The Ones That Got Away - Part Three

 Final few reminices.......

AUGUST

Too Clever By Half, Royal Exchange - this production was brought to the theatre by Told By An Idiot, and redefined the word madcap. It did take a little while to get into its stride, but when it did it was excellent. Oh and there was a bear. Who appears to have refused to leave the Exchange, he spent the summer sporting a high vis jacket and a hard hat in the foyer, and he now greets you as you enter the foyer from Cross Street and is proving quite the photo opportunity!

SEPTEMBER

Seaside Special, Cromer Pavilion Theatre - seaside holiday time and, of course, a visit to the see the good old fashioned variety entertainment Seaside Special. Shows like this, and traditions like this should be celebrated and invested in. The horrendous weather recently did it's best to wash this gorgeous theatre into the sea, yet everyone pulled together to repair the damage to the pier and the theatre so that ‘the show could go on’ with only a few days break. Good on you Norfolk! 

 

OCTOBER

People by Alan Bennett,  Lowry Theatre - touring production of a new Bennett play starring Sian Phillips as a lady living in faded grandeur in a country pile with her faithful pal Iris played by Brigitte Forsyth, and trying various avenues , including hosting a dubious film shooting, to allow her to stay undisturbed by 'people’. Fantastic cast and really clever and wryly amusing play that takes very acerbic swipes at a number of elements of the establishment, most especially the National Trust. And one of the most impressive sets and stage transformations I have seen.
 

NOVEMBER

The Mousetrap, Buxton Opera House – The long running whodunit celebrated its Diamond anniversary with its first ever tour which is actually continuing into 2014. It had all the classic elements – a murder, a house cut off by snow, more red herrings than you could shake a stick at. Each member of our party had a different prime suspect by the interval and as far as I remember we were all wrong!

 

 

GRRRRRRR!

The Ones That Got Away - Part Two

July was a mega busy month for me because of my involvement with the Manchester International Festival - which might explain why none of these got written up!.....

JULY

The Old Woman, Palace Theatre, Manchester as part of the Manchester International Festival - starring Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov. I was actually volunteer team leader for this show as part of my involvement with the festival, an assignment I suspect I was given because I admitted to the volunteer programme coordinator that I had a major crush on Baryshnikov when I was younger. Sadly I never got to meet him, or even see him 'off duty' at any of the MIF bashes that I did door duty at, but I did get to experience this completely crackers but strangely brilliant show from the 4th row. I'll admit, it took me a while to appreciate it, and as a volunteer we did receive some divided opinion about it from the audience. Visually it was completely stunning, performance wise it was skilful but completely insane, like being sucked into someone's weird nightmare. However, I was still thinking about it days later, and appreciating it a lot more in retrospect. The other striking thing was the diversity of the audience it attracted - I met the most interesting mix of people whilst working front of house promoting the festival on this show.

Macbeth, St Peters Church, Ancoats as part of Manchester International Festival - I can't believe I never blogged this, and actually I still intend to as I think this is one of the, if not the, best and most memorable theatrical performances I have ever witnessed. At one stage I was literally face to face with Kenneth Branagh. The whole thing from start to finish was a breathtaking and deeply memorable experience that I feel privileged to have witnessed. Blog will follow! 

Zigzag Zigzag at the Town Hall in Manchester, presented as part of the Manchester International Festival and also taken into schools during the week. A lively and touching tale of the kind of friendships that you think will go on for ever when you are young. Brilliantly energetic performances from the two actors (Alex Phillips and Joe Azzopardi) .I was volunteering front of house on this and I'm so glad I managed to sneak in to see it!

 

Daylight Robbery as part of 24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester. I only managed to get to three 24:7 plays last year, two were excellent (Away from Home, Blunted).  I couldn't however bring myself to blog about the third choice at the time as I couldn't think of many nice things to say. But with the passing of time I have thought of a couple - 1. The two female actors were excellent, but wasted in this production 2. It was only 45 minutes long, never have I been so glad to leave a performance space!

The Ones That Got Away - Part One

Life's been a busy old creature with one thing and another in 2013, and although it was always my intention to blog everything I saw at the theatre, inevitably some slipped through the net. So I thought I would do a quick whistle stop, and not exhaustive, round up of some of the things I saw in 2013 that never made it as far as a 'proper' blog entry!  When I came to do it I was ashamed to see how many had not been written up so it has turned into a three part catch up!

FEBRUARY

The Accrington Pals, Royal Exchange Theatre - This play viewed the experience of World War One primarily through the eyes of the women that were left behind when a large contingent of the town went off to fight. Atmospheric, rain soaked set and a tense feeling of inevitability as we, the audience, knew few would come back.

MARCH

To Kill A Mockingbird, Royal Exchange Theatre - wonderful set and design cleverly transforming before our eyes to evoke the various settings.  An excellent cast, especially the central character of Scout (Shannon Tarbet) and an accomplished production of this tense and at times challenging story.

The Mikado, Bridgewater Hall - semi staged performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan Classic. Excellent cast that had a lot of fun with the performance, and an extremely funny and as I remember somewhat risqué update of ' I've got a little list'

The Ladykillers, Lowry Theatre- very funny stage version of the Ealing Classic with a wonderful cast, and a very clever multilevel stage design allowing for the performance to progress at pace with no set changes despite the multiple locations.

JUNE

Relatively Speaking by Alan Ayckbourn, Wyndhams Theatre, London - Formulaic but funny farce of mistaken identity starring Felicity Kendall who basically played Felicity Kendall. The biggest surprise was the talented Kara Tointon, who I had only heard of as a television actress in Eastenders, but who more than proved herself to be a talented and clever stage actress in this play. Unchallenging, but funny and a good night out.

Noises Off by Michael Frayn, Lowry Theatre - touring production of this fast paced and increasingly chaotic comedy from The Old Vic. Actually the second time I have seen this play, first time was years ago with Jeff Rawle playing the role of the Director - this time it was his old Drop The Dead Donkey colleague Neil Pearson. Very funny indeed.

Matilda, Cambridge Theatre London, 30/6/13

(yes it has taken me six months to realise I never posted this.......)

I decided it was time to unleash my inner child and find out whether all the hype about Matilda was justified. And you know what, it was!
 

From early in the show when the lyrics include the words 'front bottom' you know this isn't going to be your average musical. Tim Minchin has penned some delightfully clever, very funny and at times very touching songs which are delivered with glee by a fantastic cast. A company that mixes kids and adults works incredibly well (and incredibly hard) together to deliver seamless choreography and fast paced action. The show definitely captures the spirit and rebelliousness of the Dahl classic and turns it into something quite spectacular.
 

The kids in the cast deserve a special mention, these are no nauseating brats, but skilled and clever performers who you warm to from the outset. Our Matilda was played by Lara Wollington, and she was excellent in the role - it's actually quite a demanding role, on stage for most of the performance, combining drama, comedy, and tender moments with ease.
 

And the set design and staging, well that is astounding. Elements rise from the stage unexpectedly, swing in from the wings, appear and disappear before your eyes - you'd almost believe magic was afoot at times. The lighting is also spectacular, creating more magical moments across the whole of the auditorium.
 
You do leave the show on a high, humming the songs, and maybe wanting to access your inner child and be 'a little bit naughty’. 

Worthy of the hype? Yes indeedy!