Mayflower Theatre, Southampton – until Saturday 24th June 2023

Reviewed by Sally Lumley

4****

The show tells the story of Buddy Holly’s (Christopher Weeks) rapid rise to fame with his band The Crickets, fighting against the established country music scene to do “his music his way”. A lucky break, and meeting with music producer Norman Petty (Thomas Mitchells), leads to commercial success and an impressive catalogue of rock ‘n’ roll hits, before Buddy’s infamous plane crash just eighteen months later. The show relies more on the music than the backstory, and many of the songs are delivered as if we were in the audience of a real Buddy Holly show. While this works, we were left with lots of questions about who Buddy really was and would have liked to know more about him and his relationships with the people around him. However, using this approach does cleverly allow the show to include other hit songs and acts of the time including Ritchie Valens (Miguel Angel) and The Big Bopper (Christopher Chandler) who bought the house down with their performances; we were shaking our air maracas along in the crowd!

Christopher Weeks as Buddy Holly has the iconic voice down to perfection, and the moves to match, more than doing justice to the original. He was very capably supported by The Crickets, with the amazing multi-talented cast playing all the instruments live on stage, really helping to transport the audience back to a 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll concert. Joe Butcher on double bass was particularly impressive, showcasing some incredible moves while he played. Another crowd favourite was Thomas Mitchells who played multiple roles throughout the show, but particularly shining when he engaged with the audience as the MC of the Clearlake show, providing a naturally funny comic interlude.

Buddy – the Buddy Holly Story had the whole audience on their feet cheering for more. The show is a wonderful tribute to a rock ‘n’ roll legend and an entertaining night out for fans old and new

Blackpool Grand – until Saturday 24 June 2023

Reviewed by Debra Skelton

5*****

‘The Mousetrap’ by Agatha Christie is the longest running show in the world and has graced Blackpool Grand Theatre with its presence on the 70th Anniversary Tour. It first premiered in London in November 1952 with an estimation of the show lasting only 8 months but has been running ever since.

I was fortunate to see this in the West End so was curious to see how it would fare on a smaller stage and what I can only say is magnificent. This is a production that must not be missed and will keep you on your toes with twists and turns right to the very end.

This murder mystery is about the Ralston’s a newlywed couple (Rachel Dawson and Michael Lyle) who have transformed Monkswell Manor into a guesthouse and is opening for the very first time. On a stormy and snowy night, their guests arrive which include Christopher Wren (Shaun McCourt) an architect who is quirky, flamboyant and at times has an inappropriate sense of humour, Mrs Boyle (Catherine Shipton) a retiree who is strong-willed and challenges the other guests, Major Metcalf (Todd Carty) who is disciplined and good-natured and helps his hosts when he can, Miss Casewell (Leigh Lothian) an unfriendly character who has no interest in the opinion of others.

An unexpected guest, Mr Paravicini (Steven Elliot) arrives unannounced due to his car overturning on the road along with Detective Sgt Trotter (Garyn Williams) who claims that there is a murderer amongst them connected to a recent murder in London.

Trapped in the Manor, we begin to unravel the guests characters and pasts with light-hearted moments, comedic timing, hilarious scathing moments and dramatics which makes us wonder who the actual murder is.

The whole cast of this production were amazing and portrayed their characters so believingly, they really provided such an entertaining performance.

This production was produced by Adam Spiegel and directed by Ian Talbot OBE and Denise Silvey.

The show also needs special thanks to Sonic Harrison’s lighting design which kept true to a murder mystery and Mike Thacker’s sound design with howling sounds of the snowstorm and creaks of the old manor.

For me it was lovely to see that the set design has not changed since 1952 with stained-glass windows built by Splinter Scenery, wooden floors, and a stone staircase.

As with tradition with this show, the killer politely asked at the end to keep it a secret so if the suspense is killing you, then please go down and try to solve this whodunit yourself

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield – until 22nd June 2023

Reviewed by Sophie Dodworth

4****

Winnie the Pooh is in Sheffield on his forever hunt for honey, with his team of cute friends for all the children to come and see. Rockefeller Productions brings us this musical stage adaptation, in partnership with ROYO and in association with Disney Theatrical Productions. And what a fab job they have done. They opened in New York and smashed records there, so now are on the UK and Ireland tour.

The set is a typical Winnie scene, with trees, bees, home grown vegetables, ruffage and Christopher Robin opening the first scene. Follow the friends in Hundred Acre Wood as they make some new adventures and mischief together.

Using impressive life-size puppetry, the talented cast have quite a task on their hands. Especially Winnie played by Harry Boyd who has the most beautiful sounding, instantly recognisable Winnie voice. He operates the puppet on the stage constantly for the first 35 minutes (ish) while stooping over, his back must take quite a beating for this! But he executes all his lines and the songs perfectly. All the puppets in the production, were designed and made within the company by a team of talented artists and crafts people. Each puppet being built many times over to ensure they had the right look and correct movement. It really does add such magic to this show having intricately detailed puppets.

All the cast have fantastic musical theatre voices and some get to showcase these, with some of the great uplifting songs included. Some of the original songs written by Robert and Richard Sherman are featured: ‘Winnie the Pooh’, ‘The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers’ and ‘A Rather Blustery Day’.

All the cast are just great but a couple that need an extra mention are Laura Bacon for swapping between roles and having such a sweet singing voice, including featuring in some of the wonderful harmonies and Robbie Noonan for playing Tigger. He has energy oozing out of him which just brings Tigger to life.

A really cute, family show which evokes sweet memories of childhood.

Grand Theatre, Leeds – until 24^th June 2023

Reviewed by Katie Brewerton 

4****

The Commitments, based on Roddy Doyle’s novel and the film of the same namecomes to Leeds this week. Telling the story of Jimmy (James Killeen), who decides to put together a soul band formed from working class people in Dublin. After Outspan (Michael Mahony) and Derek (Guy Freeman) come to Jimmy asking for help with what sort of music they should play to help them become successful musicians he points them in the direction of soul. Jimmy finds a range of amateur musicians to bring together to form ‘The Hardest Working Band in Dublin’ and form ‘The Commitments’ who quickly become fan favourites. He works hard with the help of Joey ‘The Lips’ (Stuart Reid), a professional musician, to secure gigs for The Commitments and gets press and finally a record label to come and watch them play. But as their success begins to grow cracks begin to form with band members fighting amongst themselves and focusing on other things, including entering Eurovision, exams and Jazz music. 

Staring Nigel Pivaro (Terry Duckworth in Coronation Street) as Jimmy’s dad, this is a show truly full of soul, with an extensive range of fantastic songs including Proud Mary, River Deep, Mountain High and Mustang Sally. 

The encore saw everyone on their feet clapping along and the talent on stage was clear. Despite playing the unlikable Deco, Ben Morris was a clear favourite bringing humour to the stage as well as having a beautiful voice. 

With hit after hit of feel-good music this is a show that will have everyone up on their feet. With a wonderful cast of talented singers and musicians get your tickets now before it’s too late!

Theatre Royal, Newcastle – until 24th June 2023

Reviewed by Alex Sykes

4****

Having never seen the film (a mistake which I will correct after writing this review), and only having seen the musical once before, I was really looking forward to seeing the show tonight.

Set in Philadelphia during Christmas 1977, Sister Act tells the story of Dolores (Sandra Marvin who has amazing vocals), a night club singer, who has to hide out in a Convent after watching her boyfriend shoot someone. Although Dolores doesn’t get along with Mother Superior (Lesley Joseph, proving at 77, age is no barrier to physical comedy) to begin with, they eventually warm to each other, especially as Monsignor O’Hara (the hilarious Graham Macduff) doesn’t see the issue of Dolores living with the nuns.

Although Dolores disagrees with Convent life, she bonds with the other nuns after discovering they have a choir and she can help them to improve. Whilst helping the choir Dolores becomes good friends with Sister Mary Robert (Lizzie Bea), a young postulant who has limited experience of life outside the Convent walls.

The sets are basic but different lighting allows the stage to be transformed from the inside of the Convent to the police station where Dolores visits after watching the shooting which changes her life.

Although the songs are mumbled in some parts, they are catchy and make you want to sing along, especially when the nuns are singing Take Me To Heaven which works really well with the nun’s harmonies.

A brilliant night out which will make you smile and want to come back again and again.

Arcola Theatre, London – until 15 July 2023

Reviewed by Alun Hood

4****

The ongoing mania in theatre to make everything shorter – hence a 2 hour interval-free Romeo And Juliet at the Almeida, Tom Stoppard’s sprawling masterpiece Leopoldstadt returning as a (still powerful) one act drama post-pandemic and recently picking up the Tony Award for Best Broadway Play – means that occasionally a play can feel too brief to really flesh out the challenges it sets for itself. A case in point is Sasha Hails’s ambitious new piece Possession, which is so close to being a really great play but doesn’t give itself enough time and space to explore the fascinating and multitudinous issues it throws up. The list of trigger warnings almost feels longer than the second act of Oscar Pearce’s production.

I’m exaggerating of course, but there is a frustrating sense here of wonderfully rich seams of theme and story being sped up or under-explored just to bring the whole thing in at less than two hours total playing time. Hails’s characters are so engaging, her dialogue so real and riveting, that I could happily have spent up to another hour in their company.

According to a note in the published text, the play was borne from a sense of guilt the writer felt about wanting to continue to work after having a baby, and a further realisation that this was less a personal issue than a societal one. That alone is the basis of meaty drama but Hails goes further…much further. The play centres on four mothers: Kasamabayi, a Congolese immigrant who gives birth to her daughter Hope, who in turn becomes a mother before finishing school, on a London Transport bus, foreign correspondent Alice who is juggling single motherhood with a career on the most dangerous fringes of journalism, and another (non-fictional) Alice, the missionary Alice Seeley Harris, forced to leave her own children at boarding school in England at the beginning of the twentieth century while she and her husband worked in Congo, and whose photographic records of the atrocities and traumas inflicted on the native people by the colonising Belgian King Leopold form one of the earliest examples of a human rights campaign.

The play makes the intelligent equation between the rubber plantations where disobedient Congolese workers were randomly murdered or mutilated under the Belgians, and the present day cobalt mines in the region, where the rush for the blood mineral used in the manufacture of the phones, laptops and so on that keep the western world running, results in heinous human rights abuses to which big corporations seem happy to turn a blind eye. “We feed the world while we go hungry” cries justifiably angry Kinshasa-based young journalist David (Nedum Okoniya, playing multiple roles in a blazingly impressive professional debut). There is a rich and bitter irony in having modern day Alice (a devastatingly powerful Dorothea Myer-Bennett) deliver an impassioned to-camera speech about the injustice and accountability of the situation only to be interrupted by the sound of her own mobile going off.

The play goes on to consider rape as a method of weaponry in war, the legacy of human behaviour down the ages, collective responsibility, the potential conflict between religion and living an authentic life …it’s all here, and it’s vital, important stuff. It’s just too much for one short play to bear. I feel like Possession needs to go big, or go on the screen. Personally I could have lived without the soap operatic almost-romance between the two war zone journalists. Although beautifully played by Myer-Bennett and Milo Twomey, it adds little to the play as a whole and feels incongruous. Similarly, the sections where one of the characters, now dead, pontificates on the nature of life and living feel strangely undernourished yet overwritten.

Hails’s script switches between present day and nineteenth century Congo and London, and between the earthly plane and a higher one, with a refreshing boldness, matched by Pearce’s confident, dynamic direction, that feels part filmic and part ritual. The almost wordless opening section, which sees a distressed, displaced Kasambayi (Sarah Amankwah, utterly brilliant) going into labour atop a bus at Victoria while a kaleidoscope of London lives rushes around her, is a brilliant piece of staging (movement director: Tian Brown-Sampson), and the simple but striking set (by Sarah Beaton) of saffron coloured sheets (useful as screens for some unsettling examples of Alice Seeley Harris’s actual photographs) suspended over terra cotta coloured earth gives a credible impression of both heat and other-worldliness.

The cast are all superb, but it’s the women that get the greater opportunities to shine. Diany Samba-Bandza projects an innate niceness as well as a sense of frustrated wonder as the pivotal Hope, and also doubles exquisitely as Mercy, the child who tears apart many of Seeley Harris’s beliefs and preconceptions with that matter-of-fact carelessness kids can have. Ms Samba-Bandza looks like a star waiting to happen. Amankwah is so convincing as the fierce yet resigned, and ultimately totally admirable, Kasambayi, that it barely feels like acting. Myer-Bennett is equally astonishing, giving each Alice a rich inner life, and she movingly conveys the conflicts between being a mother and a relevant citizen in the world. The showdown (actually more of a walk-over) scene between Amankwah’s Kasambayi and Myer-Bennett’s modern Alice is quite something to witness.

Given the immensity of the drama and the themes, it’s surprising perhaps how much humour Hails has managed to weave into this already intricate tapestry. It’s a very welcome addition. All in all, a play this ambitious is unlikely to be without its flaws and purple patches, but it’s an impressive achievement, and gives audiences much to think about after. I just wanted more of it!

Almeida Theatre – until 29 July 2023

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

5*****

Rebecca Frecknall’s magic touch continues to find fresh wonder in classic plays. Her production of Romeo and Juliet is a feast for the eyes, ears and soul. The 2-hour running time with no interval may sound daunting, but the time flies past as the story of the young lovers builds to its tragic conclusion.

The prologue is not spoken, instead projected onto a sandy wall that the cast pushes over to become their stage and the action starting with a fight between the warring factions. Frecknall includes the glorious Prokofiev ballet music throughout, with extraordinarily moving and detailed choreography that enhances the idea of the characters as puppets without resistance or agency trapped in the unending cycle of violence and vengeance in Verona.

Shakespeare’s beautiful text is delivered naturally and fiercely by the younger cast, with the older generation appearing less hot-headed but the hatred seeping through each generation onstage. A world-weary Friar Lawrence (Paul Higgins – magnificent) and Nurse (Jo McInnes – wonderfully exasperating and emotional) become more of a focus in this production with their well-meaning but deadly plans for Romeo and Juliet. The adaptation is masterful, with the cuts made enabling the plot to feel like an unstoppable plummet towards doom. This Romeo and this Juliet are both modern and completely timeless.

The characters sometimes freeze in their dance poses or fall to the floor as a scene takes place around them. Characters also sit watching at the side of the stage or wander across stage during a scene, creating a dreamlike, but still urgent atmosphere. Isis Hainsworth is heart-breaking as Juliet in a spellbinding performance. A true teenager, shouting and railing against her lot. This fierce and furious outlook dissolves into a lost and lonely child as she sits silently between scenes, and her grabbing her chance of love and joy with Romeo has never been more understandable. Toheeb Jimoh’s Romeo is sweet and funny, a decent, loyal lad being pulled inextricably into the gang warfare and ruining his life with one act of fatal violence. Jimoh impresses with a finely nuanced performance.

Jamie Ballard’s manages to be vile and pathetic at the same time – his Capulet is the poster boy for fragile-egoed alpha males, monstrous and vicious to his child when she dares to defy him and his reputation is in danger. Jack Riddiford’s fantastic Mercutio is suitably mercurial, with impish charm and fatalistic mockery in every word and gesture.

One of the best plays you will see this year, Romeo and Juliet is fresh, smart and moving with a breathtakingly moving climax that will haunt you. The must see show of the summer.

Gielgud Theatre – booking until 2 September 2023

5*****

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Another brilliant transfer from the National Theatre, The Crucible is as relevant and thought provoking as ever. Director Lyndsey Turner evokes the claustrophobic, isolated atmosphere of Salem on Es Devlin’s imposingly stark set with its rain curtain, and Tim Lurkin’s lighting design ominously marking the passing of time.

The Salem witch trials are ingrained in American history. The accusations of witchcraft and testimonies of a group of young girls saw 19 people hanged and many others imprisoned and the mood of paranoia and truth twisting was raw when Arthur Miller wrote the play surrounded by the damage done by McCarthy’s Anti-Communist campaign.

Miller frames the origins of the girls’ accusations around the jealous longings of a young girl spurned by her married employer, but the adults seize on the idea of witchcraft and soon petty rivalries and feuds become the driving force, with the girls merely a haunting silent presence at the back of the stage. In this production, it is very clear that the children have become handy instruments in the persecution of anyone not conforming to the Salem elders’ standards. The court scenes are wonders of cyclical thinking as Deputy Governor Danforth (Matthew Marsh) and the court officers issue warrants for anyone speaking out against the trials, as they must surely be against God.

The actors playing the girls are a wonderful ensemble, childlike and side-lined individually, but spellbinding and eerily powerful as a group. Milly Allcock is a sympathetic Abigail Williams, old enough to love John Proctor, but still a child emotionally and relishing her newfound voice and power. Allcock stands statue-like, used to being ignored, as Abigail listens to the men, and her sudden physicality when under stress or “enchantment” is marvellously affecting. Brian Gleeson is wonderfully tortured as John Proctor, the guilt of his affair with Abigail hanging over his head in every interaction with his wife (Caitlin FitzGerald). The pivotal confession of his sin with Abigail and the “my name” scenes are gut wrenching as Gleeson physically unravels onstage in a magnetic performance. Tilly Tremayne, Colin Haigh and Karl Johnson are delightful as the older townspeople caught up in the witch trials, providing much of the humour and common sense in the play. Fisayo Akinade also impresses with his finely nuanced performance as Reverend John Hale, dedicated and sure of his cause when he first comes to Salem, but a broken man as he realises what he has helped put in motion.

Powerful and urgent, The Crucible is a sublime production.

Theatre Royal, Windsor – until 22 July 2023

Reviewed by Joanna Huggett

5*****

We had the pleasure of watching ‘Frank and Percy’, written by Ben Weatherill, at the
Theatre Royal Windsor, a comedy about friendships, relationships, reflection,
confrontation, and everywhere in between.

Whilst out walking their dogs, Frank, played by Roger Allam, a widower and straight
Yorkshire man, dry and passive, chances upon Percy, played by Ian McKellen, proudly gay,
very much provocative and full of conflict. Frank’s dog Toffee, a Spaniel, and Percy’s dog
Bruno, a Labrador (previously known as David), feature in the dialogue and support the
comedy seamlessly.

The play rotates wonderfully between the park, a restaurant, Percy’s flat, and a GP
surgery – and back again – using the same stage and a mixture of backdrops and lighting
changes.

Throughout their many dog-walking meets, we learn that Frank is not as straight as we
originally thought, and Percy is not as confrontational as he tries to behave, while the two
reflect on the past and deal with the present, a romance begins to develop.

McKellen provides the comedy and extravagant LBGTQ representation while Allam is dry
and deadpan. A couple portraying such a wide contrast of opinions, backgrounds and
perspectives, you could not imagine any common ground between them, but they are so
much more alike than we could ever imagine.

A superb duo, exemplary acting, and an altogether enjoyable evening out in Windsor, go
see it you will love it, but leave Fido at home.

Tour dates announced for Hope Mill Theatre’s new production of punk rock musical LIZZIE

• Show premieres in Manchester from Friday 1^st to Saturday 30^th September 2023 before selected Autumn/Winter regional dates

• Includes Off West End run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from Thursday 26^th October to Saturday 2^nd December

• Lauren Drew, Maiya Quansah-Breed, Shekinah McFarlane & Mairi Barclay to star alongside just announced covers Ayesha Patel and Emma Louise Hoey

Tour dates have been announced for Hope Mill Theatre’s eagerly-anticipated new production of the punk rock musical LIZZIE, whichwill premiere in Manchester this September before touring.

LIZZIE explores the life of Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in the late summer of 1892.

The punk rock musical, which premiered in New York in 2009, delves into Lizzie’s complex psyche and speculates on the motivations she may have had: loss of inheritance, history of sexual abuse, oppression, and madness. Lizzie, along with her older sister Emma, maid Bridget, and neighbour Alice, bring to life the infamous story supported on stage by an all-female band.

LIZZIE will be directed and choreographed by Hope Mill Theatre co-founder William Whelton, and has music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt, lyrics by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner and a book by Tim Maner.

The show will premiere at Hope Mill Theatre from Friday 1^st to Saturday 30^th September before touring to Dukes Lancaster from Thursday 5^th to Sunday 8^th October, Junction Goole from Thursday 12^th to Saturday 14^th October, Trinity Arts Centre from Tuesday 17^th to Saturday 21^st October and New Theatre Peterborough from Wednesday 6^th to Saturday 16^th December.

Lizzie will also have an Off West run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from Thursday 26^th October to Saturday 2^nd December

Lauren Drew (SIX, Legally Blonde, The Voice) will play Lizzie, Maiya Quansah-Breed (SIX, Rent)is Alice, Shekinah McFarlane (SIX, Parade, The Voice) will play Emma, and Mairi Barclay (Pippin, Mother Goose) will take the role of Bridget. Joining the cast is Ayesha Patel (Broken Wings) as cover Bridget and Emma, and Emma Louise Hoey (Club Mex) as cover Lizzie and Alice.

LIZZIE will perform at West End Live on Saturday 17^th June.

Lizzie is Rage! Sex! Betrayal! Bloody Murder!

LIZZIE has swung her axe in over 60 cities, in 6 countries, in 5 languages, across 4 continents and has been honoured with dozens of awards including 8 Best Musical Awards! (and she’s still swinging…)

Produced by Hope Mill Theatre, Director/Choreographer William Whelton, Set and Lighting Design Andrew Exeter, Musical Supervision Katy Richardson, Associate Choreographer Yandass Ndlovu. Video Design Dan Light, Musical Direction Honor Halford-Macleod, Costume Design Rachel Tansey, Sound Design Adam Fisher and Casting by Pearson Casting CDG CDA CSA.

Music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt

Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner

Book by Tim Maner

Additional Music by Tim Maner

Additional Lyrics by Alan Stevens Hewitt

Based on an original concept by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner

Orchestrations by Alan Stevens Hewit

LIZZIE is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC. (www.broadwaylicensing.com).

LISTINGS

Hope Mill Theatre Manchester

Tuesday 1^st to Saturday 30^th September 2023

Dukes Lancaster

Thursday 5^th to Sunday 8^th October

https://dukeslancaster.org/whats-on

Junction Goole

Thursday 12^th to Saturday 14^th October

Trinity Arts Centre, Gainsborough

Tuesday 17^th to Saturday 21^st October

https://trinityarts.co.uk/whats-on/

Southwark Playhouse (Elephant)

Thursday 26^th October to Saturday 2^nd December

New Theatre Peterborough

Wednesday 6^th to Saturday 16^th December