Author: Graham Wyles

MANUELITA at the Alma, Bristol

” . . . Manuela Saenz’s is a ‘Girls Own’ story of the most breathless and exciting sort. Far from being someone dismissed as being merely a bit of skirt for Bolivar to come home to, she was a political activist, spy and combatant who rose through the military ranks to become a colonel in the army of liberation – a true heroine of the revolution . . . For a one act show this is just about as complete an experience as it gets and a piece of feminist historical retrieval that shines a welcome light on a neglected character.”

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ROMEO AND JULIET on tour from Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory

” . . . In Daisy Whalley we have that much longed-for combination of an actress who really does look thirteen-going-on-fourteen at the same time as having the technical ability to do the role justice. She manages the almost impossible trick of growing up in the space of a few days, as if marriage and consummation have released some inner strength . . . The production sings with originality and leaves us in patient expectation to see what comes next from all concerned.”

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BIRDSONG at the Bristol Old Vic

“The play, which in Rachel Wagstaff’s adaption necessarily contracts much of Faulks’s novel, concerns in no small part the lives of the sappers and in particular one Jack Firebrace . . . the brave and steadfast miner is played with sensitivity, dignity and authority by Peter Duncan who effects an unsentimental pathos in the role . . . The production remains a powerful testimony to one of the darkest periods in European history. Last night’s audience were treated to a cameo performance by the author who came on to read some battle orders. Clearly enjoying the experience he waved his cap as he left the stage after the curtain call. ”

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CASTING THE RUNES at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol

It is late one evening in 1904. You are in your club; an oak panelled affair in whose fading light you can still manage to pick out details on the book lined walls. The third brandy and your comfortable wing chair conspire – with the last remnants of a once cheerful fire – to do their work. The porter comes in to tell you that because of the January fog your Hackney carriage will be some time yet. Resigned to a tedious wait you sink further into your chair at which juncture one of the longer standing members slips into the room . . .

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DEAR LUPIN on tour

“Fox Junior (Jack), acting with his pa, was able to use the curious blood chemistry of father and son to bring a genuine warmth to the role, which takes him through writer, Charlie Mortimer’s life with dad’s letters as signposts . . . As a touching portrait of a particular take on humanity through the description of a father-son relationship it will undoubtedly find an audience to entertain. ”

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