Tabard Theatre 29 March – 23 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Sacha Bush’s new translation of Feydeau’s classic farce is a whirlwind of madcap laughs and lunacy. The opening number – Flight of the Conchords “Foux du Fafa” meets Sondheim – sets the ludicrous tone for the evening and the wonderful nonsense that follows.

Parisian lady Raymonde thinks that her husband Victor is having an affair so, with the help of Lucienne, she sets up a honey trap to lure him to the Frisky Puss hotel and catch him in the act. Victor, however thinks that the letter must be for his friend Tournel and sends him instead. Doppelgangers, spinning beds and a hot headed Spanish husband combine to create a gloriously daft second act.

The fantastic cast are hysterical in their roles, Jamie Birkett is a very unsettling Dr Finache, and the moustache gimmick is a triumph. Rachel Dawson’s Lucienne is straight out of Chelsea and as Raymonde, Haley Catherine’s little tantrums are delightful. Dominic Brewer does befuddled brilliantly as Victor and Poche, Clark James’ Carlos is a superbly OTT Spanish stereotype, and Richard Watkins nearly dislocates his jaw as sweet Camille, and is wonderfully slimy as the hotelier dishing out cartoon beatings like the lovechild of Fawlty and Walliams.

The set and lighting design is cleverly cheesy, and fits the show perfectly. The use of lighting and music to highlight certain characters didn’t lose its novelty. The strobe lighting effects during the “action” sequences is great, adding a Keystone cops feel to the evening.

The pace of Alex Sutton’s production is frenetic and sometimes chaotic, with the cast sharing the roles of the remaining characters, depending on which major character is already on stage. The cast’s reactions to technical mishaps – flying moustaches, broken knobs and a jammed door – were brilliantly in character. Even after lots of drilling and banging in the interval, that door wouldn’t open! But the feeling that the production is teetering on the knife-edge of disaster just makes this show even funnier.

If you are looking for an evening of escapism and laughter, then this is the show for you.

Hannah Elsy Productions presents:

Theatre N16 4 – 14 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

I fear I’ve become a jaded old lady.

When John Patrick Shanley wrote the play in the 1980s, this may well have been a hard hitting piece. But since then, every writer wanting to be taken seriously has churned out something about two “broken characters finding redemption in each other”. It may be that I have seen far too many of those plays and films, or watched an unhealthy amount of Jerry Springer whilst at uni, to see two Americans provoking, shouting at or fighting with each other and actually care about them.

Danny is a violent thug called the Beast by his workmates, who only finds peace when he’s beating the living daylights out of someone, and Roberta is a divorced mother living with her parents and hiding her “crime”. Neither thinks they deserve happiness or love, and then they spend the night together.

The Apache Dance sequence of violence and sex is interesting, but the most successful scenes show the fanciful couple planning their wedding. Shanley writes much better tender scenes than violence, and the cast excels in the moments of gentle sweetness. Danny’s outbursts are petulant and pathetic rather than intimidating, and become predictable, with each incident better signposted than most London roundabouts. Gareth O’Connor gives his all in the role, as does Megan Lloyd-Jones as Roberta, but the characters are written as if Shanley wanted to include as many audition pieces for young actors as he could in one play. It’s just too much self-absorbed angst that makes the characters irritating rather than sympathetic, and you switch off. I have been to this theatre many times, but this is the first time I have ended up counting the trains as they passed.

SHEFFIELD THEATRES APPOINTS

ROBERT HASTIE AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Sheffield Theatres today announces the appointment of Robert Hastie as the company’s new Artistic Director. Hastie takes up the position in July 2016, taking over from Daniel Evans who steps down as Artistic Director at the end of June to join Chichester Festival Theatre. This appointment sees Hastie return to Sheffield Theatres, where he began his professional theatre career as an actor in Edward Bond’s Lear in 2005.

Robert Hastie said today, “I am overjoyed to have been asked by the Board of Sheffield Theatres to be their next Artistic Director. The Crucible, the Lyceum and the Studio together constitute one of the finest theatre complexes in Britain. Their reputation has been strengthened under the inspired leadership of Daniel Evans and Dan Bates, as a destination for audiences from both near and far who come in search of brilliant theatre and have their hopes more than fulfilled.

“As a Yorkshireman, I am hugely looking forward to contributing to the cultural life of this great city. My first theatre job out of RADA was onstage at the Crucible, acting in a production of Edward Bond’sLear. It’s wonderful to be returning here as Artistic Director to lead such an exceptional team.  I could not be happier or prouder.”

Daniel Evans said today, “I’m truly delighted the board has appointed Rob as the next artistic director of Sheffield Theatres. It’s a glorious organisation with a glorious team, and knowing that I am leaving the company in Rob’s hands, means I know the company’s future at the forefront of UK theatre is assured. Sheffield has a tradition of actors turned directors at the helm – it’s a combination that I believe draws the best from people from across the company. Rob will be no exception, and I wish him every success as he begins his tenure.”

Chair of the Board Lord Bob Kerslake commented, “I am very happy to confirm that Rob Hastie will join Sheffield Theatres as our new Artistic Director. Rob’s talent, his passion for the organisation and his vision for the company’s work made him the perfect choice for the role. I am thrilled that he has agreed to join us as we embark on our next exciting chapter.”

Robert Hastie was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

He most recently directed the Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the inaugural production in Artistic Director Tamara Harvey’s first season at Theatr Clywd. He is Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse, where his recent work includes acclaimed productions of My Night With Reg by Kevin Elyot (also West End – Hastie was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards; and the production was nominated for Best Revival at the Olivier Awards), and Splendour, by Abi Morgan. Hastie recently completed the first stage of the Donmar Warehouse’s ten year long My Mark project with Michelle Terry, undertaking and filming interviews in schools nationally to document the views of those eligible to vote for the first time in the 2025 general election. He will reunite with Terry later this year, when he directs her as the title role in Henry V at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

His other directing credits include Carthage, Events While Guarding The Bofors Gun (Finborough Theatre), Sunburst (Holborn Grange Hotel), Sixty-Six Books: In The Land Of Uz, Middle Man, David and Goliath, Snow In Sheffield and A Lost Expression (Bush Theatre).

As an actor, his work included productions with the National Theatre, RSC, Chichester Festival  Theatre, Glasgow Citz, Cheek by Jowl, Frantic Assembly, Northampton Royal & Derngate, Headlong, Birmingham Rep, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith, Derby Playhouse, Playful Productions, Liverpool Playhouse, as well as Sheffield Crucible.

www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Twitter: @crucibletheatre @SheffieldLyceum

Instagram: sheffieldtheatres

Hannah Johnson Productions presents:

CHART THE RISE OF A VOCAL LEGEND IN TOM. A STORY OF TOM JONES. THE MUSICAL

AT THE LYCEUM

Hear the story of the Voice of the Valleys in TOM. A Story of Tom Jones. The Musical at the Lyceum Theatre from Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 April.

Step back in time to the dance halls, working men’s clubs and recording studios of the ‘60s where the legend of Tom Jones was born: a Valleys boy with a heart-stopping voice who dreamed of making the big time, no matter what it took.

This inspirational story of self-belief and determination is performed live on stage by a phenomenal cast of actors and musicians, celebrating an ordinary man with an extraordinary talent who became a superstar on a world stage.

Featuring hits of the era including ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’, ‘Spanish Harlem’ and ‘Lucille’, we track Tom’s climb to stardom. Ending with some the hits that made him one of the most charismatic stars of the day: ‘It’s Not Unusual’, ‘Delilah’, ‘Green, Green Grass of Home’, ‘What’s New Pussycat’ and more.

TOM. A Story of Tom Jones. The Musical is at the Lyceum Theatre from Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 April.  Tickets can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk and are priced from £19.00 – £35.00 (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash).  Family tickets and discounts are available.

Plane Paper Theatre presents:

CHOIRS TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE IN NATIONAL THEATRE WALES’

BEFORE I LEAVE

THE COMPANY’S NEXT PRODUCTION IS WRITTEN BY PATRICK JONES AND DIRECTED BY OLIVIER-NOMINATED MATTHEW DUNSTER, AND WILL CELEBRATE THE GROWING NUMBER OF DEMENTIA CHOIRS IN WALES

National Theatre Wales’ next production, Before I Leave, will be a moving and uplifting production written by Patrick Jones and directed by Matthew Dunster (who directed the multi-award-winning Mametz for NTW in June 2014). It will feature covers of well-known songs by artists ranging from Tom Jones to the Sex Pistols, plus a new song by Nicky Wire and James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers, and will be performed at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff.

Before I Leave is inspired by Patrick’s work with the Cwm Taf choir in Merthyr, which is supported by the Alzheimer’s Society. Its members have shared much of their time and experiences with Patrick, helping him to write a play that is both a celebration of the restorative, co-operative joys of choir singing and a call to arms for a renewed sense of collective responsibility. Touching on the current, urgent calls for better mental health care as well as battles as far back as the miners’ strike, this angry but ultimately heartwarming production wears its politics on its sleeves, but marches to the beat of some of our best-loved songs.

In Merthyr, people who are losing themselves find each other in a choir for individuals living with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Joe is too young, this shouldn’t be happening to him; Dyanne battles to hold on to the man she married.
Evan and Rocky fight a 30-year-old fight – the miners’ strike may be long gone, but the scars remain as the memories jumble and fade.
Ex-librarian and mezzo-soprano Marge has lost her voice. Perhaps only the choir can help her get it back.
And Isabelle won’t let her spirit be locked away and forgotten in a care home that she thinks doesn’t care at all.

The company are recruiting a community choir of singers aged 65+ who will sing a repertoire of well-known songs ranging from Johnny Cash to Queen, in the production. The professional cast of 12 actors is to be announced.

Before I Leave is part of Festival of Voice – a new international arts festival in Cardiff this June. Created by Wales Millennium Centre and supported by Colwinston Charitable Trust, the Arts Council of Wales and Cardiff Council. For more information, go to: https://festivalofvoice.wales

I’ll Sing This Song

Alongside the production, National Theatre Wales TEAM* with the kind support of the Baring Foundation and four lead artists, are working with three choirs of singers with dementia across Wales, in a project called I’ll Sing This Song.
Before I Leave’s writer Patrick Jones has teamed up with filmmaker Kym Epton, photographer and designer Paul Thomas and musician Ben Tinniswood to teach existing dementia choirs in Wrexham, Barry and Brecon to sing I’ll Sing This Song (the new song written by Nicky Wire and James Dean Bradfield for the production).
The team will make a short film about the choirs’ experience, which it is hoped will become a useful digital resource for other choirs with dementia.
Patrick will continue to work with all three choirs after the production has closed, on songs of their choosing.

Patrick Jones said: “This play is a testament to the healing power of song. All of us can remember a song that meant so much to us at a certain point in life. First love, lost love, the best summer or the loneliest winter. We mark out our lives with music. In the fog and confusion of dementia, hearing a particular song can ignite a forgotten flame that, for a moment, lights the way towards a peaceful safe place where smiles are reborn.

“I have worked with and visited many choirs during the period of writing Before I Leave and never failed to shed a tear, see my own life reflected, burst into laughter or share a common humanity with its members. The other day, I asked members of the Wrexham choir what singing meant to them. One lady who had been silent throughout said, ‘Singing brings us to life’.”

Writer Patrick Jones’ plays include Everything Must Go, Unprotected Sex, Revelation andDeliver Us From Evil. His books include The Guerilla Tapestry, Fuse and Darkness is Where the Stars Are. His CDs include Commemoration and Amnesia and Tongues for a Stammering Time.Patrick toured with Billy Bragg in 2009 for his 25th anniversary tour of The Miner’s Strike, andwrote an updated version of Idris Davies’ The Bells of Rhymney for Radio 4/Radio Wales’ The Sad Bells of Rhymney. He has been poet in residence at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff and was recently involved in poetry projects at Greenhill Manor Nursing Home (Specialist Care for Dementia patients) and Talygarn Mental Health Unit as well as working in Swansea, Usk and Parc Prisons.Patrick has also worked alongside Hafan Cymru, The Alzheimer’s Society and St David’s Foundation Hospice Care.

Director Matthew Dunster has directed, written and acted for many theatres in the UK and internationally; for National Theatre Wales he directed Mametz in 2014. Recent work includes directing: Hangmen (Royal Court and West End) which has been nominated for three Olivier Awards, Liberian Girl (Royal Court), The Seagull, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Open Air Regent’s Park), Love’s Sacrifice (RSC), The Lightning Child and Doctor Faustus (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Love Girl & the Innocent, You Can Still Make a Killing (Southwark Playhouse), Before the Party (Almeida), A Sacred Flame (English Touring), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Royal Exchange Manchester), Mogadishu (Royal Exchange, Manchester and Lyric Hammersmith), The Most Incredible Thing (Sadler’s Wells) and The Two Gentleman of Verona(Royal & Derngate, Northampton). As a writer, his credits include Children’s Children (Almeida)and You Can See the Hills (Royal Exchange Manchester).

#NTWbefore
@ntwtweets

Full listings information:

BEFORE I LEAVE
National Theatre Wales with Wales Millennium Centre
Writer: Patrick Jones
Director: Matthew Dunster
Designer: Anna Fleischle
Video Designer: Dick Straker
Musical Director: Dyfan Jones
Lighting Designer: Joe Fletcher
Sound Designer: Ian Dickinson for Autograph
Costume Designer: Angharad Matthews
Associate Musical Director: Greg Palmer
Cast: to be confirmed

Dates: 27th May-11th June, see performance schedule below
Venue: Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road, Cardiff CF24 4YE

* Audio Described and captioned
^ Post-show Q&A
† Relaxed performance

Box Office: www.shermancymru.co.uk
By phone: 029 2064 6900

Tickets: £15-£25
Previews (27th-30th May): £12-£20
Concessions: £2 off
Under 25s: Half price

Contains strong language

THE BUSKERS OPERA

A BRAND NEW BRITISH MUSICAL BY DOUGAL IRVINE

CROWDFUNDING SCHEME LAUNCHED TO SUPPORT

PARK THEATRE’S FIRST EVER RELAXED PERFORMANCE

AND TO GIVE TICKETS AWAY TO LOCAL AND REGIONAL CHARITIES

PRESS NIGHT TO COINCIDE WITH LONDON’S MAYORAL ELECTION ON 5 MAY

DAVID BURT AND COMEDIAN SIMON DYLAN-KANE COMPLETE CAST

AS ‘JEREMIAH PEACHUM’ AND ‘MAYOR LOCKITT’

London 2012. The world is watching. Can the city deliver the greatest Olympics ever? Pulling the strings is media mogul, broadcaster and puppet master, Jeremiah Peachum. Together with his star of the show, Lockitt, the Mayor of London, they are perfectly placed to capitalise on Team GB’s gold and drive their political agenda across the finish line. Enter satirical street busker Macheath and his gang of dissenters ‘The Ninety Nine Percenters’…

The producers of The Buskers Opera, a brand new musical by Dougal Irvine (Departure Lounge, Laila, Britain’s Got Bhangra) and Park Theatre are today announcing the first ever ‘relaxed’ performance at Park Theatre, to take place on Thursday 2 June 2016. The Producers of the show have launched a unique crowdfunding scheme in order help deliver this relaxed performance alongside their Arts Matter – Pass It On ticketing scheme, which will see at least a hundred tickets a week distributed to charities, youth groups and outreach programmes in the local area and around London. The Buskers Opera opens at Park Theatre on 28 April and plays until 4 June, with a press night on 5 May – the date of London’s mayoral election.

Producer Michael Peavoy said, “Very early on in the early development stages of The Buskers Opera it was clear that a piece of theatre about society, that asked questions of us all and how we operate, had to involve everybody. I knew we had to make sure that all felt welcome to take part in that conversation and question with us regardless of their personal or financial circumstance.

Four years on, we hope we’re now making small steps toward achieving that goal. If we manage to get even a handful of people in to the theatre that otherwise wouldn’t have come, and we can give them a top class show that makes them think about the world, or even forget about the world for a few moments – then we’ll have done our job. Theatre is an incredibly powerful thing, that’s why we believe wholeheartedly that art matters and the best thing we can do is to pass it on. Hopefully there are enough people out there that will agree with us, get involved with our crowdfunding efforts and help us pass on some tickets, and come along to enjoy the show.”

Musical theatre legend David Burt –the original revolutionary ‘Enjolras’ in Les Miserables in 1985 – joins the cast as ‘Jeremiah Peachum’, alongside comedian Simon Dylan-Kane (best known for regular appearances on Radio 4’sJohn Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme), who’ll play ‘Mayor Lockitt’.