OKLAHOMA on tour

” . . . Anyone old enough to remember ‘Family Favourites’ on the BBC Light Programme will be familiar with most of the songs. The reason is simple: it is stuffed full of memorable tunes that were regularly requested by and for our lads overseas. As ‘feel good’ numbers go it doesn’t get much better than, ‘Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’, which opens the show . . . As a revival of the, ‘here’s one I made earlier and it’s perfect’ kind, this is a ‘whee ha!’ of a production that will have you coming up for air as the nostalgia washes over you.”

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DICK TRACY at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol

“Here’s a question for all of us: why does theatre, which is labelled, ‘Children’s’, often involve greater freedom of creativity than other genres? It’s a question prompted having just seen Le Navet Bete’s new production of Dick Tracy. . . The great wonder of theatre is what you can get away with if done with conviction. It’s the great joy of companies like Le Navet Bete that they take our imaginations out for some vigorous exercise and they come back the better for it, having briefly rediscovered our inner child.”

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BALLET BOYZ on tour, Spring 2015

The current tour, theTalent2015 as it is known, comprised two short pieces – The Murmuring and Mesmerics. The former is a sort of West Side Story rumble, all dirty vests and T-shirts but there are elements of Gustave Doré’s prison yard too with the protagonist’s endless circling, punctuated by elegantly choreographed fights, under a harsh white light from above. The incessant, repetitive booming music by Raime rattled every seat in the house and physically connected everyone to the action.

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JERSEY BOYS at the Bristol Hippodrome

“. . . The soaring falsetto of Tim Driesen as Frankie Valli, harmonising with the other ‘Seasons’ in Ron Melrose’s arrangement and the full auditorium filling sound prompts an instinctive grin of approval. Without a ‘by your leave’ we are then into, ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ (something to do with a line from a John Wayne film) and ‘Walk Like a Man’, the import of which it seems needed explaining to producer, Bob Crewe (given a nice period camp by Matt Gillett). . . “

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Constellations at Bristol Old Vic

” . . . Exactly as theatre should be, Constellations is vivid, honest and electrifying. It excites the imagination and enflames debate. It strips away and remoulds the narrative structure in order to create a spectacle that makes us question the very nature of our reality. It shows us a world of infinite possibilities and inevitable truths as it leads us through some dark, uncomfortable routes, and still it should leave you feeling warmed, positive and inspired . . .”

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The Importance of Being Earnest at Malvern

“. . . This new revival is eloquent and hilarious in equal measure. The physicality of characters and script is ingenious, engaging and energised on a level not seen before. Noble has manage to add so much more content to the already superbly witty dialogue, for which Wilde was famous, making this play look as if it has just been penned and as fresh and current as any new writing appearing at The Royal Court. . . “

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