Moody Clues
HiJinks and Caviar
by Emily and Pete Moody
Fluffy Top Productions at the New Wimbledon Theatre Studio until 26th October
Review by Heather Moulson
Opening with The Invitations, a strong number sung by all the cast, we are drawn into the colourful characters of Moody and Moody’s murder mystery musical, HiJinks and Caviar.
We are ploughed into 1930’s England on Alan Wynn’s splendid set, an ornate room at the recently widowed Lord Shyttevigge’s estate. It is an elaborate production with a relatively large cast in a small space, but taken on with efficiency under the detailed direction of Emily Moody and musical direction of her co-writer Pete Moody.
His second musical number follows, as Professional Standards introduces three members of staff, Lisa Rouselle as the maid, Emily Clare as Cook, and Jeff King as Hyde, the loyal butler (or was he?). Question marks like these are almost permanently raised as we find out whodunnit.
Read more…Twist and a Laugh
Gay Pride and No Prejudice
by David Kerby-Kendall
Stephen Leslie Productions at the Union Theatre, Southwark until 2nd November
Review by Gill Martin
It’s certainly a twist and a half from Jane Austen’s perennially popular book Pride and Prejudice. A sassy script thanks to David Kerby-Kendall’s clever re-working and Steve Leslie’s light touch in his London debut as a producer create a masterful comedy Gay Pride and No Prejudice.
Austen’s book, written in 1796, sold twenty million copies and became inspiration for TV series and movies, a timeless romance with a cuttingly sharp wit. The social issues of that time resonate centuries later: love, marriage, passion, wealth, status, ambition, keeping up appearances, gossip, family dynamics. And to that list we can add homophobia !!
Read more…Belly Laughs
Outpatient
by Harriet Madeley
Reading Rep Company and Crowded Room at the Reading Rep Theatre until 19th October
Review by Sam Martin
The simplicity and honesty of Outpatient left me holding my breath. Harriet Madeley captures the fear and sense of isolation that is so relatable when we contemplate death. I was rooting for Olive, gasped at the twists and turns in her life and felt enormous emotion come the end of the hour-long play. Yet, I haven’t laughed out loud so much in quite some time!
Outpatient is a solo performance that explores the central character of Olive and her ambition as a journalist. Desperate to clinch a publishing deal to put her on the map, she decides to tackle the seemingly silent subject of death. Her search for subjects to interview lead her to a palliative care unit … and her own close encounter as she is diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). Cue a run of close to the wire gags, outrageous dialogue and tongue in cheek quips as she searches for meaning amid her own anguish, whilst still trying to write a captivating piece.
Read more…Quid Est Veritas?
Death and the Maiden
by Ariel Dorfman
Putney Arts Company at The Putney Arts Theatre until 19th October
Review by Claire Alexander
‘When crazy people have power you indulge them’ was the line that stood out for me during this brave production, by Putney Theatre Company, of the searing play Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman. Set twenty years after the fall of the Chilean totalitarian regime of General Pinochet during the 1970s and 80s – a most unhappy period of Chile’s history – Death and the Maiden recounts one woman’s revenge on her own experience of torture and questioning during this most desperate time.
A word about the Pinochet regime – I visited Chile in late 1997 a few years after the fall of the seventeen year tyranny and the subsequent re-emergence of democracy. I visited the memorial to the tens of thousands of the ‘disappeared’ as those who lost their lives or the livelihoods for their beliefs or speaking up, became known. It was not in the guide books and took some finding, hidden in an obscure part of Santiago, mirroring a period of history this country would prefer to forget.
Read more…Murky Depths
The Pillowman
by Martin McDonagh
The Questors at the Questors Studio, Ealing until 19th October
Review by Brent Muirhouse
Despite the fluffiness eluded to by the title, Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman is not comfortable. Thrust into an unsettling world where storytelling and terror are one and the same, the opening moments, played out against a stark, oppressive set — bare walls, a cold interrogation room — immediately signalled that the not even the plushest of pillows would soften many of the blows of the play’s nightmare scenario playing out. Through the direction of Roger Beaumont, the Questors audience in Ealing were invited to confront a symbiosis between the art of storytelling and the horrors it can both depict and perpetuate.
Read more…Canaletto and Custard
Il Tabarro
by Giacomo Puccini, libretto by Giuseppe Adami
Rita
by Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Gustave Vaëz
Instant Opera at Normansfield Theatre, Teddington until 13th October
Review by Salieri
This production of these two seldom performed operas, completely different from each other, provided a fascinating evening’s entertainment. Il Tabarro by Puccini, first produced in 1918 is a typical melodrama with the customary corpse at its ending, whilst Donizetti’s Rita is a wonderfully funny romp, with a sprightly and entertaining score.
Read more…A Twist of the Knife
Turn of the Screw
by Benjamin Britten, libretto by Myfanwy Piper
English National Opera at the London Coliseum until 31st October
Review by Patrick Shorrock
This magnificent performance shows that English National Opera are still very much firing on all cylinders. It may require an orchestra of only thirteen players, but the varied colours and sheer tension conjured up by Duncan Ward and the ENO orchestra don’t feel in any way small scale, even in the vast space of the Coliseum. Every turn of the musical screw and twist of the dramatic knife is beautifully realised, arising naturally from the music rather than being imposed on the score. The audience, including plenty of under-21s, is completely sucked into the Britten’s vortex of operatic tension. There is that sense of a whole house completely enthralled that only comes with the finest performances.
Read more…Cry for Everyone
Evita
by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice
HLO Musical Company at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 12th October
Review by Heather Moulson
There is a strong opening to this ambitious rock opera. We are in a Buenos Aires cinema in July 1952. The cinema audience is authentically dressed in the fashion of that era. When the film is interrupted with news of the death of María Eva Duarte de Perón, there is a sense of real loss and mourning for Argentina’s First Lady, universally known simply as Evita.
The coffin is brought on, and it is the turn of Che, the cynical narrator, to reveal himself. Appropriately it is Argentinian actor Sergio Altamirano who saunters onto the stage in the role. A dark and witty force with a strong voice, he strikes a monumental figure against the black coffin.
Read more…Love and War
Birdsong
by Sebastian Faulk, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff
Original Theatre and JAS Theatricals at Richmond Theatre until 5th October, then on tour until 22nd February 2025
Review by Andrew Lawston
Tonight, Richmond Theatre goes back in time over one hundred years, landing in a period that everyone thinks they know very well. Based on Sebastian Faulk’s modern classic Birdsong, this new production of Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation evokes France from 1910 to 1918 perfectly, and all performed against a single set of wooden slats, which is a staggering achievement given the action takes in everything from quiet country houses in Amiens to the Battle of the Somme. Thanks to pacy direction from Alastair Whatley, this three hour production whistles past in what feels like no time at all.
Retaining just enough of the novel’s contemporary plot thread to bookend the story, the play opens with a young man searching for a particular name in the war cemeteries of northern France. This provides some ominous foreshadowing to the adventures of Stephen Wraysford (James Esler, wonderfully dynamic throughout) as he visits René Azaire’s factory in 1910 Amiens, to compile a report for his guardian who wishes to buy it. The factory’s beleaguered workers are facing further hardship in pay cuts, and there are stirrings of unrest.
Read more…All the Buzz
Humble Boy
by Charlotte Jones
Teddington Theatre Club at the Coward Studio, Hampton Hill Theatre until 5th October
Review by Steve Mackrell
Ayckbourn on steroids. That’s the first and overwhelming impression that comes to mind after taking a large dose of Humble Boy, written by Charlotte Jones, and first performed at the National Theatre in 2001.
Presented by Teddington Theatre Club, in the intimate space of the studio in Hampton Hill Theatre, the play sparkles with sharp and witty comedy. We are soon introduced to a variety of familiar characters pottering around a pleasant contemporary garden somewhere in middle England. Into the mix is placed a matriarchal mother, her troubled son, a boorish self-made businessman, his daughter and even, classic Ayckbourn, an eccentric gardener.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 