Tristan Bates Theatre 23 August – 10 September.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Lazarus Theatre Company have a growing reputation for energising and exploring plays in exciting new ways, and their adaptation of John Ford’s classic is impressive in many ways.

Ricky Dukes’ adaptation of John Ford’s classic, squeezed into 90 action packed minutes, wisely cuts most of the sub plots involving minor characters, and instead concentrates on the original scenes that drive the action forward. Giovanni and Annabella are in love. They are also brother and sister. Giovanni keeps running off to discuss and justify the relationship with his tutor, while Annabella has earthier discussions about love with her guardian, Putana. Elder brother Florio is busy organising Annabella’s marriage and her suitors, Soranzo and Bergetto are planning their moves. When the truth about the siblings’ relationship is discovered, Soranzo seeks revenge. The themes of incest, revenge and violence are highly stylised in this production, but the cartoonish presentation doesn’t dilute most of the impact.

Prince Plockley and Lucy Walker-Evans make a heart-breaking couple. Their delivery of Ford’s language is crisp and they both capture the turmoil of their characters in moving performances that transcend some messy collaborative moments. Luke Deeley as Bergetto, the play’s Fool, is a scream, revelling in the buffoonery of his character. The interplay between him and the fantastic RJ Seeley as his longsuffering sister Donado, is a comic highlight. Sasha Wilson as Hippolita, Soranzo’s jilted lover, chews the scenery sashaying around the stage plotting her revenge, and I can understand why Dukes didn’t kill her off as Ford did.

The company’s love of physical and visual collaboration, usually their strength, is the major weakness in this production however. The traverse stage is dominated by a long dinner table, with most action taking place with characters interacting from either end, with only the most intimate moments happening in the centre. The ensemble sitting around looking cool in sunglasses works, but when intense exchanges are taking place on the table, it can be distracting and a slightly questionable choice to have other actors moving around the space to music. The most memorable parts of the play were the quiet ones when the characters were just speaking to each other. The opening and closing dance/fight numbers felt a little like a cop out. The subplots of Richardetto (who was kept in, but his reasons for murder never fully explained) and multiple deaths were all crammed in in the final, frankly messy, scene. Again, I can see what Dukes and the company were aiming for, as it led to an extremely moving and visually stunning final moment with Giovanni and Annabella surrounded by death, but it just felt a bit rushed to me. Although I did love the way the production kept the heart on the knife image – bloodless, but still deeply shocking.

Jai Morjaria’s lighting is, again, highly stylised and unsubtle, but works really well. The only thing that grated was the thunder roll that accompanied every change – a bit too much for me.

I knew that Lazarus would give ‘Tis Pity a kick up the bum and present a wildly different production from others I have seen, but I really didn’t think I’d enjoy it. Well, I was wrong. Although I think that the company should have pared back their physical approach in some scenes, the production as a whole is engaging and exciting. This is a challenging reinvention for Fordophiles, but a wonderful introduction to Ford for a brand new audience.

Park Theatre 24 August – 24 September.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

This is the first major revival of JB Priestley’s comedy in 80 years, and that is a crying shame. Yes, it’s not quite An Inspector Calls, but this production is a joy to watch.

Set in the 1930s in the garden room of Lord Kettlewell’s (Brian Protheroe) country house, on the day that he finds out his business’s and investments are all about to crash. Happily separated from his wife (Lisa Bowerman) for years, he is trying to extricate himself from a relationship with the persistent Hilda Lancicourt (Carol Starks). The unannounced arrivals of his long-lost daughter Pamela (Bessie Carter), newly returned from Russia, her comrade, Staggles (Steven Blakeley), and then Lady Kettlewell all add to his problems.

Priestley encapsulates the shifting social order and the discomfort felt by the erosion of the class system with a light touch. Priestley’s leftward leanings are clear, but he mocks both communism and the British class system equally. The shift in status when Parsons the butler (Derek Hutchinson) wins the Guernsey sweep is a lovely moment, highlighting the difference between perceived and actual wealth.

Comrade Staggles’ po-faced pronouncements about how life should be are delivered brilliantly by Blakeley, and his frustration at the maid’s horrified reaction to his advances, with him being “a gentleman staying in the house” is played well. Bessie Carter makes a huge impact as Pamela – completely changing her body language according to her costume, and managing to make this slightly abrasive character sympathetic.

The show is stolen by Hugh Sachs and Richenda Carey. They are both gifted comic actors, and have the best lines in the play. As Chuffy, the self-proclaimed Edwardian parasite, Sachs observes proceedings and comments gleefully on the foolishness he sees. Sachs’ delivery, pauses and glances are just perfect for this play. Carey’s character is hysterical. Lady Knightsbridge is a mercenary matriarch scooping up gossip in between trying to find meaningful occupations for her useless relations – “Didn’t I ask you to get Claude into rubber?” Carey’s imperious glances and politely catty putdowns are hysterical. If only Priestley had given them more lines!

The pace slows after the interval as loose ends and motivations are explored, but this feels right, as the act is set directly after dinner, when full stomachs and woozy heads abound. Hugh Ross obviously LOVES Priestley, and his production has a fresh, but nostalgic feel. Polly Sullivan’s design is simple but evocative, and allows the audience to focus on the performances – which are all first rate.

This may not be a hard hitting play, but its perceptive wit and sublime word play makes The Roundabout well worth seeing. Yes, it feels like a lovely ITV3 show that you watch cuddled up on the sofa on a rainy afternoon, but sometimes that’s just what you need. I loved it.

Grand Theatre, Leeds – 30th August 2017

In 1967, when Relatively Speaking first played to audiences, it opened to a roar of approval from the critics, and the first offering of now acclaimed playwright Alan Ayckbourn set him on the path to success. Now, 49 years later, the comedy is on tour, offering a night of hilarity that is still relevant and completely charming today.

The script is ingeniously strung out from a rather threadbare premise. Two couples, both with infidelity problems, meet and talk at cross-purposes for an afternoon. The action opens in a dingy London bedsit where fun-loving Ginny (Lindsey Campbell) is entwined with a nice-but-dim Greg (Antony Eden) who wants to marry her. But Ginny plans to spend the day with her older lover in Buckinghamshire. Ginny misses the first train but Greg catches it and arrives at The Willows first. Greeted by a Philip (Robert Powell) whom he wrongly assumes is Ginny’s dad. Philip, meanwhile, assumes that Greg is his wife Sheila’s (Liza Goddard) bit on the side.

The first scene, in the London flat, is intermably long and apart from a single pink sheet, not overly funny.  My heart sank as I was expecting hilarity and was receiving something more painful than heart burn.  But, after watching, the map light up to follow the train for an epic scene change, we arrived in an English country garden and laughs a plenty followed.

Liza Goddard is a delight as the confused, good-natured Sheila, suddenly greeted by a boy who wants to marry a daughter she didn’t know she had, but also hints at the pain of a woman who knows that her husband is unfaithful. Robert Powell is all self-righteous, pink-faced indignation as her philandering husband. Antony Eden memorably captures the confusion of the gawky young innocent abroad, while Lindsey Campbell is both sexy and devious as the woman he loves.

The set itself, does need a special mention, the dingy London bedsit flat is just grungy and threadbare enough but the country house is magnificent and Peter McKintosh’s design is to be congratulated.

In Leeds until Saturday 3rd September and on tour around the country

 

Mark Thomas wins prestigious The Stage Special Award

Mark Thomas will be presented with the prestigious The Stage Special Award at Edinburgh Festival Fringe on Friday, August 26, 2016. The prize, part of The Stage Edinburgh Awards, celebrates sustained excellence at the Fringe. Previous winners of the Special Award include Chris Goode and Pip Utton.

Thomas is a comedian, theatremaker and activist. His Special Award win will be added to multiple prizes for his work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including three Fringe Firsts. He will be presented with the award by The Stage’s reviews editor, Natasha Tripney, and interviewed by Thom Dibdin, Scotland correspondent for The Stage, critic and member of The Stage’s Edinburgh review team.

Tripney said: “Mark Thomas is a deserving winner of The Stage Special Award. His work has always straddled comedy, theatre and activism. His presence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has often made a significant impact and his current show, The Red Shed, is one of his strongest to date, revisiting his political awakening while also exploring the stories we tell ourselves and the ways in which we tell them.”

Thomas’ 2016 show, The Red Shed, is inspired by the Wakefield Labour Club of the same name. In his review for The Stage, Thom Dibdin called it “a wide-eyed tale that has truth at its heart and the need to find the stories which will help shape a better future in its head.” The Red Shed has also been awarded a Fringe First award, his third after Bravo Figaro! (2012), about his opera-loving father, and Cuckooed (2014), about corporate espionage.

The Stage Special Award will be presented at a Q&A with Thomas at the Traverse Theatre in a public event at 2pm on August 26, 2016.

The Stage Edinburgh Awards are in their 21st year and celebrate acting talent at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Special Award, presented to a performer with a significant history of excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe, was introduced in 2014.

THE ORIGINAL DREAMBOATS ARE BACK!!!!

MARTY WILDE

MIKE BERRY AND EDEN KANE,

 

With very special guest MARK WYNTER       

and THE WILDCATS

 

THE SOLID GOLD ROCK N ROLL SHOW

2016 UK DATES

Grand Opera House York

Friday 14 October 7:30pm

 

As if time stood still; four of the original dreamboats are back! Over 50 years since the original British rock n rollers hit the airwaves, Marty Wilde, Eden Kane, Mike Berry and Mark Wynter return for headline billing for The Solid Gold Rock N’Roll Show 2016.

A dreamboat was the heartthrob and pop idol of their day; times may have changed but that unwavering surge of admiration and obsession was born in this era, and remains as prevalent today in pop culture as it ever was.

From the producers of the favourite Solid Silver 60s Show, The Solid Gold Rock N Roll Show will propel you back to a golden era, featuring an iconic lineup with Marty Wilde, Eden Kane, Mike Berry and very special guest, Mark Wynter. Marty Wilde’s long-standing band The Wildcats will also perform on stage with the artists.

The reprisal of the Solid Gold Rock N Roll Show,  launched nearly two decades ago, and has seen a cannon of 50s veterans take to the stage Artists who have featured include John Leyton, The Vernon Girls, Bobby Vee, Chris Montez, Johnny Tillotson, Freddie Cannon, Johnny Preston, Little Eva, The Shirelles and many more.

Expect good old-fashioned rock n roll; this was the birth of pop music, a time where music liberated and changed popular culture forever! Even today, half a century on, the long reaching influence contains to play an ever-important role.

This music was a catalyst for social and cultural change; whether through the spirit of punk, the spirit of girl power, or through the mega phenomenon of today’s international pop juggernauts, the notion of what rock n roll presented and meant lives on to this very day.

In the late 50s, Marty Wilde was one of the leading British rock n roll singers, alongside Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard.  Hits included A Teenager In Love, Sea Of Love, Donna and Bad Boy. As a gifted songwriter he has also penned many hits for artists including Lulu, Status Quo, The Casuals, and his daughter, Kim Wilde.

Eden Kane, the older brother of musicians Peter Starstedt and Clive Sarstedt, had success in the early 1960s with I Don’t Know Why, Well I Ask You and Boys Cry, before moving to the United States, where he began an acting career. A breakout role in three Star Trek series (Voyager, Next Generation and New Enterprise) saw him cement his ongoing popularity.

Mike Berry is known just as well for his music as he is for his TV work. A long-time collaborator of producer Joe Meek, he enjoyed a string of hits in the 60s including Don’t You Think It’s Time, and The Sunshine Of Your Smile.  He also had hits with his group The Outlaws including A Tribute To Buddy Holly. His TV work included the iconic BBC series Are You Being Served. This year he was a contestant on BBC’s The Voice.

Mark Wynter enjoyed a lengthy career between 1960 and 1968 with hits including Venus In Blue Jeans, It’s Almost Tomorrow, Shy Girl, and Go Away Little Girl. He is also a celebrated actor.

Tickets available at http://www.flyingmusic.com/box-office/  

 

Tickets: £27.75

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online: www.atgtickets.com/york

Dates maybe subject to change.

ROBERT POWELL AND LIZA GODDARD IN ALAN AYCKBOURN’S RELATIVELY SPEAKING

 

 

The Grand Theatre is set to welcome a classic comedy next week when Robert Powell and Liza Goddardtake to the stage in Alan Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking.

Greg only met Ginny a month ago but has already made up his mind that she’s the girl for him. When she tells him that she’s going to visit her parents, he decides this is the moment to ask her father for his daughter’s hand. Discovering a scribbled address, he follows her to Buckinghamshire where he finds Philip and Sheila enjoying a peaceful Sunday morning breakfast in the garden, but the only thing is – they’re not Ginny’s parents.

Beautifully crafted, wonderfully funny and charmingly English, Relatively Speaking was Ayckbourn’s first great West End success and turned him into a household name. When the show opened at the Duke of York’s Theatre in 1967, the critics hailed the arrival of a great new comic talent.

“We’re delighted to welcome two great stars in one great production,” says Ian Sime, General Manager at Leeds Grand Theatre. “Post-holidays, an evening of comedy is just what we all need.”

Relatively Speaking is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday 30^th August to

Saturday 3^rd September

 

Tickets are on sale now priced from £19.50 to £36

 

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

Million Dollar Quartet the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and West End smash hit is to embark on its first ever UK Tour starring Jason Donovan as ‘Father of Rock and Roll’ Sam Phillips.

 

Inspired by the true story of the famed recording session where Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll” brought together icons Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.  Million Dollar Quartet includes more than 20 legendary rock ‘n’ roll hits, including Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, I Walk The Line and Great Balls of Fire.

 

On December 4, 1956, history was made when these four young musicians gathered at Sun Records in Memphis for what would be one of the greatest impromptu jam sessions ever. It brings to light the extraordinary story of broken promises, secrets, and the once-in-a-lifetime celebration of four friends that is both poignant and heart-warming.

 

Million Dollar Quartet brings that legendary night to life, featuring a score of rock hits which bring you inside the recording studio with four major talents who came together as a red-hot rock ‘n’ roll band for one unforgettable night.

 

Million Dollar Quartet is written by Tony Award nominees Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux and produced by Simon Friend and Mark Goucher. Olivier nominated Ian Talbot OBE, renowned for his tenure as both Artistic and Managing director at The Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park directs. Casting is to be announced.

 

Don’t miss your chance to be a fly on the wall of fame and history, and join in the celebration… atMillion Dollar Quartet!

 

Million Dollar Quartet is at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Mon 6 until Sat 11 March 2017, playing evenings at 7.30pm, matinees on Thu 2pm and Sat 2.30pm. Tickets from £16`.50 and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21.  Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge or book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

GHOST – THE MUSICAL

 

UNCHAINED AND REIMAGINED

A NEW MUSICAL PRODUCTION BASED ON THE MUCH-LOVED MOVIE MASTERPIECE

 

As previously announced singer and actress Sarah Harding will make her stage debut this autumn in Bill Kenwright’s new production of the timeless story of love, despair and hope: GHOST – THE MUSICAL. She will star as Molly opposite musician and actor Andy Moss, best known for the role of Rhys Ashworth in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, as Sam.

West End musical theatre star Jacqui Dubois (original London cast of Rent and Children of Eden,other credits include The Lion King, Fela and most recently People, Places and Things ) will join Sarah and Andy as ‘Oda Mae Brown’, the part made famous in the film by Whoopi Goldberg. Sam Ferriday (Jersey Boys, Blue Man Group, The Prodigals) will play ‘Carl’. Leo Sene will play ‘Willie’ andJames Earl Adair will haunt proceedings as the ‘Hospital Ghost’, alongside Gary Lee Netly as the ‘Subway Ghost’. Tarisha Rommick will play ‘Louise’ and Simbi Akande ‘Clara’. Completing the cast will be Lori Baker, Ethan Bradshaw, Lauren Drew, Matthew Vinetot, Mike Ward and Kelly Hampson.

Taking its inspiration from the classic movie, this innovative reimagining will feature an expanded book, new music and original staging, and will tour the UK this autumn, opening at the New Wimbledon Theatreon Thursday 1 September.

The Double Academy Award winning movie is a huge success story, both critically and at the box office, where it was the highest grossing film in the year of its release. It starred the late Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg and was directed by Jerry Zucker. Bruce Joel Rubin’s script won the Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay and Whoopi Goldberg won the Oscar® for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The film’s most iconic and moving scene was famously performed to The Righteous Brother’s Unchained Melody, which also features in the musical version.

Walking back to their apartment late one night a tragic encounter sees Sam murdered and his beloved girlfriend Molly alone, in despair and utterly lost. But with the help of a phony storefront psychic Sam, trapped between this world and the next, tries to communicate with Molly in the hope of saving her from grave danger…

 

Bill Kenwright said; “Ghost is a story full of hope, and is one of those films which never leaves you. The book by Bruce Joel Rubin and score by Dave Stewart and Glenn Ballad come together wonderfully in one of my favourite new musicals in years.”

 

Bruce Joel Rubin said; “This is a show with such a strong emotional and musical life that it can mould to many visions and interpretations.  It can be performed on any scale, and its vibrant heart will still captivate an audience and allows the imagination to flourish. It is purely theatrical in the greatest sense.  We are very excited by the potential that the new version holds and elated it will tour the UK with Bill Kenwright”.

C.S. LEWIS

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS

THE US HIT PRODUCTION

MAKES ITS EUROPEAN PREMIERE AT PARK THEATRE THIS CHRISTMAS

MAX MCLEAN, ORGINATOR OF THE ROLE, TO PLAY SCREWTAPE IN LONDON

 

 

The Screwtape Letters, the provocative and wickedly funny theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view, will play the Christmas season at Park Theatre from 8 December 2016 – 7 January 2017, with a press night on 9 December.

In the European premiere of the smash New York hit, The Screwtape Letters creates a morally inverted universe that reveals unseen spiritual powers and principalities in humorous, vivid and surprising ways.

“Clever and Satirical”

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Set in an eerily stylish office in hell, where God is called the “Enemy” and the devil is referred to as “Our Father Below”, the play follows His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape – Satan’s top psychiatrist due to his profound understanding of human nature – and his slavish creature-demon Toadpipe, as they train an apprentice demon, Wormwood, on how to ruin the life and damn the soul of an unsuspecting human on earth.

Max McLean returns to the role of Screwtape, which he originated and performed to sold-out audiences in New York City and across the U.S.

“One Hell of a Good Show”

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Along with The Chronicles of Narnia (including The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe), The Great Divorce andMere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters remains one of Lewis’ most popular and influential works. When first published in 1942 it brought worldwide fame to this little-known Oxford don including the cover of Time Magazine.

The idea for Screwtape came to Lewis after listening to Hitler’s Reichstag Speech on July 19, 1940, while it was simultaneously translated on BBC Radio. Lewis wrote, “I don’t know if I’m weaker than other people, but it is a positive revelation to me how while the speech lasts it is impossible not to waver just a little. . . . Statements which I know to be untrue all but convince me . . . if only the man says them unflinchingly.”

The Screwtape Letters was conceived and adapted for the stage by Max McLean and Jeffrey Fiske. McLean is Founder and Artistic Director of New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. Scenic Design is by Cameron Anderson, Costumes by Michael Bevins, Lighting Design by Jesse Klug and Original Music and Sound Design by John Gromada.