JB Shorts 5
Wednesday 23 March 2011

The opportunity to see some of the north’s best TV writers stretching their theatrical muscles in a range of short, sharp 10-minute plays is yet again packing out the cellars below Joshua Brooks bar in Manchester.  The cream of local acting and directing talent is also on parade - both on stage and in the audience.  JB Shorts is becoming a kind of biannual smoking concert for Manchester’s thespian community, only the club’s doors are open to everyone.

As usual the programme contains an eclectic mix of styles and subjects: a comedy about a malfunctioning Sky box leads to an emotional crisis and a philosophical discourse on the transience of digital media; the quick buck promised by a clinical trial isn’t as consequence-free as it seems; a man’s desperate trip to a psychiatrist has shades of Blithe Spirit about it.

The most surprising piece is Peter Kerry’s My Poor Fool is Hang’d, which bucks the trend for contemporary realism with a fully rigged-out costume drama.  This sequel to King Lear featuring Kent (Russell Richardson), The Fool (John Catterall) and Cordelia (Annamarie Bayley) shows how indigestible the absolute truth can be, albeit in a rather obscure manner.

For a truly successful combination of comedy and drama you have to turn to Diane Whitley’s Snapshots.  Bill and Sally are the victims of a surprise 40th wedding celebration hosted by their doting granddaughter Zoë and her new beau Greg.  Zoë has compiled a slideshow of photographs which mark the major landmarks in a long and apparently happy marriage.  Using an ingenious device, which director Chris Wright handles with slick assurance, the pictures are brought to life by the two younger actors while the older Bill and Sally comment on the action.  Glenn Cunningham and Tom Tyler-Shaw are utterly convincing as the old and young Bill, a carefree rocker trapped by an unwanted pregnancy who grows into a sympathetic and likeable character.  Ruth Evans and Rachael McGuinness have a harder job to make the shallow Sally into someone the audience can care about, but they do forge believable partnerships with their respective Bills.  This script is one of the best things I’ve seen at JB Shorts and demonstrates how much can be achieved in just 15 minutes on stage.

The equally assured finale is by Dave Simpson, who also employs a flash-back device for We’re All In This Together.  Rookie comedian Jack (James Quinn) has taken to the stage in an open mic comedy night and is lambasting the coalition government with a series of pitiful gags.  Only a performer as assured and funny as James Quinn could make Jack’s deliberately amateurish act come across as hilarious.  Every time the stand-up pillories some new government policy the action flashes back to show the impact it’s had on Jack’s own life and how thoroughly he’s been betrayed.  Peter Slater is also good value as his nerdy friend turned Lib Dem councillor.  We’re All In This Together is very much a topical comedy, and arguably pure agitprop.  But on the day Manchester University announced maximum student tuition fees of £9K, and mere hours after George Osborne’s second budget, the response from the crowd was vocal and enthusiastic. 

Small wonder even successful TV writers whose audiences are usually counted in the millions still get a kick from having their work performed live on stage.

On until Sat 2 April (NOT Sunday 27)
7pm (doors 6.40pm)
JOSHUA BROOKS, 106 Princess Street, MANCHESTER M1 6NG
(The junction of Charles St and Princess St, at the side of the BBC)
All Tickets : £5 (Pay on the Door)

Death Of A Nightingale is a thought provoking play that questions the government policy of closing special schools in favour of sending their pupils to mainstream institutions.

Alan Share’s play offers a passionate defence of special schools and challenges the validity of  government policy for inclusion. Share was a governor of a special school in NE England between 1988 and 2004, and helped it’s parents fight against the school’s closure. During this time 100 other special schools were closed, and Share’s play is based on what he documented. Death Of A Nightingale is a fictional story of the attempt to close Brighouse School. It looks at the complexities of the issue, and argues that parents of special needs children should be able to choose between mainstream and special schools. Share states that the scales are weighted against special needs children in mainstream schools, and highlights that attempted suicides by SEN children are high in mainstream education due to bullying and an inability to keep up academically. 

Share’s play is a mixed bag. The quality of writing although generally very good, lacks consistency. Some scenes (especially the school closure decision scenes), are extremely well written, while others meander. The music scenes are far too repetitive, and the main one involving every religion seems to go on forever.

However the main problem with this production is the pedestrian direction by Tom Scott. Even the exceptionally talented cast are unable to drag this play out of first gear due a lack of imaginative leadership. The pace is not helped between scenes by the tedious and unnecessary repeated moving of chairs from one side of the set to the other, and the bringing on and off of props

What holds things together are the strong performances. Melanie Ramsey is superb as Head teacher Margaret Williamson, and is well supported by her on stage partner Ian Targett as John Errington.  Pupils from Oak Lodge special school in East Finchley act along the professionals, and Max Lewis plays the part of mischievous student Terry to perfection.

The timing of Share’s play aligns well with new developments about the ongoing debate around the provision of special schools. A Green Paper on SEN may now offer parents a real choice of schools for their children and make Share’s play a little redundant. Not that Share would mind, that is what his play argues for after all.

In these times of cutbacks where vital services now seem especially vulnerable, Death Of A Nightingale offers a stimulating night of theatre that is as relevant as it is moving.

OLIVER VALENTINE                                                               

                                        Run until 3^rd April. Box Office: 08700332733

 

 

74 GEORGIA AVENUE is a curious piece of theatre that initially captures the imagination but ultimately fails due to it’s lack of dimension or resolution.

Joseph’s wife is dying in the bedroom from a terminal illness when he is unexpectedly visited by Marty, a successful but deeply unhappy business man who once lived in the same apartment as a child. By coincidence Joseph’s father had been the janitor of the synagogue which Marty attended as a child, and Joseph has kept some of the clothes of the rabbis from the once busy building. The area is no longer populated by the Jewish community and has become a black neighbourhood, but despite this both Marty and Joseph cling onto the ghosts of nostalgia. When he puts on the clothes Joseph is inhabited by the dybbuk’s of past personalities from the synagogue, and both men gain some form of consolation from this.

There have been many one act dramas which have managed to successfully tell their story and develop characters within 40 minutes but unfortunately Murray Schisgal’s is not one of them. The writing is often rambling, structurally unfocused and fails to offer any real depth to the roles. Nevertheless Nathan Clough as Joseph and Daniel Dresner as Marty manage to give decent performances, and Paul Blinkhorn’s mostly tight direction holds things together.

Depite signs of potential 74 Georgia Avenue feels like an incomplete work, and ultimately makes unsatisfying viewing.

 

OLIVER VALENTINE                                           Runs until March 19^th. 

Red Peppers and Still Life originally from Noel Coward ‘s Tonight at 8.30, provides a delightful double bill at Hampstead’s intimate Pentameters theatre

The evening begins with the dramas’ on and off stage, for ageing musical comedy duo The Red Peppers. George and Lily Pepper have an act that is as tired as the ancient gags they perform, and a marriage to match. The Peppers’ think they are better than they actually are and want higher billing. They manage to fall out with each other, Bert Bentley the musical conductor, and finally the management. With zesty song performances and honks for the corny jokes, this lively piece dramatically indicates the beginning of the end of Variety theatre.

Still Life a one act play based in the canteen of a northern railway station, is best known for it’s film adaptation Brief Encounter. Unfulfilled suburban housewife Laura Jesson has a chance encounter with Dr. Alec Harvey when she gets some grit in her eye. They are immediately attracted to each other and despite both being married, they begin a passionate but doomed love affair.  The reserve of the doctor and his new lover Laura, is contrasted with the cheeky flirting of station guard Albert with canteen owner Myrtle Bagot.  Coward’s dialogue finely depicts the differences between the working class accents of the canteen workers against the clipped RP of the lovers. It is a treat for the ears as the actors superbly capture the period’s northern colloquialisms and middle class staccato.  David Raymond as George Pepper/Albert, and Deirdra Whelan as Lily  Pepper/Myrtle Bagot, bring integrity and style to both pieces, and Fiona Graham gives a beautifully observed and nuanced performance as the emotionally fragile Laura.

Still Life is as funny as it is moving. The story flows easily with Aline Waites spot-on direction, and it is assisted by a wonderfully atmospheric soundscape of train noises and ringing bells. Jay King’s design of the 1930’s canteen is superb, and period details (down to the chocolate bar wrapping!) have been recreated by Oliver.

Red Peppers and Still Life is a must for any theatre fan. Get tickets while you can.

OLIVER VALENTINE

Runs until 13th March 2011

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 

JUDENFREI           NEW END THEATRE

JUDENFRE a new play by Kate Glover, based on the restrictions imposed on practicing Jewish lawyers during the Nazi regime, provides a passable but unremarkable night of theatre at Hampstead’s New End theatre.

Judenfrei explores the lives of Hanna Lowenfeld and Philipp Meier, two promising young Jewish lawyers in 1930s Berlin, who become victims of Hitler’s 1933 act that bars Jews from practicing law.  Hanna is an outspoken legal human rights activist who has already been barred from her profession by the Nazis, who refuses to accept any immediate offers to escape to Cuba unless visas can be found for her whole family.  Phillip however if forced to take immediate action and flee Berlin after he receives a threatening telephone call from an unknown source

Glover’s drama based on the real life story of Dr Wilhelm Dickmann (1900-1987), a German lawyer of Jewish origin and Dr Elizabeth Kohn (1902-1941), a German lawyer and practising Jew, was inspired when she saw the 2009  exhibition of Lawyers Without Rights  produced by the Temple Church, the Jewish Museum London and the German Federal Bar. Glover has her own theatre company Historia, which aims at putting on plays that have their source or inspiration in history.
Judenfrei, is a well intentioned piece that fails to offer any original dramatic vision on this much covered period of German history. The script is hindered by excessive exposition and clichéd dialogue, and is not helped by Tom Scott’s ponderous direction. There are however good central performances by Anthony Wolfe and Noa Bodner as the Lawyers, and Victoria Corlass is particularly convincing as Margarete Meier.

Judenfrei: Love and Death in Hitler’s Germany plays until 30^th January. Ticket sales 0870 033 2733
http://www.newendtheatre.co.uk

OLIVER VALENTINE

 
 


 
 

The Will is billled as a ' 2-man comedy play with a touch of music.' This is an understatement as this new piece by David Doyle  is an hour choc full of cabaret and comedy, farce and  and pop culture pastiche.

Father Howard (Kevin Potton) and Doctor Donald (David Doyle) meet up to read  at midnight the will of an old colleague.

We are taken on a ride through each characters neuroses, from espionage secrets in Serbia to disillusionment with their present careers, all sprinkled with song and dance routines.

  The Will has laugh out loud moments, Doyle and Potton have good voices and nice comic timing. With first night nerves overcome some some gags could do with speeding up to reduce their repetitiveness. The nods to popular sayings and past comedy greats are a nice touch.

Doyle's text is certainly linguistically challenging for the two actors and they pull it off with aplomb.


The Camden fringe
Etcetera Theatre
August 21 to 23 1030pm

In an old mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans a family is gathering together for the first time in almost a year. Last Summer Sebastian Venable died in suspicious circumstances and now the only witness to his death has appeared and will destroy everything in her wake.

 

"Suddenly Last Summer" is considered by many to be one of Tennessee Williams darkest and most surreal plays. Although the play's first production was in 1958 it didn't receive its Broadway debut until 1995.

 

It is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the Academy Award nominated 1959 film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift.

 

Whilst the play deals with subjects such as insanity and repressed sexuality it also contains the lyricism that is frequently found in Williams writing. And this production by Theatre Alba in the gardens of Duddingston Kirk Manse should certainly prove to be one of the most atmospheric and memorable productions of this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

 

Let's just hope we get some of that balmy New Orleans weather to go with it!

 

 

“Suddenly Last Summer”

by Tennessee Williams

10-14 and 17-21August

16:00 (1hr 20mins)
 

In the Marquee at

Duddingston Kirk Manse Gardens (Venue 121)

 

Photos by Alan Guthrie

SUBS                                                    COCK TAVERN THEATRE, KILBURN

You don’t need to be a sub-editor to enjoy Subs, the latest offering from the Cock Tavern Theatre, Kilburn.
Set in the gloomy, generic office of Gentlemen Prefer…, 3 subs face repetitive days of spell checking, headline writing and colleague in-fighting..
Chief sub Derek, is hoping to be promoted and get rid of his moaning Minnie of a co-worker Finch, by sacking him. The ambitious office junior James, brown-noses Derek while ruthlessly having his own agenda to get ahead. Finch has fallen into addictive whinging and internet porn to get through the day, and given up all hope of ever moving on. However the unthinkable happens and Anna a young woman joins the team, signalling that the time has come for things to change both career wise and personally for the subs.
R.J.Purdey’s observant and often hilarious script is rife with catty and condescending remarks, and shows that men can be the biggest bitches in the office if provoked. The funniest lines are given to the semi-tragic and acerbic Finch, and are delivered with immaculate timing by the superbly cast Michael Cusick. Euan Macnaughton is convincing as Derek, the older man who has missed the career boat, and Naomi Waring is very likable as Anna. The play is tightly directed by Hamish Macdougall.
For fine acting, thought provoking drama and a hearty laugh, Subs is the play to see right now.

OLIVER VALENTINE  
                                                                                        Subs plays until 12th August
                                                                                                                 08444771000                                     

PAY AS YOU GO                              COCK TAVERN THEATRE

 

The Cock Tavern Theatre boldly continues with it’s policy of showcasing new writing talent with Steven Hevey’s play Pay As You Go.

Set in modern day Southend-on-Sea, Mark and his colleagues work in a mobile phone shop where scripted-selling, blokish banter, and sexual competitiveness dominates. With the exception of Tom a teenage employee, the other male workers are heading towards middle-age but persist with their laddish behaviour. Mark is tiring of this, has problems at home and is heading towards an emotional meltdown.

Hevey’s dialogue is strong and naturalistic, and the play ably takes on the theme of mis-communication - despite technology being designed to improve this. Face to face conversations are often blocked with constant text and call interruptions, and the mobile phone takes on a menacing persona through happy-slapping.

It is only towards the end of the drama that it seems to lose it’s way and feels more like a work in progress. There are lots of little scenes that that add little to the plot, and key themes are not fully developed. These however are small shortcomings to what is essentially a good piece.

Structurally the play could also have done with an interval. And this is not just because after an hour and a half in the hot and airless space of the auditorium, it became decidedly uncomfortable.

Samuel Miller’s direction is focused, and there are strong performances by Marc Geoffrey, Daniel Jennings and Richard Aloi, as the key players running the shop.

It is good to see Good Night Out Productions supporting new writers and directors, and as result maintaining it’s lead in producing some of the best innovative quality work on the London fringe.

 

OLIVER VALENTINE   

                                                        Pay As You runs until 14^th August.

                                                                    Box Office: 08444771000