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The Mixing Room at Menier Chocolate Factory – until 18 December

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Harry Peacock and Dan Skinner bring their podcast characters to the stage in this hilariously unhinged show. The Mixing Room’s space is dressed like a shabby community centre, with props doubling as more exotic items as the play progresses while clever projections give a clear sense of the location of each character.

After meeting at a support group for recently divorced men, Brian (Simon Lipkin) and Roger (Dan Skinner) bond over their love of the movie Avatar and develop a very dysfunctional friendship. Dan is a sweet, naïve optimist who is walked over by everyone, and Brian is a total bastard who uses this to his advantage at every opportunity. Brian is off the grid, living in a student house and wrapped up in dodgy deals with dodgier people, while Dan is sleeping on an 82-year-old woman’s sofa, always hoping that he will see more of his son and reunite with Claire.

Keeping to the structure of the podcast, the story unfolds through phone messages the pair leave for each other – usually Brian talking Roger into his latest scheme and Roger’s upbeat apologies and explanations about what exactly went wrong. This could be dry and static in other hands, but Lipkin and Skinner’s brilliant characterisations are engaging and funny, with Lipkin making you want to slap Brian harder each time he speaks, and Skinner keeping Roger sympathetic and loveable as his situation worsens. Director David Babani keeps things moving smoothly and Peacock and Skinner’s writing is sharp and witty – broad at times, but never as offence as the title suggests – ramping up the pace as the second act gallops along without any weak scenes.

The pairs exploits take them from a poker game in an abattoir to a room full of poisonous snakes, to a ridiculous race against the clock in China. As the stakes rise, the situations they find themselves in get more and more bizarre, and the laughs come faster and get bigger. The only scene where the pair are talking in real time takes place in darkness, which is just as well considering what they are forced to do with bolt cutters.

Brian & Roger probably isn’t to everyone’s taste, but I haven’t laughed this much at the theatre for a very long time. A completely insane, hilarious show.

Kings Theatre, Edinburgh – until Sunday 7 November 2021

Reviewed by Ellen Searle

5*****

First performed in 2012, the multi award winning The Play That Goes Wrong is a hilarious spoof on what might kindly be called less than professional stagecraft.  Originally directed by Mark Bell, with the mantle picked up here by Sean Turner, it stars the fictional Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as it attempts to stage The Murder at Haversham Manor, in the style of the classic 1920s cliché ridden whodunnit.  This provides rich fodder to showcase all that possibly could go wrong in a performance. And to our delight, misplaced props, falling apart sets and fluffed lines are only the beginning of the fun.  

All of us who love the theatre will occasionally have seen things genuinely going wrong on stage, and, more to the point, the attempts by actors and production staff to hide or make good those errors.  The larger than life expressions of this, combined with all the theatrical tropes we could ever hope to see – the charismatically overbearing ‘I am an actor’ character a la the comedy Brian Blessed by Leonard Cook being a particular highlight – are delivered with gusto by this skilled and energetic cast.  The slapstick is of the highest order, with a multitude of pretend errors and accidents, as far as entire set walls falling over and actors being dragged off injured, while their brave colleagues do their valiant best to hold the play and, at times, the actual set together.  All of the cast are to be commended, in particular for their exquisite timing and highly physical on stage horseplay.  Special mention must be made of set designer Nigel Hook, whose expertise plays a huge role in enabling the accidentally on purpose and hugely entertaining stage mishaps to be delivered convincingly and safely.

But what is really clever about this play is the way in which it builds over time.  What initially might feel a little predictable develops layer upon layer into something really special.  The unceasing efforts of the fictional cast to deliver on the old adage that the show must go on endears us to them more and more with each ever more ridiculous disaster.  They say God loves a trier, and it is this aspect, contrasted with the most unsuccessful results, that brings a genuine warmth to proceedings alongside the comedy.  The interval glass of wine may have helped, but my chuckles of the first half grew to guffaws in the second , and by the end I was bent over with the hilarity.  The Play That Goes Wrong is very, very silly and very, very funny. In these troubled times, it is perhaps just what we need.

Hull New Theatre – until 6 November 2021

Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams

3***

There were elf hats a plenty in the audience as children (and adults) excitedly anticipated some Christmas cheer and they were not disappointed. Buddy the Elf (Tam Ryan) bounced into the Hull New Theatre and with his child-like enthusiasm and glee won the hearts of a packed audience.

Elf The Musical is based upon the hit film, adapted by Bob Martin and Thomas Meehan with music by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin. This production is directed by Jon Conway and produced by WBP Ltd. Elf tells the story of Buddy, a young orphan, who climbs into Santa’s sack and ends up at the North Pole where he is brought up as an elf. Of course Buddy grows so much taller than the other elves but it is still a shock to him when he discovers, at the age of 30, that he is really a human. Santa tells him his father is really Walter Hobbs who lives in New York, but what is even more shocking to Buddy is that his father is on the naughty list because he doesn’t believe in Santa. We then follow Buddy’s adventures in New York, where he is a square peg in a round hole, full of joy and happiness and most importantly of all believing in Santa and ultimately saving the day.

Tam Ryan is perfect as Buddy the Elf, full of childishness and naive enthusiasm. His comic timing is superb as Buddy lands himself in all sorts of difficulties. He also builds up a wonderful rapport with the audience, especially the children. He has a great singing voice too. He is the glue that holds this production tightly together.

A special mention should also go to Kelly Banlaki as Jovie, Buddy’s love interest. She had just the right amount of bitterness about men and her singing voice was excellent, “Never fall in Love” was beautifully sung.

Elf The Musical thrives on audience reaction and it was there in droves last night, whether we were “ahing” at the sad parts, shouting at Santa, groaning at the jokes (the adults!) or belly laughing at the slapstick. It was wonderful to see children enthralled by the action on the stage, loving every minute of it and still buzzing at the end.

Elf The Musical is full of songs and dance routines, superbly delivered by the cast, who quickly switched from being elves to office staff to ice skaters etc., providing a lovely spectacle, these were proper old-fashioned type musical songs and routines. I particularly loved the Fake Santas’ routine to “Nobody cares about Santa”. The cast provided plenty of slapstick and visual humour too and were not afraid to throw in the odd ad lib!

The addition of a giant LED screen provided some wonderful animations and backdrops to enhance the story telling, together with clever lighting they made this story glitter and sparkle even more.

All in all, Elf The Musical is a fabulous fun night out for all the family, full of glitter, sparkle and spectacle. It will fill you with just the right sort of Christmas spirit as Buddy saves the day and you will leave the theatre with a warm glow, perfect for these dark nights. For anyone who loves Christmas this is perfection and as to me I just wanted to come home and get the decorations out! Treat yourself or someone special to some tickets!

Mayflower Theatre,  Southampton- until 4 November 2021

Reviewed by Gill Gardiner

5*****

It is often said that great art transcends time and place, Welsh National Opera have succeeded in proving just how true this is for Puccini’s work in their new production of Madam Butterfly. The setting for this production is neither in Japan nor specifically any country. Rather than being set in the past it is set in a near future version of our own society, where wealthy male clientele can buy young girls like Butterfly as child brides for sexual exploitation. Real world contemporary parallels are obvious, sex trafficking of children remains a global business.

The cruel and tragic wreckage of a fragile 15 year old girl is skilfully depicted in this production. Isabella  Bywater’s minimalist set is stunning, a revolving neon lit, white cube house allows interpretation as a shiny show house, a pleasure suite and a squalid prison for a single mother.

Joyce El – Khoury gave a stand out performance receiving a standing ovation from the audience for her excellent portrayal of Butterfly. As a reflection of his skill in portraying the callous Pinkerton Leonardo Caimi received simultaneously an ovation for his performance and boos from the audience for the character that he represented.

I confess I was very sceptical before the show as to whether this classic opera could be portrayed in the modern world; I was wrong, this powerful story of unrequited love, pain and suffering, intensified by Puccini’s glorious music, is as relevant now as it was over a century ago. A first rate production, I was thoroughly drawn into the narrative, the music and the setting.

New Wimbledon Theatre – until Saturday 6 November 2021

Reviewed by Liberty Noke

4****

At first glance Heathers seems like an ordinary teen coming of age story about a main character that wants to be popular but this musical has a dark side.

The curtain opens to reveal Veronica Sawyer on her first day of senior year wishing that everyone at school were a little nicer. She falls in with the Heathers- 3 girls all named Heather, the popular yet mean girls at the school and suddenly she is well liked. Despite their new friendship Heather Chandler, the leader of the Heathers, continues to bully Veronica. When a new bad boy JD shows up at the school Veronica falls for him but he quickly reveals his true colours suggesting he and Veronica kill all the mean kids at school. Veronica must choose whether to go along with JD and play God or choose kindness and help the school become a better place.

Maddison Firth gave a stand out performance as Heather Chandler she perfectly played the stereotypical high school mean girl she was nasty and loud while all the time appearing confident, charming and sexy so even though you might want to you couldn’t hate her.

Veronica Sawyer played by Rebecca Wickes was the perfect awkward and anxious high school character. Her awkward laughs and facial expressions really made the audience believe they were watching a real teenager in high school. Wickes’ vocals were incredible and she was a fantastic Veronica from start to finish.

A highlight of the show was the song You’re Welcome sung by Kurt (Liam Doyle) and Ram (Rory Phelan) they played caricatures of high school Jocks and watching Veronica (Rebecca Wickes) outsmart them was a powerful moment.

The entire cast had energy from start to finish – the ensemble in particular. They each had a high school character to play and were all committed to that role. Candy Store is an iconic song from the show one that the audience were eager to hear and the Heathers ( Maddison Firth, Merryl Ansah, and Lizzy Parker) performed it excellently, the choreography was fantastic and performed in perfect synchronisation and the Heathers perfectly showed the power and status they hold at the school.

This show is fantastic, it is easy to see how it has such a following with many of the audience wearing costumes inspired by the characters. With amazing songs, quirky characters and a powerful message about kindness this show is a must see!

UK Theatre appoints Joint Presidents for first time in organisation’s history

Today (Wednesday 3 November) at the UK Theatre AGM, the UK Theatre membership have voted in Jon Gilchrist and Stephanie Sirr as Joint Presidents for the first time in the organisation’s history.

Current UK Theatre President Fiona Allan, who is leaving the Birmingham Hippodrome for a new role at Opera Australia, stood down as President at the AGM (a year before the expiry of her term of office). With Fiona’s tenure coming to an end, Stephanie Sirr automatically assumes the role of President as she is already the current Vice-President, and Jon Gilchrist becomes Interim Vice-President.  

From the 2022 AGM for a 3-year term, Stephanie and Jon will be Joint Presidents.

A statement from Jon Gilchrist and Stephanie Sirr:

‘We are delighted to be taking up the roles of Joint Presidents in order to continue the work of recent years to deliver an organisation that really supports our industry in its time of greatest need. There is a significant amount of work to be done to continue to move the sector forward and as Joint Presidents we will be better able to deliver this alongside also running venues.

‘In addition, as Joint Presidents we underline the commitment of UK Theatre to job sharing and improving the industry’s flexibility as employers. Finally, because the interests of both producing and presenting houses will be fully represented by us, we believe that at this critical time our combined approach will assist the sector in its recovery from the pandemic.

‘A shared leadership will enable us to focus on a wider range of priorities, and to better reflect the needs of the membership. We are also committed to building a UK Theatre board that is more reflective of all areas of the industry. Over our term we look forward to working with the team at UK Theatre to build on the constitutional changes in place to diversify the board and positions of power.’

Information about newly appointed Board Members will follow in due course.

Birmingham Hippodrome – until 6 November 2021

Reviewed by Joanne Hodge

5*****

Phenomenal!!! If Lyn Paul (formerly of The New Seekers) could teach the world to sing, it would be a much happier place. Lyn leads the cast, playing the role of Mrs. Johnstone, in telling the story of twin boys separated at birth, who grow up ‘on opposite sides of the tracks.’ Chance brings them back together and after immediately hitting it off, Mickey & Edward (Eddie) make a pact to be ‘blood brothers’, neither of them aware of their genuine blood ties.

Bill Kenwright (Producer) and Bob Tomson (Director) have made an incredible job of bringing Willie Russell’s tale to life, delivering a very emotive performance in a simple but effective stage setting. The left side of the stage depicts the poorer, working-class families, the right side, the wealthier, upper-class lifestyle, and their larger houses; the center where two worlds collide.

There is a rawness to the performances of all cast members, which draws the audience into the lives of the Johnstone family and their acquaintances; it addresses complex subjects such as class, economic status and Mental Health issues very effectively and realistically.

A thoroughly enjoyable performance which provides clear evidence of why this play is known as the “Standing Ovation Musical”, with everyone delivering rapturous applause and a number of tears shed.

New Victoria Theatre, Woking – until 6 November 2021

Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes

5*****

The Disasters in Magic Charity fundraiser arrived in Woking with problems before the show even started, the doves had escaped into the auditorium. Anyone familiar with Mischief knows the show starts before curtain up with cast members running around in the audience looking for missing props and cast members. 

Presented by Sophisticato (Sam Hill), who is attempting to recreate his late fathers magical act, Magic Goes Wrong features performances by The Blade (Kiefer Moriarty) who claims to be immune to pain and does death defying tricks involving knives, water tanks and rat traps, the Mind Mangler (Rory Fairbairn) who claims to have advanced senses including xray vision and the ability to guess people’s jobs by smelling them, and Bar and Spitzmaus (Chloe Tannenbaum and Jocelyn Prah respectively), sisters who perform gymnastic tricks, all have things go wrong in their acts as you would expect with Mischief productions. With support from Eugenia (Valerie Cutko) and Mickey (Daniel Anthony) the show ends up raising very little money due to legal costs and expensive confetti cannons. 

Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields and magic duo Penn and Teller, the show is full of audience participation, especially during the Mind Manglers act, and will have everyone laughing from start to finish. Although some of the tricks are easy to explain, some are done so well it is impossible to tell how they were actually done. 

A brilliant night out for the whole family and worth every laugh, grab a ticket before it is too late and something really does go wrong. 

An inclusive social community for men in York supported by Jimmy Carr

Menfulness bring men together to socialise, exercise, enjoy themselves, talk and let off steam in a non-judging, friendly and supportive environment. These are all essential for wellbeing and health, both physical and mental.  They will be present at Jimmy Carr’s show at the Grand Opera House on  Tuesday 9^th November aiming to bring awareness of the mental health of men and hoping to raise as much money as possible to provide urgent counselling to help save men’s lives.

Menfulness is led by five men from York who, like many men, have struggled with mental health and the pressures of life.  Menfulness want to keep growing their community and continue to look for funding opportunities to help us with events, activities and counselling offers of support to men’s wellbeing in a friendly, non-judgemental environment where they can share at their own pace.

The team will be available on the night if any of the theatregoers would like advice on Menfulness.  A collection will also take place on the exit.

For more information on the charity please go to https://menfulness.org/

DIGITAL “GHOST WALK” TO PREMIERE AT BROADGATE, LONDON, STARRING JULIET STEVENSON, CO-PRODUCED WITH NEW DIORAMA THEATRE

Created by multi-award-winning POLTERGEIST THEATRE, star casting includes Juliet Stevenson, Lydia West, Adam Buxton, Paterson Joseph, Nina Wadia & Tanya Reynolds, and original music by Alice Boyd.

Co-Produced by New Diorama Theatre, supported by British Land and Arts Council England, this interactive comedy is the first public event launched by NDT Broadgate.

Acclaimed theatre company Poltergeist (Lights Over Tesco Car Park, Art Heist) return to London this December with GHOST WALK, a genre-bending audio walk. Download the app, plug in your headphones, and track down a host of hilarious ghosts lurking in the alleyways of City of London.

Collaborating with sound mapping app developers Echoes, Ghost Walk is a site-specific audio show, turning audience smartphones into ghost detectors. Launched through a 3-day live event in Broadgate, City of London (9th – 11th December), with tickets available now, the GHOST WALK app will then be available to download for free into Spring 2022. 

The all-star cast is led by Olivier-winner Juliet Stevenson (The Doctor, Mary Stuart). It also stars Adam Buxton (The Adam Buxton Podcast, The Adam and Joe Show), Lydia West (It’s a Sin, Years and Years), Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education, Emma), Nina Wadia (The Outlaws, Goodness Gracious Me),  Paterson Joseph (Peep Show, The Leftovers), David Mumeni (Dead Pixels, Stath Lets Flats), and introducing Ivo and Zac Stimpson. The cast is rounded off by Poltergeist company members Rosa Garland and Will Spence.

Alice Boyd is Composer and Sound Designer for this audio experience, and Jack Bradfield is Director and Lead Writer. The piece is co-written by Rosa Garland and Will Spence, with visual design by Shankho Chaudhuri, and produced by Emily Davis.

Ghost Walk is powered by Echoes (https://echoes.xyz/), and is a co-production with New Diorama Theatre. Supported by British Land, Arts Council England, and with thanks to the Pound Corsham.

Juliet Stevenson said: “I have so loved my involvement with this unique project, and with Jack and all those who have collaborated on it. So exciting to be part of a team who are creating a new form, and to feel the originality of it. It’s going to be such an immersive, fun, and fascinating experience for those who participate. Using the state-of-the-art technology of Now to explore and reveal the fascinating history of London’s Then. Can’t wait to be a punter myself and take the walk with the garrulous ghouls and ghosties in the City.