UK Theatre Network

Louise Calf,  Jane Asher and Clive Francis

Jane is coming out this year.

This play is meant to be light entertainment and I found it very light indeed. The story was predictable and the dialogue seemed laboured.  The Reluctant Debutante was written in 1955 and it is not a play that has aged well. However, the audience seemed to love the performance so I suspect I belong to the wrong generation. 

Jane is coming out this year which means that she will be presented to the Queen and hopefully find her future husband along the way. Her parents have been busy taking her unwilling daughter to dinners and dances every night and are already sorely sleep deprived. Yet there are still three more weeks to Jane’s deb party. Jane’s father Jimmy asks, in a state of resignation: “How many nights of purgatory does this add up to?” Despite the desperate efforts of Jane’s mother Sheila to find her a husband Jane still prefers her horse Tommy to any of the young men she has met. This is bound to change when two different Davids pop up. Of course Sheila prefers the goofy David Bulloch as Jane’s prospective husband whereas Jane is far more interested in David Hoylake-Johnston, a handsome lad but unscrupulous philanderer – according to Sheila’s gossipy friend Mabel who is meanwhile trying to catch the goofy David for her own daughter Clarissa. Sadly for her, David Bulloch obviously prefers Jane.

There are some very funny lines in the play such as Jimmy’s remark regarding one of the party guests: “She looked like Groucho Marx tonight – only her moustache was darker.” Clive Francis completely inhabited his role as Jimmy and gave the best performance of the evening. There were also good performances by Belinda Lang as Mabel and Louise Calf as Jane. Alex Felton was very funny as the goofy David. The scene when he is proposing to Jane whilst wearing a red dress uniform with matching bright red ears is hilarious. Yet Jane Asher did not seem very comfortable as the feather brained mother. Perhaps she should have played her a bit more over the top – according to how Jane describes her: “In the city you go completely berserk- like a cow who smells blood.”

Until 19 March 2010, 7.45 pm.
Richmond Theatre
The Green, Richmond, Surrey
TW9 1QJ
http://www.ambassadortickets.com/2261/659/Richmond/Richmond-Theatre/Reluctant-Debutante-Tickets

 

 

Domestic Bliss, Roy Knowles’ biting satire on contemporary northern working-class life, has finally made it to a full-length fully-staged production after being work-shopped at Oldham Coliseum, semi-staged at the Not Part of Festival’s Sitcom Shorts show in 2009, and receiving a rehearsed reading at last year’s 24:7 Theatre Festival.

The process of development - and possibly the help of director Matthew Gould - has transformed the sketchy (if hilarious) premise into a fully-fledged comedy drama.

Hard-working but hide-bound Les and his kind but ditzy wife Jean think they already have enough on their plates with slacker son Mark and mouthy daughter Dawn. That’s until they decide to spend the evening unwinding in front of another scandalous episode of Danny Funckle, Agony Uncle (a format not unrelated to The Jeremy Kyle Show if DNA tests are to be believed) and discover that Shelly, the show’s latest dysfunctional wannabe WAG, is claiming that Mark is the father of her new baby…

John Howarth as comic foil Les and Sharon Heywood as doting grandmother Jean mine the play’s potential for drama and pathos, and Gemma Flannery’s Dawn and Matthew Melbourne’s Mark relish the sardonic one-liners, while Zoe Iqbal is fabulous as short-skirted, loose-moralled Shelly, the none-too-doting mother of bouncing fourteen-pound baby Hollyblossomlouise (named after her Nana and a paint advert on the telly).

Where Domestic Bliss really scores theatrical points is with the semi-surreal interplay between the scenes in the TV studio and the live reaction in the Tyler family’s front room. This is partly because the author turns the confession show’s sensationalist format into a recurring joke that brilliantly develops through the story. But mainly it’s because the stage is lit up by Liam Tims’ charismatic performance as the vain, self-important, counterfeit-caring TV presenter - his spontaneous interaction with the (real live) audience and witty ad libs were the icing on the cake.

Incidentally, this was my first theatre trip to the Nexus Art Café in Manchester‘s Trendy Northern Quarter (© Manchester City Council), which is a fantastic performance space as well as boasting squishy sofas, lovely coffee and tempting home-made cakes.

I can’t predict what the next development will be for Domestic Bliss, but if its previous incarnations are anything to go by it will be a tremendous success.

Domestic Bliss  is on until Friday 25 February 2011 at Nexus Art Café, 2 Dale Street, Manchester M1 1JW - www.nexusartcafe.com

Tickets (£7/£5) on the door or in advance from : www.ibookedit.com (no booking fee)

Faith and Cold Reading

Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne

Attending the press performance of Faith and Cold Reading was an experience that, I’m certain, will stay with me for a very long time. It was also one that I have been unable to properly define in my own mind yet. You see, with this production, you don’t actually get what it promises on the tin. What am I on about, for heaven’s sake, you’re probably thinking? Well, I’ll try to explain as best I can.

You know when you are sitting with a box of assorted chocolates and you have studied the illustrations on the lid, made your selection, and popped your preferred choice into your mouth only to discover that you’re chewing on a coffee cream when you thought you’d actually picked the cherry liqueur? Well, this play looks like a cherry liqueur, but it’s actually a coffee cream – or is it a caramel keg? Who knows?

You see, it plays with genres so much and switches metaphorical horses so often that I was convinced that even writer Shaun Prendergast wasn’t at all certain what kind of play he’d penned. Is it a thriller? Is it a comedy? Is it a spoof? Your guess is probably as good as mine, I think.

The play tells the story of Sam (Christopher Patrick Nolan), a professional medium who lives with lap dancer Carla (Laura Norton). He has ended up getting himself into debt to Freddie the Suit (Stephen Tompkinson), a big-time gangster who has recently buried his mother. Sam is unable to pay back the money by the due date and his situation looks bleak until Freddie throws him a lifeline: re-connect him with his late mother in spirit and the debt will be written-off.

Stephen Tompkinson has a thoroughly imposing stage presence as the overly-superstitious Freddie (refusing to walk on pavement cracks and getting into a right old state when new shoes are placed upon the table – heavily borrowed from Blood Brothers, I suspect) and he gives an intense performance that is, often, very affecting. It is, undoubtedly, due to his considerable talent that the character of Freddie – which is, seemingly, written as a cross between the Kray’s and Count Dracula – is so much more than just a stereotype.

Laura Norton, too, gives a great performance as Carla. Always believable, and with a genuine likeability, she endows the character with humanity and vulnerability. Christopher Patrick Nolan bumbles brilliantly as the charlatan who will do anything to save his own skin, whilst Paul Joseph attempts valiantly to breathe believability into the stereotypical character of Mickey, the thug.

The promotional material describes Faith and Cold Reading as ‘gripping, sinister and savagely funny’ and, to be fair, it is – though never all at the same time and not throughout the entirety of the piece. The dialogue is often clichéd and melodramatic and doesn’t always sound feasible. However, if you want an entertaining evening out and are prepared to take the play with more than just a pinch of salt, you shouldn’t be disappointed.

Steve Burbridge.

Runs until Saturday 19 March 2011.

 

 

 

dinnerladies: Second Helpings

UK National Tour

Reviewed at Darlington Civic Theatre

Following on from the success of their first stage adaptation of Victoria Wood’s cosy ensemble sit-com, dinnerladies, which has already toured nationally three times, The Comedy Theatre Company are back with a second stage version, appropriately sub-titled Second Helpings.

Essentially, in much the same style as the first production, the piece is a selection of scenes and storylines from the much-loved television sit-com - which ran for sixteen episodes over two series’ between 1998 and 2000 – weaved together in a way that is specifically designed to appeal to fans of the small-screen series.

To add an air of authenticity to the proceedings, two of the original cast members star in the stage show. Andrew Dunn reprises his role as Tony, the cranky canteen manager at HWD Components, a fictional factory in Manchester, whilst Sue Devaney doubles-up as both Jane from the planning department and Bren’s flatulent fantasist mother, Petula Gordino.

It must be acknowledged that this casting stunt pays dividends: Dunn is excellent as the manager who has to cope with a group of women who are either menopausal, menstruating, moaning or minding everybody’s business but their own. It is Devaney, though, who single-handedly steals the show with her raucous representation of the unruly woman and fantastic physical clowning.

The supporting cast have been chosen for their ability to look, sound and act like the performers who portrayed the roles on screen, and this works more effectively in some cases than in others. Laura Sheppard is remarkably successful in her portrayal of Bren; her mannerisms, facial expressions and voice being eerily close to those of Victoria Wood.

Darlington is the first venue on this latest tour and there were one or two minor glitches that, I’m sure, will be ironed-out before the end of the week. Also, the first act was a little slow to gather pace and, at times, the quick-fire dialogue that hallmarks Victoria Wood’s writing lost some of its impact as a result of timing issues in its delivery.

That said, the show was received extremely well by an appreciative audience who delighted in the deliciousness of Victoria Wood’s flair for depicting both character and situation.

Steve Burbridge.

 Runs at Darlington until Saturday 12^th February 2011.

Touring to Windsor, Lincoln, Durham, Cardiff, Hull, Wolverhampton, Blackpool, Bradford, Malvern, Buxton, Peterborough, Colchester, Norwich, Brighton and Stoke.

Read Steve Burbridge’s review of the first tour of dinnerladies at: http://www.uktheatre.net/members/profile/8/blog-view/_169.html

Tin Can Podcast have won the Fringe Report award for Best Audio. We began in May 2011 and have accumulated over 15,000 listens so far. This award is a great reward for the hard work that we have all put in from the writers, actors and sound designer/composer. Hopefully it will be the first of many as we plan to go upward and onward. 
www.tincanpodcast.co.uk 

Tin Can Podcast are back. We have just started our new year program, kicking off proceeding with Mike Shephards comedy 'Brand Identity' starring Jack Baldwin and Mike himself. You'll never look at a police program the same again. 

The new year promises such exciting prospects as more competitions, parties and guest writers from TV, film and Radio.

Keep listening.

Thanks

Tin Can Podcast
www.tincanpodcast.co.uk 

The Royal Exchange is usually a pantomime-free zone come Christmas time - but they’ve broken the mould this year with a Lancashire-set “Cinderella Circa 1910” by Harold “Hobson’s Choice” Brighouse.  And in the best gender role reversal tradition of panto, Cinderella is played by a boy.

 Zack is a distinctly unheroic hero - a gormless innocent with a big heart whose lack of social airs make him an embarrassment to his aspiring petit-bourgeois family.  After a lifetime of emotional neglect and constant criticism inflicted by his battleaxe mother, Mrs Munning, and miserly brother, Paul, they’ve even sacked him from his job in the family catering firm because his only suit (a hand-me-down from his dead dad) has worn to rags.

 Enter Zack’s Fairy Godmother-cum-Prince(ss) Charming, in the form of beautiful and rich cousin Virginia, who immediately sees what’s going on - until the artful Paul, scheming mother, and some sexual misadventures on Zack’s part convince her otherwise.

 If you’re familiar with the film career of George Formby then you’ll immediately be at home with this style of gentle northern comedy, where the unlikely protagonist wins out despite nothing to recommend him but a mixture of good humour and pathos.  Zack is played by local comedian Justin Moorhouse - for those unfamiliar with his work, he’s the guy you’d ring if you couldn’t get Johnny Vegas - and he’s certainly “got a gift for jollification”, as well as eliciting several choruses of “ahhh” from the audience when his fortunes fall.

 Pearce Quigley’s Eeyore-ish Paul is as drippy as his lank moustache (“there isn’t a woman on earth worth buying roses for at sixpence a bloom”), while Polly Hemingway as their mother nicely catches the sharp-tongued quality of the aspiring lower-middle-class (“your ways would make a cat laugh”).

 Greg Hersov’s production finds the anarchic nature of “Lancy” humour in the comparatively small roles of dirt poor Martha Wrigley (played with all the spirit of an Eliza Doolittle by Samantha Power) and the bogus servant Sally Teale (rendered with an hilarious lack of deference by Michelle Tate).

 Although Hobson’s Choice is Harold Brighouse’s greatest hit and a deservedly iconic play, Zack is also an enjoyable example of the work of the Manchester School of Playwrights - and even the panto-averse won’t object to its fairytale happy ending.

  Zack is on until Saturday 22 January 2011

Prices: £9-£30

Evenings: Mon-Fri @ 7.30 (not 24 Dec); Sats @ 8pm

Matinees: Weds @ 2.30pm (also Tues 21 & Fri 24 Dec); Sats @ 4pm (& Mon 27 Dec)

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk

He sees you when you’re sleeping,

He knows when you’re awake…

 

Santa is shown in a very different light in Jeff Goode’s Christmas comedy “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues”, which is being performed at The Store (formerly The GRV) in Edinburgh this festive season.

 

One of Santa’s reindeer accuses him of sexual harassment and as the media descends on the North Pole and as the rumours start spreading we find out a whole new story about the now tainted Saint. With each deer's confession, the truth behind the shocking allegations becomes clearer and clearer. ...and murkier and murkier… and funnier and funnier!

 

“The Eight Reindeer Monologues” is a very successful alternative Christmas show in the USA and is performed constantly there. For some reason the play is hardly known in this country, so hats off to Peapod Productions for bringing the show to Scottish audiences.

 

So if you fancy a break from the Christmas shopping, fed up with watching “The Great Escape” or “The Sound of Music” for the millionth time and want an alternative to a panto or family show then this is the show for you. No shopping, no kids and no Julie Andrews. What more could you want, eh?

 

 

“The Eight: Reindeer Monologues”

 

16-19 December 2010

8pm

 

The Store (formerly The GRV) – Guthrie Street, Edinburgh

 

Tickets: £10 (£8 concessions)

Available on the night at the door

 

www.peapodproductions.co.uk

 

 

Happy Christmas Everyone!

 

Photo Finish

The Customs House, South Shields

Maintaining the backdrop of a horse-racing theme, the world premiere of ‘Photo Finish’ follows hot on the heels of ‘Good to Firm’ and ‘Raising The Stakes’ (see reviews by Linda Barker and Ian Cain, respectively). The third and final part of the Waugh & Wood trilogy focusing on the flawed Fletcher family is surely the best and funniest yet.

Once again we catch up with Bob and Shirley Fletcher and are privy to their marital trouble and strife. Ray Spencer reprises his role as the good-for-nothing gambler with the heart of gold but, due to the indisposition of Angela Szalay, the role of Shirley is being performed by Jane Holman.

As usual, Spencer is spot-on with his comic-timing and he never misses the opportunity to shine with his wonderful deliverance of Wood & Waugh’s witty one-liners. However, the show was well and truly stolen by Jane Holman’s star-turn as Shirley. Her deadpan delivery of the most withering put-downs was a joy to behold. And, without any disrespect to Angela Szalay, Holman gave the impression that the role had been created with her in mind.

Jill Dellow returns to the role of Suzie, Bob and Shirley’s irritatingly dipsy and ditzy daughter, whilst former star of ‘The Bill’ and ‘EastEnders’ Russell Floyd makes his debut as Suzie’s sugar-daddy, BJ (yes, you’re right – the double-entendres abound!).

I don’t quite know if it were due to the introduction of a new leading lady, the input of a new director (Jack Milner takes over from Mark Wingett, who directed the first two instalments), a more finely-honed script from Wood and Waugh – or the combination of all those factors, but somehow this production had enough crackle and sparkle to put Bonfire Night in the shade.

The energy and enthusiasm that emanated from the stage was palpable and the piece went with a great pace. If I were to be picky and highlight one small fault it would have to be with the lighting. I am not sure if the problem lay with the design or operation, but there were some strange effects during which certain scenes were fully lit and then darkened and lit again without any obvious reason.

Nevertheless, ‘Photo Finish’ is a riotous comedy that went down a storm with the audience on opening night.

Steve Burbridge.

Runs until Saturday 6^th November 2010.

Keeping Up Appearances

Whitley Bay Playhouse

‘Keeping Up Appearances’ is one of those programmes that is so deeply embedded in our cultural consciousness that it seems difficult to believe it aired for only five years, between 1990 and 1995, and a total of 44 episodes. The programme was ranked 12^th in a survey of ‘Britain’s 100 Best Sit-Coms’ and has been transmitted all around the world. It also enjoys frequent repeat showings on the cable and satellite channel, G.O.L.D.

Now, almost fifteen years after it disappeared from our prime time television screens, The Comedy Theatre Company has lovingly revived this timeless and popular classic as a stage show.

Following the attempts of the social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket (that’s pronounced Bouquet!) to land the role of Lady Malvern in the local amateur dramatic society’s latest production, theatre audiences are treated to a bouquet full of laughs (pronounced bucket).

The action takes place in the church hall during rehearsals, therefore Elizabeth can rest assured that she won’t be responsible for breaking any of Hyacinth’s cherished Royal Doulton china ‘with the hand-painted periwinkles’.

The first national tour of this production boasts the added advantage that Roy Clarke has penned a brand new script especially for the stage. So, unlike some other stage adaptations of popular television sitcoms that are currently touring the provinces, it is not made up of four separate episodes sticky-taped together. This brings a refreshing element to the proceedings and some clever new catchphrases. Because Hyacinth is removed from her home environment, she is unable to answer callers on her ‘white slim line telephone with last number redial’ with her shrill greeting: ‘The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking!’ Instead, she accepts calls on her mobile with the equally pretentious: ‘You have reached the personal mobile telephone of Hyacinth Bouquet, this is she speaking!’

The cast, which includes Rachel Bell as Hyacinth, Gareth Hale as Onslow, Kim Hartman as Elizabeth, Steven Pinder as Emmet (who was indisposed and understudied brilliantly by Jonathan Andrews), Debbie Arnold as Rose and Christine Moore as Daisy, give sterling performances and each of the characterisations are first-class. It must surely be a daunting prospect to take on roles previously played by the likes of Patricia Routledge, Geoffrey Hughes, Josephine Tewson, David Griffin and Judy Cornwell. Debbie Arnold also has the unenviable task of playing a character that had been previously portrayed on screen by two different actresses, Shirley Stelfox and Mary Millar.

Sarah Whitlock and David Janson (who, incidentally made recurring appearances as the postman in the original television series) complete the cast as two new characters, Mrs Debden and Mr Milson.

Despite the fact that Hyacinth’s long-suffering husband, Richard, does not appear, he is constantly referred to throughout. The same applies to Hyacinth’s third sister Violet, the one with ‘a Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony’, and her beloved son Sheridan.

Credit should also be given to Malvern Hostick for his effective set design, and to Frank Kershaw for designing the kind of floral dresses and hats that Hyacinth would thoroughly approve of.

Those who are socially less fortunate than the illustrious Hyacinth should book their tickets immediately. After all, she is imparting her accumulated wisdom of years of candlelight suppers and charity sub-committee meetings because she is a giving person and a pillar of the community. It is nothing less than your social duty to attend and ensure that, in future, you too are capable of ‘Keeping Up Appearances’.

Ian Cain.

Runs at Whitley Bay until Saturday 30^th October 2010.