Theatre reviews for you, by you. If you would like to review for us,
please contact us including a short review of what you have seen recently.

Writer – Gemma Head Director – Kathryn Hanke Reviewer – Sara Jackson The Public Reviews Rating: This is the first performance from Whiteface theatre and writer Gemma Head. It is set in a Call centre and shows the every day lives of the staff; the ambitious if slightly crazy boss, private lives and personality clashes that take place in an office environment. The centre is called Soul saver direct and takes calls from people having personal and financial problems. But like all call centre’s it has its targets to meet and Carol, the call centre boss played by Gemma Head has her own plan for meeting those targets. The piece is very true to life and is based on experiences that Gemma Head had while working in a call centre. It has funny and tragic moments, which the cast move very smoothly and steadily through as the piece heads towards its rather obvious conclusion. The Actors give solid performances, most notable is Jamie Smelt as Matt who manages to portray a vile, over cocky, manipulative bully but still shows us moments of vulnerability in his relationship with his mother. The cast show great comic timing and wonderful relationships, which develop nicely throughout the piece. Victoria Morris as Patty and Dermot Daly as Joshie complete a very tight team. The piece showed great potential but felt very slow in places lacked pace and energy, it was a bit too long with several unnecessary scenes. The ending was very over the top and a bit uncomfortable and had it ended 2 minutes earlier would have made for a much stronger performance all around. Although the program mentions a designer (Kathryn Hanke) it is difficult to see the contribution she has made. The minimal set, which consisted of a desk and a toilet sign on the back [...]

Reviewer: Ian Foster If Avenue Q is best described as an 18 certificate version of Sesame Street, then La Clique is just like the circus, albeit reconceived for an adult audience. After a highly successful 9 month run at the Hippodrome near Leicester Square, including winning the Best Entertainment Olivier Award, and then a world tour, La Clique has returned to London for an 8 week season at the Roundhouse in Camden: not bad for a show which has its beginnings at the Edinburgh Fringe. Described as a “heady cocktail of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary variety”, what makes La Clique unique is that no two shows are the same. They have a rotating roster of entertainers and performers with a variety of tricks and stunts which ensures each evening has its own special spin. It is set up like a circus in the round, with various options for seating in different rings: chairs at ringside, cabaret tables with waitress service, standing, and of course, regular seats, which means you can pick what kind of evening you would like to have, a nice touch. And so to the show: it is a rapid-fire collection of turns ranging from acrobatics, illusions, songs and insane roller-skating antics. Highlights for me were Carl-Einar Häckner’s hysterical Swedish illusionist who had me in tears of laughter each time he came on, Ursula Martinez’s highly revealing striptease with disappearing handkerchief and the incredible roller-skating acrobatics of the Skating Willers which quite literally needs to be seen to be believed. The changes between the acts were seamless, big credit to the backstage crew for executing these with lightning speed and efficiency, and this helped to maintain the party atmosphere which permeated the entire venue from the moment the lights went down. On a final note, [...]

Writer: Robert Louis Stevenson Adaptor: Andrew Pollard Director: Adam Sunderland Reviewer: Richard T. Watson At roughly forty minutes on each side of the interval, this Treasure Island is undeniably snappy. Northern Broadsides have been making successful forays into children’s theatre for a while now – last year’s Heidi – A Goat’s Tale was nominated for the TMA Best Show for Children and Young People Award – and Treasure Island is the latest in this line, currently playing at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre. For years, the Broadsides have had a reputation as a strong touring company who present gritty, no-nonsense versions of classic texts in a distinctly northern vernacular. Their hallmarks are the northern voice, minimal set, minimal technical wizardry and spades of live music. They like audiences to imagine locations and won’t patronise them. That, then, is Treasure Island’s greatest strength: here is a show for children that takes its audience seriously. There’s no painful attempt to start a piratical sing-a-long or to get the kids up onstage. Instead, the Broadsides tell their story as though their young audience is mature enough to handle just watching and being treated as sensible people. The schoolkids lap it up. Two especially sinister characters appear in puppet form, assembled in front of our eyes, so they’re seen to be evil, but not scary. Blind Pew – one leg a crutch, the other a saw – is a particularly good one. There’s a lot of set for a Broadsides show; more than usual anyway. Their wardrobe and desk with drawers are used to great effect – hardly ever still, they keep this a fluid, fast-paced production that never lets the attention or interest wander. With rapid re-configuring of the set, the scene isn’t allowed to be in one place for long, and becomes a [...]

Writer: Roy Williams Director: Maria Aberg Reviewer: Clare Howdon Roy William’s blisteringly topical play ‘Days of Significance’ first opened at the Swan Theatre, Stratford upon Avon in 2007, four years after the war in Iraq began. The Royal Shakespeare Company has now embarked upon a nationwide tour of the piece (with a few re-workings by the playwright – notably to the third act) and thanks to the withdrawal of troops from Iraq earlier this year, ‘Days of Significance’ remains a relevant and stimulating way to spend a cold November evening. ‘Days of Significance’ is not your typical war play and it covers a variety of modern-day issues but William’s writing is at its most effective when questioning the impact that war has on the grass-root members of society (whether soldiers or civilians) as opposed to the politicians; the young boys who fight in a war they barely comprehend and are ill-equipped to deal with the horrors and eventual repercussions they will undoubtedly experience. William’s brings the piece bitingly up to date with a commentary on who exactly is to blame for the illegal war crimes in Iraq whilst juxtaposing this with some nice classical parallels from Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ namely in the relationship between Ben and Trish, a Benedict and Beatrice for the binge drinking generation. This is certainly a play of three acts, and whilst the booze-soaked town-centre location of Act One is as far away from Basra as one can possibly comprehend, a short second act powerfully and harrowingly displays to us the first-hand account of the war in Iraq whilst Act Three deals with the aftermath of the young soldiers and their loved ones experiences. William’s complex and highly empathetically characters are certainly brought to life by a strong cast. Joanna Horton’s subtleportrayal as Hannah [...]

Writer: Jane Austen Adaptor: Simon Reade Director: Toby Frow Reviewer: Diane Higgins Simon Reade’s adaptation directed by Toby Frow, brings together the classic text of Austen’s work, with all her well loved characters plus music (Richard Hammarton) and dance (Sam Spencer-Lane). The set design by Christopher Woods was minimal. Its raised and angled circular platform, few pieces of furniture and chandelier relied totally on the actors to set the scenes and create the action/atmosphere of the late 1790′s. The opening dance and music introduced us to the plays many Characters with Mary Bennet playing solo violin. The first scene introduces us to Longbourn house, home of the Bennet family. Susan Hampshire was entirely plausible as the neurotic Mrs Bennet, anxious to marry off her daughters with Peter Ellis as the long suffering Mr Bennet resigned to being the father of five silly daughters. His eldest daughter Jane was convincingly played by Violet Ryder, whilst his acknowledged favourite the feisty Elizabeth was played by Katie Lightfoot in a very creditable professional theatre debut. The other sisters being a predictably quiet and musical Mary (actor/musician Victoria Hamnet) and Leah Whitaker and Lydia Larson as the youngest Bennets. Nicholas Taylor was a haughty Darcy with Alex Felton and Leo Staar as Bingley and Wickham. Carolyn Pickles was an imperious Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Tom Mothersdale as the obsequious Mr Collins seemed to somehow overplay the role with his stiff comedic actions, when Austen’s words would have sufficed. The comedy aspect of this whole adaptation has been given a much greater emphasis. Austen’s Novel is full of subtle humour, but with hobby horses, chairs framing Pemblerly portraits, scuttling around with props and the general noise it has a feeling that is a cross between an 15 minute version of an Austen play with a [...]

Music: Andrew Lloyd-Webber Lyrics: Tim Rice Director: Bill Kenwright Reviewer: Laura Wardell What can you say about Joseph that hasn’t already been said, even after 40 years this show is still pulling in the punters and is still the show that so many people have a soft spot for. This lively and upbeat show takes a whistle stop tour through the popular bible story in which Joseph is the favourite son of Jacob who is given a technicolor dreamcoat by his father, much to the despair of his brothers who sell him in to slavery. Joseph has dreams which appear to predict the future and ultimately, get him out of a tricky situation. Along the way Joseph encounters a baker, a butler, seven fat cows and an Elvis inspired Pharaoh as well as running in to his brothers again after a long period of absence. As this production began touring around the same time as Lee Mead began his West End run as Joseph following his win on the BBC programme ‘Amy Dream Will Do’, it is difficult not to compare this production to the slick polished show at the Adelphi Theatre that charmed audiences for 2 years however the wardrobe department provide a great range of costumes which vary from what the audience might expect given that the show is set in Ancient Egypt and the lighting design (Mark Howett) used during ‘Joseph’s Coat’ are quire impressive. It is also worth noting that Joseph’s chariot of gold is also perhaps not what you imagine it to be but is certainly an entertaining moment! There is very little that can be done with Joseph in terms of reinventing it however this production has taken the comedic approach and run with it throughout the show, proving popular with the audience and [...]

Director & Choreographer: Mitch Sebastian Musical Director: Dominic Barlow Reviewer:Linda Barker Celebrating the incredible singing talent of three legends of the twentieth century, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, this spectacular festive production transports you back to the glamorous, glitzy nights of The Sands Hotel, Las Vegas, in the late 1950s and early 60’s. Collectively known as ‘The Rat Pack’, Frank, Dean and Sammy were a force to be reckoned with. Now, their talent, energy, charisma and mannerisms are stunningly recreated by Stephen Rashbrook (Sinatra), Mark Halliday (Martin) and Matthew Henry (Davis Jr). The guys are also joined by Robyn Currell, Nikki Stokes and Rachel Parrott as the fabulous Burrelli Sisters. In terms of sheer sophistication, nothing quite compares to the sound of a big band and three great singers. The camaraderie between the three performers was evident and they clearly enjoyed every minute of the show as much as the audience did. The talented twelve piece band was also in fantastic form, although they sometimes seemed to drown out some of the vocals. The show began with a selection of ‘Rat Pack’ hits including ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’, ‘Mr Bojangles’, ‘Sway’ and ‘New York, New York’, before taking a more seasonal turn. Classic Christmas songs such as ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’, ‘Let it Snow, Let it Snow’, ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’ and ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ were also given the swing treatment. The show authentically recreated the performance styles of each crooner. Numbers were performed with a cigarette in one hand and a large scotch in the other and Sammy Davis Jr was the butt of a couple of mildly racist jokes. Although this may have offended or upset some of the more politically correct members of the audience, I felt it [...]

Writer: George Bernard Shaw Director: Michael Rudman Reviewer: Elizabeth Vile Mrs Warren’s Profession was first written in 1894 and the content so shocked the press that it wasn’t performed publicly till 1925. Victorian audiences were unable to cope with Shaw’s frank and honest portrayal of a woman who chose prostitution over starvation. This choice is seen only as a business venture by Mrs Warren and her partner in the business Sir Croft, but it is not so black and white to her daughter Vivien. The production at Chichester Festival Theatre followed the original script and went for realism at all times. Felicity Kendal and Lucy Briggs-Owen were very strong in the roles of Mrs Warren and Vivie Warren respectively. Their powerful characterisations and emotional depth of performance meant the audience felt truly sympathetic towards the pair as they tried to rescue their fragile relationship. Max Bennet in the role of Frank was enjoyable to watch but also slightly irritating. This mix of tenderness and childishness was well balanced and allowed the audience to sympathise with his sadness of loosing Vivie but to also understand Vivie’s reasons for refusing him. I felt Praed and Crofts characters were slightly underplayed. Mark Tandy’s speech needed a little bit more colour in it as it was in danger of becoming monotonous, while it took me a while to realise the true viciousness behind David Yelland’s character. The costumes were beautiful and very authentic to the era, as was the set. Although the set added to the realism and it was lovely to look at it did have its disadvantages. The long black outs during scene changes slowed down the momentum of the play too much. The audience were left sitting in darkness for minutes at a time while recorded classical music was played at [...]