A Small Mind At The Theatre

The Castle Theatre Wellingborough this year sees the home of Beauty and the Beast as its seasonal pantomime, and what a fabulously entertaining show it is. Hiding away from the big star names, Parkwood Theatres & Castle Theatre has assembled a talented bunch of performers to bring this tale “as old as time” to the stage. Produced and directed by Martin Cleverley once again, back from previous years' pantos, the show relies very much on characters rather than showy visuals. Taking full advantage of a French setting, the puns flow freely, including to the characters, with names such as Danon and Djon thrown into the mustard pot (very much intended) of puns. Aura Mitchell and Kaysee Craine lead our cast of characters as the title characters of Beauty and the Beast (also known as Prince Pierre). While they do play second fiddle, as is the norm for a panto, to the additional comic characters, they form a charming partnership. Returning to the role of panto dame from last year'...

Back in 2022, the theatre group The Wardrobe Ensemble created a sweet and adventurous staging of Judith Kerr's classic children's character, Mog - The Forgetful Cat . For this Christmas season at Royal & Derngate, Mog returns with, suitably enough, Mog's Christmas . The show, just a crisp, action-packed hour, retells two past adventures alongside a Christmas vignette. Kerr's Mog first appeared in 1970, and it launched a remarkable run of books over 50 years featuring the puzzled feline, culminating in the final book released in 2020, following Kerr's death at 95 in 2019. Kerr is most famous for one of her other tales, The Tiger Who Came to Tea . However, in Mog's Christmas , the show presents three entertaining little stories featuring her other, slightly lesser-known feline character. Over the course of the hour, we see Mog successfully foil a burglar, survive a trip to the V.E.T., and then, in the brand-new stage story, a Christmas adventure where Mog gets...

For theatres across the land, it's that time of year again. The time when the theatres fill with screaming children and a ridiculous amount of sugar intake and trips to the toilet. Yes, it is panto time, and before you say it, oh yes it is. This year, for the Royal & Derngate, it is time for a trip to Neverland (or Forever Land, that is, but more on that later) and a magical adventure with Peter Pan and the dastardly Captain Hook. Once again, following hugely successful previous runs, Evolution Productions brings this tale to the stage in 2025. And it has to be said, once again, they strike panto gold with The All New Adventures of Peter Pan , with a constantly lively, brilliantly colourful and awkwardly funny production that, as always with Evolution, is totally family friendly. Over the years here, Evolution and writer Paul Hendy have created the essence of pantomime (which just so happens to link to the tale within this story). Keeping all the traditions intact, a ghostly be...

The seventies comedy series Fawlty Towers , written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, remains one of the most enduring shows of all time. While some now frown on some of the content as being politically incorrect, it is impossible to see the antics of Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, and his staff as anything other than stunningly clever TV comedy of the highest standard. So, when news broke that Cleese was adapting three of his most famous episodes for the stage, there was a mix of naysayers predicting failure and jubilators ready for success. As the show now rolls into Royal & Derngate as part of an extensive tour following a hugely successful London run, the naysayers have gone quiet, and the audiences are packed. For those unfamiliar with the show,  Fawlty Towers  featured inept hotel manager Basil Fawlty battling everything from corpses and rats to Germans in his campaign to create the very best hotel, despite his constant annoyance with humanity, including the guests....

Agatha Christie is a name synonymous with crime fiction, perhaps the most famous, and her 1937 novel Death on the Nile is among her most notable. Adapted often for the screen and previously also as a stage play back in the forties, here Ken Ludwig brings a new adaptation to the stage, first performed in 2024 and arriving now at Royal & Derngate as part of an extensive UK tour. For this production from Fiery Angel, we return very much to the team that brought Ludwig's Murder on the Orient Express recently to the stage, including director Lucy Bailey. That was a solid adaptation, so, as we cruise the Nile, is it more of the same standard? Heiress Linnet Ridgeway and her new husband, Simon, are on honeymoon aboard a luxurious boat cruising the Nile, their journey shadowed by a priceless Egyptian sarcophagus. Tension simmers among the eclectic mix of guests, including Simon's vengeful ex-fiancée, a watchful MI5 agent, the British Museum's enigmatic Egyptology curator, and P...

The 1964 Disney film Mary Poppins is one of the most fondly remembered family films and has been a staple of many children's childhoods ever since its release. Adapted from P. L. Travers's book series featuring the famous nanny, it took until 2004 for the show to reach the stage, with this musical adaptation featuring a book by Julian Fellowes. The stage musical used the familiar songs from the film by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and added new ones by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, all under the watchful eye of co-creator Cameron Mackintosh. It is safe to say that many people were involved in bringing this show to the stage. The story, of course, tells of the family Banks—father George, mother Winifred, and the tricky-to-handle children Michael and Jane. Following a job advertisement thrown into the fireplace, a nanny named Mary Poppins arrives at their home, and the Banks' family experiences a very different world than they have ever before. Touring to sele...

The now-legendary Jesus Christ Superstar , written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, initially struggled to find backing in 1970, so its first airing was as a concept album rather than the now mainly recognised stage show. Now, 55 years later, the legendary Northampton Musical Theatre Company, at least in Northampton, brings the show to the Royal & Derngate once again, after last performing it in 2010. The story, I suspect, needs little introduction, so I leave you to ensure you know the story before heading to the theatre to see the show. And what a show it is: this is the N.M.T.C., almost at the top of their game, assembling the cream of their group and a vast cast supporting the main players. As lead, newcomer Linden Iliffe takes on the weighty role of Jesus of Nazareth, and he is terrific in the challenging part, depicting the innocent power imbued in him and his desperation and disappointment as his life unravels amid bitter betrayal and disownment. He has a powerful voice,...

The 1992 film The Bodyguard , starring Kevin Costner and marking the acting debut of singing megastar Whitney Houston, was a standard romantic thriller, greatly enhanced by Houston's presence and a cascade of big musical numbers. Surprisingly, it took twenty years to make the transition to the stage. Premiering in London in December 2012, just ten months after Houston's death, the show has since become a massive global success. Now it arrives at Milton Keynes Theatre again as part of its fourth UK tour in just thirteen years. The Bodyguard sees former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, hired to protect an Academy Award-nominated actress and music superstar, Rachel Marron, from a stalker. Between Farmer's duties and Marron's career, something inevitably builds between the two amid music and dancing aplenty. Taking the leads on this tour are Sidonie Smith as Rachel and Adam Garcia as Frank. Smith has appeared in The Bodyguard before, as a walk-in in a p...

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...