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Bread & Roses Theatre June 21 – 25.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Charlotte Jones’ Airswimming portrays the friendship that develops between two women inside St Dymphna’s Hospital for the Criminally Insane. This doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs, but Jones has managed to interweave bittersweet comedy and tragic revelations to create a life affirming piece of theatre that also includes Doris Day’s greatest hits – what’s not to love?

Persephone (Alison Nicol) is admitted to St Dymphna’s in the 1920’s, unsure of why she is there. For an hour each day, she is given “polishing duty” with Dora (Tanya Chainey) – an “unhinged, cigar smoking monomaniac transsexual”. Initial dislike turns to a strong love and the play follows the co-dependent relationship over 50 years, as they are left to rot in the institution by their families.

The story jumps through time from the 20s to the 70s – signalled by lighting changes and increasingly less subtle changes in the characters’ demeanour. This can get very confusing, and I occasionally lost track of which decade was being visited, but it helps the audience share some of the characters’ loosening grip on reality and empathise with Dora’s fretting over not knowing which year it was.

When the reasons for Persephone’s family committing her are eventually revealed and she reads the doctor’s diagnosis of “moral imbecile”, the injustice, brutality and hypocrisy of pre-war Britain are laid bare.

Alison Nicol portrays Persephone’s disintegration from uptight, but hopeful young lady to childlike fantasist and Doris Day superfan with a delicate touch. The impish look on her face as she puts on her Doris wig is a wonderful contrast to her heartbreaking performance as she talks about her lost child.

Tanya Chainey channels Lt. George from Blackadder goes forth to give Dora an upbeat and annoyingly cheerful air in the 20s. Dora’s unravelling over the years is more shocking, as this strong woman seemed to find a silver lining in every situation. (Her admiring account of St Dymphna’s tragic life is ridiculously funny.) Watching her decide to trepan herself so that she can feel happy is awful, but very funny.

The actors have a wonderful chemistry and time their responses and looks to perfection.

Nothing really happens in this play – instead we just watch these two remarkable women find ways to cope with their fate. Their fantasies and memories merge and become magical moments, none more so than their airswimming – a wonderfully simple yet effective piece of gentle and precise choreography matched by deliciously evocative music.

The switching back and forth in time feels right for the story, until the end, where it becomes a little muddled and feels a bit like the end of The Lord of the Rings film, where there appears to be ending after ending ad infinitum. Apart from this, which left me a little underwhelmed, Airswimming is a clever and absorbing play that ultimately celebrates the human spirit that is well worth seeing.

Grand Opera House York.  Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

That’s Entertainment celebrates musical favourites from the 1940s and 50s through song and dance. With tuxedo’s, sparkling dresses and feather fans it took you back that golden era.

We were introduced to a special guest star for the night, Becky O’Brien, a former Britain’s Got Talent contestant. Her rendition of Over the Rainbow seemed to be marred with either an instrument out of tune, or the music being slightly too loud, I’m not sure which, but her vocals were spot on. She has 3 sets over the duration of the show and certainly packs a punch with her vocals for one so small (she looks tiny). I believe a different special guest is performing at different venues.

From songs by “The Rat Pack”, Judy Garland to Knees Up Mother Brown, we were taken through a variety of song and dance, with many costume changes, including the Pearly Kings and Queens. The costumes and dancing are great throughout, and the standout for me is the tap dancing, very impressive.

I personally prefer a plot and story to be behind a show, but it still made for an enjoyable evening with the audience clapping and singing along.

Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

Who knew that a musical could be held in a chippy? Well it certainly is now. The setting was Whackers fish and chip shop, York and is touring various Yorkshire fish and chip shops.

We were treated to a light supper of small fish and chips, with mushy peas and a cup of tea with no idea what to expect, or how the show was going to be performed, or in fact if it was ever going to work, how was it going to work?

With no pomp or ceremony a man appears, is he part of the show, or just a spectator? Looking drab and downtrodden the radio goes on and he starts singing. This is Gram (Darren Southworth) struggling to live up to his late father’s expectations, wanting to do things exactly the way they have always been done and wandering whether or not he needs an assistance. With a note in the window asking for help along come Ayla (Remmie Milner), a teenager unhappy at home wanting to be a grime vocalist.

They clash and their feelings are expressed through their different styles of vocals and use of props, salt and vinegar, plates and tablecloths. They are like chalk and cheese, will they come together and will there ever be fish and chips?

The show was on for less than an hour, which was just about right. Both actors fitted their roles and appeared very Yorkshire. This was a very physical play in such a small intimate space and you really felt part of the action. The only criticism is the amount of unnecessary swearing, which at some points is quite a lot and raised some eyebrows.

Overall a good show and worked well in the surprising location, and the added bonus of

New Wimbledon Studio 14 June – 9 July.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Arrows & Traps production of Macbeth is full of their trademark intensity and passion. Adapted and directed by Ross McGregor, this Macbeth has astounding emotional impact.

David Paisley’s Macbeth is gut wrenchingly powerful, choked back tears and subtle twitches making way for bellowing fury and brutality. Paisley manages to evoke sympathy for this damaged tyrant whilst stalking around the stage like an injured bull ordering the death of his friend. Cornelia Baumann as Lady Macbeth is equally complex and powerful. Her “unsex me” speech is full of fierce resolution with gradually diminishing flickers of vulnerability and horror – a majestic performance. The relationship between the Macbeths is at the centre of this adaptation.

Paisley and Baumann make a formidable couple that ooze sensuality and somehow become even better when on stage together. Their passion and grief are palpable, and this gives their motives for murder a much more human and tragic meaning than simple ambition.

Duncan (Jean Apps) and Banquo (Becky Black) are female in this adaptation, giving the scenes with their sons a gentle and more intimate feel. The murderers are also played by women, although they all fight like men – hair pulling and screaming would be a step too far I suppose. Most shocking is the murder of the Macduffs – again an all-female scene, with calm, chilling, dead eyed killers. The modern setting makes the fight scenes more visceral and intimate – there are no swords, only knives, and Macbeth’s armour is a stab vest.

At first sight, the witches (Elle Banstead-Salim, Olivia Stott and Monique Williams) look like they’ve escaped from a Cyndi Lauper worshipping Goth cult, but with their steampunk goggles and odd, sometimes insect like, choreographed moves, they develop into truly otherworldly creatures, watching breathlessly over pivotal scenes. These witches have the power to make Macbeth writhe in agony as they deliver their prophecies and are wildly unnerving when possessed by demons. Along with simple, but effective portrayal of ghosts, the supernatural aspects of the play are embraced and celebrated, rather than pushed aside and dismissed. The bare, black space, with only a table and stools, focusses the attention onto the performances, and Beth Gibbs’ instinctive lighting adds to the heightened sense of the supernatural.

In most productions, once Macduff enters, they fight, speeches, Macbeth dies, Malcolm is crowned (maybe a glimpse of Fleance), Bish, Bash, Bosh… it’s done. McGregor and the company have turned these last scenes into something magical. Macduff (Alex Payne – bristling with vengeful righteousness) stalks Macbeth, ghosts rise and begin a hauntingly beautiful danse macabre around the protagonists. Lady Macbeth is one of the ghosts, allowing Paisley to deliver Macbeth’s final lines with a heart-breaking joy at the prospect of being reunited with his love. A wonderful piece of theatre.

There have been so many productions of Macbeth that we all think we know the play inside out. But Arrows & Traps have once again delivered an exciting and enthralling take on a classic. Full of passion, humanity and ingenuity, this Macbeth is a must see.

Theatre N16 12 – 30 June.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Howard Barker’s twisted take on Hamlet shifts the focus onto Gertrude and her sexual power. I must admit that Hamlet bores the socks off me, some great speeches, but too much tedious waffling in between. Although a bum numbing 2 hours long with no interval, Barker’s play grips from the first shocking scene and doesn’t let up until the lights finally dim on the body-strewn stage.

Opening with the murder of Gertrude’s husband by his brother Claudius, swiftly followed by sex on top of his dead body, Gertrude’s lust and sexual appetite carry her from one tragedy to another, as the body count rises. Hamlet watches his mother and becomes more and more disgusted with her and his uncle’s behaviour, while Claudius’s mother Isola arranges Gertrude’s marriage to the Duke of Mecklenberg to tear her away from Claudius.

Chris Hislop’s production doesn’t flinch from the objectification of women by Barker, instead it revels in it and throws it at the audience to deal with as they choose. Izabella Urbanowicz prowls around the stage like a cat on heat and shows Gertrude’s turmoil brilliantly. The script is full of references to her legs, her skirt, her arse… as if this is all she is. Isola (Liza Keast) whose desperation to release Claudius from Gertrude’s clutches is born of perhaps recognising a kindred spirit in Gertrude, is manipulative, chiding and hypocritical, while Ragusa (LJ Reeves) is bland until the climactic final scenes. This would offend if the male characters were written as heroes, but Barker doesn’t seem particularly fond of men either. It would be hard to find a more pathetic bunch. Hamlet is a whining petulant brat (although played as frustratingly likeable by Jamie Hutchins, and having the lion’s share of the funniest lines), Claudius (Alexander Hulme – fantastic chemistry with Urbanwicz) is like a little boy who’s only happy when he’s stolen the other boys’ toys, Albert (David Zachary) is a bullying little toad who gets his own way because he’s got the biggest army. The only reasonably decent character is Cascan (Stephen Oswald in a wonderfully understated performance), observing and commenting on the morality and ridiculousness of the characters, but hiding his own lust for Gertrude behind a pathetic mask of servile devotion.

So, no tears for any deaths in this play then.

Designer Felicity Reid’s catwalk stage, and the sexualised images and music before the play begins enhance the atmosphere of a weird fashion show. Indeed, being on the front row is the golden ticket, as further back you miss one death and don’t see the final drops of a couple of corpses. Apart from that, this staging is a great idea, as the sex and nudity are right in your face, and by slightly raising your gaze, you observe other audience member’s differing reactions, adding another layer to the drama and sometimes making you question your own. Barker’s writing is filthy, funny, challenging and sometimes uncomfortable, and the fantastic cast bring his words to life with passion and energy.

Well worth a look – even for Shakespeare purists.

Eastlake productions and Theatre N16 present:

LEEDS GRAND THEATRE ANNOUNCES CAST FOR

REHEARSAL FOR MURDER

GARY MAVERS, ALEX FERNS, SUSIE AMY, ANITA HARRIS, MARK WYNTER, LAUREN DRUMMOND AND BEN NEALON

From the pen of the legendary award-winning writing team Richard Levinson and William Link, the creators of the unsurpassable mystery series Murder She Wrote and the award-winning TV detective seriesColumbo comes this classic ‘whodunnit’ murder mystery.

TV favourites ALEX FERNS (Eastenders, Legend) and SUSIE AMY (Footballers’ Wives, Echo Beach) join a cast of much-loved Agatha Christie Theatre Company regulars including GARY MAVERS (Peak Practice, Emmerdale),  60’s pop legend MARK WYNTER (Cats, Dreamboats and Petticoats, The Phantom of the Opera) and BEN NEALON (Solider Solider). Entertainment icon ANITA HARRIS, Holby City’s LAUREN DRUMMOND, GWYNFOR JONES and GEORGIA NEVILLE complete the cast.

Following the decade-long success of The Agatha Christie Theatre Company, Bill Kenwright Ltd began an exciting new chapter in January 2016 with the launch of The Classic Thriller Theatre Company and its first production REHEARSAL FOR MURDER adapted for the stage by David Rogers.

Playwright Alex Dennison is left heartbroken when his fiancée and leading lady Monica Welles is found dead from an apparent suicide after the opening night of her stage debut. On the anniversary of that ill-fated night, Alex assembles the same cast and crew in the same theatre, for a reading of his new play. But as the reading progresses, the play’s similarity to actual events becomes increasingly uncomfortable for the participants, and it soon becomes clear that Alex believes Monica was murdered and his new play is a devious cat-and-mouse chase to uncover her killer.

Rehearsal for Murder is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday 4^th to Saturday 9^th July

Tickets are on sale now priced from £22 to £36

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box office on 0844 848 2700

5pound5 Theatre and LWL Entertainment Ltd present:

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR ALL-NEW PRODUCTION OF SISTER ACT

Alexandra Burke took Leeds by storm when she took The Grand Theatre’s stage in the production of The Bodyguard last month, and she is set to return in August with Jamie Wilson’s all new production of Sister Act.

Based on the smash hit movie starring Whoopi Goldberg and Maggie Smith, Sister Act tells the hilarious story of Deloris Van Cartier, a disco diva whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder. Under protective custody she is hidden in the one place she won’t be found – a convent. Disguised as a nun and under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own.

This all new production of Sister Act is directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood with musical supervision and arrangements by Tony Award-Winner Sarah Travis.

Alexandra is joined by Joanna Francis as ‘Michelle’, Jon Robyns as ‘Eddie’, Karen Mann as ‘Mother Superior’ and Rosemary Ashe as ‘Sister Mary Lazarus’. Alexandra Burke will perform the role of ‘Deloris Van Cartier’ at all evening performances. At the matinee performances, the role of ‘Deloris Van Cartier’ will be played by Joanna Francis.

Aaron Lee Lambert will play ‘Curtis’, Sarah Goggin ‘Sister Mary Robert’, Susannah Van Den Berg ‘Sister Mary Patrick’, Allison Harding ‘Sister Mary Theresa’, Ricky Rojas ‘Pablo’, Samuel Morgan-Grahame as ‘Joey’ and Sandy Grigelis as ‘TJ’. The company also includes Nicola Bryan, Jennifer Douglas, Aiesha Pease, Sally Peerless and Justin Wilman.

Sister Act is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday 22^nd to Saturday 27^th August

Tickets are on sale now priced from £22.50 to £48

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box Office on 0844 848 2700