Home

Greenwich Theatre 4 – 7 October, touring until 29 November and January– March 2018.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

Blackeyed Theatre’s touring production of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde is suitably dark and atmospheric. Nick Lane’s adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic adds a pivotal new female character, raising questions about Jekyll’s motivations and character before Hyde surfaces.

Henry Jekyll, weak and suffering from an unnamed malady, is passionate about his research in the new field of neuroscience, convinced that chemical experimentation on the brain can affect personality and behaviour. As his animal experiments reach their limit, he begins to search the many asylums for human subjects. When his unethical and lethal experiments are discovered by a close friend, Jekyll is finally desperate enough to test his formula on himself and transforms into Edward Hyde. Hyde is physically powerful but has no morals, and his violent actions create chaos and fear.

The cast of four constantly move chairs around the stage to define different rooms in front of the wooden backdrop, and play multiple roles expertly. Huge praise on press night for the cast’s professionalism – if I were Hyde I’d have waded into the mob of GCSE students and used my cane on them. The giggling, chatting and constant unwrapping of endless supplies of sweets was a little distracting to say the least, but the cast soldiered on. It bemuses me that these teenagers can maim and kill in video and watch softporn like Game of Thrones without blinking an eye, but the sight of two fully clothed adults kissing live on stage makes them gasp and giggle like six-year olds.

Jack Bannell impresses as Jekyll and Hyde. There are no fancy tricks for the transformation between the two characters – simply an eerily convulsing giant shadow convulsing as Bannell writhes on the floor for the first occasion, followed by diminishing physical signals until Hyde and Jekyll switch with a mere shrug from Bannell. No theatrical tricks are used to disguise Hyde, Bannell simply changes his gait from a tremulous limp to an animalistic loping stride, deepens his voice a shade, and glares at the world with contempt. Ashley Sean-Cook as Hastings Lanyon is the moral compass of the play, decent and upright and full of horror at Jekyll’s cruelty to animals and humans in his experiments. His wife Eleanor Landon is an interesting character, played passionately by Paige Round. An Irish music hall singer, bored with her decent but dull husband, she gets involved with Jekyll’s research and they fall in love. It is Eleanor who goads Jekyll into taking the formula, and she and Hyde begin a physical affair. This is all just a bit soapy for me. I understand Lake was inspired by Stevenson’s wife’s strident support of her husband, but the histrionics got a little too much for me, muddying the reasons behind Jekyll’s choices. Zach Lee as lawyer/narrator Gabriel Utterson has the tough job of keeping long passages of exposition entertaining, and largely succeeds, but this is another problem for me. At least 20 minutes could be shaved off the play to tighten the narrative and stop the pace flagging. There are some tense scenes, most notably the slowmo attack by Hyde on a passing stranger, but this is a now familiar device, no matter how well it is done, and a lot of the play is taken up by dry passages directed at the audience.

Blackeyed Theatre’s adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde is a decent attempt at adding a feminine touch to the novel with strong performances all round.

Park Theatre 27 September – 28 October.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

A play revolving around Enoch Powell and his controversial and divisive 1968 ‘rivers of blood’ speech may not instantly appeal, but Chris Hannan’s What Shadows takes an intelligent and unsentimental look at immigration and identity, throwing in a fair few laughs along the way.

Powell’s speech mentioned the last white woman living in a street in Wolverhampton, and uses grotesque language to describe the black children on the street. One of those children, Rose, grows up to be an Oxford academic, and in 1992 begins to research a book about identity with Sofia, the woman she replaced on the faculty. Sofia controversially stated that Powell’s speech had never been answered, and was hounded out of academia for her racist views. The two women travel to Wolverhampton to interview the 1968 inhabitants of Rose’s street before Rose interviews Powell himself.

Interwoven with the women’s plot is the story of Powell and his Quaker friends before and after the speech. Clem is a newspaper editor and reluctantly gives Powell advice on when to stage a speech for maximum press impact, even though he finds Powell’s views repellent.

Ian McDiarmid is so utterly convincing as Powell, nailing the bizarrely nasal accent, that I wanted to throw my shoe at him as he delivered (an abridged version) of the speech. His portrayal of Powell’s Parkinson’s tremors was finely nuanced, developing a little sympathy for the man, until he opened his mouth again. McDiarmid conveys Powell’s sharp wit, revelling in some of the best one liners in the play. Hannan’s version of Powell is a petulant, entitled and frustrated man who delights at being a grammar school boy amongst the more privileged Tories and remains full of bitterness at having his dreams of governing India taken from him. He has developed a poetic, idealised vision of England that is threatened by immigration and multiculturalism, and is willing to risk his political career to air views he feels all English people share. He also risks his friendship with Clem and Marjorie, and this relationship is written beautifully, full of meaningless meandering conversations, peppered with some of the Powells’ racist views that the Jones’ gloss over to avoid confrontation.

Sofia’s claim that everyone is racist, that all groups look down on others, is met with scorn by Rose, but as her mother and her neighbours are seen in the 60s, this truth becomes obvious. The scenes and characters are slightly reminiscent of the abuse the students threw at each other in that 70s classic Mind Your Language, with everyone accepting the derogatory terms as everyday language. Sultan determinedly wooing white war widow Grace is a delight, and makes their final scene together in 1992 very moving. The loss of identity is shattering for both, and this constant search for identity and a sense of belonging is relevant to all the characters.

The relationship between the two academics is interesting, but as Sofia gradually opens up and becomes the humane voice of reason of the play, Rose just becomes more and more smug and stubborn. Her meeting with Powell descends into her berating him, and their inability to resolve their opposing views could feel a little unsatisfactory to some, but is totally in keeping with society’s lack of solutions in this digital age when anonymous keyboard warriors constantly spout hatred and bigotry through social media, and world leaders cynically incite fear and intolerance to enhance their powerbase.

This is a play about the power of words to divide and incite, so director Roxana Silbert focusses the audience’s attention on the stellar cast and the script with unfussy movement and a bare stage, with a few stark trees.

What Shadows isn’t an easy play to watch at times, but the relevance and intelligence of Hannan’s writing, along with the chance to see the incomparable Ian McDiarmid in the flesh, make it well worth a look.

CAST AND TOUR DATES FOR CURVE’S GLORIUMPTIOUS, WHOOPSY WHIFFLING PRODUCTION OF ROALD DAHL’S GEORGE’S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE

The cast, production team and tour dates have been announced for Curve and Rose Theatre Kingston’s production of Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine.

Joining Director Julia Thomas for David Wood’s imaginative and fun-filled adaptation of the much loved classic tale will be Designer Morgan Large, Composer Tasha Taylor-Johnson (who is supported by the Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Scheme), Lighting Designer Jack Weir, Sound Designer David Gregory and Casting Director Kay Magson.

Taking the role of the show’s creative hero George is talented young actor Preston Nyman, son of Leicestershire-born Andy Nyman. Lisa Howard, known for her recurring role as Grace Sheehan in Emmerdale, will play the grizzly Grandma. Completing the cast is Catherine Morris who will play George’s Mum, Justin Wilman as his Dad and Chandni Mistry as the Chicken.

The production is Curve’s fourth Roald Dahl adaptation following The Twits, The Witches – which were also co-produced with the Rose – and most recently Fantastic Mr. Fox, a co-production with Nuffield Southampton Theatre which played to audiences at the Lyric Hammersmith over the summer.

Speaking about the production, Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:

“One of the recurring themes in Dahl’s work is the emergence of young leaders and how the next generation can shape our future for the better. We are thrilled our fantastical, phizz-whizzing production of George’s Marvellous Medicine introduces a great new leader to British theatre – our Regional Theatre Young Director Julia Thomas directs this production. Alongside Julia, an astonishing group of actors and a first class production team will create this brand new production of David Wood’s superlative adaptation.

“We are proud to be working alongside our friends at the Rose and with venues across the UK.”

Most grandmothers are lovely, kind, helpful old ladies. Not George’s Grandmother. George’s Grandmother likes to gobble up slugs and bugs, and is always telling George what to do.

But one day, when his parents leave him alone with the grizzly old grunion, George takes his chance and sets about creating a brand new medicine to cure her of her cruelty. Little does he know that his perilous potion will be the start of a rather marvellous adventure…

After premiering at Curve 9 Dec – 20 Jan, George’s Marvellous Medicine will embark on a four month tour to cities including Sheffield, Southampton, Belfast and Kingston.

For more information on dramatist David Wood, visit www.davidwood.org.

To find out more about Roald Dahl, see www.roalddahl.com.

For more information and to book tickets, visit www.curveonline.co.uk or call Curve’s Ticket Office on 0116 242 3595.

TOUR DATES:

Curve, Leicester

9 December – 20 January

Tickets £18 – £10

Lyceum, Sheffield

23 – 27 January

Waterside, Aylesbury

30 January – 3 February

Grand Opera House, Belfast

13 – 17 February

Quays Theatre, Manchester

20 – 24 February

Theatre Royal, Brighton

27 Feb – 3 March

Princess Theatre, Torquay

6 – 10 March

West Yorkshire Playhouse

13 – 17 March

Nuffield, Southampton

20 – 24 March

Rose Theatre, Kingston

28 Mar –7 Apr

Playhouse Theatre, Oxford

10 – 14 April

More dates to be announced soon.

York Theatre Royal – until 14th October.  Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

3***

York Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company present Pride and Prejudice, adapted by the comedian Sara Pascoe, based on the novel by Jane Austen.

Pascoe puts a new spin on this classic and well loved story basically about matchmaking, by using a play-in-a-play hypothesis. We are interrupted throughout and bought back to the present day by the actors stepping out of character by becoming, a school teacher discussing such things as the heteronormative nature of the book, I had to look that one up!!, zombies, making reference to the recent film, a director with script in hand, discussing the plot and character motivations and a couple of editors discussing the filmed scenes, all whilst embarking on an affair .

Set within a gilded cage, the story mostly follows the traditional path as we see the desperate Mrs Bennet (played wonderfully by Kerry Peers) attempting to marry off her five daughters, who have to marry in order to avoid poverty. We get to meet the long suffering Mr Bennet (Adrian Irvine) and of course Elizabeth (Bethan Mary-James), as well as Mr Collins ( Matthew Romain) and Mr Darcy (Matt Whitchurch). Everything is played out within the cage, the scene changes from sitting room to ballroom in the boundaries of the bars, all without fuss. To pad out the ballrooms scenes mannequins are used, to see them dancing is a sight to behold, inspired!!

Rachel Partington, in her professional stage debut was excellent, with her comedic timing, portraying Mary in cloud cuckoo land that she seems to live in, obsessed with envelopes. She was the stand out performer for me, dominating most of the scenes she was in, a star in the making for sure. Alice Haig, as Kitty, and Olivia Onyehara as Lydia, also performed well with their strong and exuberant portrayals of the younger sisters.

For me Mr Darcy came across as too indifferent and he wasn’t involved enough, I would have liked to see him smouldering more and have more stage time, which I thought was a bit lacking. There were some tender moments and connection with Darcy and Elizabeth, but I wanted more, old romantic that I am. We were teased about the lake and wet shirt, which we have come to associate with Pride and Prejudice, and I suppose it sort of delivered, but with a twist.

All the cast worked hard and several of the actors had various roles. I did not really like the mixing of a play-in-a-play in this instance, especially the editing sections, what them having an affair has got to do with the show I have no idea. The play is certainly humorous and I laughed out loud, and I suppose different than what I expected, but the essence is still there. I may just now have to hunt out a copy of the series and watch it all over again.

Bristol Old Vic & Trafalgar Entertainment Group

present the Bristol Old Vic production of

 

THE GRINNING MAN
“The best puppetry since War Horse” The Mail on Sunday

“The best British score in years” WhatsOnStage

“An extraordinary amalgam of fairytale, puppetry,
romantic drama and black comedy” StageTalk

A new musical based on the novel by Victor Hugo
Directed by Tom Morris

Trafalgar Studios

Opens 5 December 2017

Tickets on sale Wednesday 11 October

The critically acclaimed production of The Grinning Man, directed by Tony award-winning Tom Morris (War Horse) and based on the classic Victor Hugo (Les Misérables) novel, The Man Who Laughs, will take over Studio 1 at Trafalgar Studios from 5 December, following a hugely successful autumn 2016 premiere at Bristol Old Vic.  Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 11 October.

This romantic gothic musical love story, set in a fantastical world with a dark heart, is brought to life by Kneehigh writer Carl Grose (Dead Dog in a Suitcase) and “powered by an outstanding score” (Sunday Times) by Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler. The cast is led by Louis Maskell, in the title role of Grinpayne, and Julian Bleach, who plays Barkilphedro, a vengeful clown with a heart of lead. Macabre, magical and visually astonishing, this ultimately elating love story is a distinctive delight that barges through the gateway carved by the Nineties cult hit Shockheaded Peter with the full-blooded emotion of Les Misérables.

A strange new act has arrived at the fairground. Who is this youth and how did he get his hideous smile? Helped by an old man, a lone wolf and a blind girl, his story must be told. A tale of an abandoned child with a terrible secret. Paraded as a freak, then celebrated as a star, but only the sightless girl can truly love him for who he is. Let the darkness seduce you.

The Grinning Man reunites Tom Morris with two puppeteers who began their careers inside Joe and Topthorn in the original production of War Horse – Finn Caldwell and Toby Olié – now leading their own brilliant puppetry company Gyre & Gimble. 

When the show opened last year as the climax of Bristol Old Vic’s 250^th anniversary programme the critics raved: the Telegraph cited its “blackly comic brilliance”; the Daily Mail hailed it as “weird and wonderful, a dark delight”; the Guardian said the production “deftly walks a tightrope between romantic and grotesque… it defies theatrical convention by keeping its hand on its heart and its tongue in its cheek”.

The producers are delighted to present the show in a specially configured space in Trafalgar Studios for an open-ended run from 5 December.  The Grinning Man underlines Trafalgar Entertainment’s on-going commitment to staging new work.  This production joins several other recent Bristol Old Vic hit shows in transferring to the London stage, including Swallows & Amazons at the Vaudeville, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre at the National Theatre and Long Day’s Journey Into Night starring Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville at the Wyndham’s opening early 2018.

The Grinning Man is produced by Bristol Old Vic, Trafalgar Entertainment Group, Eilene Davidson, Richard O’Brien, David Adkin and Neil Laidlaw.

CAST
Rising star Louis Maskell takes the title role of Grinpayne, The Grinning Man. Louis has just been nominated for Best Performance in a Musical for this role at the UK Theatre Awards.  Fresh from Chichester Festival Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof, he has recently appeared in Flowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Crucible) and is well-known for the role of Freddy in the award-winning My Fair Lady (Sheffield Crucible) and as Tony in the UK tour of West Side Story. He also played the lead role in The Fix (Union Theatre).

Julian Bleach takes the role of the deliciously corrupt court clown, Barkilphedro.  He is an actor best known for his defining role in the Olivier Award-winning Shockheaded Peter. His other theatre roles include Gormenghast at BAC, playing Ariel to Patrick Stewart’s Prospero in the RSC production of The Tempest and Ivanov in the NT production Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. His television roles include Davros, creator of the Daleks, in the 2008 season finale of Doctor Who, returning to reprise the role in 2015. He also appeared as Machiavelli in Showtime/Sky Atlantic’s The Borgias and is currently appearing as the Dragon in St George and the Dragon at the National Theatre.

CREATIVE TEAM

Tom Morris is Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic and was previously Artistic Director at BAC where he met many of the creative team behind this show.  Previous productions at Bristol Old Vic include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, The Crucible, Swallows & Amazons, Juliet & Her Romeo, and Messiah (Bristol Proms). Tom has been Associate Director of the National Theatre since 2004 and was co-director of War Horse, widely considered to be amongst the most successful theatre productions of all time.

Tim Phillips is a Canadian composer who has written music for many screen productions, including HBO’s Entourage, the ITV serial Talk To Me and (with Murray Gold) the Channel 4 series Shameless.  He honed his theatrical craft at BAC through Filter Theatre. Marc Teitler is a composer whose work spans musicals, opera, film soundtracks and albums and has had music featured in Game of Thrones. His current commissions for original musicals include The Ghost Map (dir. Bijan Sheibani).  In collaboration, Marc and Tim have composed music and lyrics for The Circle (National Theatre).

Writer Carl Grose has worked extensively with Kneehigh theatre as writer and actor. His writing for the Cornish-based company includes The Tin Drum, Dead Dog in a Suitcase, The Wild Bride and Tristan & Yseult. Other recent writing credits include Grand Guignol (Southwark Playhouse) and Oedipussy (Spymonkey).

Puppetry will be created by Gyre & Gimble, founded in 2014 by Finn Caldwell and Toby Olié having met whilst performing in the original production of War Horse. Their work has appeared in productions as varied as The Hartlepool Monkey (Stratford Circus and Touring), The Lorax (Old Vic), The Light Princess (NT), Running Wild(Regents Park), Elephantom (NT and West End) and Shrek: The Musical (West End).

The creative team is completed by designer Jon Bausor (London 2012 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony, Bat Out of Hell – West End), Costume Designer Jean Chan (Lionboy – Complicite), Music Supervisor Tom Deering (Wonder.Land – National Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar – Regents Park), Lighting Designer Rob Casey (Up Next – National Theatre) and Sound Designer Simon Baker (Matilda The Musical – Olivier for Best Sound, A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare’s Globe and The Caretaker – Old Vic).

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Previews:                          From Tuesday 5 December
Press night:                      Monday 18 December at 7.00pm
Performances:                 Monday – Saturday at 7:30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2:30pm
Box Office:                       www.atgtickets.com/trafalgarstudios / 0844 871 7632
Ticket Prices:                    From £15.00

The producers of The Grinning Man are delighted to continue Bristol Old Vic’s commitment to ensuring that tickets to the highest quality productions remain affordable and accessible, particularly to younger audience members, by offering the following special rate:

£25 UNDER 25 RATE: A general under 25 rate of £25 (redeemable for any standard-priced seat, subject to availability at time of booking) will be available throughout the run for every performance Monday – Thursday inclusive.  Meaning that anybody under 25 will be able to see the show during the week at this special accessible rate. This rate will be available through ATG Tickets, the principal ticketing provider for Trafalgar Studios.

BRISTOL OLD VIC
Bristol Old Vic is the longest continuously running theatre in the UK, and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2016. Under Artistic Director Tom Morris, the historic playhouse aims to inspire audiences with its own original productions, both at home and on tour, whilst nurturing the next generation of artists, whether that be through their 350-strong Young Company, their many outreach and education projects or their trailblazing artist development programme, Bristol Ferment.

Bristol Old Vic uses its funding to support experiment and innovation, to allow access to their programme for people who would not otherwise encounter it, or be able to afford it, and to keep their extraordinary heritage alive and animated.

Since 2016, while the theatre continues to present work, it has simultaneously been undergoing a multi-million pound redevelopment project to transform its front of house space into a warm and welcoming public building for all of Bristol to enjoy, create a new studio theatre and open up its unique theatrical heritage to the public for the first time. The project is due to be completed in autumn 2018.
www.bristololdvic.org.uk  

TRAFALGAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP
Trafalgar Entertainment Group is a live entertainment business that owns and operates distinctive, stylish cultural buildings as well as creating, distributing and live-streaming innovative content. Based at the iconic Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End, it is the latest venture from Sir Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire OBE – two of the most influential entertainment entrepreneurs of the last 20 years.
www.trafalgarentertainment.com

Cookies by Emily Jenkins
Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4HT
Sunday 29th October 2017, 3pm and 6.30pm

Anti-Cyber Bullying Initiative taken to next level as Celebrity Ambassadors
and Cookies cast announced

The world premiere of Emily Jenkins’ pioneering new play Cookies is being supported by Lily Allen, Ted Reilly, Maddy Hill and Lady Viola Grosvenor, who will act as Ambassadors to the Cyberscene Project – a venture which uses theatre to tackle cyber bullying.

Cyberscene is an inspirational theatre initiative which supports the health and wellbeing of young people affected by cyber bullying. Through a series of theatre-based workshops, the project has explored the key concerns and issues facing young people in today’s digital landscape, collaborating with 120 students across four London colleges.

25 of the original 120 students will perform alongside a cast of established actors in Cookies, directed by Olivier Award nominee Anna Ledwich. Cookies explores the risks faced online, how their effects can accumulate beyond control and how solidarity can be found in a combination of online and offline interactions. Shedding light on sexting and revenge porn, as well as showing the devastating effects of repeated and accumulative verbal abuse through text messages and online comments, Cookies clearly illustrates the rampant nature of online communications and the serious legal and lasting implications which thoughtless
behaviour online can have. While looking both at the positive ways young adults socialise and learn online, the play also touches on the negatives of the internet, including grooming, catfishing and radicalisation, helping to explain the extremes that can happen behind the anonymous screen.

Lily Allen, Ted Reilly, Maddy Hill and Lady Viola Grosvenor will each take on a role in supporting the students involved with the Cyberscene Project by listening to their experiences, taking part in the Cyberscene workshops, offering advice and helping raise awareness of these issues.

For Lily Allen, the project is a chance for people to talk more openly about their online experiences. She says: As someone who’s well aware of the potentially distressing aspects of being online, I’m thrilled to be working with and supporting the Cyberscene project and such a vibrant, inspiring group of young people. I believe that allowing them to tell their stories and share them so widely through the play Cookies will equip us all with the tools to combat the adverse effects of cyber bullying head-on.

Ted Reilly, familiar to many as ‘Johnny Carter’ in EastEnders, met the students involved to hear their experiences of cyber bullying which inspired Cookies. He comments: Theatre has an unrivalled power to advocate change by creating communities of impassioned people ready to challenge your perceptions. Watching such vibrant, enthusiastic young students working together, listening to each other and learning from each other was totally inspiring.  Their experiences of cyber bullying will be immortalised in a script which will go on to be spoken by others and which will hopefully inspire a wider awareness into some of the digital issues facing them. This is exactly why I’m so proud to be part of Cyberscene.

Cyberscene has been created by the Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust in partnership with The Pureland Foundation and children’s charity Kidscape. The project has been delivered under the artistic guidance of renowned British theatre director, Jonathan Church CBE.

Hull New Theatre – 3 October 2017.  Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams.

3***

John Godber’s new comedy skillfully weaves Hull’s history over the past 50 years with that of Malcolm and Becky King, who are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. We see the family’s ups and downs and falling outs. The falling out mainly revolving around sporting rivalries, in this case the rugby league rivalry between Hull Kingston Rovers and Hull FC (the Hull equivalent of Manchester City and Manchester United) – what do you do when your children announce they don’t support Rovers? Add in family moving across the river to the posh suburbs for even more friction.

The comedy is set at Malcolm and Becky’s “surprise” anniversary party with Ruby and the Vinyl providing the music. The cast tell the story of the family over the past 50 years and full of local references and jokes that were thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. From references to prison riots to music and back again to those local sporting rivalries. The trauma of the floods in 2007 leading to the joy of the trip to Wembley to see Hull City win a place in the Premiership for the first time and the joy of seeing Hull on the up with its City of Culture status.

Throughout it all Malcom King (Martin Barrass) is giving us his take on life, one that doesn’t always tally with that of his family, talking to us as if we are also guests at his anniversary party. Uncle Trev (Robert Angell) likes a drink and is more than happy to share his version of the story too, usually one that doesn’t agree with his brother’s version!

Ruby and the Vinyl’s music is superb throughout, specially written for the production by Ruby Macintosh. Her songs relate to Hull’s story over the past 50 years. Her song about the river was particularly moving.

This is a gentle comedy full of the poignancy and the joys of 50 years of family life, but one that is not overly sentimental.

Grand Opera House York – until 7 October.  Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

4****

Featuring the hits of the iconic 60’s singer Dusty Springfield, a brand new musical Son of a Preacher Man has arrived at the Grand Opera House in York this week.

Son of a Preacher Man is set in the present day and tells the tale of three strangers, generations apart who are drawn to the site of former Soho joint The Preacher Man, the place to be seen in the 60’s. The trio, Kat (Diana Vickers), Alison (a youthful Debra Stephenson) and Paul (Michael Rowe), hope to seek advice about love from ‘The Preacher Man’. Paul was one of the “crowd”, now wanting to reconnect with an unrequited lost love from back then. Alison is a widowed tutor with feelings that she can’t decide are truly appropriate. Kat has just lost her grandmother, who was full of stories about The Preacher Man and has been delving into the world of online dating, only to be snubbed by “the man of her dreams”.

They are instead greeted with his son Simon (Ian Reddington), who with the help from the wonderful Cappuccino Sisters, runs a coffee shop which is sadly lacking the spirit of The Preacher Man. Simon is quiet, meek and living under the shadow of his father, but at the same time unable to move forward. After much persuasion he seeks to channel the spirit of The Preacher Man to give the lovesick strangers The Look of Love.

Directed and choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood, the show does have a feel good factor and features some of Springfield’s best known songs, I Only Want To Be With You, Nowhere To Run, Anyone Who Had A Heart and of course the title track Son of a Preacher Man.

Former X Factor contestant Diana Vickers has successfully made the transition into musical theatre, appearing here in York previously with The Rocky Horror Show, performed well with a strong vocal performance.

After a strange noise on stage Debra Stephenson had a fit of the giggles and couldn’t help herself, try as she might, apologising along the way, we did not hold it against her. The audience could not help but laugh along with her, and I must say a lot of admiration of the rest of the cast who carried on regardless.

Michael Rowe’s rendition of “I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten” with the Cappuccino Sisters, was sung with such passion that I just have to mention it.

All of the relatively small cast worked hard, some playing various instruments as well as singing and acting. They all looked like they were having a great time, which certainly made me feel that I was having a good time. Though the story was a bit silly and lacking at times I thoroughly enjoyed it and I was not the only one, listening as I was leaving the venue, to the comments of “what a great show”, ”wow, I really enjoyed that” etc.

So, as we now appear to be in the thick of autumn Son of a Preacher Man gives us an entertaining night out.

ALICE BARLOW ANNOUNCED FOR THE UK TOUR OF SON OF A PREACHER MAN FROM 2018

Alice Barlow will star in the heart-warming new musical Son of a Preacher Man, playing the role of Kat from 16 January 2018.

Best known for her roles on television, with credits including Coronation Street, Swipers, Drifters series 1, 3 & 4, Benidorm, Banana, Staff Room, Casualty, Crime Stories, Hollyoaks, and was also a contestant on The Voice, Alice will perform at Darlington Hippodrome for a one week run from Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 February.

Featuring the soulful music of Dusty Springfield, with a book by Warner Brown and directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, Son of a Preacher Man embarked on a national tour in September 2017.

Featuring the greatest hits of Dusty Springfield, including “The Look Of Love”, “I Only Want To Be With You”, “Spooky” and of course, the classic “Son Of A Preacher Man”, this sparklingly funny and sweetly touching new musical by internationally renowned writer Warner Brown will have you laughing, crying and singing your heart out to some of the greatest songs ever written.

Directed and choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood, Son of a Preacher Man comes to Darlington Hippodrome for one week only. You only want to be with us!

Choreographer Craig Revel Horwood said:

‘I am delighted to bring to life for the very first time this wonderful story created by Warner Brown, with soulful songs from the legendary Dusty Springfield’s iconic music catalogue. I hope that audiences in Darlington will come to love this warm-hearted and uplifting new musical as much as I do.’

Son of a Preacher Man is at Darlington Hippodrome from Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 February.

Tickets* are priced from £27. *Includes £2 restoration levy

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 405405 or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk