MOON ON A BROOM on tour

” . . . There are some lovely touches throughout the performance, not least the fact that the very mean, very hungry dragon is also very Welsh. The re-use of materials and colours (and, of course, actors) threads a motif throughout the show, implying a little blurring of fictionality and reality. This might all be a dream of one of the campers, or so it seems. . . A good show, performed with an abundance of warmth, energy and love for the original material. . .”

Read More

MANALIVE at the Everyman Studio, Cheltenham

“Box Tale Soup with their signature suitcases, bits of text printed on their costumes and, of course their puppets, have a very strong identity – there is no mistaking one of the productions . . . Manalive is a great choice for a stage adaptation. G.K. Chesterton’s 1912 story explores a recognizable and oft repeated theme, that of an innocent abroad, the wise fool – a simplistic vision of society where good and innocence triumph . . . Antonia Christophers and Noel Byrne, who make up Box Tale Soup, have made a fairly decent fist of it . . . ”

Read More

PETER PAN GOES WRONG on tour

“. . . The show tells the story of Cornley Polytechnic Dramatic Society as they put on their annual Christmas production of Peter Pan. Everything that could go wrong in amateur theatre does so in this production, and to comedic effect . . . The finale to the show is perfectly riotous; again to say too much about it would be unforgivable, but it has the audience in stitches until their sides ache. The frantic pace continues from start to end. Hysterically funny: I can’t remember the last time I laughed as much . . . ”

Read More

AND THEN THERE WERE NONE on tour

“. . . It’s strange that we still like Agatha Christie. Compared to today’s murder mysteries and cop shows the word tame wouldn’t even start to describe her. There is virtually no action – the plays usually involve a dozen or so toffs and their servants standing around a stately home waiting to be murdered. Our tastes and expectations today are so much more sophisticated and demanding. How can an audience that is happy to sit through twelve hours of Danish or French subtitles on a Saturday night sit through this simplistic fare? . . . “

Read More

AN EVENING OF DEMENTIA at the Ustinov, Bath

“. . . Smith uses the play to make wider points. “There is a lot of dementia about,” he says, “We are forgetting to care for one another in an everyday common sense sort of way.” Delivered by the man who no longer recognises his own family, this makes for powerful health politicking. . . Smith’s convincing narrative makes us weep, sometimes ironically laugh at this uncomfortable yet for many inevitable seventh stage in the life of man. By putting the condition centre stage we are all helped to look at it in the teeth.”

Read More

WHO IS DORY PREVIN? at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol

“If you look Dory Previn up on YouTube you’ll see that her clips have been viewed on average about 20,000 times each. By comparison Kate Bush’s views on the video-sharing website number in the many millions. Both women were working in the 1970s, both were writing highly original and personal material with sometimes quirky lyrics . . . Kate Dimbleby’s celebratory exploration of Previn’s experiences and songbook breathed life back into this deeply personal work that has always existed outside music’s mainstream.”

Read More

Pin It on Pinterest