A Small Mind At The Theatre

Bryony Lavery's More Light , presented here in London as the final group performance by the 2019 BA Actors of the University of Northampton, is one of the more stranger plays that you might have the opportunity to see. Also despite is strangeness, it is also alarmingly entertaining as well. Although even now, I'm not entirely sure why. Their Emporer is dead, and these ladies who served him have found themselves confined against their will with his body. However, these ladies do not wish to die, but how to survive? They must eat of course, and sealed in a tomb to the great Emporer, what is the only thing that they can eat? One guess. It was as I came to write this review that I discovered that actually More Light was originally commissioned as a National Theatre Connections play, and on this revelation, all suddenly made sense. It's an accessible piece, ridiculously odd, but totally accessible, even though you might not understand it all. It also has a very large ense...

So, this is a bit different, the third year actors (my fifth group of them!) do panto, Cinderella to be precise. Pantomime is my perennial favourite bit of theatre. Oh no, it isn't! However, I have long acknowledged that for an actor, the form is both incredibly important, because if you can entertain kids, you can probably do anything, it also provides a large opening for a regular gig each year as they are so abundant. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the intelligent bods teaching these students have come to the decision to create a little panto action of their own. This first of three (and the other two are very different beasts, as you will learn from the next reviews) is the ever so traditional one. Formed partly from the work of Looking Glass Theatre and director James Smith, I first saw much of this piece in January 2015, and although I didn't remember a great deal of it after this time, the cheese song managed to flash back to me, perhaps, sadly. So, ...

I suppose it shouldn't have been a surprise that The Railway Children from Looking Glass Theatre was an awfully old fashioned and really rather quaint show. I know that at some point in the dim distant past I saw the original film version (all Jenny Agutter and "Daddy" etc), as I think definitely every one of my age will have seen that. However, the fact that of the audience, staggeringly only three were children suggests a little to me that the audience was either family and friends of the performers, or older people reminiscing over the story they remember from their younger days. I have to confess that I didn't remember much of the story ahead of seeing it, however, this adaptation from James Smith (who also directs) based on the Edith Nesbit original brings the story and characters to life in a compact seventy-minute version. As has been common from recent years, the cast is formed from recent graduates of University of Northampton BA Actors course, all famil...

More possible years have passed than I wish to imagine since my last encounter with Kenneth Grahame's classic tale of the adventures (or misadventures) of a collection of lively, disturbingly human like animals. However as I watched James Smith's new stage adaptation of the tale, many things came swiftly back to me. Here was the classic messing about in the river line, there was the famous "Poop! Poop!", and there was Toad pretending to be a washer woman. The whole thing was pretty much back, if a little abridged to fit into its seventy minute running time. That is not to say that this is a straight adaption for the stage, as it is at times more like a pantomime version of the story (albeit one without any "he's behind you!" business) in its absolute silliness. This is much in keeping of what you tend to get from Looking Glass in any case, a relaxed telling of a classic tale. It's what they are best at and it is very much not broke, so why try to b...

Over the last couple of years the National Theatre Connections plays have become quite a favourite of mine. They are short snappy forty to fifty minute plays by often well known writers and are designed purely to be performed by youth theatres. This year locally there are to be 21 youth theatre performances of the twelve plays for 2016. The location venue for this batch will Royal & Derngate at the end of April and just into May and I myself shall do my very best to see as many as possible. However on Saturday I had the pleasure of seeing the very first preview of Gargantua by Carl Grose by the Looking Glass Theatre in their wonderful performance venue of St Peters Church. Last year I happened to see another piece by Grose entitled Stay Brave, Brian Gravy, which was a tremendously challenging piece for the even younger performers. This was to be quite a bit different. The performance itself was very much in its early days with an acknowledged number of issues (not least som...

I arrived at St Peter's Church for Looking Glass Theatre's Sleeping Beauty slightly jaded and apprehensive for my third pantomime of the season. However I always love to support this little theatre and this years show had the bonus of having a quartet of those magnificent University of Northampton students that I get great pleasure in also supporting. The four on this occasion were Matt Larsson, Tara Lawrence, Nikki Murray, Ashley Thomas Sopher and they made a quite excellent and youthful quartet and showed surprising skills in the challenging art of pantomime (no doubt very useful to have on the CV). Tara held the obvious affinity for working with children following her Flash Festival success the children's storytelling show and she has that quietly gentle style that offers no menace. Here she was once again joyful and even as a baddie in the second act remained playful. Ashley was quite a revelation as the dame of the show, playing up the part with glee and doing everyt...

Last year in my review of the Ghost Walk I made it clear that I wasn't the biggest believer of ghostly apparitions. So I returned for more this year, not to be swayed into a believer, but to experience the best part of last years walk, the historical information. Rather thrillingly (and I take no credit. Or do I?) the ghost walk had not only dispersed of the slightly incongruous theatre performance filler, but also upped the ante on the history lesson. While ghosts were still of course on the menu (poltergeist stew anyone?), this year we also had the chance to learn a great deal more of solid historical information about the main four venues we visited. Our tour began at St Peter's Church, were we learned a little about the history of the place and who was buried there. We also got a chance to explore in the dark for a few moments. The church itself is an amazing building and it is a shame that is has been so rarely used for the last twelve years. Howe...

And so the next generation of the Looking Glass Theatre begins, lifted gracefully from its former home and planted into the arms of Hazelrigg House and its performance space the glorious St Peters Church. The move is complete and there is perhaps nothing better than a light, fluffy and fun reinterpretation of oft told Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tale The Hound Of The Baskervilles to begin. Created as some sort of chaotic amateur dramatic performance with a feel of Sherlock Holmes does Pantomime, this is indeed a silly entertaining feast. A cast of just three coping, mostly, with all the roles of the play adds frequently more chaos. Our cast are in no particular order Marvin Freeman, Alex Rex and Katy Corrie. I was sure when I saw the original cast that Freeman would absolutely be Holmes, however this throws a curve ball with Rex as the famous sleuth. It is appropriate though as anyone aware of the story will know that Sherlock is actually quite absent for much of the story of the Baskerv...

I had sadly missed the dressed rehearsal for my debut as theatre mover extra and therefore arrived for the opening performance on Thursday 30th July lacking in both knowledge of where to stand or what my lines were. It was fortunate however that, while boxes had been packed and clothes rails had been filled, there was to be much improv involved with the performance. Upon my arrival to the stage the performance had begun, with director James Smith marshaling his company of Jasper and Sam. The show itself began with little originality as I fell into my role with the rest of the performers of moving box to van, box to van, box to van. You get my gist? The main bit of excitement of the first act came from these chaps: Never could you have possibly dreamed of finding more clothes. Also never could you have imagined how troublesome at times the innocent rails could be become. Be it their too small wheels, falling apart frames or simply being too tall for the world they surrounded...

A few months ago I got myself embroiled in a little verbal fracas (no cold meat involved) on Twitter with those that I now call my Irish friends. It concerned their production of Jesus Christ Superstar ( details here ) and in my opinion being slightly below par. They got quite uppity about my criticism and even suggested the likes of me could effect its success. The tour continues merrily despite me and its actually at Milton Keynes Theatre next week. I suggest you save your money. Oops naughty me. However this convoluted intro brings me to the glorious stage school production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor [ sic ] Dreamcoat at Looking Glass Theatre. In the absence of knowing whether this is a musical or a rock opera (sorry another in joke), I shall just call it an "absolute joy" instead. What this lacked in production values and budget over JCS it made up in on in earnest joy, enthusiasm and a sheer thrill of performance over making money. I mentioned to local the...

This weekend I spent my first money ever on seeing a pantomime. I have of course seen them in the past, in those wonderful days when the magic money people, the parents, paid for things and I have near no memory of them (pantomimes that is, not parents! :O ). I did however see Jack And The Beanstalk last year, however no money or magic beans passed from my hand as I experienced the mysterious benefit of a competition win to see it. I enjoyed it in a sort of surreal "what the blooming bananery is going on" way that comes perhaps from an adult watching a pantomime (especially with no children of any form in tow "look at that weirdo!". Much like going for a Sunday walk with no dog. Just odd.). CJ de Mooi of Eggheads fame was particularly good in it, I remember. However it didn't turn me into a pantomime going thespian or whatever they might be called. So I didn't return to the Deco this year, or indeed my second home to see Peter Pan, I wanted to save my money ...

Killed tells the story of Billy Dean, a First World War soldier shot for cowardice on July 17th 1916. Originally performed in the eighties, this has been picked up by the Looking Glass Theatre in commemoration of the centenary of the beginning of the war. Director James Smith has assembled his own quality group of recruits for this production. Particularly Jaz Cox as Billy Dean, who plays him with the sufficient emotion to leave the audience thinking. And thinking is the important part of this play because it gives you no answers. Was Billy a coward or not? Did what happen at the crucial moment amount to cowardice or simply confusion? For me, I have no answer except for the fact that the shooting of cowards was wrong in any case. A terrible part of history with a tremendous lack of understanding. Some people simply do not have what it takes to go to war and kill people. That does not make them cowards. However back to the production. Sasha Farmer and Jennifer Styles-Barker are bo...