Garyswordz

****

Dudley Little Theatre (DLT) are in their 62^nd year of performing, and this production, one of four a year they stage, was a shrewd choice.

Written by John Godber in 1977,  it has been subject to a number of revisions. Godber is now claimed to be the third most performed English playwright after Shakespeare and Ayckbourn, a tribute both to the quality of his writing, and  his popularity. This production incorporated the companion piece Shakers, co-written with his wife Jane, as the first Act, with Bouncers presented as Act Two.

In both pieces the four women, and four men, respectively, assume multiple roles, accents, and the opposite gender to tell their stories, but Shakers is more than “Bouncers for Girls” and serves both as a convincing stand- alone story, and effective counterpoint to its older brother. They also utilise the effective dramatic device of opening and closing their stories as an ensemble, speaking in rhyming verse, frequently addressing the audience directly in Brechtian style.

Shakers itself is a late 80’s trendy cocktail brasserie, providing a platform for the four waitresses to tell their story, arriving onstage to the Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”, apt for both the time and the opening line. The recreation of the era, and place, is painfully accurate. Bored floor staff struggle to complete their shift as awkward, lewd, aloof, groping, rude customers impede the smooth running of their evening. The cross-gender characterisations are dramatically even more effective for the women, than the men. For the men, seeing big burly bouncers affect feminine mores is comic in itself, sometimes impeding the message in the script. For the women, physically, this is less so, particularly as producer Lyndsey Parker has them androgynously dressed in trousers, waistcoats and flats. Julie Bywater, as Carol, captured male mannerisms particularly well.

Bouncers is set inside and outside Mr Cinders nightclub. My recollection is that every town had one, offering belligerent doormen, desperate males, indifferent women, and disgusting toilets. Comedians Hale & Pace had huge success with a routine involving doormen, and the script anticipates their interpretation, as the Inbetweeners  television series  echoes the base coarse reality of men behaving badly on a night out. John Lucock’s Lucky Eric is the pick of the bunch, ageing, careworn, philosophical, but ready to rumble at a moment’s notice. The scene where the bouncers, as women, dance around their handbags is a hoot, but the dramatic tension is sustained by the premise of those wanting a good time versus those stopping them.

If you remember Dragonara Casinos, Chelsea Girl, C&A and chicken in a basket, you will wallow in the nostalgia which this production faithfully, and lovingly recreates. The dialogue is funny, authentic, quick fire and poignant, relying for its appeal on the gritty, amusing realities of a night out clubbing  delivered by a strong cast supported by a sympathetic period soundtrack and a simple but effective stage set from Fred Waller. I do hope that as the run continues audiences will grow for this excellent production.

Bouncers and Shakers  runs until Saturday 12^th March. Come and see this production- if the door staff will let you in.

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.

http://www.behindthearras.com/

Birmingham on a cold, early Spring Thursday night tends to offer a languid indifference to the world as it prepares for the weekend. But this Thursday offered something special. After a week in Cardiff, this was only the second auditorium ever to see the new opera, “Figaro Gets A Divorce”, which enjoyed its world premier less than a fortnight ago.

The score was written by the Russian-British composer Elena Langer to a libretto by David Pountney, and is created   as a sequel to Mozart’s 1786 opera The Marriage of Figaro based on the 1778 play by Pierre Beaumarchais.

Opera fights an ongoing modern battle to win new audiences, and is at the mercy of a familiar theatrical paradox. Big audiences favour the familiar, established, successful opera, but in order to survive and appeal to new audiences, new work must be written to take the performance test that the classics first had to pass.

Pountney sets his cast in a time of forced migration, flight and revolution, a grand theme with a contemporary resonance. The plot itself is proven opera territory, star-crossed lovers turn out to be related, a woman’s child bearing desires are frustrated, lost fortunes are lamented, and an evil Major preys on the refugees with murderous results. Familiar characters from Marriage of Figaro are given new life, and new futures as they are tested by their challenging new circumstances. Pountney’s libretto is strong on narrative, with a colloquial, contemporary, feel, yet sometimes fails to match the poetic lushness of Langer’s score.

Langer’s Russian musical tutelage produces an eclectic, diverse aural montage.Although the orchestration is the same as for Mozart’s Figaro, with a few additions, the music eschews overt references to Mozart and Rossini in favour of Janacek and Weill, but is most at home in the night club scene.

Ralph Koltai’s set is a delight, with huge swivelling flats rotating, and closing in, to dramatic effect, Sue Blane’s costuming is sassy and sumptuous. Pountney also directs, the stand-out sequence being a brilliant travelogue taking them on a journey by train, car and boat, as well as across desert and snow driven wastes with inspired help from Langer’s score.

Vocally, and dramatically, the cast excel. Tenor Alan Oke as the double agent Major is the star of the show, combining psychopathic malevolence and comic elan.

Technically, soprano Marie Arnet’s brilliant Susanna sings flawlessly, has the best dress to wear, and glides effortlessly from frustrated aspiring mother to night club chanteuse. Young lovers Angelika, ( soprano Rhian Lois ) and Serafin, s (mezzo-soprano Naomi O’Connell in a travesti role) perform, and duet wonderfully, although their narrative is a shade underwritten in a show that is barely two hours long.

Operatic finale’s tend to either offer a big finish, or a poignant stripped down farewell. Pountney offers the latter, which I found somewhat perfunctory, albeit perfectly formed, as the Count and Countess await their fate.

A first viewing, and hearing, of a new opera is a demanding experience, particularly when performances are still in single figures. Yet it was a tremendously impressive and rewarding experience driven by the accomplished and enthusiastic stage cast and a disciplined and pleasing score, sensitively brought to life by conductor Justin Brown. The performance was warmly received by the adventurous operatic devotees who did attend, it is just a pity that their number was so modest, underlining the problems of bringing new work to audience.

WNO have undertaken a gigantic enterprise, and triumphed. The national tour, including Barber of Seville and Marriage of Figaro continues, dates at: https://www.wno.org.uk/whats-on

Gary Longden

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.

http://www.behindthearras.com/

The British love a murder a mystery, and Agatha Christie epitomises the genre at its best. The plays, like the novels, draw heavily for their appeal on period settings, and mores which may always have been more artistic creation, than fact. A shocking murder, solved by a curious old lady, in well- dressed middle class settings, with secrets that will out, is the formula that works, and is one which is skilfully exploited by Middle Ground Theatre Company who have been combining a programme of classic and alternative drama since 1988 with an increasingly impressive roster of acting talent.

“A Murder is Announced” was written in 1950, reprising an earlier short story “The Companion”, and features detective stalwart Miss Marple, whose character has been reimagined contemporaneously in the hit television detective series “Vera”. It was around ( depending on how you count) Christie’s 50^th novel. Even then, the fealty of her followers was legendary, and it was an instant success with its established, and proven, melange of ingredients. Leslie Darbon has adapted this for the stage.

At the centre of the story is a startling conceit. In the Personal Column of the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette is an advertisement : ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m. Friends please accept this, as the only intimation.” Miss Marple (Judy Cornwell) arrives to unravel the murderous consequences.

Cornwell is best known for her portrayal of Daisy in the TV sit-com “Keeping Up Appearances” and imbues her Miss Marple with vim, eccentricity, and warmth as she knits, spinning out her purls of wisdom, in tweed skirt and sensible shoes. Christie’s legendary legerdemain means that working out the identity of the murderer is futile, instead it is best to sit back and enjoy the well-crafted drama. Jennifer Helps costuming is a delight complimenting a satisfyingly appointed drawing room offering luxurious comfy chintz sofas and armchairs.

Rachel Bright steals the show as Julia , looking gorgeous in elegant figure hugging dresses and with secrets to hide. But as Inspector Craddock, Tom Butcher also shines in a three piece suit and an intellect which his ponderous mannerisms initially obscure. It is a large cast, some twelve strong, and unusually for Christie, a comic figure in the guise of Mitzi is included, a role which Lydia Piechowiak clearly enjoyed playing as much as the audience enjoyed her performance of the role.

The story, directed by Michael Lunney, and 1977 adaptation, does veer between period charm, and uncomfortable anachronism. Full further education grants, the Police dismissed as “Gestapo”,  dodgy foreigners  and “Leftie” writers, all feel like a long time ago now, but the world of Agatha Christie sets its own agenda and is part of the appeal. The audience enjoyed the show, but its profile was steadfastly of pensionable  age. Whether Christies’ murder mysteries will attract a new generation of theatre goer is by no means certain.

Runs until Saturday 27^th February and continues on National tour.

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.
http://www.behindthearras.com/

http://www.middlegroundtheatre.co.uk

F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is a literary classic, one which transferred well to the cinema but which rarely appears on stage. Blackeyed Theatre have sought to put that right with an adaptation by Stephen Sharkey which incorporates song, dance and live music.

Victoria Spearing’s set eschews detail in favour of minimalist tiered white blocks, seemingly straight out of IKEA , and back projection images with the colour and glamour for the production coming from the lavish and stylish costume design by Jenny Little.

The story is a century old, the theme older still, of a love that cannot be, nestling in decadence and deceit. The cast have to work hard, acting, singing, dancing, and playing instruments, and apply themselves with energy and dexterity. “Gatsby’s theme/Party music” opens the show as an ensemble piece, setting the tone, leading to a series of enjoyable musical set pieces of period standards. It stops short of becoming a musical as the music and songs play to compliment the mood, rather than advance the narrative.

Adam Jowett excels as a charismatic Nick Carraway, narrating the story as it unfolds. Tristan Pate revelled in the unappealing character of Tom Buchanan. Celia Cruwys- Finnigan is the star of the show as Daisy, shimmying and sashaying around in the best dresses, and generally looking gorgeous, but it is Stacey Ghent’s Myrtle who has the most fun.

Sharkey’s script is a decent stab at translating the page to stage, with the poetry of the prose nicely to the fore, but challenging F Scott Fitzgerald’s vision of the story as a novel is a pretty impossible task. The strong student contingent in the audience will have much to reflect upon in assessing this rare staging of the novel. Sharkey’s affection story is self-evident, but this adaptation fails as a stand alone entity. The cast have too much to do beyond acting, and the singing individually, and collectively fails to convince too often.

This production is bold in its conceit, and innovative in its approach, a credit to Director Eliot Giuralarocca, and Musical Director and arranger, Ellie Verkerk and runs till Saturday 13^th February then continues on national tour.

Gary Longden

For further information on The Great Gatsby on tour visit http://www.blackeyedtheatre.co.uk

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.
http://www.behindthearras.com/

This play forms part of an Ayckbourn trilogy , the Norman Conquests, written in 1973. There are only six parts, and each play depicts the same six characters, over the same weekend, in a different part of a house. “Table Manners” is set in the dining room, “Living Together” in the living room, and “Round and Round the Garden”, unsurprisingly, unfolds in the garden. Each is self-contained, and may be watched in any order, some of the scenes overlap, and on several occasions a character’s exit from one play corresponds with an entrance in another, although they were not written to be performed simultaneously.

“Round and Round the Garden” is the more frequently performed of the trilogy requiring only one simple exterior set. Brighton based Talking Scarlet Theatre company were formed in 2001 . Artistic Director Patric Kearns has a formidable track record of diverse productions to his credit, although Chris Johnson directs a light , slight, script, littered with strong one-liners.

The cast is strong. Tom (Ben Roddy) is a painfully socially awkward vet with a love interest in Annie (Jo Castleton) which he struggles to advance. The part of Annie has previously been played by Felicity Kendall and Castleton neatly portrays a warm at heart, attractive but no sex siren, frustrated girlfriend, who succumbs to the more direct, but equally inept, amorous advances of Norman ( Philip Stewart) who is really under the thumb of his wife Ruth (Louise Faulkner). Faulkner’s taciturn world weariness is a delight, as is her struggle with opening a deck chair. But it is Kevin Pallister who steals the show with an energetic portrayal of wise cracking Reg, ably assisted by Natasha Gray, sporting height of fashion green eye shadow, as his wife Sarah.

The Aykbourn aficionados in the audience loved it, with superlatives being bandied around amongst their number at both the interval, and full time. Enthusiastically acted, physical and verbal badinage was expertly delivered in a faultless recreation of this 1970’s piece. It is of its time. Sexual paranoia is all pervading as the free love mantra and optimism of the sixties gave way to economic uncertainty and sexual uncertainty. “Romance has been destroyed by cynics and liberationists,” cries one line.

I could not help but notice the age of the audience which was predominantly firmly sixty plus with very few young faces. Whist a fine period piece, whether the Norman Conquests will outlive its contemporary audience is another matter. There was gentle humour as the question of whether an unfaithful liaison required new pyjamas as there was no reason for the pyjamas to be unfaithful too was debated , but Vet Tom’s lament for the simple world of animal passion where the beasts were either on or off heat felt discordant.

Ayckbourn’s credentials as a playwright are beyond question, but this particular piece is now showing its age.

A Seventies soundtrack interspersed the three act performance which was deservedly warmly received by an appreciative audience. Round and Round the Garden runs till Wednesday 10^th February then continues on national tour.

Gary Longden

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.
http://www.behindthearras.com/

http://www.talking-scarlet.co.uk/

The pantomime season traditionally draws to an end as January closes. Mulberry Players squeezed their Mother Goose run in with hours to spare in this amateur, village hall production.

Pantomime is unique to Great Britain and performs a number of vital functions. Firstly it cheers us up in deepest winter, secondly it embraces young children providing for many their first introduction to theatre, and thirdly, particularly at this level, it provides communities with an opportunity to come together as performers, production helpers and audience.

David Maun’s script is traditional, and family friendly. Visually, money had clearly been spent on the costumes which were colourful and convincing, crucially Priscilla the Goose itself was large and impressive, Angie Wiggins did a sterling job manoeuvring the frame around stage without hitting anyone or anything, or falling over. A number of performers caught the eye. Ryan Wiggins as Billy Goose was energetic, lively and built up a genuine rapport with the audience as they were asked to guard hs goldfish. As nasty Squire of Sweet Content, Adrian Wiggins pretty much stole the show, horrible, unapologetic, and scheming throughout.

Gemma Greenbank’s Fairy Paxo was a delight, delivering her soliloquies with rhyme and a twinkle in her eye, Dave Spivey and Tracey Chidlow entertained as comedy duo Sam and Ella, with not very bright Ella coming out on top. The part of Dame is not an easy one to play. Do you camp it up like mad for laughs, or play it straight, and let the situations do the work for you? Kevin Chidlow as Mother Goose opted for the latter option, but was a calm and confident figure in leading the narrative, a conventional morality tale that vanity is bad, and friends and family are good.

I should make special mention of the children’s chorus who were a vital ingredient in the show, keen, enthusiastic, demonstrative and loud, they often outshone their seniors in the singing volume stakes too. Music was supplied by Kathryn Bradley on keyboards whom I suspect had much to do with the success of the junior chorus.

This show marks the 21^st anniversary of Mulberry Theatre Company’s productions and the smiles on the faces of the audience, particularly during the audience sing a long, and with the children crammed on stage, were a pleasure for the sold out afternoon house. My only minor quibbles were that the first half at sixty five minutes was a shade long , and that Richard Howe, as the Demon King, should have been cut some slack to ad lib with the audience to enhance his baddie persona.

Sadly the run has now finished, but future production details can be found on their website:http://www.mulberrytheatre.co.uk/

Gary Longden

*** 1/2

Sutton Arts produce several productions a year. Inevitably that swallows up the well- known plays at a rate of knots. So a pleasing by-product of their prolific performance schedule is that they have to unearth lesser known plays from time to time to keep the production line rolling. “Death by Design” is one such show.

Written by Massachusetts born, and America resident, playwright Rob Urbanati, the author’s Anglophilia is manifested by this pastiche of great British crime writer Agatha Christie, and great British gentleman, Noel Coward. “Death by Design” was premiered in Houston, Texas, in 2011 but the ending was rewritten in 2013, so it is a pretty contemporaneous homage.

The drama is set in 1932 in Cookham, England, the country home of playwright Edward Bennett (Richard Clarke) and his, flighty, man-eating, actress wife, Sorel (Hellie England). It is a volatile marriage in which barbed badinage and missiles are equal weapons of choice.

Co-Directors Hazel Evans and Mavis Atkinson took on the responsibility after the original director became unavailable, and have done a first-rate job at bringing it to the stage, bringing their considerable, and formidable, experience to bear. Fortunately they have a strong cast to work with.

Anne Dempsey as Maid Bridget, and George Wyton, as Chauffeur Jack, make a fine double act and open proceedings on a well- dressed, single set, stage, which is a credit to Colin Edge and his Set team. Anne Dempsey is a delight as the Maid who doesn’t want to clean, make tea, take guest’s coats, or undertake any maid’s duties whatsoever, even resorting to growling to deter any such impertinent requests. Yet her knowledge of poisonous plants and murder seems positively encyclopaedic George Wyton’s convinces as a charming jack- the- lad with a heart.

The other double act are Mr & Mrs Bennett. Richard Clarke’s care worn, urbane, characterisation is the perfect foil for Hellie England, who has by far the most fun. Looking stunning in a full length, sleeveless, halter neck amethyst evening gown, she preened and pouted, and even snapped a cocktail glass stork in her dedication to the cause.

Allen Lane played sleazy, adulterer, Tory Politician Walter Pearce with unctuous ease, wooing Sorel Bennett in the first half, and laying dead for the second. His opposite, socialist guest Eric ( Nick Shelton), made the best of a slightly underwritten part. Anne Deakin (Victoria Van Roth) by contrast had more to do, growing more inebriated, and funny, as the evening progressed, without losing her accuracy in any way when throwing the dregs of her drink at her host while demanding a refill. The appearance of Libby Allport, as Alice, was a nice plot twist.

The cast consistently raised laughter with some good lines, and enthusiastic character acting making for an enjoyable night out. Urbanati’s “Death by Design” does not reach the heights of those whom he wishes to parody. But who does beat Christie for murder plots, or Coward for playing with the foibles of the British Upper class? Hazel Evans and Mavis Atkinson have done a sterling job to squeeze the very best out of the script, as have the cast. “Death by Design” runs to Saturday 6th February.

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.
http://www.behindthearras.com/

This is a welcome revival of a less well known, but very funny, farce written by Phillip King. King was serving as conscripted aircrew based in London when See How They Run made its West End debut in 1945. The opening night was almost wrecked, in the literal sense, when air raid sirens preceded the arrival of three “Doodlebug” V2 rockets which exploded around the city. But the stoic theatregoers were unmoved, not a soul leaving mid performance for either the warning, or the explosions – it must have been a good night!

First staged in 1944 by ENSA in Peterborough, it embraced the desire of a war weary population to be entertained, titillated and laugh. To be offered a few hours escape from the drudgery of wartime Britain. It relies heavily on mistaken identity, doors, and vicars, staples of British farce. While the lights were going out in Europe, they defiantly remained on in the West End. Even under the threat of bombardment and invasion the British public never lost its appetite for the sight of people running round a vicarage in their underwear, then, or now. Thus, we are presented with a bishop, a stoic maid, a repressed spinster, and a problem with trousers – elements compounded by the arrival of a German prisoner escaped from a nearby internment camp.

The major test of any comic farce is: “Did it make me, and the audience, laugh?” Yes it did! The single lounge set (with plenty of doors) works well, and the costuming too, convinces in creating a Second World War feel. For a script that is over seventy years old the gags felt fresh, which is to the great credit of both the director and cast.

Christopher Water’s production has a pleasing lightness of touch that brings out the best from a very strong team. Liz Webster has most of the fun as local gossip, and failed suitor to the vicar, Miss Skillion. Her characterisation borrows from Hilda Ogden, Lily Savage and Mata Hari. Although incapacitated through drink, concussion and cupboard incarceration for periods during proceedings, her acerbic wit and energy drives the show on. David Weller plays one of two real vicars, Lionel Toop, with godly calm, apart from when he is running around in his underwear brandishing a weapon. His wife Penelope,( Suzy Donnelly), is a delight, ditzy, racy and desperately trying to get herself out of trouble with old acting friend Clive (Rod Blisset), whose assumed status as a vicar commences the calamitous turn of events which befalls the characters.

Les Wilkes makes the most of the comic opportunities offered by his part as an escaped German POW. Cartoon like, it amused as much now as it would have delighted a wartime audience, he too assumes the part of a vicar. To confuse matters further, Rob Onions appears as a waspishly funny Humphrey, a cameo part, another vicar.

Three out of four vicars and one Bishop in an Ecclesiastically heavy cast!

Andy Jones’ Bishop is understandably bewildered as to which of them is actually ordained, leading him to exclaim: “I should like to know what everything means.” Brandy seems to be the cure for all that is going wrong at the vicarage, causing the Bishop to reflect; “I thought you were called to the Church, when in fact you have been called to the Bar!”

But I would like to offer a special mention to Lorraine Samantha Allen’s portrayal of downtrodden, but romance hungry, maid, Ida. Amidst the chaos which surrounds her, she valiantly tries to do her job. Her part is to oil the wheels of the plot, which she does adroitly, and with much skill. Her frustration and blind eye is as important to the plot as the extravagant excesses of her fellow cast members.

As with all good farce, order is finally re-established, trousers recovered, and dignity restored. The cast look exhausted, however, having clocked up a fair number of laps around the stage, and through the auditorium. An Army Sergeant (Chris Walters), ends up making sense of it all in a finale which is well written and satisfying.

This really is a first rate show and runs until 23rd January. Don’t miss it.

This review first appeared in Behind the Arras, abridged, where a comprehensive collection of reviews from the best of Midlands Theatre, from a range of reviewers, is available.
http://www.behindthearras.com/