Francis Beckett’s whimsical and entertaining take on Clem Atlee’s struggles to establish the Welfare State begins with Churchill at his most rabid, warning of the threat of socialist tyranny at home before the 1945 general election. The contrast with Clem Atlee, sitting smoking his pipe calmly as those around him rage and pontificate is shown wonderfully in Roger Rose’s quiet hawk like performance.
Narrated by Clem’s wife Violet (Lynne O’Sullivan), flashbacks take us to Limehouse, where the seeds of Atlee’s socialism took root, as Labour MPs bombard Atlee with instructions and opinions about what is best for the country, including having a leadership election as the idea of Clem as PM is unthinkable. Atlee sits and makes non-committal noises before doing exactly the opposite of what they want. The only time he speaks with quiet passion and flowing language is when discussing cricket. The leadership skills, morality and intelligence of Atlee cut through the larger than life personalities and opinions of his fellow politicians. Beckett casts him as the level-headed ringmaster, allowing the clowns and performers to exhaust themselves before issuing short but inspired instructions. This means that the politicians are caricatures – the oily and entitled establishment old guard Hugh Dalton, uncultured rough diamond Ernest Bevin, resentful deputy “I’m loyal to a fault” Herbert Morrison and Welsh firebrand Nye Bevan.
Most of these caricatures work well in this light-hearted context, albeit with a couple of wobbly accents. Being from Wales, I cringed whenever Nye Bevan was on stage. Everyone thinks they can do a Welsh accent, but it’s hard to sustain for an entire sentence – and straight out of the Colm Meaney School of Welsh Accents, Bevan’s vowels and rhythms take us to every Celtic nation, Tyneside and on to the banks of the Ganges before returning to the green, green grass of home. But this wasn’t the big problem, I was utterly confused as to why Clive Greenwood chose to portray Bevan by attempting an impression of Harry Secombe playing a comedy angry drunk. The seagulls taking pot-shots at Bevan’s statue in Cardiff Queen Street would probably have appreciated this caricature.
The political machinations mostly occur offstage, with characters reporting to Clem to show progress. Even though this is skimmed over at relatively breakneck speed to get to the final scenes, the pace of the play is slow and steady, much like Atlee. Director Owain Rose keeps the action relatively tight, with the ensemble working well together and any slight hiccups will surely settle over the run.
A Modest Little Man is full of historical and political information, as well as love and admiration for the characters who changed our country. Such weighty issues could get bogged down in melodrama, but this is a warm and self-assured production that tells the story wittily, succinctly and without any bells and whistles. I think Clem would approve.
The journals of Anne Lister and her unconventional life lay unread for a century in her home at Shibden Hall. Their re-emergence led to this remarkable woman being hailed as “the first modern lesbian”. Ross McGregor’s new play tells her story with flair and sensitivity in the gloriously recognisable Arrows & Traps style.
Framed by scenes of John Lister (Alex Stevens) and Arthur Burrell (Tom Hartill) trying to decipher the coded passages of Anne Lister’s diaries years after her death, the secrets of her life shock and inspire Lister as her intimate history intertwines with what he knows of Gentleman Jack’s business affairs as a mine owner, traveller and mountaineer.
Lucy Ioannou and Cornelia Baumann play Anne at different stages in her life. Both actors bring passion and intensity to the role in stunning performances. Ioannou’s younger Anne is beguiling and arrogant, conveying Lister’s unashamed sexuality and brazen confidence. Laurel Marks and Beatrice Vincent shine as her lovers Tib and Mariana. Marks is full of heart and is hysterical hamming it up with Tib’s awful Shakespearean excerpts but will leave your top lip quivering as she finally leaves Anne with her beautifully understated delivery of Prospero’s epilogue. Lister’s cruelty towards adoring Tib is mirrored by her relationship with Mariana, who bows to convention and marries a wealthy man, keeping their relationship as her guilty secret.
Baumann plays the more mature Anne, steelier but no less passionate. Her confrontations with neighbouring mine owner Rawson (Toby Wynn-Davies) serve to demonstrate the misogyny and prejudice faced by a woman who refused to conform. Hannah Victory is a wonderful foil for Baumann as Anne Walker, and their relationship builds believably and maturely.
McGregor doesn’t gloss over the trickier points of Anne’s story, acknowledging her bloody mindedness and cruelty and the fact that her social position and wealth meant that she was free to live as she chose. Any abuse she and Walker endured, although horrible, was limited to talk, laughter and loss of business rather than the physical abuse and forced marriage that a woman without her privilege could face. Even so, Anne’s bravery and self-knowledge are inspirational, and nobody is perfect. When her story is told in such an honest and moving way with such magnificent stagecraft, and by such a talented ensemble, it makes for unmissable theatre.
Director: Deafinitely Theatre’s Youth Coordinator, Rachael Merry; Designer: Paul Burgess; Sound Designer: Chris Bartholomew; Lighting Designer: Greg Cebula
John Lyon’s Theatre, City Lit
Wednesday 23February
Deafinitely Youth Company today announces Carl Grose’s Gargantua as their youth production, which will run twice on 23February. Directed by Rachael Merry, the production will be open to Deafinitely Youth Company family members.
When Mr. and Mrs. Mungus have a baby it isn’t the bouncing blue-eyed boy they were hoping for. After a two-and-a-half year pregnancy, Mini Mungus gives birth to a monster – one with an accelerated growth rate and an insatiable appetite for anything that moves (including joggers). But when sinister military scientists become intent on cloning an army of giant babies from the giant, he breaks his chains and escapes. The world can only watch in horror as he embarks on learning how to walk and rampant destruction. Who will stop this freak of nature? Who will decide his tragic fate? And who, more importantly, will change his nappy?
Carl Grose’s writing credits for theatre include The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic), The Hartlepool Monkey (Fuel Theatre), Gargantua (National Theatre) and Wormy Close (Soho Theatre). Co-writing credits include Tristan and Yseult (National Theatre).
Rachael Merry’s directing credits for Deafinitely Theatre includes These Bridges (Bush Theatre). Her acting credits include Mirror Mirror and Peace & Bicycle Grease (UK tour).
By the celebrated writer of Oscar-winning Manchester-By-The-Sea
Also stars Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey, The Handmaid’s Tale)
Performances begin Thursday 16 May | Wyndham’s Theatre
Hollywood star and multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway legend Matthew Broderick – renowned for roles including Ferris Bueller in the iconic movie and Leo Bloom in The Producers – is to make his West End debut in in The Starry Messengerby Kenneth Lonergan, the Academy Award-winning writer of Manchester-By-The-Sea.
The production, directed by Sam Yates (Glengarry Glen Ross), also stars Elizabeth McGovern, known to millions for her portrayal of Lady Cora in the multi award-winning drama series Downton Abbey. The Starry Messengerwill begin performances at the Wyndham’s Theatre on Thursday 16 May and play a strictly limited 13-week season.
In the vastness of the universe are we all just lonely souls under the same night sky?
Mark Williams is lost. An astronomer at New York City’s Planetarium, he feels a closer connection to the infinite, starry sky than to his job or even to his wife, Anne. Mark doesn’t believe in fate or divine intervention, but the universe has other ideas.
After a chance meeting with Angela, a young single mother, the stars appear to have aligned. But when a catastrophic event rips through their lives, Mark is forced to re-evaluate his life, his faith and his place in the universe itself.
This bittersweet, comic drama is an unblinking exploration of love, hope and understanding our place in the universe, by one of the most celebrated writers working today.
Further casting to be announced.
The Starry Messenger is produced by Simon Friend, Act Productions, Gavin Kalin and Howard Panter.
Poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko release a sneak preview of two songs from their new interactive family rap musical, Mole & Gecko: THE SHOW
Poet Simon Mole and musician Gecko are giving a sneak preview of their new show for children and families, Mole & Gecko: THE SHOW, with studio recordings of two songs from the show being released on YouTube.
The Name Song and The Friend Ship, written and performed by Mole and Gecko, feature in the pair’s interactive rap musical which will tour theatres in, and around, London from February. Mole & Gecko: THE SHOW tells the story rather aptly of a mole and a gecko, with the help of the audience. There are live songs, rap stories, instant poems and a weasel with a serious biscuit problem. Join our heroes as they discover that what they thought they were searching for might be less important than what they find along the way.
The Spring 2019 tour will play the Half Moon Theatre (16 February), Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead (20 February), Canada Water Theatre (2 March), the Albany (3 March), artsdepot (17 March) and Watermans Arts Centre, Brentford (7 April). Contact individual venues for booking information.
Simon Mole is a Poet, Emcee, and Theatre-maker. He built his skills on the Brighton hip-hop scene and has shared the bill with Simon Armitage, John Cooper Clarke and Kate Tempest. He has also been featured on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb. Simon co-founded Chill Pill Collective, curating and hosting popular poetry nights at Soho Theatre and the Albany, and was the first ever Poet Laureate for the London borough of Brent. Simon is an experienced facilitator with over 10 years’ experience working with rap and poetry in community and education settings, including projects with Great Ormond Street Hospital and Arsenal FC.
In 2012 he established Simon Mole Presents with immersive performance director Peader Kirk and producer Maeve O’Neill, since creating three full length shows for theatre spaces. Their partnership takes spoken word performance in a bold direction, with Simon’s intricately crafted poetic stories at the core of immersive entertainment and integrated participation. Indiana Jones and the Extra Chair toured nationally with sell out shows at Southbank Centre and Brighton Dome. No More Worries had a two week run at the Albany and sold-out shows at the Bush Theatre. Simon’s first family show Friends For All, was commissioned by the V&A and toured with Half Moon Presents. Since becoming a Dad, Simon writes increasingly for young people. His first book for children is a collaboration with illustrator Oamul Lu, and will be published by Quarto/Lincoln Childrens Books later this year.
Gecko is a Singer, Storyteller and Musician. A North London based artist, his playful lyrics cover the big things in life; think iPhones, libraries and Guanabana fruit juice to name but a few. Gecko has previously appeared at Glastonbury, Bestival, BBC Radio 1, 6 Music, BBC Scotland, BBC London and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In November 2017 he launched his debut album Volcano with a sold out London show, a session with John Kennedy on Radio X and a tour of Sofar Sounds shows across the UK and the Netherlands. Volcano was made ‘Album of the year’ in the Morning Star. Gecko has shared stages with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Robin Ince, Josie Long, John Hegley and Billy Bragg.
Mole & Gecko: THE SHOW is written and performed by Simon Mole and Gecko, with direction & design by Peader Kirk and project management by Rua Arts. The production is funded by Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants and supported by Apples and Snakes, the Albany, artsdepot, Half Moon Theatre, Norden Farm, Roundhouse and Rua Arts.
After breaking box office records in 2018, David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers will produce the 2019 UK tour of the Old Vic production of Yasmina Reza’s Olivier, Tony and Moliere award-winning comedy ART, translated by Christopher Hampton. The production will star Nigel Havers, Denis Lawson and Stephen Tompkinson as Serge, Marc and Ivan respectively. The tour will open at Chichester Festival Theatre on 24 January 2019.
David Pugh said, “Dafydd [Rogers] and I have been privileged to produce Yasmina Reza’s modern comedy masterpiece for over twenty years now. It is no exaggeration to call it one of the most successful plays of all time, and we are excited to bring this production to even more audiences throughout the country on its 2019 tour.”
Nigel Havers’s films include Chariots of Fire, A Passage to India, Empire of the Sun and The Whistle Blower. He has starred in many television productions, including The Charmer, Dangerfield, Manchild, and, more recently, the hit US series Brothers and Sisters, Lewis Archer in Coronation Street, Benidorm and Lord Hepworth in Downton Abbey. His theatre work includes The Importance of Being Earnest and Harold Pinter’s Family Voices, both directed by Sir Peter Hall for the National Theatre, Richard II and Man and Superman for the RSC, the hugely successful touring productions of Rebeccaand Alan Bennett’s Single Spies.
Denis Lawson is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC’s adaptation of Bleak House, for which he was nominated for both a BAFTA and an EMMY award, and as DI Steve McAndrew in BBC1’s hit series New Tricks. In film, his notable credits include the roles of Gordon Urquhart in the film Local Hero and Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy. On stage, he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Jim Lancastar in Mr Cinders at the Fortune Theatre, and he was nominated for an Olivier for his performance as George in La Cages Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre.
Stephen Tompkinson’s television credits include BBC’s The Split, five series of DCI Banks, four series of Trollied, seven series of Wild at Heart, six series of Drop the Dead Donkey (British Comedy Award Winner for Best TV Comedy Actor) and three series of Ballykissangel, and his films include Phil in Brassed Off. His theatre work includes Spamalot, Rattle of a Simple Man and Arsenic and Old Lace in the West End, Cloaca and A Christmas Carol (Old Vic) and Tartuffe (National Tour).
Based on the original production by Matthew Warchus, ART will be directed by Ellie Jones, with design by Mark Thompson, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound design by Mic Pool, original music by Gary Yershon, fight direction by Terry King and casting by Sarah Bird CDG.
CONTINUE AS TINA AND IKE TURNER THROUGH APRIL 2019
Today the producers of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL announce a new release of tickets for the hit musicalbased on the life of legendary artist Tina Turner. Over 200,000 new tickets will go on public sale at 12noon on Friday 25 January 2019 taking bookings at the Aldwych Theatre to Saturday 21 December 2019. The Producers are also delighted to announce the upcoming recording of the original cast album, details of which will be released shortly.
Tina Turner said: “It is a privilege to have our show playing to full houses here in London night after night. I’m so looking forward to the release of our cast album, so we can share the music and also the way the songs tell my story. This was my biggest surprise in the making of the musical – I never realised my songs captured the life I was living. I’m turning 80 this year and it’s a time for looking back. I’ve loved working with my producers, Phyllida, Katori, our creative team and of course this incredible cast led by Adrienne and Kobna. Together they found the love, and I am grateful.”
A new cast, which will be announced shortly, will take the production into its second year in the West End from 19 March 2019 and today it is also confirmed that Adrienne Warren and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith will continue in the roles of Tina and Ike Turner until 13 April 2019.
From humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee, to her transformation into the global Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tina Turner didn’t just break the rules, she rewrote them. This new stage musical, presented in association with Tina Turner herself, reveals the untold story of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of her age, gender and race.
The critically acclaimed production received its world premiere in April 2018 in London and subsequently has broken all Box Office records at the Aldwych Theatre. Next month, the German premiere of TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL begins performances at the Stage Operettenhaus in Hamburg and the musical will have its Broadway premiere in Autumn 2019.
TINA – THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL is produced by Stage Entertainment, Joop van den Ende and Tali Pelman, in association with Tina Turner.Adrienne Warren is appearing with the support of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Theatre: Aldwych Theatre, Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF
Dates: now booking to 21 December 2019
Performances: Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm
THE SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC ORIGINAL IS BACK IN THE WEST END
IN THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED NEW PRODUCTION
STARRING ZIZI STRALLEN AND CHARLIE STEMP
STEP IN TIME FOR TICKETS!
PUBLIC BOOKING OPENS 28 JANUARY 2019
Public booking for Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s new production ofMary Poppins will open at 10am GMT on 28 January 2019. The musical, based on the stories of P. L. Travers and the original film, returns to its original West End home at the Prince Edward Theatre after fifteen years. Mary Poppins will begin previews on 23 October 2019 with opening night on 13 November and initially go on sale until 29 March 2020.
Starring Zizi Strallen in the title role and Charlie Stemp as Bert, this internationally award-winning production has been praised by critics and audiences alike and seen by 12 million people worldwide. Further casting will be announced at a later date.
The stage production of Mary Poppins originally opened in the West End in December 2004, running for over 1,250 performances. During this time, the production won two Olivier Awards and an Evening Standard Award. Subsequently the Tony Award®-winning Broadway production ran for over six years. This new production of the show will be seen for the first time in London following record-breaking runs in Australia, North America, the UK and Ireland, New Zealand, Holland, Mexico, Austria, Switzerland, Dubai, Japan and Germany, where the production recently entered its second hit year in Hamburg. Mary Poppins is also the biggest hit musical ever in Italy where it is currently running in Milan.
At its heart Mary Poppins is a story about the importance of family, so with this in mind, this family show will hold Family Night performances on Wednesdays with an earlier start at 7pm and reduced priced tickets. Performances on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays will begin at 7.30pm with matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm. On Sundays performances will also be at 2.30pm.
Cameron Mackintosh said: “I am very excited to be welcoming Pamela Travers’ iconic nanny back to the Prince Edward Theatre later this year for audiences across all generations to enjoy. Since we originally presented the show, we have found even more magical ways to stage this timeless tale in this new production, and with the spectacular dancing talent of our two stars, I’m sure our audiences will find our new Mary Poppins practically perfect in every way. I first spotted Zizi in Matthew Bourne’s production of The Car Man and knew she would make a unique Mary Poppins, she went on to win terrific reviews on the recent UK tour. Charlie became an overnight star almost straight from drama school in my hugely popular production of Half a Sixpence which took him to Broadway to play opposite Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly!I am thrilled to have him back in London to play his dream role of Bert.”
“London could not ask for a more enchanting leading couple than the remarkable Zizi and Charlie,”said Thomas Schumacher, President and Producer Disney Theatrical Productions. “Cameron and I are so gratified that the show remains as beloved today as when it first came to life at the gorgeous Prince Edward Theatre 15 years ago. Its longevity and the huge success of the recent Disney film Mary Poppins Returns, remind us that the world’s love for Mary is deep and enduring.”
The original music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman include the timeless songs Jolly Holiday, Step in Time, Feed the Birds and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. New songs and additional music and lyrics are by the Olivier award-winning British team of George Stiles andAnthony Drew including the now classic Practically Perfect and Anything Can Happen. The book is by Academy Award®-winning screenwriter and Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes and this production is co-created by Cameron Mackintosh. The producer for Disney Theatrical Productions is Thomas Schumacher.
This production of Mary Poppins has orchestrations by William David Brohn with dance and vocal arrangements by George Stiles. It has a new sound design by Paul Gatehouse and new lighting by Hugh Vanstone and Natasha Katz. Co-choreography is by Stephen Mear. The reimagined set and costume designs are by Bob Crowley. Co-direction and choreography is by Matthew Bourneand direction by Richard Eyre.
The magical story of the world’s favourite Nanny arriving on Cherry Tree Lane has been triumphantly and spectacularly brought to the stage with dazzling choreography and unforgettable songs and a stellar cast. The stage version of Mary Poppins is brilliantly adapted by Julian Fellowes from the wonderful stories by PL Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film.
Zizi Strallen was last on stage playing Fran in Strictly Ballroom The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre. Her previous theatre credits include Follies at the National Theatre, Mary Poppins on tour in the UK, Ireland and in Dubai, Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man and Cinderella at Sadler’s Wells and on tour, Cats and Scrooge at the London Palladium, Hairspray and Chicago at Leicester Curve, Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Rock of Ages at the Shaftesbury Theatre and The Music Man for Chichester Festival Theatre.
Award-winning Charlie Stemp has recently been seen in Snow White at the London Palladium and later this month he opens in a UK tour of Rough Crossing. His previous theatre credits include Barnaby Tucker opposite Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly!, the title role in the 2017 Palladium pantomime Dick Whittington and his critically acclaimed performance as Arthur Kipps in Half a Sixpence at the Nöel Coward Theatre, a role he first performed at Chichester Festival Theatre. His further theatre credits include Wicked at the Apollo Victoria and the international tour of Mamma Mia!
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Theatre: Prince Edward Theatre, Old Compton St, Soho, London W1D 4HS
Dates: 23 October 2019 – 29 March 2020, opening night 13 November 2019
Performances: Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7.30pm, Thursday, Saturday and Sundays at 2.30pm
see website for Preview performance schedule
Family Night performances on Wednesdays at 7pm
Prices: Tickets from £15, reduced price tickets for Family Nights and Preview performances
Set in December 2001, with anti-immigration and right-wing voices becoming more prominent in Denmark, the characters in Rosenbaum’s Rescue look back at the evacuation of 7,500 Jews from Denmark to Sweden in October 1943.
Lars (Neil McCaul) is writing a book about the rescue of the Danish Jews, and visits Abraham (David Bamber) to interview him, bringing along his daughter Eva (Dorothea Myer-Bennett). The two men were boys during the war, and Lars’ father carried Abraham’s family to safety in Sweden in his boat. Their fractious relationship is refereed by Abraham’s wife Sara (Julia Swift), who has a romantic history with Lars. Lars questions the accepted narrative of the Danish people rescuing the Jews and is convinced that the Nazis must have somehow allowed it to happen, to the horror of Abraham, whose faith was strengthened by the miracle of the rescue. Stranded in Abraham’s house by snow storms on the last days of Hanukah, Abraham gradually reveals long-hidden facts about his father being tipped off about the German roundup of Jews, and Lars’ quest for the truth ignites bitter conflict between the two men.
As the men battle over whether the story told by history should be based on faith or proof, Sara acts as the voice of reason and reconciliation, while Eva (handily both a neuroscientist and an aspiring writer) asks all the necessary questions to allow further exposition and adds a commentary on what a good story needs. Do we really want the cold hard facts about historical events, or part of the truth that allows a nation to feel good about itself? Myth or facts? Heart or head?
The characters go on to ask whether the people of Denmark would take the same risks to help Muslim migrants in 2001, and their opinions are upsetting but obvious in 2019 when far-right groups and nationalism are prominent.
This could be the driest of dry plays, but A.Bodin Saphir has created characters who throw a lot of historical details at the audience in an engaging and humorous way. Director Kate Fahy doesn’t rush the exposition and the excellent cast give memorable performances. Bamber is in fine form as Abraham, and McCaul captures the arrogant certainty of Lars brilliantly. Swift is warm and funny as Sara, and Myer-Bennett gives a sharp and intelligent performance.
Rosenbaum’s Rescue is thought-provoking and smart but has a warm and witty heart.
Atticist’s revival of David Greig’s weird and wonderful play brings the isolation and freedom of a remote island to a bustling London street. It’s quite a shock when you emerge from the theatre and hear and feel the commotion of a crowded pub.
Set in 1939, ornithologists John (Jack McMillan) and Robert (Tom Machell) have been sent by the Ministry to survey the bird population of a remote Hebridean island. With a month to complete their survey before their transport back to the mainland returns, the men are stuck on the island with its owner, Kirk (Ken Drury) and his niece Ellen (Rose Wardlaw).
Excited at the prospect of studying the elusive fork-tailed petrel, the two men still feel unsettled by the knowledge that their survey will probably be used in preparation for the impending war and are horrified when Kirk reveals the Ministry’s plans for the island.
Director Jessica Lazar confidently allows the story to unfold in its dreamlike way, with lots of physical comedy slowly giving way to mystical monologues and moral debates, but looming over it all is the island. Anna Lewis’s set is deceptively simple, with a rocky platform for external scenes and a circle of stones and warped wooden door marking the chapel interior. Christopher Preece’s sound and David Doyle’s lighting design create an eerily beautiful and stark atmosphere.
The realisation that on this outlying island where ‘pagans’ once lived, far from civilisation, society’s rules and regulations are meaningless comes quickly to the younger characters, and their exploration and pushing of social and sexual boundaries builds to a devastating climax as the petrels swoop above the island. Big issues are tackled but the mythical feel that builds throughout the play doesn’t dissipate. As Ellen revels in being free of her uncle’s strict rules, she becomes bold and wild, shocking John, who finds it hard to abandon all that he has been taught. Wardlaw and McMillan bring wonderful energy to their characters, McMillan is like a little puppy bouncing around trying to keep the peace at first and Wardlaw is spellbinding as she tells tales of the island. Robert takes great joy in observing and experiencing things, but appears to list rather than feel appropriate responses making him either a brilliantly focussed scientist, or a sociopath. Machell’s wide-eyed grin and intense delivery make you glad you’re not on the island with him. Drury commands the stage with his threatening, God-fearing character, and the ever-changing dynamics between the characters is fascinating.
An impressive production of this beguiling and intriguing play.
