Flash Festival 2017: The Powers That Be by Tangled Spines Theatre Company at St Peter's Church, Northampton

Perhaps of all the Flash Festival shows this year, Tangled Spines' The Powers That Be was the one that I was most looking forward to seeing. I had read Luke Rhinehart's intriguing novel The Dice Man (on which this is based) some years ago and while the main plot had long departed my mind, the truly fascinating premise that permeates the story is genuinely very clever. Our protagonist lives life by the throw of a die where his every action is decided by the number that the dice scattered at his feet portray.

Steven Croydon

A quick google of The Dice Man offers a rather bizarre fact that for some reason this story and idea hasn't been developed to any great degree over the years with just one minor mini-series and a couple of plays taking on the idea, therefore Tangled Spines are very much onto something and their nippy and clever performance brings to life the story to fascinating effect and doesn't hold back on the controversy and power of the original novel either.

After a quite brilliant repeated, but slowly altering physical routine, we are immediately presented with our lead Luke Rhinehart (Steven Croydon) throwing a die to decide if he rapes his mistress (Jen Wyndham). We do not see, but quickly learn that the answer is yes and he matter of factly presents this information to her and in this world that this story lives within, it is accepted by her.

Jen Wyndham

I love the fact that this play doesn't shy away at all from this power and repulsiveness of the original. When I read it originally I felt that although it told obviously a very different story, its morals were very much like that of A Clockwork Orange. This is crime and evilness often of the highest order, but you can't help but for the duration almost be on the depraves side.

Jack James

Steven Croydon given the meaty lead character also offers the best of the performances, however, that doesn't detract from the others. Jack James is excellent as a close colleague, while even better as Rhinehart's son, again showing skill at creating both a believable but never silly youngster seen successfully more than a few times at Flash.

Jen Wyndham is once again her captivating best as both woman in Rhinehart's life, the aforementioned mistress and his wife (it is worth noting that beyond this performance, a pair of crutches were her "friend" and this demanding performance truly showed her dedication to her chosen profession).

I truly loved The Powers That Be for bringing that wonderful novel to life in physical form. Tremendously well chosen, brilliantly created within both the altar space and within a neat and sensible running time. Thank you Tangled Spines for reintroducing me to Rhineharts religion of the die.

Performance viewed: Thursday, 25th May 2017

The Flash Festival 2017 ran between Monday 22nd and Saturday 27th May 2017 at three venues across the town.

Review of Blue/Orange at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

The challenging and socially relevant Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall was published in 2000 and back then, this caustic exploration of mental health, and more specifically black mental health issues, was a tremendously relevant play. When it debuted on stage in London, the cast of just three was played by Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Director James Dacre doesn't have those names to play with so much in his cast, however here, he has worked with the writer himself to rework the play for a more modern audience. Does it still shock, and is the relevance still there today? Sadly, perhaps, the answer is yes, as doctors Bruce Flaherty and Robert Smith come to verbal blows over the health of patient Christopher, at times, you feel 21 years shed little light on how mental health is approached. Many references in the script, still sit unquestionably in the year 2000, however, with this reworking, one thing has changed dramatically. In the original version of the play, the two

Review of Sister Act by the Northampton Musical Theatre Company at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

South Pacific at Royal & Derngate last year set a remarkable benchmark for an "amateur" production, with a large talented cast, superb vocals, sets and a polish up there with a professional production. Sister Act, this years production from the Northampton Musical Theatre Company was more of the same, but perhaps taken up a notch or two. Sister Act is a musical based on the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg comedy and was first performed in 2009. Written by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, it is a likable and fun musical which genuinely came as a surprise to me. The opening scene at Curtis's Bar and Nightclub is to be honest not the best though and genuinely didn't fill me with much hope. It feels as if it gives nothing to the cast, although it creates the premise of the story coupled with the incident outside the bar. Likewise, I didn't take much to the Police Station scene either, so it didn't bode well. When we reach the Queen Of Angels Cathedral though, this show

Review of Shrek (NMTC) at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Three and a half years ago, in a land far far away, in a world very different to the one we are now in, I saw the touring professional production of Shrek The Musical , it was a mixed bag of quality, tilted extremely heavily in favour of one particular character (not the one you might expect) and not firing on all cylinders much of the time. One and a half years after my last visit to the Derngate theatre, I return to see the homegrown Northampton Musical Theatre Company's own take on the very same show. Would they be able to breathe more life into the show than the professionals did in that distant land? It is a bit of a yes and no really. Pretty much all of this is done to the best possible standard, and at times, with being an amateur show you could easily forget, they all have normal day jobs. The show oozes professional quality at times. The set looks magnificent, the costumes (from Molly Limpet's Theatrical Emporium) are superb, and as ever with NMTC, the backstage team c

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog