Skip to main content

Review of September In The Rain by John Godber at The Playhouse Theatre, Northampton

It seems odd to describe a play that features long turds in drains and a seemingly constantly bickering couple beautiful, but for John Godber's September In The Rain it really feels appropriate. It is a wonderfully relaxing and at times extremely funny play (the turd moment a particular classic) telling the reminiscences of the elderly Liz and Jack's trips to Blackpool.

It also provided some emotional memories for myself as Blackpool was the place that I spent my very best family holidays in the eighties and early nineties. I have a truly fond feeling for the place despite now not having been there for over twenty years and I felt well the trials that Liz and Jack suffered from the occasional inclement weather of Blackpool. Oddly enough I remain sure now that the best weather I ever witnessed there was when we stayed right through Christmas one year. Blackpool in summer and early autumn simply cannot be trusted.

September In The Rain is produced by White Cobra Productions and this is my first encounter with them, although on this evidence I will try to make sure it is not my last. White Cobra is also very much the baby of our two stars of the piece Kate Billingham and Richard Jordan, having formed the company in 2012. As Liz and Jack (and occasionally a few other distinct characters) they are the perfect partnership. They are, put simply, perfection in their roles. Sparking off each other in glorious ways, creating what is a love and hate relationship and ever so believable they have spent decades together. Jack may well not want to hold Liz's hand, but we know they love each other really.

The direction from Lynne O'Sullivan is simple and clean allowing the characters to be the stars of the show. There is no need for anything more that the simple table and chairs or occasionally troublesome deckchair. The world is created through the tales told and the prompting from screen projection is rarely needed. Also simple but highly effective was the lighting and sound provided by Philip Welsh, Rod Arkle and Paul Fowler. I wonder if those tide sounds were genuine Blackpool ones? I think myself they were probably too calm to be from there.

This is a glorious and reet proper northern comedy performed by Billingham and Jordan with a loving and big beating heart and I absolutely loved and relieved every single moment of the tales they had to tell.


Performance reviewed: Thursday 1st October, 2015

September In The Rain continues at the Playhouse Theatre, Northampton until Saturday 3rd October, 2015 before continuing its tour. For details visit: http://www.whitecobraproductions.co.uk/

 For full details about the Playhouse Theatre visit their website at http://www.theplayhousetheatre.net/


Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Friends - The Musical Parody at Milton Keynes Theatre

The One Where 2026 starts in a world of confusion. And so, 2026 is upon us and for my first trip to the theatre this year, one of my most significant reviewing challenges was to occur. Touring to Milton Keynes Theatre is Friends - The Musical Parody , based, unsurprisingly, on that little American show that ran to a few audience members for ten years. However, I confess that I was not, and have never been in that audience, never having seen a single episode of the show. However, always up for a review challenge and doing my due diligence by having a Friends superfan as my plus one, I headed to Milton Keynes with anticipation. For those unfamiliar with the show, I could say I can’t help; however, a quick review of some of the information you might need (thanks, Google and my plus one). Running for ten years between 1994 and 2004 with 236 episodes (quiz question, you are welcome), the main characters consisted of Phoebe (ditzy, writer of sad songs), Monica (in possession of an unfeasibly...
Read more

Review of 2:22 A Ghost Story at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

2:22 A Ghost Story continues an endless rise and run of success on the stage. This play by Danny Robins was first staged as recently as August 2021 at the Noel Coward Theatre and since then the show continued to run in London for two years, moving to four further London theatres, before eventually closing in the city to embark on this tour, which began in September last year. During these runs, the cast has constantly been updated with often populist actors, and some, which are not even associated with acting. As this reaches Royal & Derngate, now even the touring cast has been swept clean and four further performers take on the incredible success of a show. This is the second time I have seen 2:22 A Ghost Story , and it is safe to say that on that first viewing, with the previous tour cast, I was not as blown away by the play as the success seemed to warrant. The aforementioned populist casting seemed to have driven a so-so ghostly tale into success beyond its quality, and with th...
Read more

Review of Matthew Bourne's Romeo + Juliet at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Despite now having seen a few dance shows encompassing many different styles, I had yet to see one developed by Sir Matthew Bourne, a controversial player in his time, but as the relatively recent knighthood suggests, now very much embraced by the establishment. So, does Romeo + Juliet live up to his name, that is the question? So, first, this might normally be where I give you a brief outline of the story, but, for one, most have a general understanding of the love disaster of William Shakespeare's play already, and two, as it turns out from the Bourne production, a huge amount of what you might be familiar with has gone or been dramatically changed anyway. There is shocking complicity in murders, there are different moments of murder and gone are the warring factions of the Montagues and Capulets. Characters themselves feel very different at times also, to such an extent that even knowing the play doesn't always make it clear who is who at times. So, if all that sounds...
Read more