There is a certain frolicsomeness of intelligence and sensibility we have come to enjoy and expect in Irish born playwrights (Congreve, Sheridan, Shaw, and of course Wilde to name but four). What to the English pre-television mass audience had been a bitter pill of intellectualist theatre, in Irish hands had become sugared with a delight in language, prose at that, which still has the power to charm.
Read More
Bob Kingdom has won considerable acclaim for the one-man shows in which he has created vivid portraits of, amongst others, Truman Capote, Stan Laurel and The Duke of Windsor. However, in Dylan Thomas: Return Journey it quickly becomes clear that he was surely born to play the Swansea boy whose extraordinary capacities as a writer were matched by an equally formidable capacity for self-destruction.
Read More
“Inspired by a primary school project and personal issues, mild mannered, Adrian (Robert Temple), decides to embrace his midlife crisis and walk the length of Hadrian’s Wall. . . . Wilkes is an eloquent writer and has a great sense of comedy and storytelling, which is perfectly executed by the performers . . . this is a funny and heart-warming production and definitely worth seeing. Nick Wilkes is a credit to Malvern Theatres and deserves the following that his is achieving with his writing.”
Read More
“As you would expect, and want, this is a big, bold and brassy show with all the stops pulled out. The ensemble work is really excellent with the boys and girls not only providing all the singing and dancing but displaying lots clever circus skills as well. . . the stars of the show were the ladies. Linzi Hateley as Barnum’s wife was excellent as was Landi Oshinowo whose big voice and presence dominated the stage for her two spots. . . The most successful song of the evening was Love Makes Such a Fool of Us All sung from a trapeze by Kimberley Blake.”
Read More
“After their acclaimed Six Wives of Henry VIII Living Spit are back with another romp through Tudor history. . . There is throughout much rudery, buffoonery and outright absurdity. . . I expected to be amused by Elizabeth I – Virgin on the Ridiculous and I was not disappointed; what came as something of a surprise was how genuinely informative it is. . . . Elizabeth I – Virgin on the Ridiculous is a hoot – go see it.”
Read More“….Ginny Davis has struck what, for the fringe at least, is a sadly neglected seam of theatrical ore – the concerned middle classes, always wanting to do the right thing, trying to see the best in everybody and adapting to change with a relaxed stoicism….The effect is to add a kind of immediacy of the, ‘they’re making it up as they go along’ sort, to a play which has wit and charm in equal measure and which, like a Joyce Grenfell monologue or a Posy Simmonds cartoon will have audiences giggling with the delight of recognition.”
Read More