A Small Mind At The Theatre

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 ...

Regular readers of this fair blog will be aware that I am not overly keen on pantomimes, although I always at this time of year end up inexplicably in the vicinity of more than one (and this year I am destined for six I believe!). So, despite Dracula (or A Pain in the Neck) , not officially being billed as a panto, that is very much the vibe of this Playhouse Theatre adaptation of the Bram Stoker classic. A company of actors (well, aristocrats) in the 1920s have assembled to put on a little show, their own version of Dracula (or something like Harker of Whitby meets the Count) for us, the "willing" audience. Our host is Sir Simon Smee (Simon Rye) who will play Jonathan Harker during this little performance. What follows is for the best part a slightly loose version of the Stoker classic, which does definitely at times get a little complicated in the way it tells the story, not made easier by the playing of characters playing characters explanation. However, this is, be...

Steel Magnolias is perhaps most known for the star-studded 1989 movie rather than this neat and emotional play with comedic undertones. The play by Robert Harling actually came first, by two years, and tells the story of six women, family and friends and their meetings at Truvy's beauty parlour. As time goes on we witness the evolution of this collection of oddball, but not overly caricatured people and the emotional traumas that happen in their lives. On paper, this play is very chick lit but the film itself is fascinatingly described by one reviewer on IMDB as " A 'Chick Flick' Men Can Enjoy, Too! " They are quite correct as although this conversational piece is at times very hairdresser or ladies chatting over the garden wall like, there is a heart to this story that makes it appealing to both genders. It helps of course that there is a wonderfully assembled cast, all seemingly completely comfortable with their roles. Di Wyman as proprietor Truvy maintains...

There is a tradition at the start of some meetings that a member of a committee has to declare an interest in something being discussed. Therefore it is appropriate that at this time, I declare that as the relatively newly installed publicity committee member at The Playhouse Theatre, I am about to review a play that it has been my responsibility to promote. So how is that for conflict of interest? However to be fair, the amateur world has become an increasingly delicate place for me to work with reviewing as I have got to know more and more of those involved, and they have all learnt who I am. My reviews though are not here for me to make friends, as some recent offerings have shown, so if there was something up, rest assured that I would happily state so. Fortunately director Jem Clack has on this occasion gave me little of concern, as with his large cast of nine, he has produced a nicely polished production. I had the opportunity on Sunday to see the final dress rehearsal for th...

I have a confession to make from the outset here, I have neither read or have any recollection of ever having seen the movie Gone With The Wind. Incredible for sure for such a classic, but I feel certain that if I had watched a four hour film at any point in my life, I might have remembered it. This allowed me to feel the pain of the conscripted screenwriter Ben Hecht (Jof Davies), who hasn't read the book, as producer David O Selznick (Graham Follett) and Victor Fleming (Victor Guse) attempt to bring the novel to life in front of him. There are times that writer Ron Hutchinson perhaps makes Moonlight and Magnolias a little too wordy, however it does make the shear panic of the five day script writing our pain as well as those trapped in this cramped office with no other company than bananas, peanuts and occasional startled visits from Selznick's confused assistant Miss Poppenguhl (a nice performance of descending panic from Kate Ellis). It's a fun and chaotic play base...

The Playhouse Theatre's The Killing Of Sister George offers to me the most unique review challenge yet as I have followed the creation process unlike any other, having had the privilege to watch a number of rehearsals. Seeing it from relatively early days of book in hand, to book down and to the penultimate dress rehearsal, I have seen it at at some very dramatic times. No one will disagree either that the final time I saw it, just one rehearsal away from going live in front of a paying audience, there was much still to refine. This review is of the fourth night and I will disregard as best as possible what I saw during rehearsals (with one very important exception). Written in 1964 by Frank Marcus, Sister George was an exceptionally controversial play at its time with its suggestions that its lead characters are in a lesbian relationship, still illegal at the time. The play itself is subtle in its telling, however the 1968 film is much more explicit, capitalising no doubt from t...

I never got to see Deckchairs as it was performed at the Playhouse in 2014 two shows before I discovered the place. Therefore I was coming to this follow-up cold. However this is not a sequel in any case, just another play of four totally unconnected plays, they are two handers set on a seafront or beach of some kind. None of them are thankfully performed on those impossible to put up traditional deckchairs. The style of the four plays varies, with two serious pieces of drama in the centre, book ended by two outright comedies. It forms an interesting, and not totally successful package. Written by Jean McConnell, these are quintessentially British feeling plays with often broad brushstroke and caricatured characters. The quality of the stories varies with by far the stronger ones after the interval and this is surprisingly replicated to a certain extent by the performances themselves. The opening play is titled Day Trippers and is a relatively lightweight tale of a trip of two cowo...

As has often been the case I arrived totally cold as to what I was going to see and experience from The Playhouse's production of The Sunshine Boys. The writer Neil Simon was unknown to me (research today has told me that he wrote classics The Odd Couple and Barefoot In The Park, and it is true, shockingly, that I have seen neither), therefore what I was going to get either way was a surprise. All I really knew was that is was a comedy. How sharp, witty and caustically funny is was to be was a remarkable surprise. It was also great news to discover that one of my favourites of the Playhouse regulars, Graham Follett, was the main star. In all the shows I have seen, I have admired his generally soft and gentle approach to the roles. It was however a huge pleasure to see him playing against that type I have previously seen in the role of Willie Clark, a opinionated, miserable and often downright rude ex-vaudeville star, one half of a long dissolved double act. He is immediately perf...

I had my very first experience with J. B. Priestley in September this year with the smart and stylish BBC production of An Inspector Calls. Therefore I was greatly looking forward to seeing the Playhouse Theatre's production of Priestley's play I Have Been Here Before. There is a surprising similarity with An Inspector Calls mysterious Inspector and this plays Dr Gortler, both arrive unexpected and have a dramatic effect on every other single member of the audience. Playing Gortler is Graham Follett, with the same solid German accent he confidently had in The Dame Of Sark. I commented in my review of that, how much of a star he was with the controlled but very softly delivered nature of his lines. In this he was once again the same, pulling the strings of all the other characters via Priestley's fascinating script, but delicately. Follett's portrayal actually sets the pattern for everyone in this production as it all feels one of the more naturalistic plays I have s...

In my relatively brief theatre life I like often to try to spot tidbits of information with any new plays that I am seeing. Most are generally dull, maybe a writer I have or haven't seen before or an actor reappearing. Bazaar And Rummage though provides one of the more vaguely interesting ones in that it was first performed in 1982 in the compact 90 seater Royal Court Upstairs, which just so happens to be the same place I saw my very first London play, Rainbow Kiss in 2006. Well that is interesting to me anyway... The writer of Bazaar And Rummage, Sue Townsend, is someone I very much grew up reading via her classic Adrian Mole diaries. However despite loving them so much, rather oddly I have never seen or read anything else from her career as a writer. Bazaar And Rummage (Townsend's fifth play) is about a group ("You can't call them a group. They've never met!) of agoraphobics who attempt to recover through holding as the title suggests a bazaar and rummage sale....

The Mystery Of Irma Vep was my first encounter with The Playhouse Theatre Northampton amateur group after missing their previous performances this year due to a clash with other happenings. It was also my first encounter with writer Charles Ludlum and I have to say that came as quite a surprise as well. Much like a Carry On film it was all silly antics and double entendres. As would be expected for an amateur production the set was simple yet effective within budget constraints. There were rickety doors and troublesome gun racks, but it all added to the general frivolity of the play. The story is slight and pretty unimportant from Ludlum but the antics were keenly played by the cast of six (four main stars and two added delights). Further research of the play has led me to understand that the play is traditionally played by two gentlemen via quick changing with the men playing both male and female roles. The Playhouse has dispersed with this, but nothing appeared to be lost in this e...