Category: Theatre Reviews

WITH any Shakespeare production, the first five minutes is the maximum time span it has to engage with its audience.

The way to do this is certainly not to spout forth the text as homage to our Will, but to make those glorious words sound like everyday conversations.

Also, if you can smack the punters in the face with a few verbal custard pies that’ll work a treat.

Andrew Cowie is a seasoned director and one who certainly knows how to work a crowd .

In this Romeo and Juliet at the Crescent Theatre he had the house chuckling with an almost impromptu ‘Who’d like to read a bit of Shakespeare’ interaction with the audience piece from Thomas Baldachin, cleverly grabbing the attention as we all thought ‘Please not me’.

This is a very confident and competent show with some clever casting and imaginative staging – the story telling is clear, the pace doesn’t sag and there are some exceptional performances.

Alan K Marshall as the Nurse is quite charismatic and listening to his vocal range is like dipping into a box of nice chocolates.

Likewise Fi Cotton makes a marvellous Friar – again she too brings lusciousness’ to the delivery.

Traditionally of course the Nurse would be female and the Friar male – thank goodness Cowie hasn’t stuck to tradition.

Nor has he simply chosen to dress it in modern middle class attire but follows his vision through by substituting swords for Stanley knives and bottled potions for hypodermic needles.

The simple setting of a white stage within a stage served by two white drops provide an abundance of acting areas all of which are beautifully lit to a design by Kenny Holmes and Molly Wood.

The introduction of red petals cascading down at times when blood is spilt is like watching an artist painting.

The vision of Juliet (a sweetly innocent performance from Charlotte Upton) dying on a carpet of white and covered in red is quite haunting.

Samuel Wilson puts in an energetic performance as Romeo and I’m sure will grow as the run progresses – at the moment it is a little too much delivered on one level.

The stand-out performance is from Holly Prescott as Mercutio who makes the character and stage her own. She is quite simply joyous and it is a pity she has to die so early on in the play.

This is an all inclusive and thoroughly enjoyable production, which I thoroughly recommend if it it’s your first Romeo and Juliet or if you’re a seasoned performance veteran – this one breaks new ground.

It runs at The Crescent Theatre until Saturday, November 10.

Visit www.crescent-theatre.co.uk for more information, times and tickets.

Review by Euan Rose

I HAVE not personally read Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel, but several members of my family have and concur with its reputation as a literary sensation.

‘The Lovely Bones’ is based on true events about 14-year-old teenager, Susie Salmon just entering her prime and having her rite of passage denied by being hideously raped and murdered.

This may sound about as bleak an evening at the theatre as it’s possible to envisage, but I assure you it’s not.

This fast moving adaptation by Byony Lavery; directed cleverly by Melly Still is compelling on many levels, contains much humour and overall is a stand alone triumph.

The story is told through the eyes of Susie Salomon herself, a delightfully sparkling ‘Tinkerbelle’ like performance from Charlotte Beaumont who after her murder, watches over her family and friends in a celestial stroppy teenager manner from some version of a heaven.

She of course wants them to capture Mr Harvey, a suitably skin crawling performance from Keith Dunphy who oozes‘ Uriah Heep’ like platitudes to her family and the police.

We know he is guilty as of course as we watched him do it – everyone suspects his guilt but so cleverly has he covered his tracks that all that is left of Suzie to discover is her elbow. Susie is not his only victim – Mr Harvey is a serial killer – just how many poor young girls he has robbed of their precious years is shown in one of the heaven scenes where the other victims make themselves known to Susie by way of a macabre gathering of different sized girls dresses brought to life by arms acting as puppeteers.

Susie tries to reach out to her grief stricken father Jack Salmon (Jack Sandle) as he descends to a place where he shuts himself off from the rest of the family bringing about a reaction of sexual betrayal from her mother Abigail (Emily Bevan).

As a separate character to the ‘Salmons’ Bhawna Bhawsar puts in a fine performance as Ruana Singh the mother of Susie’s school crush Ray (Karan Gill).

Her dignity in the face of blatant police racism hits just the right tone. She also doubles as Franny, Susie’s spirit guide in heaven.

Another noteworthy performance is from Ayoola Smart as Susie’s sister Lindsey, who shows great emotion in dealing with her own loneliness and guilt.

What makes such a complex tale so easy to follow is the ingenious set by Ana Ines Jabares-Pita which features a huge tilted mirror that moves to allow different locations to be displayed simultaneously.

For instance, we see Mr Harvey cleaning up blood in his death pit whilst the Salmon family are being told Susie’s disappearance is now being treated as murder.

Likewise, Susie’s reflective scenes in heaven happening simultaneously with normal events in the real world cross two worlds. It’s very clever and quite ground breaking.

This is cutting edge theatre presentation at its sharpest whilst retaining the heart of a powerful and shocking story. Well worth seeing.

It runs at the Birmingham Rep House until next Saturday, November 10. Visit https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/the-lovely-bones.html for more information and tickets.

Review by Euan Rose

STAN’S Café is a Birmingham based Theatre Company dedicated to exploratory ways of staging and presenting theatre.

Directed by James Yarker, itstheir latest production ‘The Capital’, proved to be a very unique, thought-provoking and often moving experience.

The setting is stark and comprises a simple stage within a stage – there are two prosceniums – the first a vast black box inside which is the smaller second box which is white. Inside this, reside two parallel moving walkways – these travel in opposite direction. Upon these, the entire production is played.

To bring the audience gently into the action, rows of grey plastic chairs travel monotonously but strangely mesmerisingly on the walkways, then after what seems an eternity something strange occurs – one chair is not facing fully forward.

Order is restored for a while until the uniformity slowly breaks into randomness – some chairs are even upturned. Life is of course like those chairs on the conveyor belts, periods of conformity broken up by the reality of change.

Humans sliding their way through life replace the chairs – we witness a myriad of everyday stories, cleverly interwoven and always moving.

It is an easy watch and quite compelling, there is enough continuity of plot to play with our emotions.

For example, we witness a successful man having an accident which makes him lose his job which in turn makes him depressed and finally, a homeless street person – one story out of dozens coming at you thick and fast and acted without the support of dialogue.

A pounding soundtrack created by Nina West drives it all along relentlessly.

‘The Capital’ could be any capital city anywhere in the world where from birth to death to a lesser or greater degree we are all residing somewhere on those moving walkways of life.

The acting company of Gerard Bell, Luanda Holness, Hema Mangoo, Craig Stephens and Amy Taylor devised ‘The Capital’, apparently originally inspired by conversations with the economics department at Warwick University on ‘Inequality in the Big City’.

A special heads up to the unnamed props team – they performed a Trojan job in continuously feeding the conveyor belts with everything from prams to desks (not forgetting those chairs) for 90 minutes in what must have been a nightmare version of the Generation Game.

It’s fair to say that this production will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I felt richer for the experience. Birmingham is lucky to have Stan’s Café as part of cultural community and I look forward to seeing their next innovation.

Review by Euan Rose

OH MY Lord – The Messiah at the Birmingham Rep

Picture by Robert Day. s

is funny!

I haven’t laughed so much that my ribs ached since I don’t know when.

Then of course this new show by the master of turning ‘Cast of Thousand Epics’ into bite size miniature comedic masterpieces, Patrick Barlow has got to offer high expectations. As the creator of the National Theatre of Brent Barlow has satirised and miniaturised such challenges as The Zulu Wars, Wagner’s Ring Cycle and of course The complete life and Works of Shakespeare.

Turning his attention to the Nativity story and Handel’s Messiah, Barlow (who also directs) has created a magical masterpiece. Cleverly this does not make light of religious beliefs but more explores mystical happenings in ground breaking ways. Who would’ve thought that two men playing Mary, Joseph and a Midwife could do such a touching job of re-enacting the holy birth? Yes we laugh but it is also quite beautiful and indeed mystical.

Hugh Dennis plays Maurice Bromsgrove Rose and John Marquez plays Ronald Bream, actors playing actors who in turn play a myriad of roles from Angels to Romans via Wise men, Shepherds, May, Joseph et al, They are both quite simply – in a word -wondrous!

They are supported by a third member of their ‘company within a company’, the superb soprano Lesley Garrett who plays Mrs Leonora Fflyte a guest singer who links everything together with recitative from the Messiah (basically she mostly sings the bits between the arias). She also occasionally joins in the fun and frolics as a third king amongst other cameos.

There is a sub-plot occurring where the actors bicker and vow never to perform together again hug and make up before the curtain – also noteworthy is a hilarious audience participation Roman Census scene.

The set by Francis O’Connor is very clever and transports us magically twixt heaven and earth, through deserts and mountains to the little town of Bethlehem.

Although I feel that as good as it is, the cast will crank up the gears even further now that press night has gone and they can relax.

This production is destined to become a Christmas treat for years to come.

Coming out onto a star filled sky in Centenary Square at the end of the show, sharing the moment with a still laughing audience, this reviewer was left with the feeling that for a short time anyway – all was well with the World.

The Messiah runs until Saturday, October 27.

Visit https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/the-messiah.html for more information and tickets.

Review by Euan Rose

CRIME drama has never been more popular or in more abundance than it is on our television screens currently and it is therefore quite a canny move for the REP to commission and produce a new thriller for the stage.

The choice of Ian Rankin’s ‘Rebus’ is also a good one – recalling the masterful Ken Stott in the role brings back many happy memories.

Long Shadows is a new play, adapted especially for the stage by Rona Munro from Rankin’s words. Add to this an award winning director in Robin Lefevre and some well-known actors it should sparkle. Sadly on the opening night it was like a glass of flat champagne.

Why? Well firstly, act one is very wordy and very static. Actors facing each other with hands in pockets, lines said upstage, dialogue disjointed and often inaudible particularly from Charles Lawson whose Scottish mumble does nothing to endear him in the early all-important scenes. Cathy Tyson is an actress of renown but sadly she puts in a performance that actually lacks depth and credibility.

The split-level set by designer Ti Green comprises a huge winding staircase representing the tenements of Edinburgh. This leads up to street level but creates a dead spot at the top where almost every word is lost. Come the interval there is little of merit to discuss.

Mercifully act one is short and act two is a much better piece all round. The story at last unfolds and actually becomes interesting. Best of all we have a tour-de-force performance from John Stahl who shows how to deliver lines, sell his character and involve the audience. He is big in statue and performance as the arch villain of the piece ‘Big Ger’ Cadety.

In essence the script could do with less words and more action – currently it seems more suited to the radio than the stage.

It lacks firm direction with some glaring staging mistakes not usually seen on this hallowed Rep stage. Even the small amount of fight business is badly executed.

It is here until the October 6, then goes on a long national tour so there are opportunities aplenty to put things right.

I’m sure with some rewriting, redirection and a cast sharing the energy that John Stahl exudes the champagne can indeed sparkle.

Visit https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/rebus-long-shadows.html for more information and tickets.

Review by Euan Rose.

‘PAINES Plough’ is renowned for both offering up new work and giving new takes on presentation.

In Anna Jordan’s ‘Pop Music’ at the Birmingham Rep they offer both.

Directed by James Grieve, it’s concept is simple – two drink-jaded people meet on the dance floor at the wedding of mutual friends and as they dance they open up to each other about their lives, as song lyrics and rhythms set off memories of the 80s and 90s.

‘G’ is played by Rakesh Boury and ‘Kayla’ by Katherine Kotz – both of whom are excellent in their respective roles – feeding off each other as the first one provokes a thought which sparks off a reaction in the other then the other returns the compliment.

It’s a bit like a closely fought tennis match set to music.

As the night progresses we discover they were at the same school – Kayla was a tough member of a girl gang who bullied G – G spent most of his time in solitude, hiding with only his orange earphones for company.

Naturally he remembers her far more than she remembers him. Equally naturally G has succeeded in life whereas Kayla has failed to fulfill any of her teenage dreams.

This is of course a well-used cliché but it is also more often than not a truism.

Most of the Silicon Valley billionaire computer company founders tell stories of being the school geek who was bullied and the best looking cheer leader who married the beefcake school football star often ended up being the sad, big fat obese couple when their crowns soon tarnished in the real world.

The clever bit in the writing is that there are several layers of depth to this cliché.

G despite being successful as a pop music engineer had not found happiness with either sex in relationships. In a way Kayla still manages to bully him by scratching at those wounds. Will they get together? Would it work out if they did?

The REP has long been pioneers in promoting new ways of making theatre acceptable to a wider audience through imaginative use of audio visual and human signing. In this production the signer – Ciaran Alexander Stewart gets equal billing alongside the cast of two actors and even a name – ‘Remix’.

He gets the best costume too and is more often than not centre stage and even joins in some of the dancing.

He is fact quite brilliant in the role – to me though I found this was at the cost of allowing G and Kayla to cross over the fourth wall to us between cast and audience. Our eyes were too often on Remix or the word screen.

The play runs at 75 minutes without an interval and seems just about the right length.

Paines Plough, and here’s a nice piece of trivia, got their name on the night the company was conceived, at the Plough Inn drinking Paines bitter – offer an original nights theatre once again.

It is well worth a trip into Birmingham for this – it runs until Saturday, September 22.

Visit https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/pop-music.html for more information and tickets, which start at £10.

Review by Euan Rose.

THERE were just four actors playing a myriad of parts when The 39 Steps was staged at the Crescent Theatre’s Ron Barber Studio.

In the plot, a night at the theatre turns swiftly into a complex cacophony of dastardly deeds, merry mayhem, murder most foul, sinister spies, lovers, lasciviousness and a barrel load of laughs.

The action zooms from a moving train to cars to Scottish Highlands and Lowlands to back where it starts in the theatre where only the knowledge of the famous ‘Memory Man’ can save our innocent hero from a trip to the gallows.

‘The 39 Steps’ started life as a novel by John Buchan, and then became a classic movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, a radio play and a straight dramatic adaption before Patrick Barlow created this ‘whacky races on speed’ version.

It was a smash hit both on Broadway and in the West End running for many years and scooping lots of awards.

The Crescent quartet of actors give their all to the venture.

David Baldwin’s combination of innocence and arrogance make him a perfectly suave Richard Hannay, Molly Wood suitably flaunts herself in all the sexy roles whilst Niall Higgins and Katie Goldhawk take on seemingly hundreds of characters with great aplomb – all credit to them for remembering who and where they are.

The action takes place in the confines of the Ron Barber studio, which is set out in a panoramic style with the audience straight on.

The downside of this is if you are seated in the middle you are fine but if you’re seated to one side then you miss out on the action if it is appearing on the other.

In my opinion, it would have been more inclusive had it been set in the round or traverse.

That is to take nothing away from the company who with just a few benches as furniture take us with them on this breakneck journey.

The lighting design by James Booth is quite magnificent in its creativity, the sound well conceived and balanced by Roger Cunningham.

Director Sallyanne Scotton Moonga has worked in tandem with her actors with her touch showing like a fifth cast member at times.

Catch it before it closes on September 15– it’s great fun.

Visit https://www.crescent-theatre.co.uk/ for more information and ticket prices.

Review by Euan Rose.

THE COMEDY about a Bank Robbery is the latest offering from Mischief Theatre – a company that has achieved phenomenal success over the past few years and has amassed a very loyal following.

‘Mischief’ is the brainchild of three ex LAMDA students Jonathon Sayer, Henry Shields and Henry Lewis, who share a love of slapstick and comedy improvisation.

Like many companies, their journey started at the Edinburgh Fringe where they won the ‘Improv.’ Award’’ back in 2008.

From there they went on to write and perform ‘The Play that goes Wrong’ followed by ‘Peter Pan goes Wrong’ both of which enjoyed long West End runs.

The difference between these and this new show is that they don’t hide it under an umbrella of the worst kind of am-dram where everything that can go wrong, does so.

The last two also had been ‘performed’ by the ‘Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as its legend. So this new show is a sort of ‘coming of age’ for this quite unique company who’s sole mission is to make its audience collapse with laughter. One is reminded of the song ‘Make ‘em Laugh’ sung by silent movie director Max Sennett in Mack and Mabel when he sings about the Keystone Cops.

There is a plot of sorts – master criminal Mitch Ruscitti (Liam Jeavons) escapes from prison with the assistance of prison officer, Neil Cooper (David Coomber), in order to steal one of the world’s most valuable diamonds.

There then follows two hours of non stop slapstick, taking the genre back to its roots with a cacophony of misplaced clothes, people falling out of windows, getting trapped in folding beds, wardrobes and boxes, getting compromised in accidental sexual positions and a series of unfulfilled romantic encounters before we get to the actual heist.

Here we are into ground-breaking technical stuff theatrically where a special mention must go to David Farley as the set designer who surely must be up for some kind of award as his ever-changing, multi-storied, yet practical settings move as fast as the action. A highlight being the floor of the bank actually appears in real time, not projected on the back wall of the set so the audience is viewing the action as if from the ceiling – quite a wow moment.

Meanwhile the robbers are making their way along the ceiling via an air vent which is at the front of the stage adding yet another perspective.

Moving on from this we travel to the vault where the diamond is in a bulletproof glass case, which of course is alarmed – it can only be deactivated by putting a code into a keypad without touching the floor. Along with Ruth Monaghan the token gangsters moll (Ashley Tucker) our ‘crims’ descend on ropes singing hush a bye baby to send the guard to sleep.

This sent the audience into even greater fits of laughter. Diamond heist completed there just remains a fight to the death for the spoils.

There are some well-sung, great songs and the whole production has a nostalgic B Movie 1950s feel to it.

Also there is a very clever back story of ‘singing seagulls’. However, like ‘Mrs Brown’ and Marmite you will either love this madcap mayhem or like me, whilst admiring it, find much of it tiresome and repetitive, but I was in the minority – can’t say I was a Keystone Cops fan either come to think of it.

The comedy about a Bank Robbery’ continues to provide unpretentious fun and frolics until September 8 when it continues its national tour.

Visit https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk for more information and tickets.

Review by Euan Rose.

THE OLD Joint Stock’s resident company always offer their audience something different and ‘Side Show’ by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger is certainly no exception.

The original ran for just 91 performances on Broadway when it premiered in 1997. It fared only slightly better in its 2014 rewrite and revival when despite positive reviews it closed after just seven weeks.

The obvious question is why? Despite that question mark, this production by the highly talented director Karl Steele succeeds on many levels. Firstly, because he has chosen to convert the entire theatre into the Side Show or Freak Show, where we the audience are voyeurs just like our ancestors were back in the first half of the 20th century when people paid to laugh and scream at those unfortunates born with deformities. ‘Steele’ invites us into the nightmarish world he has created; a pre-show experience before it becomes a musical and this is live and not some Channel Four documentary watched from the comfort of a living room.

The theatre resides on the top floor of the Old Joint Stock pub and restaurant in Temple Street Birmingham. To reach it you have to ascend several flights of old fashioned stairs – adorning the walls are portraits of the freaks we are going to see perform. When the auditorium is reached it is like entering a circus tent and a chalkboard time chart at the check in desk listing what freak is on when all adds to the illusion.

Inside, the audience is seated on all four walls with a smaller tent and mini stage central to the back wall. There are podiums intermingled throughout the audience on which freaks gyrate like grotesque night club dancers in some post-apocalyptic world. Next to me was a three legged girl (Lizzie Robins), on others, a bearded lady (Vicky Addis), a tattooed lady (Sarah Haines), a very strange person in black and white dungarees and a shaven head save for a carrot top bun –referred to as ‘(Geek’ (Maisie-Kate Robertson), a half man/half woman (Bea Coleman), an armless ‘Venus de Milo’ (Jessica Birtwistle), a bone bedecked Cannibal King (a charismatic Patison Harrigan), Dog Boy (Jaoash Musunio) and a dusky Fortune teller who can rival the guitarist from Kiss for the length of the thrust of her tongue (Alanna Boden).

The tension is broken only when the band under the musical direction of Nick Allen strike up and the cast literally throw themselves from the podiums into the opening number ‘Come see the Freaks’ where Sir (Simon Peacock) bangs his cane and conducts his bizarre circus. As the number reaches its climax the curtains on the small stage are peeled back to reveal our headliners, the conjoined Hilton Sisters, Daisy and Violet, (gutsy and passionate performances from Cassie Aurora and Elle Knowles).

The twins are enticed away from the seedy Side Show by would-be theatrical impresarios Terry Connor (convincingly played with a snake oil salesman smile by Richard Haines) and Buddy Foster (an equally convincing but nicer chap image by Bradley Walwyn) to join the famed Orpheum Circuit. Terry asks them to share their dreams; Violet, the gentler of the two, says she just wants the normal life of a husband and home, Daisy, on the other hand, seeks fame and fortune. Terry tells them he can make their dreams come true after Sir rudely refuses Terry’s offer to be cut in on the twins’ potential vaudeville career, Terry devises a scheme whereby Buddy will teach the girls to sing and perform. They leave the Side Show and Jake, the Cannibal King, the twins’ friend and protector, leaves with them. They do indeed enjoy significant success professionally but fail at every level personally in the arenas of love and normality.

They are destined to be joined forever not just physically at the hip but emotionally in their hearts. Without them the Side Show fails and sadly the other freaks disappear from what was their only family.

The story is strongly factual; The Hilton Sisters were born in Brighton England in 1908 and died from the Hong Kong Flue epidemic in North Carolina in 1969. Violet lived for a few days longer than Daisy as was discovered at the autopsy. Her death was probably as much from a broken heart as the flu germ.

Why wasn’t this a smash on Broadway? Look at the recent success The Greatest Showman (very much along the same lines) has had? The reason is top musicals have a ‘must buy’ CD and have you coming out singing the lyrics.

Apart from ‘Who will love me as I am?’, the rest of the numbers are pretty unmemorable. That doesn’t mean to say that they are not well-performed – quite the opposite. This OJS production is better than the script and score they were working from; it is an excellent night at the theatre.

It runs until Saturday. Visit http://www.oldjointstock.co.uk/ or call 0121 200 1892 for tickets, which are £16. Shows start at 7.30pm.

Review by Euan Rose