Blood Brothers

Grove Theatre, Dunstable

23 May 2011

Blood, sweat and many tears

It happens every single time. I have actually lost count of the number of times that I have seen Blood Brothers. I know exactly what is going to happen and many of the lines but I still flipping cry my eyes out.

I am not normally one for multiple visits to shows unless it is truely special or has a particularly impressive cast but I make an exception for Willy Russell's wonderful piece of drama. For I'd rather call it that than a musical. It is a very powerful and emotional play, it just so happens that most of the lines are sung.

So - why is it so special?

Well, although the opening scene hints that it’s not exactly going to be a happy ending, to start with the simple, witty lyrics and lighthearted scenes imply that it is a feel good musical. It draws you into the world of the families it portrays, lulling you into a false sense of security, until it twists in the second half and turns into tragedy. But by then it’s too late - you’re completely sucked in. It really is an emotional rollercoaster!

OK, the plot may sound a bit corny. Set in Liverpool. Twins separated at birth and brought up in different environments, one rich and one poor. They grow up different – but also the same. They meet by chance and, guess what, become firm friends!

But the mothers try to keep them apart because, in fear that she will lose her son, the adoptive mother has told the real one that if the boys ever find out, they will die. It could therefore easily dissolve into cliché and sentimentality but it doesn’t. It’s heartbreaking.

It doesn’t sound very cheery does it? But it is, it’s also very funny!

In Willy Russell’s own inimitable style, the Scouse wit is beautifully timed and some of the most enjoyable scenes are where the adult actors play seven-year-olds in all their innocence. But ultimately it is the humour of the piece that makes the finale all the more shattering.

The character that embodies this change is Mickey, and in this production, as it has been many times before, he is played by Sean Jones who puts in a performance that can only be described as blimming marvellous!

I was so pleased to find that Blood Brothers was coming to Dunstable but I was ecstatic to find that Jones had returned to the cast, for in my opinion he is the best Mickey ever!

I first interviewed him about it in 2004 after seeing his performance and he had already been in the show a while. Since then he has appeared on tour and in the West End on and off for years - to me he IS Mickey!

His transformation from a lovable and witty scally to a man totally broken by his circumstances is nothing short of brilliant! His delivery and timing is flawless, his breakdown heartrending, and it is mostly down to him that I have to scurry through the foyer at the end to the safety of the
darkness of the car park at the end of every show I've seen him in!

In this production Mrs Johnstone is played by Nikki Evans, the 2007 X Factor finalist. As the mother who has to separate her twins so that her family can survive, she put her all into the role and it is clear that in musical theatre she has found a better niche than pop superstardom. And as Leon Jackson won that series, I definitely think she got the better deal - pop superstardom didn't await the winner anyway!

I thought at the start, that showing the end first could spoil things but I was wrong. It just heightens the tension, because throughout the ‘we’re poor but we’re happy’ atmosphere, there is also a foreboding feeling of inevitability, that they are tumbling ever faster towards disaster.

Like the secret that hangs over the families, the Narrator (Craig price) lurking in nearly every scene, not in the forefront, but nevertheless there, also gives you the feeling that the past just won’t go away.

There are other little clues to the final conclusion throughout the show, as the imaginary guns turn to toy guns and eventually real and deadly ones.

On the face of it, one may be tempted to think that it is all about the class divide. It is a bit, but I think it’s more than that. As the two mothers try desperately to keep the twins apart for the rest of their lives, the more they seemed forced together.

It is a good example of self-fulfilling prophecy, showing that if you believe in superstitions enough they will come true, especially, if it’s you that’s made them up in the first place. It’s a good study in how much control we actually have over our own lives.

What playwright Willy Russell has always done so well is combine being critically acclaimed with being populist. This is because he not only puts together well-crafted plays with layers of meaning, he also writes about real people with all their humour and their tragedy.

We can empathise with them because we understand them. In Blood Brothers they may have a firm Liverpudlian voice, with its dry wit and bare humanity, but the emotions that they experience can be recognised by anybody.

Another thing that I like about this as a musical is that you don’t get bits of speech that sound like a cue for a song. The dialogue and the music melt seemlessly into one another as if this was totally natural. This is probably a result of one man doing the whole thing, book, lyrics and music.

And most importantly, after a big "number" as such, the next piece of action starts immediately, there is no interuption for applause which serves to keep the rollercoaster on track with no respite.

The show has been running for over 20 years in the West End and on tour, it simply doesn't date. Even if it is set in the 60s/70s, the costumes are pretty generic, situations, such as umemployment, are still recognisable and the emotions are universal.

Think I'd better stop now - although I could wax lyrical for a few more hundred words given the chance!

Interview with Sean Jones in 2004: http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/theatre/2004/02/blood_brothers_sean_jones.shtml

King Lear

Milton Keynes Theatre

Saturday 19 March 2011 (MAT)

The king of Lears

I am embarrassed to admit that I spent a good ten minutes at work last week, explaining how the tunes to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep and the Alphabet song were essentially the same. (Bet you're all singing them now?!)

I have officially turned into the sort of person that I used to want to slap - very hard - so when one of my colleagues said that he thought I was in desperate need of seeing some Shakespeare, he was relieved to hear that I was actually going to see King Lear this very Saturday! And I was relieved to be going!

This wasn't just any old King Lear. Oh no. This was probably the best version of it that have ever seen. It had the fabulous Sir Derek Jacobi in the title role, the perfect antidote to Cbeebies - or so you would think!

I have seen and loved Sir Derek in many productions in the past including Richard III, Twelfth Night, Lear and Beckett but I have to confess that I couldn't help hearing him in my head saying "Iggle Piggle's not in bed" while he was proclaiming "I am a man more sinned against than sinning" as his chief role in my life at the moment is as the narrator of "In the Night Garden", the saviour of parents everywhere!

But I soon forgot about his other job and remembered that he is a GREAT classical actor - if not the greatest living one at the moment - as I became fully immersed in the plight of this arrogant, cruel yet tortured character.

I had also worried that having three hours sitting quietly in the dark was such a novelty that I may use it as a chance to drop off but when you are confronted by fine actors, skillfully producing a very moving rendition of what is ultimately a pretty harrowing play, the last thing I wanted to do was sleep! Not everyone's idea of a fun Saturday afternoon but my goodness, I needed it!

The play focuses on an old English king who suffers a reversal of his fortunes at the hands of his daughters after he divides up his kingdom amongst them.

What I really liked was the effect of the set which was just dappled white boards. There was no fussy furniture except for the odd stool, and props were at a minimum so your full attention was on the words and the acting. The play could create its own world through the words of Shakespeare and the performances of the actors.

There was no room for mistake or tedium and there was neither because Michael Grandage's production moves at quite a pace with no messing about and the performances are detailed and strong.

The production of course is driven by Jacobi's Lear who clearly shows the contadictions of the character while still managing to gain a certain sympathy from the audience. He is arrogant, self-indulgent and cruel but ends up broken and there's a real poignancy to his decline, his fear of madness is touching and his reunion with Cordelia, played by the wonderful Pippa Bennet-Warner) is tender.

While Jacobi is the natural centre of things, he is fully supported by an excellent cast. Gina McKee's Goneril is cold and calculating but somehow sensual while Justine Mitchell's Regan seems on the face of it to be a bit of a goody goody but at the same time is rather TOO excited by Gloucester's blinding.

Paul Jesson as Gloucester perfectly captures that irony of the man who really begins to see when he loses the use of his eyes and there's a touching sadness to Ron Cook's Fool.

Sadly the phrase "great tragedy" has been used often in these past weeks to mean something undeniably painful. I want to reclaim the phrase. This production is GREAT tragedy, which ironically is incredibly uplifting.

And one of the most uplifting things about this production is that actors of such magnitude are prepared to appear in the regions rather than stay holed up in the safety of the big smoke.

I got home just in time for Sir Derek to announce that everybody in the surreal and enchanting world of the Night Garden was now in bed - the man is a legend!

Great Expectations

Watford Palace Theatre

25 February 2011

Expectations fulfilled

Charles Dickens is such a fabulous storyteller that the less an adapter does to his work the better so I was pleased that Tanika Gupta kept to the same basic story in her version of Great Expectations - just put it somewhere else.

In Dickens' novel, Pip has an encounter with a convict and is then given the chance to better himself when asked to regularly visit the reclusive Miss Havisham.

He begins to dream of being more than the working class boy that he is and when he is told he has an anonymous benefactor he begins to pursue his dream of becoming a gentleman, because he thinks that this will win him the heart of Miss Havisham's adopted daughter, the heartless Estella.

In her stage adaptation, Gupta has picked up this story and put it down in India during the time of the British Raj of 1861 and in doing so imparts a more specific message than just a critique of the British justice system that Dickens original work is often thought to be.

Instead of being a poor English boy, Pip is now a poor Indian boy - except with a Northern accent!

Magwitch is now a black convict instead of a white one, Miss Haversham is the same but represents colonial harshness and the haughty Estelle is mixed race.

It is the same tale but the emphasis is on Pip becoming an English gentleman, rather than merely a gentleman. Therefore the message at the end is pretty clear. In his desire to move up a class, improve his status and therefore become more socially acceptable, he has left his heritage and cultural identity behind and not been true to himself.

Nikolai Foster’s production for the English Touring Theatre is well-performed and moves on a pace from scene to scene although I did feel that the energy dipped at the beginning of the second half - or maybe that was just mine!

Tariq Jordan handled the role of Pip with great care, skillfully maturing from 12-year-old to young adult, to young adult with a posh English accent! He was rarely off the stage but his performance never flagged.

He was supported by a strong ensemble cast. Jude Akuwudike’s Magwitch commanded the stage in every scene he was in while Tony Jayawardena's lovely, caring Joe Gargery and Giles Cooper’s very posh Herbert Pocket also stood out for me.

Lynn Farleigh’s Miss Havisham was the epitomy of faded glamour and Simone James was suitably irritating in her coldness towards Pip, but still not half as annoying as Becca in EastEnders, a role for which, at the moment, she is chiefly known.

This really is a very interesting and enjoyable version of the tale which also highlights how many of its themes are universal and can be relevant to any place and time. Gupta has also brought out the comedy of the story which is always a winner in my book!

It makes for a very entertaining evening but, as with all stage adaptations of great works of literature, it doesn't come close to the enriching experience of reading the original prose.

Read my interview with Tariq Jordan: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12430289

Legally Blonde

Savoy Theatre

24 February 2011 (Mat)

Pretty in pink!

Omigod! Legally Blonde is camp and preposterous but purely and simply a lot of fun! And it's also a vast improvement on the film - and MUCH funnier!

Somehow you can get away with what is basically a fairly ludicrous story if you sing and dance your way through it with boundless enthusiasm while keeping your tongue firmly planted in your cheek! And use LOTS of pink. Everywhere!

"Blonde" Elle (Nicola Brazil) is heartbroken when her boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Simon Thomas) is accepted by Harvard to read law. So she gets accepted there too by doing a bit of work but mostly, it seems, by doing a cheerleader routine! She then goes about trying to win him back, befriending older student Emmet (Alex Gaumond) and Paulette (Sorelle Marsh), a hairdresser obssessed with the Irish, along the way! Even the final case is decided after a lesson in hair care rather than precedent!

The tunes are chirpy, the lyrics genuinely funny, the terrific dance routines embrace a number of styles from a skipping rope number to spoof Riverdance and there are two very cute dogs who do what they're told, much to the delight of an audience who seemed to have never seen an obedient dog before!

Director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell makes sure it's pacy and frothy. As far as the music, by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, is concerned, there isn't a big anthem that you remember and I couldn't sing any of the tunes now but they are all really enjoyable and fit the story well. And I can remember what I enjoyed - "Gay or European?" was a particular fave!

As the lead, Nicola Brazil was perky and had bags of vitality and warmth. Sometimes I don't think that understudies get the recognition they deserve. They are not second best, they are often just "not a name" - yet! The same goes for Lincoln Stone as Professor Callaghan who was just the right combination of suave yet harsh.

Sorelle Marsh was the "alternate" Paulette, (I don't know why they don't just say understudy to be honest - I'm sure Denise VO isn't off that much!) and she was fun and sassy. Her falling for UPS man (Chris Ellis-Stanton) was one of the highlights of the show, even if he did steal every scene he was in!

The rest of the main characters also didn't disappoint. Who couldn't have failed to fall for the slightly dishevelled, kind and caring Alex Gaumond? Simon Thomas as Warner as suitably self-centred although I would have fallen for his singing voice every time.

They were all ably suported by a well-drilled and talented ensemble who all looked as though they were having the time of their lives and believe me, this DOES make a difference!

It was also good to see a lot of young people in the audience - even if they were mostly girls! Although I did wonder why two of them spent ages before curtain up, in their seats in front of me, carefully doing each other's make-up. Oh to be that age again, when you make the effort to look good even when the lights are about to go out!

It's funny, feel good and fizzes pink like once of those pink bomb things that you put in the bath! In short, a brilliant pick me up for this day and age!

But the message at the end of "To thine own self be true" is one that couldn't fail to touch me. Elle may have originally followed the path to Harvard because of a man but she followed her heart, and what can be more truthful than that?!

Matthew Bourne's Cinderella

Milton Keynes Theatre

22 February 2011

Cinders sets stage alight!

I love Matthew Bourne.

He is probably most famous for subverting the traditional and making dance accessible to those who might think it too high-brow. In his Cinderella, he does all this again in great style.

so, forget Pumpkin coaches, Ugly Sisters, little ponies, and, in my view a rather petulant and shallow heroine who spurns the warm-hearted Buttons for the riches and looks of Prince Charming, Matthew Bourne has set his Cinderella during the London Blitz and in doing so has, unlike pantomime, got a story firmly planted in realism with characters that you care about.

In this production, a grey and dowdy Cinders (Kerry Biggin) is downtrodden not by just two ugly sisters but a plethora of stepbrothers and stepsisters, one of whom seems to be doing a very passable impression of David Walliams as he rather unsettlingly pursues her with his strange obsession with sparkly shoes!

The dysfunctional family are led by Michela Meazza's vampish stepmother. She is made temporarily glamorous by a "fairy godfather" or guardian angel (Christopher Marney) and falls for an RAF pilot (Sam Archer) who gets wounded.

It all takes place on another amazing Lez Brotherstone set full of bombed, skeletal buildings. The scene where the bombing of the Cafe de Paris happens in reverse so that the smoking ruins become, once again, an elegant, glittering dance hall is just brilliant - a little reminiscent of the opening scene of Titanic.

In that hall, the ensemble dance almost as if their lives depend on it, high kicking and falling in wild abandonment.

This evocative setting works brilliantly with the sombre score - which was actually written during the war - and if you think that you can't jive and lindy hop to Prokofiev, then you'd be wrong! The sounds of bombs falling and anti-aircraft fire all add to the atmos.

In the lead roles, Kerry Biggin is touching and vulnerable in glasses and a cardy and Sam Archer is full of both tenderness and panache. Angel Marney is just terrific and joy to watch.

Their post-coital love duet was a new one on me because they hadn't "done the business" in any version that I'd seen before! But it really captures the heightened emotional feeling of a time where people knew that life was precarious and so acted on impulse.

Also, in a new twist, after the ball, instead of wandering the land trying to find a foot that fits the shoe, the airman wanders through a world of women of the night and ne'er do wells searching for his lost love before they are reunited in a hospital.

All in all the magical elements of a familiar story are stripped away, leaving a more believable story that still has that fairytale feel.

Bourne says that the show is a tribute to his dad who survived the Blitz but died in 2010. I like to think it's also a fitting tribute to all those who sat through the nightly assaults in their homes across the UK.

Chess

Milton Keynes Theatre

25 January 2011

Chess not stale, mate. Yet!

Before I start, I just want to explain the 19 month gap in proceedings! The arrival of Forest Chick last February and the 8-9 months before that meant that I have been virtually nowhere or done anything and – what I have done, I haven’t had time to write about!

But now – I’m back! And here’s my first offering since “Never Forget” in June 2009 – a production that I felt sick throughout, and only realised why a week later!

Chess is one of those shows where you have to separate your thoughts about the actual production with your thoughts about the story / concept.

With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA fame, this touring production directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, looks great, is stylish, has a handful of good songs and very strong performances – but the show itself – well, frankly it’s a bit tedious. I thought that the game of chess was an odd choice for a musical when I first saw it 20-odd years ago and my perception hasn’t really changed.

I’m pretty sure that the game is somehow used as a metaphor for life, about strategies and how one action can affect another but to be honest I wasn’t inspired to consider this like I would an Ibsen, because I didn’t really care!

The Cold War element that was in recent history in the early 80s seemed to be really played down in favour of the love story.

It’s not until about 15 minutes before the interval that the love triangle angle emerges (always a winner!) so before that I was beginning to think that another game might have provided more interest and tension – Buckeroo perhaps!

Nevertheless, because I wasn’t interested in the story for the first hour, I was able to concentrate on the staging which I loved.

It’s all black and white (obv really!) but the costumes and feel are like a cross between Kafka and Tim Burton and are in a bondage type style which I felt updated the 80s musical well, as did the video wall which helps to set the location for each scene. (Or you can look in the programme!)

The performers also play all the instruments as well, something which always fascinates me, and rather than this looking clumsy, which it can do sometimes, it is seamless.

You can definitely hear the ABBA influence throughout, especially as some of it could be Eurovision material, but the handful of good songs really are good – “Anthem”, “Pity The Child”, “Heaven Help My Heart”, “Nobody’s Side” and the most famous, “I Know Him So Well”. The rest is more operatic than rock musical so if that’s your bag, you’ll love it!

There are some very strong performances by the principle characters, with the actors all being solid and experienced performers rather than big names who can’t cut it.

James Fox was excellent in the role of Freddy Trumper, and his performance of “Pity The Child” nearly took the roof off, as did Daniel Koek’s rendition of “Anthem”.

He has an amazing voice and is much better suited to playing Anatoly, a Russian chess player than he was when he played Tony in West Side Story where, if I remember correctly, I described him as being a bit like a school teacher.

Shona White who plays Elaine Paige – sorry, Florence - also had a voice that travelled to my very core.

Luckily the voices deflected from the story – maybe I over analyse things too much but Florence seemed to bin Freddie for Anatoly rather TOO quickly! And personally - I would have stuck with Freddie!

The rest of the cast all provided excellent support although I was a little disappointed that in some of the ensemble numbers I couldn’t always hear the words, which kind of spoiled my main sport in a Tim Rice musical, which is spotting the unfeasible lyrics. But luckily I picked out his rhyming of “consul” with “response’ll” which made my evening!

This is production proves that the show isn’t stale – but could probably be an hour shorter!

But – while I have mixed feelings about the show, whatever I saw on the stage, it was really nice to be out!

Never Forget

Milton Keynes Theatre
2 June 2009

Never forget the real thing

Never Forget, or the ‘Take That musical’ is possibly the campest musical that I have seen in a long while, and I think that’s saying something! But it’s loads of fun and made me smile a lot throughout!

It’s the story of five lads who audition to join a ‘Take That’ tribute band as a way out of their current lives and problems. It’s the bog standard morality tale that’s often used to link songs in juke box musicals – fame slash love slash lust (insert whichever is most appropriate) comes at a price etc etc etc - but to be fair, this one does have some quite amusing lines!

In any case, to be honest, I really wasn’t too fussed about the story. I actually gave up on it after one of the boys decides he wants to leave the band to pursue a solo career (predictably), and all the others are really upset – but they’ve only ever done ONE GIG anyway by this point, so I felt it was a bit of an over reaction! Instead, I concentrated on the fact that the whole show is really just an excuse to play some of the fab fives’ great back catalogue and I spent much of the show remembering and marvelling at how Gary Barlow had written such fabulous tunes!

The five guys in the lead roles were Mark Willshire as Ash, the Gary Barlow figure, who had a good voice but seemed to struggle a bit with the high notes. Then there was Adam C Booth as Jake (Robbie) who had some of the best comedy lines which he delivered well and was probably the best dancer of the five. I really warmed to Tom Bradley as Adrian, the awkward banker who gradually grows in confidence and this journey provides him with some lovely comic business. And Scott Garnham also gets a lot of laughs as the Spaniard Jose who loves and reveres his mother (as we all should of course!)

Philip Olivier, bless him, as Dirty Harry, is not a singer or a dancer, and he admitted as much to me in a pre-show interview, saying that he had a very hard time learning these skills just for this show. But to be fair he has a good stab at it and plays the role of the stripper who’s not the sharpest tool in the box, with genial charm. But his main attraction of course is his fine physique – and with this he certainly doesn’t disappoint. He gets his kit off within five minutes of first appearing on stage, much to the appreciation of the mostly female audience, myself included!
In reality none of the lead five lads are great dancers, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and put this down to the fact that the story is about how they had just started out in a tribute band, so were still learning to dance like TT. Ergo, it was all part of the show. However, they were all probably still better than Gary Barlow still is!

The backing dancers were an entirely different story though – all excellent - and I enjoyed Karen Bruce’s choreography too.

It all builds into a grand finale and the obligatory montage of the band’s songs with the audience on their feet, singing, clapping and dancing as if it was the real thing.

But it wasn’t. It was great fun, but it wasn’t TT. Nevertheless, if you love the UK’s best-loved pop band then you’ll enjoy this too –especially if you’re in a Hen Party! However, it made me never forget that you really can’t beat the real thing! Roll on the 4th July at Wembley!

Just one note to prospective audiences. It all starts with a loud note that will make you jump. You can jump, by all means, but please don’t laugh for TEN MINUTES about the fact that you jumped! It’s REALLY annoying.

Little Shop of Horrors

Milton Keynes Theatre
11 May 2009

Rich dark chocolate factory stuff!

This wonderfully kitsch and camp show which also boasts some great songs is an un-taxing and fun evening, but I have to first say what I spent most of the production contemplating!

Reading the programme before curtain up I discovered that I knew one of the three puppeteers who take it in turns to “work” the man-eating plat Audrey II. The last time I had seen Iestyn Evans was when he was a young teenager who both built and “worked” Audrey II in a local amateur production that I was working on. So, my thoughts during the show were split between being delighted that this really nice young man had developed a very successful career for himself in the world of professional puppetry, a world that he had always seemed destined for and, luckily for him, had worked out – and the horror of realising that I had last seen him 14 years ago – 14 YEARS – OMG!

I also spent a lot of time listening for the bass line in the songs as the bass guitarist had spent a week at our flat in Coventry when the show was at the Belgrade. I didn’t have to listen hard – it was very loud – but very good!

So, onto the show – the stage version of what has become a cult movie - Ashman and Menken's B-movie horror spoof musical, this time produced by the people from the Menier Chocolate Factory.It opens at Mushnik’s Florists on Skid Row, where the struggling proprietor is about to close down. But then, his downtrodden assistant Seymour finds a “strange and interesting plant” which he calls Audrey 2 after his fellow assistant Audrey, for whom he holds a considerable torch. However, the plant soon becomes stranger and hungrier and leads Seymour down a very dark path indeed, because Audrey needs blood in order to survive.

Matthew White's production has lots of charm, even if it’s all quite ludicrous! I don’t know why but I didn’t expect Clare Buckfield to be any good as Audrey, but she is and has a surprisingly strong singing voice too. Alex Ferns has a blast as the sado-masichist dentist (aren’t they all?!). This is a man who does a very good line in playing people who are “not quite right” (I cite Trevor in EastEnders) and in this role he was a man who really looked like he was enjoying himself! Quite over the top but this didn’t matter a bit.

The cast also features the dependable experience of Sylvester McCoy as Mushnik, even though his American-Jewish accent was another “not quite right” thing, but as this also gets laughs, maybe it was planned that way! Clive Rowe is an excellent voice of Audrey II , the plant which grows impressively throughout the show until it dominates the show. He exudes just the right amount of wit, and Damian Humbley as the meek amateur botanist Seymour strikes the right note of indecision and torment that the role requires.

The Ronettes-style trio of Nadia Di Mambro, Cathryn Davis and Donna Hines, who provide the narration have incredible voices, but sometimes the strength of their chords over powered the actual words which was a shame. Also, the all round cast felt a little lacking in number. It was fun having Alex Ferns come back playing many different parts but it would have been nice to have more in the cast so that more could be made of the bigger numbers. However, I guess cost precludes this and the fact that it’s obviously Ferns in all these other parts is a nice touch I guess!

One thing that I must take issue with though – and for this I blame the marketeers and not the production – and that’s that with a tough titty, a cr*p and at least two sh*ts I would argue against the seven-years-old and up label. Couple that with feeding body parts into a plant and you could scar some poor little blighters for life.

But this is a vibrant and fun production with some lovely dark comedy, it’s just that it’s for secondary age and above only I think!

England People Very Nice

Olivier Theatre, National Theatre
18 April 2009 (Mat)

A great portrayal of human Bean's!

Some people think that Richard Bean’s ‘England People Very Nice’ is racist. Well, in that case they have really missed the point. Just because a play shows racist behaviour doesn’t mean it’s a racist play. What Bean is doing is showing us this behaviour to highlight exactly what it is and that while it’s wrong, how it can come about so easily. But it’s also an extremely funny play and by making us laugh, making us realise that we are laughing at some uncomfortable stuff and by making us question ourselves, he is drumming a point home far more effectively than making a worthy speech. In other words, it’s classic satire!

In showing us the past 400 years of people’s reactions to incomers, he shows us that there have always been racist reactions and sadly, we also see that this will probably always be the case. It’s not about skin colour though, it’s about reacting to different cultures, and how all cultures have been intolerant to each other. In short, those who are already in a place will resent the arrival of new people who seem to be given everything they need.

From the arrival of the French in England to the Irish, to the Jews and finally through to Bangladeshis, the new culture that arrives is resented by the old guard. But what also really comes across is that as time goes on, the so called English people are made up of all the cultures that have arrived in the country and begs the question what is an English person anyway?

The one thing that also came across about why new people are resented is that they are all perceived to be getting something that the people who are already in the country aren’t getting, be it jobs or housing. The Protestants are uneasy about the Irish Catholics, who, in turn, are hostile to the Jews, who feel displaced by the Bangladeshis. Then finally, it’s suggested that they are angry about seemingly preferential treatment being given to Somalis.

The irony is that this is kind of a play within a play because it’s being put on by “inmates” in an immigration centre”. They have arrived in this country and certainly none of them are getting an easy ride – they are in prison.

The device used to show how things don’t change is clever. In the first half the same actors play the central characters in each section. Then in the second half, the same actors play the same characters over a period of about 60 years – without seemingly ageing. It shows that people’s reactions are exactly the same and that some things never change. But what Bean also shows is that in every case, love transcends the racial divide.

Nicholas Hytner’s production is fast-paced and helped by animations by Pete Bishop which move the story along. And though they were from the same kind of school, I enjoyed these much more than I ever did Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python stuff which frankly I found a bit scary!

It’s massive cast, by modern standards, but I’d pick out a few for a special mention - Sacha Dhawan and Michelle Terry as the star-crossed lovers in every phase, Sophie Stanton as a wonderfully brassy barmaid and Fred Ridgeway as a wise old publican.

The jokes are plentiful but it all makes a serious point. You become more and more aware of an Englishman being Daniel Defoe’s “heterogeneous thing”, essentially mongrels, and it is integration that encourages tolerance. As a result, there’s also an implied suggestion that it’s the unwillingness of some communities to integrate that causes dangerous problems, and it is this that is the most chilling message. This is probably where the racist allegations come from. I didn’t see it like that at all but all art is subjective.

There has, and sadly probably always will be racism and intolerance, and because of this there will also always be a heated debate about multicultural Britain. Richard Bean’s play is a timely – and maybe even timeless – contribution to that discussion.

Beauty and the Beast

Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage
16 April 2009

Christmas comes early!

This is a nice little show. It was slick, funny and colourful with engaging performances that delighted the audience.

The cast tell the classic tale with genial exuberance, but in case you’ve lived in a cave all your life with no electrical supplies to have viewed the numerous telly adaptations or the 1991 Disney version, it tells the story of a Prince who’s been turned into a Beast by an evil witch because he doesn’t fancy her. He can only turn back into a Prince if a beautiful young girl falls in love with him. And guess what – one does – eventually!

I am now going to resist the temptation to rant on about the dubious morals of this story, i.e. can men only be Princes if beautiful young women love them? Do only beautiful young women deserve to marry handsome Princes? STOP ME NOW!

My only gripe is that for an Easter show it felt distinctly seasonal, although there is nothing really wrong with that I guess. But this isn’t a panto. It looks like a panto, it feels like a panto, it has goodies and baddies , heroes and villains. The saving grace was that there were no flashing wands! But it also doesn’t have any ‘It’s behind yous’, or a dame, or a song sheet, or a ghost scene, so it’s not a panto - therefore why did I feel like I was watching one?! Maybe it was down to the fact that it was written and directed by the wonderful Gordon Craig panto legend Paul Laidlaw.

But apart from that, it’s also a feel-good show, with a moral – true beauty lies within. This was played out slightly in the casting of the Beast, because even when the talented Wesley Hughes turned into the handsome Prince, he was frankly a tad generously proportioned, but in a normal bloke / comforting kind of way. Nothing wrong with that of course, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a slight double chin. But he was a nice bloke, with a fantastic voice of course, and that’s what matters. And I also think that this was inspired casting because it kept to the theme of the play. Why should the beautiful heroine only ever get to marry those with chiselled features?

The heroine, Belle, was charmingly played by Katie Lavelli and the arrogant Anton, the Beast’s competitor for her affections was played by Nathan Lubbock-Smith, in a very impressive performance that included so much charm and humour that you didn’t know whether to love or hate him!

The good humour and panto-like joie-de-vivre permeated the whole show and the use of familiar songs with slightly changed words added to the illusion. But they were all great renditions and the hilariously camp “Everybody ought to have a maid” brought the house down.

This was an amiable, enchanting evening which proved to be a real audience pleaser and put me right in the mood for Christmas, albeit some eight months early!

Cabaret

Milton Keynes Theatre
13 April 2009

Come to the Cabaret!

When Mr FB saw the warning in the Foyer that the show contained “elements of nudity”, he literally did a hop, skip and a jump into the auditorium, I kid you not!

And talking of philistines, I am ashamed to also admit that I had never seen Cabaret before, not the film, not the stage show, nothing. But it’s one of those shows that you actually think you HAVE seen, mainly because you know so many of the songs. However, in my defence, I can reveal that I HAVE read Christopher Isherwood’s series of short stories collected under the title Goodbye to Berlin (1939), which provided the inspiration for the play 'I Am A Camera', and subsequently this musical.

So I was worried that I would be let down by some sort of weak story linking these fab songs together, but I wasn’t, and in the hands of this talented company I was actually enthralled.

In the show, Sally Bowles is a performer at the Kit Kat Club in Berlin for whom, along with her fellow entertainers, life is all about shows, drink, sex and trying to get money for essential items such as clothes and booze.

However, this is 1930s Germany and against all this fun and decadence, the rise of the Nazis is ever present and increases as the show goes on.

The excesses of the era are represented in the Kit Kat cabaret songs which are slick, sensual, colourful, amusing and very well executed by the company.

The nudity mentioned is basically all tasteful back views, but that’s not to say that the show isn’t steamy. There are some very highly charged scenes with much canoodling going on between all the sexes, something which bought some hilarious ooohs and aaahs from what was, shall we say, quite a mature audience.

The legendary dancer/actor Wayne Sleep is scarily watchable as Emcee. With a face packed with make-up that highlights not only his eyebrows but his ambiguity, I wasn’t sure whether I was terrified of him or on his side – maybe both! He also has some comic-dancing to do which I have to say was incredible stuff for a 60-year-old. He’s certainly still got “it”.

Samantha Barks was a good Sally Bowles. The acting side of things was competent but not outstanding, however, she certainly knows how to belt out a tune and this show gives her plenty of chance to do just that with songs like, Maybe This Time, Don’t Tell Mama and the anthemic title song. She may have only come third in the BBC’s ‘I’d Do Anything’, but for me anyway, she has certainly come out of it smiling and with a better show to boot! Sally Bowles versus two-song Nancy in Oliver – no contest!

Henry Luxembourg played Cliff, Sally’s American lover, and I am also ashamed to say that, at the first sight of him, I whispered loudly in surprise to Mr FB, “that’s Toby the serial killer from Hollyoaks!” However, he was convincing in that and he’s believable in this, a very different role.

He grows from his initial wide-eyed innocence about the Berlin that he arrives in, through to his revulsion of the Nazis and finally rejection of them and their country.

It is this theme that makes it far more than your average musical and other supporting characters add to the darker themes. There’s Fraulein Schneider, played by the excellent Jenny Logan, whose engagement to Herr Schultz (Matt Zimmerman) is ended by the threat of what is going to happen, and the Nazi presence grows throughout the course of the show.

This culminates in an ending which, to say it is downbeat is somewhat of an understatement. The musical leaves us in no doubt where Nazi Germany is heading and the tableau of naked figures as the final scene drums this point home with force.

I had no wish to clap along at the curtain calls, I felt sad and shattered, but also somewhat uplifted by the fact that I had watched one of those rare things – a musical that really made me feel something. Not since Blood Brothers have I been quite so impressed by this kind of entertainment.

Enjoy

Geilgud Theatre, London
11 April 2009 (Matinee)

Enjoy without question!

Alan Bennett is without question one of Britain’s best-loved and brilliant playwrights. Alison Steadman is without question one of Britain’s best-loved and brilliant actresses. Both have the most wonderful talent to make the nuances of the ordinary, very, very funny whilst at the same time, make you realise that these nuances are sometimes also very, very sad. So, to experience both in one afternoon, with one acting out the other’s words, is a pure joy!

This is what happens at the Gielgud Theatre in ‘Enjoy’, a play that Bennett wrote in the 80s, and which has rarely seen the light of day since. (Although I did see and enjoy it in Watford two years ago!) It was critically mauled when it was first performed but that hasn’t happened this time around – probably because Bennett was way ahead of his time and people can now relate to it more. In fact, this current production was actually the highest grossing Alan Bennett play in the West End on advance sales – ever!

‘Enjoy’ looks at life in 1980s’ Leeds and how modern life was changing. Some, like Wilf, want to change with the times while others, like Connie, want to hold onto the past – as she comments, “Mr Craven [Wilf] has always been on the side of progress. He had false teeth at 27″!

And that’s the underlying theme for the whole play – not the false teeth, but the disagreement.
Long suffering elderly couple Mam/Connie, (Steadman) and Dad/Wilf (David Troughton) bicker and reminisce about better times in front of a “visitor”, who sits in the corner documenting their life for reasons that become clear as the play moves on.

Mam tries to show this observer that they are acting completely normally, while clearly they are not. She brings out the best china that they never use, an act brutally exposed by Dad. But this simple act of not doing what they normally do hides the fact that they really ARE an unusual family. And while in many plays, the bickering of a couple who have been together for years often disguises deep underlying affection – you get the feeling with these to that they don’t really like each other at all, they are just used to each other!

This is a couple out of love, confined to their home together, despising each other more every day, and wishing their kids would come back and stay. But it soon becomes clear that the reasons that they don't are complex and often very dark.

No one in the play is really what they first appear to be and that makes the whole experience thrilling and completely unpredictable. But it’s also very funny, it’s all laced with memorable Bennett one liners and numerous laugh out loud moments.

He excels at the observation of the ludicrous – although you don’t realise that things are ridiculous until he points them out. Why did I find the line “I always knew he’d be a student – I could see him opening a bank account wearing a scarf” so funny? Because Mr Bennett made me remember those adverts for student accounts and made me wonder why on earth I didn’t think that their portrayal of a stereotypical student was preposterous the first time around!

But like all classic Bennett, one minute you’re laughing and the next you’re gasping in shock. This wouldn’t be Bennett without the undercurrents of more serious issues like child molestation, prostitution, homosexuality and wife beating. But all of these issues make the narrative much more real and hard hitting, however surreal it gets.

As the play draws to a close there is an Orwellian Big Brother feel to proceedings and you could see why people in the 80s might not have got it. These days the audience is far more used to the idea not only of clinging on to your childhood and a better time but also people watching you as you live your life!

Alison Steadman is wonderful as she changes from being hilarious to moving in the space of a sentence and she is complemented perfectly by Troughton as Wilf. They both give the production a chemistry and pathos it truly required to make it work.

Carol Macready is Mrs Clegg in a riotously funny, but sadly quite brief, scene, just as she did at Watford, and Josie Walker as their brassy and seemingly hard-hearted daughter Linda also reprises her role with great aplomb.

Is it uncomfortable viewing? Sometimes yes – not least because both Mr FB and I could see, in Connie and Wilf, a potential future of forgetting what each other has said, rubbing each others frail limbs and reminding each other when to go for a wee (the memory loss part is already there!) But is it satisfying viewing? Absolutely no question!

Star Wars: A Musical Journey

O2 Arena
10 April 2009

Going over to the Dark Side!

Fans of the Star Wars series will absolutely love watching their beloved 12 odd hours of films condensed into two hours of best bits with John Williams fabulous score played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with singing from the London Concert Choir.

And those, like me, who aren’t fans of Star Wars will love it for exactly the same reasons!

In my opinion, cutting down 12 hours of ridiculousness to just two can only be a good thing. And as I was assured by my Star Wars fanatic husband that they had cleverly picked out the very best bits to tell the story as well – this kind of proves my point really – that only one sixth of it was ever vaguely interesting, because the story, such as it is, could be told in well under half the time! But, despite this, I’m still not sure exactly why and who they were fighting but Harrison Ford was quite fit when he was younger!

I also now know that Luke and Leia were brother and sister and that Darth Vader didn’t end up as Luke’s dad because he shagged his mum while she was with Anakin in some kind of starry love triangle, I found out that Darth WAS Anakin - still not sure exactly how and this happened though! And there was I thinking he was Dave Prowse the Green Cross Code man – “Feel the Force Luke – and look both ways before you cross!”

Now I’ve got that off my chest, I have to say that this is a very enjoyable way of watching the films, and one that should have been employed from the start! One thing that you can’t deny about the series is the fact that the music is fantastic. And hearing it like this, with the Royal Philharmonic in full view and scenes from the films on the big screen behind them, is not only quite breathtaking, but you really begin to see what a skill it is to both score a film and then musically direct the orchestra. You have to write the right music for the action which then has to be played with exactly the right timing. So whatever I think of the film is actually quite irrelevant as this is probably the one and only time that I have found watching any of it remotely interesting! And the Star Wars fans in the audience - i.e. most of them - absolutely lapped up every minute of it!

Anthony Daniels, aka C3PO, narrates the whole thing, introducing each section and explaining what’s going on (a Godsend for me!) He also lapses into his character occasionally which brought howls of delight from the devotees. (For goodness sake - he's only an actor - he goes to the loo like all of us!) The story is explained using excerpts from the films, not in chronological order (I am reliably informed!) but showing clips from all six to illustrate a point. I found this a great way of telling me what was going on and I did see a chink of the light after only - well - 32 years! Meanwhile the fans found it fascinating - mainly because not only do they go into ecstasy at the smallest clip of the films WHENEVER they see them, here they could show their "superior" knowledge by pointing out which bit was from which film. (Yawn!)

The orchestra plays Williams’ score which has been specially chosen to fit the action on the screen and illustrate the particular mood that that part of the story brings. This was the fantastic part for me, listening to live and loud soaring music whilst watching how effectively it went with the action.

It’s a performance like I have never seen before and never thought I would want to, but in appreciating the skill that went behind putting music behind these iconic films, it was all strangely uplifting! Have I gone over to the Dark Side? Have I seen the light? Well no, not exactly, only a chink in the plot department, but I have learned stuff from the evening that will at least allow me to appreciate something about them in the future. The plot is still rubbish though!

One extra point - being up very high in the Arena I discovered that my new mini binoculars are a real boon! Roll on Michael Jackson!

Waiting for Godot

Milton Keynes Theatre
16 March 2009

Much ado about literally nothing!

I love Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot but I don’t think I’ll ever truly know what it’s about – and that, I guess, is part of the joy of watching it.

But I have to say that in this wonderful production, as well as wondering, yet again, what Samuel Beckett had in mind, I was completely mesmerised by the fact that I was watching some of the country’s greatest actors – on the one stage – at the same time!

You’re usually lucky to be watching one – but to get Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup altogether was just such a privilege, it’s simply the only word you can use! In fact, you would only have to write a part for Simon Russell Beale – oh yes, and Anthony Sher - to get the full house of the UK’s top performers in my book!

But first – what’s the play about? Well, if I could answer that I would have made my name as a respected academic years ago, because any kind of discussion about what Waiting for Godot "means" usually ends up as a tangled mess. Audiences and critics alike have tried to do it for years, so I’m not going to attempt a solution here – just give a few random thoughts about what I like to think it’s about, because that’s really what I think Beckett wanted to achieve – people talking about it! So, job done Sam!

The action of the play – or inaction anyway – centres on Vladimir (Stewart) and Estragon (McKellen). Two men who appear to be tramps, but no one really knows who they are. They mess around affectionately, bickering and arguing like some old married couple who have been together so long that everything that needs to be said has been discussed! But no one knows where they have come from, or where they are going. All we know is that they are waiting for someone called Godot. Into their world comes the brash Pozzo (Callow) holding his servant Lucky (Pickup) on a rope, and they are brought messages from Godot by a mysterious “boy”. And nothing really happens throughout, but you are still glued to your seat for two hours!

I love this play because you can watch it over and over again and still get different things out of it. For me, Sean Matthias’ production highlighted the idea that the characters are all performers and Vladimir and Estragon are more of a double act in this production than I’ve ever seen before, right down to the scratching of their heads in a Laurel and Hardy-esque fashion.

And Stephen Brimson Lewis’s fabulous set depicts them waiting in a kind of dilapidated old theatre with boxes, wings and a fly tower so that you can imagine that perhaps the two once used to work there as a music hall act. Callow’s Pozzo is dressed as a circus ringmaster who drags Lucky around like the organ grinder’s monkey. To compound this theatrical idea, as Mckellen and Stewart actors take their applause, they also shuffle along to Flanagan and Allen's Underneath the Arches, while, on this particular night anyway, the audience stood to applaud in a well-deserved ovation.

Some commentators have focused on the religious imagery of the play. The characters talk of the crucifixion and Christ but it has also been suggested that Godot is really God, and that the tramps attitude towards the elusive character – partly hope and partly fear – represents the state in which many Christians live.

As for me, well, I like the religious argument, but I also like to see Vladimir and Estragon as two characters who are representing us in our own lives, whichever faith we follow. They are quite literally messing around waiting for something of note to happen and to be honest, sometimes that’s exactly how I feel myself! It manages to squeeze out comedy and pathos from the idea of boredom – something that it’s all too easy to identify with!

Whatever you think about the play, the fact remains that there is very little action. As the characters say on more than one occasion - “Nothing happens”. Therefore, you have to rely on the actors to make the fantastic word play come alive and in these four, I don’t think you can get better. The performances are outstanding.

McKellen and Stewart portray both the ease and frustration of a longstanding friendship that is mesmerising as they ponder and contemplate. Callow provides the perfect foil as the loud man of action who never actually achieves anything for all his bluster. Lucky only has one speech, but, as a mixture of words and expressions that seemingly bear no relation to each other, it is surely the most difficult to learn and portray ever written! It would be tempting to learn it by rote but, in Pickup, you can really hear the thought processes working as if he had only just thought up the whole thing!

Special mention must also be made of 11-year-old Gabriel Steele who is sharing the role of “boy” with another youngster. On only a day’s rehearsal, including just one run through on the stage, he was a natural, appearing completely un-phased by his illustrious stage companions and delivering his lines clearly and confidently. Definitely one to watch!

When this play first appeared on stage in 1955 (what a shock that must have been to audiences used to a diet of Coward and Maugham!) Kenneth Tynan ‘got it’. He wrote in the Observer that it has “no plot, no climax, no denouement; no beginning, no middle and no end. It arrives at the custom-house, as it were, with no luggage, no passport and nothing to declare; yet it gets through as might a pilgrim from Mars.”He believed that it did this because it proved that a play was basically a means of spending two hours in the dark without being bored. He was right, as far as Godot is concerned anyway (read last week’s Pack of Lies review!), and over 50 years later he still is, because this play with these performers is a theatrical triumph!

God of Carnage

Richmond Theatre
11 March 2009 (Mat)

"Don’t let the title put you off!"

I saw Yasmina Reza’s play in the West End last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. But much as I love Ralph Fiennes and Tamsin Greig, I think I enjoyed the new cast in this touring production more. For not only have they shaved off about ten minutes in this “straight through” 90 odd minute play, making it much tighter and pacier, they also have the absolute master of the one-liner - Mr Richard E Grant - in the production who is one of the best in the business at delivering ultimate put downs and sarcastic asides.

And that’s just one of the joys of this fascinating play about the relationship between two couples. The title God of Carnage doesn’t really convey a feeling that there will be a lot of laughs but the play actually conjures up plenty and they all come out of what is an enthralling study of the human condition and reactions.

The action begins in the living room of a middle class French couple (Roger Allam and Lia Williams) whose child has been hit in the face with a stick by another boy, which has resulted in two of his teeth being removed. They are joined by the parents of the culprit (Grant and Serena Evans) who have come round to discuss the situation. It all starts quite gently as both couples are a little nervous, but it’s a wonderful slow burner and eventually the angry recriminations come out, which also highlight the weaknesses in each of the couple’s own characters and relationships.

It’s like Art, Reza’s first success in the UK, in that what begins as a low key discussion builds into an all out battle, this time between the sexes, and the fact that you go straight through the play without a break adds to the build-up of intensity.

After a nicey, nicey start, all the characters begin to cast off their inhibitions and release formerly hidden insecurities. In doing so they seem to validate the pronouncement of Grant’s character that The God of Carnage – or primitive aggression - is unstoppable once the genie has been let out of the bottle!

Joining Grant in the cast to release that particular genie are Lia Williams, Roger Allam and Serena Evans and the four provide a great evening (or afternoon) of entertainment!

Don’t get me wrong because I love Fiennes, and Ralph, if you’re reading this – which I accept is highly unlikely – I think you’re fab and you were great in this – it’s just that this part is just made for Grant because in all honesty his character Alain is like a new Withnail - bitter, cynical and seemingly unaware of everybody else’s feelings, or if he is aware, he doesn’t care!

In the rest of the cast, Roger Allam’s transformation from being friendly and tolerant to raging is hilarious, but at the same time sad, while Lia Williams, who has been seen to relish emotionally volatile parts in the past, doesn’t disappoint as Veronique, a highly emotive woman who wears her heart close to the surface. Alain’s wife Annette, played by Serena Evans, has been living in the shadow of her husband for too long and her release is a joy to watch as, like Veronique, she becomes just as aggressive as her spouse, if not more!

So, don’t let the title put you off. This is an extremely funny play that, like all good comedies of manners, gives you a very satisfying amount to think about as well and I left the theatre particularly concerned that a minor bicker about who was going to make the tea could escalate! But another bonus is that there’s plenty of time to go out for dinner afterwards too which is always a bonus in my book!

Pack of Lies

9 March 2009
Milton Keynes Theatre

Good story but not tightly packed!

I’ve never found the seats at the Milton Keynes Theatre to be particularly uncomfortable before. And I saw High Whitemore’s Pack of Lies a few years ago and thought it was a good story. So why did I find myself shifting around in my seat for more or less the entire two hours duration of this show? Well, in short, I think it’s because this production needed a big kick up the proverbial behind it!

It’s still a good story.

In short, a bloke, Mr Stewart (Daniel Hill) turns up at the house of Bob and Barbara (Simon Shepherd and Jenny Seagrove) and their teenage daughter Julie (Corinne Sawers) to ask if they can use their home as a surveillance house. After a bit of persuasion they agree, but it turns out that their house is being used to watch their best friends, Peter and Helen Kroger, (Peter Slade and Lorna Luft – yes – Judy Garland’s daughter, no less!) who live across the road, because the powers that be believe that they maybe KGB spies!

It sounds unbelievable that this could happen in a normal suburban street, but it did and the play is based on the true story of the Krogers’, which was quite a famous one in 1961.

The strength of this play is that it sensitively shows the impact of the spy world on a normal family and makes you think about how you would feel if you discovered that everything your best friend had told you about their life was a complete lie and that your friendship was therefore based on nothing. Barbara is devastated by the revelations and Jenny Seagrove’s performance makes this palpable.

It’s quite a sad play in this way but there are also some laughs, many of them coming from the performance of Lorna Luft who is a brash but friendly and incredibly likeable Helen Kroger, a performance that makes the outcome all the more heartbreaking. And Simon Shepherd’s Bob is a good mixture of knowing what is the right thing to do and discomfort at doing it.

The problem is that it’s soooo slow and, on the night I saw it anyway, needed lashings more oooomph! However, if you’re enjoying it you can say that the slow pace is the turning of the screw, the tension building, the claustrophobia. If you’re just shifting around in your seat – it’s just slow!

There is also a feeling of inevitability – you know what’s going to happen, because they keep telling you. They tell you everything, all the time, so much so that you begin to think there must be a massive twist, and to be honest, I think that it would have been a lot more entertaining if there had been. If Mr Stewart turned out to be not who you thought he was, or Bob and Barbara were MI5 or their daughter the real Russian spy, but none of them were, so it all left you feeling rather deflated by the end, thinking “and” – but by then it’s all over. Maybe I watch too many films!

It’s all very interesting and the performances are good – but – just talk a bit faster!

The Convicts' Opera

7 March 2009
Warwick Arts Centre

Bawdy fun and food for thought!

I LOVE plays within plays – there are so many layers, so many questions as to who exactly the audience is and does life imitate art or vice versa. It makes my head spin, so fancying a bit of theatrical dizziness, I jumped at the chance of seeing director Max Stafford Clark’s re-imagining of John Gays The Beggars’ Opera, written by Stephen Jeffreys and co-produced by Out of Joint and the Sydney Theatre Company.

The Beggars’ Opera is not merely seen as the first musical. Set in the underworld of 18th century London, the criminals vices mirror those of the rich and as such is a powerful satire of the time. It is, in itself, also great fun and packed with romance and intrigue and this new twist just adds to the entertainment.

In this re-working, it’s all set on an 18th century ship where, a group of convicts on their way to Australia, put on the show which depicts the life that they are leaving far behind. In doing so art begins to mirror life and confusion between artificial construction and reality runs riot.

There is also a wonderful score which combines the folk tunes of the original with fun reworkings of modern classics including "Sailing", “Those Were The Days”, “500 Miles”, “You’re So Vain”, and “I Fought the Law”.

Forget about why a ship’s captain would let prisoners stage something so subversive, and you will enjoy it very much because it is an inventive and enjoyable romp with some great performances from a top ensemble cast.

Top in my book was Juan Jackson who begins to identify fully with Macheath, the character he has to portray. And my enjoyment of his charismatic performance has nothing to do at all with the scene where he displays his perfectly toned and outstanding body in a small pair of swimming trunks – honest! He had a fab voice too!

But I also enjoyed Ali McGregor as the lovestruck Polly Peachum with an arsonist alter-ego packed with attitude and Glenn Butcher as the slightly camp director trying to mould this group of outcasts into a company.

The Convicts’ Opera is a pile of bawdy fun but alongside the actual journey across the world, there is also a spiritual journey for the convicts as the transformational power of drama works its magic.

Then afterwards, spend the entire journey home arguing with your husband about whether the swimming trunks scene was strictly necessary. For the record, I thought it was. And Mr FB is heading for the gym! Bless!

The Tempest

RSC, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
24 February 2009

Not all message and metaphor

I was a nymph in The Tempest when I was about 12. It was an all-female production, but sadly not in the all-male Swan Lake sense, where having all the parts played by one gender enhances the production by providing new insights. It was an all-female Tempest because I was at an all-girls school and needs must!

There really was nothing new about my school production at all it was as traditional as it comes, except for the rather fetching (not!) pink nylon dress that I had to wear! These kinds of experiences can taint your view of Shakespeare for life, but luckily, the existence of the RSC and many other forward thinking and exciting companies are our theatrical saviours.

The RSC’s latest production of The Tempest, directed by Janice Honeyman, is in collaboration with the Baxter Theatre Centre of Cape Town and is just one example of how a 400-year-old play can have exciting new life pumped into it. It’s a spectacular riot of colour, innovation and emotion, that shows that Shakespeare is just as relevant today as it ever was.

Instead of being set on some non-descript fantasy island, the action takes place on an African isle. Looking at the play as a study of colonialism is a popular view, but this setting takes the idea further so it appears more to be about South African apartheid. This is most clearly shown in the relationship between John Kani’s magnificently dignified Caliban who declares "This island's mine" and Antony Sher’s tormented Prospero who tries to control and abuse him. Other notable performances come from Atandwa Kani as a captivating Ariel and Tinarie Van Wyk Loots as a beguiling Miranda.

However, it’s not all message and metaphor because as well as having these creditable undertones, the production is also reminiscent of The Lion King. The warm lighting takes you to a desert type location, the puppets and ethnic costumes are a riot of colour and the frenzied dancing and singing to the music of an on stage band is fun and uplifting.

This is a magic new take on Shakespeare’s last play and a great birthday present! (Thanks Mr FB!)

Boeing Boeing

Wimbledon Theatre
19 February 2009 (Mat)

Flying out of reality!

I love watching a good meaty drama on the stage, looking at motivations, characters and whether or not there are metaphorical messages to be gleaned, something to tell us about how we live – or should live – our lives. Philosophical points to be made. Coming out exhausted, but at the same time morally or spiritually uplifted - I love it!

But at the same time, there is much to be said for simply having a laugh and not having to think too much, just enjoying an entertaining couple of hours in the theatre with not too much to think about on the way home other than the fact that you must go and see more comedies because they make you feel good!

And that’s what Boeing Boeing does. The subject matter of one man trying to keep up with three fiancées without the other finding out and other characters unwittingly drawn into the deception, is classic farce and one of which there have been many variations of over hundreds of years. But if people didn’t enjoy that sort of thing, then people would write more plays about it!

Marc Camoletti's play uses the fact that all three are of different nationalities to get much of its comedy, showing that the Brits will still laugh at stereotypical portrayals of other nationalities despite being told that they shouldn’t. Meanwhile, protagonist Bernard studies the airline schedules to keep the girls apart which makes for a good farcical device. The result of all this of course is much confusion and a lot of running about through doors but thankfully no one loses their trousers! However, as with all of this genre, you just know that it will all be resolved in the end, and of course it is, but I think that the good thing about Boeing Boeing is that throughout, I was never exactly sure how they were going to sort it out.

The three fiancée characters, although somewhat stereotyped, were all well portrayed. Sarah Jayne Dunn was fresh from Hollyoaks and in her first stage role as a glamorous all-American gal was competent and, strangely for the subject matter, convincing, even in her American accent! Thaila Zucci was the gorgeously emotional Italian Gloria, and Josephine Butler’s Gretchen got most of the laughs as a delightfully overbearing German with hilarious pronunciation!

Susie Blake’s years of stage experience were on show in a lovely understated performance as Bertha, the grumpy, deadpan housekeeper who has to fit her own cleaning and cookery around the different nationalities.

Real brothers Martin and John Marquez as the serially betrothed Bernard and his long lost cousin bounce off each other perfectly and the timing of the whole cast was quite breathtaking throughout, matching some of the extreme physical humour and racing plot!

I loved the set – simple, minimal, stylish and white except for the introduction of flashes of three kitschy colours for each girl.

It’s all very silly but funny and pleasurable and if I can steal /paraphrase what a lot of actors say these days when plugging their shows “just what we need to cheer ourselves up in these difficult times”. And if there is a message to be gleaned from this show, well, for me, it’s to go and see some more comedies because sometimes, you’ve just got to have a laugh!

Three Days of Rain

Apollo Theatre, London
7th February 2009 (Matinee)

Bring on the Rain!

Forget five days of snow, Jamie Lloyd’s engrossing production of Richard Greenberg’sThree Days of Rain took me well away from the travel difficulties of the past week!

Now, I’d better get something out of the way first. If you have read my review of The Common Pursuit at The Chocolate Factory last year, you will know that I have somewhat of a penchant for the lovely Nigel Harman (of Dennis in EastEnders fame!) and to be honest it was his appearance in this play that first attracted me into buying (sorry, BEGGING my husband to buy) the tickets.

To his credit, and my amazement, bless him, my long suffering spouse not only got us tickets, but got them in Row B where, if I wasn’t more socially aware, I could have reached out and squeezed his peachy cheeks! The temptation was great, I have to say!

I mention all this because I need you to know that while I find the Harman one of the most desirable men to walk the earth, I am always honest about his acting performance. Just being gorgeous doesn’t mean you can act, ( I won’t cite any cases here for legal reasons!) but thankfully, and in a totally un-biased way, Nigel CAN do the business!

In the end, the afternoon was a triumph, not just because we both really enjoyed the production, but, because after a very impressive performance, hubby has finally conceded that Nigel was, and I quote with trembling fingers “very good”. I thought he was a lot more than that frankly, but believe me, if you’ve heard what he’s said about him in the past, this represented a MAJOR change of heart!

Nigel was excellent and so were his two fellow cast members. The presence of the fantastic James McAvoy and the lesser known but equally impressive Lyndsey Marshal, completed a well matched and excellent trio that brought the world of the play to life and made for a more than satisfying afternoon!

So what’s the play actually about? Well, it basically explores how the private worlds and actions of one generation both affect and are reinterpreted by the next . The first act opens on a drab, long un-inhabited loft space in Manhatten in 1995. Into it walks James McAvoy as Walker who has found out that it was the place where his wealthy, but monosyllabic, architect father, Ned, lived and worked. Walker is reuniting with his sister Nan, played by Lyndsey Marshal, for the reading of their father’s will, to find out who will receive Ned’s main legacy - an iconic house designed with his late business partner Theo.

Joined by Theo’s son Pip, played by Harman, who gains more than expected from the will, they discuss all that has happened in the past and discover Ned’s diary which contains the mysterious words ‘three days of rain’, the only clue to the truth about their parents’ past, because sadly, Walker and Nan discover that the man who didn’t say much through speech, was no more forthcoming via the written word.

I don’t want to give away too much about what happens as it will spoil the entire thing for you, but suffice to say, in the second act the actors are in the same place but in 1960, where they play three different characters from the previous generation - both of their fathers and a mother - and we are given some sort of explanation as to what happened there, and why Ned might have written his will in such a way.

It’s basically a family drama, something irresistible to audiences and therefore writers alike! The children and their parents share some characteristics and not others, and in the second act you can see where the progeny came from in quite an Ibsen-esque “sins of the fathers” way, but without the syphilis!

I found the whole thing to be totally engrossing and not because I was staring at Nigel the whole time, it was the whole package that enthralled me! James McAvoy was brilliant as both the “troubled” Walker and the less forthcoming Ned, really bringing out the different problems and insecurities that both had. I think that without going into the nuances of his acting, the fact that I wanted to reach out and hug both, is testament to how he made me feel – and that’s what acting is all about!

I enjoyed Lyndsey Marshal’s performance as Nan and Lina as well, (despite my bristling when she hugged Nige!). Her measured and mostly calm Nan was a good contrast to the wilder, more unpredictable Lina but again you sympathised with both.

Nigel played Pip, an actor in the play who, ironically for Harman, is playing the eye candy in a TV soap. He is more brash and confident and gets most of the funny lines which he delivers with excellent timing. And I’m sorry about this but I have to say that he spends a fair bit of time getting wet in the rain and I couldn’t help my mind wandering and imagining him in the shower first thing in the morning! But back to his performance!

His second role, as Theo, is similar to that of Pip in the first act, but whereas Pip seems happy and comfortable in his chosen career, Theo’s frustration at his creative block is painfully palpable. And the fact that most of this happens in the rain is just a bonus!

The great thing about this production is that is provokes much thought and discussion about exactly what happened, and for someone like me, who always rather anally checks the times and dates mentioned by characters to make sure that they match up, it gives you much working out to do!

There are also so many echoes of the first act in the second that it makes you really want to see it again to makes sure that you get absolutely everything! In fact, yes, I think I really MUST see it again! And if maybe Nigel could remove a few more items of clothing when out in the rain .... then so much the better!! Sorry!