School for Scandal – Derby Theatre

A major new revival of  a classic  comedy produced by Tilted Wig on the third stop of its nationwide tour.

Author  Richard  Sheridan is one of the most astonishing figures in British, and Anglo- Irish, dramatic history. Born in Dublin Ireland in 1751, but educated at Harow school, London. He became an MP for 32 years  in three seats, the first of which , Stafford, he secured by bribery, became Treasurer to the Navy in a Whig government under PM Lord Grenville, , fought two duels, almost dying during the second, and owned the theatre Royal in Drury Lane, London which burned down in 1794. Upon  being seen  drinking a glass of wine in the street while watching the fire, Sheridan was famously reported to have said, “A man may surely be allowed to take a glass of wine by his own fireside”.

A  politician, orator, raconteur, drunk, gambler, bon viveur,  libertine and adulterer, he believed in living the material he wrote about.

The School for Scandal was written almost 250 years ago . Director Seán Aydon updates the play by changing the setting, complete with period telephones, and  stylish costumes , from 1777 to the 1950s.  Sarah Beaton’s 1950s set and costume design is lush and lavish ,  bathed in  pinks, greens, oranges and aquamarine blue, oozing period glamour. I am a confirmed Sheridan fan ,that enthusiasm  emanating from a production I saw of “The Rivals” fifty years ago , so  I keenly awaited this production.Aydon frequently asks his cast to “strike a pose”, vogue like, for emphasis, skilfully delivered by Stephen Moynihan, the movement director, whose further role as intimacy director is unnecessary for Sir Peter and Lady Teazle. The title of the play could easily be borrowed for a comedy about Conservative Central office, Lydea Perkins bearing an uncanny resemblance to Carrie Johnson

All the cast bar Joseph Marcell,  as Sir Peter Teazle,  double up on roles, eight actors play fifteen parts. . The barrage of gossip, intrigue and tittle tattle means that the audience has to concentrate hard to remember who is who, and who has said what to who. Consequently , the first half is slower than the second, as we adjust to the language, characters, back stories  and multiple parts. The production, in two halves, runs for around two and a half hours including interval.

There are numerous sparkling performances, amongst them, Lydea Perkins  as the profligate WAG Lady Teazle, wonderfully  played by Lydea Perkins ( also the backbiting Mrs C/9andour) and  Emily Jane McNeill as the dirt -dishing  Lady Sneerwell . Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy are amateurs compared to these two. Alex Phelps and Garmon Rhys  excel  as the louche brothers, as does  Tony Timberlake as Sir Oliver, their wealthy uncle .

Although the enunciation is occasionally unnecessarily shouty for emphasis, nothing can dampen the effervescent  wit and verve of the dialogue, nor the energy of the cast. Aydon has been brave and bold with this 1950s reboot. No-one should be deterred by the Georgian era dialogue, it is well delivered and fits surprisingly well in its new time era. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening which culminated in an unexpected vogue like dance routine rousing an already appreciative audience. Fifty years on the sharpness of a Sheridan script endures.

Continues until Sat 30th, and then on nationwide tour until 8th June 2024.

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Awful Auntie – Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

David Walliams has cemented himself a position as  a favourite children’s author both with his books and plays. His writing covers an appeal to a variety of ages. Tonight I took a ten year old grandson and seven year old granddaughter  to glean first hand responses from his target market. It is what children think that counts, not adults. Both are widely read, and culture vultures.

The story involves our heroine Stella Saxby, the sole heir to Saxby Hall. But awful Aunt Alberta and her giant owl will stop at nothing to get it from her. Luckily Stella has a secret – and slightly spooky – weapon up her sleeve on her side.

 Produced by the Birmingham Stage Company the book  has  been adapted and directed by Neal Foster. Jackie Trousdale, is to be commended on a versatile set which is atmospheric, utilitarian, and striking. It is also central to the action aided by  by Jason Taylor’s clever lighting, particularly in the ghost scenes.

Annie Cordoni convinces as  Stella,  initially naïve, but then resolute and resourceful. Mathew Allen’s Soot is a delight ,spouting comic  cockney rhyming slang. Neal Foster’s Aunt Alberta overtly channels Rik Mayall, which doesn’t matter as none of the children in rhe audience  will have heard of him. Zain Abrahams’ madcap butler Gibbon entertains. Wagner the owl menaces- but comes good in the end.

Walliams borrows heavily from pantomime for the slapstick comedy, and the Brothers Grimm for the dark recesses  and excesses of the storyline. As an adult I feared that a horrible aunty who wanted to murder and stuff an owl, a murderously orphaned schoolgirl, a prolonged scene of electrical torture of the girl in a cage and her attempted battering   by a mace might scare young children. I was wrong. They loved it and concentrated on the slapstick. Laughing and giggling uproariously.

Although two hours long including  the interval, the evening never dragged, all the children in the auditorium stayed engaged with no bored toilet visits. Very good children’s entertainment. Continues on  nationwide  tour in Sunderland, Manchester, Richmond, Glasgow, Liverpool and Woking.

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 Sherlock Holmes The Valley of Fear – Derby Theatre

****

Sherlock Holmes novels and plays were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a celebrity in the English speaking world and a leading and influential Spiritualist.  “The Valley of Fear” was his fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel. It    was first published in serialised form in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The book was first published  in New  York in  1915. Like the first Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet, The Valley of Fear has two parts. The first titled “The Tragedy of Birlstone”, and the second,   “The Scowrers”.

Aficionados of Sherlock Holmes will not be disappointed by this traditional treatment of the story. The author’s transatlantic appeal is mirrored in this transatlantic story line

Following the huge success of Blackeyed Theatre’s 2018 production of The Sign Of Four, the iconic detective is back in another gripping tale, The Valley Of Fear. Awash with adventure, mystery and Dr Watsons’ shrewd deductions, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s thrilling final Sherlock Holmes novel is brought to life in Nick  Lanes’  spectacular new stage adaptation  which includes  original music and songs by Tristan Parks.

A mysterious, coded message is received, a warning of imminent danger, drawing Sherlock Holmes and the faithful Dr Watson into a tale of intrigue and murder stretching from 221B Baker Street, London, England to an ancient, moated manor house and the bleak Pennsylvanian, Vermissa Valley, USA. The latter setting offers an edgier, grittier, sharper edge . As the investigation proceeds Holmes begins to unearth a darker, wider mysterious web of corruption, a secret society, and the  nefarious deeds   of Professor Moriarty.

Adapted and directed by Nick Lane, The Valley of Fear is in capable hands. His adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s   The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde  for Hull Truck Theatre was innovative and outstanding. Lane knows what to do with classic English literature. However, he has a particular challenge here with a non -linear storyline.

 The original novel is split into two distinct parts, the first comprises the conventional whodunnit.  The second part, which is lengthier than the first, is the backstory of the characters who find themselves the subject of Holmes’ enquiries. Lane takes the two very distinct stories and interweaves them, using a cast of five role-switching actors performed on a single set lavishly designed by Victoria Spearing which joins the two worlds. The costume design by Naomi Gibbs is sumptuous.  This storytelling in parallel does require close concentration as we try to work out how the London and Pennsylvania locations, and their events, conjoin. The role swapping /sharing demands of the production are hugely demanding on the cast with Alice Osmanski playing three parts, and Blake Kubena working similarly hard, but offering a consequent essential energy which is vital to the production.

Bobby Bradley is a satisfyingly quirky and quixotic Sherlock Holmes, yet an unnervingly psychopathic hoodlum Baldwin.  Joseph Derrington is wry, dry, and quintessentially English as Watson and as a pairing with Holmes works well. Gavin Molloy has great fun with shadowy criminal mastermind Moriarty.

This is a technical and artistic triumph for Nick Lane and his hardworking cast combining a 21st century reboot with reverence for the original for a production which continues at Derby until Sat the 23rd and continues on tour.

Gary Longden

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Teapots and Superglue – Sutton Arts Theatre

*****

Sutton Arts has  taken a risk performing an unknown play by  a local  actor turned playwright. However that risk is mitigated by two things. Firstly, the doyen of Midlands  comic Amdram Barrie Atchison directs, secondly an outstanding cast has been assembled to deliver the goods.

What is it about? University Therapist assembles a handpicked ragbag assortment of humanity for a series of explorative introspective sessions about Self, and an amusing motley crew they turn out to be. However very quickly it becomes apparent that  a light is being shone upon us as  the audience, upon our own egos prejudices and artifices in a clever, adroitly written piece combining monologue ,  duologue, and drama.

The play itself is 21 years old, and although some of the caricatures are showing their age it is delivered as a period piece.  It is unclear to me whether one quip about there being too many Asian news presenters on the BBC was contemporaneous, or current, with  veteran politician Trevor Phillips quoting the exact  observation from an attendee at  a dinner party he recently attended that very Thursday.

At the heart of proceedings are two towering acting performances. Posh Doreen channels Margaret Thatcher even before she is name checked by Joanne James borrowing from Penelope Keith’s “Margot” and Dawn French’s wry, dry delivery. Sarah Stanley is fantastic as the cheap as chips “tart with a heart” Pat. Both clearly enjoy performing their roles as much as we do watching them. However, while Doreen bludgeons her way, and Pat wise cracks hers , there are some hugely satisfying side-shows.

Pat and Doreen consider the respective merits of Jimmy Choos and Shoezone.

Michelle Dawes eschews her normally glamorous persona in favour of a de-glammed Judith, who hitherto has not found a chance to grow up and escape home,   unravelling and flourishing before our eyes in a particularly rounded performance.

The identity issues facing British, born  second and third generation Muslims is seldom visited in plays. Leighton Coulson handles that challenge as Mo with considerable aplomb, sensitively, without stridence.  The youngest cast member, Ella Clarke plays single parent  Dawn with astonishing maturity and depth, I have no doubt that we will be seeing much more of her on stage in years to come.

Sessions facilitator Richard Clarke as Roy is effectively the narrator  for the proceedings  and the superglue on the Teapot, unassuming, always there, doing his job and keeping the disparate parts held together.

 Hitherto I ave never seen a play in which the author and Director are individually  performing. Playwright Jonathan Owen ( who also plays Frank) is at his best and most comfortable sketching out the comic foibles of folk.  He admirably does his bit unobtrusively allowing others to shine , giving himself plenty of time to count the audience to ensure that his royalties cheque is correct.

 Stuart Goodwin  co-directs and plays Greg, I am surprised that they did not give props manager Tina Townsend a `part too! Stuart in acting terms plays the part of the Midfield General in a football team, maintaining pace and flow in a show which has off stage Director Atchison’s comedic fingerprints smeared all over it.

This is a fabulous evening’s entertainment, illuminated by Sarah Stanley’s hilarious Pat. I was too afraid to approach her in the bar after the show fearful of being on the receiving end of one of her withering put downs.  Teapots and Superglue runs until 23rd March. Go and see it.

Gary Longden

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Sao Paulo Dance Company – Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

****

In advance this was  one  of the most intriguing elements of the Grand’s  2024 programme, and so it proved to be  on the night. The Sao Paulo Dance Company is state sponsored ,  a government supported cultural gem and export. In the UK it is supported by the  Dance Consortium, a group of UK Theatres founded in  in 2000 and comprising  19 member theatres from all regions of the country as well as the Republic of Ireland.

The Chief Executives of the Theatres are the members of the Consortium, they meet regularly throughout the year and appoint a Board of Directors, which also has independent members.  The theatres jointly choose the international companies they wish to invite to tour the UK and Ireland, and  share the costs of each of the tours  make no mistake, this is a serious effort to popularise international contemporary dance.

And so, from the sun baked favela’s of Brazil’s capital city to Sedgely, Bilston and Wednesfield on a cold wet Friday night …

A very healthy first night attendance  combined dance aficionados, snake hipped dancers, and the curious.

The performance combines  the  elegance of classical ballet with the sensuality of Latin American dance   and Brazilian swing.

We are treated to three different movements, from three different choreographers:

Goyo Montero (resident choreographer with Carlos Acosta’s company Acosta Danza) examines collective identities in Anthem, an  ensemble piece for 14 dancers, atmospherically staged with dramatic lighting and androgynous costuming blurring the distinction between male and female.

Gnawa, by Nacho Duato (Artistic Director of the Berlin State Ballet), is inspired by  the Mediterranean colours and flavours of Valencia,  driven by the irresistible backbeat of  the  music of North Africa.

Brazilian choreographer Cassi Abranches’ spectacular  Agora offers a mesmerising entertaining   and pulsating  finale to incessant  beats and   bass grooves of   Afro-Brazilian fusion.

The performances, and evening were unique, original and compelling drawing appreciative applause from an appreciative audience and a welcome introduction to dance from another continent . It continues on  nationwide tour to Inverness on the 19th and 20th March putting an entirely new spin on a Highland fling.

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Animal Farm- Derby Theatre, 28/2/24

Orwell wrote this, his eponymous novel,  in 1944 when the UK and US were allies with the Soviet Union. It is a political satire on Communist totalitarianism , the events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. Alongside his own  !984, and Huxley’s Brave New World, it stands as an unique political vision of a dystopian future. An allegory whose imagery has endured and become embedded into  our political culture, language and discourse.

This production, directed by  Iqbal  Khan arrives from the Octagon theatre Bolton, before proceeding to Hull. At a time when politics is in disarray in the Middle East, and the UK and USA are in Election years its revival could not be more timeous.

The text has been widely used in secondary schools for exam purposes for over fifty years. It is amongst the best known works of English fiction. Khan wisely eschews making any significant changes to the story. However its presentation is a different matter. Should the animal character simply be offered as human? Or should they appear as animals? Khan settles for head dresses  and porcine movement whose anthropomorphism does not always convince.

The opening sequence of the pigs  take over of Farmer Jones’ farm is noisy, and powerful, the actors as pigs emerging from stalls on a single set  designed by Ciarán Bagnall which works well, offering an alter like centrepiece. I found the anachronistic use of surveillance- cameras, borrowed from the later “1984” jarring.

Much of the dialogue is lifted from the novel which was not written as a play. Eighty years on  Orwell’s grasp of the vicissitudes of politics remains painfully accurate, although the Right Wings appropriation of aspects of Communist Totalitarianism  was not anticipated.

A cast of six combine animal movement  with stirring  human speeches, often addressing the audience directly, and often amusingly , the light touch welcome amidst the dour political message.

Sam Black,  as Boxer the cart horse, provides an Everyman figure initially credulous, then incredulous at what unfolds before him. Ida Regan’s Napoleon is superb, surely inspired by Liz Truss. Power mad and unscrupulous her six principles are literally rewritten as the story unfolds

Divided into two acts of 55 and 35  minutes the production is potent and punchy, its tragic denouement inevitable

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

_

Animal farm continues at derby until 16th March and finishes in Hull the following week.

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2.22 A Ghost Story – Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.

2.22  A Ghost story – Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

****

2.22 is a rarity, a brand new  ghost/ thriller story , written by Danny Robins  creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist.  It skilfully conflates the traditional Ghost Story  genre as established by Charles Dickens with the current  popular appetite for the paranormal. Touring psychic  Sally Morgan regularly sells out thousand seater plus  venues such as the Grand, this play  taps into that current audience  interest in the paranormal.

Danny Robins

The play premiered in 2021 and has previously featured Lily Allen and Cheryl Cole in lead roles, enjoying  five record-breaking seasons at the Noël Coward, Gielgud, Criterion theatres,  The Lyric Theatre and The Apollo Theatre.

No good  ghost story is without a twist, and so it is here. Robins implores audience not to share that twist,  and I shall certainly honour that request here.

A deceptively simple single set  ( Anna Fleischle) admirably establishes the appropriate atmosphere whilst simultaneously conjuring up the odd surprise.

Largely a four hander,  events unfold for a married couple and their newborn baby hosting an old female friend and her new boyfriend in a recently purchased old house. Before long equally old tensions emerge and “things” go bump in the night, particularly at 2.22am.

Vera is tautly played by Vera Choc who is convinced that their new home is haunted. Husband Sam ( George Rainsford) is the sceptic, both to his wife, and the audience. Female house guest  Jenny ( Fiona Wade) gives a sparkling nuanced performance but it is “Wanted” pop star Jay McGuinnes who impresses as Essex wide boy , but surprise believer in the paranormal,  who plays his part with confidence, wit and good humour,  the latter of which is liberally interwoven into the  script. An almost sold out first night in a cold wet windy Wolverhampton including an unusually strong young audience demonstrated the strong word of mouth following for this  production and the star quality of McGuinness which was self -evident.

At two hours including the interval, directors Mathew Dunster and Isabel Marr  keep proceedings zipping along. Robins’ script is lean and  sinewy and requires close listening attention, however  the first half goes nowhere dramatically, a shortfall which is compensated for in spades after the interval.

Extraneous flashes and screams ratchet up the tension, or are somewhat gauche , dependent upon your mood, I was in the former camp. This production cleverly interweaves a strong story with a broader exploration of the paranormal including past lives and table tipping. I brought along Jane Osborne, the UKs leading Past Life Regressionist for an expert view. Jane found the evening authentic, compelling, gripping and entertaining ( as I did).

 2.22 plays until Sat  24th and continues on nationwide tour.

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Twelve Angry Men – Derby Theatre

This is a much heralded revamp of a story which has endured both on stage and screen. You cannot beat a good courtroom drama. It is the best live straight play production  I have seen on stage for many years.

Serendipitously, justice, and what it means,  is back in the news with Mancunian Andy Malkinson’s wrongful rape conviction for which he served over twenty years, the Covid Enquiry, the Contaminated Blood Enquiry ,and the Post Masters Scandal. An audience whose default position may have been to accept is now more than ever ready to question.

The fundamentals of the  Oscar-nominated    1957 film  remain as compelling to day as they were over half a century ago.

“A life in the balance. Twelve men. One verdict.”

Unfolding on a single set, a case which initially looks open and closed has its component parts peeled back, onion like, to reveal what is underneath- complacency, indolence, prejudice, assumptions, bigotry and differing life lessons.  But there is no place to hide physically , morally, or  intellectually, as the temperature and  stakes rise while the table turns, literally. Very quickly it becomes apparent that it is not just the unseen Defendant who is on trial , but each one of the jurors too.

 Clever lighting  effects mark the passage of time. The stage design is simple, though effective. One room with a twelve-seater table in the centre which slowly revolves as the narrative progresses. It does a full 180 during the first half, the table literally turning as the story unfolds and the plot slowly thickens. This continues in the second, equally gripping half, the long, hot day turning to dusk, lightning striking the city overhead.

An unusually strong cast ,under the direction of Christopher Haydon in a production brought  fresh from the West End on tour by Bill Kenwright Ltd, is studded with television staples. Casualty and Emmerdale star Jason Merrells takes the Henry Fonda role of Juror 8, ably supported by an ensemble cast including Gray O’Brien (Coronation Street, Peak Practice), Tristan Gemmill (Coronation Street, Casualty), Michael Greco (EastEnders), Ben Nealon (Soldier Soldier) and Gary Webster (Minder, Family Affairs).

Character actors  Paul Beech, Samarge Hamilton, Jeffrey Harmer, Mark Heenehan, Kenneth Jay, Paul Lavers and Owen Oldroyd complete the  compelling cast  as the concept of reasonable doubt and what and should not be accepted as a fact  are explored.

The play is beautifully staged  with set design by Michael Pavelka , Chris  Haydon’s direction demands constant movement in what could easily have become  a static production, writer Reginald Rose packs both a cerebral and visceral punch into a literate script. The warm and prolonged curtain call was richly deserved from a full Tuesday house.

This scintillating  production runs until Saturday and continues on nationwide tour

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Kiss Me Stupid- Sutton Arts

This  play is not be confused with the  hit 1964 sex comedy film of the same name ( screenplay Wilder/ Diamond) starring Dean Martin and Kim Novak which drew on several sources for its material.

Instead it is written by Frenchman Didier Caron, a distinguished playwright with over twenty film and play credits to his name. Its English translation is by Charlie Gobbett  ( who specialises in French and German translations) , receiving its English language premiere in 2022

On a cold dark evening Sutton Arts took on the  daunting task of brightening   the mood and lifting the spirits of  its post festivities audience for an unknown play. The theatre’s loyal following packed it out. Sutton Arts rose successfully to that challenge in some style.

Translating foreign language plays is no easy task. Molliere is unquestionably one of the greats of French and world literature, yet  none   of his plays has enjoyed a  mass market transition in English.  French farce doyen  Feydeau comes closest in that regard, But Caron born in 1962 is not writing  straight farce, instead a comic hybrid. Thus we have multiple  doors, but doors that symbolise life options, not shagging ones.

With four characters who are largely onstage simultaneously this is  a demanding production for the cast and is tightly scripted, set, contemporaneously in two Parisienne  apartments. Viviane  (Elena Serafinas )is a  middle aged women in a long standing marriage to Bernard ( Gary Pritchard), Cindy  ( Phebe Bland) is an aspiring young  actress hired by Bernard  to pretend to be his mistress as a ruse to smoke out  his wife’s suspected infidelity. Oliver,( Paul Atkins) is Elena’s putative love interest, young vain and unlucky in love who provides a pleasingly understated anchor to the proceedings.

Cindy consistently has the best lines laced with malapropisms , mondegreens  and spoonerisms galore. Her skirts are as short as her recall of recent events, Bland plays the bimbo confidently, injecting energy and pace  into the production. Her pretend love rival, Viviane is coy, wily, sassy and deceptively measured, played by Serafinas and has the benefit of the last word. Bernard is a delight in the hands of Pritchard, he epitomises the  anecdote of the man  who buys a chest expander to beef himself up- but cannot get the device out of the box. In turns, geeky, nerdy, mock defiant, cod philosopher and fashion disaster he is the comic ace in the pack for the show. However the programme’s claim that the actors were costumed from their own wardrobes reveals  in Pritchard’s case a disturbing predilection for cycling lycra and  Humphrey Bogarde style raincoats. The use of Supertramp, quintessentially English MOR fare, for incidental music was a curious feature

A clever single set  is split into two for the purposes of allowing the two apartments and works brilliantly ( however I still struggle with the late Colin Townsend’s absence from the set builder credits).

Technically  a  show like this is hard to critique. How much of this is in the original untranslated, script? How much credit falls to the translation? How much is down  to the cast ? And how much is down to the Director Ian Cornock who has to pull all the strands together for a largely unknown play? The audience may simply only judge what is laid before them. An  assured first night, frothy, bright, light and laugh out loud entertaining for which Cornock deserves considerable credit. You will enjoy it. Continues until Sat 3rd Feb 2024

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Murder in the Dark- Derby Theatre

Murder in the dark- Derby Theatre

****

This is the debut tour of playwright   Torben Betts’ latest drama. Although the material is new, the pedigree of those involved  is well established. Derby audiences have already savoured his work through previous productions of “Invincible” and “Caroline’s Kitchen “. Phillip Franks directs, having enjoyed a distinguished acting career,   most notably in “The Darling Buds of May” and “Heartbeat”. I saw the opening night which was surprisingly, and pleasingly,  well attended despite  a bitterly cold evening when Derby County football club  were playing at home.

Betts’  programme note pleads for no spoilers . This is a problem for a production which hinges on several surprises. But I will reveal all that can be revealed.

The premise  is that it is  New Year’s Eve and a car crash on a lonely road brings  once famous but troubled singer Danny Sierra and his extended family to an isolated holiday cottage in rural England. A sequence of inexplicable events unfolds… and then the lights go out.

Trying to nail down a genre is no easy task. Murder mystery, horror, tragedy, comedy and melodrama are all present. I did a vox pop prior to curtain up, and the audience were unclear about what it was that they had actually come to see. Ninety minutes later , no consensus had been reached.

Two cast members dominate proceedings, Tom Chambers is the down on his luck singer drowning his sorrows with alcohol.  Susie Blake, fades in and out as  the mysterious , mischievous, old Mrs Bateman owner of the farmhouse She is superb and steals the show.

Director Philip Franks has much fun with the story. Parody, pastiche and homage to horror as a genre surface throughout, with skilful assistance from the technical team.

 Simon Kenny’s design for the cottage is effective and offers several physical surprises,  alongside  Paul Pyant’s lighting to help with the mystery as it flickers and shifts in the  dark. Max Pappenheim’s sound and music is portentous, haunting and sinister.

Betts chooses to riff on an Agatha Christie closed set model, complete with “Three Blind Mice”. The production is split into two halves of 45 minutes each, pretty much an optimal length for a caper like this. The second act is more satisfying than the first but descends into chaos as Betts tries to pull the cross genre strands together. The physical comedy  and shocks are good, the psycho drama plot which emerges is less convincing despite being well written with some laugh out loud jokes. The significance of the title is revealed only at the end.

An appreciative audience offered a warm rousing reception at the end , the show runs until Sat 20th and continues on national tour.

Gary Longden

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