A Small Mind At The Theatre

The music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is ageless, and you would struggle to see anyone watch this latest tour of Jersey Boys and not recognise more than a few hits from the musical numbers despite many now being over sixty years old. However, it is interesting to note that the song that many people think of when the name Frankie Valli comes up is Grease , however in Jersey Boys , that is nowhere to be seen, this is very much about the music from the boys of New Jersey. The musical Jersey Boys celebrates twenty years on stage next year and from the audience at Royal & Derngate during the performance, the thrill they get from it shows no signs of waning. Maybe the audience doesn't react quite like a typical musical audience at times, however, Jersey Boys is not your typical musical. For much of the first act especially, the music plays second fiddle to a very quick passed and sharp series of storytelling. This is literally filled with sharp scene changes and quick-f...

The publicity blurb for this new production of Shakespeare's Henry V from Royal & Derngate, The Globe, Headlong with Leeds Playhouse reads " Civil unrest, trouble with Europe, and the death of our monarch… ". Timing is everything they say, and for a play written 400 years ago depicting events over 600 years ago, the timing for this new production couldn't be better. Headlong are well known for its striking productions of classic plays and works, with versions of All My Sons , Hedda Gabler (titled Hedda Tesman ) and 1984 among those in their back catalogue. This new version of Henry V also has more than a passing glance at their most recent work to grace the Royal & Derngate stage, Richard III . This Henry you see, performed by Oliver Johnstone, is more than a little like Richard in his portrayal. Our Henry V here you see is a more brutal, domineering, much more nasty piece of work and a needy daddy's boy than perhaps he is more often heroically portr...