Review of Flash Festival: Duality Theatre Company - It's Starting To Grow On Us! at the NN Cafe

The ultimate in relaxed festival atmosphere was achieved leading up to the start of Duality Theatre's performance with the two performers mingling effortless with the audience in the bijou NN Cafe.

Sarah Kirk and Samantha Colden are our performers for a storytelling performance the like of which I haven't seen previously. This is a relaxed, lackadaisical show with a frequently bickering duo which belies the tough subject matter they are to tell. This is all about the unmentionable big C and its effect on not only the sufferer but the family and friends whom surround.

During the forty minute show and despite Sarah irritatingly (for Samantha) strumming her ukulele and Samantha being challenged with accents and donning false eyebrows, some real tough material is mined. There is heavy and very detailed material in this script, certainly well researched with lots of technical terms you could only guess at the meaning of.

However despite all the heavy subject, it is always kept on the right side of tone. Silly but gorgeous little things like the mirrored journey through the hospital, think an epic plane exit routine and you won't be far wrong. Then we have balloon blowing with yet another uncomfortable wait for the pop like Sidetrack's show and throw in a bit of failed hula hooping and you have a comfortable way of listening to a tough subject.

There is much to love about this show and the way that Sarah and Samantha make it all so effortless in their performance. A dream duo and and a performance straight from the heart which manages to encompass truly silly antics, singing, and ukulele playing while maintaining the true tough story it is telling. Just gorgeous.

The Flash Festival 2015 runs between 18th-23rd May, 2015 at four venues across the town. Details can be found at http://ftfevents.wix.com/flashtheatre2015, while tickets can be booked via the Royal & Derngate. Details at: http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whatson/2015-2016/Other/FlashFestival15

Review of Dear Evan Hansen at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

First performed in 2015, Dear Evan Hansen remains the musical of the modern teen's life, showcasing all the troubles in that generation of popularity and social media. And as this long UK tour of the West End and before that Broadway smash hits the Royal & Derngate, it offers a troubling mirror on modern society. Before seeing this show, I had avoided all knowledge of the story Dear Evan Hansen tells, and with that came a joyful voyage of discovery as the captivating story evolved. Therefore, if you have also managed to avoid the story, skip the next paragraph and enjoy a new story to be found. Evan Hansen is a troubled teen who struggles to fit into society and cannot find friends. As a result, his therapist has suggested that he write letters to himself, "Dear Evan Hansen." When one of these letters is found on the body of an equally troubled teen, Evan finds himself spiralling into a world of fictitious friendship, which gets increasingly out of control. The stor...

Review of Kinky Boots (N.M.T.C.) at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The musical Kinky Boots is perhaps the perfect show for the homegrown theatre group Northampton Musical Theatre Company to perform with the very core of the story bred within this very county. The tale of of Charlie Price and his encounter and unlikely partnership with a certain Lola is based on a true story of factory W. G. Brooks Ltd and the owner Steve Pateman. Back in 1999 his story of men and their wearing of shoes for women featured on a BBC documentary and this in turn inspired the 2005 film, Kinky Boots . Finally, in 2012, this musical adaptation of the story hit the stage, with a book by Harvey Fierstein and songs written by Cyndi Lauper. Longtime readers of my blog with good memories may remember that five years ago I reviewed the opening of the UK professional tour of Kinky Boots , also at the Royal & Derngate. While I enjoyed the show, I didn't give it the most favourable review. Five years on, and a second viewing, have I warmed to the charms of Charlie and Lola...

Review of The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband at The Playhouse Theatre, Northampton

During the interval of The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband , last weeks production at The Playhouse Theatre Northampton, I got involved in a conversation between a couple sitting next to me. The lady was very much of the opinion that the play was a comedy, while the gentleman, had formed one that it was a tragedy. They were joking of course in the conversation, but it did highlight the differences that Debbie Isitt's dark comedy might have between the sexes. And also now perhaps the passing of time. When this was written in the nineties, Isitt's play was a forthright feminist play, heralding the championing over of the ladies over the man. One the ex-wife plotting to cook him, the other, the new lover, potentially already very tired of him after just three years. The husband, Kenneth (Jem Clack) elopes initially in pursuit of sex with Laura (Diane Wyman), after his nineteen years of marriage with Hilary (Corinna Leeder) has become tired and passionless. Then later, he elopes ...

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog