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…Eels by the Pint
Vendetta
By David Anstruther
CD Digipak, Eel Pie Records, Twickenham
Review by Vince Francis
Vendetta is the latest album (and the first of his own original material) of singer-songwriter David Anstruther, who hails from south-west London and is hence a local lad to yours truly. I generally experience a combination of excitement and anxiety when I get to hear artists who are new to me, but generally I have a genuine respect and admiration for those who have the bravery to put their original work out there, regardless of my own take on it.
There is much to recommend David’s music. He is an accomplished guitarist. To my ear, the influence of Mark Knopfler is apparent, particularly when he isn’t using distortion. No shame in that, in my view. Knopfler is an outstanding player and one who is inspirational to many guitarists, including your reviewer.
Read more…Tearaway Strip Tease
The Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules
curated by Andy Holden
Embankment Gallery, Somerset House, London until 6th March 2022
Review by Heather Moulson
Biff! Bang! Whizzz! Ouff! Ouch! Curator Andy Holden had been planning this exhibition since March 2020 when the lights were switched off by Lockdown. Proving that patience and careful planning really does pay off, he lays this infamous comic treasure trove bare before us.
I was greeted by Biffo the Bear at the ticket office, the character I mourn the most, along with his extraordinarily strange chum Buster. Once having the status of Desperate Dan, he stopped appearing in strip form in 1986. Biffo was wholesome and neat in his red shorts, which could have been his downfall, yet he kept up his end with his maverick counterparts for many years.
Read more…
Mark Aspen 