Skip to main content

Review of No Way Back by Frantic Assembly at the The Core, Corby

Having worn out the seats at Royal & Derngate the perfect opportunity arose to experience the little brother at Corby. The Core is situated in the impressive Corby Cube and offers a mix of theatre, cinema and the dynamic space known as the Lab. It is, I have now found out, a wonderfully gorgeous modern theatre. Stylish stage, comfortable seating (the front row I sat in had interestingly low seats for me but huge leg room) and wonderfully cool.

The performance I had made a ninety minute bus ride for was No Way Back, a Frantic Assembly/Made In Corby production that utilised local non professional talent. Bringing personal stories from the community performers, Frantic created a unique physical production that anyone who has seen A Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time might be familiar.

Despite using what were effectively members of the public there was no let up in the performances they were given to do. There were two performers I was familiar with ahead of seeing the show, these being Masque Theatre's Lisa Shepherd and India Martin who I had seen in this years superb production of Connections play Hood. All others were new to me although no one in the cast left a greater impact on myself (and many others I suspect) than Maureen Gallacher. Commanding her scenes with elegance and grace, she is a star find.

The bulk of the major parts are performed by the professional performers its true but at all times the community are all part of the action and they blend with them professionals perfectly.

The show is blessed also with magical tech and design. Andrzej Goulding's video design is a thing of beauty and in Maureen's rage scene in particular it becomes theatre gold. The use of mannequins is a neat and effective idea and that sudden appearance and face moment provides quite a neat treat. As do the superb quick moving costume rail scenes.

Directors Scott Graham and Neil Bettles have worked hard in just three weeks to create real homegrown magical material and I am so glad that I made my first trip to the Core to see this stunning show.


Performance reviewed: Friday 10th (matinee), 2015 at The Core, Corby.

No Way Back runs between Thursday 9th July and Friday 10th July, 2015 at The Core, Corby. Details here: 
https://www.thecorecorby.com/Productions/2015-2016/225704/FANWB

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Breaking the Code at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Breaking The Code , the opening play in the new Made in Northampton season at Royal & Derngate, is a surprisingly old and rarely seen play. Written in 1986 by Hugh Whitemore, it tells the story of legendary codebreaker Alan Turing, a man who, in the 1980s, when this play first appeared, was relatively unknown. The years since the origin of this play have been good for Turing, with his life's work finally getting the recognition it deserves, and also, very much what this play centres on, a recognition of the horrific life and end that Turing had as a result of dealing with the laws of the day. Breaking the Code has seen life before on the stage of the Royal, as back in 2003, Philip Franks took to the role of Turing in a very well-received production. So, what of this brand new version directed by the Royal & Derngate's artistic director Jesse Jones? Does it live up to Turing's legend? That is an unquestionable yes with no machines needed to crack the class behind thi...

Review of National Theatre Connections 2017 (16 Shows) at Royal & Derngate (Royal & Underground), Northampton

Alongside the University of Northampton BA Actors Flash Festival, the Connections festival at Royal & Derngate is now my joint favourite week of theatre each year. This is my fourth year at the festival and each time I have tried my very best (and succeeded) in seeing more and more of those on offer (four in 2014, ten in 2015 and twelve last year). This year I cracked sixteen shows, including the most interesting, a chance to see two of the plays by three different groups. I was able to see nine of this year's ten plays (a single nagging one, Musical Differences by Robin French was missing from the R&D line-up), and most I either enjoyed or finally understood their merits or reasons for inclusion. The writing of sixteen reviews is a little bit of an daunting prospect, however, I will do my best to review each of the plays and those I saw more than once, and pick around the comparisons. Extremism by Anders Lustgarten Performed by Bedford College Extremism was perfo...

Review of Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest such company in Britain having first performed in 1926. However, despite this, this was my first encounter with the group in my ten years of theatre-going. Coupled with this, it was also my first encounter with Peaky Blinders , having never seen the show, and only knowing a few vague things about it. My companion for the evening however was very familiar with the show, allowing some background behind the show. It turns out though,  Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby needs a little more than a good bit of knowledge of the show, as despite this production having incredible style, there struggles to be a cohesive structure to the show and the storytelling. Much more than other dance shows as well. The first act does a whistle-stop tour of the first five seasons and while it is a feast on the eye, and on the ear, it gets extremely confusing at times. The second act is freestyle and drifts away from the stories tol...