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Grand Opera House York until Saturday 17th February 2018. Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

3.5 ***

After the successful production of Gangsta Granny, another of David Walliams’ books, Awful Auntie, the biggest selling children’s book of 2014, has been bought to life on stage by The Birmingham Stage Company.

It’s about a 12, nearly 13 year old girl, Stella Saxby, Lady Stella Saxby in fact, who awakes from a coma to find that he’s wrapped head to toe in bandages to be told by her Aunt Alberta that she had broken every bone in her body, which turns out to be a total lie. She is also informed, somewhat brutally, that she is now an orphan after her parents died in the same car crash that put her in a coma. All her dreadful aunt is after are the deeds to Saxby Hall so that she can get her grubby hands on them and do away with poor Stella.

After coming to the conclusion that in fact her parents were murdered by her aunt, her father was too good of a driver, Stella realises that she has to escape, and so the fight begins. With the help of Saxby’s resident ghost, Soot, Stella find herself thwarted at every step by her awful auntie and her sidekick, a Bavarian owl named Wagner. But ultimately Wagner comes good and Alberta gets her comeuppance.

The set, designed by Jacqueline Trousdale, consists of several cylindrical towers, depicting rooms, doors and staircases, that rotate as and when. They are used to great effect, allowing characters to move up and down stairs and the chimney, and in and out of rooms, and all around the house. We also treated to a car, motorbike chase, all on stage, which was fun.

Georgina Leonidas plays a convincing 12 year old Stella, bringing innocence and youthful energy to the role. We are all rooting for her! Ashley Cousins plays Soot, the ghost killed in the house years ago. His cheeky cockney chimney sweep is a charming and endearing character that you can’t help fell sorry for. Timothy Speyer plays the horrid Aunt Alberta with an evil glint in his/her eye, really relishing the character. Richard James pops up every now and then as the doddery, confused butler Gibbon, giving us slapstick comedy and making the audience laugh.

For me the star of the show was Wagner, the Bavarian owl. Roberta Bellekom is the puppeteer behind Wagner, and does a fantastic job. I was thoroughly memorised by the owl, especially when in flight, you can almost forget that she was there controlling it all, and some of the expressions on his face, as well as hers were priceless. There were several puppets throughout, a couple of Wagners and miniature characters, all wonderful and created by the very talented, Sue Dacre.

Awful Auntie is certainly a madcap adventure and obviously has a great fan base, as all the children in the audience attested to, especially loving the toilet humour. No doubt this show will be as successful as Gangsta Granny.

DARLINGTON HIPPODROME TO WELCOME A SPOONFUL OF SHERMAN

An all-new musical stage show for the entire family, featuring the songs of the Oscar-winning Sherman brothers, is coming to Darlington Hippodrome from Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 March.

The double Oscar-winning Sherman Brothers – Richard M Sherman & Robert B Sherman remain one of the most formidable songwriting teams in family entertainment history. From 1964 onwards their unparalleled partnership produced music, songs and scores for dozens of films, particularly many of Disney’s best loved titles including Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Charlotte’s Web, and The Aristocats. The highly prolific brothers were the sons of the great Al Sherman who wrote songs for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and many singers of the golden American Songbook period of the 1930s-1950s.

Robert J Sherman, son of Robert B. Sherman and a successful composer in his own right brings the utterly compelling story of one family’s century-long, award-winning musical journey to Darlington. Three generations of Sherman songwriters are brought to life in this delightful show.

Featuring a highly talented cast led by Olivier-nominated Sophie-Louise Dann the show includes all-time favourites such as A Spoonful of Sugar; I Wanna Be Like You; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers; Jolly Holiday; Chim-Chim-Cher-Ee and many more.

A Spoonful of Sherman is at Darlington Hippodrome from Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 March.

Tickets* from £19.50 (all prices include a £2 restoration levy). For more information or to book contact the box office on 01325 405405 or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk

The King’s Head Theatre is delighted to announce that they will be offering reduced prices for the under-30s and the unwaged.

Tenner Tuesdays will offer £10 tickets to under-30s on Tuesday evening performances, and Hi Five will offer £5 tickets to the unwaged on Sunday matinee performances. The new ticket prices will apply to select productions in 2018 starting with Charles Court Opera’s The Mikado, with further productions to be announced.
Islington, despite being widely recognised as one of the more affluent London boroughs, has a wide disparity in wages, with nearly 10% of working age residents claiming out of work benefits. Nearly 45% of the Borough is also under the age of 30 – 7% over the national average.

King’s Head Theatre Executive Director Fiona English says: “The King’s Head Theatre has long been among the most ethically and socially responsible fringe theatres in the UK. We were the first to introduce a in-house Equity agreement to ensure actors that work with us are paid a fair wage and more recently, introduced a gender policy which pledges that at least half of all creatives we employ to work on our productions will identify as non-male. I am delighted to announce that we are taking steps to increase the accessibility of our venue to young people and the unwaged with these new ticket prices.”

Artistic Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher says: “At the King’s Head Theatre, we pride ourselves on artistic excellence and our unapologetically broad programme of work. I believe it is vital that the diversity of our audience reflects the diversity of the work we present onstage and hope that the introduction of these new ticket prices means we will welcome new audience members through our doors for the first time in 2018 to enjoy the exciting, challenging and varied productions we have coming up.”

The King’s Head Theatre was established in 1970. The most ethically and socially responsible fringe theatre in the UK, we are known for our challenging work and support of young artists. Last year 116,151 audience members saw a show of ours: 44,607 at our 110-seater home on Upper Street and 71,544 elsewhere. At our home in Islington we had 774 performances last year of 95 different shows. We are committed to fighting prejudice through the work we stage, the artists and staff we work with and by producing work for minority audience groups. We believe in fair pay for all on the fringe and create accessible routes for early career artists to stage their work; work we are passionate about. Last year we announced the theatre is on the move. Subject to a fundraising campaign, the King’s Head Theatre will move into a custom-built space in the heart of Islington Square, directly behind its current home securing the future of the venue for generations to come.

ROSALIE CRAIG AND HADLEY FRASER TO PERFORM

THE LIGHT PRINCESS IN CONCERT

AT CADOGAN HALL

Club 11 London and Alex Parker Theatre Company today announce The Light Princess from Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson will receive its first ever concert performance this summer. Rosalie Craig reprises her role of Althea, for which she won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical Performance,and Hadley Fraser will play Digby with further casting to be announced.Directed by Paul Foster, the concert takes place at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 1st July 2018.

 

Based on the Scottish fairy tale by George MacDonald, The Light Princess tells the story of a princess afflicted by a constant weightlessness, unable to get her feet on the ground, both literally and metaphorically, until she finds a love that brings her down to earth.

 

Rosalie Craig said today, “It’s so wonderful to have the opportunity to revisit this incredible piece 5 years on. It is hugely special to me and it will be a joy to hear it and sing it again after all this time.”

 

Samuel Adamson commented, “I’m thrilled that The Light Princess is going to float again this July in a concert produced by Club 11 London and Alex Parker Theatre Company. I can’t wait to hear the incomparable Rosalie Craig sing the role of the princess again – and who better to be her prince than Hadley Fraser?”

 

Rosalie Craig reprises her role as Althea. She is currently appearing in The Ferryman at the Gielgud Theatre. Other theatre credits include Becoming, City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), The Threepenny Opera, As You Like It, Table, London Road (National Theatre), Hitchcock Blonde (Hulltruck Theatre), Ragtime (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Swallows and Amazons (Bristol Old Vic), Aspects of Love (Menier Chocolate Factory), Anyone Can Whistle (Jermyn Street Theatre), and Alice In Wonderland (Royal Shakespeare Company). For television her credits include Endeavour, Scrotal Recall, My Family and Other Animals, Casanova and Grease Monkeys; and for film her credits include London Road.

 

Hadley Fraser plays Digby and is currently appearing in Young Frankenstein at the Garrick Theatre. Other theatre credits include Harlequinade, The Winter’s Tale (Garrick Theatre), Saint Joan, The Vote, City Of Angels, Coriolanus, The Machine (Donmar Warehouse), A Long Day’s Journey into Night (Bristol Old Vic), The Pajama Game (Chichester Festival Theatre), Les Miserables (Queen’s Theatre) and Assassins (Sheffield Theatres).

For television his credits include Decline and Fall, Him, Sons of Liberty, Pompidou and The Fresh Beat Band; and for film his credits include Murder on The Orient Express, The Legend Of Tarzan, Les Miserables, Convincing Clooney and The Lost Tribe.

Paul Foster directs. Recent theatre credits include A Little Night Music, Tell Me on a Sunday (UK tour) and Laurel and Hardy (Watermill Theatre) and Annie Get Your Gun (Sheffield Crucible).

 

The Light Princess 

Listings

Cadogan Hall

5 Sloane Terrace, Belgravia, London SW1X 9DQ

 

Sunday 1 July 6.30pm

Box Office: 020 7730 4500

MICHAEL BALL, ALEXANDRA BURKE & CASSIDY JANSON 

ANNOUNCED TO STAR IN THE MAJOR WEST END RETURN OF

BY BENNY ANDERSSON, TIM RICE & BJÖRN ULVAEUS

 

PRODUCTION INCLUDES MURRAY HEAD, STAR OF THE ORIGINAL 1986 PRODUCTION

 

MIKE + THE MECHANICS’ LEAD VOCALIST TIM HOWAR ALSO JOINS THE COMPANY

 

PREVIEWS FROM 26 APRIL 2018 AT THE LONDON COLISEUM

 

The first West End production of Chess since 1986 is to star Michael Ball, Alexandra Burke, Murray Head, Tim Howar and Cassidy Janson. This epic musical love story will open at the London Coliseum on Thursday 26 April 2018 (Press night on Tuesday 1 May 2018) for a strictly limited 5 week season.

This is the fourth production in collaboration with English National Opera by Michael Linnit and Michael Grade, who brought Sunset Boulevard, Carousel and Sweeney Todd to the London Coliseum, the home of ENO. Michael Linnit and Michael Grade also produced 42nd Street, currently playing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Michael Ball, Britain’s leading musical theatre star, will perform the role of Anatoly. For 30 years Michael has been starring in musical theatre productions in the West End and on Broadway winning critical acclaim and awards for his stage work and recording career. He is a double Olivier Award winner, multi-platinum recording artist and radio and TV presenter.  Michael made his West End debut as Marius in the original London cast of Les Misérables; he starred in the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera, Aspects of Love in the West End and on Broadway, in the London production of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion and as Caractacus Potts in the West End musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  In 2005 he returned to Broadway as Count Fosco in The Woman in White, which transferred from London’s West End and, in the same year, made his New York City Opera debut as Reginald Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan‘s Patience.   In 2007 he made his debut with English National Opera as Haj/The Poet in Kismet. In 2008 Michael made box office history with his Olivier Award winning performance as Edna Turnblad in the smash hit musical Hairspray which he then took on tour across the UK.  In 2013 Michael won his second Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his critically acclaimed lead role in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In 2015, Michael starred as Mack Sennett in Mack and Mabel at Chichester Festival Theatre which then went on to tour the UK.

In 2016 Michael recorded a new album with Alfie Boe, titled ‘Together’, which was released through Decca Records in November. The album went Platinum in just over 5 weeks, was 2016’s Christmas Number 1, has now sold over 600,000 copies and was the biggest selling album release of the year.Following the release, ITV commissioned a one off special, Ball & Boe: One Night Only, which was broadcast on ITV1 in December.  Michael and Alfie also entertained more than 80,000 fans on a sold out 29 date tour of the UK. In 2017 a successful tour of Australia was closely followed by a second ITV special, Ball & Boe: Back Together.  Michael went back into the studio with Alfie Boe to record a second album, ‘Together Again’ which was released through Decca Records in October.  Together Again went straight in at number 1. Combined sales of both albums are now in excess of 1 million copies and a sold out 11 date arena tour of the UK followed.

Alexandra Burke is Svetlana. Alexandra rose to fame after winning the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008, and currently stands as one of the most successful winners of the show selling well over 4 million records in the UK alone. Alexandra released the winners single ‘Hallelujah’, which became the current European record holder for single sales over a period of 24 hours, selling 105,000 in one day. The song also became the top-selling single of 2008 within the UK and became the UK’s Christmas number one. By January 2009, the single had sold over 1 million copies across the UK, a first for a British female soloist. Her follow up album, ‘Overcome’, debuted at number one in the UK Album Charts achieving four number one singles on the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart. ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Bad Boys’, ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Start Without You’ went on to sell 780,000 copies in the UK and became a Platinum selling single, along with three BRIT Award nominations from tracks she released as singles, making ‘Overcome’ one of the UK’s most successful albums of that year. In 2014 she made her West End debut playing the lead role of Rachel Marron in the much acclaimed musical, The Bodyguard . A UK tour followed. In August 2016, Alexandra starred as Deloris Van Cartier in the musical Sister Act, a new production directed by Craig Revel Horwood which toured the UK. In September 2017, Alexandra joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing, reaching the final and then performed in the 4-week Strictly Come Dancing UK arena tour. 2018 saw Alexandra sign a new album deal with Universal / Decca. The album entitled ‘The Truth Is’ is released in March 2018 with a headline tour in September 18.

English actor and recording artist Murray Head is most recognised for his international hits Superstar (from Jesus Christ Superstar) and One Night in Bangkok from CHESS. He performed the role of world chess champion Frederick “Freddie” Trumper in the original London West End stage production of Chess that premiered on 14 May 1986. The show ran in London until 8 April 1989. He has also performed in Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair in the West End. He will take on the role of The Arbiter.

Singer Tim Howar is best known as the lead vocalist with Mike + the Mechanics. He made his West End debut as the male lead in Peggy Sue Got Married. He has also appeared in West End productions of Rent and Rock of Ages. In his native Canada he starred in Broadway productions of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Miss Saigon, Tommy, The House of Martin Guerre and Les Misérables. He will perform the role of Freddie.

Cassidy Janson is Florence. Her most recent project was the LEADING LADIES trio along with Amber Riley and Beverley Knight. Previous to this Cassidy played Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Other theatre credits include Ruth in Dessa Rose at the Trafalgar Studios opposite Cynthia Erivo, Tick Tick Boom for the Menier Chocolate Factory starring alongside Neil Patrick Harris. Blood Wedding at the Courtyard Theatre, Rooms:  A Rock Romance at the Finborough, Lend Me a Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre playing the principle role of Maggie, Company at the Southwark Playhouse and Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut in Avenue Q at the Wyndhams Theatre.  Janson was a member of the original London cast of Wicked and played standby Elphaba.  On film her credits include The Hike, Tail’s End, Day Trip to London, Full Circle and Coma.  Jansonrecently guested with The Jive Aces performing at Glastonbury and Ronnie Scott’s and also doing a tour of New York City and Florida with them.  She was a soloist at The Royal Albert Hall for Magic FM’s Magic Of The Musicals last May and she duetted with Carole King in Hyde Park last Summer for 65,000 people. Her television appearances include Casualty.

CHESS was written in 1984 by ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Lion King, Evita), and the original London production starred Elaine Paige, Murray Head and Tommy Korberg. That production, which ran for three years at the Prince Edward Theatre, followed a highly successful recording featuring the same stars, and included the international hit singles I Know Him So Well and One Night In Bangkok. Other well-known songs from the score include Anthem, Someone Else’s Story, Heaven Help my Heart and Pity The Child.

 

CHESS tells a story of love and political intrigue, set against the background of the Cold War in the late 1970s/early 1980s, in which superpowers attempt to manipulate an international chess championship for political ends. Two of the world’s greatest chess masters, one American, one Russian, are in danger of becoming the pawns of their governments as their battle for the world title gets under way. Simultaneously their lives are thrown into further confusion by a Hungarian refugee, a remarkable woman who becomes the centre of their emotional triangle. This mirrors the heightened passions of the political struggles that threaten to destroy lives and loves.

Featuring English National Opera’s award-winning Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by John Rigby with choreography by Stephen Mear, this new West End production will be directed by Laurence Connor, whose recent credits include School of Rock and Miss Saigon on Broadway and in the West End, Les Misérables on Broadway, and the international Jesus Christ Superstar arena tour. This is the fourth production in collaboration with ENO by Michael Linnit and Michael Grade.

The show’s reputation has never been higher; there have been countless versions produced all over the world. The return of the sensational score to the London stage is an important and exciting musical theatre landmark.

 

CHESS is presented by Michael Linnit and Michael Grade in collaboration with English National Opera, by arrangement with Three Knights Limited, The Shubert Organisation Inc & Robert Fox Limited.

 

www.chessthemusical.com

Twitter: @chessthemusical 

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

 

CHESS

London Coliseum

St Martin’s Lane

London WC2N 4ES

Dates

Thursday 26 April – Saturday 2 June 2018

Performances

Mon – Sat 7.30pm, matinées – Wed & Sat 2.30pm

Tickets

From £12

Box Office: 020 7845 9300

www.chessthemusical.com

Twitter: @chessthemusical

SARAH SOETAERT & JOSEFINA GABRIELLE TO STAR AS ROXIE & VELMA

WITH RUTHIE HENSHALL STARRING AS MAMA MORTON & BECOMING THE ONLY BRITISH ACTRESS TO HAVE PLAYED ALL THREE LEADING FEMALE ROLES

IN CHICAGO 

AT THE PHOENIX THEATRE, LONDON

FROM 26 MARCH 2018

Sarah Soetaert, Josefina Gabrielle and Ruthie Henshall will be joining Oscar winner, Cuba Gooding Jr, in the multi award-winning CHICAGO at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End.  Following a successful UK and international tour, and after a 5½-year absence from London, CHICAGO, the winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, will begin performances at the Phoenix Theatre on Monday 26 March 2018.

Sarah Soetaert will be recreating the role of Roxie Hart, the role she previously played at the Cambridge and Garrick Theatres.  Her other theatre work includes Cats, Carousel, Fame, Kiss Me Kate, On the Town, The Sound of Music and The Glenn Miller Story.

Josefina Gabrielle played the role of Roxie Hart at the Adelphi and Cambridge Theatres.  She will now be making her debut as Velma Kelly.  Josefina played Laurey Williams in Trevor Nunn’s production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! at the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway, and she holds the distinction of being the first ever Laurey in any production of Oklahoma! to dance her own Dream Ballet, recreated especially for her by choreographer Susan Stroman.  Josefina’s other London and West End credits include The Witches of Eastwick, Hello, Dolly! opposite Samantha Spiro, Sweet Charity, Maria Friedman’s production of Merrily We Roll Along, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical.

Ruthie Henshall has the honour of being the only British actress to have played all three leading female roles in CHICAGO, having originated the role of Roxie Hart when CHICAGO first opened in London’s West End in 1997, then returning to play Velma Kelly, and now returning to the show to play Mama Morton.  She also played Roxie and Velma on Broadway.  Ruthie’s musical theatre career spans four decades, beginning with Cats at the New London, followed by Miss Saigon, Children of Eden, Les Misérables, Crazy For You, Oliver!, She Loves Me (for which she won the Olivier Award), Peggy Sue Got Married, The Woman in White, Marguerite, and, most recently, Billy Elliot.

Cuba Gooding Jr will be making his British stage debut and his musical debut as smooth-talking lawyer Billy Flynn.  His breakthrough role was as Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991), followed by A Few Good Men (1992), before winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Jerry Maguire (1996).  Later films included As Good as It Gets (1997), Men of Honor (2000) as Carl Brashear,  Pearl Harbor (2001) as Doris Miller, American Gangster (2007), The Butler (2013), and Selma (2014), playing civil rights attorney Fred Gray. In 2016, he portrayed O.J. Simpson in the FX drama series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-series or a Movie.  In 2013, he made his Broadway theatre debut alongside Cicely Tyson and Vanessa Williams in the Tony Award-nominated production of The Trip to Bountiful.

Further casting for CHICAGO is to be announced.

 

CHICAGO originally ran in London for 15 years, making it the West End’s longest running revival.  It first opened at the Adelphi Theatre on 18 November 1997 to rave reviews and immediately became a sell-out hit.  CHICAGO won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Musical Production’ as well as the 1998 Critics Circle Drama Award for ‘Best Musical’.  CHICAGO transferred from the Adelphi Theatre to the Cambridge Theatre in April 2006, where it ran for five years until 27 August 2011.  The show then opened at the Garrick Theatre on 7 November 2011, where it ran until 1 September 2012.

Since it opened in New York in 1996, CHICAGO has played in 36 countries worldwide, and been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean.  It has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide and has played over 30,000 performances worldwide, with an estimated 31 million people around the world having seen CHICAGO.

CHICAGO continues to play on Broadway, where it recently celebrated its 21^st birthday, and around the world in multiple languages.  It is the world’s longest running American musical.

CHICAGO, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb.  The 1996 Broadway revival of CHICAGO was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Phoenix Theatre

110 Charing Cross Road

London WC2H 0JP

Box Office: 0844 871 7629 / www.atgtickets.com/shows/chicago/phoenix-theatre

Ticket Prices: From £20.00

Performances: Monday-Saturday 8pm, Wednesday & Saturday 3pm

Booking Period:  Currently Booking Until 23 June 2018

Running Time:  2 hours, 25 minutes (with interval)

 

Website: ChicagoWestEnd.com

Twitter: @ChicagoOnStage

The Lowry, Manchester – until Saturday 17th February 2018.  Reviewed by Julie Noller

5*****

Teddy was the winner of Best New Musical at the Off West End Awards in 2016, it’s set in an era of austerity (a word well used by today’s media outlets and politicians) and post war London, devastated by the Blitz. Teddy and Josie dress up for a night on the town, teenagers free from restraints, Teddy marks the birth of rebellion. Music and mayhem bring to life the London of the 1950’s as depressive and bleak 1940’s darkness rocks and rolls away.

The decor is impressive, the auditorium is decorated with lightbulbs, the stage is split in two. It’s a simple set there’s the space for Johnny Valentine and the Broken Hearts to dazzle us with their rock and roll tunes. On the other side from the bold brash Americans stands smokey London the playground of the lost generation desperately trying to find their feet, wanting to break free from the oppression that has been left for them and stands amid the bombed out buildings. Scaffolding well that’s just somewhere to climb, sit and smoke. It’s a place to scorn at those who dare to look at them and let’s not call them kids! In the middle of the stage stands a lost and lonely abandoned Aga, just another toy but a sad reminder of long missed families.

The cast is small but far from simple. The story explosive. Josie (Molly Chesworth) is in her room, getting ready for a night with friends that involves getting drunk, smoking and dreaming of never returning home. Her father catches her creeping out he’s abusive and a drunk but he won’t stop her. She sweeps out the door her hair perfected, her lips cherry red. She carries the air of defiance, this generation of woman as after the First World War craves even more freedom and they aren’t afraid to pout and sneer. Teddy (George Parker) well he too is in his room, his hair is swept, slicked into the perfect quiff adding inches to his height. His Edwardian Jacket with it’s splash of colour and velvet collar being his pride and joy. We don’t see an insight into his home life until later when he returns home and riffles through his mother’s belongings for his fathers keepsakes, his eyes seeking the German gun that quite possibly many soldiers returning home from war had.

Both Teddy and Josie feel alive deep inside when they hear music especially that of their American hero Johnny Valentine the suave and sophisticated rebel played by Dylan Wood. The Broken Hearts are a trio of serious musicians, Buster Watson (Harrison White) who dazzles the keyboard and brings to live the electric sounds. Sammy ‘The Sticks’ Smith (Andrew Gallow) such an animal he needs to play behind a screen as explained by Jenny O’Malley (Freya Parks) she is the bands bassist, don’t call her a cutie pie, don’t expect her to be weak. She’s a strong willed woman and isn’t afraid to show it.

The story is simple it’s a boy meets girl tale. It should be happy ever after but reality is rarely that. Teddy and Josie are ultimately just teenagers doing what the generation before them had never dared – having fun. To their parents they’re still kids, a label thrust onto them and detested. They are Teds, lavish threads lovingly kept having been passed down to them are their peacock feathers. There’s no money to flash for this is an era of deep deprivation. Music is their release, it is freedom. Both hear of Johnny Valentines one off gig in London and it becomes a fight to gain entrance by any means. That means involves a gun, pawn shop and money by any way necessary. Violence is part and parcel of life for them, the big greasy monkey who coverts Josie getting in their way more than once. Teds trashing a cinema before Bill Haley’s tune Rock around the Clock had heralded the start of Blackboard Jungle, they escape the police. Life catches up with them at the gig, violence catches up with them after awkwardly sharing a dance together and possibly their first kiss ever. The grease monkey reappears not actually onstage but told by both Josie and Teddy it’s as if we are looking back as they tell the tale. Suddenly a bang rings out and we know Josie has the gun, why was it loaded? The story ends sadly, we don’t know what happens to them, I’m going to dream like they do… A true Hollywood style ending, life will be kind, miraculous and they’ll do what they talk about in their separate cold dark police cells. They’ll run away to America, change their names, drive a cherry red convertible very fast turning heads all the way. If Teddy was set today we’d be watching reality television shows and the X-Factor generation. What goes around comes around we just all believe that as teenagers we are the first to be misunderstood, seeking freedom, but Teddy’s really were the start of teenagers before them they were children and then adults. Enjoy the story and more so enjoy the music, feel the music as Teds did, forget the oppression around you and enjoy life, just try not to be angry as those rebellious teenagers did.

Iris Theatre announces exciting open-air
Summer Season
St Paul’s Church, Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9ED
Wednesday 20th June – Sunday 2nd September 2018

Award-winning Iris Theatre’s summer season will present a unique theatrical promenade experience in the middle of Covent Garden. Shakespeare’s The Tempest opens this year’s enchanting outdoor season followed by Daniel Winder’s adaptation of The Three Musketeers – suitable for all the family.

Inspired by the courtly royal masques of the 17th century and the designs of Inigo Jones (the architect behind St Paul’s Church), The Tempest will present an evening of pomp, magic and illusion. Directed by Iris Theatre’s Artistic Director Daniel Winder, this bold production stars Propellor and West End regular Tony Bell. As St Paul’s Church transforms into a mysterious island, audiences are
led on an exciting indoor and outdoor promenade adventure to discover whether anger wins or love will redeem all. Dress to impress as you are about to join a party at the end of the world!

Also this season, Paul-Ryan Carberry directs the epic family production, The Three Musketeers. This thrilling adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel follows young d’Artagnan (played by Jenny Horsthuis who returns to Iris after her acclaimed performance in Macbeth last year) on her secret mission to be the first female Musketeer. Young audiences will be hypnotised as heroic deeds, epic
duels (with spectacular sword fights choreographed by Roger Bartlett, Treasure Island 2016) and a lavish masquerade ball all come to life in this huge outdoor adventure. Daniel Winder’s adaptation of this classic novel presents the story as you’ve never seen it before.

Having gained full charity status in 2009, Iris are keen to support the development of the next generation of professional theatre practitioners and to make theatre affordable and accessible for young patrons. In this vein, Iris will be launching their exciting new youth access scheme – Young Iris. This new scheme will enable anyone aged 16-25 to receive tickets for all of Iris’ shows at the same rate as a child ticket. Iris will also be re-launching their successful Iris Friends scheme which entitles patrons to a range of benefits for £25 per year.

Daniel Winder comments, We’re delighted to be announcing our summer season for 2018 after such a successful 2017! The Tempest and The Three Musketeers are both projects that have been planning for a long time, so finally being able to talk about them is a relief. We’re especially excited that this year we also get to offer an unlimited number of discounted tickets to young people as part of the new Young Iris scheme, further meeting our commitment to invest in the theatremakers of
tomorrow.

 

Sheffield’s Crucible Lyceum Studio – until 3 March 2018.  Reviewed by Dawn Smallwood 

5*****

This play is being premiered at Sheffield’s Crucible Lyceum Studio. Many can relate to the 1984/85 Miners Strike and how the devastating impact it had not just on the coal industry but the mining communities. It was after the events at Orgreave which prompted three women, in this play, to do whatever they can do to show solidarity to the miners and their families.

Chicken Soup is about three women who fought and survived amid the struggles in a South Yorkshire mining village. They set up a soup kitchen where they feed families and supply them provisions. The story spans over 32 years from the strike in 1984, the Queen’s Jubilee in 2002, and to the eve of the referendum in 2016 where citizens cast their vote to decide Britain’s future.

The staging has been considered and moves with the times with the smooth transitions between the time eras and this is done by the creative team of Sophia Simensky, Prema Mehta and Alexandra Faye Braithwaite. It is centred on a community centre’s kitchen, a vital hub for running essential services. Friendships blossom and are tested between Josephine (Judy Flynn), Christine (Samantha Power) and Jennifer (Simone Saunders). The play poignantly and emotively, with irony and wit thrown in, projects their characters and livelihoods.

With Katie (Remmie Milner), Jennifer’s daughter, and Helen (Jo Hartley), Christine’s estranged sister in law, being part of the scene, they are reminded with conflicting attitudes that time doesn’t stand still. They witness, however, the parallels back to the strikes with present day austerity measures, food banks and influencing support for the better good.

The play, co-written by Ray Castleton and Kieran Knowles, offers the delicate but crucial direction successfully driven by Bryony Shanahan. It doesn’t prescriptively influence the audience how they should think and feel about the issues raised. The context of the play and the women’s plight encourages the audience to think for themselves about the humanity and bravery that kept the spirit alive during those times.

It is a fantastic performance from the five women cast and is certainly an unmissable production which transfixes the audience from beginning to end. The play is delivered well with complimentary soup available for all at the interval, thrown in as a good measure, and it was such that one wishes for the play not to end when it did.