Mrs Shakespeare at the Alma, Bristol

Kelleher energetically conjures up the many voices that invade the woman’s thoughts as she struggles to rewrite Hamlet. There’s a grandly orotund Polonius, an East End Jack-the-lad Claudius, a cackling skull-tossing gravedigger and the ‘poncey privileged Prince’ himself. She plays these parts in an appropriately crazed, unrestrained manner, though she lowers the volume and conveys a moving vulnerability as Ophelia, ‘weeping in her saturated gown’.

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ME, BILL NIGHY AND THE GOBLIN at Bristol Wardrobe

“. . . Nalika is a naturally funny person with a wonderful energy and (unusually for a comedian) an extremely positive outlook on life. Her charm comes through briefly onstage and the moments which were funniest were those moments which felt more personable, natural and less rehearsed. The show is a balancing act between stand-up comedy and theatrical performance . . .”

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THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol

“Idle Motion’s That is All You Need to Know is an engrossing and endearing piece of theatre which tells the story of Bletchley Park and the countless men and women who helped crack the enigma code. . . The cast are a strong bunch, bringing sensitivity and truth to these brilliant men and women, often multi-rolling as the play moves between the codebreakers in the forties and the Bletchley committee in the nineties. . . “

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THE SOUND OF MUSIC at the Bristol Hippodrome

In this perennial favourite story of nun meets damaged toff only to charm him and his family of budding folk singers whilst thwarting evil Nazis after the Anschluss, we have some of the most memorable songs to have gone into the collective consciousness as part of a common culture. . . . The Sound of Music is the show that keeps on giving and with such an accomplished cast what’s not to like?

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THE FATHER at the Theatre Royal, Bath

“The universally praised production of Christopher Hampton’s translation of Florian Zeller’s French hit returns, triumphantly, to the Theatre Royal, this time in the main house. I reviewed this, my favourite play of 2014, on its English premiere at the Ustinov and I’m pleased to say nothing has happened in the interim to alter my initial judgement. . . [Kenneth Cranham’s] performance has found new facets. Experiencing it is like watching a mirror shatter in slow motion as the shards separate, briefly reflecting some piece of past reality. . . ”

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MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION on tour

Like The Importance of Being Earnest, Mrs Warren’s Profession is a play about the social mores of its day but while Wilde is, on the surface, frivolous, Shaw has larger fish to fry than whether cucumber sandwiches should have their crusts cut off. . . This production addresses important issues but addresses them in a way that is palatable and very entertaining with some outstanding performances.

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