The company in Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s ‘The Wind in the Willows. Photo: Manuel Harlan

Some directors are magicians. And it is on ongoing mystery to me how talented Dale Rooks gets this astonishingly high standard of professionalism from a youth theatre cast. As I’ve said, more than once before, Chichester Festival Theatre really does run one Britain’s finest youth theatres.  It is, moreover, testament to all concerned that CFT turns its main house over to the youth theatre for what becomes the theatre’s annual Christmas show with all the high production values it would afford any other show.

Alan Bennett’s witty, upbeat but respectful take on Grahame’s episodic tale of highly anthropomorphised river bank animals was originally written for National Theatre thirty years ago and remains one of the best adaptations. It allows for a big ensemble cast and plenty of music – played beautifully here by an unseen six-piece live band led by MD, Colin Billing.

The main roles are shared but on press night I saw Milena Harrison as Mole, quivering, anxious, learning to enjoy fun and always putting forward a commonsense view. She’s a delight to watch. So is Spencer Dixon’s camp, effete and very decent Rat who towers over her in an avuncular way.

Jack Keane, as Toad, commands the stage with excess, outrageousness and fabulous movement work. He’s quite an actor to watch. Alfie Ayling’s badger is more loveable and less curmudgeonly than some interpretations but enjoyable nonetheless. And Edward Bromell as Albert, the lugubrious, bolshy horse who objects to being smacked on the bottom and likes a quiet read when he’s allowed one, is so entertaining that he almost deserves a show of his own.

Other high spots include Lucy Campbell as a cheerfully gor-blimey Otter and Milly Fryman singing a 3|4 music-hall style number as the Barge Woman and getting the Marie Lloyd vibe perfectly.

The ensemble sings and dances well in various combinations and threads mysteriously in and out of Simon Higlett’s magnificent set which comprises green willows which open to admit other settings such as Toad Hall, Badger’s House, the barge, the train and so on. And neatly woven into this is a hint of recycling and a reminder of scale. Toad Hall is, actually, a grand old teapot. Ratty’s boat is a sardine tin which he rows with cotton buds.

Not only does the ensemble of mice, rabbits, foxes, weasels, ferrets and the like sound terrific – sometimes singing in four parts – but it looks gorgeous too. Ryan Dawson Laight’s costumes are a delight: from the baggy brown trousers and big tail for Mole to the huge round ears for the mice, some of whom are very tiny, and the big red bushy tails for the foxes. Each and every one of them encapsulates the animal’s most prominent characteristics.

It really is a fine and uplifting evening’s theatre. Catch it if you possibly can.

• 

  All photos: Manuel Harlan

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Glisten. Photo: Stephen Beany

This show is effectively a 20 minute, solo,  sensory dance performance for babies and as such it works very well. Alessio Bagiardi, a charismatic mover, is beneath a tent frame which has some unobtrusive items taped to its bars. During the course of the show he finds lights, a big rustly foam rug, coloured cellophane, rainbow-bright chiffon scarves and creates a landscape with them on the floor. Gentle music plays throughout and provides an aural structure for Bagiaridi’s quasi-balletic body work. It’s also soothingly reassuring for very young ears.

The audience – and their grown ups –  are seated on cushions and chairs round the edge. The response is fascinating. There are chatty wrigglers, excited commenters, one who’s a bit edgy and thinks about crying and one – perhaps a year old – who sits perfectly still, transfixed and mesmerised following every movement with his eyes. It’s rare to see such focus in the theatre even amongst adults. When it was time for the interactive play session at the end, that same child crawled purposefully to Bagiardi’s feet and allowed himself to be lifted high into the foil tendrils overhead – a jolly good game. How lovely, too, to see a baby only a few weeks old lying alert on a little mattress at the end, concentratedly watching the lights and colours, arms and legs thrusting enthusiastically.

Of course I’ve seen theatre for under-twos before but it’s been a while and I’m struck afresh that “imaginative” and “simple” are not contradictions. This very pleasing miniature show does both and engages its target audience with exquisite skill and warmth.

First published by Sardines:

The Grotto. Photo: Cam Harle

A youngish couple are wearily running Santa’s Grotto, although they’ve actually been separated for some months. Pete (Toby Hampton)  smiles and ho-hos falsely while Leyla (Laurel Marks) as his elf mimes bringing in child after child. Then, at the end of their monotonous shift we see them as themselves: sparring. They are dispirited (literally as it turns out)  but clearly yearning in their different ways – her exasperation and his relentless jokiness – to get back together.

Hampton’s play is surreal. With a sideways nod at A Christmas Carol a supernatural force arrives in the form of puppet Christmas fairy/angel (voiced by Bryan Pilkington) whose stated aim is to help them recover their Christmas spirit.  The challenges he sets are macabre, peculiar and often very funny. There are plenty of unexpected twists so no spoilers.

In general I found the whole concept slightly too wacky and without much dynamic contrast. And although it’s a short one act play running 70 minutes it’s actually ten minutes too long. But it was a preview  performance I saw so there is time for the production to settle.

I saw Laurel Marks on stage twice earlier this year in two very different roles. Her performance as Leyla confirms me in my view that she is an exceptionally talented actor. She has a very expressive face which she uses with a great deal of evocative nuance and she does wonderful things with breathing to connote anger, stress, fear – or a physical condition which makes Leyla sneeze a lot.

She and Hampton repeatedly declare themselves a team as their characters in this play. They are evidently a strong team as actors in real life too because they bounce off each other well with a lot of high octane listening as well as action.

Director, Matthew Parker, makes imaginative use of the small playing space at Drayton Arms Theatre (my first visit there, incidentally) and it’s a busy production with lots of props so well done stage manager, Summer Keating too.

While it isn’t the best thing I’ve seen this Christmas season The Grotto is commendably original and  certainly a refreshing antidote to all the predictable stuff one sees at this time of year.

• 

  Photos: The Grotto. All photos: Cam Harle

• 
• 

First published by Sardines: https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/review/the-grotto/

It’s a good choice for a school play. Shakespeare in Love has a big cast and lots of meaty roles. And it works especially well for a school which is boys only other than in the sixth from because the company run by the hapless Burbage (Matteo de Lorenzo – pleasing performance) and his rivals, were of course, all male.

James Bradburn, directs his cast (Head of Drama is Chris Chambers) to make imaginative use of the big playing space and there are some excellent stage grouping moments. The show is slickly paced too.

Barney Sayburn excels as Shakespeare. He has plenty of stage presence and brings colour and nuance to the role  as he works though his love affair with wannabe actor Viola  De Lesseps (Anna Brovko – warm and convincing) and the gradual development of Romeo and Juliet.  Arthur White, diminutive and feisty, is great fun as John Webster and Alex Molony’s Kit Marlowe is enjoyable.

But the real stars of this show are Tom Stoppard’s script and the side stage band directed by Ralph Barlow. (I had forgotten just how clever Stoppard’s writing is here. He weaves quotes and cross references in continually. I hope the young people acting it are aware that, for example, “Give me to drink mandragora” “The play’s the thing” “Brave new world” “sick of self love” and dozens of other lines are Shakespeare’s own words. It’s sad, though, that when John Webster makes a particularly blood-thirsty remark and then reveals his name, I am the only audience member who laughs.

Trinity School is famous for its music (Trinity Boys Choir etc) so it’s  a treat to hear/see it shining on its own patch. The all-student band provides arrestingly good period music on instruments such as lute, viol, psaltery and spinet alongside trumpets and flutes. Half a dozen fine singers stand behind them producing some pretty impressive harmony. The music sits between scenes and often under dialogue to provide atmosphere.

And that, perversely, creates occasional problems because sometimes there are issues with the acoustic and sound system so that words aren’t always audible despite the use of radio mics. This show is staged in the school’s very large concert hall rather than the smaller theatre next door and, clearly, that has created challenges although it’s a lovely thing for the cast and creatives to be able to work in, and fill, such a large space.

An enormous amount of hard work and dedication has gone into this show and it’s a joy to me to see so many young people, of all abilities, working together and producing something worthwhile. Well done, all.

First published by Sardines: https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/review/shakespeare-in-love/

Rebecca Crankshaw is riveting. She holds the audience in the palm of her hand as Tracey treating us to her memories, thoughts and life story as she potters about in her kitchen cooking Christmas dinner for 21 noisy and demanding people who can be heard in the next room.

This beautifully written, scrupulously observed play is very funny but it’s also pretty poignant as we gradually learn why the in-your-face Tracey is married to a fat prick (“Actually” she says wryly. “That’s not fair. He isn’t fat”) with a ghastly vegan mother who loves to lay down the law. Then there’s Jackie, the friend who’s been beside her since she was nine years old. Usually Jackie would be there at Christmas having a laugh with her in the kitchen and we eventually realise why she isn’t – and that isn’t funny at all.

It’s a powerful  60-minute, one-hander, not least because Crankshaw’s timing and voice work are so accomplished. She treats us to a hilarious account of attending and hilariously subverting a séance she once attended with her mother in law and Jackie. Then there’s meeting and being captivated by a glamorous American named Gregory – and the dashed dream which follows. Tracey is very witty too about how to “bag a bloke” although Crankshaw plays this with a nuanced sense of brittleness. It’s a very charismatic performance.

The play, written by two men, is partly a feminist crie-de-coeur. Tracey really doesn’t deserve to be a solitary kitchen skivvy single-handedly fulfilling the complex dietary needs of 21 people. When the rebellion finally comes it’s such a relief that you want to cheer.

Because the Bridge House studio space is small and simple, sets there are usually quite basic but directors Luke Adamson and Joe Lindoe have really pushed the boat out for this one. A fitted kitchen, including a fridge and lots of cupboards hugs two sides of the square space so that Crankshaw can work with real food and at one point we get steam – all pretty convincing although it must be quite complicated to stage manage.

I did wonder, though, about the food waste but at the end Crankshaw speaks, as herself, to the audience and explains that there’s a collection for a local food bank to offset this. Nice touch and people seemed to be donating quite generously after the performance I saw.

First published by Sardines: https://www.sardinesmagazine.co.uk/review/21-round-for-christmas/