Yearly Archives: 2012

Doctor Who – The Ultimate Adventure

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ultimate-adventure_cover_mediumDecember has been a bit of a break from blogging local am dram, but the Jolly Lion cannot let the month pass without a play review away from the world of pantomime.

As a treat for myself, I thought it time to take a look at the Doctor Who stage plays of yesteryear. Without the trip to the theatre, interval ice cream or raffle to enjoy, I must thank Big Finish Productions for making it possible to review these plays at all.

‘The Ultimate Adventure’ was a touring production from 23 March 1989 to 19 August 1989 featuring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor for the first part of the run, with Colin Baker taking over part way through. In September 2008 the script was adapted by original playwright Terrance Dicks as an audio drama, with Colin Baker once more stepping into the TARDIS with companions Jason and Crystal.


When Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler was lost to alternate universe some were punching the air with joy that the modern episodes offered a Daleks vs Cybermen spectacular, but how much more exciting to see them joining forces in a peculiar monster mash up that must have left those theatregoing fanboys thrilled. For Big Finish, Nicholas Briggs provides the voices of these popular villains as he would on the telly, creating the only link a listener will find between the stage show and the Army of Ghosts/Doomsday series two finale.

Noel Sullivan plays Jason in a sparkling love story opposite Claire Huckle’s adorable Crystal,  bringing both romance and musical theatre into the 1980s TARDIS – the whole idea is wonderful and the songs are a splendid addition to the production. It’s just a shame that Colin Baker doesn’t get a song!

With Margaret Thatcher, time tunnels, bars full of mercenaries, kidnappings, double-crossing and an alien called Zog there’s much to enjoy, and David Banks (TV’s Cyberleader of the 1980s) pops back to reprise his role as Karl from the original stage run.

I make no secret of my dislike of stage plays that are adaptations of TV shows, but this audio drama managed to feel like an odd fun parallel world for Colin Baker’s Doctor. Whilst grainy recordings of the original play can be found wobbling away on YouTube, this audio production is the best way to experience it and I look forward to finding out where the TARDIS takes this unlikely crew next…

For more information about the original staging, visit: www.theultimateadventure.co.uk

For more audio adventures from the worlds of Doctor Who visit: www.bigfinish.com

Tess of the d’Urbervilles – TYKES

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The Carlton Theatre, Teignmouth plays host to the TYKES production of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles for three nights this week. The production is from the David Calcutt adaptation and directed by Leigh Toney.

Upon entering the auditorium it is obvious that this will be something different for the Carlton, with several rows of seating removed to allow a maypole to be erected in the middle of the room. The dance that opens the story builds on a bizarre sense that although the room feels more open than usual, the performance will be more intimate. How splendid that live music allows the group to show off a range of talents from among their number.

A lively opening around that dance is lifted further by Tom Chudley Evans entering the scene as a drunk John Durbeyfield with others from the pub. They take a pleasant start and bring a physical performance that sets the tone for the rest of the night. He is well coupled with Alice Morgan-Richards as Joan Durbeyfield, making wonderful parents for Tess. Through the course of the play Morgan-Richards delivers a beautiful real mother who dishes out bad advice whilst working with every prop under the sun. If not knitting she hangs out washing, scrubs the floor, darns sock and kneads dough, fast becoming the character you long to return just to see what chore she will master next. They are a great partnership and with Amelia Jackson as Liza-Lu and Michael Evans as Abraham, make a convincing family unit around the heroine.

At the heart of the performance, Grace Bouchard gives us a Tess devastated by the death of the family horse, properly seduced by Sam Chamberlain’s smooth and flirting Alec d’Urberville leading to a tough burial at the end of the first act. She covers a range of emotions and must be shattered by the interval, with even harder material to come in the second act. Yet she embodies Tess in such a way that you can sympathise with her when the bad things happen to her, understand her for the difficult choices she makes and feel drained for her come the close of the performance. A new experience for me with a character I have previously struggled to warm to, we are given us a Tess to like.


If I come to the play with preconceived ideas, I’m delighted that much lives up to my hopes, not least the seduction of Tess in the woods, where the chorus make wonderful trees and hide the action, leaving us the choice as Hardy does, to decide for ourselves what level of consent Tess gives up to Alec. Equally, Toby Waterworth as Angel Clare, provides a nicely flawed man, playing a nice romance through to the amazingly cruel double standards that leave Tess out on her own. The two leading men give Miss Bouchard plenty to play against.

There is some lovely comedy at the dairy and the lightness is necessary alongside the emotions we run through with Tess. But, the production is most effective at times of tragedy, as the chorus later takes the form of the river for Retty’s drowning, nicely played by Eleanor Bouchard, a character we previously laughed with is lost forever.

The chorus and villagers move as one throughout, with each given the chance to shine as a main character to the story, but seeming strongest when pulled together to create a society, whether that be in the village, on the farm or to comment on the action that takes place through the years. Everyone has plenty to do and the production is always moving.

As each life is lost through the second act, so the chorus plays a crucial role, each striking with a memorable image, not least when building Stonehenge before our eyes. The lasting image of the night will be the maypole doubling as the gallows – we have come full circle. A production of great maturity, beautifully handled, this is a youth company to rival many adult productions I have seen this year. This is a staging of Tess to treasure.

Last review from the Carlton Theatre: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

A Dark Victorian Cabaret – Exeter Alternative Theatre

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Halloween isn’t complete without a fresh offering from the Exeter Alternative Theatre. This year they present ‘A Dark Victorian Cabaret’ which is considered the company’s most ambitious project to date.

It may seem tedious that every year I describe the atmosphere of stepping into the auditorium as being like stepping back in time, but there is something about the way they dress the Barnfield Theatre that makes their production feel like a complete experience of a specific time and place rather than simply going to watch a play.

As the group have grown in confidence so they have presented more original performance. They have had a taste of what interests them from the scripts of others and have spent a lot of time and energy devising their own work to present. The night busily bursts with good ideas, lifting the scariest and sexiest sections of Dracula and the story of Jack the Ripper and mixed in with a seance and the story they really want to tell, the opening of the Theatre Royal, Exeter on Monday 7 October 1889, two years after the theatre on the same site was lost to fire.


There are lovely sinister creations through the night, with Midge Mullin as John Acland in Phil Kingslan John’s ‘Before Dracula’ a highlight in a short yet funny sketch early in the evening. Mullin then takes a writing credit alongside Rosie Mullin for ‘And Then There Was One’ where Ben Rodwell gives a memorable portrayal as John Sanders, a physician restrained as a suspect for the Jack the Ripper killings, here some nice lighting and cunning use of silhouette allows Louis Ravensfield as the narrator to reveal a poetic imagining of the men behind the killings. In turn it is Louis Ravensfield that writes and directs ‘Miss Johnson’s Seance’, the scariest play of the night, giving the audience a ringside seat with some proper jumpy moments as Morwenna Griffith capably leads the action as the haunting Miss Johnson.

Between the plays there is much to entertain, titillate and spook, with a range of cabaret covered from The Phantom Juggler to The Living Doll, these acts brought smiles, laughter and just the right amount of creepiness. There was a song from Kitty Brunel and some fascinating performance from Lilly Laudanum as the sauciest Queen Victoria you’ll see on stage and Venus Noir presenting an absinthe fairy like no other. Top and tail your night with a Can-Can from The Flaming Feathers and you get a sense that the drama is a sideshow to the range of performance these producers imagine.

There were two linking narratives to guide the audience through the night. Firstly, Jon Lee as the Master of Ceremonies bringing plenty of pomp to the evening, encouraging the audience to take part in the performance. Secondly there was the story of ‘The Chorus Girls’ written by Emma Ravensfield and directed by Sharlene Young, presented the story of life in the dressing room at the Theatre Royal on opening night. Their story joined seamlessly with the acts around them as a number of sequences were dispersed through the evening.

The girls, played by Katie Jones, Carolyn Macey and Sarah Prentice, allowed an intriguing sense of voyeurism on the night, as we watched them prepare for a performance we will never see. They exchange stories of life in the theatre, and their private conversations provide a clever introduction to the act that follows.

It may be that I am showing ignorance of how things were back in the day, but my one grumble of the night was the lengthy blackouts between acts. A spotlight on the MC giving a bit of bluster from the side of the stage might have tightened up the scene changes and allowed the evening to flow more tidily than the gaps provided, instead we sat through a set dressing, then an introduction, then a performance – no doubt the pace of these changes will quicken up as they build to the final performance.

Even this cannot impact on the quality of the various performances, there was something for everyone who likes a bit of darkness from the theatre, a resounding success for the production team. The Exeter Alternative Theatre continue to lead the way in thrilling performance with a taste of the macabre. The Dark Victorian Cabaret continues at the Barnfield Theatre until Saturday 3 November 2012.

For more information visit: www.eattheatre.co.uk

Last review for Exeter Alternative Theatre: Grand Guignol

Wyrd Sisters – Tadpoles Youth Theatre

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Halloween may cheerfully pass through half term, but there is more to ‘Wyrd Sisters’ than a bit of spooking at the Little Theatre, Torquay this week. The Tadpoles Youth Theatre is the junior end of the TOADS Theatre Company, and they are performing a Stephen Briggs adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel from Wednesday 31 October 2012 to Saturday 3 November 2012.

Under the dual direction of Maggie Campbell and Dianne ffitch this play gives the youth company the opportunity to showcase talent both on stage and behind the scenes. The story draws from the familiar darkness of schoolroom Shakespeare, opening with a bit of Macbeth, through Hamlet and King Lear, with plenty of parody to present the best of Pratchett’s Discworld humour.

There’s been a murder. The Duke and Duchess are attempting to cover up the sinister circumstances that led to their taking over the kingdom whilst forcing the local witches to pay taxes. As the Duke attempts to remove the blood from his hands, the Duchess tries to stop his descent into madness.

Meanwhile, the Wyrd Sisters have been given a baby and a crown. It becomes clear that the baby is the true heir to the throne, leaving them with the problem of what to do with it. They quickly decide to give the baby to a group of travelling players, whose props store would be the natural place to hide ornate headgear until the heir is old enough to retake the throne. What could be easier than waiting fifteen years for him to come of age? Oh yes, that’s right, magic.

Aside from the jokes, both scripted and visual, there is a serious message that looks at the power of words and drama, and whether it is the winners or the writers that get to record the past for future generations.

The Wyrd Sisters, played by Hannah Samuel, Chloe Hann and Lydia Dockray
© Brian Tilley Photography

Two of the Wyrd Sisters are played by adults from the TOADS Theatre Company, with Lydia Dockray as Granny Weatherwax and Hannah Samuel as Nanny Ogg. Given funny material and the chance to work with the younger end of the company, they deliver a couple of the most fun performances you’ll see at the Little Theatre this year.

In the kingdom, it is Jack Sutton as the Duke who had me shamelessly laughing every time he came on stage. His sense of comic timing is very strong and he has a facial expression for every occasion, which gets increasingly funny as his character comes closer to the reality of what he has done. He is well balanced by the very regal and sinister Duchess, played by Jessica Thacker, these two are a great pairing, with the simple reality of her performance allowing the audience to accept his madness.

In the background there is a marvellous chorus of guards and peasants, in the first act my hero of the hour must be Ruth Garner as the Duke’s Servant. She steals her first scene by not reacting at all to having a hanky draped over her head, then a couple of scenes later is one of three characters on stage persuading us that there is an earthquake rocking the kingdom. Hers is but an example of the quality of the background characters that build the society in which the central characters appear.

It is a credit to the script that the funny one liners are shared out among the main characters through into the guards and peasants. My favourite fell in the second act as Witch 3 complains “There’s something living in my wig!” a wonderful delivery from Bethany Linden-Nicholson that can raise a laugh every night. Lloyd Pehaligan’s Sergeant gets a very funny exchange with the Duke early on, whilst Rachel Holland’s Guard announces a death late in the show with such glee you can’t help but laugh despite the horror of what she’s describing – there’s plenty to enjoy here.


I was particularly fond of a love story that develops between Magrat, played by Chloe Hann and the Fool, played by Jonathan Hurd. A very human story in the middle of the larger than life characters, they pulled off one of the longest stage kisses I have seen, it lasts for fifteen years each night and is very dependent upon how quickly other actors on stage deliver their lines.

In the second act there are nice performances from James Bellingham as Vitoller, Laurie Moncrieff as Hwel and Nat Lord-Dodson as TomJon – the travelling players have settled down and want to build a theatre. When Moncrieff’s playwright turns to directing a play, she shows a character many involved in amateur drama will recognise – the director who cannot keep control – again played with great humour.

The only time the magic really broke in the evening was when a map of Great Britain appeared on stage, reminding me that I wasn’t on the Discworld after all, and if a prop is my grumble I know I’ve had a good night. Presented against a black box set, the characters provide all the colour you need, with some beautiful costumes (Sutton and Thacker look as well as act the part) and effective scene changes as material or fragments of wall create the backdrop as necessary.

There’s going to be darkness in a script that draws from Shakespeare and the lighting makes this a literal darkness by being very low for a number of scenes. This darkness builds a spooky atmosphere, but at times the actors can be lost in the shadows and may need more work on finding their light.

Of course you will say shame on me for saying the best gag of the night was given to the adults, but there’s a comment in the final scene about a coronation mug that Dockray’s Granny fires at Samuel’s Nanny – the delivery and reaction is hilarious as one chastises the other for taking something that is meant for the kiddies. This works as a good joke in the script, but has a special resonance when you see them as the adults slipping seamlessly into a Youth Theatre production – they more than get away with it.

If these youngsters carry on with the drama, the future of amateur theatre will be in safe hands. The work has paid off with this lovely half term show.

The Cast of Wyrd Sisters – © Brian Tilley Photography

For more information visit: www.toadslittletheatre.co.uk

Last review from the Little Theatre: Dangerous Obsession

5 Simple Reasons to Support Youth Theatre

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Once again, the Jolly Lion steps away from play reviews to tell you five things you already know, but can never be told too many times. As ever, if I’m preaching to the converted, another review will be along soon enough – but in the meantime, perhaps there are some thoughts here worth sharing with your friends. The usual buttons are at the bottom of the page, or you can copy this link into Facebook or Twitter and share it around, as we really should be promoting our local Youth Theatre, but why?

1. Because we want them to play to full houses.

The first and easiest reason to book tickets to see your local Youth Theatre is because we love the thought of people playing to full houses. What better way to start your dabblings on the amateur stage than by performing to a packed auditorium. How many of us get a full house for our first performance?

Is there a better buzz than a packed room laughing at a comedy or oohing at a thriller or tapping the collective feet to popular showtunes? A responsive audience is what any performer craves, with a curtain call to remember there is a feeling that all the hard work has finally paid off.

So, bums on seats is rule one. They will feel it was worthwhile if they have an appreciative crowd.

2. Because we all want to play to full houses.

The second reason is educational. As much as most of my readers like to perform or work backstage, it is only by going to see plays that we learn our craft and educate others. If the young people in theatre see us going to support them, you may yet find they come along and support us, both because we turn out for them and because they want to get more involved.

This has two wonderful knock on effects. Firstly, they will experience the range of productions our various companies have to offer. And secondly it may change our demographic and buck the trend, filling the empty seats among the sea of silver with the missing audience members we so often claim to be seeking.

So, bums on seats is also rule two. Having been bitten by the bug, they will want to see more theatre.


3. Because it’s not just for mums and dads and families.

Here is a bizarre point. We love mums and dads and families who buy tickets to see us on stage. Amdram is a world full of audiences made up of our politest families and friends, all having to endure our offerings and say nice things afterwards. But the people at Youth Theatre are special.

These are the lifts to and from rehearsals. These are the folk who will set foot in your theatre wanting to enjoy their evening. These are the people who will be delighted to see that there are other adults around being entertained by the show. If they see and hear others making encouraging comments about youth productions, particularly people involved in the theatre, they will want to encourage the actors and backstage crew to stay involved.

Just as importantly, we will not just be there for one child, we will be there for the whole cast. We will want them to succeed from the big part who has learned pages of dialogue and countless movements right across the stage to spear carrier number three. Whilst we love the stand out performances, we respect the spear carrier. Without someone prepared to carry a spear for two rehearsals a week up to the final performance, the central character is on a stage with nobody to carry the spears – how stupid do you look when you don’t have your spear carrier?

Which leads nicely into:

4. Because these performers are the future of our groups.

The most obvious reason. If you want a future for your company, you want to look after the young. At the moment we’re afraid of the dying audiences, but we mustn’t take our eye off the shrinking talent pools. If we can teach our young people to love theatre now, it will be a hobby they will either look to maintain or return to later in life.

Because we know the friendships we form in amdram are important, the fun of the rehearsal process, the look of a cast who work well together and you can see having fun. Is there anything better as an audience member than going to see a show where the cast can be seen to be having a good time?

So build that respect now and not just for the spear carrier. Make yours a familiar face, a smiling face and a welcoming face around the theatre and people will want to come back, because they will get to know us all as a friendly and welcoming group of people.

Who knows, when they reach their twenties they might stick around. And then we can stage all those plays we’d love to do now, but we don’t have the talent for.

5. Because we love theatre.

Really? You’ve still not booked your tickets? Oh come on. Forget encouraging other, trying to build your group or cast plays in a few years time.

Go because you love theatre.

Does it matter that they’re teenagers? They’ve worked for weeks to put this play together. It’ll probably be as good as any adult show you’ll see. It’s a chance to see a script performed that adults might not do and you get to be caught up in the magic of theatre like you do at any other production.

You know, big curtain, stage of actors, lights and sounds, props and costumes, a world created by a devoted production team and an enthusiastic cast. What better reason can there be to go?

Seriously. Book your seat. And take a friend. Blimey, take two friends and make a night of it…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No doubt there are more blindingly obvious reasons than I’ve mentioned here. If you’d care to share them, please add your comments below. If you’ve a youth production coming up and you think this page may help motivate some wavering friends or members, do please share it around.

For a reminder of the Jolly Lion’s previous thoughts on young people in theatre, don’t miss: As You Like It – The Night After The Night Off

Facebook Pages for South Devon Drama Groups

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The Jolly Lion will be reaching a two year anniversary in the next two weeks. On and off I’ll have been to more amateur, professional and student productions than I would have considered decent. In that time, a lot of the local groups have changed the way they use the interweb, developing from ye olde static websites to embrace the delights of social media and the wealth of interaction that can bring.

Take the Jolly Lion. It amuses me to see that I have a solid readership of between 100-300 different visitors a week. Most of the traffic to my site comes from the dreaded Facebook ‘like’ button and the glorious Facebook ‘share’ button.

Now, this post ends with a list of links to the Facebook pages and groups for a range of local groups from Torbay and beyond. I thought it might be fun for you to see just how much we have out there and get a taste of how people use the page to promote their productions as well as those around them…


To use the Jolly Lion as an example, you will find my Facebook page opens in a new window if you click here. If you’re happy to receive updates for all my latest reviews directly into your Facebook newsfeed, you can click the ‘like’ button next to the main heading.

The same is true for most of these pages, so take your pick of what you want to stay up to date with, or have a look at how other groups are using their pages to great effect…

Bijou Theatre Productions, Paignton

BOADS, Brixham

Dawlish Musical Theatre Company

Dawlish Repertory Company

Exeter Alternative Theatre

Exeter Little Theatre Company

Paignton Operatic and Dramatic Society

Paignton Pantomime Productions

Perform Players, Brixham

Playgoers Society of Dartington Hall

Shiphay Amateur Dramatic Society, Torquay

South Devon Players, Brixham

Tadpoles Youth Theatre, Torquay

Tamaritans Theatre Company, Plymouth

TAODS, Totnes

Teignmouth Players

TOADS Theatre Company, Torquay

TOADS Stage Musical Company, Torquay

TOPS, Torquay

As ever, if I’ve missed your page off, let me know in the comments below and I will cheerfully add you to the list.

Don’t miss the Jolly Lion’s 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Drama Group

See what’s going on locally at the Jolly Lion’s Forthcoming Theatrical Attractions

And if you missed it earlier, the link to the Facebook page: The Jolly Lion

 

Dangerous Obsession – TOADS Theatre Company

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The season at the Little Theatre, Torquay continues this week with a thriller from the TOADS Theatre Company. Written by N. J. Crisp, ‘Dangerous Obsession’ is directed by Anna Reynolds and continues until Saturday 20 October 2012.

The Jolly Lion cannot help but notice that there is something in the air this month locally, as this is the second short small cast thriller in a week after enjoying ‘Revenge‘ at the Palace just a few nights ago. This is a sound approach to dark and wet autumn evenings, knowing that an experienced cast can build the kind of pace that gets the audience safely out of the building by 9.30pm.

The production opens in the conservatory of a house in the Home Counties, where Ceni Wyatt enters as Sally Driscoll, having been sunbathing in her garden. She is soon taken by surprise by a visitor she doesn’t recognise, John Barrett, played by Paul ffitch. The early scenes are beautifully awkward as he explains who he is and how they once met at a conference. The crowd pleasing mention of this meeting being in Torquay brought enough tittering from a delighted audience to ensure we were fully engaged nice and early. It is a simple shorthand that allows us to picture the meeting more vividly because we feel like we know exactly where they were and what they were doing.


As drinks are poured and the shared history unfolds, the awkwardness would fall away and Wyatt’s Sally becomes quite enchanting as she settles into her role as hostess to a possible business interest for her husband. ffitch creates a character in John that is sinister by just being a little socially awkward. The slow considered drinking, perched on the edge of the settee, before settling back and avoiding eye contact, staring out into the audience. There is something not quite right about him, and the fun is in watching him do things that Sally cannot see. Although the darker behaviour is clearly flagged up, the performances allow you to put them on one side and enjoy the conversation as the drunk pieces together a forgotten night and the friendships she made.

From the programme biographies it is clear that Andrew Prowse stepped in at the eleventh hour to play Mark, with just eighteen days to take on the role. Had the note not been there I might never have known, as he slots perfectly into the mix, bringing great humour in his efforts to persuade his wife to get rid of their visitor. As he drinks more, he becomes less subtle, with events building to a nice cliffhanger at an early interval.

Again looking to avoid spoilers, the second half has plenty of revelations for the fan of a thriller, with gunshots, sleaze and plenty of crying and a chance for the audience to feel properly uncomfortable by what they are seeing. It’s quite a shouty second act, but in a sense it needs to be. It is a good show, with one of the better scripts the Little Theatre has seen in many months. The cast slot perfectly together and present interesting characters, a return to form for the TOADS.

Last review from the Little Theatre: Cards on the Table

Revenge – Bijou Theatre Productions

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Bijou Theatre Productions present ‘Revenge’ this week, a thriller by Robin Hawdon. Directed by Stephanie Austin, the play runs from Wednesday 10 October to Saturday 13 October 2012 at the Palace Theatre, Paignton.

This is an extraordinary achievement, as a two-hander that allows one conversation to hold the audience for a couple of hours of twisting-turning narrative.

Martin Austin plays Bill Crayshaw MP, a politician on the road to power. Already a successful businessman, he has something of the Richard Branson’s about him as the scene opens in his London flat, taking calls across three telephones after his return from a trip overseas. There’s plenty of art on display, plenty of vodka to hand and a couple of ladies in need of his attention.

He soon receives a call telling him that his Party Agent died in a car crash the previous day, closely followed by the arrival Mary Stewart, played by Julie Smith, a journalist looking for an interview that examines deeper issues than one might expect ranging from what motivates past decisions and what consequences those actions have for others right through to the existence of evil.


There is a lovely story here and the more far fetched things become the more you want to cheer them on, as with a two-handed thriller what else can you do but buckle yourself in for a couple of hours of confrontation and escalating madness. In the second half the revelations come thick and fast and we learn that nothing is ever quite what it seems.

The audience are in safe hands with Austin and Smith, who make the evening a complete pleasure. There are a few lighter moments, including a well-received joke at the expense of amateur theatre, but this only served as a reminder that these are two established local thespians at the top of their game.

If you love a thriller, enjoy character driven storytelling with many a skeleton in the closet and like seeing great local talent make two-handed theatre look easy, this is a production not to be missed.

Last review from Bijou Theatre Productions: Trap For A Lonely Man

The Astronaut’s Chair – Drum Theatre, Plymouth

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Another first for the Jolly Lion was a visit to the Drum Theatre in Plymouth to see one of the last performances of ‘The Astronaut’s Chair’, a production that had opened on 20 September through to Saturday 6 October 2012.

Written by Rona Munro the play was directed by Simon Stokes, offering something that the author describes as a fictional version of a true story, looking a the potential for American female aviators becoming part of the space race, until the Cold War came and put a stop to everything.

A wonderful set reminds us that there’s nothing more alien than an American desert when you think about reaching for the stars. It would have looked just as natural for the Mars Rover to roll onto the stage as it was to join a young a couple in the late 1950s and the auditorium was lit wonderfully, giving us a sky filled with stars whilst being hardly able to make out the couple when the story begins.

When the lights come up there are frames around the walls that double as screens for projections of historic films and photographs which at times are mixed with a live feed of the action from the stage. You can enjoy press conferences both live and projected and most entertainingly, a repeat of a JFK speech delivered live, whilst the projection shows the original recording. The effect is a constant reminder that whilst the central characters are fictional replacements for real people, the whole story is grounded in fact.


The story of Renee, played by Ingrid Lacey, is a delight for those who like to be reminded that the battle of the sexes isn’t a clear cut divide between the girls and the boys. Whilst Renee may have found fame as ‘the first woman to…’ and looks to build on that by advancing the cause of female aviators, her motives are based in improving her own situation and she does more to damage the cause she is perceived to lead than she does to assist it.

Renee’s journey is split between scenes from middle age when she is coming to realise that she is passing her prime whilst maintaining a level of power and respect, and older and medicated, having conversations with a dead President.

We are shown snapshots of crucial moments in her life around her failing health and continued efforts to secure her legacy, unafraid to trample on better women to do so. There is an arrogance and contempt towards both Jo, played by Eleanor Wyld and Peggy, played by Amanda Ryan, that limits any sympathy you may develop toward her. It is all delivered with a sense of humour that makes her a woman you love to hate, but it is Ryan, who doubles up as Larissa, Renee’s Doctor, who gets the best one liners, superbly delivered.

Politically, we are treated to a glimpse of the Cuban missile crisis, with a beautiful scene aside from the main narrative as Renee, Jo and Steve, played by Tom Hodgkins, put their personal differences aside to contemplate whether this truly is the end of the world. There is a rousing end to the first act that keeps the Russian side of the space race at the front of the action, but each time we are treated to a success story it is not for a race nor a gender. Perhaps the highlight of the productions is the way you walk away enjoying the triumph of human achievement, whilst saddened by how we can let our efforts for a personal legacy get in the way of the helping others succeed.

For amateur groups, I would recommend this production for a small company with strong female actors. There are three wonderful parts for ladies here, with a nice mixture of drama, humour and accents, with a story that should be fun for any publicity team to try and sell. Seek out those performance rights as soon as you can. In the meantime, this was a fine cast that were lifted by some fun technical work.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum – Newton Abbot and District Musical Comedy Society

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Quite how it has taken the Jolly Lion so get to the Alexandra Theatre, Newton Abbot, I’ll never know. Home of the Newton Abbot and District Musical Comedy Society, the venue plays host to the Stephen Sondheim show, ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’. Under the direction of Iain Douglas, with musical direction from John Amery and choreography by Sara Roche, this is a production not to be missed, running from Monday 1 to Saturday 6 October 2012.

The opening routine for ‘Comedy Tonight’ sets the tone for an evening that delivers plenty of laughs, with Dominic Thomas as Pseudolus giving a performance that is everything you could want from a leading man in a musical. He takes his character, connects instantly with his audience and we all join him in his quest from slavery to freedom. Supported ably by Simon Holden and Marc Forward, who take on every role the opening number asks of them, they present a fun few minutes that gets energy levels up both on stage and in the auditorium.

There is a wonderful naughtiness in the bawdy comedy that mixes high camp with courtesans, cross-dressing and some fairly modern love potions, in a tale of love, lust and getting your jollies any way you can.


Claire Holden plays the virgin Philia with the biggest smile you’ll see on stage this year, splendidly giving herself to every man who takes a passing interest. Fred Still had me laughing every time he came onto the stage as Hysterium, a slave trying to keep his master’s house in order but failing at every opportunity. Alongside Richard Ward as Senex, his master, the laughs keep coming. A highlight is the song ‘Everybody Ought to Have a Maid’ which brings Pseudolus, Hysterium and Senex together with Mike Crane as Marcus Lycus for a comment on the joys of the new girl on the staff.

In any musical you can’t help but appreciate an enthusiastic chorus, with Eunuchs and Citizens doing their fair share of scene stealing, not least when running across the stage in fear of the plague or dragging courtesans all over the place. The courtesans bring a range of beauty, dance and flexibility, squeezed for every laugh by Thomas and Still. It’s the little looks to the audience that pour out of the principals making this show something you can’t help but feel a part of.

This is a show that passes the download test, that when I leave I have a couple of songs in my head and by the next morning I have downloaded a version of the soundtrack to enjoy on my walk to and from work. A sure sign than an amateur show has made an impact. Certainly the funniest show I’ve seen this year – a must see, to the point that I want to go again!

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