Orpheus in the Underworld is a satirical comic operetta by Jacques Offenbach. It’s a spoof take on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this version, by the Stanley Opera, Orpheus is a pompous violin teacher who is glad his wife is whisked away to the underworld, by Pluto, the god of Hell. He is forced by his mother, Calliope, and the villagers into rescuing Eurydice. Calliope and Orpheus set out for Mount Olympus to lodge a complaint before the Gods. The Gods are bored with Jupiter’s philandering ways and tyrannical leadership, so they decide to visit Hell to have some fun and see what Uncle Pluto has been up to. During the visit, Jupiter discovers Eurydice and, with the assistance of cupid, attempts to seduce her whilst disguised as a fly. Upon discovery, Jupiter, is chastised by Juno, Pluto is unmasked as a cad and Orpheus is set the task he is destined to fail. Eurydice is given the choice of any man she might choose and makes a rather surprising decision.
This rendition of Orpheus in the Underworld is a rip-roaring romp of a production. Brought to us by Stanley Opera which was formed in 1972 and performed in the beautiful Hinckley Concordia theatre which opened in 1973, this fresh libretto by Nick Bacon and Adam Lawrence is chock full of comedy. Doubling up as directors, they pack this piece full of imagination, locally referenced gags, panto like audience inclusion and the wholesome feel-good factor. Keeping it true to the story, they have added a wonderfully welcome twist of female empowerment.
Rick Scrine has created the most delightful set design. Staging 3 acts, simple but effective, colourful and rich in detail. Amping up the visual jokes where appropriate, with a pull-out sun, Icarus’s horse and a magnificent hot air balloon arduously pushed on by an extra, to name a few. Melanie Nute’s costume design is consistent, colourful and rich in detail. Adding oodles of comedy, from fluffy duck slippers and a shiny gold ‘Godfather’ dressing gown for Jupiter, to some awesome wigs, which deserve acting credits, it all adds to the overall hilarity of the piece. Throw in a bike and some rollerblades and it’s a riot.
The performances, as a whole are all spot on with everyone working together as a team bringing the show to life. Vicki Shirtliff as Eurydice has the most beautiful singing voice and confident stage presence. Chris Marlow plays the lothario, Pluto, to perfection, all swagger and smarm with a voice full of charm. Bravo to Sebastian Carrington for standing in as Calliope. The comedic interactions between Carrington and Chris Stocker as Orpheus is a joy to behold. Andrew Robinson as Jupiter and Marianne Duffy as Juno are the consummate comedic couple. Pete Henderson as mercury on rollerblades and Josh Robinson as Mars brought some brilliant physical comedy and some cracking one liners. The three goddesses, Alice Chambers as Cupid, Philippa Althaus as Venus and Debbie Dubberley as Diana are sensational with the most powerful and potent vocal ranges.
Stanley Opera showed exactly how this operetta should be played: full of fun, frivolity and farce. Throw in its famous ‘risqué galop infernal’, more well known as the ‘Can-Can’ and you have a sensational showstopper.
The UK Pantomime Association announces the winners of The Pantomime Awards 2025 with Outstanding Achievement awarded to actress Elaine C Smith
On Sunday 13 April, the winners of The Pantomime Awards 2025,staged in partnership with Trafalgar Entertainment and ATG Entertainment, were announced by the UK Pantomime Association at a ceremony full of song and laughter at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking.
Elaine C Smith picked up the illustrious award for Outstanding Achievement in Pantomime for her exceptional contribution to the Pantomime Industry for many decades as one of Scotland’s best-loved pantomime legends. Elaine was also one of the Awards show’s trio of presenters, sharing the stage for the evening with fellow top performers, Dave Benson Phillips and La Voix.
The Special Recognition Awards, which celebrate productions and individuals representing the values that the Association seeks to promote, were given to:
He’s Behind You! who received the award for Achievement in Inclusive Practice for celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and demonstrating that the genre has endless potential in their progressive queer pantomimes.
Oxford Playhouse who received the award for Achievement in Innovation for their fresh and exciting re-appraisals of familiar fairytale narratives and innovative use of plot and character to create fresh and vibrant pantomimes fit for the 21st Century.
Brick Lane Music Hall who received the Nigel Ellacott Special Recognition Award for Pantomime History, Tradition and Heritage, an accolade which was introduced this year in remembrance of the much-loved pantomime artist and historian who sadly passed away in 2024. This award was given to Brick Lane Music Hall for their commitment to the traditions and conventions of Music Hall and Victorian Pantomime and celebrating pantomime’s rich heritage throughout their venue with numerous poster displays and costumes from significant pantomime performers, including Danny La Rue.
In full, here is the list of The Pantomime Awards 2025 winners:
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY Ebony Clarke: Cinderella, Royal & Derngate, Northampton (Evolution Productions)
BEST LIGHTING (sponsored by Production Light and Sound)
Andy Webb: Sleeping Beauty, Festival Theatre, Malvern (UK Productions)
CARMEN SILVERA AWARD FOR BEST MAGICAL BEING: Danielle Jam: Jack and the Beanstalk, His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (Crossroads Pantomimes)
BARBARA WINDSOR AWARD FOR BEST PRINCIPAL LEAD Mia Overfield: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fairfield Halls, Croydon (UK Productions)
BEST SCRIPT: Anthony Spargo: Dick Whittington and his Cat, Greenwich Theatre, London (In-House)
BEST SECONDARY LEAD: Mia Welsh: Dick Whittington, Theatre Royal Windsor (In-House)
BEST VILLAIN (sponsored by Breckman and Company): Zoe West: Rapunzel, Everyman Theatre, Liverpool (In-House)
BEST COMIC: Steve Royle: Cinderella, Blackpool Grand Theatre (UK Productions)
CHRISTOPHER BIGGINS AWARD FOR BEST DAME Antony Stuart-Hicks: The New Adventures of Peter Pan, Mercury Theatre, Colchester (In-House)
BEST DIRECTION Chris Jordan: Snow White, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne (Eastbourne Theatres in association with Jordan Productions)
BEST ENSEMBLE Nikki Schofield, Alanna Panditaratne, James Everest, Ariel Nyandoro, Jacob Stebbings: Peter Pan, Victoria Theatre, Halifax (Imagine Theatre)
BEST CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC Tayo Akinbode: Mother Goose, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto, Theatr Clwyd, Mold (In-House)
BEST SET DESIGN (sponsored by Blue-i) Becky Minto: Mother Goose, Perth Theatre (In-House)
BEST SISTERS Harry Howle and Steven Roberts: Cinderella, Cambridge Arts Theatre (In-House)
BEST SOUND (sponsored by Orbital Sound) Kate Harvey: Jack and the Beanstalk, Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford (Imagine Theatre)
BEST SUPPORTING ARTIST Marc Pickering: Snow White, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (Evolution Productions)
BEST NEWCOMER TO PANTOMIME Owain Wyn Evans: Cinderella, New Theatre, Cardiff (Crossroads Pantomimes)
BEST NEWCOMER TO INDUSTRY Emma Robertson: Snow White, Loughborough Town Hall (Little Wolf Entertainment)
BEST PANTOMIME (UNDER 500 SEATS) (sponsored by Showtime, a Howden Company) Dick Whittington and his Cat, Greenwich Theatre (In-House)
BEST PANTOMIME (500 – 900 SEATS) Snow White, Loughborough Town Hall (Little Wolf Entertainment)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PANTOMIME Elaine C Smith
ACHIEVEMENT IN INCLUSIVE PRACTICE He’s Behind You!
ACHIEVEMENT IN INNOVATION Oxford Playhouse
NIGEL ELLACOTT SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD FOR PANTOMIME HISTORY, TRADITION AND HERITAGE Brick Lane Music Hall
The Awards ceremony featured special guest performances from entertainment legend Anita Harris, family favourite Basil Brush with award-winning comedian and cabaret performer Kevin Cruise (aka Martin Cabble-Reid) and ITV Britain’s Got Talent rising star ventriloquist Jamie Leahey.
The evening’s In Memoriam honoured and celebrated many of the special and talented friends that the pantomime industry has sadly lost this year from both on and off stage.
Simon Sladen, Chair of the UK Pantomime Association, said: “Huge congratulations to all of the nominees and winners at The Pantomime Awards 2025! What a wonderful evening to celebrate excellence across the pantomime industry and salute the talent, skill, passion, craftsmanship and expertise that goes into each and every season.”
This year’s Awards marked a significant new sponsorship partnership with Trafalgar Entertainment and ATG Entertainment (ATGE).
Chris McGuigan, Group Commercial Director for Trafalgar Entertainment, said: “Congratulations to all the winners and nominees at this year’s Panto Awards. Trafalgar is proud to co-sponsor this gloriously glittery evening as part of our ongoing commitment to pantomime as a genre. The ‘joyful chaos’ of panto season is a vital component of the regional theatre sector – and so it’s wonderful to celebrate it alongside many of the talented artists, acts, entertainers, writers, creatives, tech teams and producers who make it all happen. We’re already looking forward to hosting the event in 2026!”
Claire Dixon, Business Director for ATG Entertainment, said: “ATG Entertainment is honoured to co-sponsor the Pantomime Awards 2025 and extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the nominees and winners. Pantomime is a cherished tradition that brings joy to audiences of all ages, and we are proud to support and celebrate the extraordinary creativity, talent and dedication that make this artform so beloved.”
Founded in 2021, the UK Pantomime Association (UKPA) is a charity that explores, shares and celebrates pantomime by investigating the genre’s rich past, engaging with contemporary practice and inspiring the future. During the 2024-25 pantomime season, the fourth year in which the Awards have taken place, The Pantomime Awards’ 52 judges collectively visited 216 venues to see over 496 performances, far and wide across the United Kingdom.
Mark Cortale, Dale Franzen, Jonathan Murray and Harvey Reese today announce the world première of Maiden Voyage in association with Shared Experience. This new musical, with book and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and music by Carmel Dean, tells the story of Tracy Edwards and the first all women racing crew of Maiden who made history competing in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989/90.
Directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson, the productionopens at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on 26 July, with previews from 19 July- 25 July, and runs until 23 August.
Carmel Dean and Mindi Dickstein said today, “We wanted to write about women facing challenges head-on – Tracy’s inspirational story ticked all the boxes for us. And we heard music at every turn. Courage sings. Pushing yourself to the limits of your abilities and beyond sings. The ocean, sings. Tracy and her crew are the definition of doing the hard things even when no one thinks you can.”
Director Tara Overfield Wilkinson said, “As a director who has worked in the musical theatre industry for over thirty-five years, it means a lot to me to tell the story of these strong amazing women who defied the critics and naysayers to achieve such phenomenal success in the challenges they faced.”
Producers Mark Cortale and Dale Franzen added, “As producers, we are drawn to stories of unexpected heroes like Tracy Edwards who are compelled to risk everything for a dream that almost everyone thinks is impossible. We hope this story will inspire others to fearlessly take the helm and follow their dreams.”
Mark Cortale, Dale Franzen, Jonathan Murray & Harvey Reese
in association with Shared Experience present
MAIDEN VOYAGE
Book and Lyrics byMindi Dickstein
Music by Carmel Dean
Orchestrations by Michael Starobin
Directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson
Casting Director: Harry Blumenau
19 July – 23 August
It’s 1990, and Tracy Edwards makes history by leading the first all-female sailing crew around the globe in the Whitbread Round the World Race.
But how did a 20-something high-school dropout and galley cook end up being the skipper and navigator on such a ground-breaking race?
Was it a chance meeting with King Hussein of Jordan, who encouraged her to dare to try? Was it something that she needed to prove to herself or to her mother?
Or is there something else that makes a person do the unexpected and extraordinary?
Charting a thrilling and unforgettable journey across oceans and horizons, Tracy and her crew’s epic true story comes to life in a sweeping, extraordinary new musical.
Maiden Voyage makes its world premiere in a strictly limited run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, with book and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, music by Carmel Dean, orchestrations are by Michael Starobin (Next To Normal, Suffs) and directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson. The work was originally commissioned by New Works Provincetown. The show is produced by Mark Cortale (Floyd Collins at Lincoln Center, Days of Wine and Roses), Dale Franzen (Hadestown, Gypsy) and Jonathan Murray & Harvey Reese (Table 17 and Here We Are) in association with Shared Experience.
Mindi Dickstein’s theatre credits include Little Women: The Musical (August Wilson Theatre, US tour, Seymour Centre, Hope Mill Theatre, Park Theatre – licensed by MTI, Original Broadway Cast album released by Ghostlight/Sh-k-boom Records), Saint Ex and the Little Prince (Katowice City of Gardens Concert Hall, Poland), Witnesses (California Center for the Arts, 2022 San Diego Critics award for Best Production), Benny & Joon, based on the MGM film (The Old Globe, California, 2017 San Diego Critics nominee for Best Musical).
Carmel Dean is an award-winning composer/lyricist and Broadway music supervisor, musical director and arranger. As composer, her theatre credits include Renascence (Abrons Arts Centre), Well Behaved Women (New York’s Town Hall, Joe’s Pub), and On Cedar Street (Berkshire Theater Group, The Unicorn Theater). As musical director and/or arranger her credits include The Notebook, Funny Girl,If/Then, Hands on a Hardbody, American Idiot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (all Broadway),and Clueless (West End).Off-Broadway credits include Really Rosie, Everyday Rapture, Vanities and Elegies. Other international credits include Fun Home (Chicago); and 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening & Closing Ceremonies.
Tara Overfield Wilkinson directs. Her theatre credits include Allegiance (Charing Cross Theatre), Falsettos (The Other Palace – winner of WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Show), The Producers (international tour, China), Little Shop of Horrors (UK tour), CATS (international tour), and Miss Saigon, Tommy and Sister Act (Gaiety Theatre, Isle of Man). As associate or resident director, her credits include Motown, Memphis, Hair, Sunday in the Park with George; Tick, Tick… Boom!; High School Musical (West End), Motown, 9 to 5, Sister Act, High School Musical, The Full Monty, and Oh! What a Night (UK tours).
MAIDEN VOYAGE
LISTINGS
Southwark Playhouse, Elephant
1 Dante Place, London, SE11 4RX
Box Office: 020 7407 0234
How to Get to Elephant Venue: The nearest stations are Elephant & Castle and Kennington
Southwark Playhouse is a registered charity that delivers a year-round programme of entertaining and enriching work. Southwark Playhouse operates two separate venues ‘Southwark Playhouse Borough’ and its newest theatre ‘Southwark Playhouse Elephant’ which opened in January 2023. Southwark Playhouse has always prided itself in telling stories and inspiring the next generation of storytellers and theatre makers, where support for the community has been rooted at the core of the organisation.
SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! MAKES HERS-TORY ON OPENING WEEKEND
FURTHER SHOWS ADDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND!
Following the one-day event cinema release of SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! (April 6) across a record breaking 700 sites, Universal Pictures (UK) has reported the highest single day gross for an event cinema musical release ever. Further shows have been added due to popular demand through to 17th April. Information on further screenings can be found here.
Filmed over multiple shows at the Vaudeville Theatre, the pop-inspired musical brings the Original West End Cast of SIX the Musical Jarnéia Richard-Noel (Aragon), Millie O’Connell (Boleyn), Natalie Paris (Seymour), Alexia McIntosh (Cleves), Aimie Atkinson (Howard), and Maiya Quansah-Breed (Parr) right into the 21st century with, empowering performances, accompanied by the on-stage band, the Ladies in Waiting.
Watched by audiences of over 3.5 million, SIX the Musical, has become a global theatre phenomenon since it’s 2017 debut at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and this Cinematical success furthers the legacy that the Queendom is building.
Further analysis of the result with additional industry performance context:
SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! has broken the record for the highest opening day figure for a musical ever.
SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! has opened on the widest screen count in the UK for an event cinema release across 700 sites, beating TAYLOR SWIFT’s THE ERAS TOUR
SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! has delivered the 3rd highest single day gross for an event cinema title ever behind TAYLOR SWIFT’s opening Friday
Universal Pictures Content Group acquired UK theatrical rights for box office smash-hit and double TONY award-winning musical earlier this year. SIX the Musical Live! was recorded at the Vaudeville Theatre, London with the original West End cast reprising their roles.
Kezia Williams, MD – Universal Pictures UK & Eire said “We’re incredibly proud to have brought this empowering, joyous experience to cinemas across the UK & Ireland and to see audiences turn out in such force to crown it the new queen of event cinema. This record-breaking result shows what’s possible when bold, brilliant theatre meets the big screen”
Helen Parker, EVP – Universal Pictures Content Group said “It’s wonderful to see audiences and fans of the phenomenon that is SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! come out in force and create history for the show in cinemas”.
Kenny Wax, Producer for SIX The Musical said: SIX’s journey from student production at the Edinburgh Fringe to London’s West End and now to cinemas is one that we are unbelievably proud of. We are thrilled that so many people across the UK and Ireland have come to experience it on their local big screen. We have no doubt that the cinema broadcast has brought SIX to audiences who may not otherwise have access to the West End or Touring production, and we hope we may have sparked a lifelong enjoyment of theatre for those who have had their first experience of musical theatre through seeing it this week.’
SIX is written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, with direction by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage. Choreography is by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, with set design by Emma Bailey, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Tim Deiling, sound design by Paul Gatehouse, musical orchestration by Tom Curran, and musical supervision by Joe Beighton, and casting by Pearson Casting.
SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles.
Six the Musical Live! was directed for film by Liz Clare, and produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes, George Stiles. It was Executively Produced bv Kevin McCollum and Produced for film by Dione Orrom.
Winner of over 35 international awards, including two 2022 Tony Awards, four WhatsOnStage awards, and nominated for five Oliviers, SIX can also be seen live on stage worldwide: as well as London’s West End, SIX continues to tour the UK (with new 2025 dates just announced), and throughout Europe and internationally. An Australian tour launched in August 2024, whilst dates in Manila, Singapore, Japan and South Korea have recently been completed, with forthcoming dates in China.
SIX is currently playing at Broadway’s Lena Horne Theatre, the tour continues to play cities throughout the US. In 2024, the show both achieved 1.5million followers globally – across YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok and Facebook in the UK, US, Australia, Korea and beyond – and hit another milestone achievement, with SIX the Musical (UK Studio Cast Recording) and the Grammy Award®-nominated SIX: LIVE ON OPENING NIGHT (the first Original Broadway Cast Recording ever recorded live on opening night) songs having been streamed in excess of one billion times.
Tickets to all international productions of SIX are available via sixthemusical.com
A flipchart, stark lighting, a few conference chairs and a sad buffet can only mean one thing: a training day.
In Olivier nominated playwright Mohamed-Zain Dada’s latest play, three speeding offenders must either complete a speed awareness and aggressive driving course run by maverick instructor Abz, played with aching sincerity – “Driving is not a human right, it’s a privilege” – by Nikesh Patel, or, lose their driving licences.
Faiza is CEO of Asia Specific, one of the biggest fashion brands in the UK, and is awaiting news of a big deal. Shazia Nicholls is superb as the self-important and ambitious entrepreneur who let her temper get the better of her in a road rage incident. Arian Nik’s comic timing as hapless but charming boy racer Samir is flawless and his delivery of some of the play’s funniest lines had the audience in stitches. The third attendee is nurse Harleen, her seething impatience and indignation wonderfully rendered by Sabrina Sandhu. She should be caring for the sick not appeasing this jobsworth Abz.
Milli Bhatia’s slick direction extracts every ounce of comedy from the absurdity of the situation as we, and the participants, gradually realise that this may not be any ordinary DVLA course and that their tutor is becoming unhinged.
Things take on a darker and altogether angrier edge as the play moves on to explore issues of racism, racial profiling and the perpetuation of racial stereotypes. An unsettling lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun allows us to intermittently experience a dissociative space where time is suspended and Abz enters into a world he calls the Johari Window. In class it’s a tool to work on self-awareness and unconscious-bias but for Abz’s fizzing interior world, it becomes a window to buried emotion.
Speed is not only a clever satire of the glib way many drivers treat road safety and an honest exploration of how British-Asians see themselves but also a treatise on that all too familiar human emotion: anger.
Cast announced for huge new immersive production, STOREHOUSE Deptford Storehouse, Off New King Street, Grove Street, London, SE8 3AA Wednesday 4th June – Saturday 20th September 2025
The cast has been announced for groundbreaking new immersive production, STOREHOUSE where audiences will step into a 9,000-square metre underworld where humanity’s stories have been archived since the dawn of the internet.
STOREHOUSE is the debut production from Sage & Jester, whose collective experience spans the likes of Secret Cinema, Punchdrunk, BBC Studios, and Warner Music. It promises to be one of the most artistically ambitious, large-scale immersive theatre events ever to be staged in the UK, delivering a cutting-edge and thought-provoking journey.
Leaving us questioning our role in today’s information ecosystem, a multi-award-winning cast of voiceover actors will guide us through the STOREHOUSE narrative as the four founding members. They will be joined by a cast of real-life performers in Deptford.
The voiceover actors are the multi-award-winning Toby Jones (Mr Burton; Tetris; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; Mr Bates vs The Post Office; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and celebrated Meera Syal CBE FRSL (Paddington 2; The Kumars at No. 42; Yesterday; The Devil’s Hour), joined by the formidable Kathryn Hunter (Black Doves; Poor Things; Harry Potter; Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead) and rising star Billy Howle (Dear Octopus; The Perfect Couple; On Chesil Beach; The Serpent).
They will bring to life a group of radical visionaries, who believed that by storing and analysing all human knowledge, they could ignite the dawn of a new digital consciousness. Fusing art, technology, and cutting-edge storytelling, this monumental production is set to be one of the UK’s most artistically daring and large-scale immersive theatre experiences, challenging how we perceive truth, trust and the narratives that shape our world.
In an era of misinformation and manipulated narratives, STOREHOUSE promises an experience that redefines the boundaries of theatre. Leading the physical company in Deptford will be Nina Smith (Britannia, Sky; Doctors, BBC), Dawn Butler (Doctors, BBC), Bonnie Adair (Here We Go, BBC; Innocent, ITV) and Zachary Pang (Disney Channel Asia; Julie: The Musical, The Other Palace). They will be joined by Nat Kennedy (Dorian, Reading Rep Theatre), Elizabeth Hollingshead (The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde, Maximum Effort), Chris Agha (The Marriage of Figaro, Royal Opera House) and Harriett O’Grady (Peaky Blinders: The Rise, Immersive Everywhere). As well as Rob Leetham (Little Red Riding Hood – A Trial, Alnwick Playhouse), Scott Karim (The Great, Hulu; Dracula, BBC), Grace Hussey-Burd(I’m Angry But Look At This Dog, Unbound Theatre) and Darrel Bailey (Shadow & Bone, Netflix; EastEnders, BBC). As their surroundings crumble and secrets unfold, the true cost of controlling the narrative will become clear as audiences are urged to examine their vulnerability in the face of power.
Composer Anna Meredith will provide the musical finale for this awe-inspiring production, as audiences are thrust into a battle between the defenders of Truth and the keepers of Order. Immersed in an underworld of knowledge, audiences will explore a vast, ever-shifting digital archive, stored by an underground collective—where every news story, message, and meme ever shared has been meticulously preserved in a quest for higher collective wisdom. As the final founder fades and narratives collide, audiences will become part of the story, navigating this epic digital labyrinth, making choices, and determining the future of this precarious world.
STOREHOUSE is a production that will uniquely blend art, technology and storytelling to spark critical thinking. This isn’t just a show; it is a call to action.
Playful Productions, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Elizabeth Williams present BORN WITH TEETH
BY LIZ DUFFY ADAMS
NCUTI GATWA as Christopher Marlowe.
EDWARD BLUEMEL as William Shakespeare.
In these dangerous times, who will burn brightest — and who will burn out?
NCUTI GATWA AND EDWARD BLUEMEL STAR IN NEW SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER ARRIVING IN THE WEST END FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED 11-WEEK SEASON FROM 13 AUGUST 2025
PLAYWRIGHTS CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE AND WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN LIZ DUFFY ADAMS’ IMAGINING OF TWO LITERARY ICONS AT ODDS WITH THEIR TIME
RSC CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, DANIEL EVANS, RETURNS TO THE WEST END TO DIRECT FOLLOWING HIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED PRODUCTIONS OF QUIZ, AMERICAN BUFFALO, SOUTH PACIFIC AND OUR GENERATION
2,000 TICKETS AVAILABLE AT £10 FOR 16 – 25 YEAR OLDS, SPONSORED BY TIKTOK
THE WEST END PREMIERE OF BORN WITH TEETH WILL GO ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC ON WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL WITH PRIORITY BOOKING FROM 11 APRIL
Producers Playful Productions, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Elizabeth Williams today announce the West End premiere of Born With Teeth featuring Ncuti Gatwa(Doctor Who, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Christopher Marlowe and Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve, Sex Education) as William Shakespeare.
This thrilling new play by Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.
The production will see RSC Co-Artistic Director, Daniel Evans make his directorial debut for the company, following previous, critically acclaimed productions of Quiz, American Buffalo, South Pacific and Our Generation. Design is by the Olivier award-winning Joanna Scotcher and Lighting Design by Tony and Olivier award-winner Neil Austin. The Casting Director is Charlotte Sutton with further creative team to be announced.
Born With Teeth will play at Wyndham’s Theatre, a Delfont Mackintosh Theatre,for a strictly limited 11-week season until Saturday 1 November, with a first preview on Wednesday 13 August. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 16 April 2025 with priority booking from Friday 11 April. For more information visit BornWithTeethPlay.com
Winter 1591.
It is a dangerous time for artists: the country is full of conspiracy and paranoia.
In the backroom of a pub, writing sensations Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are forced together in a creative union. Alone, with the table as their stage and battlefield, they sharpen their pens – and let their genius fly.
Across three secret meetings, the rivals duel and flirt like their lives depend on it – and with spies everywhere, betrayal is so tempting.
Marking its West End premiere this summer, Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth is a thrilling imagining of the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.
Ncuti Gatwa said: “I’m so excited to be joining Born With Teeth alongside the amazing Edward Bluemel. Liz Duffy Adams has written an exceptional play that is smart, dark, sexy, sharp and funny! There’s a lot to get one’s teeth into. This is like no version of Shakespeare and Marlowe that I’ve ever seen before, and I can’t wait for audiences to join us for the ride”.
Edward Bluemel said: “I feel incredibly proud and excited to be working with Ncuti Gatwa and Daniel Evans on the European premiere of Born With Teeth. To be stepping into the shoes of a young William Shakespeare is a huge thrill for any actor and I can’t wait to get started. When I read Liz Duffy Adams’ script, I was instantly drawn into the high-stakes world of these two rival playwrights and the incredible, creative chemistry they share. There’s a real freshness and vitality to Liz’s writing that speaks directly to our world, and I can’t wait for West End audiences to experience it for the first time”.
Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis and Nick Salmon from Playful Productions said: “It is wonderful to be continuing our relationship with the RSC and Daniel Evans with whom Matthew has been collaborating for nearly 20 years. We cannot wait for the entire team to bring this brilliant play to life on stage at Wyndham’s Theatre and for audiences to join them.”
Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, Co-Artistic Directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company said: “We’re so excited to be bringing Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth to Wyndham’s Theatre alongside our partners Playful Productions and Elizabeth Williams for Grain of Sand Productions. As our seventh production to be presented in London in 2025, we look forward to sharing more of the RSC’s work with audiences in the capital and are thrilled that two such extraordinary actors as Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel will be joining us on that journey this summer.”
Elizabeth Williams said: “It is rare in my many years as a West End and Broadway producer to read a play like Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth which from the first sentence, thrills. Our playwright seems to have channeled directly from the 1590s this story of the intersection of the contemporary lives of these two great poets, Marlowe and Shakespeare, and it is brilliant in conception and ferociously sexy.”
Ncuti Gatwa (Christopher Marlowe) is a Rwandan Scottish BAFTA award-winning actor.
In 2023 audiences saw Ncuti unveiled as the fifteenth ‘Doctor’ as he bi-generated from David Tennant’s ‘Doctor’ at the end of ‘The Giggle’, the final of the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. Last year Ncuti was seen as ‘The Doctor’ in his first full season of Doctor Who on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Ireland, and across the world globally on Disney+. Ncuti won a BAFTA Cymru Award and was also nominated for a Critics Choice Award and BAFTA Scotland Audience Award for the role. Ncuti will reprise his role as ‘The Doctor’ in his second season of Doctor Who coming to the BBC and Disney+ from 12 April, where he will be joined by new companion ‘Belinda Chandra’ played by Varada Sethu, and by a host of guest stars including Jonah Hauer-King, Freddie Fox, Ariyon Bakare and Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Last year Ncuti wrapped production on Jay Roach’s movie The Roses. A reimagining of the iconic The War of the Roses the film stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch and will release in cinemas worldwide later this summer.
In 2024, Ncuti made his National Theatre debut as ‘Algernon Moncrieff’ in The Importance of Being Earnest. The play opened in November to rave reviews and was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category of ‘Best Revival’.
Ncuti is perhaps best known for his BAFTA award-winning role of ‘Eric Effiong’, one of the leading roles in Netflix’s hugely successful comedy series Sex Education. Created by Laurie Nunn the show also stars Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson and Emma Mackey. All four seasons of the show are available worldwide on Netflix. In 2023, he appeared in Barbie opposite Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, playing a version of ‘Ken’ in the film hit of the summer. He also played a guest role in the highly anticipated series, Masters of the Air for Apple TV+ opposite a cast led by Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan and Austin Butler.
In 2023 Ncuti performed at King Charles’ Coronation Concert, playing ‘Romeo’ opposite Mei Mac as his ‘Juliet’ in Romeo & Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The performance was the first ever collaboration between the royal patronages and included The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera, The Royal College of Music & The Royal College of Art.
Edward Bluemel(William Shakespeare) trained at the prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama before making his screen debut as the lead in the British indie film Access all Areas (2017).
Most recently, Edward wrapped filming Netflix’s The Seven Dials Mystery, starring opposite Martin Freeman and Helena Bonham Carter. He was also seen as the co-lead in Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane and starred as Levi in the hit BBC series We Might Regret This.
Edward gained widespread recognition as a series regular in Season 2 of BBC’S Killing Eve, appearing alongside Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw in the acclaimed espionage thriller. He also played Sean in Netflix’s Sex Education (Season 1 & 4), starring opposite Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield, and portrayed Marcus Whitmore in Sky One’s A Discovery of Witches.
On stage, Edward’s theatre credits include leading roles in Trevor Nunn’s critically acclaimed Love in Idleness (West End) and Touch (Soho Theatre).
Liz Duffy Adams(Playwright) is honoured to be making her UK debut with the RSC and Playful Productions. Her neo-Restoration comedy Or, premiered Off Broadway at WP Theater and has been produced more than 80 times since. Her Born With Teeth received a Edgerton Foundation New Play Award in an earlier version that premiered at the Alley Theater, Texas.
Other plays include Dog Act (Will Glickman Award for Best New Play, over 30 productions); Witch Hunt or, A Discourse On the Wonders of the Invisible World (Contemporary American Theater Festival); and The Salonnières (Greater Boston Theater Company). Adams has received a seven-year New Dramatists residency, a Women of Achievement Award, Lillian Hellman Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship.
Publications include Or, in Smith & Kraus’ “Best Plays Of 2010”; Dog Act in “Geek Theater: Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy Plays”, Underwords Press 2014; Poodle With Guitar And Dark Glasses in Applause’s “Best American Short Plays 2000-2001”; and acting editions by TRW Plays, Playscripts, Inc., and Dramatists Play Service.
Adams received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama, and her BFA from New York University’s Experimental Theater Wing. She has dual Irish and American citizenship, and is based in New York City and Western Massachusetts.
Daniel Evans (Director) is Co-Artistic Director of the RSC. Previously, he was Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre (2016-2023) and of Sheffield Theatres (2009-2016).
Theatre includes, as actor, for the Royal Court: Cleansed, 4.48 Psychosis, Other People, Where Do We Live?. As director, for the Royal Court: Black Superhero.
As actor, other theatre includes: Cardiff East, Peter Pan, Candide, Troilus and Cressida, The Merchant of Venice (National Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coriolanus, Henry V, Cymbeline, Measure For Measure, Edward II (Royal Shakespeare Company), Ghosts (ETT), Merrily We Roll Along (Donmar), The Tempest (Sheffield/Old Vic), Sunday in the Park with George (Menier/West End/Studio 54)
As director, theatre includes: Our Generation (Chichester Festival Theatre & National), South Pacific (CFT & Sadler’s Wells), Quiz (CFT & Noel Coward), Fiddler on the Roof (CFT), American Buffalo (Wyndham’s), Othello, An Enemy of the People, The Effect, Show Boat (CFT & New London), Macbeth, Flowers for Mrs Harris, My Fair Lady, Racing Demon, This is My Family (Sheffield Theatres), The Light in the Piazza (RFH, LA Opera & Chicago Lyric Opera), Esther (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru), Lovely Evening/In The Blue (Young Vic at Theatre 503)
Awards include: Olivier Awards for Best Actor in a Musical (Merrily We Roll Along and Sunday in the Park with George), UK Theatre Awards for Best Musical Production (Show Boat and Flowers for Mrs Harris)
Joanna Scotcher (Set and Costume Designer) trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
As a Designer, theatre includes Love’s Labour’s Lost (RSC); The Vortex, Doubt: A Parable, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Chichester Festival Theatre); Black Superhero (Royal Court); Macbeth (Almeida); Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (Theatre Royal Stratford East/UK tour); Women Beware Women (Shakespeare’s Globe); Love, Love, Love (Lyric Hammersmith); Emilia (Shakespeare’s Globe/West End); Mother Courage, Anna Karenina, The Rolling Stone (Royal Exchange/ Headlong); The Village (Stratford East); Cuttin’ It (Young Vic/Royal Court/Birmingham Rep/Sheffield Theatres); Winter, Two Endless Moments, A Harlem Dream (Young Vic); Pests (Clean Break/Royal Court/Royal Exchange); Katie Roche (Abbey, Dublin); Boys Will Be Boys (Bush/Headlong); The Railway Children (Kings Cross/Waterloo/Toronto).
Opera includes Described it to Death and Current Rising (Royal Opera House).
Joanna was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Emilia and a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Set Designer for The Railway Children.
Neil Austin (Lighting Designer)
For the RSC: Love’s Labour’s Lost, King Lear, The Seagull (RSC/New London); Much Ado About Nothing (RSC/Novello); King John, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC).
Theatre credits include Inside No.9: Stage Fright (Wyndham’s Theatre); Shifters (Duke of York’s Theatre); Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil (Goodman Theatre, Chicago); Shifters (Bush Theatre); The Enfield Haunting (The Ambassadors Theatre); The Pillowman (Duke of York’s Theatre); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida Theatre); Piaf (Preludio, Buenos Aires); Tammy Faye (Almeida); Medea (@Sohoplace); Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace); Company, Frost/Nixon (Gielgud); Rosmersholm, Ink, No Man’s Land (Duke of York’s); Leopoldstadt, Red, The Weir, Hamlet, Madame de Sade, Twelfth Night (Wyndham’s); The Night of the Iguana, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Labour of Love, Photograph 51, Shakespeare in Love, Henry V (Noël Coward); The Goat, Great Britain, Japes (Haymarket); Travesties, A Life in the Theatre (Apollo); Death and the Maiden, The Children’s Hour (Comedy). Other theatres: The 47th (The Old Vic); Tammy Faye: The Musical, The Hunt, Albion, Ink, The Treatment, Medea (Almeida); After Life, Translations, Three Days in the Country, Rules for Living, Dara, Liolà, Children of the Sun, The Cherry Orchard, Women Beware Women, London Assurance, The White Guard, Oedipus, Philistines, The Man of Mode, Thérèse Raquin (National Theatre); Henry IV, Julius Caesar, The Night Alive, Spelling Bee, King Lear, Passion, The Wild Duck, After Miss Julie, Caligula (Donmar Warehouse).
Broadway includes: Leopoldstadt, Company, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Ink, Travesties, Hughie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Evita, Red, Hamlet, The Seafarer, Frost/Nixon.
Awards include: 2019 Tony Award for Ink, 2018 Tony Award, 2017 Olivier Award for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for The White Guard, and 2010 Tony Award for Red.
Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story heads on a homecoming tour after conquering the world!
Awkward Productions’royal hit is back on a UK tour by popular demand, following its world tour this spring. The show, that sees Linus Karp as the People’s Princess, is heading to Manchester, London, Brighton, Bristol, Newcastle and the Edinburgh Fringe. This is the first time the show will tour the UK with special multimedia appearances from both Jeanna de Waal (Diana: The Musical) and Rob Madge (My Son’s a Queer), the latter voicing Mother Teresa.
Awkward Productions’ multiple award-winning, Edinburgh Fringe 2023 sell-out show Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story became an immediate cult hit with UK audiences for its unique audience participation and staggeringly camp portrayal of the royals. The show has won an OffFest Award for Best Play and the prestigious LAURA Award and has enjoyed two UK Tours, multi-week runs in London and, as of this year, a World Tour across four continents.
Through a comedic and unhinged lens, the show highlights Diana’s ground-breaking stances on social and queer issues and allows her to finally speak her (un)truth and break free from the monarchy. Told by Diana from heaven, Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story is “so much more than just a show. It’s an experience. It’s a lifestyle. It is the moment” (The Reviews Hub – ★★★★★)
Awkward Productions was created by Linus Karp and Joseph Martin to bring ridiculous genremixing comedy, niche pop culture references, audience participation and queer joy to the stage.
Their holy trinity of shows include Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, Gwyneth Goes Skiing, and how to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit movie musical ‘Cats’. These shows have all achieved sold-out runs, toured the UK extensively, received international media coverage and won awards. An Awkward Prods shows isn’t performed for you, it’s performed with you – making each one unique. Their new show The Fit Prince (who gets switched on the square in the frosty castle the night before (insert public holiday here)) is set to premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe and run at King’s Head Theatre this December.
Linus Karp, the show’s writer, director and Diana comments “Having had the most ridiculous time taking this show around the world, we knew we had to bring this latest version back home to the UK. It’s going to be diconic.”
Social media @awkwardprods #UntrueDiana https://www.awkwardprods.com
For further press information, images or interviews please contact: [email protected]
Praise for Awkward Productions’ work: AwkwardProds mines all the laughs – Graham Norton An unhinged, gay fantasia – Playbill What a hoot! – Canberra City News ★★★★★★ An endless amount of non-stop laughter – Jack The Lad ★★★★★ The most unhinged piece of theatre in existence – Broadway Baby ★★★★★ Perfectly imagined and brought to life on stage with vision and heaps of silliness – The National ★★★★ Gloriously ridiculous – The Stage
Whilst I had heard of Edith Piaf and knew a couple of her songs, I can honestly say I did not know much about her life. So, I came to this production with an open heart and mind.
Directed by Kimberley Sykes and written by Pam Gems this play tells the story of one of the 20th century’s most vibrant and beloved singers. Born into poverty in Paris, rising to global stardom. A woman who loved both life and men yet incredibly vulnerable constantly seeking approval and love. She died in 1963 and her music remains popular to this day.
This production is in every way amazing and a must see. The simple set design is effortlessly arranged to narrate Piaf’s life without much distraction. All credit to the design team for that achievement on what is quite a restricted stage. The costumes too reflect the period. Edith wearing an array of outfits to fit her tiny frame and in contrast her friend Marlena Dietrich adorned with clothes that show off her glamorous stature and elegance.
The music in this play is fabulous. There are nine members in the orchestra, who also serve as cast members and play various instruments including piano, brass, woodwind, strings, and percussion. I am in awe of their talent. The singing is notable, with most songs performed in French and one song in Italian, which gives a romantic and powerful impression.
Audrey Brisson gives a first-class performance as Edith. Having seen clips of Edith performing, Audrey’s powerful vocals, stature and body language give her real credibility in this role, and she absolutely nails the fun, feisty, fiery but also vulnerable personality of the famous singer through her tumultuous life. Tzarina-Nassor makes a great professional stage debut as Edith’s friend and fellow street girl Toine.
Djavan Van De Fliert plays the beautiful Marcel, the one true love of Edith’s life, Djavan has great stage presence and voice. Their love affair comes to a tragic end after which Edith’s life unravels even further. Edith has multiple affairs until she marries Theo, a younger Greek man, played by Oliver Nazareth Aston, who adored her until her death. Along the way Edith also collects proteges with whom she collaborated and helped become stars – Charles Aznavour and Charles Dumont are two such people.
Signe Larsson is instantly recognizable as the beautiful Marlene Dietrich who becomes a close friend of Edith supporting her in times where she struggles with her confidence or her loneliness. An exceptionally impressive performance. Signe also gives a reliable performance as loyal secretary and personal assistant Madeline.
Hazel Monaghan provides an inspired performance as Louis who without any experience becomes Edith’s agent for a time during which he catapults her to fame in America and globally. He does, however, exploit Edith and seeks to cover up her alcohol and drug abuse.
The rest of the cast play a variety of characters, notably Sam Pay who plays Leplee who is responsible for spotting the young Edith performing in the street and giving her a job in a nightclub. Marc Serratosa gives a solid performance as Charles and Georges; Kit Kenneth, a very competent musician but also doubles up as a nurse and other cameo roles throughout and last but no means least Jon Trenchard who is vibrant as the onstage MD and Bruno.
When you consider that this play has twenty scenes, twenty-one songs and twenty-seven characters it is no mean feat to bring this play to life with ten people! A big shout out to them all and to both Kimberley Sykes and Sam Kenyon for a truly brilliant production. I wish it all the success it deserves.
The Royal Exchange, Manchester – until 24 May 2025
Reviewed by Sal E Marino
5*****
Mike Leigh’s classic cult tragicomedy, Abigail’s Party, has now taken residence at Manchester’s crown jewel, The Royal Exchange Theatre until the 24th of May. And it’s a must-see, unmissable – a play you become emersed in (quite literally) due to the unique round and revolving stage. Brilliant director Natalie Abrahami has relocated Abigail’s Party from the Essex suburbs to the Northwest and she has clearly done her research along with set designer, Peter Butler. Butler has brought Beverly (Kym Marsh) and Laurence’s (Graeme Hawley) home alive to the extent that as an audience member, you really feel like you’re with them at their drinks party because it’s so intimate! What starts as an awkward and supposably informal evening hosted by Beverly (who has chosen to wear an extremely flamboyant and ‘long’ gown) and Laurence Moss for their neighbours Sue (Tupele Dorgu), Angela (Yasmin Taheri) and Tony (Kyle Rowe), just builds and builds upon drink after drink and layer upon layer of tension. Each character starts to unravel and reveal their less favourable foibles.
The play takes place in the mid-70s, just a short time after the divorce law was reformed and so ‘splitting up’ was still viewed a scandal to the masses. Divorce was not a path many took at that time and most would rather continue to “live in the same house for 20 years without speaking” like Ange’s parents. One wonders, if it had been less of a controversial act and if more had braved the wrath (covered by sympathy) of the curtain twitchers, like Sue, if Laurence and Beverly would have stayed together? Maybe the play’s fatal ending would never have occurred? But then we wouldn’t be able to become a fly on the wall and witness their dysfunctional marriage (with all its juicy, tense and dramatic ingredients) accumulate to maximum boiling point and spill over to create an inevitable, melodramatic meltdown mess! Melodramatic is almost an understatement as to what unfolds as the stage spins faster, the action gets hotter and the music gets louder!
The opening scene bursts with clashing colours (Bev’s eye-popping dress and bright home décor), a huge gaudy and sparkly central lamp, disco beats and a kaleidoscope of lights. Shimmying along to the seductive opening of Donna Summer’s ‘Love to Love you Baby’, Beverly sparks up a cigarette, takes centre stage and owns it. She is the queen of her home (and I suspect the estate she lives on), the epitome of the era’s consumerism, has all the latest mod cons (that she doesn’t know how to fully work) and has everything a woman of her time wants. She flounces, she flirts, finds fault in everything her husband does but she is fabulous and (using her favourite word) “fantastic” to watch.
It’s easy to think and accuse Beverly of being the villain and the monster of the play – especially at the beginning as Laurence appears as the hard-working, hen-pecked husband but as things develop, his less favourable traits start to leak out too. Later, he tries to make an ally of Sue who presents as middle class and educated by attempting to engage in high-brow conversation with her about the arts. He does this to belittle Ange and Tony, suggesting they are of a lower class and that Tony doesn’t read. In a further discussion about ‘art’ Laurence publicly calls Beverly “ignorant” and his sinister shadow side lets slip when he grabs her arm to stop her taking further charge of the music. Tony, shy with one-word responses, also unfolds his dark side with his “nasty” behaviour towards his wife. We discover that he won’t allow her to learn to drive and has to grant her his permission when she wants a cigarette. The other two guests Ange and Sue are opposites in so many ways – Ange child-like and saying whatever comes into her head (until the very end when she is the most responsible and level-headed) and Sue, so very reserved and private.
A central theme is that despite appearing to ‘have it all’ in monetary and consumerism terms, Beverly is bored. One wonders if this whole soiree has been orchestrated under the guise of asking Sue round due to Abigail having a party and so that Ange and Tony can “break the ice” with other neighbours, just so that she can ‘play’? Play the field with Tony who she’s spotted across the street getting into his car for work and taken a fancy to and play with Laurence in a ping pong game of sniping. She is the iconic suburban bored housewife of the time and even jokes about wife swapping. As the drinks stack up and inhibitions are released: Sue throws up, Laurence gets more erratic, Ange more eccentric and Beverly, as she initiates the dancing and grabs Tony, more erotic (Bev style erotic).
In the end, as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (Laurence’s choice not Beverly’s) blasts out, everything that was building erupts! In the tragic chaos, Beverly still acts like the perfect hostess but also the most inappropriate by offering drinks and cigarettes at exactly the wrong time! She is hilarious even at the bleakest of times. Kym Marsh has had a hard act to follow in the film’s Alison Steadman’s footsteps but she manages it excellently. Her Northwest Bev is brilliant and most compelling. I want to be at her parties to just to watch her in action because she so outrageously unapologetic even at her most low and worst. She’ll take your man right in front of your very eyes (if she’s plied him with enough alcohol)! This play, set in the 1970s, does appeal to all and could start a retro revival as my 16-year-old daughter said after the show, “I want a party with those cheese ‘n’ pineapple stick things”. The set, costumes and the quirky stage at The Royal Exchange add even more brilliance to this amazing production but obviously, kudos must be given to the incredible cast! Kym Marsh, Graeme Hawley, Kyle Rowe, Tupele Dorgu and Yasmin Taheri all embody and master Mike Leigh’s characters perfectly. It’s so good you’ll want to book a second time and go and ‘party’ with Beverly again! I do, I loved it! I’m still intrigued by one thing though even after seeing the film numerous times years ago – what did Tony actually get up to when he went to check on ‘Abigail’s Party’?
