CINDERELLA

CINDERELLA

Cut to the Chase at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch

05.12.2011

for The Public Reviews

Home-grown in Hornchurch and all the tastier for it, the Queen's Cinderella has the kids screaming from the off.

As they proudly point out, the show is staged by Cut to the Chase, their resident company of actor-musicians, and the sumptuous scenery and colourful costumes are all designed and made in-house. The songs, too, are specially written by MD Carol Sloman.

Always good to see repertory actors let it all hang out at Christmas time, and this show boasts two of the ugliest sisters you could imagine, in Simon Jessop's Asphyxia and Tom Jude's Euthanasia. Not surprisingly, they work wonderfully well together, and sport some gorgeous creations [Jean Roberts]: faux fur to start, and a gourmet spread for the walk-down.

Cinders herself is Queen's star Natasha Moore, delightfully coy with her "Barry" [Niall Costigan's posh Prince Charming], then radiant at the ball. Stuart Organ makes a Pickwickian Hardup, with his horseless carriage, while Mark Stanford is a popular Buttons, making the most of his catchphrase interplay with the audience.

Bob Carlton wrote the script, and directs a stylish take on the old tale, with a lovely prologue, delivered by the Fairy Godmother [Karen Fisher-Pollard] in her old lady guise and illustrated with clever silhouettes. The settings are superb, with a sparkly front cloth and a story-book village street vista. The auditorium is well used, too: the hunting of Lucy the fox, with beagles, and the search for the foot the slipper fits, with reward posters.

Act One ends of course with the transformation, a substantial coach taking flight as the upstage area opens up; Act Two starts with an ingenious Strictly spoof, giving the eight youngsters a spell in the spotlight.

No dearth of traditional [old] gags and routines – even Busy Bee is pressed into service for another generation. But there's lots that is fresh and topical – "We're all in this together", ker-ching name checks for the sponsors, even a plug for the Dario Fo in March – theatre's not just for Christmas !

It's a fast-paced, colourful panto which doesn't take itself too seriously, and has the audience with it all the way, "corporates, creditors and critics" included, not forgetting Keith in the middle of row D ...


production image by Nobby Clark

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Christ Church Players, CHelmsford

03.12.11

"Wait till you see our Dame," sing the merry villagers of Pennyfarthing. The cross-dresser in question is John Mabey, giving his all as Dame Trot, in John Morley's traditional panto [from 1981, though it hardly shows, except perhaps that Kaunda fell from power over twenty years ago !] His performance was assured and very funny – I was reminded of that classic Dame of yore Terry Scott.

Stirling support from a cast that spanned the generations – Aaron Morley as Silly Billy, Claire Shuter [who could teach some of the others a thing or two about standing still on stage] as the Vegetable Fairy with her leek wand, the excellent Juliet Kelly as the awful Mrs Blunderbore, Amy Harley as the charming Princess Melanie, and Saskia Goff as the daintiest of dragons.

Spick and Span, the Royal Guards [fun with a whiteboard] were Alex Houlton and Mike Archer, the poor old King, Vernon Finding.

And not forgetting two excellent performances from Pippa Moriaty as the thigh-slapping Principal Boy [some lovely singing, without benefit of band or microphone] and Paul Winter as the horrible henchman Fleshcreep. With his whip and his scary make-up, and superb vocal delivery, he had two tiny tots in tears just ten minutes into the show …

Daisy the Cow was inhabited by Ellen Purse, and the panto's director, Emma Moriaty.

WINTER CONCERT

WINTER CONCERT

at King Edward VI Grammar School

01.12.11

From Orpheus in the Underworld to the criminal underworld of downtown Hawaii, five ensembles, directed by Tim Worrall and Maggie Diffley, provided a varied evening of music-making at KEGS last week.

The Junior Orchestra followed Offenbach's Galop with Marches by Handel and Bizet, and the Junior String Ensemble, just nine string players and a pianist, played Irish airs and a catchy English folk dance, the Galopede.

I enjoyed the warm tone of Brian Chan's guitar in a Vivaldi Concerto accompanied by an impressive chamber ensemble, who also played Holst's Brook Green Suite, originally written for the composer's pupils to play – the wistful Air followed by an energetic, rustic Dance.

Brian was also the leader of the Senior Orchestra, who gave us Wagner, a witty Widow Simone, and a polished performance of the English Folk Song Suite of Vaughan Williams, with excellent work from woodwind and strings.

The Wind Band, nearly 70 strong, led by Sarah Woollatt, gave us the A-Team as well as Hawaii 5-O, plus Toy Story, Thriller and the inevitable Lady Gaga.

PASSION and DEMO

PASSION and DEMO

The Young Company at the New Wolsey Studio, Ipswich

02.12.2011

for The Public Reviews

Edward Bond's short play – Passion – written forty years ago for the CND is a pretty unsubtle piece of agit-prop. Green Shield stamps show its age, but otherwise it remains sharp and pertinent as soldiers continue to die in wars they barely understand.

It's a mythic tale of a mother who cannot accept the death of her innocent soldier son. I felt the piece lost its way slightly with the appearance of the Buddha and the Christ [both despair of bringing peace to mankind] and with the sacrificed soldier's poem from the grave, tellingly delivered though it was by Liam Cadzow Webb.

An all-male cast, directed, at least initially, by Rob Salmon, gave a performance of impressive maturity and style, bringing a very physical, aggressive approach to the piece, with cynical shots of cabaret. The ventriloquist grieving mother – an excellent Sam Hume, naively trusting in her monarch – and the badinage between Queen [Jack Brett, in a brilliantly sustained performance of physical and vocal dexterity] and PM [a beaming, Blairish Calum Bateman] was skilfully handled, especially the delete-as-appropriate synonyms in HMQ's speeches.

The Passion of the title – a crucified pig [made by Sam Hadcraft] retains its power to shock, just as the play retains its power to provoke.

The idea of Demo, the companion piece, was to provide a contemporary response to that provocation. What we got was an honest, searching exploration of freedom, and what it meant to the thirteen young actors who stood before us, dressed in jeans and jumpers, and bared their souls.

Freedom's road, for them, was broad and wide-ranging. Laura Norman's direction of this devised piece had some eloquent touches – the forest of microphones, and the powerful juxtaposition of discussion of freedom, in Saudi Arabia say, with physical restraint. The movement – ebb and flow, a wave of attack perhaps, the hands stretched achingly into the air – was often effective. The words perhaps less so, but polish would have dulled the raw expression of hopes and fears which characterized the piece. And the "performances", if that's the word, were all strong. Sometimes it felt like a group exercise - " I felt most free when …" - but there were great contributions from some individuals: Steve's "B-Tech" self-expression, the extended riff on the freedom to enjoy ice-cream. They ended with Chaplin's closing speech from The Great Dictator ["Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!"].

As they explained in a brief post-show talk-out, they were striving for honesty and integrity, and many ideas were rejected [the bear dressed as Stalin I would like to have survived, though]. The result was unexpectedly moving, a poignant reminder of what it's like to be caught in the turbulent uncertainties of youth. "Passion" of course might have provoked many responses – what has replaced the very real fear of nuclear war, for instance, or the changing role of religion.

An air of innocent naivety, perhaps, but heart-felt and sincere. In that at least it chimes with the Bond.

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews

ROBIN HOOD AND THE BABES IN THE WOOD

ROBIN HOOD AND THE BABES IN THE WOOD

The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

26.11.2011

for The Public Reviews

Enjoying a warming home-made parsnip soup from the Café Bar, I watch the crowd arrive. For all their paper hats, their popcorn and their massive bags of sweeties, they're a discerning crowd. They expect to laugh and boo, of course; they'll want a dame and a baddie, but this X-factor generation will also demand production values as high as any concert or West End musical.

The Wolsey has found the perfect recipe to keep them happy in its Rock and Roll pantos, of which this is, unbelievably, the eleventh incarnation. All the ingredients are carefully selected: a super-talented team of actor musicians, a score of toe-tapping numbers, more or less tailored to the plot, and audience involvement [which means getting wet, or picked on, or both – Brian in A3 an excellent stooge when I saw the show].

The Nottingham castle ramparts are bristling with brass, drum-kit and guitars, as Blondel the troubadour bounces on to get the action started – Hippy Hippy Shake an ideal choice for an opening number. Other musical highlights were Goldfinger, and Natural Woman, featuring a seven-piece band and two backing singers.

Many favourites in the cast list – Shirley Darroch a demure Maid Marian, really looking as if she was enjoying every minute of the silliness. Anthony Hunt the exquisitely evil Sherriff of Nottingham, with excellent work from his two henchmen "moronic mingers" Steve Simmonds and Tim Jackson, whose Numbskull was a winner with the audience. Robin Hood – an athletic Alex Tomkins – sang his numbers with some style, and like everyone else, managed to keep just a little bit in character as he belted out The Clash's I Fought The Law.

Will Kenning makes a most welcome return as the Dame – Nellie Nightnurse with her trolleyful of amusing ailments. Towering over everyone else in the cast, he has a fresh, original take on this age-old tradition, his character caught between the bovver boots and the comedy hair. As regulars will know, all the actors take their turn in the backing band – Will moved from trombone to guitar to keyboard. His charges – Britney and Whitney the Babes [Essex girls in all but name] - were nicely done by Sioned Saunders and Sophie Byrne [saxophonists both].

Nice to see another chorus of soft toys – this time including a cuddly Rockin' Robin.

So something for everyone in Peter Rowe's panto, directed by Rob Salmon – tinies squealing with delight at the simplest slapstick, a clever, alliterative script, with nudge-nudge naughtiness for the grown-ups, and, for us oldies, nostalgic references to Bernie the Bolt and Dick James's unforgettable theme tune, thoughtfully reprised between scenes.

As Dame Nellie put it – "bad gags, mad frocks and relentless upstaging" – who could ask for more for Christmas ?

this piece first appeared on The Public Reviews