24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester

Friday 24 July 2009

 

As We Forgive Them - Pure/Blue

 

Writer/performer Richard Vergette returns to 24:7 after his acclaimed one-man show An Englishman’s Home in 2007.  This year he is joined by powerful young actor Joe Sims in an intense three-act drama which is perfectly suited to the claustrophobic space in Blue.

 

Congressman John Daniels (Richard Vergette) is paying a personal visit to the high-security wing of the state penitentiary, where Lee Fenton (Joe Sims) is serving life for the murder of the congressman’s daughter. 

 

Daniels is the epitome of the bleeding heart liberal, still firmly opposed to the death penalty in spite of his own tragic loss, and apparently on an evangelical mission to save Fenton’s soul.  Initially, however, there seems to be no possibility of communication between the two: the prisoner, slumped in his chair and unable to concentrate, merely grunts profanities; while Daniels is verbose to the n-th degree, apparently in love with the sound of his own voice.

 

The skill of the writing manages to make something out of this seemingly intractable situation, while Andrew Pearson’s excellent direction creates moments of edge-of-the-seat tension.

 

As we come to care about Fenton’s reform the play springs a nifty surprise.  As We Forgive Them is an involving and sometimes moving story which is enhanced by a pair of marvellous performances.

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets: £8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues: Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street; New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station

The Comedy Theatre Company presents Victoria Wood’s –dinnerladies, Richmond Theatre on 13^th July 2009. 

 

Who can resist a good love story?  There is a fine line between comedy and tragedy.  What may appear, at first sight, a tragedy, may be taken as comedy by other characters and by us , the audience.  Bren and Tony’s story in dinnerladies is made up of all of these elements.

True (sitcom) love never ran smoothly and that is exactly what makes it compulsive viewing.

dinnerladies was aired on BBC One for a period of 16 episodes in two series between 1998 and 2000.  The show took place inside a factory in Manchester, with its caterers and customers as the principal characters, who were predominantly female. It touched on their inner lives and their social interaction.

And, as always with Victoria Wood, as with Alan Bennett, there is an element of pathos, a feeling of pity along with comedy.

 

For more information on dinnerladies visit: www.dinnerladiesontour.com

 

The show’s two main stars, from the original BBC series, are Shobna Gulati,  best known for the four years she spent playing ‘Sunita Alahan’ in Coronation Street and Andrew Dunn, whose television performances include: 55 Degrees North, The Knock and Coronation Street, as ‘Roger Stiles’, a plumber and the love interest of ‘Janice Battersby’.

 

The first thing that struck me was how much attention to detail had been made when it came to the set and how much better the script worked on stage as opposed to the small screen due to it already being highly theatrical.  The guest I took along with me to see the production was also in agreement.

 

As for the cast, Jacqueline Clarke who played ‘Petula’ had to be my preferred character but, to be fair, she did have some of the best one liners.

Two prime examples of the pathos in Victoria Wood’s writing were when ‘Petula’ (Jacqueline Clarke) said to ‘Tony’(Andrew Dunn, at the stage when he is only the potential love interest of ‘Bren’, played by Laura Sheppard):

“has she (‘Bren’) told you what a terrible mother I was?

…put in an orphanage and lost the address!”

and the conversation held between mother and daughter, ‘Petula’ and ‘Bren’ :

‘Petula’ to ‘Bren’: “I had a baby once before (recollecting).

But I never really got involved.  Do you remember?

Oh, it was you, wasn’t it?!”

(all this is said whilst the others are dealing with a casualty after a spillage to which ‘Petula’ is completely oblivious.) 

 

‘Wood’s ability to make working class dialogue almost poetic allowed Dinnerladies to rise above its traditional sitcom trappings.’

(BBC website)

 

Laura Sheppard (Bren) was substituted in for Victoria Wood and Louise Dumayne (Philippa) for Celia Imrie.  The likeness is uncanny, especially in Sheppard whose movements and facial expressions are astutely like those of Victoria Wood. 

Dumayne’s first most memorable line is near the beginning when she says to Dolly, played by Liz Bagley: “are you too busy to have an orgasm?”, Dolly’s response to which is: “I haven’t even blown my nose, since Tuesday!”

 

Jean (played by Stella Ross) is surprised by Twinkle’s (Emily Butterfield’s) inability to spell well, saying: “didn’t they teach you at school?”

Always one to shock and to come back with a quick response, it would appear, she says:

“They taught us how to put a condom on a cucumber!”, believing it to be much more important than knowing how to spell ‘minestrone’!

 

There are some good lines from Andrew Dunn (Tony), when he wants one of the catering staff to make a quick cuppa: “I fancied a quick one.” (Tony)

“She hasn’t got time.” (Bren)

“Well, I’ve been in a building society but it doesn’t mean I don’t have time to go to the bank!” (Tony),

and a conversation held between Bren (Laura Shepphard):

“have you ever heard of an inferiority complex?” (Tony)

“yeah, but I never thought I’d be important enough to have one!” (Bren)

Enter Jane( played by Joanna Lee Martin), a sarky, couldn’t-care-less-type who comes out with lines such as:

“What do you get when you cross a wimp and an idiot.” (Jane to Tony)

 - “a catering manager” ,

and to Jean, who’s had her husband leave her after 27 years.

“I don’t care about your personal problems.  I lost 8 tropical fish in a power cut last week.”

Bren (Laura Sheppard), probably the most sympathetic of all the characters, not ever putting herself first, is finally fed up with Jean’s emotional guilt-tripping over her husband leaving and says to her:

“If you’re going to chuck toast at someone…

…chuck it at him”, (i.e. her estranged husband.)

 

Anita (Shopna Gulati) is the loveable dim wit, finding amusement in everyday objects, e.g. when she says to Bren (Laura Sheppard):

“don’t you think this potato looks like Dell boy from Only Fools and Horses?” (Anita).

“which one?” (Bren), i.e. which potato?

“David Jason.” (Anita)

Coming out with random comments like:

“My friend tried a dildo.” (Anita)

“-where was this…?!”

“I mean a lilo”, correcting herself when she realises her slip-up.

Her mind wanders when Tony (Andrew Dunn) asks her:

“Have you got your yogs out yet?” and she says: “Do you mean yogs as in breasts?”, after explaining to her what he meant by it, showing no feelings of embarrassment she says: “oh that’s alright.  I’ve no objection to that!”

 

The scenes are broken up by flashing neon lights, stating in short, the time that has passed and the date.

There is a realistic pause held by the cast on Stan (Barrie Palmer) announcing his father’s death, which is delicately broken by Dolly (Liz Bagley) when she brings up the subject of suitable funeral songs.

Cue Anita (Shopna Gulati), whom we have begun to rely on to break the ice or, in this instance, the arkward silence with:

“When our neighbour’s coffin went through the curtain, they played Countdown.”

Bren (Laura Shepphard), who has never understood referring to the dead as ‘being in the next room’, says: “if you’re gonna be dead, no need to be beggaring around.. ..don’t go being in the next room!”

Victoria Wood, never wishing for the audience to get too down, allows, at this point, for the fantastic entrance of Petula (Jacqueline Clarke) who has the whole of her face and arms covered in oil after an incident with a caravan.

Act 1 ends on a touching moment with Stan (Barrie Palmer) reading out loud a poem he has written and intends to read out at his father’s funeral.

 

In Act 2 the sexual innuendos remain just as strong as in Act 1, with Dolly (Liz Bagley) on realising Jean (Stella Ross) has a toy boy says: “.. he must be very fit, must take him 20 mins to get from one side to the other.”

Still on the subject of sex Stan (Barrie Palmer) says:

“I’ve got no sex life, no frying pan and I’m halfway through a tube of toothpaste. I don’t like.”

Anita (Shopna  Gulati) chips in and says: “I might be able to help you there.  I’ve got a wok.”

 

Twinkle (Emily Butterfield) suspicious that Bren (Laura Shepphard) has spent the night with Tony says to her: “alright Bren, are you shagged out?!”

Peter Bradleigh who plays a customer and who after waiting for a long time responds to Twinkle by saying: “oh just give me a bag (as in teabag), I’ll suck it on my way home. Pause.  I tell you what, forget the bacon.  Have you got any anti-depressants?”

 

There are many cultural references in the play that it would make it near impossible for a foreigner to understand.  Also, those people in the audience who reign from The North, i.e. myself, would be able to pick up on jokes a lot quicker than those people who do not.

 

With Christmas approaching Dolly (Liz Bagley) enquires: “Who has sex on Christmas morning?”

-“The Dalai Lama.” (Jean)

“Well, he must peel his sprouts the night before.” (Dolly)

 

Twinkle (Emily Butterworth) still eager to know whether Tony has got it on with Bren says: “he’s all vest and no cardie!”

At The Staff Christmas Party Petula (Jacqueline Clarke) makes another of her grand entrances and embarrasses Jean, whom she knows is dating again, says to her: “go Jean, there are some lovely girls around!”

 

In the final scene on the 24^th December- Bren’s Birthday, we see Bren and Tony finally become an item, despite Bren’s earlier reservations, put off by a previous failed relationship. Tony (Andrew Dunn) is about to open a letter and turns to her and says: “have you written me a love letter?” Stan on realising that it is, in fact, Bren’s letter of resignation she wrote earlier jumps in and saves the day by snatching it from his hands and swallowing it down whole. All the characters in the canteen of HWD Components and the audience exit with a warm glow on their faces.  A real pick-you-up piece of theatre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this update

INDIE FILM NIGHT
UK THEATRE REVIEWS
WEST END TICKET OFFERS

To get this free newsletter weekly, send an email to subscribe@uktheatre.net  

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INDIE FILM NIGHT

UK Film Network and Raindance have teamed up to bring you the best in independent film.

The opening night will be 2nd September at a venue which is near London Bridge/Tower Bridge, so easy to get to if you are London based.

I’m also delighted to confirm that the opening night will be screening “ZEBRA CROSSINGS”, by Sam Holland who recently won a Raindance Award for the film and is likely to get snapped up by a distributor. This is your chance to see the film before it starts it’s journey around the world.

 

Host: UK Film Network

Date: Wednesday, 02 September 2009
Time: 19:30 - 21:30
Location: Shortwave Cinema
10 Bermondsey Square, London, SE1 3UN

Entrance fee: £5

You can book for this event and others by clicking on the special Facebook paypal link:-

http://www.facebook.com/pages/UK-FILM-NETWORK/106883913810?v=app_4949752878&viewas=671926912

OR click on this paypal link:

http://tinyurl.com/indiefilmnight

Hurry though, this is likely to sell out fast. Use the link to book for next month's Indie Film Night on 7th October.

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JERUSALEM by Jez Butterworth, Royal Court Theatre - extended until Aug 22 2009

Published by: Nicola Hollinshead on Friday 24th July 2009 06:07pm

JERUSALEM by Jez Butterworth

A show that runs for 3 hrs & 10 minutes with 2 intervals may seem like a daunting prospect these days to any potential theatre-goer, but a visit to The Royal Court for a viewing of Jez Butterworth's JERUSALEM is an epic that defies time & is simply not to be missed. With a wonderful woodland setting by Ultz & under the superb direction of Ian Rickson, once again working with Butterworth; this is a show that will surely run and transfer.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/jerusalem-by-jez-butterworth-royal-court-theatre---extended-until-aug-22-2009_259.html

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LOL
Published by: Amanda McGregor on Friday 24th July 2009 12:07pm

Lots of love, or patience, control or manipulation?

Rosalind Adler takes us on an emotional rollercoaster, all too inevitable whilst ‘combating’ the use of online dating sites.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/lol_256.html

 

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You Can't Go Swimming with your Ex-Husband
Published by: Amanda McGregor on Friday 24th July 2009 12:07pm

A performance about a chance encounter in a lift, said to change destiny forever by Zoe Alyssa Cooper.

For me seeing a performance, is about seeing a different perspective, exploring life in a different framework or thought. My inspiration from this performance, to take home to my personal life was, ‘ we need to be able to communicate’ to have a life together and one has to be careful not to get in the firing line if you are involved with a couple that is dysfunctional in communication but ‘going swimming with an ex can be pleasant, as long as you trust yourself and each other’!

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/you-canand39;t-go-swimming-with-your-ex-husband_255.html

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24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester - Tuesday
Published by: Caroline May on Wednesday 22nd July 2009 01:07am

Freshers - New Century 1
Blinded by the Light - Pure/Funktion

Dancing to the Sound of Crunch of Snails - Pure/Funktion

This evening kicked off at New Century 1 with Freshers by Steve Pearce, author of 2007’s popular Rose Cottage.  The premise promises comedy mayhem: Scarlett arrives in halls on her first day at university, only to find that her dad Miles has also enrolled as a student and is living on the floor below - with hilarious consequences! (I assumed).  In fact my expectations were thoroughly subverted because the encounters between dad and daughter are dark and emotionally charged due to heavy family stuff from a few years before.  The funny, sexy, studenty bits are flashbacks to the same room 20 years earlier, when earnest ecologist Hephzibah unwittingly bursts in on the sleeping Miles.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/247-theatre-festival-manchester---tuesday_254.html

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24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester - Monday
Published by: Caroline May on Tuesday 21st July 2009 12:07pm

The Coffee Hour - New Century 1

Phys Ed - New Century 1

Opening day of the 24:7 Theatre Festival brings blue skies and excited audiences for early performances of the 21 new shows on offer.  Follow the link to the 24:7 website (below) for video trailers, show times and further information.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/247-theatre-festival-manchester---monday_253.html

 

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THE WRONG SLEEP COCK TAVERN THEATRE
Published by: OLIVER VALENTINE on Monday 20th July 2009 04:07pm

THE WRONG SLEEP                 COCK TAVERN THEATRE

The Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn, under the artistic direction of Adam Speadbury –Maher continues with The Wrong Sleep, to offer some of London’s finest and most innovative fringe work.

Ruthsdale, a desolate town is rocked by an explosion that leaves many dead and injured. A priest offers the community God as comfort, despite beginning to doubt his own faith, and a deeply disturbed Muslim woman suffering from extreme insomnia, comes to him seeking answers. She is torn between Islam, Christianity and secularism, and as it becomes increasingly clear that she is willing to use violence to vent her frustrations, she also uses the place to confess.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/the-wrong-sleep-----cock-tavern-theatre_252.html

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24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester - previews
Published by: Caroline May on Monday 20th July 2009 04:07pm

The Last Chair - New Century 2 
Temp/Casual - New Century 2
Working Title - Pure/Funktion
Detaining Mr K - New Century 1
Donal Fleet: A Confessional - New Century 2

We’re only into the second half of July and Manchester is already holding its third major theatrical event of the month.  But forget the Manchester International Festival and Not Part Of, because the 24:7 Theatre Festival is by comparison the great-granddaddy of the city’s new writing festivals, 2009 being its sixth consecutive year.

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/247-theatre-festival-manchester---previews_251.html

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West Side Story
Published by: Louise Winter on Monday 20th July 2009 09:00am

West Side Story reviewed Tuesday 14th July 2009

As soon as the first bars of the music are heard we are transported to New York’s Upper West Side. This musical, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, explores the rivalry between two teenage gangs; one white, the other Puerto Rican. It is chillingly apt, dealing as it does with the social issues of gang culture and racism. Tony, a reformed member of the Jets falls in love with Maria, the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the rival gang the Sharks. The feud between the gangs escalates and violence and hatred eventually overshadow love and devotion. There is no happy ending here.

Originally created in the 50’s by the combined genius of Leonard Bernstein’s musical score, Stephen Sondheim’s magnificent storytelling lyrics, and Jerome Robbins’s groundbreaking choreography this musical is regarded as the pinnacle of its genre.

Milton Keynes Theatre

http://www.uktheatre.tv/magazine/read/west-side-story_250.html

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WEST END TICKET OFFERS

HAIRSPRAY

Hairspray welcomes Brian Conley as larger-than-life Edna Turnblad in the hit musical, currently running at London's Shaftesbury Theatre. Brian is joined by Chloe Hart taking over as big-haired, big-hearted Tracy Turnblad and Liam Tamne as heartthrob Link Larkin.

KIDS GO FREE - Buy 1 adult ticket for £62.50* and get 1 child ticket free

Mon-Thu from 27 Jul-13 Aug.

TO BOOK CALL 020 7907 7000

 http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/hairspray

 

STOMP

Stomp is now fresher, faster and funnier than ever before, with new routines, new choreography and new music. Eight performers use everything from Zippo lighters, plastic bags, bin lids and even the kitchen sink to hammer out an explosively feel good rhythm.

SPECIAL OFFER AT £25*

All performances, excep Sat evenings, until 30 Aug.

http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/stomp

 

CALENDAR GIRLS

The smash-hit show continues with its new Calendar Girls – it’s now Gemma Atkinson, Jill Halfpenny, June Brown (aka Dot Cotton), Anita Dobson, Sara Crowe, Jill Baker and Jerry Hall. The story of ordinary women who do something extraordinary and spark a global phenomenon by persuading one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference). SPECIAL OFFER AT £29.50*

All performances, except Sat evenings, until 19 Sep.

http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/calendar_girls

 

COLLABORATION

Collaboration and Taking Sides, two subtly linked plays written by award-winning playwright Ronald Harwood explore the fine line between collaboration and betrayal during the Second World War. Collaboration opens in 1931 in a spirit of optimism as the composer Richard Strauss and writer Stefan Zweig embark on an invigorating artistic partnership. However, Zweig is a Jew and the Nazis are on the march.

SPECIAL OFFER AT £19.50*

All performances until 22 Aug.

  http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/collaboration

 

TAKING SIDES

Taking Sides deals with an investigation into the great conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler, who remained conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic during the Third Reich. Furtwangler, played by Michael Pennington, was prized by Hitler and became the cultural jewel in his crown. After the war he became the target for vigorous interrogation by the crude, apparently uncultured Major Steve Arnold, who had witnessed the horrors of Belsen.

SPECIAL OFFER AT £19.50*

All performances until 22 Aug.

http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/taking_sides

 

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

Based on the short novel 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption' by Stephen King, this iconic story also inspired the ever popular film. The Shawshank Redemption is an unforgettable tale of courage, friendship and daring to hope. It stars Kevin Anderson (Sleeping with the Enemy) and Reg E. Cathey (The Wire). Don't miss this uplifting story full of drama, humour and salvation.

FULL PRICE TICKETS AT £49.50* (£35* DURING PREVIEWS)

Booking from 4 Sep-14 Feb .

http://www.lovetheatre.com/uktheatrenet/whats_on/london/shawshank_redemption_the

 

JERUSALEM by Jez Butterworth

A show that runs for 3 hrs & 10 minutes with 2 intervals may seem like a daunting prospect these days to any potential theatre-goer, but a visit to The Royal Court for a viewing of Jez Butterworth's JERUSALEM is an epic that defies time & is simply not to be missed. With a wonderful woodland setting by Ultz & under the superb direction of Ian Rickson, once again working with Butterworth; this is a show that will surely run and transfer.

From the sublime opening - an innocent looking young woman in satin slip & angel wings, with a voice to match, singing the well know hymn, followed in swift succession by a snatched scene of drug-fuelled teens raving to house music in a woodland party, Butterworth's world takes us into the heart of Wiltshires woodland characters & on an boisterous and envigorating theatrical journey.

At the centre is a towering,  magnificent performance by Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron, a teller of stories and yarns both fantastical, unbelieveable and to great comic effect. A modern day Pan & bad man Pied Piper who draws to him a devoted following, mainly wanting the ample supplies of drugs and alcohol he deals, and who leave the sinking ship when the going gets rough. Starting his day, still tripping from the night before, downing a concoction of stale milk, eggs, half a bottle of vodka and a line of speed, Rylance roars onto the stage totally emboding his character and delivers a mammoth performance and a master class in the art of acting. He has that 'other wordly' quality as a performer -which means you simply cannot take your eyes off him & although he is surrounded by a hugely talented cast, with particular mention to Mackenzie Crook, Tom Brooke, Gerard Horan, Alan David & Lucy Montgomery - it is Rylance's show.

JERUSALEM asks us what has happened to 'our Green and Pleasant land', to our heritage of myths and old Gods - where anyone different is ostracised, abused, feared & ultimately stamped out to extinction - much like our attitudes towards the 'old ways' of the country folk. Rooster is a wanted man, much maligned by the locals who believe he has something to do the disappearance of the 15 year old crowned May Queen, Phaedre, to be crowned at this year's local Flintlock Fair. On the dawning of the same day - it being St George's Day, he is issued a final eviction notice by the local council, armed with a petition signed by hundreds of local residents protesting against the frequent 'gatherings' he hosts at his caravan in the woods, which attract the local teens in their droves & anything else they can think of to pin on him.

The writing is rich in comedy especially the stories told by Johnny; amongst many - his account of being kidnapped by four large Nigerian Traffic Wardens is hysterical,  but as well there are intimate scenes of tenderness with his young son, advising him on life and on the specialness of his Romany blood and advising him to love women as much as possible - because they are wonderful creatures.

Johnny emerges at the end bloodied and battered by local thugs, a Lear-like hero beating a last drum to ancestors & long forgotten Gods; an ending which haunts and enthralls us, much like this piece which reminds us all again of the magic and specialness of theatre at it's very best.

The run has been extended by another week already - my advice - do whatever you can to get a ticket!

Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth

Royal Court Theatre

Sloane Square

SW1

020 7565 5000

Until Aug 22 2009

7.30 start

Tickets: 10.00, 12.00, 18.00

Website:www.royalcourttheatre.com

Director Ian Rickson
Designer Ultz
Lighting Mimi Jordan Sherin
Sound Ian Dickinson for Autograph
Composer Stephen Warbeck

Cast includes Jessica Barden, Tom Brooke, Greg Burridge, Lewis Coppen, Mackenzie Crook, Alan David, Aimeé-Ffion Edwards, Lenny Harvey, Gerard Horan, Danny Kirrane, Charlotte Mills, Lucy Montgomery, Sarah Moyle, Dan Poole, Harvey Robinson, Mark Rylance, Barry Sloane

Running time 3hrs 10mins approx, including 2 intervals

Lots of love, or patience, control or manipulation?

Rosalind Adler takes us on an emotional rollercoaster, all too inevitable whilst ‘combating’ the use of online dating sites.

A one man band, she masterfully represents being 40 something and single, by humorously and bluntly reminding us of the different expectations and roles a woman may play whilst looking for love. From mistress, player to darn right, ‘missed the bus’.

I was very impressed by her ability to hold our thoughts continuously as we also listened to the male perspective through telephone messages as they advertised their desires. The performance was enhanced as Ros represented characters quite possibly found in a ‘Henley’ audience. Ros used the greatest respect and diplomacy whilst exploring the reality of relating sexually in confusion; the trials and tribulations of holding the other sex’s attention.

Enough to put you off dating sites for life, with a reminder of how much money you could save by not putting yourself out there, fantastic!

Written and performed by Rosalind Adler
www.rosadler.com
Directed by Kirsty Bennett
Kirsty.bennett@ymail.com
Stage Manager – Kim Agostino

Showing at the Henley Exhibition Centre
Dates: 20th July – 25th July
Start Time: 7.00pm
End Time: 8.00pm
Venue: Exhibition Centre
Tickets: £6.00

www.henleyfringefestival.com

Freshers - New Century 1

Blinded by the Light - Pure/Funktion

Dancing to the Sound of Crunch of Snails - Pure/Funktion

 

Only into Day 2 of the 24:7 Theatre Festival, and the craik is great.  The Hub at New Century House is the perfect place to meet up for pre- and post-show drinks, and tomorrow (Wednesday) there’s a free short film night from 10pm. 

 

This evening I kicked off at New Century 1 with Freshers by Steve Pearce, author of 2007’s popular Rose Cottage.  The premise promises comedy mayhem: Scarlett arrives in halls on her first day at university, only to find that her dad Miles has also enrolled as a student and is living on the floor below - with hilarious consequences! (I assumed).  In fact my expectations were thoroughly subverted because the encounters between dad and daughter are dark and emotionally charged due to heavy family stuff from a few years before.  The funny, sexy, studenty bits are flashbacks to the same room 20 years earlier, when earnest ecologist Hephzibah unwittingly bursts in on the sleeping Miles. 

 

Steve Pearce has created a brilliant role in Hephzibah, a very funny and extremely confident young woman who is superbly played by Christine Clare.  And while Miles may be slobbish, irresponsible and emotionally immature, Richard Hand manages to make him utterly charming and lovable.  They spark off each other like a contemporary Beatrice and Benedick - I definitely want to see these two actors working together again.

 

Over at Pure/Funktion the seating plan which served perfectly well for Working Title had been rotated by 90^o, to the detriment of both sound and lighting.  Fortunately Blinded by the Light by Karl Voden is such a strong piece that it manages to survive these hostile conditions.  This is a character-led drama which focuses on three press photographers-cum-paparazzi who are camped outside the home of a disgraced celebrity, hoping to capture the first pictures of him following his downfall.  Weasely Ray (Reg Edwards) is on the staff of an unsavoury tabloid, while Gobbi (Tom Tunstall) has set up his own agency and drives around in a Jag.  Then brash young freelance Mitch (Adam Diggle), son of an old pal, joins them for the stake-out, and while they’re waiting and reminiscing and philosophising their careers gradually come into conflict with their private lives. 

 

This is one of the strongest scripts I’ve seen this year: the characterisations are spot on, the dialogue rings true, the story unfolds in a very satisfying way, and on top of that the three main actors are absolutely excellent.  Blinded by the Light has been produced by Liverpool-based LAX Theatre Company, which on the evidence of this show is a seriously talented outfit.

 

When I walked into Joe Graham’s Dancing to the Sound of Crunching Snails I was delighted to see that Pure/Funktion had been reconfigured yet again, this time into a three-sided thrust-type staging - definitely the most audience-friendly set-up I’ve seen this year.  However, my next thought was: they’re going to have to find more chairs by the weekend if it’s already full on a Tuesday night. 

 

Dancing to the Sound of Crunching Snails is about one of those fraught family Christmases that make atheism such an appealing lifestyle choice.  Divorced father Howard (Michael Starke) is trying to rebuild long-burnt bridges with his adult daughters Sara (Gemma Wardle) and Katie (Catherine Kinsella), while son-in-law Sam (Andrew Grose) thinks that everything can be solved by sitting around the table and playing board games.  The highlight of this show is the chaotic game of Monopoly, skilfully choreographed by director Joyce Branagh, where Sam attempts to make them all play nicely together while the other three have an enormous row without saying anything to the purpose.

 

Although I had been expecting more of an out-and-out comedy rather than a family drama, this is the kind of feelgood show which has you coming out with a soppy smile all over your face, and the acting is top notch.

 

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets: £8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues: Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street; New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station

The Coffee Hour - New Century 1

Phys Ed - New Century 1

 

Opening day of the 24:7 Theatre Festival brings blue skies and excited audiences for early performances of the 21 new shows on offer.  Follow the link to the 24:7 website (below) for video trailers, show times and further information.

 

The Coffee Hour by Arden-trained Michael Peacock is about strangers who literally bump into each other in a coffee shop.  Laura is nursing a mug of caffeine, not to mention the remains of a bottle of house red, at her solitary table in a café-bar, so it’s no surprise that she’s as highly-strung as a Bechstein grand and doesn’t take kindly to having her drink spilled by the clumsy and unselfconscious Adam.  Adam’s equally clumsy attempts at conversation result in screwball comedy-style quick-fire wit and repartee, but as the sparks fly Laura’s icy demeanour gradually thaws. 

 

However the casual encounter is transformed into a moving and emotional relationship when the banter dies down and Laura reveals her hidden sorrow - the tragic loss of her much-loved sister who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident.  Suffering from survivor’s guilt and seeing forgiveness as a form of betrayal in spite of the quietus it might bring to her own soul, Sarah Wylie beautifully captures the ebb and flow of Laura’s confused feelings.  Michael Peacock as Adam is especially strong in his laid-back lothario guise, with the kind of expressive comedy eyes that almost need no dialogue.  A touching two-hander.

 

On a completely different note, Phys Ed by Simon Carter is a comedy monologue about rugby obsessed PE teacher Neville Trellis.  Trellis is played by Library Theatre favourite Nicholas Osmond, a man for whom the phrase “romantic juvenile lead” might have been coined, so it’s entirely to his credit that he sheds all vestiges of dignity and self-respect to embrace his inner geek so convincingly.

 

Trellis tells us about his difficult journey through life as the bed-wetting younger twin of a future England sports star; lets us into the secrets of his brethren, the tight-trackie-bottom wearing, underpant-shunning Phys Ed teaching mafia; and draws the obvious parallels between King Arthur’s Round Table and the quest to win the England schools invitation trophy, his personal holy grail.

 

Simon Carter’s script lets the actor ventriloquise an entire cast of unsavoury characters in addition to his anti-anti-hero, and Nicholas Osmond easily holds the audience enraptured for 55 minutes.  But his bravura solo performance is supported by excellent use of sound and lighting in what is a real team effort - well done lads!

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets: £8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues: Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street; New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station

THE WRONG SLEEP                 COCK TAVERN THEATRE

The Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn, under the artistic direction of Adam Speadbury –Maher continues with The Wrong Sleep, to offer some of London’s finest and most innovative fringe work.

Ruthsdale, a desolate town is rocked by an explosion that leaves many dead and injured. A priest offers the community God as comfort, despite beginning to doubt his own faith, and a deeply disturbed Muslim woman suffering from extreme insomnia, comes to him seeking answers. She is torn between Islam, Christianity and secularism, and as it becomes increasingly clear that she is willing to use violence to vent her frustrations, she also uses the place to confess. She is unashamed of her actions both past and present. Currently she seems to be talking to her dead lover wrapped in a sleeping bag that shares her bed, and also admits she is the enemy within, having caused the bomb blast. In the past she claims to have murdered her three children and stuffed them into flowerpots.

With this surrealistic play produced by visiting company Lumenis, it is never certain what is real, or what is created as part of a manic awake dreamscape devised by Janet’s long term sleep deprivation. Writer Mary Mazzilli, seems to be heavily influenced by Martin Crimp’s Attempts On Her Life, and the absurdist theatre of Ionesco, and this structurally fragmented script seems be an ‘open text’ which offers little resolution. Janet could be crazy as a loon, a victim of psychosis due to long term insomnia who is not sanely responsible for her actions, but she could just as easily be a monster who just enjoys killing. It is left to the audience to decide on this and other matters. As with much surreal theatre the story is polymorphous, and is sometimes hard to see where it is going, but it is held together by Adam Morley’s tight direction, and compelling performances by the actors.

Nadia Shash is highly watchable as Janet, who seems to respond instinctively to the dramatic twists and turns of her character, and David McCelland is excellent as the persecuted priest.

Mazzilli’s intense, poetic language flits between themes of sex and incest, imperialism and terrorism, compassion and retribution. It challenges and touches the audience, and despite striving to be a little too intellectually abstract at times, manages to engage from beginning to end. 

If you want to see theatre that breaks away from the bog-standard commercial norm this is the show to see.

OLIVER VALENTINE                           Box office: 08444771000

The Last Chair - New Century 2

Temp/Casual - New Century 2

Working Title - Pure/Funktion

Detaining Mr K - New Century 1

Donal Fleet: A Confessional - New Century 2

 

We’re only into the second half of July and Manchester is already holding its third major theatrical event of the month.  But forget the Manchester International Festival and Not Part Of, because the 24:7 Theatre Festival is by comparison the great-granddaddy of the city’s new writing festivals, 2009 being its sixth consecutive year.

 

The three well-established stages at Pure in the Printworks are joined by two venues at New Century House, a mere 200 metres further up Corporation Street, meaning that this year there are no more nightmare sprints across the city centre between performances.  Plenty of time then to chill out, get some drinks in, catch up with old friends and have an animated discussion about the 21 shows on offer.

 

Ian Townsend burst on to the 24:7 scene last year with the filthy farce Granny Must Die, but in 2009 he’s moved into the sophisticated arena of absurdist comedy with The Last Chair.  A lone chair is centre-stage.  On it is a man in a suit - just sitting.  Along comes a woman in an evening dress who tries to prise him from his chair - she’s had a hard day, fancies a sit down, and as it happens there are no more chairs in the whole world. 

 

This simple premise is the opportunity for a writer with a keen ear for the northern vernacular and a real love of language to showcase his skills, as well as creating a comedy double-act for Karl Lucas and Hayley Fairclough.   The cross-talk, patter and slapstick recall the golden era of comics like Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson and Morecambe and Wise. 

 

Steve Timms’s Temp/Casual is a comedy drama about four ex-college friends whose dreams and ambitions have faded into dull compromise and McJobs - a kind of slacker northern This Life.  Poet Martin finds himself writing odes for the tourist board, actress Susan branches out into adult entertainment, and aspiring stand-up Adam deals drugs to his mate Stick when he should be honing his routine.  How great it is to see the dramatic events taking place on stage in front of the audience rather than being relegated to back-story or some kind of cryptic sub-textual code.  Instead the writer is brave enough to show us the violence, drug taking, love making, exam marking, sexual role play and performance poetry that make up the lives of these young, northern, urban graduates.  The idiom and frame of references in the script are so specific that at times I found the dialogue nearly incomprehensible, but the intention behind the lines is clear enough.  There was enough meat in the story to make a much longer play, or even a TV series, with a large cast of characters and a number of complex story threads ambitiously squished into the all-too-brief 60 minute slot.

 

Back at Pure Working Title written and performed by James Jowett and Adam Davies delves into the realms of the surreal and post-modern.  Will and Anthony are trying to come up with a script in time for a theatre festival deadline.  At their wits’ end, they decide to write about themselves writing a script - potentially the most undramatic, self-serving, and pretentious premise for a show ever seen at 24:7.  Instead this comedy is an absolute triumph as the writers watch new characters walk into their lives at the suggestion of their director, and then in desperation devise increasingly wild stratagems to write them out of the script in real time.  Sword-fighting, Spanish ninjas and a body double feature in the frenetic fun, with Michael Anthony Bond particularly memorable as the predatory, camp and wholly unwanted new flatmate Patrick.  Potentially Working Title might have amounted to no more than an over-extended sketch, but by the end it’s an intellectually stretching and genuinely theatrical comedy.  A five star hit if ever I saw one.

 

Returning to New Century House for Detaining Mr K by James Douglas I found myself well-disposed to the show before it even started - the company hands out caramelised coffee biscuits on entry (which is more than you get at The Cornerhouse these days).  While I was initially expecting a harrowing political play, what I actually got was a harrowing political play grafted onto an Ealing Comedy.

 

A man in white overalls is thrown into a clinical white room.  This is Britain in 2010 and Anthony has just spent 26 days being detained without trial - the experience has been traumatic judging by his uncontrollable trembling and sweating.  Luckily his latest interrogator, the be-slippered and be-suited Pauline, has a different approach to obtaining information - a nice cup of tea and a gypsy cream.

 

The clash of styles - the minutely-observed naturalism of Anthony (played by Anthony Bentley) and the broad Cockney stereotype of Pauline (Ruth Urquhart) - looks like a disaster in theory.  But thanks to James Douglas’s superb script and the absolutely true performances from the actors, these disparate elements become an organic whole. 

 

The play is also gripping purely as a political thriller, using CCTV clips, footage from surveillance cameras and recorded play-back of the ongoing interview to reveal hidden stories and layers of meaning.  This has got to be one of the best uses of new media I have seen in any theatrical context, let alone 24:7.  When so many productions use film projections to no good effect whatsoever - including two I saw today which shall remain nameless - Detaining Mr K embeds the technology as an integral part of its storyline.  You really must see this excellent show.

 

Finally, Donal Fleet: A Confessional by Sean Gregson is what you’d probably get if Harold Pinter had written a play set in Wythenshawe.  The intriguing mise-en-scène - a mosaic of ill-matched second-hand furniture, piles of loose manuscripts, and a drinks trolley, Dansette record-player and antique typewriter - might once have passed for a sinister and seedy bedsit, but these days has the intellectual ambience of a Writer’s Room feature in an aspirational Sunday broadsheet culture supplement. 

 

Donal Fleet, a middle-aged impoverished Bohemian living in self-imposed isolation and very good tweeds, is awoken by The Lad, a vaguely threatening presence from his past.  Then The Lad’s wife, The Woman, arrives; a sexual temptress who reminds one of Ruth in The Homecoming, only with the added intrigue of a European accent.

 

It has to be said that, as in most Pinter plays, you’re never really sure what has brought such diverse people together, and they don’t behave like real people but like characters out of a Pinter play.  Nothing that a team of Spanish ninjas wouldn’t have improved in my opinion.

 

www.247theatrefestival.co.uk has all the show information including video trailers

 

Tickets

£8/£6 (conc): book online from the 247 website or ring 0870 428 0785 (or turn up at the venues)

 

Venues

Pure at the Printworks, off Withy Grove/Corporation Street

New Century House, Corporation Street (200 metres from The Printworks)

Both venues are a stone’s throw from Manchester Victoria Station (train/tram/bus/ Metroshuttle No. 2)