It’s interesting to note how quickly a play can become a period piece. That’s not to say ‘dated’, since this production of Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and co-writer Franca Rame’s one act gem seems quite contemporary in Stuart Hood’s translation . . . This is the first production by TICTAC and I’m sure if they were to let their hair down a bit they’d be on track for much greater success.
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The Bath audience greeted Suchet’s entrance with warm applause. By the end they clapped long enough for repeated sweeps to the front of the stage with the entire cast and a final triumphant solo pose and flourish. A long run starting in London later this month at the Vaudeville Theatre looks likely.
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Hereford might seem an unlikely setting for a revival of Jacques Brel’s work, but thanks to resident singer Tim Brown, who hails originally from New Jersey, alongside singers Alison and Steve Allan, pianist Jon Weller and flautist Esther Kay, a two-set cabaret revue of 20 of Brel’s chansons, using Mort Shuman and Eric Blau’s 1968 English adaptations and translations, makes for a pleasant surprise package at the intimate Alma Tavern Theatre in Bristol.
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Bubbling along on ‘the circuit’ for some time now has been a new kind of act; not quite standup, not quite monologue (or dialogue) and in which personality – an essential ingredient of standup – blends with acting and narrative skill. A theatre of mock illusion, dumb-show and flights of fancy (and fantasy). The coming master of the genre is Bristol’s own Jody Kamali who is currently working-up his forthcoming Edinburgh act.
Read More“. . . written in 2000 it has a theme that is perhaps more prevalent now than it was then – rising water levels and the subsequent flooding caused, we are led to believe, by global warming. There are serious, relevant issues, especially in the West Country where large swathes were seriously inundated last year. . . . a bickering middle aged couple, live in a house on the banks of the River Severn . . .”
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“Frank Capra’s classic Christmas screenplay, cleverly adapted for stage by Tony Palmero, doesn’t seem too out of place as we experience an unusually cold summer . . . Guy Retallack beautifully directs this heart-warming story of a kind, ambitious man who reaches the point where he believes everyone would have been better off if he’d never existed . . . This is an utterly charming and delightful production and refreshingly shorter than many plays, running at just under two hours including interval. Indulge and spoil yourself and go and see this evening of inspired entertainment. “
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