A Lion in Winter
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
music and lyrics by Irita Kutchmy, based on the novel by C.S. Lewis
Step on Stage Productions, Youth Theatre at Hampton Hill Theatre until 15th January
Review by Andrew Lawston
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is a great choice for youth theatre. Aside from the enduring popularity of CS Lewis’s original novel, the central four characters are children, and many of the supporting cast are talking animals or mythical creatures. The story can be told in a big-budget Hollywood production, but with the book’s emphasis on the characterisation of the four Pevensey children, it’s equally possible to envisage a tiny fringe adaptation with a cast of half a dozen. Or, indeed, Irita Kutchmy’s musical version, as we’re seeing tonight at Hampton Hill Theatre.
From the opening ensemble number, the eponymous The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, however, it’s clear that Step On Stage Productions are committed to a huge undertaking. The song sees most of the numerous young cast on stage as evacuees being waved off to the countryside by parents. Laden with suitably scuffed suitcases and gas mask boxes, the large ensemble sings with gusto, before the action switches to the Professor’s house, with its staircase, landing, and of course the eponymous wardrobe. The Professor is played by Nils Collin, who looks marvellously comfortable in his country house, pipe in his hand, relaxed and thoughtful. He later also operates Aslan and provides the lion’s voice, in a contrastingly energetic but equally compelling performance.
Read more…Going For It 100%
Alice in Wonderland
by the PTC Writing Team from the story by Lewis Carroll
Putney Theatre Company at the Putney Arts Theatre until 8th January
Review by Denis Valentine
Alice in Wonderland is a newly written and produced play-musical by the Putney Theatre Company and offers an interesting, and at times innovate, take on the delivery of the classic story.
With a big ensemble cast there are many strong performances which really bring to mind the classic elements and recognisable character traits that one might hope to see when going to Wonderland. Frances James offers a very likeable Alice and hits all the right notes as our confused but strong-willed protagonist.
Read more…Fresh Pot of Mad Party Tea
Alice Bounces Back
Putney Theatre Company at Putney Arts Theatre, until 8th January
Thomas Forsythe investigates
“You mean you can’t take less. It’s very easy to take more than nothing.” So says The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.
Putney Theatre Company has almost taken this as its motto for the company of its own Alice in Wonderland, a musical version of Lewis Carroll’s much loved enigmatic story, written by the PTC Writing Team.
By mid-December, excitement was at its peak as the Putney Arts Theatre’s resident company, Putney Theatre Company, was ready to journey with Alice and with everyone’s favourite wacky, weird and wondrous characters, on a rumbustious, rousing and rowdy ride through Wonderland.
Read more…Heart-Warming Joy
Matilda the Musical Jr.
by Denis Kelly, based on the story by Roald Dahl, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin
Dramacube, Hampton Hill Yellow Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 20th December
Review by Millie Stephens
Millie Stephens is one of our younger reviewers, this review being written the day after
her sixteen birthday. Millie trained with the Rose Theatre, Kingston.
Dramacube’s production of Matilda the Musical Jr, was impressive and lived up to their high standard, particularly with the young age of the casts this year, as young as seven years old. I reviewed Sunday afternoon’s Hampton Hill Yellow Cast.
I thought that the set and costumes by Hannah Calarco and the production team were amazing. The opening set with a backdrop of book cases and flying books was wonderfully designed, with ABC blocks to give stage props to stand and sit on. I especially thought Miss Trunchball’s costume and makeup was convincing and comedic, adding an extra layer of professionalism to the production.
Read more…Impressive, Authentic and Magical
Matilda the Musical Jr.
by Denis Kelly, based on the story by Roald Dahl, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin
Dramacube, Twickenham Blue Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 20th December
Review by Eleanor Lewis
There are challenges to putting on any children’s show, but to stage a production of Matilda, with five separate casts, during a global pandemic with all the restrictions that involves and the possibility of another national lockdown at any moment, really deserves Respect with a capital R.
One of the most endearing things about Dramacube’s young actors is that they don’t make their audience nervous. Matilda is a great show but not the easiest to do, there are some relatively sophisticated themes running through it and it takes some skill to present Tim Minchin’s outstanding lyrics as effectively as possible. None of this is beyond Dramacube’s students: they make their exits and entrances professionally, they know their lines (and have probably been trained in what they might do if they forget them). Their characters talk to each other, not into the air, and what they sing and speak is clearly heard. Put simply: they know what they’re doing.
Read more…Christmas Post
Ellie and Starlight’s Christmas Adventure
by Kenneth Mason, originated by Sarah Watson.
Silvercube Media Group in association with Dramacube Productions at Hampton Hill Theatre until 24th December
Review by Celia Bard
Ellie and Starlight’s Christmas Adventure marks another quest for a little Yupik girl called Ellie and her imaginary friend, Starlight, the polar bear. Ellie, her family and village have moved higher into the mountains in order to escape the rising sea level caused by global warming. However, there is a problem. It’s Christmas, and Ellie is afraid that Father Christmas won’t know that the village has moved and that when he arrives to deliver presents to the children, all he will see is water and no sign of the village in evidence. Ellie and Starlight, after a lot of thought, decide that they must travel to the North Pole to let him know of their new address and to give him the Christmas list of presents that Ellie has written. The journey is treacherous, and the pair must overcome a number of dangerous obstacles before they arrive at their destination.
Read more…West End Re-Packaged
Matilda the Musical Jr.
by Denis Kelly, based on the story by Roald Dahl, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin
Dramacube, Twickenham Green Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 18th December
Review by David Stephens
Having seen the RSC’s spectacular production of Matilda the Musical twice now (once was not enough for my, ahem, children), it was with great excitement that I attended Dramacube’s version at Hampton Hill Theatre on Saturday evening. Upon arrival, I was informed that tonight’s show would be performed by the Twickenham ‘Green’ cast and that the main roles of Matilda, Bruce, Mrs Wormwood, Miss Honey and Ms Trunchball, would all be played by the ‘B’ stream. Flicking through the programme, one immediately realised the magnitude of Dramacube’s undertaking, with no fewer than five different casts set to perform the production over a four day period and with many of the main roles being interchanged between different performers on a nightly basis.
Read more…Feats of Acting
Matilda the Musical Jr.
by Denis Kelly, based on the story by Roald Dahl, music and lyrics by Tim Minchin
Dramacube, Twickenham Purple Cast at Hampton Hill Theatre until 18th December
Review by Evie Schaapveld
Evie Schaapveld is one of our younger reviewers. Eleven years old, she acts with a number of local stage companies.
In the Purple Cast of Matilda I saw many feats of acting and great stage direction. Some of the most notable things were the astonishing choreography and how all the children performed so energetically, and so well keeping their moves in time.
Notably, the background was incredible, elaborate yet so simple, changing from the library bookshelf setting to a blackboard and then to a field. But one of the most impressive things in my opinion was the feat of how they told the story of the Escapologist and the Acrobat, with one of the scenes being told by animation in the background. It was a very creative way of presenting it, as that scene would have been very difficult to do by acting it out.
Read more…Music, Magic and Multifarious Malarkey
Beauty and the Beast
by Eric Potts
Imagine Theatre at The Ashcroft Theatre, Fairfield Halls, Croydon until 2nd January
Review by Mark Aspen
Now, here’s something! I just heard someone on the radio describe panto as “a post-Freudian discourse on the transformative nature of inclusion and on societal barriers to equality issues”. Er, umm … Oh no it’s not! Panto is a great bit of knock-about family fun with a nice happy-ever-after story thrown in; and the usually silent audience get a chance to join in. All together … Oh yes it is! The audience at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls, children of all ages from 3 to 111, would without a doubt agree. Their socially distanced, flow-tested voices were loud and clear … well perhaps just loud from behind their masks. (By-the-way, the age range is from the Shout-out, but it turned out that the upper limit was a granny who was Ill.)
There is in fact plenty for the audience to shout about in Imagine Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast. For a start, they get two comic characters for the price of one, in the comedy duo, Dick & Dom; or as the rest of cast are prone to address them, “Ant-‘n’-Dec”. If that is a wind-up, these two don’t need winding up. They are electric. Maybe it is to compensate for the lack of a dame. (There seems to have been a national shortage of Dames this season. Maybe they are keeping the poor old dears away from the dreaded Omi-Khron.)
Read more…Light as Soufflé
Hay Fever
by Noël Coward
Richmond Shakespeare Society at the Mary Wallace Theatre, Twickenham until 18th December
Review by Gill Martin
To party or not to party. To gather or not to gather. The festive dilemma hangs heavy as plum pudding in the run up to Christmas. What better than a light-as-soufflé diversion? A trip to a Covid compliant theatre where Noël Coward, master of comedy, is back on stage with Hay Fever at the Mary Wallace Theatre in Twickenham, less than a mile from his Teddington birthplace.
This Richmond Shakespeare Society’s production of the 1920s drama has drama aplenty: histrionics, chest thumping, arm flailing, sobbing and swooning, anguish and ecstasy. Talk about playing to the gallery.
Director John Gilbert is known for his eye for style and period costume. And he doesn’t disappoint with this stylish satire that teeters between farce and a comedy of manners.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 