Review of Murder On The Dancefloor at St. Albans The Martyr Church, Northampton

When you see the expanse of theatre that I do, sweeping from the cream of the West End, TV and film, onto fledgeling students, to youth theatre, amateur theatre, huge touring shows, it is quite a challenge to get the balance right in a review.

Most especially when going to a show such as Murder on the Dancefloor by St. Albans Charity Players. This is community, am-dram of the highest order, it is no frills, often loosely performed, but also occasionally unexpectedly very impressive as well. However what is key with this is that you look beyond any flashes of fluctuating quality and step back and see the importance that shows like this have to that community.

Murder on the Dancefloor takes dance show Strictly Come Dancing as its background and shakes an interactive murder mystery stick at it. It is always truly silly, as one of the character names, Crane Breville-Hardwood suggests. It is filled with the most garish of typical dance scene dresses, all overdressed, over made up and blinding colours. Also, those costumes adorn the most ridiculously over the top characters, caricatured within an inch of their lives.

So we have the insanely camp Marcus Hillery played with brilliant relish by Brian Roberts, then the creepy Lawrence Bough (Derrol Barnes) peeping on the ladies dressing rooms, and you have the costume mistress, Roxy Rhinestone (a gloriously bitchy performance from Jerry Delaney). Wherever you look in Murder on the Dancefloor you see the brightest and weirdest people, and for the best part the cast bring them vibrantly to life.

Colin W Gasson's script is clever enough to offer intrigue and it weaved a spell around many present, myself included, who failed to spot the actually rather obvious culprit, despite it in true Agatha Christie style laying the blame at potentially everyone. However, on reveal (once the inspector had got up to speed), it actually turned into a rather good solution, which I was sad to have failed to spot. The event was also enhanced by some lovely little performances from Top Hat Theatre school.

It all created what was a simple, yet thoughly entertaining afternoon. It ended rather dramatically and caught pretty much all of us unawares with the staging, and was a little surreal at times. However, this is just simple harmless entertainment and at the end of the day, something that I enjoy as much as the stars of the big stage. The theatre is at all levels, otherwise, it doesn't exist at all.

Performance reviewed: Saturday 28th October 2017 (matinee) at St. Albans The Martyr Church, Northampton.

Murder on the Dancefloor ran until Saturday 28th October 2017.

Review of Broken Party at The Benn Hall, Rugby

Broken Party , now on stage at The Benn Hall, is the first production by the new theatre company Nerve Theatre. Written and directed by company founder Mia Ballard, it provides an impressive collection of twists and turns that will please thriller enthusiasts. The story setup sees a gathering of the Lewis family to celebrate the birthday of Abigail. She is the daughter of Ann Lewis and the leading player, James, a high-flying lawyer who sets his stall out in the world as a supporter of the victims of society. However, as events unravel due to a television interview, is he the worthy man many believe him to be? Ballard's script is a perfect smorgasbord of murder mystery aperitifs, a dinner party, and a collection of the most dislikeable individuals, each of whom is the ideal culprit for guilt. The story is told in a single-location living room with little distraction and sees the Lewis family spar against one another following a somewhat awkward viewing of a TV show. The dialogue fr...

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 ...

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...

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