Skip to main content

Review of Flash Festival: Theoria Theatre - Just A Second at the Looking Glass Theatre

Just A Second from Theoria Theatre has my award for the most beautiful play of the week. Tenderly performed, wonderfully written and just quite enchanting.

Our two performers Antonia Underwood and Jessica Kay compliment each well with Jessica the almost constantly abrasive one while Antonia despite being a touch grumpy, the gentle one. This is for me Antonia's show, not to discredit Jessica, but that solid performance of Dor, 'The Time Keeper' of Mitch Alborn's novel, of which this is based, is so wonderfully complete that I cannot ignore it. There was also for me that wonderful softening of the voice and manner in the flashback scenes which you felt were still definitely the same character, but also of a distant much happier time. Antonia and Jessica however work wonderfully together as a pair of actors, complimenting each others performances excellently. They are an almost perfect partnership of opposites in this production.

The set is simple but as delightful as the story, with Old Father Time Dor often at play with his sands of time, with an area of sand cast simply across the floor. We then have a table and two chairs and hanging above a broken clock, finally rather wonderfully a string of lights heralding the entrance to the cave. The cave of which Dor is supposedly banished.

I know nothing of the source material, however much like a great deal of shows this week interest has been piqued to learn more. The Flash Festivals lasting legacy of any attending is that it spurs this in the mind and for me Just A Second is up there with the best of them in creating intrigue. This is a short, simple, but so delightfully wonderful play presented with the utmost care.


The Flash Festival 2015 is all over! It ran between 18th-23rd May, 2015 at four venues across the town. Details can be found at http://ftfevents.wix.com/flashtheatre2015, while tickets cannot now be booked via the Royal & Derngate. Details at: http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/whatson/2015-2016/Other/FlashFestival15

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Birmingham Rep

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street first appeared in this musical form in 1979. Adapted from an original play by Christopher Bond, the work was set to music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, with a book by Hugh Wheeler. It quickly became a huge success, opening on both Broadway and the West End within a year. Following Tony and Olivier wins, the show has seen revival after revival over the years, as well as a musical film starring Johnny Depp. Now, Birmingham Rep presents its own pared-back version of the show, featuring some big stars of the theatre world. So, the question is, is Sweeney Todd as razor-sharp as it once was? What is clear to all at the outset is that director Joe Murphy, also artistic director at Birmingham Rep, has assembled a remarkable and bold cast for the show. Leading as Sweeney is Ramin Karimloo, whose bio speaks for itself and is the biggest draw for this show, especially for theatres outside London. His Sweeney is a perfectly brooding affair, broken...

Review of Annie at Milton Keynes Theatre

Annie was first performed now a remarkable fifty years ago at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and since then, the tale based on a 1920s comic strip and adapted for the stage by Thomas Meehan on book, with music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics provided by Martin Charnin, has become a perennial favourite across the world. Indeed, this version, directed by Nikolai Foster, last appeared at Milton Keynes Theatre in 2023. So, after all these years, does Annie still have that appeal? Set in  1930s New York during the Great Depression,  Annie  follows the life of an orphan abandoned to the care  of its evil matron, Miss Hannigan. Annie seeks escape, and after one failed attempt, she finds herself the chosen Christmas guest of billionaire Oliver Warbucks, and things slowly, hopefully begin to improve for the little but fiercely strong Annie. Leading the adult cast for this tour now as the cruel Miss Hannigan is Claire Sweeney. Sweeney clearly revels in the chance to embr...

Review of Lord of the Dance at Milton Keynes Theatre

On what was so far the hottest day of the year, and the highest in many a record book, it feels a tad evil to watch as a group of extremely talented performers bring to the stage one of the most famous and most energetic dance shows to tour. However, arriving now at Milton Keynes Theatre, as part of what is now the still rather immodestly titled 30 Years of Standing Ovations tour, Lord of the Dance remains full of energy even on the hottest of evenings in Milton Keynes. I last and first saw Lord of the Dance as part of the 25 Years of Standing Ovations tour, four years ago (yes, the sums don’t quite work), and it was every bit as spectacular as you could imagine this world-famous dance show is. Born into the world from Michael Flatley and the Riverdance spectacular that preceded it, Lord of the Dance is a simple but effective battle between good and evil and the resolution of it through dance rather than fighting. The dancing here is, as expected, exceptional, led by the Lord of the...