A Small Mind At The Theatre

Sometimes in theatre, whether you are in a big London venue, watching a big name star, or just watching a group of perfectly cast individuals, everything just feels right. Magic is happening. Without shooting the bolt of this review in the first paragraph, Red Velvet is that. Maybe the greatest moment of University of Northampton BA Acting history to date (that I have seen, and it's been quite a lot now). It all feels just right. First and foremost, Lolita Chakrabarti's play is a classy piece of theatre, starting out with more than a hint of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser , before spiralling out into a period piece of racism and acceptance. It is just simply brilliant. At virtually two hours without an interval, it also never drags at any point. I said after that I had seen hour parts that had felt much longer, and it's true. When the lights fade at the end of the play, you don't feel you have been seated for that length of time. So, much enthusing about the ...

Grapevine Theatre Company's rather spectacular opening to their production The Cost Of Freedom rather sets the scene for potentially one of the best Flash Festival productions ever. A stirring piece of physical theatre, high in risk at times, and performed under a sustained period of strobe lighting. What is happening during this sequence is that the white man (a harrowingly performed, uncredited appearance) is pursuing the six characters of the play, in an attempt to capture them to make slaves of them. We are in 1853, in America, a time when slavery is still dominant. A barbaric and cruel time and The Cost of Freedom tells its story in a harrowing, but an immensely watchable way. The Cost Of Freedom contains perhaps the actor with the greatest stage presence of this year group, that of Michael Gukas, here as Noah, the effective leader of the group, he is at his best. The perfect demonstration of raising your voice, without raising your voice. The best actors can say the p...

I can't quite remember how many versions of Charles Dickens' classic tale I have seen (maybe too many), but this dynamic, and at times, very different, version, was the second that I had seen in seven days following a Masque Theatre version the previous week. They couldn't have been more different in places, despite rigidly following the original story very well. This production started with an uncharacteristic mingling of the cast with the audience, including a collection of non-period tunes playing (there goes #Whamaggeddon!). It has a mixture of weird and relaxed to it, and the assembled school kids certainly relished it and the mince pies, candy canes and chocolate coins that were being handed out. As the cast disappeared at their due time, the scene is set for our narrator, Lyric Impraim, complete with dust riddled book to open the tale. She's a great performer, full of enthusiasm for the tale being told, and has a most brilliant cameo later a...