Category Archives: Behind the Arras Reviews

The Mousetrap, Garrick Theatre, Lichfield

Posted on April 14, 2014 by garylongden

This was part of a 60th anniversary tour, over 60 weeks, for a show still running in its home theatre of St Martins in London, coincidentally almost identical in capacity to the Garrick. The Mousetrap opened at The Ambassadors Theatre … Continue reading →

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Steaming, Sutton Arts, Sutton Coldfield

Posted on March 20, 2014 by garylongden

Laughter, pathos and bathos at the bathhouse. Steaming was written in 1981 by Nell Dunn and was first staged at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, in London, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy . Sutton Arts publicity promised … Continue reading →

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Paul Bunyan, English Touring Opera, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Posted on March 18, 2014 by garylongden

This bold revival of a seldom performed and relatively obscure operetta was the second offering from the English National Opera during their stay in Wolverhampton, the safer “Magic Flute” having been well despatched the night before. Paul Bunyan, by Benjamin … Continue reading →

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The Magic Flute, English Touring Opera, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Posted on March 17, 2014 by garylongden

This was the first night of an English Touring Opera double offering ,with Paul Bunyan to come on the following night. The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart set to a German libretto by … Continue reading →

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Some Girl I Used to Know- Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Posted on February 20, 2014 by garylongden

This one woman show introduces a novel concept, a jukebox monologue, starring Denise Van Outen living out a mid life crisis as alter ego Stephanie, set in a hotel room, belting out some period torch songs,a reboot of Shirley Valentine … Continue reading →

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Poetry @ The Shrewsbury Coffee House

Posted on February 8, 2014 by garylongden

This outpost of poetic excellent continues to flourish under the assured guidance of Liz Lefroy and the support of a committed audience. Shrewsbury’s remote geographical location is no match for Liz’s poetic address book. Once again she dragooned a high … Continue reading →

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Run For Your Wife, Sutton Arts Theatre

Posted on February 8, 2014 by garylongden

“Run for your wife”, by Ray Cooney, is one of the most successful stage farces of modern times, guaranteed to have an audience, and so it proved at a packed Sutton Arts Theatre on Friday night. First performed in 1983, … Continue reading →

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Spire Writes, Chesterfield, January 2014

Posted on January 25, 2014 by garylongden

This was my third visit to Spire Writes but my first to the new venue, the White Swan PH. A deluge outside of biblical proportions was ignored by a burgeoning audience which spilled out of the main room into the … Continue reading →

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Roy Wood Band, The Robin 2, Bilston

Posted on December 14, 2013 by garylongden

I have been watching live music since the Seventies, from pub bands, to Led Zeppelin at Knebworth, and the Rolling Stones in stadiums. Yet The Robin has become one of my favourite venues to see a band play. First at … Continue reading →

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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs- Sutton Arts Theatre Company, Sutton Coldfield

Posted on December 4, 2013 by garylongden

***** Snow White is one of the better pantomime stories. The versatile Sutton Arts Theatre company chose their production well for this year. Director Emily Armstrong has done a fabulous job in putting her own spin on the story, in … Continue reading →

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