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…Magical Morality Tale
Beauty and the Beast
by Ciaran McConville, after the story by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve
Rose Original, Rose Theatre Kingston until 3rd January 2022
Review by Mark Aspen
Wild and desolate places, like high mountains, can be places of dread, apprehension and fear. Such a place is the setting of Kingston’s Rose Theatre’s retelling of a much retold fairytale. Set in the high Savoy Alps between France and Italy, Beauty and the Beast represents an inaccessible place, and by metaphorical extension, inaccessible places in the human nature. As an allegory, this would have great impact 250 years ago, but would it in the self-congratulatory cynical world of the twenty-first Century?
Before this all sounds too heavy and analytical, you can be reassured that this is a show that all members of the family will enjoy. Younger schoolchildren will find it exciting, once they have gritted their teeth or the scary bits, and it is indeed a gripping and enthralling show or all. The Rose is following its tradition of eschewing pantos for its Christmas offering and instead presenting an experience embodying magic and mystery … whilst gently spilling in meaning (the thing critics are supposed to look for).
Read more…Strictly Panto
Cinderella
by Alan McHugh
Crossroads Pantomimes at Richmond Theatre until 2nd January 2022
Review by Mark Aspen
What have Cinderella and Strictly Come Dancing in common? Well, there’s dancing of course, lots at Prince Charming’s palace. There are glittery high heeled shoes, lots of, one with half the pair missing. Then there’s Anton du Beke, lots of, in Richmond Theatre’s glittering zinging panto.
The glittering Fairy Godmother tells us, yes, we are in Richmond, more precisely “historic Richmond”, although the opening backdrop of the Palace has gained a few more turrets since the Tudor home-from-home on the other side of Richmond Green was downsized in the Civil War. Indeed, the sets and scenery get more magnificent as the show goes on. The climactic gold and silver ballroom set seems to have enough rare precious metals to solve the microchip shortage.
Read more…Upcycled storytelling
Peter Pan
by Jonny Danciger
OSO Barnes, until 19 December
Review by Matthew Grierson
Once the first joke is told about Captain Hook’s lost appendage, Smee hands – sorry, passes – a clipboard to one lucky mum so she can count the manual puns. She should have been given a bingo card to mark each panto tradition, though, so capably does this Peter Pan fulfil the audience’s expectations.
For reference, Mum counts a dozen plays on ‘hand’, though she must be enjoying herself too much to keep track as I’m certain there were more. While that figure may be in dispute, there were definitely only six cast members, though they achieve the impressive feat of seeming like a full and much better-resourced troupe. Of course, Mr and Mrs Darling (Sonny Pilgrem and Maddy Page) double as Smee and Captain Hook respectively, and fruity narrator Louis Pieris is ‘coerced’ into donning the crocodile skin later on. But all six players muck in to act, sing, dance, stooge and shift the scenery.
Read more…Don’t Judge a Sausage by Its Skin
Babe, The Sheep-Pig
by Dick King-Smith, adapted by David Wood
Progress Company at Progress Theatre, Reading until 11th December
Review by Nick Swyft
This is not the 1995 Hollywood spectacular. It is far better. In the film, all the animals were played by… well animals, supplemented by the voices of real actors and some CGI. Here they were played by real people, wearing beautiful animal masks made by the director Beckie Moir (look out for the cockerel in particular).
The plot of Babe, The Sheep-Pig follows the adventures of Babe (Milly Allen), who is won at a fair by the bland Farmer Hogget (Guy Nichols). There are some great asides from Mrs Hogget (Michelle Appleby) who thinks that he is to be fattened up to provide their Christmas dinner.
Read more…A Crime More Serious than Murder
Loot
by Joe Orton
Teddington Theatre Club at Hampton Hill Theatre until 11th December
Review by Celia Bard
For those of a certain age the play Loot always brings back strong memories of the violent death of its creator, Joe Orton, brutally murdered by his partner, Kenneth Halliwell in 1967, who himself then went on to commit suicide. However, such memories need to be put aside when watching a production of Loot although the presence of a coffin on stage throughout the play remains an ironic reminder of Orton’s untimely death. Knowing of the writer’s liking of black humour and irony, one suspects that the writer himself may well have appreciated the irony of the situation.
Read more…A Skeleton of Itself
2.22, A Ghost Story
by Danny Robins
Runaway Entertainment at the Gielgud Theatre, London until 12th February 2022
Review by Heather Moulson
“Deer-in-the-headlights moments” were what several reviewers expected of BBC’s young doyen ghost story scriptwriter when his new play, 2.22, A Ghost Story premiered last August for a two month run at the Noël Coward Theatre. It was indeed given plenty of stars. In fact it enjoyed weeks of sell-out performances in what was described as a record-breaking run. So confident trepidation is an understandable feeling when going to the opening of its winter revival run.
Read more…David versus Goliath
Rumble!
by Yasir Senna
Razor Sharp Productions at the Drayton Arms Theatre, South Kensington until 4th December
Review by Heather Moulson
Now, I have become very familiar with bijou pub theatres, but this venue really is a delight. On a deceptively large stage for its intimate surroundings, Rumble!, written and directed by Yasir Senna, opens up to what could be misconstrued as a dry, corporate piece. However, this is soon thoroughly disproved.
Set in 2009, at a construction firm called Deveraux, Alisha faces the boardroom, and three very hostile directors, after being overshadowed by her boorish manager. The atmosphere is one of doom for Alisha, with written warnings and poor reports, until with concise wit and cunning, she reveals a clever unbricking of a corporate wall.
Read more…Panto Takes Wing
Mother Swan
by Tom Whalley, adapted by Andy Hale
Barnes Community Players at Kitson Hall, Barnes until 4th December
Review by Heather Moulson
A cold winter’s night is rife for a warm welcome at a pantomime, (oh no, it isn’t!), and the introductory humorous couplets between good and evil did just that. The boldly-robed evil Priti Snyde and good-hearted, ultra-pink Fair-Enough-Ski involved us in participation as soon as the curtain went up. Their rapport was tangible and played with traditional gusto by Annie Collenette and Roger Hayward-Smith.
The curtain went up on Mother Swan to the strong coloured set of Barnesville, before which we were presented with its witty script. The tongue-in-cheek delivery by the eponymous Mother Swan and her son Silly Billy set the plot.
Read more…Complex Beats of Modern-Day Romance
To Have and to Hold
by Michelle Payne
Savi Creative Arts at Barons Court Theatre until 27th November
Part of The Savi Emerging Arts Festival
Review by Denis Valentine
To Have and To Hold , as part of Savi Creative Arts’ Emerging Arts Festival, is a cleverly crafted work-in-progress piece that, at its core, is about exploring issues and occurrences in modern life and it’s dating world. As a two hander and by its use of multi-role casting, it offers a chance to see events and thoughts from multiple different perspectives and how consequences for actions can have repercussions both positive and negative that change over time.
The play, in terms of themes, explores modern relationships from a variety of different angles. It achieves quite a journey by having its two actors, Iwona Marciniak and John Skerritt, playing not only multiple characters but also the same characters at different stages in their lives. At times there are very recognisable beats of modern-day dating and the problems of living in a pandemic, but the play also touches on more adolescent and coming of sexual age issues that could be straight from modern popular shows such as Sex Education.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 