Shakespeare’s magical comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the latest play in the Octagon season to be directed by the Artistic Director, David Thacker, who won a brace of Olivier Awards for his RSC production of Pericles twenty years ago.

The Sergeant Pepper-influenced publicity flags up a Swinging Sixties theme, so it’s surprising to find the auditorium initially awash with sombre army uniforms and Che Guevara-style propaganda posters - a nod to the very un-swinging military dictatorship which seized power in Athens in 1967.

Rob Edwards (eponymous hero of that 1990 Pericles) doubles the roles of Theseus, head of Athens’ repressive jackbooted regime, and Oberon, the equally cruel despot of fairyland.  Paula Jennings is Theseus’ black-veiled spoil-of-war Hippolyta who becomes translated into a white mini-dressed, sexually liberated Titania. 

Designer Ashley Shairp’s acid-coloured playground of a forest, teeming with bouncing balls and magic lanterns, seems to unleash the potential in every character, including a quartet of mismatched lovers fleeing from the city, and a weaver with a thespian bent and an ass’s head.

Vanessa Kirby’s heart-broken Helena sets the stage alight with her passion, energy and comic timing - no wonder Rob Edwards’ magisterial Oberon is so visibly taken by her.  Compassion for the young mortal melts his hard heart and leads to a sequence of reconciliations, including his own with Paula Jennings’ luscious and uninhibited Titania.

Kieran Hill makes an unusually good-looking Bottom and is beautifully rigged out for his Act V turn as Pyramus, but Russell Dixon’s Peter Quince runs off with the comedy honours for a spot on portrait of a fruity old-school actor in a classic piece of character acting.

The handling of the verse is uniformly excellent, and David Thacker’s inspired use of the entire auditorium really brings the show alive, ably assisted by music director Carol Sloman’s trippy score and Wayne Dowdeswell’s hallucinogenic lighting.

The production could benefit from being played at a much faster pace as its current running time is more akin to Hamlet than a comedy which I once saw performed in ninety minutes flat.  Nevertheless this is a colourful, energetic and lucid production of the original rom-com.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is on at Bolton Octagon until Saturday 6 March 2010

Tickets: from £9.00

Eves: Mon-Sat @ 7.30

Matinees: Friday 5, Saturday 6, Monday 8, Wednesday 17 and Sat 27 Feb @ 2pm

Box Office: 01204 520661

www.octagonbolton.co.uk

The Machine Gunners

The Customs House, South Shields

The themes of love, loss, loyalty, friendship, childhood and warfare are skilfully interwoven into a musical that tells the tale of a group of teenagers growing up on Tyneside during the Blitz.

Robert Westall’s The Machine Gunners was published in 1975 and won the Carnegie Medal for Children’s Literature, became a set text in schools, a million seller and a classic BBC TV series. This musical adaptation, written by Ken Reay and Tom Kelly with music by John Miles, was first staged at The Customs House in 1998 and then spent a month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received rave reviews. It returns to The Customs House, with a stellar cast, as part of the venue’s fifteenth anniversary season.

Fourteen-year-old Chaz McGill (played by James Baxter) is an avid collector of shrapnel and other forms of wartime memorabilia, which he finds amongst the debris of the bombsites in his home town, Garmouth. One day, he stumbles across the tail-end of a German fighter, its machine gun and its pilot.

Together with his gang of mates, Chaz decides to keep the German airman as a prisoner of war and he is secreted in a disused garden shed. Soon, though, the teenagers grow fond of Rudi and a set of unlikely friendships are formed.

The Machine Gunners is a piece of theatre that succeeds on every level. As dramatic as it is comedic, you cannot help but get caught up in the adventures of the youngsters, whilst also empathising with the fears and concerns of the adults.

Director Gareth Hunter has gathered together a cast comprising much of the best of North East talent. James Baxter’s portrayal of Chaz is carefully crafted and utterly believable. The relationship between Chaz and the other members of his gang, played by Tom Booth (Cem), Steven Stobbs (Clogger), Jamie Hannon (Nicky) and Rachel Teate (Audrey) is extremely convincing. Wayne Miller and Charlie Richmond also deliver great performances as Bodser the bully and John, respectively.

Neil Armstrong and Tracy Gillman strike up a great rapport as Chaz’s parents, whilst Annie Orwin maximises the comedy in her role as nosey-parker Mrs Spalding. Jamie Brown as Rudi, the German air-gunner, puts in a fine performance, as does Louis Roberts in the slightly limited role of Sergeant Green. Donald McBride and Tony Neilson complete the line-up as members of the Garmouth Home Guard.

Some of the songs stand up better than others, with ‘Gossip’, ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’ and ‘He Will Need You’ being the showstoppers. However, it is the story that completely sweeps you up and makes The Machine Gunners memorable for all the right reasons.

Steve Burbridge.

The Machine Gunners runs until Saturday 13^th February 2010.

Fiona Peek’s new play Salt was co-winner of the Royal Exchange’s Bruntwood Playwriting Competition in November 2008, and the premiere of this sophisticated social comedy has been eagerly anticipated.  

The action takes place between July 2007 and March 2008 during the course of five dinner parties in Simon and Amy’s beautiful basement kitchen.  Simon’s stable law firm salary and Amy’s chic little gallery job provide them and their children with a lifestyle straight out of a weekend colour supplement.  However their two child-free friends Rachel and Nick (Amy’s old flame from college days) are struggling with debt now that his freelance journalism commissions are drying up and RSI has ended her orchestral career.

Fiona Peek’s debut play, with its skilfully interwoven themes of debt, fertility, work/life balance and food porn, thoroughly nails the late-noughties zeitgeist.  The other unacknowledged but ever-present problem plaguing the middle-classes is excessive recreational drinking - a vice which does more than its fair share to inflame the situation here.

Even if external circumstances didn’t play a part, the chemistry between Amy and Nick and their uninhibited flirting has “slow-motion car crash” written all over it.  Beth Cordingly’s smug Amy is still proprietorial of her ex, constantly reminding Rachel (and Simon) of how long they’ve known each other and therefore how much better she understands him than his wife does.

Simon Chadwick plays her husband as an uptight conformist pretending to be a laid back peacemaker.  He tries to remain aloof from the emotional maelstrom but this diplomacy only masks his diffidence towards the other couple.  You form the impression that if he and Amy were to divorce, she would get Rachel and Nick in the settlement.

Kevin Harvey’s slightly-scouse and immature Nick, one of those nightmare guests who can’t distinguish between a dinner party debate and a stand-up row, is stuck in the laddish culture of the 1990s, and Esther Hall’s brittle Rachel is as highly strung as her own violin when confronted with the dilemma of treating her immature husband as a child or making him face up to his responsibilities.

Ben Stones’ sleek set is like watching the window display in a designer furniture shop coming alive, and Jo Coombs’ fluid and fast-paced production captures the authentic tone of entitlement of the (apparently) affluent professional classes.

My only quibble is that the bombshell dropped in the dying moments is treated with such brevity and underplaying as to be almost subliminal - if this was on DVD you’d frantically rewind it trying to work out exactly what happened.  But even without a freeze-frame facility the first-night audience was highly appreciative of this witty and clever new play.

Salt is on until Saturday 20 February 2010

Prices: £4 (conc)-£9.50

Evenings: Mon-Sat @ 7.30

Matinees: Wed & Sat @ 2.30

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk

Never Forget

The Tyne Theatre & Opera House

IT seems that the future of musical theatre is heading in the direction of the ‘juke-box’ musical. With a plethora of productions based on the back catalogue of groups such as ABBA, Queen and Boney M, it was a sure bet that one featuring the music of Take That would pop up.

‘Never Forget’ tells the story of five young men who enter a talent competition to form a Take That tribute band. Along the way, they discover that fame comes at a price but friendships last forever.

The ladies were out in full force, no doubt attracted as much by the physique of former Brookside and Hollyoaks star, Philip Olivier, as the hits penned by Gary Barlow. There was a huge scream upon his first appearance, followed by wolf-whistles and calls of ‘Get your kit off!’

The show isn’t exactly Ibsen or Chekhov – nor does it claim to be. It’s as camp as a row of pink tents and as cheesy as a Quatro Formaggi pizza, but the songs are fabulous and the choreography is breathtaking and the special effects are impressive, too.

‘Never Forget’ is an uplifting show that positively exudes the feel-good factor and makes for a great evening’s entertainment. Well worth a visit.

Steve Burbridge.

Runs until Saturday 6^th February 2010.

Have you heard the story of the Johnstone twins? If not, you have missed what has become a classic of British musical theatre and now is your chance to hear the tale! Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers is on tour - follow a trail of tears and snotty handkerchiefs all the way to the King’s Theatre, Glasgow until 13 February 2010.

Glasgow-born songstress, Vivienne Carlyle, stars as Mrs. Johnstone, a 1960s Liverpudlian mother of seven who is just about making ends meet, until her husband leaves and the twins arrive. Reluctantly she makes a deal with Mrs. Lyons (Tracy Spencer), her well-to-do employer, to give one of her twins away. And so, irresistible and tragic wheels are set in motion as the twins are destined to be born and then to die on the self same day.

The story is largely light hearted and entertaining despite the tear-streaked faces that have famously been leaving performances of this musical all over the world. It follows the growth of the boys from childhood to adulthood and the script is bursting with the gritty Liverpool humour that made the writer famous. The humour is also observational and sucks the audience into a real bond with the characters as we sympathise with their poverty and remember schoolboy fun that helped to lighten the mood in difficult times. The tragedy, when it falls, feels very personal. The musical score, in isolation, seems almost unremarkable but together with the on-stage drama it adds great depth to the contrasts of mood that are the bedrock of this musical’s success. The audience can even take a few tunes home with them “My Child”, “Easy Terms” and “Tell Me It’s Not True” being eminently hummable.

The production has changed very little over the years, but the talented cast add their personal nuances to the timeless story.  Vivienne Carlyle took the role of Mrs. Johnstone (previously played by such well known actresses as Stephanie Lawrence, Kiki Dee, Lyn Paul and four of the Nolan sisters) in her stride, never over dramatising, never over cooking the accent.  She took a nightmare narrative and made it real.  The combination of Sean Jones and Paul Davies as the twins, Mickey and Eddie, was the perfect mix.  I’ve had the pleasure of being entertained by Sean Jones in a previous tour and he is definitely my favourite Mickey.  His transformation from carefree seven-year-old to drug-dependant adult is heartbreaking in itself.  Chemistry with his on-stage sibling as well as his childhood sweetheart (Linda, played by Kelly-Anne Gower) was wonderful.  Finally, Robbie Scotcher’s menacing portrayal of the Narrator was the ideal balance of singing talent and threatening demeanour.

No other musical can take you through the entire spectrum of human emotion like this.  Book your ticket today.

Listings Info:

Blood Brothers
King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Tue 2 – Sat 13 Feb
Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm
Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm
Thu 4 Feb mat 2.30pm

Audio described performance 11 Feb 7.30pm
Signed performance 12 Mar 7.30pm

Tickets: £11.50 - £30
Box Office 0844 8717 648 (Bkg fee)
www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee)

WHAT IF...is a stunning new piece of work by artist, theatre maker and SHUNT director Layla Rosa & company. There is a simplicity of imagery from the opening that is compelling and is enhanced by a hypnotic soundscape, setting the atmosphere of the journey to come.

A lone rope hangs down at one end of the stage and on the other, a pair of glittery, silver high-heel shoes are bathed in light. TV screens on either side display looped images of women in veils and images of hands veiling and unveiling different women's heads.

The figure swathed in black and veiled who sits and on a high stool and sings to us is enigmatic and mysterious. Because of the veiling and complete covering of the body our focus goes to the expressive movements of her hands and feet in order to try to understand the feeling and meaning of the song. In fact, there is a strong emphasis throughout the show on hands and feet, as if the extremities are the only 'free' parts available to really express themselves until the final 'reveal' at the end, where it appears a transformation has taken place for the main protagonist of the piece.

The semi-autobiographical journey is never over-stated or explained, but instead we are left to make up our own minds about what the piece of work is saying and what we each take from it.

The aerial work in itself is simply outstanding. The fact that the performer is blindfolded makes the routines even more impressive how she literally 'feels' her way up the rope with her feet and lets herself drop back down from held positions to within inches of the floor.

Beautiful images remain long afterwards in your mind; the swing sequence is both exhilarating and poetic, and the mirroring dance with the 'Western' counterpart is inspired.

Imaginative, haunting and expertly constructed, it is a unique combination of disciplines that results in an independent and innovative voice, WHAT IF is one of a number or performances at Jacksons Lane coming up this season to celebrate these art forms.

For further information on future tour dates of WHAT IF :

www.cryingoutloud.com

Jacksons Lane theatre in Highgate has also just launched a brand new website www.jacksonslane.org.uk which is now live and means that Jacksons Lane’s audience can now book tickets online directly through the box office system at a reduced booking fee of only £2.

Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun is the best thing the Royal Exchange has put on in ages. 

Three generations of the Younger family are cramped into the shabby rented rooms on Chicago’s Southside which god-fearing matriarch, Lena, first moved into as a new bride full of hopes and dreams. 

But Lena’s husband worked himself into an early grave, and although her son Walter fantasises about making a quick buck by investing in a series of shady schemes, and her daughter Beneatha bubbles with exciting ideals and ambitions, reality means that Lena and her daughter-in-law Ruth are skivvying for rich white people and her grandson has to sleep on the sofa.

However the imminent arrival of a cheque for $10,000 - the life insurance on Lena’s late husband - could transform all their lives.

Superficially A Raisin in the Sun appears to be staple Royal Exchange fare like Wesker’s Roots or Osborne’s The Entertainer, a naturalistic drama from exactly the same era which tells its tale via a highly detailed depiction of domestic life: the opening blow-by-blow account of the Youngers’ early morning routine, down to breakfast being cooked live on stage, leads one to expect nothing more.

But this poor, black family’s frames of reference aren’t provincial and miniaturist but global and historical: Lena traces her ancestors back six generations to when they were brought to America as slaves, and sees her own life as part of their progression; aspiring medical student Beneatha looks both backwards and forwards when she becomes fascinated by African culture.  The gender politics are intriguing, too.  Has Walter been emasculated by his nagging wife and infantilised by his all-powerful mother?  Are Beneatha’s hopes realistic, or should she settle down with a man who isn’t her intellectual equal but who can offer material security?  The story becomes increasingly powerful and moving, culminating in a nail-biting choice for one of the characters that will materially and morally affect them all.  And Lorraine Hansberry’s writing has a fundamental optimism and belief in a better future which is absent from her English contemporaries.

The whole cast is excellent, down to the smallest cameo.  Ray Fearon’s ne’er-do-well Walter is charming and sulky, and Tracy Ifeachor as his student sister is sassy, sophisticated and shy by turns.  Starletta DuPois plays the magnificently upholstered matriarch Lena with authority, while Jenny Jules as Ruth quietly conveys the loneliness of a disappointed wife trying to hold things together.

Director Michael Buffong has given this great play a fantastic production that entertains and emotionally engages throughout.  The whole experience is so uplifting that it’s little wonder some members of the audience were on their feet at the end.

A Raisin in the Sun is on until Saturday 20 February 2010

Prices: £8.50-£29.50

Evenings: Mon-Sat @ 7.30

Matinees: Wed & Sat @ 2.30

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk

Back Row Productions and Sadler’s Wells present A New Adventures Production

Mathew Bourne’s Swan Lake

Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Director and Choreographer Matthew Bourne

Set and Costume Design Lez Brotherston Lighting Design Rick Fisher

Associate Directors Scott Ambler and Etta Murfitt

Resident Tour Directors Scott Ambler and Steve Kirkham

Reviewed by Sue Marks at Milton Keynes Theatre on Monday 1^st February 2010.

This is not the classical ballet Swan Lake; it could be considered an interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s music via contemporary dance which has been influenced by ballet. Now fifteen years old it has seen several major re workings and is still constantly evolving. It contains comedy, pathos and positively drips sensuality although some interpret this as sexuality which fifteen years ago tended to be labelled homoerotic, you will have to make up your own mind about this. It stars a prince who is crying out for some kind of emotional contact beyond the dutiful Queen and her corgi dogs. It even laughs at itself when you get a ballet within a ballet set at the opera house and I am sure the abiding image that everyone will take away with them after seeing this is that of the flock of male swans, at once beautiful and dangerous, simultaneously exhibiting grace and menace.

Dominic North gives an excellent performance as the Prince displaying the vulnerability required for this part which is inevitably overshadowed by the swan when he eventually appears. The Queen taken by Nina Goldman maintains a regal air throughout; indeed one could say aloof, not an easy task particularly when one also has to appear sexy as in the dance with the stranger. The third major part which as usual steals the show is that of the swan/stranger admirably played by Richard Winsor, undoubtedly helped by the fact that he has a body to die for.  Maddy Brennan was extremely funny as the girlfriend, whilst Steve Kirkham demonstrated appropriate reserve as the private secretary. Although the stars may catch the limelight the strength of any dance production is down to the ensemble and these dancers are very very good.

Lez Brotherston’s set and costume designs are outstanding, from the simplicity of the swan breeches and the genius of the painted beak to the lavishness of the Royal Ball costumes coupled with the ‘70s nostalgia of the club and the point where the whole of the female cast are Queen clones. I was also impressed by the butterfly costumes worn by the dancers in the spoof ballet. This scene allowed a touch of total glittering fantasy counterpointed by the drab yet still fantastic costumes of the wood demons. I particularly liked the Queen’s scarlet dress,  worn with black petticoats it created a dramatic contrast which was magnified by the fact that everyone else on the stage was wearing black, the effect was stunning. The Queen wore glittering diamante tiaras and some of the costumes were decorated with diamante or sequins.

 The scenery was excellent I loved the tree branches with the full moon shining behind them and there was an interesting effect which created the impression of water. The solidity of the side pillars gave depth to many scenes whilst not appearing out of place in sets as diverse as the park, the street and the palace gates.  Rick Fisher designed the lighting which was superb, from the previously mentioned full moon to spotlights strategically placed to cast the characters’ shadows on the wall, with the Queen’s towering over everyone else’s. This was not the only use of shadow play and there were times I was torn between watching the actors or watching the shadows. Full use was also made of back lighting to turn scenes of apparent solidity into windows onto other scenes.

This production is brilliant and received one of the most enthusiastic responses from an audience that I have seen in this theatre. I applauded till my hands hurt and many people felt the need to stand and applaud. This show is a must see.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake plays Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 6^th February 2010. Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office 0844 871 7652 (bkg fee).

The tour then continues playing Birmingham Hippodrome from Monday 8^th February 2010 to Saturday 13^th February 2010.

www.miltonkeynestheatre.com www.swanlaketour.com

Reviewed by Sue Marks at Milton Keynes Theatre on Monday 1^st February 2010 on behalf of Catherine Brian.

Vampires Rock

Darlington Civic Theatre    

Friday 29^th & Saturday 30^th January

The auditorium of Darlington Civic Theatre was packed to the rafters on Friday evening for the first of two sell-out performances of Steve Steinman’s cult classic, Vampires Rock.

Set in New York in the year 2030, the undead are among us and livelier than ever. A young girl named Pandora (Emily Clark) has skipped school to attend an audition to be the resident rock singer at the Live and Let Die Club. There she encounters Baron Von Rockula (Steinman), who instantly falls in love with her and becomes determined that she should become his new bride – shame he didn’t bother to consult his current Devil Queen (Toyah Willcox) who is none too impressed with the idea.

Ostensibly, Vampires Rock is The Rocky Horror Show for hot-blooded heterosexual hairy bikers and heavy metal heads. More vamp than camp, more gothy than frothy, the show uses its storyline – which is as translucent as a vampires skin in the midday sun – to string together some of the greatest rock anthems of all time. They’re all in there, from ‘Killer Queen’ to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, ‘The Final Countdown’ to ‘Bat out of Hell.’

Steinman, Willcox and Clark all delivered stunning vocal performances and backed by a five-piece band, whose acoustics almost lifted the roof right off the grand old theatre, they really whipped the crowd up into a frenzy.

The shortcomings of the storyline are compensated by the energy and enthusiasm that the entire cast put into the show which, ultimately, is what makes Vampires Rock a great night out!

Steve Burbridge.

What a superb production this is! It makes murder, corruption, adultery and cheating look positively attractive!

Since its New York revival in 1996 Chicago has become the longest-running musical to play in the West End: a sure sign of its popularity. As a result there have been a number of touring productions, both good and not so good.
I suggest this particular cast makes this production one of the best of recent times. It must consist of some of the best looking actors currently on stage in the UK. Sure, the girls in this show have always been fabulous, long-legged, strong, sassy and sexy, but the boys this time – good heavens – they are clearly in the gym when not on stage – all abs, pecs and biceps, not to mention the lower halves! They certainly earned plenty of wolf-whistles of appreciation from the audience throughout the evening. Every member of the Company give their all throughout the evening and are completely convincing in their characterisations.

The choreography is sharp and tight (the original re-created by Gary Chryst) and the musical interpretation by Garth Hall exhilarating and performed impeccably and with great verve by the 10 piece orchestra, who are centre stage throughout and incidentally got the longest and loudest round of applause.

The billing has Marti Pellow as the main attraction. He has carved out a theatre career of late and his voice and stage presence are well suited to the part of Billy Flynn.



Whilst he is excellent, and taking nothing away from him, the outstanding performances are really from Emma Barton (ex-Eastender Honey) as Roxie Hart and Twinnie-Lee Moore as Velma Kelly.

Barton is a revelation but shouldn’t be. Looking at her experience she has plenty of theatre under her belt and was completely at home singing – what a gorgeous rich, full voice - and dancing. She is utterly hilarious as the conniving, flirtatious Roxie. Perfect!

Moore is one to watch. She does not have a great deal of experience being only 22 but you would never know this from her extraordinary performance. She is captivating, self assured and doubtlessly talented. I couldn’t take my eyes off her when she was on stage and her opening number ‘All That Jazz’ introduces her in fitting style. She is stylish and sophisticated, has superb comic timing and the stage presence of a real star. Someone to keep an eye on I have no doubt.

Matron (Wendy-Lee Purdy) it is fair to say suffers from comparison to Queen Latifah’s performance in the 2002 Rob Marshall film. It’s unfortunate but inevitable.

Amos (Adam Stafford), Roxie’s rather straight and trusting husband, was a clear favourite with the audience, particularly after Stafford’s superbly sensitive and touching performance of ‘Mister Cellophane’.

This is a sexy, strong, superb production of Chicago and very well worth booking tickets for. If you have always fancied it and never got round to it this production is the one to see.

Chicago plays MK Theatre Monday 25 –Saturday 30 January. MK box office 0844 871 7652 (Booking Fee)

Then on tour

February 1 – 6, Charter Theatre, Preston

February 8 – 13, Theatre Royal, Newcastle

February 16 – 27, The Mayflower, Southampton

Louise Winter on behalf or Catherine Brian