A Small Mind At The Theatre

The Pillowman sounds such a friendly title, and to be fair, his story is one of the lighter aspects of Martin McDonagh's script. It still involves dead children though, if you want to get a clear vision of how dark this play is. Set in a police state of the future, Katurian (Toby Pugh) is taken in for the content of his often violent stories and a similarity to a spate of recent child killings. Here in detention cell 13, his police captors, Tupolski (Adrian Wyman) and Ariel (Steve While) play good cop, bad cop while holding over the threat of violence against Katurian's mentally disabled brother Michal (Patrick Morgan), being held in another cell. The Pillowman is clearly a very warped story, with the blackest of black comedy, and often also very offensive with it's racial stereotyping and disability. In fact, it is no surprise that a couple left in the interval, as I would happily admit that this play is far from everyone. I like a good black comedy though, and ...

It is a strange but honoured circumstance perhaps to find such a play by a name as Tony Klinger debuting in the compact Castle Theatre studio space in Wellingborough. However despite Mr Klinger's name being a recognisable one in the world of film making and more recently on the bookshelf, A Tired Heart & The Big C is the first play to come from the film industry stalwart. A Tired Heart is described by the author himself as an "outpouring of emotions" formed from a series of life events that he has had. Lead character is Stuart Wagner (Steve While) who in the first scene sees the death of his father Sam (Will Adams), killed by a so-called tired heart. It is no real spoiler and totally impossible to avoid the fact in this review that Sam does not leave Stuart forever, as spruced up in white suit he remains a reoccurring presence. Following the death of Sam, the story unfolds via the funeral arrangements and financial fallout surrounding his death and as the title sugg...

THIS REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE PUBLIC REVIEWS. Beginning a review of Antigone by writing, it was all Greek to me would be clichéd, so therefore perfect for myself to do. In the case of the Royal and Derngate Actors Company’s production it would be irrelevant though. As this was a clear, modern, indeed futuristic version of the ancient story. With all the distress and despair generally on offer, it could have perhaps been Eastenders. Antigone was written by Sophocles almost 2500 years ago and tells the story of an empire in pieces following a crippling war. Ruled by King Creon (didn't Elvis used to sing about him?), whose declaration that two warrior brothers be divided in death, one honoured, one unburied, is challenged by their sister Antigone. Director Trudy A Bell, who most recently directed the third year University of Northampton BA Actors in a dynamic version of Macbeth ( review here )   brings a similar style to this vivid production. Se...