A Small Mind At The Theatre

The Jungle Book is an age-old classic, made far more famous by Walt Disney than any other original writer going by the name of Rudyard Kipling. Mention the title to many people and they are more likely to say "oobee doo I wanna be like you" than say "oh, yes, the book by Kipling". Therefore to present this classic tale for the stage and dispense with all reference or hint to that ingrained music and create new music of your own is dangerous. However, that is before you witness the brilliant new work of Joe Stilgoe, with lyrics by adaptor Jessica Swale, and you realise very quickly you are in very safe hands. These are catchy, foot-tapping tunes of the killer variety. However, Jessica Swale's adaptation is far from a procession of nifty tunes, this is a bold, clever and still very relevant production for 2017 of the now 123-year-old novel. Perhaps strong enough to live without those tunes if needed, this is no musical adaptation. Sweeping clever snatches of ...

Last year I saw the University of Northampton BA Actors perform Blue Stockings , an emotive and highly powerful play from Jessica Swale. I was that impressed by both the play and performances that a couple of days later I returned to see it again. Therefore when Nell Gwynn by that very same writer popped up on my Facebook status of a planned trip to see the play from a group of Masque Theatre folk, I conspired my way into a car to Bedford. Nell Gwynn is I have to say, from the outset, not as strong a play as Blue Stockings , it doesn't have the emotional impact and many of the characters do not get the expansion and depth as those of Stockings. However as that is such a stonker, it doesn't mean that this is poor play. It is actually a wonderfully entertaining take of Nell, one of the first female actors and more famous mistress of Charles II. For an amateur production also with such a large cast, it also benefits from remarkable high quality of performance across the boar...