Reviews - StageTalk Magazine

FUTURES at the Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol

“A woman in a woolly hat is sat reading on a bench outside a block of expensive apartments . . . In a very engaging performance Joanna Smith skillfully conveys Penny’s sharp intelligence and warm humanity, and she is well-matched by Nigel Jones as Richard, all tension, stress and misanthropy. In their quick-fire banter there are many sharply-honed comments about wage-slavery, and quite a few laugh out loud jokes – there’s a particularly good one involving a turkey sandwich. . . ”

THE TALE OF JACK SHEPPARD at the Alma, Bristol

by Chris White

Otherstory, a Bristol based puppetry collective, bring the miscreant to life through the medium of puppetry, music and storytelling, using some fantastically creative and beautiful puppets made and operated by three members of the collective – Emma Byron, Sarah Green, and Trevor Houghton. Paul Walker provides the piece with a soundtrack, playing a combination of recorded and live music whilst offering small sections of narration.

COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN at the Alma, Bristol

by Mike Whitton

This is a brave and ambitious production. The play is set in a run-down five-and-dime in a small town in Texas. Hank Williams is on the radio, there are photographs of James Dean all over one wall, and it is oppressively hot. An all-female fan club called ‘The Disciples of James Dean’ gathers to commemorate his death twenty years earlier. . . .

LITTLE ONE at the Brewery, Bristol

by Mike Whitton

“Directors’ Cuts is an annual season of contemporary theatre presented by the four graduating directors from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Returning to the Brewery Theatre for the second time, and with all four plays directed by women, the season opens with Little One . . . This two-hander is a powerful and unsettling psychological thriller about two adopted children raised by desperately well-meaning parents in a quiet and very respectable suburb in Ottawa . . . This is a gripping production that gets this year’s Directors’ Cuts season off to a flying start. “

MEASURE FOR MEASURE at the Oxford Playhouse

by Deborah Sims

“What happens when one man holds absolute power over a state? And if this man abuses his power, where do his innocent victims go for help? . . . Delivered at a rapid pace, it’s impossible to keep up with every word, but the main thrust of each scene is never lost, and it’s a treat to watch the Pushkin Theatre at work. An excellent contemporary examination of the corrupting force of power.”

BIRDSONG at the Bristol Old Vic

by Graham Wyles

“The play, which in Rachel Wagstaff’s adaption necessarily contracts much of Faulks’s novel, concerns in no small part the lives of the sappers and in particular one Jack Firebrace . . . the brave and steadfast miner is played with sensitivity, dignity and authority by Peter Duncan who effects an unsentimental pathos in the role . . . The production remains a powerful testimony to one of the darkest periods in European history. Last night’s audience were treated to a cameo performance by the author who came on to read some battle orders. Clearly enjoying the experience he waved his cap as he left the stage after the curtain call. ”

FUTURES at the Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol

THE TALE OF JACK SHEPPARD at the Alma, Bristol

COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN at the Alma, Bristol

LITTLE ONE at the Brewery, Bristol

MEASURE FOR MEASURE at the Oxford Playhouse

BIRDSONG at the Bristol Old Vic

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