A sparky tap dance round the cauldron by Hollie Cassar as Spite and a wittily well written love duet from Terrence Frisch and Neil Stewart as Betty Bourbon and Monsieur Marzipan are high spots in in this otherwise rather subdued Beauty and the Beast …
Read the rest of this review at www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/beauty-and-the-beast-review-at-watford-palace-theatre/
Lindley Players
Whitstable Playhouse
This tale of an immortal man who pursues the same re-incarnated girl from the middle ages at seventy-five-year intervals until 2075 is a strange play – strong on originality and weak in nearly everything else. Nonetheless, flawed as the material is the talented Lindley Players make something reasonably entertaining out of it and it’s to the company’s credit that it produces such a wide variety and isn’t afraid, sometimes, to have a go at something riskily unusual.
Lucie Nash is terrific as the knowing flirtatious maid, Constance, who then reappears in a whole series of related personae down the centuries. Each character is differently voiced and she moves beautifully in character whether she’s a pregnant Victorian, a nun, a sexy American flapper and much more. Ollie Grayeson gives a fine performance as Ephraim who, dressed differently each time, chases Nash’s character down the ages and is variously rueful, puzzled, angry and despairing. It’s high-quality acting. Less successful is Russell Sutton’s ‘Host’ who appears in each scene and seems to be a sort of Mephistopholes character, communicating with the voice of his unseen ‘boss’ and manipulating the other characters. There are problems with his diction and he isn’t always audible.
Some of the directorial decisions in this production are odd. Why project a photograph of Kitchener to illustrate 1925 when Kitchener died in 1916? Why play Vivaldi to evoke 1795 when Vivaldi was at his peak 50 years earlier? And these are just examples.
Billed as a comedy The Eternal Courtship is amusing in places – and the whole concept is a joke of sorts – although it isn’t especially funny. The best of the humour comes from the incongruity of using modern, quite relaxed language, in historical situations and from lines such as the Host saying: “You’ve fancied her since the middle ages” or from Ephraim answering with nicely timed dramatic irony “Well I did …” when someone in the Twentieth Century asks him if he knows Shakespeare. In general though, the pace is a bit slow and it all falls a bit flat although the whole play runs only one hour and three quarters including an interval.
It’s a pleasant enough evening but not, I’m afraid, one of the better shows I’ve seen from the Lindley Players.
First published by Sardines http://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/reviews/review.php?REVIEW-Lindley%20Players%20Limited,%20The-Ten%20Times%20Two:%20The%20Eternal%20Courtship&reviewsID=2660
Colour, movement, smiles, clear story telling, visual surprises and a narrative so iconically familiar that almost everyone in the audience can recite it from memory: it’s a promising mix for pre-schoolers’ show.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show presents four Eric Carle stories saving the famous, ravenous, primary coloured, eponymous insect until last.
Full marks to the Puppet Kitchen …
Read the rest of this review at https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-show-review-at-ambassadors-theatre/
Wiggling woolly bottoms, energetic folksy music, much baa-ing and a fabulously scary Lion King-style larger-than-life dog puppet spirits us away to Dick King-Smith’s retro country farm. There, a piglet, won in a competition and mothered by the farm’s resident sheepdog, turns out to have an unlikely talent for sheep herding. It’s a story well known to, and much loved by, at least two generations and David Wood’s play version, which dates from 1997 has been revived many times and does it real justice.
Polka present it as an eight hander with lots of imaginative choreography and tight ensemble work under the imaginative direction of Michael Fentiman. In the past I’ve seen Babe played by a child or young actor dressed as a pig. Here he’s an engaging piglet puppet managed and voiced by an ensemble member who alternates between this and evocative violin playing – often dancing at the same time.
Fine puppetry is one of this show’s (many) great strengths. Directed by Mathew Forbes, puppets include a nice group of stripey brown ducks, and extra sheep as well as Babe himself and that sheep-worrying dog who kills an elderly sheep while the others huddle in impotent fear. This is real life in the country. Although there’s a lot of charm it is also a truthful piece. Babe, for example, is destined to be fattened for bacon until his unusual qualities emerge.
It’s a noticeably well-paced show. At times it pulses with energy. Other moments are quiet. The first half ends on a powerful cliff hanger and the scenes leading to the sheepdog trials – which of course Babe wins against all odds and expectation – give a satisfying structure to the second half. The length at 1 hour 45 minutes (with an interval) is spot on for the target audience too and that’s surprisingly unusual. Many shows are too long.
I was accompanied by a seven-year-old and a four-year-old. By the end the four-year-old was literally hopping up and down with gleeful excitement. Her brother, a fairly seasoned theatregoer for his age, deemed it “the best show I’ve seen.” I don’t think the producers could ask for more.
First published by Sardines www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/reviews/review.php?REVIEW-Polka Theatre (professional productions)-Babe, the Sheep-Pig&reviewsID=2653
Stronger on storytelling than really good jokes, this is a feisty reworking of the traditional Sleeping Beauty tale for the enlightened, liberal people of Hackney. Beauty (Alexia Khadine, who has a magnificent mezzo singing voice) is awakened from her curse-induced coma by her nanny (Gavin Spokes playing a fairly low key Dame). She is then armed for combat by the fairies and goes off to rescue her prince (Wayne Perry) from the clutches of evil. It’s a neat reversal and as one of the fairies remarks to the audience: “You see! The Brothers Grimm didn’t always get it right!”
So it’s a political pantomime for Hackney. There are a lot of jibes about, for example, Brexit including a song called “Never ask the people what they think”. We also get a rather laboured running gag about the court jester who has left his post to become the new Foreign Secretary. None of this sits very happily in what is meant, first and foremost surely, to be a children’s show although the (largely adult) audience on press night lapped it up and turned the final ten minutes into a pretty riotous party by dancing, almost literally, in the aisles.
There’s plenty to enjoy though. Darren Hart who has an elastic body and a terrific range of funny, rueful, cunning facial expressions is very good value as Ikabo. Sharon D Clarke plays a statuesque, charismatic imposing Carabosse somewhere between Katisha, Brunhilde and Cleo Laine. Kiruna Stamell is entertaining as the shortest member of the good fairy trio often flying incongruously but convincingly over the action. And there’s some fine ensemble work particularly in the scenes with wolves supporting Carabosse. Moreover, the sparkling five piece live band led by MD Mark Dickman is one of the best things in the whole show.
High spots include a slick “slosh routine” performed quasi-balletically to music in the manner of a silent film. And there are some entertaining special effects with lights, ultra-violet and puppets in the second half when the Prince goes hacking through the brambles to find the castle.
Generally speaking though I found this panto somewhat unfunny and a bit forced in places. It seems very long at 2 hrs 40 minutes too. I was delighted though to see the full stage crew brought on for applause at curtain call. Good for democratic Hackney. Why doesn’t this happen at every show to remind the audience that there’s a great deal more to theatre than what they see?
First published by Sardines http://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/reviews/review.php?REVIEW-Hackney%20Empire%20Ltd%20(professional%20productions)-Sleeping%20Beauty&reviewsID=2651
As soon as you see the trademark ladders and gantries you know you’re in a Sally Cookson show and that plenty of theatrical surprises are in store. And this is Peter Pan as you’ve never seen it before. We start with an adult Wendy (Madeleine Worrall – a delightful blend of feistiness but naivety) remembering. Then when the children eventually get to Neverland the Olivier’s vast stage becomes a huge playground not unlike the skateboard park just along the South Bank outside. There’s a whiff of Cats too as everything in the action is contrived from rubbish and debris with the corrugated iron crocodile being a tour de force. The stage is full of bungey ropes for the flying, counterbalanced by experts shinning up and down ladders at the sides of the stage and there’s interesting use of the revolve and its undercarriage – it’s a technically complex show and the emphasis is on playing and make believe.
This is a serious Peter Pan, though, and a very long way from the pantomime versions playing up and down the country at this time of year. Cookson makes us think about issues such loss, bereavement and above all, motherhood. Anna Francolini (a late replacement for Sophie Thompson who was injured in rehearsal and had to withdraw) doubles Mrs Darling and Captain Hook which makes the villain seem both more sinister and more troubled and troubling than usual. What on earth could this woman’s back story be? Francolini – silver teeth glinting and sporting a huge hook – makes it clear that hers is is a fractured, damaged, vulnerable personality beneath the bravado and her final succumbing to the predatory crocodile is almost as arresting as Cleopatra and the asp, lightened only by a reptilian burp.
Paul Hilton’s Peter is a green glad spiv, reminiscent of a young Michael Sheen. He is, by turns, petulant, needy, bossy, rueful, playful, affectionate and there’s a witty scene in which it all gets too much for him and he literally throws toys out of a pram. It’s a fine performance. Other noteworthy work includes Ekow Quartey doubling Nana the dog and the desperately needy Tootles and Felix Hayes as an entertainingly childish Mr Darling.
This Peter Pan is conceived, as usual with Sally Cookson directing, as an ensemble piece and there’s very slick, impressive work from everyone in the cast whether they’re being windows, pirates, mermaids or many other things. At one point they are all playing musical instruments along with the band which pounds expertly along at the back throughout the Neverland scenes.
There are several wow moments of which the best is the point at which Peter and the children set off for Neverland and pass glowing planets, clouds and more. It provides a real sense of magical transition.
It wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea – although all the key elements of the story are firmly present – but this is the most thought-provoking Peter Pan I’ve seen since the 2015 Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park version made us think about how most of JM Barrie’s boys would have been maimed or killed in the war only a few years later. Here Wendy hesitates when, years later, Peter asks her where John and Michael are.
First published by Sardineshttp://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/reviews/review.php?REVIEW-National%20Theatre%20(professional)-Peter%20Pan&reviewsID=2652
Yes, it’s that time of year. Last week I saw my first two 2016 pantomimes – Dick Whittington at the Marlowe Theatre (Evolution Pantomimes) and Sleeping Beauty at Hackney Empire. The former is a real humdinger of a show, managing to present all the standard routines with remarkable freshness which immediately sets a standard for the rest of the rest of the season as far as I’m concerned. And you can always rely on Susie McKenna and her team to come up with something different at Hackney Empire and this year’s show is as sparky as ever.
I always tell people that I’m not a committed panto fan. Even as a child I used to sit there squirming and wishing they’d stop messing about and get on with the story. As an adult – who has seen and reviewed hundreds (and hundreds) of pantomimes in the last twenty years – of course I see it differently. It’s traditional and I’m all for that. It also gives me real pleasure to see whole families out together and having a good time at the theatre, possibly for the only time in the year. Paul Hendy of Evolution Pantomimes told me recently that on one occasion he spotted what seemed to be a five generation family in one of his audiences – lump in the throat stuff. Moreover for many children it’s the first experience of live theatre and, of course, we all hope that it hooks them so that they want more.
The other important – oft overlooked – thing about pantomime is its huge potential for the provision of lots of jobs especially for young performers. Paul Hendy has a team of eight professional dancers at Canterbury, all of them young. Susie McKenna has seven. And as I write there are new grads playing Cinderella, Snow White, Princess Jasmine – or Prince Charming, Jack or Dick – all over the country. They are cutting their professional teeth, earning money in what for many is the first paid job, and – most importantly of all – learning lots from the big names and seasoned theatre people they are working alongside.
For some venues and companies too, a strong sell-out panto for a few weeks in the winter makes enough money to offset some of the losses during the rest of the year.
So all in all, panto is a Very Good Thing whichever way you look at it. In fact it’s a very valuable strand in the totality of British live theatre. Just as well then, as I have eight more to see between now and Christmas along with 10 or so other shows, many of them aimed at children. And the best part of it all, as I dash about from place to place fighting Christmas show fatigue? Seeing children totally immersed and enjoying themselves. In fact, come to think of it, I think that’s the best thing about Christmas altogether.
This gleaming Rolls Royce of a pantomime was the season’s opener for me. And it sets a standard so high that I’m hoping all the others awaiting me between now and Christmas won’t seem like second-hand Skodas by comparison.
Stephen Mulhern as Billy brings oodles of stage presence, charm, the sort of boyish good looks which set grannies drooling alongside their granddaughters and, of course, magic. Ben Roddy as Dolly the Cook, four years in the dame role at Canterbury, really has developed a style of his own. His hilarious simper has become a trade mark and his incongruously neat foot work is both funny and clever. Talented Lloyd Hollett – another Canterbury regular – and he have become a terrific double act which often includes Mulhern with all three of them expert in squeezing every drop of fun out of the material.
Jemma Carlisle is suitably sweet – in a feisty sort of way – as Alice and she sings well especially in the love duets with Ben Carruthers whose Dick is attractive without being wet (often a problem with panto heroes) and he too is a fine singer. And Chris Wong’s fine band (slightly too loud, this year) pounds away in support of everything which is happening on stage. You can feel the chemistry between Wong, who has been MD at the Canterbury panto for twenty-two years, and the performers too. It’s a nice moment when he comes onstage to accompany one gentle number with acoustic guitar only.
So what actually marks this panto out? Paul Hendy of Evolution Pantomimes, who both writes the script and directs the show, has a knack of being traditional in an imaginative way. I shall long treasure the “gratuitous comedy routine” which provides thirty-two quick-fire puns on shop names which is very funny. Then there’s a highly ingenious finale ensemble patter song about what makes Britain great. With a whiff of Horrible Histories we get a whole sequence of characters – from David Bowie to Andy Murray and from Winston Churchill to the Spice Girls – running on and off stage to Offenbach’s Can Can tune. And it ends with a self-tribute to the role the Marlowe panto plays in promoting Britishness.
And if you can recruit someone like Vladimir Georgievsky to play Alderman Fitzwarren which means we get a fabulous trampoline sequence in which he pretends to be bad at it but in fact leaves you gasping in admiration, then so much the better. The whole show feels luxuriant too with an adult dance team of eight instead of the usual four and a talented junior cast, some of whom have speaking parts. Some of the special effects are, well, pretty special too. We go underwater with 3D glasses but as soon as you take them off there’s another colossal theatrical surprise.
Above all, perhaps, the jokes don’t seem stale. My favourite of the evening was “Dover for the continent! Isle of Sheppey for the incontinent!”
First published by Sardineshttp://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/reviews/review.php?REVIEW-Marlowe%20Theatre%20(professional)-Dick%20Whittington&reviewsID=2649