No Spine Left Untingled
The Edge of Darkness
by Brian Clemens
Teddington Theatre Club at the Hampton Hill Theatre until 28th January
Review by Heather Moulson
As befits an Edwardian thriller, the set of The Edge of Darkness consists of a drawing room with intricate oak panelling, sinister French doors, mysterious hallways and an intriguing bureau, all picked out in very moody lighting. The authenticity and atmosphere of this period piece, with gas lamps lit accordingly, sets the audience up nicely for this suspenseful three act play by Brian Clemens, who wrote this creepy tale in 1975.
Every character is under suspicion in this gothic yarn. Even the somewhat bawdy yet sensitive maid, Penny, who is played with light relief by a vibrant Lara Parker, getting every detail right when waiting table, could be the one. When the Cranwells bring their estranged daughter Emma home after losing her memory for three years, we know there is dark underlying doubt.
Read more…Not Skin Deep
Beauty and the Beast
by Loz Keal
Edmundians at Cheray Hall, Whitton until 28th January
Review by Alex Montague
The Edmundians dependably produce an annual pantomime using the post-Christmas slot to provide cheer and enjoyment to family members of all ages. This year was no different, and under the reliable direction of Jackie Howting, with additional production by Ellen Walker Dibella, they incorporate all the stock pantomime characters and included lots of audience participation, boos and cheers and even a ghostly ‘he’s behind you’ scene in this version of Beauty and the Beast written by Loz Keal. We were also treated to a number of large scale music and dance numbers, some using the whole cast, which was a fresh and innovative approach for the Edmundians. Young Izabelle Sochanik-Oliver’s impeccable choreography made full use of the large cast of adults and children, who clearly had spent many hours practicing their moves to get crisply in-synch and step-perfect.
Read more…‘Everyone Should Have a Fantasy’
Little Dorrit
by David Hovatter after Charles Dickens
Questors Theatre at the Judi Dench Playhouse, Ealing until 28th January
Review by Poppy Rose Jervis
‘In this bold adaptation of the iconic novel, we are transported to India during the British Raj, where Little Dorrit, a young, loyal daughter, works tirelessly as a seamstress to provide for her family … an impassioned adaptation that powerfully satirises class, wealth and British-Indian relations during colonial rule.’
As a hefty tome of some 600 pages with numerous subplots, an adaptation or ‘re-imagining’ of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens in any form would be no small or easy task. Originally published as a serial and featuring the personally significant and oft referred to by Dickens, ‘Debtors Prison’, in which Little Dorrit was born, the story is set in London, in the 1820s, with a number of characters.
This theatrical production, however, written and directed by David Hovatter, has fewer characters (but even so, has a cast of sixteen playing over twenty roles). With its heavily satirised personalities and some fragile, sensitive souls, physical theatre and alternative text, it not only gives us a new perspective, but successfully transports us to India to do so. In this insightful script, Little Dorrit’s father is a Prince who has lost his fortune but not his airs and expectations and sees nothing wrong as an older male who mourns the loss of his wife, with his young daughter devoting her life to finding ways to keep and support him. She feeds him by sewing all day and going without food herself.
Read more…Beware the Green-Eyed Monster
Othello
by William Shakespeare
Frantic Assembly at the Lyric Hammersmith until 11th February
Review by Patrick Shorrock
This production of Othello by Frantic Assembly, now at the Lyric Hammersmith, originated in 2008, but still feels like a fresh take on one of Shakespeare’s most durable plays. Described as ‘adapted for Frantic Assembly by Scott Graham and Steven Hoggett’, it’s not for lovers of heritage drama or traditionalist purists, but is very much alive theatrically. The text is brutally pruned. It’s all over in less than two and half hours with an interval. Much of the specific (and unnecessary) context about Othello being employed as a soldier by Venice has gone. It’s not made clear what Cyprus refers to in this version, and nor does it need to be.
Read more…“People Do Dreadful Things”
The Hollow
by Agatha Christie
Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Mary Wallace Theatre, Twickenham until 28th January
Review by Louis Mazzini
There’s no gainsaying Agatha Christie, the Queen of crime fiction and – incredible as it may seem – Britain’s most popular woman playwright, the first to have three plays running simultaneously in the West End. Indeed, two of Christie’s plays are on in central London today, and for decades her work has been a staple for community theatre companies. It is therefore surprising to find that The Hollow is the first time in its ninety year history that Richmond Shakespeare Society has “done a Christie”, in this case her own adaptation of her 1946 Hercule Poirot novel of the same name.
Like most of her plays, The Hollow is set in what one critic described as “Agatha Christie time”. Rodney Figaro’s magnificent set, complemented by the music and some of the costumes, nicely evokes the 1930s ambience with which Christie is generally associated, but other touches suggest the 1950s – the play was first produced professionally in 1951 – despite the presence of servants.
The Hollow takes place in the eponymous home of Lord and Lady Angketell. The couple are played by Geraint Thompson and a sparkling Frances Billington, who knows exactly what kind of play she is in and exactly how to play her character, an eccentric aristo with a flair for forgetfulness and a shrewd eye for the truth. Christie’s servants are usually entertaining and the Angkatells’ are no exception. James Phillips is suitably mordant as the butler and Asha Gill delightful as a star-struck maid; both actors have excellent comic timing. Milly Newman plays the Angkatells’ daughter Henrietta, a sculptress whose current work-in-progress is somewhere offstage left where it is admired from time to time by members of the cast, all of whom seem to have a different idea of its height and position.
There are also several houseguests: John Cristow, a self-centred doctor played with the right amount of disdain by Hugh Cox, and Gerda, and Cristow’s subjugated wife, an excellent Katie Abbott. Edie Moles is the Monroesque Midge – “half an Angkatell” – a woman-child whom no one takes seriously, least of all the man she adores, Edward Angkatell, portrayed by a suave Luke Daxon. A good whodunnit also needs an unexpected guest and in The Hollow this is provided by Anna Piggott, channelling Lady Gaga as a vivacious Veronica Craye, a vampy actress whose entrances – and jewellery – light up the stage. Surprise, surprise … … there is a murder, which leads to the arrival of Inspector Colquhoun and Sergeant Penny, played at just about the right speed by Mark Saunders and Graham Schafer.
Originally billed as a comedy thriller, The Hollow is at times very funny and though some of the appreciative audience laughter certainly wouldn’t have been expected by Christie, it would for the most part by the director, Derek Stringer, who has done a very good job in animating this classic of the 1950s. With a whodunnit the “thing” that matters most is the plot and the performances of the victim and murderer. It would be wrong to identify them but, despite Christie’s somewhat ponderous script, the actors concerned are thoroughly convincing, especially the killer in the final scene when … … but that would be telling.
Louis Mazzini, January 2023
Photography by Jessica Warrior
The Root of All Evil?
Little Dorrit
by David Hovatter after Charles Dickens
Questors Theatre at the Judi Dench Playhouse, Ealing until 28th January
Review by Steve Mackrell
There is a rich tradition of adapting novels into stage plays, and the works of Charles Dickens are no exception, with recent examples including Nicholas Nickleby and A Christmas Carol. Indeed, without the novels of Dickens to adapt, the world of theatre, film and television would be that much poorer. The latest Dickens adaptation to reach the stage is David Hovatter’s vision of Little Dorrit presented by Questors Theatre, Ealing.
The theme of Little Dorrit is debt and, more generally, money – and the problems associated with having either too little or too much of it. Money is a frequent theme of Dickens perhaps because, as a child of twelve years old, he suffered the trauma of seeing his own father taken into a debtor’s prison – a completely illogical punishment given the debtor was unable to work and hence couldn’t earn any money to pay back the debt. It’s been suggested that perhaps his own father could have been the model for a character such as Mr Dorrit and, indeed, the book Little Dorrit is divided into two halves – “poverty” followed by “riches” – with the extremes of both being equally unpleasant; although, being a Dickens story, the “riches” soon returns to rags.
Read more…Flights of Fancy
Peter Pan, the Musical
by Piers Chater Robison, based on J.M. Barrie
Step on Stage at Hampton Hill Theatre until 14th January
Review by Thea Diamond
What an absolute joy to have seen Step on Stage’s production of Peter Pan. For those not in the know, Step on Stage is one of the Richmond borough’s popular youth theatre companies, with students ranging in age from 5 to 21 years. Directed and produced by Emma Louise Tiniswood with assistance from Jasmin Carmody, this was the last night of their sell-out four-show run, which ended with, not only the end of show speeches and presentations to the crew, musicians and back stage helpers, but the young cast’s obvious emotional finale and farewell to what had clearly become a close-knit community over the months of rehearsing together. Step on Stage describe themselves as a family, as this was very evident in the interactions between all members of the cast, from the youngest to the older actors where their comradery and friendship shone through.
Read more…Mean, Menacing, Murderous
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare, adapted by Lucy Morrell
Rose Participate and Oldenburg State Theatre at The Rose Theatre, Kingston until 15th January
Review by Gill Martin
The stage is set, dark and dangerous, mean and menacing. The cast is ready, raw and ragged, with robotic, jerky movements contorting their bodies.
This gritty version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth spares nothing. Big sound, flashing lights, screeching voices bring to life this tale of murderous treason and tyranny, tragedy and treachery at a dizzying pace. A non-stop ninety minutes of intense action of the Scottish play zip past as blood is spilt in battle and in a quest to seize power.
Read more…Compelling Charm
Swan Lake
Nerubashenko Ballet at Richmond Theatre until 15th January, then on national tour until 31st April
Review by Michelle Hood
The production company presenting this ballet, Nerubashenko, is perhaps an unfamiliar name in the world of touring ballet. However, the pre-publicity also alludes to the participation of Smirnov-Golovanov Productions. This relates back to Victor Smirnov-Golovanov who was the founder and Artistic Director of Moscow City Ballet. Although he died in 2013, he was survived by his wife, Ludmila Nerubashenko, who has given her name to this current touring company. Ludmila succeeded her husband in 2013 as Artistic Director of Moscow City Ballet but, given her Ukranian birthright, and the current Russian-Ukraine war, has set up a new company with other dissenters from Russian ballet circles.
Politics aside, Nerubashenko Productions have gathered together a talented group of performers who are now embarked on a lengthy UK winter tour with a repertory that, as well as Swan Lake, also includes The Nutcracker. Also associated with the company is their Artistic Director, Marina Medvetskaya, a Georgian prima ballerina previously involved with the St. Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre, who is responsible for selecting many of the international dancers appearing in the show.
Read more…Buoy Band
Fisherman’s Friends, The Musical
by Amanda Whittington
Royo Entertainment at Richmond Theatre, 28th February to 4th March
Preview: The company of Fisherman’s Friends, The Musical discuss their forthcoming production. Critic Thomas Forsythe reports.
The world premiere production of Fisherman’s Friends, The Musical embarks on a UK and Ireland tour this spring, including to Richmond Theatre and the New Wimbledon Theatre.
Thomas Forsythe meets with the show’s director James Grieve, who promises audiences are in store for “a feel-good, foot-stomping, sea shanty musical telling the astonishing story of the world’s least likely boyband”.
Based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations and the smash hit 2019 film about them, the show has already played to packed houses at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro, where it broke box office records as the most successful production in the venue’s history.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 