A Small Mind At The Theatre

I am beginning to enjoy many of the amateur productions that Northampton offers as much as many of the professional ones. Some would say that this should be at odds with common sense because they have neither the budget, the time or the skilled actors (shall stop your right there buster). This is amateur dramatics darling, that is what it is all about. I have taken a liking a little more to these amateur ones perhaps because the performers seem more human to my unskilled eye. They occasionally fluff their lines, much like I forget to buy the milk. They didn't last night though at the rather quaint Playhouse Theatre. Maybe a hesitation or two, but certainly nothing involving cries from behind stage. The stage in question was, to quote the programme "the drawing room of the Seigneurie of Sark" and rather lovely it was as well. A typical am-dram set, not complicated and very functional. The play that took place upon it was The Dame Of Sark by William Douglas Home (brothe...

In my far reaching ambition to experiment with nearly everything on offer at Royal & Derngate, this weekend I attended N.Dance, part of the national Dance4 competition. Consisting of thirteen routines from schools, colleges and universities across the country and their hopeful ambition to be selected to perform at the MYDance festival in Plymouth. I have actually seen two dance performances in Northampton previously, but this is the first that I have put finger to keyboard for review. As a viewer of Strictly, I am not adverse to watching dance although it would not be top of my list. However with my couple of visits during 2014, I was admittedly won over by the impact of seeing it live. If there is one thing I have learnt over this past, busy theatre year, there is absolutely nothing better than seeing something (anything) live, even if you may not be an absolute fan. Rather than going through all of the routines, I shall pick out the best or highest impact ones. The first (and...

My first trip to Royal & Derngate of 2015 provided myself with an interesting first of its own, my first burlesque show, suitably titled The Burlesque Show. Now I knew quite well what burlesque entailed and wondered what the experience of going to such a show would be (erotic, arousing, or uncomfortable?). However I was greatly advised on Twitter (@chrispoppe and @mudbeast76) that it would be a well worth experience. Turned out that it was really rather entertaining and great fun all round. The sensible plan of this review would be to cover the burlesque first I suppose, although for me it was a great deal more than that (and t'other was indeed the best part). There were three main burlesque artists performing on the evening; Immodesty Bliaze, Alexandra Hofgartner and Miss Betty Blue-Eyes. Immodesty Bliaze we were informed was one the the greatest of the art and without doubt the show(wo)manship was exemplary, however I suspect personal tastes are quite prevalent with this ki...

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 ...

For my fifth visit to the Masque Theatre, I headed Into The Woods  for their production of Stephen Sondheim's musical. In my fast learning theatre binge this year, I had encountered Sondheim once before with Sweeney Todd ( review here ) and to say I had been mighty impressed was an understatement. Even to my untrained ear, Sondheim is quite a different writer of music which needs a great deal of concentration. However it is mightly rewarding if you do. From the book by James Lapine, and cleverly weaving many Brother Grimms' fairy tales into one, it is a suitably macabre little story built around a constant musical track. While not having many totally memorable individual tunes with the exception of Into The Woods itself, the whole works suberbly together to make a hugely enjoyable musical. In their production, the Masque Theatre were once again showing their pedigree beyond their "amateur" status. None of the performers were a let down, and some were simply superb...

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...

As Joe Pasquale prepares to squeak his way to Neverland in the Derngate next door, the Royal completes its 2014 Made In Northampton season with the more orthodox play Merlin. With no intentions of being seasonal in anyway, this is a more refrained non interactive take on the classic legend. It does however create a very modern version of the ancient tale, with the young characters partaking in a very modern language style and indeed even taking part in twerking during one of the music and dance interludes. It is perhaps suited for writer Ella Hickson together with composer Jon Nicholls to try to do something different with the very familiar tale. Distancing themselves far enough away from the BBC's hugely successful Saturday night show of the same name, while maintaining a lot of the comedy of that series, they have created a hugely enjoyable two hours of entertainment. While never being able to offer the super special effects of the series on stage, dark figures provide the sugg...