 2019

 

WHEN THE CROWS VISIT

23 October – 30 November 2019

APPROACHING EMPTY ON TOUR

Live Theatre, Newcastle

6 – 23 February

www.live.org.uk

Box Office: 0191 232 1232

Tron Theatre, Glasgow

5 March

www.tron.co.uk

Box Office: 0141 552 4267

Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh

7 – 9 March

www.assemblyroxy.com

Box Office: 0131 623 3001

Derby Theatre, Derby

13 – 15 March

www.derbytheatre.co.uk

Box Office: 01332 59 39 39

Belgrade Theatre, Coventry

20 – 23 March

www.belgrade.co.uk

Box Office: 024 7655 3055

Curve, Leicester

28 – 30 March

www.curveonline.co.uk

Box Office: 0116 242 3595

Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

2 – 6 April

www.queens-theatre.co.uk

Box Office: 01708 443333

Coliseum Theatre Oldham

11 – 13 April

www.coliseum.org.uk

Box Office: 0161 624 2829

NEW PRODUCTION IMAGES RELEASED FOR
THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S
MATILDA THE MUSICAL

THE MULTI-AWARD WINNING SHOW IS NOW PLAYING ITS EIGHTH YEAR IN THE WEST END

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical has released new production images featuring the previously announced new cast of the multi-award winning show, which is now playing its eighth year in the West End having opened at the Cambridge Theatre seven years ago today on 25 October 2011.

Hayden Tee stars as Miss Trunchbull alongside Rob Compton and Holly Dale Spencer as Mr and Mrs Wormwood, and Gina Beck who joined the company Miss Honey in 2017. Isobel Hubble and Francesca McKeown have joined Sara Munday and Olivia Wells in sharing the title role of Matilda.

The London production of Matilda The Musical is booking until 20 October 2019 whilst the UK and Ireland Tour will be playing in cities across the country until 17 August 2019. For more information see www.matildathemusical.com.

Matilda The Musical is written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, developed and directed by Matthew Warchus. The production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

The full adult cast includes Alex Louize Bird, Gina Beck, Rob Compton, Holly Dale Spencer, Jaye Elster, Glen Facey, Alex Hammond, Peter Houston, Jessica Joslin, Bethany Kate, Sammy Kelly, Ben Kerr, Bryan Mottram, Malinda Parris, James Revell, Gemma Scholes, Simon Shorten, Hayden Tee, Callum Train and Robert Tregoning.

The young performers who play the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda and the rest of the pupils at Crunchem Hall are as follows: Lois Abercrombie, Jacob Bland, Tom Brown, Emilia Bosi, Toby Brandon, Mia Byers, Quincy Miller-Cole, Lottie Cook, Imogen Darwen, Darmani Eboji, Asher Ezequiel, Jimmy Fordham Reed, Clara Freeman Alves, Stella Haden, Jobe Hart, Noah Leggott, Archie Lewis, Sadie Victoria Lim, Henry Littell, Austen Phelan,Marley Quinlan-Gardner, Daisy Statham, Cherry Vaughn-White, Sam Winser and Rochelle Wyatt.

Gina Beck (Miss Honey) is renowned for leading roles in musical theatre. Previous roles have included Glinda in Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre & US Tour), Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre), Magnolia Hawks in Daniel Evan’s production of Show Boat (New London Theatre) and Cosette in Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre).  A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, her other theatre credits include Far From the Madding Crowd (The Watermill Theatre) and The Belle’s Stratagem (Southwark Playhouse) both directed by Jessica Swale, I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change (Arts Theatre Upstairs), Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Charing Cross Theatre),  The Sound of Music (Kuala Lumpur), Peter Pan (Birmingham Rep), The Kissing Dance (Jermyn Street Theatre) and Imagine This (Plymouth Theatre Royal). Her television credits include the BBC’s Doctors and Sherlock Holmes and The Case of the Silk Stocking. Opera credits include Madame Butterfly and L’elisir d’amore (Opera Holland Park). She was a soloist in the 21st and 25th anniversary celebrations of Les Misérables as well as in the recent blockbuster film version. She made her BBC Proms debut in 2016 as a soloist in the BBC’s Bernstein prom.

Rob Compton (Mr Wormwood) known for his work across stage, television and film. His theatre credits include Wonder.land (Manchester Palace, Manchester International Festival, and National Theatre), Bat Boy (Southwark Playhouse), Mother Courage and her Children (The Lowry, Manchester), A Chorus of Disapproval (Harold Pinter Theatre), All the Fun of the Fair (UK Tour),Merlin and the Woods of Time and As You Like It (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre), Great Expectations (English Touring Theatre & Watford Palace) and A Christmas Carol (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Film and television credits include American Assassin, Rellik, Babs, Ripper Street, Silent Witness, EastEnders, and Endeavour.

Holly Dale Spencer (Mrs Wormwood) is best known for previous stage roles such as Grace Farrell in Annie (Piccadilly Theatre and UK Tour), Nicky in Sweet Charity (Royal Exchange, Manchester), Judy Haynes in White Christmas (Leeds Playhouse) and Sabrina in American Psycho (Almeida Theatre). Other theatre credits include Holly Golightly and Words and Music (Sadler’s Wells), Kiss Me Kate (Chichester Festival Theatre and The Old Vic), Oliver! (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), The Grapes of Wrath (Chichester Festival Theatre and UK Tour), Crazy For You (Novello Theatre), Betty Blue Eyes (Novello Theatre) and Children Will Listen (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane). Previous roles in film include the 2012 film adaption of Les Miserables.

Hayden Tee (Miss Trunchbull) is an award-winning musical theatre actor from New Zealand. Previous roles have included Javert in Les Miserables (Broadway, West End and International Tour), Joe Cable in South Pacific (Adelaide Festival Centre and Australian National Tour), Prof Bhaer inLittle Women (Australian National Music Theatre), and Thomas Andrews in Titanic (Theatre Royal, Sydney). Having trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts, Australia, his other theatre credits include Three Winters Green (Stables Theatre, New South Wales), Kiwi Fruits 2 (The Court Theatre, Christchurch), Only Heaven Knows (The Hayes Theatre), Songs for a New World (Australian National Music Theatre), I Love you, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Australian National Music Theatre), My Fair Lady (Opera Australia), Cats (International Tour), Jekyll and Hyde (South Korea, Taiwan), Into the Woods (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta), and Camelot (Pittsburgh Public Theatre). He is the recipient of the Gluggs Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor, and the Gluggs Theatre Award for Best Cabaret Performance of the Year. Hayden’s debut solo cabaret show Me to a Tee was performed to great acclaim in Sydney, Auckland and New York. Other cabaret shows includeQuarterlife Crisis (Sydney), Hayden Tee (Sydney, Melbourne and New York) and Muftee which was a nightly cabaret and chat show which opened at the Stables Theatre, Sydney, in 2003 and ran for a record breaking seven months. His show The Gin is Cold…But the Piano Is Hot, which focused on the music of Kander and Ebb, also toured Australia.

Matilda The Musical has now been seen by 8 million people worldwide, having toured to over 68 cities and played more than 6000 performances in the West End, on Broadway and on tour across North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Winner of over 85 international awards, including 16 for Best Musical, Matilda The Musical is also now touring the UK and Ireland. The tour began performances in March at Leicester Curve and is currently playing at Manchester Palace Theatre until 24 November. Running until 17 August 2019, the tour will play Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, Edinburgh Playhouse, The Bristol Hippodrome, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton and Norwich Theatre Royal.

Inspired by the incomparable Roald Dahl’s beloved book, Matilda The Musical was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered at the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon home in November 2010, before transferring to London’s West End in October 2011, where it opened to rave reviews. The New York production of Matilda The Musical opened in April 2013 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre and was celebrated on 10 “Top Ten” lists for 2013, including TIME Magazine’s #1 Show of the Year.

Matilda The Musical swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, with a record-breaking seven awards, and won four Tony Awards and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for the four girls sharing the title role on Broadway.

The North America production toured 52 cities. The Australian and New Zealand production won a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical in 2015, and played sold-out seasons in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Auckland. The show broke further records in July 2016 by winning all 13 Helpmann Awards for which it was nominated.

Matilda The Musical is produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company with André Ptaszynski and Denise Wood as Executive Producers. The production was developed with the support of Jeanie O’Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Cambridge Theatre
Earlham Street
London WC2H 9HU

Tuesday – Friday 7pm
Wednesday 2pm
Saturday 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Sundays 3pm

Box Office: Cambridge Theatre 020 7087 7745 / RSC Ticket Hotline 01789 403493
No booking fee.
Booking until 20 October 2019

www.matildathemusical.com

Twitter: @MatildaMusical
Facebook: @MatildaTheMusical
Instagram: @MatildaTheMusical

Blue Elephant Theatre 23 – 24 October

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland has been adapted many times over the years, with lots of shows not shying away from the adult themes of the novel. Joelene English Dance Theatre’s Alice: The Lost Chapter takes the audience down a particularly twisted rabbit hole on a dark and uncomfortable journey into Alice’s tormented mind.

Joelene English and her cast of four – Alicia Meehan, Charley Thompson, Kane Mills and Wayne Summerbell have created a sometimes-nightmarish narrative, beginning with Alice (Meehan) having her hair brushed by the red queen/mother figure in a sequence that seesaws between maternal love and a battle for power and submission. On a set resembling a weird and wonderful junk room, characters from Wonderland appear, leading her further down the rabbit hole. The rabbit is even more full of nervous energy than usual, and the Cheshire cat’s grins are more of a grimace. The Mad Hatter is even more bizarre, with moves and contortions reminiscent of Doug Jones’ best roles. Throwing himself behind the “bars” of a chair and ending up in a straightjacket, the Hatter’s mania is matched by the quieter but no less discomforting actions of Alice – constantly using her hair as curtains to hide behind or as a self-inflicted weapon to choke herself.

Alison Ashton’s beautifully lit set is full of surfaces on which eerie projections of the characters appear, and Jamie Cook’s unsettling soundscape that acts as the perfect accompaniment to the dancers’ narrative.

This isn’t an easy watch, but Alice: The Lost Chapter is an intriguingly uncomfortable and weirdly hypnotic exploration of a fragmented mind performed with passion, skill and finesse that should appeal to all lovers of dance.

Hull New Theatre – until Saturday 27th October 2018.

Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

4****

How fitting that Bram Stoker’s Dracula is hitting the stage during Halloween season, and boy does it start here. Plunged into darkness with a sudden mighty bang and flash of light, I jumped out of my skin and numerous members of the audience let out screams. Brilliant intro and a promise of things to come.

In silhouette we get to see our first look at “the vixens”, writhing, crawling about, all sinewy and creepy, the set then evolving into a train station. Jonathan Harker (Andrew Horton) is saying goodbye to his fiancée Mina Murray (Olivia Swann), before travelling to Transylvania and a meeting with Count Dracula. Mina’s close friend Lucy (Jessica Webbber) is being wooed back home, in Whitby, by not one but three suitors, the most dogged being Dr Seward (Evan Milton). Seward practices at the local sanatorium where we get to meet the wonderful and totally bonkers Lady Renfield (Cheryl Campbell), who enjoys eating mice and spiders. Harker returns from Transylvania a shell of the man he used to be, confined to a wheelchair with no idea what had happened to him. Up until this point we had not had a sighting of Dracula. Through flashbacks we see what Harker has endured, and finally Dracula (Glen Fox) makes an appearance. The first act finishes where it started with a flash and a bang, but this time we have the illusion of Dracula flying off into the audience before plunging into darkness. I honestly thought that he was going to fly out into the audience on a wire, you really have to see it to appreciate it. Dracula is fully immersed in Whitby and Professor Van Helsing (Philip Bretherton) is bought in to try and help Lucy and eradicate Dracula once and for all.

All the cast delivered good performances with Webber as Lucy and Campbell as Renfield being the stand outs for me. Campbell seemed to relish the eccentricity of her role, eating that poor mouse with glee. The vixens writhing as one on the stage at various times was also very effective, working as one.

The whole production was quite dark with the set, designed by Sean Cavanagh, consisting of large towering columns, effortlessly sliding along the stage to create anything from the sanitorium, to Whitby and Dracula’s castle. The lighting by Ben Cracknell, was superb adding to the atmospheric conditions. What really stood out though was the sound, it was all consuming, booming all around the theatre, heightening our senses, the icing on the cake. Thank you to the music and sound designer Paul Ewing, for the experience. Talking about sound, I did occasionally struggle to hear what the actors were saying on stage as they were not wearing mics, and not quite loud enough. I wander if anyone else, especially those behind me or up in the dress circle had that issue. Ultimately it was only a minor niggle.

Was I scared out of my seat? Not quite, but I did jump a few times. Not quite up to the Hammer House of Horror films that I used to love and watch behind my fingers when I was a kid.

An atmospheric show ideal for Halloween, partly set in the good old Yorkshire town of Whitby, which has it’s famous Goth Weekend this coming weekend, how apt!!

New Wimbledon Theatre – until 27 October 2018

Reviewed by Catherine Françoise

5*****

I went to The Band with a fair degree of trepidation. Another juke box musical plus a tribute band discovered via a reality TV show could be a recipe for disaster and there were definitely mixed reviews of the 2017 tour. All trepidation was swept aside by a fab show full of heart, great singing and some nuanced fine acting. Fine writing from Tim Firth who previously collaborated on The Girls with Gary Barlow, The Band is great fun and extremely well staged and directed by Kim Gavin and Jack Ryder.

Whoever dreamed up aiming a show at middle aged women reminiscing about their teenage years Take That band crush deserves a medal for marketing genius. Wimbledon Theatre was packed to the rafters and an audience of all ages spanning many decades, including a surprising number of men also, absolutely loved it. Much ‘buzz’ in the interval and as everyone left the theatre. The story line is simple and told in real time and flashbacks to the 90s. Five 16 year old girls mad about their boy band win a competition to see the group in Manchester. A tragedy changes their lives forever but twenty five years later they meet up again after one of them again wins tickets for a Take That reunion concert in Prague. Tim Firth’s writing is both laugh aloud hilarious but also poignant and nuanced, dealing with growing older and grappling with the loss of dreams, devastating grief and the complexities nostalgia throws up.

It is the female characters who carry the story and Rachel Lumberg, Alison Fitzjohn, Emily Joyce and Jayne McKenna are strong, feisty and very funny! Their younger counterparts Faye Christall, Katy Clayton, Rachelle Diedricks, Sarah Kate Howarth and Lauren Jacobs also do a great job, as does Martin Miller as Rachel’s long term partner and Andy Williams who is hilarious as several different cameo characters and billed as Every Dave in the programme. There are no weak links in this cast. It could have been incredibly cheesy and sentimental but they manage to keep it grounded and real whilst also being entertaining and slightly mad at times! So well directed ~ slick and sharp! Very well done indeed!

The musical numbers are wonderful of course and the five winners of the BBC’s reality TV casting show Let It Shine ~ A J Bentley, Harry Brown, Curtis T Johns, Yazdan Oafouri & Sario Solomon do great justice to the original songs. They sing and dance with energy, style and precision and there is some great choreography from Kim Gavin. Lyrics cleverly convey the thoughts of the girls as they grapple with life, and a few of the songs are sung by the girls rather than the boys which adds an extra dimension and freshness to lyrics. There are also a few unexpected and poignant moments where the girls interwove their stories as the band sang softly in the background. The 5 musicians accompanying The Band also deserve mention ~ Superb playing from all! They are mostly hidden from view but it’s great to see them on stage occasionally and I particularly enjoyed Tim Sandiford’s wonderful guitar playing. Four of the five original members of 1990s boy band Take That are billed as co-producers of The Band and they have done their legacy proud! The Band is a fabulous, funny, feel-good show wonderfully sung and acted! Highly Recommended!

 

Darlington Hippodrome – until 3 November 2018

3***

Darlington Operatic Society present Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the autumn offering this year.  Performed on the West End and Broadway it is now licensed to amateur performers.

Based on James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s children’s book about an eccentric, widowed British inventor with a magical car, the 1968 film’s story was expanded by co-screenwriter Roald Dahl to include the inventor’s tales of the sinister empire of Vulgaria, where infants are outlawed.

The story follows the down-at-heel Potts family, headed by widower and inventor of wacky machines Caractacus (Julian Cound), Grandpa (David Murray) and children Jeremy and Jemima (on press night Matthew Scott and Alex Lennie). When they meet the enchanting Truly Scrumptious (Beth Hopper on press night) their fortunes look set to change, but first they must evade the villainous Vulgarian Baron (Leighton Taylor-Jones) and Baroness Bomburst (Hannah Teasdale), who have designs on their beloved family car and a disdain for children – personified in the creepy child catcher (Christopher McCann in a rather spectacular costume).  With the Baron’s spies, Goran (Eddie Taylor-Jones) and Boris (Nic Myers) bumbling around and the Toy Maker (Tom Kentfield-Wells) helping to save the day.

The car is unmistakably the star. The titular jalopy gets the biggest applause of the show, and rightly so.  When Chitty spouts a hovercraft undercarriage and sails away from an approaching Vulgarian battleship, the anticipation becomes palpable. When it takes wings and flies the first time, right before intermission, the crowd goes wild

Stand out moments are definitely the Murray’s Grandpa who truly embodied the spirit of Lionel Jefferies; the wonderful Myers who brings bumbling to a whole new level and Hoppers rendition of Doll in a Music Box, which was a delight to watch.

The ensemble work well under Joanne Hand’s direction, with Cameron Wallace multi-tasking and appearing in many different guises in almost every scene.  The staging works well and Stephen Hood’s musical direction meant the live band didn’t drown out any of the singing. And whilst this is an amateur production it is a good production.

Pinocchio
The Albany Theatre, Douglas Way, London SE8 4AG
Sunday 2nd December – Saturday 29th December 2018

What do you have to do to become a real boy? And why is doing what you’re ‘supposed to do’ so difficult?

This December, Nearly There Yet, in association with Proteus, present an astonishing new adaptation of Carlo Collodis’ Pinocchio. This series of bold adventures is an enchanting visual journey, combining captivating circus skills, music, storytelling and puppetry. Featuring a diverse company, this unique family-friendly production draws on the community spirit of Christmas.

Faced by a stint in the circus with a performing donkey, a terrible and colossal whale who could swallow you whole, and even an anglerfish blues band, Pinocchio takes you on a truly hilarious adventure bubbling with excitement, acrobatics and most of all, magic.

Bursting onto a beautiful hand-crafted set, Pinocchio, played by female lead Floria da Silvia (Light Up, Roundhouse; Brrr, Proteus; The Party, Nearly There Yet) enthrals audiences of all ages as he springs to life at the hands of Umar Butt (Artistic Associate at ARC Stockton; My Name Is, Tamasha theatre company; The Present, BBC Radio 4) as Geppetto.

Within an immersive soundscape and wonderfully tactile performance, audiences are invited to follow Pinocchio as he is led astray by the sly Fox played by Rosie Rowlands (Little Mermaid, Metta Theatre; previously performed on BBC, Channel 4 and National Geographic) and one crafty Cat, performed by Ed Stephen (part of the international arts exchange project On Mass; collaborative partner to John Berkavitch; critically acclaimed national and international Tour of SHAME).

Artistic Director Kaveh Rahnama comments, What I was drawn to the most and what I have focused on in the production is the central relationship between a father who desperately wants a child and a naïve child who has no idea of the expectations thrust upon him. Turning this story into a piece of theatre for children has been challenging, yet extremely rewarding and I feel very lucky to have worked with such an incredible creative team. Our Pinocchio uses circus, puppetry, and very visual storytelling to really transport children and their families to another place.

Pinocchio brings together ARC Stockton and The Albany to champion equality and representation in circus and to build stories with strong relationships at their core.

UP IN ARMS IN ASSOCIATION WITH PLEASANCE AND ELLIE KEEL ANNOUNCE WORLD PREMIÈRE OF

ANNIE JENKINS’ IN LIPSTICK

 

Up In Arms in association with Pleasance and Ellie Keel presents

The World Première of

IN LIPSTICK

By Annie Jenkins

Directed by Alice Hamilton 

Pleasance, Islington

9 – 26 January 2019

Up In Arms, in association with Pleasance and Ellie Keel, today announce the world première of Annie Jenkins’ In Lipstick – a new play about the power and powerlessness of youth. The production, directed by Alice Hamilton, opens at Pleasance, Islington on 11 January, with previews from 9 January, and runs until 26 January.

Things don’t change no matter how much you want them to. You try, you run away, you make things new but they’re not. Same old shit covered in lipstick.

Maud, a woman on the run from her damaged past; and Cynthia, a woman hibernating from the wilderness of the modern world. Cynthia loves Maud, and Maud loves Cynthia but now she’s beginning to suffocate. After an encounter with Dennis, a security guard at her office, she wonders if she has finally glimpsed an escape.

While Cynthia hides among YouTube videos of Shirley Bassey, a dressing up box and the McDonald’s saver menu, Maud is preparing for the greatest performance of her life. It is only a matter of time before reality shatter their cocoon of lipstick and fairy tales.

This is an observational play about the power and powerlessness of youth within the fractured life of the modern city. It combines sex, lies, damage and the stretch of our dreams.

Annie Jenkins is a playwright who was shortlisted for The Old Vic 12 in 2017. Her theatre credits include A Tinder Trilogy (Hen and Chickens Theatre), Annie’s 1000 Plays (Shakespeare in Shoreditch Festival), Lunch in My Car (Theatre N16), What about England? (Islington Mill), 50% Lesbian, 100% Scared (Park Theatre/ Bunker Theatre), Tinder471 (The Old Red Lion) and My Son is in the Kitchen Eating a Biscuit (HighTide Festival).

Alice Hamilton is a theatre director and dramaturg, and co-artistic director of Up In Arms, a touring theatre company. Her credits for the company include The March on Russia (Orange Tree Theatre), Visitors (Arcola Theatre/UK tour/Bush Theatre), German Skerries, Eventide and While We’re Here (UK tour). Other theatre credits include Every Day I Make Greatness Happen (Hampstead Theatre), Echo’s End (Salisbury Playhouse), Thirty Christmases (New Diorama Theatre) Anything That Flies (Jermyn Street Theatre), Orca and Orson’s Shadow (Southwark Playhouse).

Pleasance, Islington 

LISTINGS

Carpenter Mews, North Road, London, N7 9EF

9 – 26 January 2019

Box Office: 020 7609 1800

www.pleasance.co.uk

Twitter:                @ThePleasance

Facebook:           /ThePleasance

Times

Tuesday – Saturday: 7.30pm

Saturday matinee: 3pm (no matinee 12 January)

Sunday: 5.30pm

Prices

Tickets: £15 – £18 (£13 – £15 concessions)

Previews:  £13

Bridewell Theatre – until 27 October

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

It’s easy to forget that Sedos are an amateur company – their production values and talented casts are always of such a high standard. Sedos’s production of Our Country’s Good, 30 years on from it’s Royal Court premiere, is another stunning success. Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play, inspired by real events, tells the story of convicts and officers in 18th century Sydney.

Captain Arthur Phillip (Simon Hill) who views see transportation of the prisoners as punishment, and their time in Australia as a chance for rehabilitation and redemption suggests that the convicts put on a play. Naïve young officer Ralph Clarke (Sam Pearce) sees this as a chance of promotion and seta about rehearsing The Recruiting Officer with his ragtag cast. Attempted escapes, hangings and interference by Major Ross (John Irvine) who believes that the prisoners should be punished and suffer constantly during their imprisonment all hamper the rehearsal process.

Brian Tucker’s set is simple but stylish, evoking the deck of the transport ship and the convicts’ makeshift atsge. Beautifully lit by Adam Coppard, the sense of place is effortless. Director Chloë Robertson keeps the cast doubling of roles, with swift costume changes on stage during scene changes, accompanied by Ricky Damiani’s gorgeous music.

Wertenbaker’s musings on crime and punishment, the judicial system and class – both in Georgian England and within the convict camp – are as hard-hitting as ever, with the theme of theatre’s ability to be a humanising force always present but explicitly voiced by the tortured and despondent John Arscott (Theo Bhat) as he talks about being able to forget his life and not hating anyone when he’s speaking Kite’s lines. There is lots of meta-theatrical fun to be had with the prisoners’ complaints and questions about acting and the audience, and the cast excel in these scenes. Yes, some scenes are full of exposition and philosophical debate, but Roberts keeps the pace from flagging and the cast’s performances don’t dip at all.

There are some particularly strong performances, with Sam Pearce growing into his role as Clarke and bouncing off the other actors with sweetly awkward chemistry. Josh Yard has lots of fun as pickpocket Sideway – out-Garricking Garrick with his huge gestures and plummy tones. Jessica Withey is wonderful as Liz Morden – brimming with anger at the world, but finally seeing hope through rehearsing the play and being treated as a human being by Clarke. The confusion on her face as she is treated with decency is heart-breaking. The growing camaraderie of the acting troupe as they open up to each other and talk of their futures is believable and emotional, and the final scene is full of hope and humanity, even if it only lasts for the convicts until their curtain falls.

Sedos’s Our Country’s Good is an excellent, atmospheric production full of wonderful performances – grab a ticket while you can.

Leeds College of Music – until Saturday 27th October 2018

Reviewed By Dawn Smallwood

5*****

On arrival the stage is impeccably arranged with radio microphones lining up at the front and the orchestra set in the background behind the glass shields. It gives an impression that the audience are special guests of a live radio show and excitement beckons.

BBC Radio Leeds and Leeds Playhouse jointly produced Airplays in coalition with Leeds College of Music. Airplays is a series of chosen radio dramas featuring a collaboration of new work from four Yorkshire based writers. Nick Ahad, a radio presenter, opens proceedings and four 15 minute dramas are personally introduced which are performed by six actors and three musicians under the direction of Kash Arshad. Airplays looks at theme of migration in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the landing of Empire Windrush.

The first play to begin is Emma Barnes’ A Piece of Home. It features Agata and Wiktoria (Susan Twist and Alyce Liburd), mother and daughter, and Mr Rubin (Philip D McQuillan) who poignantly share the past around a grand piano, and how in turn it unites three generations amid the tough decisions that had to be made.

Secondly is Chris O’Connor’s Exodus which is about a family (Chris Jack, Liburd, McQuillan and Twist) in Leeds who, at the height of the nuclear explosions, make the toughest decision on who gets in the boat to safety as there only two spaces left. Sarah (Liburd) who got on the boat relates the gravity of the disaster. She poignantly thinks about her remaining members of her family who didn’t join her and looks on at her new life.

A song is followed (and in conclusion) from On Hearing the First Cuckoo which is beautifully and emotively sung by Flo Wilson. The poetically rich and metaphoric play explores how one feels an outsider (Wilson) from not knowing where one belongs. The minister (McQuillan) interrogates her in detention and inflexibly painting her being an illegal immigrant because of not having the so called identity papers.

Airplays conclude with Gemma Bedeau’s Soon Come, an upbeat lively drama backed with calypso and Caribbean music, and offers an insight into the Caribbean culture. Angela (Elexi Walker) cooks dinner, amid chaos, speaks to Betty (Wilson), her sister who lives in the Carriacou, about the reality of living in another country and how she can’t find the right food to cook a Caribbean meal.

A brief but interesting question and answer session followed where the director, actors and musicians take the opportunity to share their experiences being involved with Airplays. Airplays has been beautifully done with the smooth co-ordination with the music and sounds to the spoken text aired. The broad theme of migration is explored and how each of plays though very different can relate to this. It certainly leaves food for thought and the show will be recorded during its run and each of the plays in turn will be presented in November in BBC Radio Leeds’ Backstage.

Airplays is an unforgettable production and certainly one of the most stand out unique co-productions that have ever been staged. It proves that theatre and radio work really well together and no doubt there will be similar set ups in future productions.