Pride and Perfect Performance
Pride and Prejudice
adapted by Janet Munsil from the novel by Jane Austen
Richmond Shakespeare Society at Fountain Gardens, York House, Twickenham until 9th July
Review by Viola Selby
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Pride and Prejudice is one of the most well-known and beloved stories of all time, whether your preference is for the BBC’s adaptation with Colin Firth’s infamous wet scene or for the Hollywood adaptation with Keira Knightly as the lead role of Elizabeth B or for one of the many theatre adaptations, there is a version for everyone.
However, Janet Munsil’s adaptation brings a whole new freshness of character and a quick-paced quality to this popular tale, whilst somehow making you feel you are going through the chapters of the book in detail. From the very beginning our senses are delighted through the exceptionally colourful and period perfect costumes designed by John Gilbert, Miriam King, Junis Olmscheid and their team. Each character is differentiated with a particular colour that in itself creates a mesmerising rainbow on the stage, complementing the delightfully British stately homes expertly created by the stage designer Junis Olmscheid, and skilfully enhanced by Paul Nicholson’s lighting design, who manage to create sets that mirror the grandeur of places such as York House with a few simple set pieces and floral bouquets. My particular favourite must be Pemberley, where portraits are ‘hung’ of the actors in character, a real unique touch to this unique play.
Read more…Over the Moon
Who Killed the Football Manager?
by Chris Martin
Edmundians at Cheray Hall, Whitton until 2nd July
Review by Heather Moulson
Just let me say that I was floored. I really thought I knew who had done it! That’s as much of the plot that I will give away.
In a cabaret style setting, we sat round at tables with anticipation, surrounded by enticing photographs of the suspects. My personal favourites were Trudy Goodnight and Terry Towling – especially his Kevin Keegan perm.
This inter-active murder mystery set in 1974 in a Headmistress’ study at an ailing boarding school, began promisingly with an authentic set, including the much-missed blackboard. Here we were introduced to Bob Slayer, played convincingly by Dave Young, as a bitter former football star; then Steve Swift, a hungry writer and Eileen Armstrong-Payne the desperate headmistress, admirably portrayed by Stephen Wink and Theresa McCulloch respectively. There was desperation all round with these three characters and plenty of motives.
Read more…O Tempora, O Mores
Tamerlano
by George Frederic Handel, libretto by Nicola Francesco Hyam
The Grange Festival, The Grange, Northington until 3rd July
Review by Mark Aspen
Power and its corruption … absolute power and its tyranny. These are themes that strike a tragically topical note. Muslim against Muslim … sects of Islam at war with each other. Yes, very 21st Century. Yet these are the subjects of Handel’s opera seria, Tamerlano, set in what we now call the Middle East … but in 1402.
The Tartar Sultan Timur (Tamerlano in Italian) had spent over thirty years waging jihads against fellow Muslim rulers whom he considered not to be keeping the faith, but in truth merely an excuse to build an Empire to rival that of the Moghuls that had collapsed some half-century earlier. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid (Bajazet in Handel’s opera) was a hugely successful Turkish military leader, whose battle honours gained him the sobriquet “The Thunderbolt”. In July 1402, their two armies, each of over 100,000 men, squared up to each other on a battlefield near Ankara. However, by bribery and general skulduggery, Timur had caused whole regiments of Bayezid’s men to defect to his side. Timur prevailed and Bayezid was taken captive to Timur’s court in Bursa.
Read more…Very Little Voice
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
by Jim Cartwright
Neil Gooding and Tiny Giant Productions at Richmond Theatre until 2nd July, then tour continues until 16th July
Review by Celia Bard
Hardly seems possible that it’s thirty years since the Award winning comedy-drama The Rise and Fall of Little Voice premiered at the National Theatre in London. Since then it has undergone several revivals, not only in the UK but in south-east Asia. The latest incarnation of Jim Cartwright’s creation brings to Richmond Theatre this Cinderella like story of a young girl trying to survive in an unloving and uncaring environment that suddenly changes to one of fame and glory.
The setting of Jim Cartwright’s story is a gritty northern town, switching from the oppressive living conditions of Little Voice’s family, and that of a sordid, low-down night club. The play follows the rise of a reclusive young woman as she discovers success, and then outlines her emotional difficulties when having to cope with the expectations of others, those of her mother, Mari and of Ray Say, an aging, fading, unsuccessful impresario.
Read more…Ours Is Better Than Good
Our Country’s Good
by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Hill Theatre until 2nd July
Review by Viola Selby
After spending two years in lockdown, where travel and social gatherings became nigh on impossible, Our Country’s Good is a breath of fresh sea air and a trip of a lifetime.
With a tense and eerie beginning that set us on our course for a play that would take us on an emotional rollercoaster, we were introduced to the cast of ten playing twenty characters quite quickly. At first you may think that the audience would have to use a lot of imagination to identify one actor playing two completely different roles, such as a Scottish uptight Major and a friendly, funny Irish convict turned hangman or a brilliantly British upper class captain and an eccentric Cockney-wit convict, with the only costume change being a major’s to captain’s coat and wig, but with this casts’ incredible talent, each actor brings all the roles they play into life.
Read more…Pecking Order
The Birds
by Conor MacPherson, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier
St Michaels Players at the St Michael’s Centre, Chiswick until 25th June, then at The Annexe Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe until 27th August
Review by David Stephens
A chilling version of Daphne du Maurier’s original 1952 short-story, this stage adaption of The Birds, written by Conor McPherson (The Girl from the North Country, The Weir) and staged by the St Michael’s Players in Chiswick is a self-styled ‘tense-psychodrama’, delivering intrigue and suspense in abundance and managing to succeed where many others fail: to produce a thriller that is worthy of the genre.
The mood is set from the start. As the play begins, the auditorium is plunged into darkness, broken only by a faint, ethereal, blue stage glow, the accompanying eerie music punctured only by the unsettling sound of beaks, seemingly tapping on the roof and walls of the theatre, climaxing in a cacophony of bird screeches, human screams and the sound of breaking glass. As the play begins, therefore, the audience, hearts already pounding with adrenaline, and, with eyes struggling to adjust to this dim light, half expecting to see this flock of frenzied birds, are relieved to find themselves inside the relative safety of a room in a ramshackle house, complete with makeshift bed, a table with portable cooking equipment and another table stood in front of a heavily barricaded window. Such is the strength of this immersive beginning, that the audience almost feel as though they themselves have narrowly escaped the angry flock by diving into this abandoned property, adding to the feeling that we are also part of the claustrophobic experience that is to follow.
Read more…Nuns, Buns, Puns, and Guns
Cyrano de Bergerac
by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Glyn Maxwell
Putney Theatre Company at Putney Arts Theatre until 25th June
Review by Andrew Lawston
It’s always with something of a jolt that we are reminded that Cyrano de Bergerac is only a little more than a century old. Edmond Rostand’s classic play premiered in 1897, but its combination of historical setting, verse form, and its huge popularity and the impression it’s made on popular culture all give it a timeless feel.
This new production of Glyn Maxwell’s adaptation of the play is performed using traverse staging between two wooden arches. A gaggle of excited nuns set the scene on the way to vespers, wondering where their daily storyteller has got to. Within minutes, the holy sisters are engaging in enthusiastic but decidedly secular swordplay with wooden canes, and selling oranges to each other as they evoke the Parisian theatre where the story begins.
Read more…Lost Days of Wine and Roses
Private Peaceful
by Michael Morpurgo
Nottingham Playhouse and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions at Richmond Theatre until 25th June, then on tour until 9th July
Review by Eleanor Lewis
“They are not long, the days of wine and roses” warned Ernest Dowson in his 1896 poem Vitae Summa Brevis, and for Charlie and Thomas Peaceful and the rest of their generation approaching adulthood in 1914, that line was particularly pertinent.
Michael Murpurgo’s Private Peaceful tells the story of the two Peaceful brothers and their inescapable fate. Younger brother Thomas, ‘Tommo’, tells the story as he keeps watch through the night before a significant event in his older brother’s life. The action moves backwards and forwards with the narrative. There is perhaps an assumption that Tommo is the main character but the story is that of both brothers.
Read more…Will It ‘Bee’ Alright On The Night?
Beemaster
by Chris Harris and Chris Denys
Blue Fire Theatre Company at the Exchange Theatre, Twickenham then on tour until 31st August
Review by David Stephens
A comedic tale focusing on the plight of the humble bee, Blue Fire Theatre Company’s piece provides audiences with an entertaining and, at times, educational glimpse at the life of our winged friends, exploring the symbiotic relationship between keeper and bee and, in doing so, posing some thought provoking questions regarding our own existence and the meaning of life.
This monologue, written by Chris Harris and Chris Denys, is delivered by Brother Barnabus (Steve Taylor), the appointed Bee Master for an otherwise silent order of monks living in the idyllic surroundings of Clumpton Abbey. This setting, represented by two stage-flats, designed and painted beautifully by Junis Olmscheid, is simple yet highly effective. Its simplicity is necessitated by the fact that this play will soon go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and then on to various venues around the country.
Read more…Money Can’t Buy
The False Servant
by Pierre Marivaux, translation by Martin Crimp
Orange Tree Theatre Productions at the Orange Tree Theatre Richmond until 23rd July
Review by Gill Martin
A tale of duplicity, avarice, sexual tension and generally bad behaviour is played out at a dizzyingly fast pace at the Orange Tree’s production of The False Servant.
The dialogue is delivered at machine-gun speed and is as devastatingly cutting in its outcome.
The intricately involved plot focuses on a personable young noblewoman known as The Chevalier (Lizzy Watts) who disguises herself a sharp-suited chap to expose the despicable motives of Lelio (Julian Moore-Cook).
Read more…
Mark Aspen 