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Park Theatre – until 24 March.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Simon Dormandy’s adaptation of EM Forster’s novel is a pared back, but intense production in simple8’s signature style.

Elderly Mrs Moore (Liz Crowther) arrives in Chandrapore in British India with her prospective daughter-in-law Adela (Phoebe Pryce) to see her son, magistrate Ronny (Edward Killingback) at work. The ladies long to see the “real” India, and Mrs Moore meets Muslim doctor Aziz (Asif Khan) who invites them to see the famous Marabar Caves. At the caves, the mystical echoes overwhelm the two ladies, and Adela ‘s discomfort leads to Aziz being accused of assault.

Dora Schweitzer’s stark set design is a perfect backdrop for the choreographed movement and vocal chorus used by the cast to represent caves, lakes and trains (and if you don’t break into a goofy smile when you see the ladies’ transportation to the caves, then you have a heart of stone). The scenes within the caves are particularly intense, the disturbing thrumming echo making the ladies’ reactions completely believable. Directors Simon Dormandy and Sebastian Armesto have managed to conjure up the atmosphere of colonial India with excellent stage craft, aided by Kuljit Bharmra’s fantastic original music.

The cast slip out of character to narrate their feelings and actions, meaning that some of Forster’s wonderfully evocative descriptions and his musings on faith and religion aren’t lost. The prejudice and unfairness of colonial India are laid bare in the scenes at the club, and the exasperated reactions of Aziz and his friends Hamidullah (Tibu Fortes) and Mahmoud Ali (Maanuv Thiara) bring some of the biggest laughs. Ranjit Krishnamma is comedy gold as Godbole, with perfectly timed pauses and interminable stories. The whole cast give fine performances, especially Asif Khan’s finely nuanced portrayal of larger than life Aziz from his striving for friendship with the English to his final rampant anti-colonialism. Liz Crowther is suitably mystical and ethereal as Mrs Moore, and Phoebe Pryce’s Adela is a ball of pent-up nervous energy.

This is a gloriously energetic production, evoking the tension and mystery of 1920s India with humour and style.

Paul Nicholas, Sue Holderness, Wendi Peters, and Jeff Rawle
star in charming comedy by Ronald Horwood

Coming to Richmond Theatre Mon 9 – Sat 14 April

Paul Nicholas (The Real Marigold Hotel, Just Good Friends and EastEnders), Wendi Peters (Coronation Street and Oh What A Lovely War), Sue Holderness (Only Fools and Horses and The Green Green Grass) and Jeff Rawle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Drop the Dead Donkey) will star in Quartet, coming to Richmond Theatre on Mon 9 – Sat 14 April. Press are invited to attend for review on Monday 9 April at 7.30pm. 

Quartet is the charming tale of a group of ageing opera singers. Cecily (Wendi Peters), Reggie (Jeff Rawle) and Wilfred (Paul Nicholas) reside in a magnificent retirement home in Kent. The rumour circling the halls is that the home is soon to play host to a new resident. Word is it’s a star. Jean (Sue Holderness) arrives and old rivalries resurface, secrets are revealed and chaos unfolds, but in true theatrical tradition – the show must go on.

Oscar-winning writer Sir Ronald Harwood has been nominated for several Tony and Olivier Awards in a long and distinguished career. His play The Dresser, recently completed a highly successful West End run and tour.

Mark Goucher said: “After The Dresser I wanted to tour another of Ronald Harwood’s plays and in my new role at Cheltenham, I felt that Quartet would be a perfect show for this theatre to produce and then tour. I am delighted that I will be working with David Ian on this production.”

 

Quartet is directed by Peter Rowe, designed by Phil R Daniels and Charles Cusick Smith.

York Theatre Royal until Saturday 3rd March 2018. Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

3.5 ***

Pilot Theatre and York Theatre Royal presents to the stage Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of the 1938 novel by Graham Greene.

Pinkie (Jacob James Beswick) is a 17 year old up and coming gangster, who has just become the leader of a ruthless gang in Brighton, after his old boss is killed. After the revenge killing of Fred, he attempts to cover the gangs tracks but there is a witness, Rose (Sarah Middleton), a 16 year old waitress, and also a thorn in his side in the form of Ida (Gloria Ontiri), who is convinced that Fred’s death was no accident and will not rest until the truth comes out and justice is done, after all she knows right from wrong.

Pinkie comes to the conclusion that the only way to silence Rose is by marrying her, because as his wife anything she says would be inadmissible. He sets about convincing her to marry him, where in her own twisted and convoluted way she falls madly in love with him, as only a teenager can, and has her own secrets. The deeply disturbed Pinkie spirals out of control and we see his paranoia take effect, becoming more unstable and deadly. The only person who stands up to him in the quest for the truth as well as trying to protect Rose from his brutality, is Ida.

Beswick is a bit of a pocket rocket as Pinkie with his attitude and volatility. He shows him in all his bravado, slowly sinking into the depths of madness and we realise that he is just a little boy in the grown up world. Middleton as Rose plays her with a naivety but with also with a little something else, a bit of darkness, to it. Ontiri as Ida, gives a warm vocal performance, striking in her appearance and is a welcome relief after all the madness.

The stage design is quite ingenious, with the use of a movable ladder and lighting, adapting from rooms to Brighton Pier, utilising limited staging to great effect. I did find though that the stage was very dark, sometimes far too dark to really work out what was happening at times.

Composer and musical director Hannah Peel provides the score. She along with James Field, were in the background, playing on stage for the whole of the show. From the onset and with the murder of Fred, to Pinkies descent into madness, the music is a powerful tool and you could really feel the violence taking place before your eyes.

Touring until the end of May.

NICHOLAS HYTNER TO DIRECT TWO WORLD PREMIERES

ALLELUJAH!

BY ALAN BENNETT

ALYS, ALWAYS

BY LUCINDA COXON

 

A B S O L U T E   M U S I C :   S H O S T A K O V I C H

WITH NIKKI AMUKA-BIRD, SIMON RUSSELL BEALE AND ANDREW SCOTT

AND THE CARDUCCI QUARTET

 

ALLELUJAH!

 

Nicholas Hytner will direct the world premiere of Alan Bennett’s Allejujah!, previewing at the Bridge Theatre from 11 July 2018 with opening night on 18 July and running to 28 September 2018. Designed by Bob Crowley, Allelujah! will have lighting by Natasha Chivers and music by George Fenton.  Tickets will go on sale at 10am today for priority members with public booking opening on Friday 2 March 2018 at 10am. Casting for Allelujah! will be announced shortly.

 

The Beth, an old fashioned cradle-to-grave hospital serving a town on the edge of the Pennines, is threatened with closure as part of an NHS efficiency drive. Meanwhile, a documentary crew eager to capture its fight for survival follows the daily struggle to find beds on the Dusty Springfield Geriatric Ward, and the triumphs of the old people’s choir (newest member: the Pudsey Nightingale). 

 

Alan Bennett’s new play is as sharp as The History Boys and as funny as The Lady in the Van.

 

Allelujah! will be the tenth collaboration between Bennett and Hytner.  They first worked together on Bennett’s adaptation of The Wind in the Willows for the National Theatre in 1990.  Then followed The Madness of King George III, The Lady in the Van and The History Boys, all of which were also seen on film, The Habit of Art, People and the double bill Untold Stories.

Alan Bennett is a playwright, screenwriter, actor and author.  Following a hugely successful writing and performing debut in 1960 at the Edinburgh Festival with Beyond The Fringe, his first play Forty Years Onwas produced in 1968.  Bennett is the recipient of numerous awards for his work with Hytner including, for The History Boys, the Olivier, the Critics’ Circle, the Evening Standard and South Bank Show awards as well as multiple Broadway honours.

Nicholas Hytner is, with Nick Starr, Founding Director of the London Theatre Company.  He was Director of the National Theatre from 2003 to 2015, where the productions he directed included The History Boys,Hamlet, One Man, Two Guvnors, and Othello. His films include The Madness of George III, The Lady in the Van and The History Boys.  His book Balancing Acts was published by Jonathan Cape last year.  Hytner directed Young Marx, the opening production the Bridge as well as Julius Caesar, the current production, running until 15 April.

ALYS, ALWAYS

Nicholas Hytner will also direct the world premiere of Lucinda Coxon’s Alys, Always based on the novel by Harriet Lane.  Alys, Always will preview at the Bridge Theatre from 23 January with opening night on 30 January and will run to 30 March 2019.  Casting for Alys, Always will be announced at a later date and booking information will be announced in September.

 

Frances works on the books pages of a Sunday newspaper. She’s quiet and capable, but nobody takes much notice: her face is pressed to the window, on the outside, looking in.   One evening, driving back to London after visiting her infuriating parents, she comes across an upturned car crumpled on the side of the road. She waits with the injured driver, Alys Kyte, until the ambulance arrives. Later, when Alys’s famous family gets in touch, Frances finds herself for the first time ushered into the world on the other side of the window. And she begins to wonder: what would it take to become a player?

 

A gripping psychological thriller that excavates the fault line that separates the entitled from the unentitled.

 

Lucinda Coxon’s previous theatre writing credits include Herding Cats, Happy Now, The Eternal Not, Nostalgia, The Shoemaker’s Wife, Vesuvius, Wishbones, Three Graces, The Ice Palace and Waiting at the Water’s Edge.  Her screen writing credits include the multiple award-winning The Danish Girl starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, The Crimson Petal and the White starring Romola Garai for BBC, Wild Target starring Emily Blunt, The Heart of Me starring Paul Bettany and Helena Bonham-Carter and the forthcoming The Little Stranger starring Domnhall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson.

Alys, Always was Harriet Lane’s debut novel, published in 2012, and was followed in 2014 with Her.Previously Lane wrote for the Guardian and the Observer as well as Vogue and Tatler.

 

 

 

 

A B S O L U T E   M U S I C :   S H O S T A K O V I C H

On Monday 5 March 2018 at 7.45pm Simon Russell Beale, actor, author and music historian, will curate the second of a series of evenings inspired by works of chamber music this time focussing on Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 and the composer’s fraught relationship with Stalin and the Soviet authorities.  Russell Beale will be joined on stage by Nikki Amuka-Bird and Andrew Scott for a collection of poems and short dramatic readings to accompany a performance by the acclaimed Carducci Quartet of this masterpiece, written following Shostakovich’s agonised decision to join the Communist party and dedicated “to the victims of fascism and the war”.

Tickets are £20 and £25 with some general admission stage floor spaces at £5.

LISTINGS

 

Address:                                        Bridge Theatre, 3 Potters Fields Park, London, SE1 2SG

Box Office:                                   0333 320 0051 or [email protected]

Tickets for Allelujah! and Alys, Always are priced from £15 to £65 with reduced prices for previews and midweek matinees. A limited number of premium seats are also available. A special allocation of £15 seats are held for Young Bridge, a free scheme for those under 26.

Access:                                          0333 320 0051 or [email protected]

Website:                                        www.bridgetheatre.co.uk

Twitter:                                         @_bridgetheatre

Instagram:                                     _bridgetheatre

Facebook:                                      facebook.com/bridgetheatrelondon

LULU

RETURNS TO THE WEST END AFTER 30 YEARS TO JOIN

42^ND STREET AS DOROTHY BROCK

ASHLEY DAY TAKES ON ROLE OF BILLY LAWLOR

TOM LISTER AND CLARE HALSE CONTINUE AS JULIAN MARSH AND PEGGY SAWYER RESPECTIVELY 

NEW CAST PREVIEWS FROM MONDAY 19 MARCH 2018 AT THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE

 

Lulu returns to the West End after 30 years to join the cast of 42^nd Street, the dazzling and romantic homage to the world of musical theatre in the iconic role of ‘Dorothy Brock’ in this five star production.

 

Lulu made her acting debut at the age of 16, starring with Sidney Poitier in the unforgettable To Sir With Love– and taking the title song to Number One in the US for five weeks.  Since then she has never been away from the spotlight as an actress, singer, song-writer and businesswoman.  She has worked with some of the greatest musical talents of our time – Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, David Bowie… Lulu’s acting career has been no less stellar – her West End debut was in the Richard Eyre National Theatre production of Guys & Dolls; she starred in Peter Pan, played Tom Courtenay’s wife in Whatever Happened to Harold Smith, performed successfully in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Song & Dance and gained rave reviews for stepping into Julie Walters’ formidable shoes in the much-loved Adrian Mole tv series.  She also recently showcased her comedic skills in the cult comedy film, Absolutely Fabulous.

Lulu’s career highlights are too many to mention but include the unforgettable Shout, her Bowie collaboration The Man Who Sold the World, a Bond theme song and a Number One with Take That.  She is a multi-award winning artist, including Ivor Novello and Grammy nominations for the world wide hit she penned for Tina Turner, I Don’t Wanna Fight, and she is an OBE.  Lulu continues to set new standards and challenges for herself – she has just completed a 44 date, sell-out tour of the UK and in 2017 toured Australia and the US with her band.  Her most recent, self-penned album Making Life Rhyme, garnered the best reviews of her career.

Also joining the cast of 42^nd Street is Ashley Day as ‘Billy Lawlor’. Ashley performed the role of ‘Jerry Mulligan’ in the recent West End production of An American in Paris. Other theatrical credits include Kiss Me Kate (Opera North), Oklahoma! (National Tour), The Book of Mormon (West End), The Wizard of Oz (London Palladium), High School Musical (National Tour), On the Town (English National Opera), Evita (West End), Mary Poppins (West End), Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker (Sadler’s Wells) and Oliver! (West End).

 

The role of ‘Julian Marsh’ will continue to be performed by Tom Lister, who played ‘Carl King’ in Emmerdale for 8 years and had recently starred as ‘Wild Bill Hickok’ in the UK Tour of Calamity Jane.

 

Clare Halse, whose performances have been hailed as ‘outstanding’ will continue as ‘Peggy Sawyer’. She most recently appeared in the acclaimed production of Gypsy as ‘Marjorie May’ at the Savoy Theatre.

 

42^nd Street is playing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The production is directed by the show’s co-authorMark Bramble (whose other hit shows include Barnum, Treasure Island, The Three Musketeers The Grand Tour) and director of many award-winning previous productions of 42^nd Street on Broadway and around the world.

 

42nd STREET is the song and dance, American dream fable of Broadway and includes some of the greatest songs ever written, such as ‘We’re In The Money’, ‘Lullaby of Broadway’, ‘Shuffle Off To Buffalo’, ‘Dames’, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, and ‘42nd Street’.

 

With an all-singing, high-kicking cast of over 50 on the West End’s largest stage, 42^nd Street is the biggest show in town.

 

The cast also includes:

 

Jasna Ivir is ‘Maggie Jones’, Graeme Henderson is ‘Andy Lee’, Christopher Howell is ‘Bert Barry’, Bruce Montague is ‘Abner Dillon’, Mark McKerracher is ‘Mac/Doc/Thug’ and Emma Caffrey is ‘Anytime Annie’. Matthew Goodgame joins as ‘Pat Denning’.

 

The 45 piece ensemble comprises Clare Rickard, Ella Martine, Hannah Amin, Lucy Andic, Sara Bispham, Pamela Blair, Abi Curruthers, Danielle Cato, Lisa Dent, Natasha Ferguson, Madeleine Francis, Maria Garrett,  Maddie Harper, Leah Harris, Rebecca Herszenhorn, Bethany Huckle, Sarah Kacey, Annie Kitchen, Jenny Legg, Hannah–Faith Marram, Billie Kay, Katy Riches, Zoe Rogers, Jessica Stent, Josephina Camble, Gabrielle Cocca, Emma Johnson,  Jasmine Kerr, Lucy Renouf, Christina Shard, Freddie Clements, Martin McCarthy, Zac Watts, Steph Parry, Thomas Audibert, George Beet, Philip Bertioli, Joel Cooper, Matt Cox, Adam Denman, Luke George, Ryan Gover, Alyn Hawke, Tom Partridge, James-Royden Lyley and Liam Wrate.

 

42nd Street is presented in London by Michael Linnit and Michael Grade together with The Global Group of Companies for Gate Ventures with Executive Producer Johnny Hon.

The Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield – runs until 24th February 2018.  Reviewed by Sophie Dodworth

3***

With an all-star cast, promised comedy and the theme of the Quartet from Verdi’s Rigoletto running through it, the Lyceum Theatre was almost full. Many of the audience were in the more mature category so maybe the fact that the play is based in a retirement home, could have been one of the major attractions.

The story is a heartwarming tale of four ageing opera singers, all residing in a retirement home for retired musicians in Kent. We meet the expertly drawn characters, Cecily, Wilfred and Reginald on a typical day in the beautiful music room of a country house; the audience is infected by the fun and comedy from the start. There are lots of laughs at some of the eccentricities of the characters and the smutty humour. Panic soon sets in when it is apparent that Reginalds’ ex wife Jean, will be coming to live among them! The old friends reminisce together but most prominent, are their worries of no longer being a ‘somebody’ and losing their voices, although their motto is NSP (no self pity). The plan for the old friends, once they have aired and sorted through their grievances, is to perform Quartet together for one last time.

Paul Nicholas plays super sex-mad Wilfred who doesn’t have much dialog without an innuendo or a gag, the majority of which are amusing and has the audience laughing in all the right places. Insecure Reginald is played by Jeff Rawle, an occasionally volatile character; when screaming profanities at the poor matron for not giving him his marmalade at breakfast! Wendi Peters’ character Cecily (Cissy) is well on the way to losing her faculties and brings an array of sympathy, energy and laughter to the stage. Jean is played by Sue Holderness, a reflective, serious character not embracing the aging process in the slightest.

Highlights of the show have be some of Wilfreds gags, especially when he is discussing his ever-long dream of having his ‘bum pinched’ and for him to be ‘perved on’. Wendi Peters’ character is a real highlight and credit must go to Wendi for giving Cecily such energy and dedication. And the end scene must get a mention for the mimed performance of Quartet.

This show is full of talent, each character played with more gust and passion that you could hope for. However, there is something missing from the plot, the story needs a little extra in places, maybe an extra twist or just more content to keep the energy up. That being said, the show really does make you take a moment to consider your future or reflect on your past, which is a really valuable sentiment to take away from the theatre with you. It is a touching story of emotions, values and a real sense of no matter how old you are, your spirit is still as it was when you were young.

ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL

BASED ON THE STORY OF THE SMALL FACES

TO TRANSFER TO AMBASSADORS THEATRE

IN LONDON’S WEST END FOR 10-WEEK RUN

FROM 28 MARCH TO 2 JUNE 2018

FOLLOWING SELL-OUT 5-WEEK SEASON

AT ARTS THEATRE, LONDON

Due to overwhelming public demand, ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL, with book by Carol Harrison and music and lyrics by the Small Faces, will transfer to the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End following a five-week sell-out season at the Arts Theatre.  The 10-week run at the Ambassadors Theatre will begin on Wednesday 28 March 2018 with a Gala Night, and will run until Saturday 2 June 2018.  Tickets are now on sale.  

ALL OR NOTHING is the story of four charismatic young kids from East London with humour, attitude, passion and, above all, talent.  They became the Small Faces and were rocketed into the big time, only to discover the path to success is paved with exploitation, betrayal and, ultimately, tragedy. 

 

In 1965, a new phenomenon erupted out of London’s East End.  It was the essence of all that was cool.  It was Mod.  ALL OR NOTHING follows the rise and demise of the Small Faces, the band who encapsulated all that was Mod – a unique blend of taste and testosterone, clothes-obsessed and street-wise – but most of all, a dedication to rhythm ‘n’ blues.  The musical celebrates the unique sound of this iconic Mod band, with all the Small Faces’ hits, including Whatcha Gonna Do About It, Tin Soldier, Lazy Sunday, Itchycoo Park and, of course, All or Nothing.

The cast at the Ambassadors Theatre will be led by Carol Harrison as Kay Marriott and Chris Simmons as Steve Marriott. 

 

Carol Harrison is probably best known for her role as Louise Raymond in EastEnders. Other television roles include seven years as Gloria in Brushstrokes, Loretta opposite Ray Winstone in Get Back, and Dorothy in two series of London’s Burning.  Carol’s theatre work includes Michael Rudman’s production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the National, Ripen Our Darkness at the Royal Court, Alan Parker’s production of Alfie at the Liverpool Playhouse and Lee Hall’s Cooking with Elvis at the Lyceum Theatre, Crewe.  She was also a founder member of Half Moon Theatre in London’s East End.  Her film credits include The Elephant Man, Quadrophenia and Human Traffic.

Chris Simmons is probably best known for playing the role of DC Mickey Webb for over twelve years in the long running ITV series The Bill.  He has also appeared in EastEnders as Mark Garland and in the Tracy Beaker spin-off CBBC show, The Dumping Ground.  Chris’s theatre credits include Alan Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends (Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage), Entertaining Strangers (Lyric Hammersmith), Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (tour), Iago in Othello (tour) and Epicoene (Tristan Bates Theatre).

The show is endorsed and supported by many of those who feature in its story, including singer P.P. Arnold and Steve Marriott’s daughter, Mollie Marriott, who is the show’s vocal coach and creative consultant.

ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL is directed by Carol Harrison, with set design by Rebecca Brower, lighting design by Peter Small, sound design by Chris Drohan, choreography by Cameron Hall and musical supervision by Pat Davey.  ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL is produced in the West End by Rock ‘n’ Roll Productions.

A 29-track cast recording, as well as a limited edition 15-track blue vinyl LP, is available now from the show website, www.allornothingmusical.com, and is also available from the Arts Theatre during the show’s run and then from the Ambassadors Theatre during the show’s run there.

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

 

ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL

 

For the Arts Theatre:

6 February – 11 March 2018

 

Arts Theatre

6-7 Great Newport St

London WC2H 7JB

 

Performances:  Tue – Sat 7.30pm, Thurs, Sat and Sun matinees 3pm

Tickets:  From £19.50

Box Office:  020 7836 8463

 

For the Ambassadors Theatre:

28 March – 2 June 2018

 

Ambassadors Theatre

West Street

London WC2H 9ND

 

Performances:  Monday – Sat 7.30pm, Thurs & Sat matinee 3pm

Tickets:  From £27.50

Box Office: 020 7395 5405

 

 

Running Time:  2 hours, 35 mins, including interval

N.B.  Contains strong language

 

www.allornothingmusical.com

@AONTheMusical

Morphic Graffiti presents

The Country Wife

By William Wycherley

 

28 March – 21 April

Director: Luke Fredericks; Set and Costume Designer: Stewart Charlesworth

Movement Director: Heather Douglas; Lighting Designer: Sam Waddington

Co-Artistic Directors of Morphic Graffiti, Luke Fredericks and Stewart Charlesworth, today announce casting of the ‘Bright Young Things’ for their new adaptation of William Wycherley’s restoration comedy The Country Wife. Luke Fredericks directs EastEnders’ Eddie Eyre as Harry Horner, Call the Midwife’s Leo Staar (Harcourt), West End stars Siubhan Harrison (Alithea) and Nancy Sullivan (Margery Pinchwife) with Daniel Cane (Sparkish), Mabel Clements (Lucy/ Dainty Fidget) and Joshua Hill (Dorilant) completing the company. Thrust into the excesses and seductions of late 1920s London: a city exploding with a heavy mix of jazz, gin and scandalous affairs the production, opens at Southwark Playhouse on 4 April, with previews from 28 March, and runs until 21 April. Full casting still to be announced.

“Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power”. Oscar Wilde

Renowned playboy, Harry Horner, has made it known in the society pages that he is now impotent. For the jealous husbands, this cunning lothario is neither a threat to their wives nor their reputations.

Meanwhile, business brings the newly married Jack Pinchwife to the city with his much younger wife Margery in tow. Dazzled by everything laid out in front of her, Margery is determined to savour it all, regardless of the consequences.

This is the Twenties, the ladies are now very much on top and they alone will decide what, and indeed who, comes their way.

With the decadence of the London social scene and the creative and sexual revolution of the ‘Bright Young Things’ movement, it won’t just be the hemlines that are rising at Southwark this spring.

 

www.morphicgraffiti.com

Twitter: @morphicgraffiti

Facebook: Morphic Graffiti

 

The Country Wife

Listings

Southwark Playhouse

77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD

28 March – 21 April

Box Office: 020 7407 0234

www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

 

Tickets:

£12 (Wednesday 28 March to Monday 3 April 2018)

£20/£16 (concessions)

Performance Schedule:

Monday to Saturdays 7.30pm. Matinees on Saturdays and Tuesdays at 3pm

Age guidance: 12+

David King for Summer Holiday Theatre Ltd presents

BRITISH SINGER-DANCER RAY QUINN

JOINS THE 2018 UK TOUR OF

 

BRAND NEW STAGE MUSICAL

 

SUMMER HOLIDAY

Brand new stage musical Summer Holiday is set to tour the UK from May 2018, with the famous red double-decker bus making its first stop at the Liverpool Empire on Tuesday 8^th May.

Based on the iconic 1960’s film of the same name, starring Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Summer Holiday will include all of the number one hits from the movie, plus some additional Cliff Richard classics.

Taking on the lead role of Don made famous by Cliff Richard, is singer-songwriter Ray Quinn. Ray shot to fame as the runner-up in ITV1’s The X Factor in 2006. This spurned a career in both music and of late musicals, with his debut album ‘Doing it My Way’ entering the charts at Number 1, and quickly gaining platinum status. Ray is perhaps best known of late for ‘doing the double’ on ITV1’s hugely successful show Dancing on Ice, winning for the first time in 2009, and then again on Dancing on Ice: Champion of Champions in 2014. Ray’s theatre credits include Danny Zuko in Grease (West End), Dirty Dancing (West End), Legally Blonde (UK Tour) and most recently, The Wedding Singer (UK Tour).

Summer Holiday tells the story of Don and his fellow London Transport mechanics as they journey together in a red double-decker bus through Paris, the Alps, Italy and Greece. Along the way they pick up a girl singing group and a young American pop star who is on the run from her domineering mother!

This hit – filled musical features many of 1960’s biggest songs including In the Country, Summer Holiday, Travellin’ Light, Bachelor Boy, Move It, Living Doll, The Young Ones and On the Beach.

Tickets for Summer Holiday are on sale now. Further casting to be announced in due course.

 

WEBSITE| TWITTER

 

SUMMER HOLIDAY

 

Stage Adaptation by Michael Gyngell and Mark Haddigan

 

Based on the film SUMMER HOLIDAY, Directed by Peter Yates

Screenplay by Ronald Cass and Peter Myers

By special arrangement with StudioCanal

 

Orchestrations by Keith Strachan

 

Presented by arrangement with

Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited

On behalf of Josef Weinberger Limited

 

Executive Producer

David King

 

Director and Choreographer

Racky Plews

SUMMER HOLIDAY – 2018 UK TOUR DATES

Tuesday 8 – Saturday 12 May                                                     Box Office: 0844 871 3017

Liverpool Empire                                                                              Website: www.atgtickets.com/liverpool

Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 May                                                   Box Office: 0844 871 7652

Milton Keynes Theatre                                                                  Website: www.atgticket.com/miltonkeynes

Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 May                                                   Box Office: 0844 871 7645

New Victoria Theatre, Woking                                                    Website: www.atgtickets.com/woking

Tuesday 29 May – Saturday 2 June                                           Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Grand Opera House, York                                                             Website: www.atgtickets.com/york

Tuesday 5 – Saturday 9 June                                                       Box Office: 020 3285 6000

Churchill Theatre, Bromley                                                          Website: www.churchilltheatre.co.uk

Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 June                                                  Box Office:  0844 871 3011

New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham                                      Website: www.atgtickets.com/birmingham

Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 June                                                  Box Office: 0844 871 3014

Edinburgh Playhouse                                                                     Website: www.atgtickets.com/edinburgh

Tuesday 26 – Saturday 30 June                                                  Box Office: 01752 267222

Theatre Royal, Plymouth                                                              Website: www.theatreroyal.com

Tuesday 17 – Saturday 21 July                                                    Box Office: 0844 871 7650

Theatre Royal, Brighton                                                                 Website: www.atgtickets.com/brighton

Tuesday 24 – Saturday 28 July                                                    Box Office: 0844 856 1111

Blackpool Winter Gardens                                                           Website: www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk

Tuesday 30 July – Saturday 4 August                                        Box Office: 0844 848 2700

Leeds Grand Theatre                                                                      Website: www.leedsgrandtheatre.com

Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 August                                              Box Office: 029 2063 6464

Wales Millennium Centre                                                             Website: www.wmc.org

Tuesday 22 – Saturday 27 August                                               Box Office: 01702 351135

Cliffs Pavilion, Southend                                                                Website: www.southendtheatres.org.uk

Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 September                                          Box Office: 01322 220000

Orchard Theatre, Dartford                                                           Website: www.orchardtheatre.co.uk

Tuesday 11 – Saturday 15 September                                     Box Office: 01244 409113

Chester Storyhouse                                                                        Website: www.storyhouse.com

Tuesday 18 – Saturday 22 September                                     Box Office: 0844 871 7646 ON SALE SOON

New Wimbledon Theatre                                                             Website: www.atgticket.com/wimbledon

Tuesday 25 – Saturday 29 September                                     Box Office: 01325 405405 ON SALE SOON

Darlington Hippodrome                                                                Website: www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk

Tuesday 2 – Saturday 6 October                                                Box Office: 0844 871 7649 ON SALE SOON

Regent Theatre, Stoke                                                                   Website: www.atgtickets.com/stoke

Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 October                                           Box Office: 0844 871 7607 ON SALE SOON

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre                                                     Website www.atgtickets.com/aylesbury

Tuesday 30 October – Saturday 3 November                       Box Office: 0844 871 7647 ON SALE SOON

Kings Theatre, Glasgow                                                                 Website: www.atgtickets.com/glasgow

FURTHER DATES FOR 2018 AND 2019 TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON

Darliington Hippodrome – until 24 February 2018

5*****

Perennial favourite Blood Brothers returns to the newly restored and renamed Darlington Hippodrome this week and received a rapturous reception.  This joy of a show is from the Bill Kenwright stables; with book, music and lyrics written by Willy Russell

Every version I have seen of this show has been different and every actor brings a different take on their part so it never gets the chance to be stale, however this version appears to have new life breathed into it with what seemed like shiney new sets and the cast being able to take full advantage of the new larger Darlington stage.

Telling the story of the Johnstone twins, the boys, Mickey and Edward, grow up on opposite sides of the track and disaster is predicted should they ever meet … but destiny draws them together and without knowing they are siblings, they become blood brothers

Set in Liverpool in the seventies, Mathew Craig snarls his way through the role of Narrator, spreading malevolence in his role of Devil in human form. Even in scenes where he doesn’t speak his presence just exudes menace.

Lyn Paul was unfortunately indisposed so we were treated to  Sarah Jane Buckley in the role of Mrs Johnson.  Buckley had been playing Mrs Lyons on the tour so by stepping into the new role we had Sarah Rayner in her first night as Mrs Lyons.  Buckley is phenomenal as matriarch Mrs Johnstone.  Her playing age seems to fit better and her Scouse accent is not as pronounced as it could be which gives the image of nice convent girl gone bad after meeting a man. She has a powerhouse of a voice, squeezing every bit of feeling out of her vocals. Her show stopping rendition of Tell Me it’s Not True takes your breath away and your heart genuinely breaks with the raw emotion in her performance.  Watching her visibly age with the last few scenes is amazing.  The mixture of weariness and warm affection with which she regards her children is palpable throughout. And at the end, with her twin sons lying dead before her, her face is a clenched mask of grief as she sings the climactic anthem with a power and bitterness that sends shivers racing down the spine.

Sarah Rayner as the desperate Mrs Lyons is outstanding.  Her desire to have a baby leading her to make the pact with Mrs Johnson for one of the twins, and the guilt for what she has done  shapes her life and causes the inevitable mental breakdown.  Keeping the secret from her husband (Tour Director Tim Churchill). But Mrs Lyons plays the final fatal part in telling Mickey about Linda and Eddie’s friendship and planting the seeds of doubt in Mickey’s fragile brain.  She might as well have shot the gun herself for the part she plays in this terrible tragedy

The twins are played by Mark Hutchinson as upper class and indulged Eddie, the child who was given away, and Sean Jones as Mickey the child who was kept. Jones delivers an outstanding performance ranging in age over the best part of 20 years. In his hand me down jumper and ragged shorts he is genuinely believable seven year old who is nearly eight, his 14 year old is hilarious and his tragic spiral down into despair in his later years is distressing to watch. Such is the performance that you really do believe in his problems and forget that he is acting.

Danielle Corlass plays Linda, the innocent caught in the crossfire, in love with both brothers and both in love with her. But it is Mickey who marries her after getting her pregnant although it is Eddie who helps her and Mickey in the later years.  She manages to layer the part with subtlety and show genuine tragedy

The whole company take on many roles throughout, and are adept and highly skilled in morphing into many diverse characters, from many walks of life, of various ages.  Watching brother Sammy (Daniel Taylor) age from a 10 year old tearaway to an adult career criminal.  A milkman become a gynaecologist with referenced humour and best change of all, for me, Graham Martin going from Private School Tutor to State School Teacher was fabulous.

Powerful, apt orchestration and superb lighting sets each scene impeccably, and add essential dynamic to the dramatic effect.  As an audience we laughed, we cried and we jumped in surprise 

Although plot, music and execution are exceptional, it is the immense overwhelming rush of emotions that you experience during the show that stays with you for along time after you have left the theatre.  

Do not attempt to see it without a stack of tissues.

In Darlington until Saturday 24 February and on tour around the UK.