Spirit of Christmas Past
Whisky Galore
by Compton Mackenzie, adapted for the stage by Philip Goulding
Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Mary Wallace Theatre, Twickenham until 16th December
Review by Steve Mackrell
The initial thought on going to see a play adapted from a classic novel and based on the concept of actors playing the parts of other actors, was trepidation, given the challenges involved. But that was the challenge faced by Richmond Shakespeare Society in their festive production of Whisky Galore, adapted for the stage by Philip Goulding, and based on the well-loved novel by Compton Mackenzie.
The premise of the play is that a group of female actors, the Pallas Players, are touring the country in the 1950’s with a stage version of the celebrated Scottish novel, set during the Second World War. So, we are in “play within a play” territory, with much larger-than-life stylised acting and, being intentionally written for an all-female cast, involving much cross-dressing and manly poses. The play opens with a rousing, inspirational and jolly hockey-sticks introduction from the Player’s “actor manager” before the band of female players leap into their stage production of Whisky Galore.
Read more…Harrowing in Enfield
The Enfield Haunting
by Paul Unwin
Smith and Brant Theatricals et al at the Ambassadors Theatre, West End until 2nd March 2024
Review by Heather Moulson
The Enfield Haunting is scary. Nearly ninety minutes scary in fact, with no interval to catch your breath (or have stiff drink). The play is an adaption of a true story from the late seventies. These ghostly events took place in Green Street on Enfield Highway, an area I knew well, as I worked very nearby about a decade later. I have to say I had a much happier time than this particular family.
Read more…Oh Yes It Is (a fabulous panto)
Odyssey: A Heroic Pantomime
by John Savournin, music and lyrics by David Eaton
Charles Court Opera at the Jermyn St Theatre, West End until 31st December
Review by Patrick Shorrock
The Charles Court Opera Panto has been a seasonal treat for those in the know for many years, with finer singing, funnier jokes, and more fantastic scenarios than your bog-standard Cinderella. Recent subjects have ranged from Pinocchio to Beowulf, from Tutankhamen to Rumpelstiltskin.
Read more…Black Spots and Revelations
Treasure Island
by James Rushbrooke, after Robert Louis Stevenson
The Questors at the Judi Dench Playhouse, Ealing until 31st December
Review by Andrew Lawston
Treasure Island is perhaps not the most obvious story to adapt into a pantomime. But when you bear in mind some of the rougher edges that have been filed off the more traditional panto fairy tales, it quickly starts to make sense as a classic of children’s literature.
James Rushbrooke’s script opens with a brief introduction from Gareth Bevan’s Billy Bones. As soon as he mentions the tale of Davey Jones, from Brixton, against the tinkling guitars of Life On Mars, it becomes clear that the script is going to be packed with more contemporary cultural references than you might expect from Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of piracy.
Read more…Flights of Fancy
Peter Pan
by Evan Placey, music and lyrics by Vikki Stone, after JM Barrie
Rose Theatre Original at the Rose Theatre, Kingston until 7th January
Review by Steve Mackrell
A new musical adaptation of the classic JM Barrie story, Peter Pan, has flown into the Rose Theatre, Kingston as this season’s mid-winter offering. However, for this stage version, the term “flown” is not quite the operative word since our boy hero remains firmly rooted to the ground.
Taking a timeless classic, such as Peter Pan, provides a great opportunity to tell a very familiar story in a new, fresh and innovative way. After all, the famous storyline contains all manner of theatrical ingredients – adventure, friendship, magic – and with numerous intriguing concepts such as flying over London, lost shadows, fairy dust, pirates, mermaids, crocodiles and a make-believe Neverland with a tribe of young boys.
Read more…Feel Good
It’s A Wonderful Life
adapted by Mary Elliott Nelson from the film by Frank Capra, after Philip Van Doren Stern
Reading Rep Theatre, Reading until 30th December
Review by Sam Martin
Reading Rep have done it again with a brilliant adaptation of a classic. This time, It’s a Wonderful Life captures the sentiment of the original film with a satisfying and heart-warming four-hander.
The set design (Libby Todd) captures the cosiness of small-town America as well as a distinct nod to Christmas and its relative traditions. The arched framing of the stage, which mirrors the snow globe-like ornaments, the Guardian Angels, is used to see into our protagonist’s memories. This magical symbolism reminds us of the nostalgia the audience might associate with the story, as well as providing a lens for the audience to peer into the life of George Bailey, a down on his luck banker who has forgone his personal dreams so that he can help others.
Read more…Marmite and Spam
Monty Python’s Spamalot
by John Du Prez and Eric Idle, lyrics and book by Eric Idle
Teddington Theatre Club at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 9th December
Review by Mark Aspen
Spamalot is anachronistic, it is puerile, it is scatological. It is has schoolboy humour, bad taste, and weak jokes.
But this is the whole point. It is meant to be all these things. It doesn’t take itself seriously, and there is not much danger that we should either. What it is meant to be is pure unadulterated fun … … well, actually fairly impure and adulterated fun.
To make everything work favourably requires great acting, spot-on comic timing and lively physicality. TTC’s high-energy Spamalot, in the capable hands of Director Nigel Cole, has this all. Plus more; it is a musical, and the singing zings, the dancing is electric. It is a brilliant show that is a must-see and a must-see again (in case you missed anything during this high-energy production).
Read more…In Sheep’s Clothing
The Lamb Disagrees
by Eratle Wang
Kibo Productions, at Baron’s Court Theatre until 2nd December
Review by Gill Martin
Willow is living her worst nightmare. Not only has she discovered that her boyfriend James is married, but his wife has just been found dead. And now Willow is prime murder suspect, as the last person who saw her alive.
That’s until Willow realizes: what if she’s actually a token Chinese character in a murder mystery -whodunnit novel? Can she track down the author, change her destiny and help an uninspiring and uninspired male author with his lazy writing?
Read more…Burns Hot
Lady J
by Lewis Webb and Christina James, after August Strindberg
Off Main Stage and Umbilicus Productions, at Waterloo East Theatre until 26th November
Review by Gill Martin
The set is suitably black and bleak for the premiere of Lady J, a new translation and adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie. Even the programme’s content-warning bodes ill: mental health issues, inter-generational trauma, suicide, emotional manipulation … violence towards animals.
The two main characters are fatally flawed in this dark and depressing study of human nature. It’s Lady Chatterley meets Downton Abbey as class and money motivate a troubled triangle.
Read more…Domestic Insight
The Women’s Centre
by Eliza Halling
The Play Is Not The Thing at Oxford House, Bethnal Green until 22nd November
Review by Denis Valentine
The play The Women’s Centre is presented under the aegis of a company called The Play Is Not The Thing, with an opening programme note that the focus is ‘on the process rather than the product’ so any audience member going into it, can be forgiven for thinking that they may not be getting quite a coherent show, but more a mish-mash presentation of ideas and concepts. This is however not the case, and what writer Eliza Halling, director Louise Wellby and their company have put together is an acute look into a maligned aspect of society through what is, for the most part, a well-crafted linear piece of theatre.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 