Richmond Theatre, Richmond – until 27th November 2021
Reviewed by Bobbi Fenton
4****
‘The Good Life’, inspired by the 1975 tv sitcom of the same name, is a hilarious play about the life of an almost ordinary couple living in Surbiton. Tom (Rufus Hound) has a midlife crisis sparked by his 40th birthday, which inspires him and his wife, Barbara (Sally Tatum) to become entirely self-sufficient, creating their own back garden farm. While neighbours and friends Margo (Preeya Kalidas) and her husband Jerry (Dominic Rowan) struggle at first to understand this new lifestyle, they soon experience it hands on when a dinner party at their house turns into a drug fuelled disaster.
Also, let’s not forget the amazing performance of multiple characters by both Nigel Betts and Tessa Churchard. The pair played a whole host of characters throughout the play, from the boss ‘Sir’ and his wife, to a milk woman and a policeman, among others.
The perfectly designed set consisted of two walls that turned around to show the settings of the Goods’ kitchen, and the Leadbetters’ living room and dining room, and included some very exciting pyrotechnics.
The show really captures the essence of a 1970’s sitcom, even for audience members that have never seen the original tv programme. I am sure that the younger audience members left the theatre wanting to find the original sitcom online. It is filled with perfectly timed jokes and innuendos that kept the audience chuckling along throughout.
The show ends with three exciting announcements from the Goods’, the Leadbetters’, and the Boss ‘Sir (Nigel Betts) and his wife (Tessa Churchard), which feel like a very satisfying end to the rollercoaster of events in the show. It is a wonderfully funny show, which will have you in stitches.
The Alexandra, Birmingham – until 27 November 2021
Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh
4****
Set in 1991, on mysterious Tuck Island, a strange arrangement of guests are invited to a dinner party under the impression that they will be dining with royalty. The irony being that they are kings and queens in their own right. After all, Death Drop is a night glittered with drag aristocracy.
Tensions rise as ego’s inflate, suspicions mount, secrets are revealed, and fingers are frantically being pointed (well those who have them) to avoid being labeled the murderer or worse still, having their questionable pasts or lack of talents exposed. One by one they are bumped off in the most spectacular style, until the truth is uncovered, and the murderer is revealed.
Death Drop is funny…no, I mean really funny. The production is so subtly well thought out, from puns to physical comedy, it’s all there. A real commitment to bringing the laughs to you in an immersive and inclusive way as the performers break the 4th wall and invite you into shady Shantay Manor.
Death Drop, written and performed by the sublime Holly Stars, is a murder mystery but its more than that. The humour is both light and dark, childish and extremely clever, occasionally catching you off guard and making you howl, much like myself and most of the audience were doing last night. There were also moments of downright filth but what else are you expecting from the Drag glitterati. The story was not always supposed to make sense, but that was part of the humour. You are meant to be in on the joke, to let go, sit back and be truly entertained. The static set is bright and opulent – it is everything. All the performers seemed to be enjoying themselves and relished the interplay with each other and the audience which added to the overall energy and excellent comic timing.
Drag stars Willam, Ra’Jah O’Hara, Holly Stars, Vinegar Strokes and Karen from Finance with a full cast of leading drag performers, brought this performance at the beautiful Alexandra in Birmingham to life, and then, unfortunately, to death!
Death Drop is a palooza of a production, a colourful whirlwind of wicked one-liners, a stellar cast of drag royalty and a nostalgic night out.
In the midst of the performance, the character of Drew asks “Who the f*** is Lindsay?” Well this Lindsay was reviewing the show and loving every minute.
Set on Sunset Strip in the 80’s – ish! Rock of Ages tells the love story between Drew (Luke Walsh) and Sherrie (Rhiannon Chesterman), both looking for fame but finding love. They both work at the Bourbon Room, owned by Dennis Dupree (Ross Dawes), ably helped by Lonny (Joe Gash). Throw into the mix father and son Germans Franz (Andrew Carthy) and Hertz (Vas Constanti) who want to knock down the Bourbon Room and City Planner Regina (Gabriella WIlliams) who fights their plans.
Obviously the path to true love never runs smoothly and singer Stacee Jaxx (Kevin Clifton) is one of the main obstacles. Causing a rift between Drew and Sherrie and forcing Sherrie to get a job stripping for Justice (Jenny Fitzpatrick) at her “Gentleman’s Club”
This musical is different though, not just rammed full of iconic rock songs but it breaks the 4th wall. Having seen Rock of Ages before, I can safely say that Joe Gash is the best Lonny I have seen. Hilarious and irreverent, he moves the story forward and flirts with the audience (see the aforementioned Lindsay, who was sat on the front row).
The entire cast have some amazing vocal chops, including dancer Kevin Clifton. But Jenny Fitzpatrick must have a special mention for her outstanding voice.
This is a show full of fun, it’s cheesy, it’s rude, it’s crude and it’s not for children but it is brilliant and an excellent night out. Catch it Darlington this week or find it on tour. Seriously – if you miss this show then you will have missed out
Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until November 27th 2021
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
You know you are in for a good performance when the audience spontaneously applauds the two lead characters when they first walk on stage and this was certainly true at last night’s performance of Private Lives. Without doubt, Nigel Havers as Elyot, and Patricia Hodge as Amanda, merited this reception. They display elegance, flair and excellent comic timing and charisma as the divorced couple who cannot live with or without each other. Nigel Havers has chosen the show that is often considered as Noel Coward’s masterpiece as the opening production for his newly-founded theatre company. It’s a sharp elegantly observed piece which comments on the relationships and morality of society’s upper classes of the period. Written in 1930 it’s a comedy of manners in three acts. I did wonder whether the script would be uncomfortably dated and whether Amanda and Elyot would be convincingly portrayed by Nigel Havers and Patricia Hodge as they are more than double the age Coward wrote Elyot and Amanda to be: 70 and 75.
However I needn’t have worried. Coward’s words still fizz with wit and the story and comedy is as relevant now as then. The chemistry between the two old flames is quickly established. Nigel Havers is suave and slick, cruel and rude as the self-obsessed Elyot. But it is Patricia Hodge who steals the show as Amanda. She is poised, elegant with such charm to her performance, showing that she is more than a match for the bullying Elyot. It is wonderful to see a role from that era where a woman holds her own as an equal to the male character. She has agency and power and isn’t just window dressing.
It’s interesting that they are so much older than the characters were written by Coward, but it works. There was much chortling amongst those of us in the audience of a certain age when Amanda turns down Elyot’s advances on the sofa on the grounds that they’ve had a heavy meal, and so he gets up in strop but is caught by a sudden leg cramp. Ah – the joys of middle-aged love… Natalie Walter is Elyot’s nice-but-dim new wife Sybil, naïve and clingy, who is terribly insecure about her new husband. I did find that Sybil’s voice is pitched so high it’s irritating and the stupidity of the character means that it is hard to feel very much sympathy for her. However I think she comes into her own at the climax of the play!
Dugald Bruce-Lockhart’s Victor is very dull, but is also likeable and brings spirit to the second half when he squares up to Elyot.
Coward’s script is full of caustic wit and sparkling dialogue; chemistry is needed between the actors to make it come to life. Christopher Luscombe’s direction shows the ebb and flow as Havers and Hodge bicker and bitch, stuck in a never-ending cycle of hatred and passion. Simon Higlett’s set provides a wonderful backdrop to the play. The first set is beautiful, opening with the façade of the honeymoon hotel with ornate wrought-iron balconies and stripy awnings, with the atmosphere created by subtle light, seagulls and music. He has also created a beautiful Parisian flat for Amanda with lovely Art Deco detailing and luxurious furniture.
The four members of the cast work well together and are all strong at their craft, bringing a demanding play to life, and portraying heightened emotions without overdoing it. There is so much to enjoy about this very entertaining revival, but it is Hodges’ wonderful performance that is worth the ticket.
Following the opening of new theatre space The POD in the heart of Covent Garden, Iris Theatre and Gartland Productions today announce the full casting for the world première of A Song for Christmas, written and directed by Alice Croft. Croft directs Richard Aaron (he/him) as Dad, Teddy Hinde (they/Them) as Marley and Sydnie Hocknell (she/her) as Ashden.
A Song for Christmas concludes the inaugural season of The POD, following SHUGA FIXX vs. The Illuminati by Guttersnipe Theatre, Relish Theatre and Poppy Pedder (23-27 November); Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by Charlotte Ellen (29 November – 4 December), and The Last Nativity by Eden Tredwell (6-11 December). There is also a series of one-night events throughout weekends in November and December, including That Could be a Sketch: Festive Edition from MonkeyMac (5 December); Bare Essentials: Christmas Crackers from Encompass Productions (20 December), and spoken word night Rhymes with Orange (21 December).
Gartland Productions and Iris Theatre present
A SONG FOR CHRISTMAS
Written and directed by Alice Croft
13-19 December at 3pm, 5pm, 7:30pm and 8pm
Featuring Richard Aaron (he/him) as Dad, Teddy Hinde (they/them) as Marley and Sydnie Hocknell (she/her) as Ashden.
It’s the night before Christmas and there are lessons to be learnt. Together, can we find the true meaning of the most wonderful time of the year?
Connect with all the family for this very special celebration of Christmas featuring a catalogue of much-loved festive music and stories from a multi-talented cast.
Richard Aaron (he/him) plays Dad. He is a recent graduate of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. His credits for theatre include Assassins (Finishing the Hat Productions) and Whistle Down the Wind (NYMT).
Teddy Hinde (they/them) plays Marley. They are currently studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2019-2022). Their theatre credits include Untapped,Roles We’ll Never Play (Union Theatre), and An Evening with Drew Gasparini on The Jetty (The Jetty/Turbine Theatre).
Sydnie Hocknell (she/her) as Ashden. She is a recent graduate of ArtsEd. Her theatre credits include The Pirate Queen (London Coliseum), Bring it On! The Musical (Southwark Playhouse), The Music of the Night (Royal Albert Hall) and To Gillie, With Love (Gillian Lynne Theatre).
Alice Croft (she/her) is the director and writer. She is a recent graduate of ArtsEd. Her credits include Graduates at Cadogan Hall (Cadogan Hall), Soapdish (MT Fest) and On the Town (Royal Albert Hall).
The perfect Christmas treat for the whole family, ground-breaking multi-media show The Nutcracker and Iis coming to the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds for four festive performances on 22 and 23 December.
Critically-acclaimed concert pianist Alexandra Dariescu has created the production to challenge the traditional concert format and reach out to new audiences who might not consider coming to a classical concert. The Nutcracker and I is a 50-minute live performance piece featuring a unique interaction between one pianist, one ballerina, and a spectacle of exquisite hand-drawn digital animations.
Dariescu has created her own personal take on the much-loved Christmas story which sees herself re-imagined as Clara: from little girl dreaming to concert pianist. On stage will be a grand piano, played by Dariescu herself, and a ballerina behind a see-through gauze screen. Projected onto the gauze and bringing the story to life are exquisite digital animations, all hand-drawn and created in advance by Yeast Culture. They follow the music and engage live with the pianist and ballerina as they ‘dance’ across the screen. The audience will feel like they are actually in the Nutcracker story.
Tchaikovsky’s beloved music features throughout and includes favourites such as Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Arabian Dance, Chinese Dance, Pas de Deux, and the Flower Waltz in 15 virtuosic arrangements by Mikhail Pletnev, Stepan Esipoff, Percy Grainger and three brand new variations by Gavin Sutherland.
Alexandra Dariescu says: ‘I believe my responsibility as a young artist is to reach out to as many people as possible and to build bridges for those new to classical music. I absolutely love what I do and realised early on that music is my calling, but I am also quite aware that we have to be ever more creative to engage, connect and communicate the beauty of our art to our audiences’.
Tickets for The Nutcracker and I at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds are on sale now and can be booked online at theatreleeds.com or by calling the Box Office on 0113 220 8008. Tickets are priced at £20 for adults and £10 for children.
Kwame Kwei-Armah, Young Vic Artistic Director, announces upcoming work for Spring 2022:
· The Collaboration, written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, explores the complex and captivating relationship between Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, starring Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany as the iconic artists.
· The Tony Award-winning Oklahoma! transfers to the Young Vic direct from an acclaimed run on Broadway and U.S. tour. Provocative and probing, this revival from Daniel Fish reimagines the show for the 21st century.
· Deirdre McLaughlin directs a show in the Clare Theatre as the 2021 Genesis Future Director Award recipient. The award forms part of the Young Vic’s commitment to nurturing artists as they explore their craft.
· Five Plays brings together five directors and five writers, to make five-minute plays. James Barnes, David Furlong, David Gilbert, Abigail Sewell and Khadifa Wong direct works by babirye bukilwa, Gael Le Cornec, Martin Crimp, Erinn Dhesi and Mufaro Makubika.
· Following over twenty years supporting early-career artists, the Young Vic’s Directors Program will be reimagined as the Creators Program, a home for multi-disciplinary, anti-disciplinary and hybrid artists.
· Creative Headspace #2 will see the Young Vic support up to 50 members of the Genesis Network with a paid opportunity to be creative on the Young Vic’s TikTok channel, with support and workshops on working in the medium.
Kwame Kwei-Armah said: “There is a moment at the beginning of every theatre show when you and your fellow audience take a collective breath before diving into a story that could change you or your perspective irrevocably. To my mind, the work and projects announced today channel this energy. As we offer them, I ask that together we take a breath, listen carefully, and be open to reimagining what we thought we knew.
Tony Award-winning Oklahoma! unlocks a fresh perspective on a great American musical, whilst The Collaboration invites us behind the iconography and fame, and inside the intimate friendship between two artists. These stories ask us to lean in closely and challenge our preconceptions.
At the same time, Sue Emmas and the Directors Program take an exciting new step: rebranding as the Creators Program. This new iteration innovates how we support anti-disciplinary and hybrid theatre-makers’ work and self-expression – as just one example, we launch Creative Headspace #2 by inviting artists to explore the medium of TikTok. We also take this moment to celebrate the 100 writers and directors who have participated in Five Plays, as we announce the latest group of artists to experiment with their craft in our house. Later next year Deirdre McLaughlin, our 2021 Genesis Future Directors Award recipient, will be supported to make a fully-resourced production at the Young Vic.
Across all our work, we safeguard our accessible ticket pricing model, despite the financial challenges of the last 18 months, with 10% of tickets going free to schools, community members who experience barriers to access and early-career artists. Our commitment to channeling our work in the digital space continues, and we will be sharing more information about how audiences around the UK and globally can join us soon.
So, I invite you to join us– whether you’re an artist, audience member or supporter – as together we take the bold step of inhabiting someone else’s world, receiving their perspective and being open to change. We’ll see you there as the lights go down – it’s going to be thrilling.”
The Collaboration
By Anthony McCarten
Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
16 February – 2 April 2022
Main House
“Boxers are like painters, both smear their blood on the canvas.”
New York, 1984. Fifty-six-year-old Andy Warhol’s star is falling. Jean-Michel Basquiat is the new wonder-kid taking the art world by storm. When Basquiat agrees to collaborate with Warhol on a new exhibition, it soon becomes the talk of the city.
As everyone awaits the ‘greatest exhibition in the history of modern art’, the two artists embark on a shared journey, both artistic and deeply personal, that re-draws both their worlds.
Paul Bettany (The Avengers, Wandavision) is the iconic Warhol and Jeremy Pope (Hollywood, Scandalous) plays the magnetic Basquiat in the world premiere of Anthony McCarten’s thrilling new drama, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.
The Collaboration is Written by Anthony McCarten, and Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, with Set and Costume Design by Anna Fleischle, Sound Design by Emma Laxton and Projection Design by Duncan McLean.
Further cast and creative team to be announced.
Relaxed Performance: 8 March, 7.30pm
Captioned Performance: 10 March, 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: 18 March, 7.30pm
The Collaboration goes on sale to Soul Mates and Friends 16 December 12noon.
Public booking opens 21 December 12noon.
The Bard SummerScape production of
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s
Oklahoma!
In association with Eva Price, Sonia Friedman Productions and Michael Harrison
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs
Original Choreography by Agnes de Mille
Directed by Daniel Fish
26 April – 25 June 2022
Main House
This is Oklahoma! as you’ve never seen it before, re-orchestrated and reimagined for the 21st century. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, Daniel Fish’s bold interpretation transfers to the Young Vic, direct from an acclaimed run on Broadway and a U.S. tour.
Oklahoma! tells a story of a community banding together against an outsider, and the frontier life that shaped America. Seventy-five years after Rodgers and Hammerstein reinvented the American musical, this visionary production is funny and sexy, provocative and probing, without changing a word of the text.
“A smashing Oklahoma! is reborn. Daniel Fish’s wide-awake, jolting and altogether wonderful production is thrilling!” – New York Times
Oklahoma! is Directed by Daniel Fish, with Orchestrations, Arrangements & Music Supervision by Daniel Kluger, Choreographyby John Heginbotham, Set Design by Laura Jellinek, Costume Design by Terese Wadden, Lighting Design by Scott Zielinski, Sound Design by Drew Levy, Projection Design by Joshua Thorson, and Casting by Jacob Sparrow, with Associate Director Jordan Fein, and Associate Set Designer Grace Laubacher.
Cast and additional creative team to be announced.
Audio Described Performance: 24 May 2022, 7.30pm
Captioned Performance: 9 June, 7.30pm
Oklahoma! goes on sale to Soul Mates 7 December 12noon, and Friends 16 December 12noon.
Public booking opens 11 January 2022, 12noon.
Deirdre McLaughlin is named the 2021 Genesis Future Directors Award recipient.
The Genesis Future Directors Award provides an early-career director with an opportunity to explore and develop their craft whilst creating a fully-resourced production in the Clare at the Young Vic, as part of the artistic programme. The award will provide Deirdre McLaughlin with mentoring and support from the theatre’s unique creative network, which includes Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, Associate Artistic Director Sue Emmas and Genesis Fellow and Associate Director Jennifer Tang.
Established in 2012, previous Genesis Future Director Award recipients include Diyan Zora, Dadiow Lin, Caitriona Shoobridge, Lekan Lawal, Debbie Hannan, John R. Wilkinson, Nancy Medina, Leo J. Skilbeck, Bryony Shanahan, Ola Ince, Rikki Henry, Tinuke Craig, Finn Beames, Matthew Xia and Ben Kidd.
Show title to be announced, with tickets on sale at a later date.
Due to the nature of the Genesis Future Directors Award, there will be no press night.
The Genesis Future Directors Award program is made possible by the Genesis Foundation.
Five Plays
Five Plays brings together five directors and five writers, to make five, five-minute plays. This year sees James Barnes, David Furlong, David Gilbert, Abigail Sewell and Khadifa Wong direct works by babirye bukilwa, Gael Le Cornec, Martin Crimp, Erinn Dhesi and Mufaro Makubika.
Five Plays is Designed by Shankho Chaudhuri, with Casting by Annelie Powell.
Five Plays was launched in 2013, and to date has worked with 100 writers and directors. Each iteration sees five writers writing a five-minute play, rehearsed and staged over five days with five different casts. Five Plays is just one of the ways the Young Vic works with early-career directors and theatre-makers to develop their craft.
Young Vic Creators Program
Sue Emmas, Associate Artistic Director of the YV and Creators Program lead, said: “When David Lan joined the Young Vic, he identified a need for directors training and established the Directors Program. For over two decades, the program has evolved and grown thanks to the extraordinary support of the Genesis Foundation, and we now support nearly 2,000 directors, designers and producers through the Network.
Since Kwame arrived at the Young Vic in 2018, we’ve been thinking about how the program can evolve to best articulate his vision for the Young Vic – one which supports and encourages the multi-disciplinary theatre-maker. How artists see themselves and how they want to make work is changing, and we want our artist development work to reflect that.
In early 2022, we launch the Creators Program as a space for multi- and anti-disciplinary artists.We expand scope of the existing program to match the breadth of skills of our members, and the aspirations they have for the future of theatre-making. The Creators Program will invite artists to cross art forms, and to take on a variety of roles within those forms. We want to continue to equip artists for the reality of today and the future. Many of the existing core strands of the program will continue – workshops, assistantships, making work through the Genesis Future Directors Award – but we will be thinking about the focus or lens through which we imagine these opportunities. We will continue to provide paid and free opportunities, but we will find ways for them to serve a wider range of skills and disciplines.”
Through the Creators Program we aim to:
· Celebrate multi and anti-disciplinary artists and processes
· Challenge and re-imagine future practice
· Support a wider range of opportunities for creating work
We will be building on and extending the legacy of our partnership with the Genesis Foundation who have provided leadership support for our talent development program over the past twenty years. The three vital offerings of the Genesis Network, the Genesis Fellowship and the Genesis Future Directors Awards will continue to provide exceptional opportunities for artists to develop their craft.
John Studzinski CBE, Founder & Chairman, Genesis Foundation, said: “Since 2003 the Genesis Foundation has made a substantial commitment to the Young Vic’s Directors Program supporting three vital strands: the Genesis Fellowship, the Genesis Future Directors Award and the Genesis Network. The original Genesis Directors Project was, and remains to this day, a pioneering initiative with few precedents around the world. Almost two decades on, our continued partnership has created a thriving and unparalleled program that will now engage with even broader and more diverse talent. We look forward to being part of the Young Vic’s new Creators Program alongside Esmée Fairbairn Foundation”.
We’d also like to welcome Esmée Fairbairn Foundation as a lead supporter of the Creators Program. All year-round creative activity – from workshops to public forums and discussions – will be made possible with their generous support.
Alison Holdom, Funding Manager – Arts and Heritage Lead, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, said: “Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is thrilled to be supporting the Young Vic’s Creators Program, a new approach to talent development which will equip a diverse generation of theatre artists from all backgrounds and disciplines with the skills, experience and networks that enable them to thrive.”
More information about the Creators Program, including the program of events, workshops and opportunities available to artists, will be shared in early 2022.
Creative Headspace #2
Creative Headspace #2 will see the Young Vic support up to 50 members of our Genesis Network with a paid opportunity to be creative on the Young Vic’s TikTok channel, with workshops and support around working in the digital medium.
Creative Headspace is designed to support early-career theatre-makers, and was created in response to the last year when opportunities for freelancers early in their careers have been reduced. This project, intended to be quick, informal and in the spirit of the medium of TikTok, follows on from the Young Vic’s first Creative Headspace initiative in January 2021, when 300 members of the Genesis Network were given paid opportunities to think about their craft and making theatre. This next iteration will encourage theatre-makers to experiment with the form of TikTok. The project forms part of the Creators Program mission of equipping artists for the reality of today and the future, including developing skills in digital arts and production.
This is a musical comedy from the writers of the Jersey Boys. Wednesday Addams has grown up and fallen in love with a boy Lucas from a respectable family. Wednesday entrusts her dad Gomez with the secret that her and Lucas are going to get married. Gomez has never kept any secrets from his wife Morticia and is torn between his loyalty to his wife or his daughter. The two families are to meet for dinner with funny consequences.
I had never watched the Addams Family on TV but had formed an own idea of what the musical would be like (thinking it would be really depressing and dark) and thought it wouldn’t really be the kind of musical I would normally watch but went with an open mind. How wrong could I have been. This was one of the most funny and enjoyable musicals you can see. The only downside for me was it was quite a long production at approximately 2 hours 30 minutes and the delay in it starting on time did mean it was quite late when it finished.
Wednesday played by Kingsley Morton was an absolutely amazing singer her vocals showed real talent.
Gomez (Cameron Blakely) portrayed his Spanish heritage very well and could not fault his vocals.
On this particular occaision Lucas was played by the understudy Matthew Ives but did a faultless show.
I really liked the Full Disclosure song and found myself getting into the swing of it. The part where Grandma (Valda Aviks) said I have weed myself was so funny.
My daughter particularly found Lurch (Dickon Gough) funny, how he managed to do everything so slow and his expression on his face did not move. The surprise at the end by his character was surprising and funny. Never did I imagine he could have sang like he did.
There was a minor blip when the coffin that Pugsley (Grant Mcintrye) was asleep in got stuck on the stage and the people moving the props struggled to get it off the stage for the next scene but this just added to the hilarity of the show.
The only part of the show that to me was a little long and I found could have been cut down a bit was Tango de Amor with Gomez and Morticia (Joanne Clifton).
All of the ensemble were excellent, brilliant dancing, singing and the excellent costumes all added to the show and they were equally as much a part of the production as the main characters.
One of the funny quotes that stuck in my head was by Gomez when he said “Wednesday is growing up so fast she will soon be Thursday”.
Overall an hilarious comedy which exceeded my expectations.
And it could be catastrophic for the workers on the chain gang, led by the inept rather than the knowledgeable. It’s also a metaphorical crack, a dysfunctional, fractured society struggling with regime change and the meaning of leadership.
Interruptions is a story that twists and weaves, flitting from one scenario to another, dealing with an election, followed by a military coup and its aftermath in a fictional communist country. The narrative isn’t linear, but one scene very much explains another, with rapid-fire changes of costume and a quick shift of the tables to mark the change of scene – along with some neatly choreographed dance routines, which also serve to lighten the mood. Propping is minimal – shifting tables, tablecloths, rope, basic utensils – but effectively used along with dramatic yet simple lighting and appropriate sound effects.
This may be a play about a communist country, but it’s not about communism per se, more about questions around leadership: Do we need to be led? How do we decide who leads? and what happens when there are no leaders? The message occasionally feels clunky, but it’s played with personality and passion by the young cast, some of whom are making their theatrical début.
This is the European début of Stephen Jeffreys’ play, first performed in California in 2001, adapted for a cast of six by director Guy Woolf. The six actors – Samarge Hamilton, Emily Pemberton, Aaron Douglas, Sarel Madziya, Nemide May and Loussin-Torah Pilikian – appear in each of the seven linked-but-separate scenes, mostly as completely different characters, so the demands on them are huge. Equally, demands are made of the audience to piece together this story of humanity learning to cope in a changing world.
As Woolf says: “For me, ultimately the play is about people just trying to get along together: they are doing their best to lead and be led while the turbulent events of the world unfurl and, yes, interrupt their lives. Sound familiar? After the last 18 months … this play is that much more timely, demonstrating the consistent relevance of the piece.”
represent. is a brand-new professional theatre company of people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, with a mission to open up the industry to those for whom it is currently inaccessible, and a redefinition of the repertory theatre model that provides a sustainable vehicle for both training and experimentation.
“There’s a crack in the mountain…” is a refrain that will be in your head all the way home.
“You’re lucky, he’s lucky. I’m lucky! WE’RE ALL LUCKY!” and the audience at Hull New Theatre certainly were watching this brilliant production!
I’ve seen the Rocky Horror Show quite a few times over the last 25+ years and this really was one of the best productions of it I’ve seen.
The cast, costumes, band, lighting and set were really fabulous. The cast seemed to be enjoying it just as much as the very vocal audience, who cheered, sang and danced along from the minute the curtains opened.
Audience participation is very much encouraged, with a lot of the audience dressed as their favourite character, stockings, feather boas and Basques in abundance!
The narrator (Philip Franks) holds the audience in the palm of his hand, batting back the heckling and banter from the audience with ease and brilliant comebacks particularly the comment about the upcoming panto which caused a lot of cheers!
Ore Oduba and Helen Flaherty are fabulous as the strait-laced Brad and Janet with such good singing voices. Kristian Lavercome as Riff Raff, Suzie McAdam as Usherette/Magenta and Lauren Ingram as Columbia are brilliantly with very strong voices and such good comic timing. Ben Westhead as Rocky and Joe Allen as Eddie/ Dr Scott are also brilliantly cast and so good to watch. Special mention also for the Phantoms: Reece Budin, Darcy Finden, Jordan Fox and Rachel Grundy. Swing Danny Knott and Swing/Dance captain Stefania Du Toit who are the glue that keeps the show together.
And what can be said about the main man himself, Frank N Furter played by the amazing Stephen Webb. One of the best Franks I’ve seen in a long time, strong singing voice, funny, great timing and acting, just marvellous!
The songs are what a lot of people will recognise Sweet Transvestite, The Time Warp being just two. The Time Warp had people up dancing in the first half, the music played by the brilliant band under the Musical Director Greg Arrowsmith.
To get the people of Hull up on their feet, for a standing ovation, on a cold Monday night shows how good it was.
If you go, go early and marvel at the dressed-up audience and take in the atmosphere. And me? I really enjoyed it, so I’m going back on Saturday to watch it again!
