A Murder is Announced at the Everyman, Cheltenham

A Murder is Announced at the Everyman, Cheltenham

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Miss Marple has very big boots. To fill them, in light of previous wearers, is no mean feat and one not without certain dangers . . . Miss Marple is usually played as rather prim and proper or, in the case of Margaret Rutherford, as a battle axe. Judy Cornwell has found a new way of presenting her – frumpy, dowdy even – all cardigans, charity-shop tweeds and trilby hats . . . Entertaining stuff, but you have to pay attention. All in all it was what it said on the tin, no more, no less and if you like a good Agatha Christie who-dunnit then you’ll enjoy this one.

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KING CHARLES III on tour

KING CHARLES III on tour

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The Queen is dead: after a lifetime of waiting, Prince Charles ascends the throne – a future of power. But how to rule? Should a monarch’s power be merely ceremonial, or should they use the power bestowed upon them by their birth to act on matters of conscience? . . .A unique play with a bold vision, it is refreshing to see such themes explored in modern theatre . . . Fantastical? Yes – but once you’ve jumped the hurdle of unlikely events, it makes for fascinating and compelling theatre.

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LIFE RAFT at the Bristol Old Vic

LIFE RAFT at the Bristol Old Vic

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Life Raft is undeniably bleak, and at times all seems futile: ‘Let’s row’- ‘Where to?’- ‘To the end.’ There is cynicism, too, as when democracy is dismissed as a system where ‘even idiots get the vote’. But we also see signs of hope for humanity. A key turning point in the play occurs when, driven by superstition, the children decide that their troubles are rooted in the fact that there are thirteen of them. What follows is a kind of dreadful balloon debate, when each of them is urged to justify his or her survival and nominate someone who should not be spared . . . Bleak, yes, but very powerful.

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The EVER HOPEFUL Rep Season at the So & So Club

The EVER HOPEFUL Rep Season at the So & So Club

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Although strictly speaking the So & So Arts Club in London is out of our jurisdiction we are including their Ever Hopeful Rep Season because, firstly, we like rep and secondly, because the club is open to all artists and actors and makes a great base/focal point for actors visiting London from the provinces. Last night Graham Wyles saw Mercy by Clare Whitehead. This short, delicate and sensitively acted, interior play is perfectly suited to the congenial atmosphere of the So and So’s premises in Fredericks Place and is a welcome piece of new writing for an often neglected part of society.

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4 x 4 Ephemeral Architectures at Oxford Playhouse

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There were some really lovely moments. In one scene, the jugglers were working with clubs, rolling them in circles on the floor. They became waves, and the ballet dancers leant on the jugglers backs, as if they were floating. In another scene, the jugglers were working with hoops, and the ballet dancers flowed among them effortlessly, somehow never bringing the whole display crashing down . . . Maybe ballet, and juggling, and living, do share something. Each requires precision. Each has a pattern, and if everyone understands the pattern then you don’t end up crashing into one another.

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ANNIE on tour

ANNIE on tour

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The director, Nikolai Foster, has give us a spirited little girl, winsome in all the right places, yet streetwise enough to make her way on the mean streets amongst the other industrial waste from a heartless economic system, yet with enough innocent brass to give ‘Mr President’ a pointer or two on how to solve the world’s economic problems. Last night’s Annie, Sophia Pettit, was everything the director could have wanted: with a bright, attractive singing voice and a confidence that belied her years she radiated the optimism that forms the cornerstone of this show’s message and is summed up in the anthemic “Tomorrow”.

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