Three cheers for the Alma – another thought-provoking play performed with great intensity to an appreciative audience, who despite prolonged applause couldn’t entice actors Lucy Ross-Elliott (Esme) and Angus Harrison (Willard) back out for a second bow at tonight’s performance of Orca. . . Orca is much more than an ocean-going mammal on wheels – it’s well worth experiencing this well-acted black comedy drama, tankside at the Alma.
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“The ultimate parable of racial intolerance, bigotry and injustice, in 2006 British librarians ranked Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird ahead of the Bible as one “every adult should read before they die”. It was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1962 starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Sergel’s stage adaptation has been performed all over the world and in Monroeville, Alabama, the setting for the novel, every year since 1990. . . The full house in the Theatre Royal saved its biggest cheer for the children who starred in tonight’s show presented by the Regent’s Park Open Air Company. . .”
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I would suggest this play is required viewing for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. With Work Capability Assessment now hanging over the most vulnerable in our communities, Plowman adroitly captures how those who have ceased to cope can descend into a state of terrified inertia and retreat. Her wit illuminates this twilight world, showing how fear of life itself can reduce people to parodies of themselves. Yes we are right to laugh at our human frailties, but Me and My Friend will always serve as a timely reminder that we also need to find the kindness and cash to care for them.
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The powerful story of the fate of soldier Joe Bonham still stands as a pacifist warning of political failure. On another level it is an uncomfortable personal journey down an avoidable path of physical destruction and mental anguish. Just how much of yourself can you lose before your humanity is extinguished? Joe takes us inside the prison that is the remains of his body after being hit by a shell, which removes his face and leads to multiple amputations. This is what war really is like. Rumbo does not want us to forget it.
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“A large and appreciative first-night crowd clearly transported, rising as one to cheer a sparkling band of hoofers at Bristol’s Hippodrome theatre at the end of a Top Hat delivered with gusto, and no little wit. . . Irving Berlin’s classic musical still has the power to lift us up from the despond of austerity 80 years after its massive box office success in 1930s America. All the elements are there – celebrity, wealth, (discreet) sex, love and a happy ending . . . It’s a big hit, enjoy!”
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