Reviews

The start of the opening night of Sister Act was slightly delayed for the best possible reason: the queue of people at the box office wanting to buy tickets. Two and a half hours later, that near-capacity audience left the theatre buoyed up by one of the most joyous musicals around, superbly performed. Deloris Van Cartier, a nightclub singer, witnesses a gangland shooting and has to go into hiding. The hiding-place chosen is a local convent, where she soon shakes the sisters out of their out-of-tune plainsong into becoming the gospel choir to end all gospel choirs. The attendances at

Jingo is a stage adaptation, by Stephen Briggs, of one of the Discworld novels by the late Terry Pratchett. There are millions of enthusiasts for the works of Terry Pratchett but I came to this play as a complete Pratchett virgin, having never read any of them. Interestingly, the opening night audience was split between people like me, with little or no knowledge of Discworld, and at least one Pratchett enthusiast who had travelled all the way from Wincanton to see this show. Whether or not it bears any resemblance to the 1997 novel by the late lamented author, let

Salisbury Playhouse’s Original Drama programme is always interesting, not least because of its emphasis on work with a West Country connection. Few novels are more firmly rooted in this part of the world than Moonfleet, so a new musical version was a strong candidate for the programme and keeps up the high standards for which it has become known. The book and lyrics are by the Playhouse’s own artistic director, Gareth Machin, who also directs. The music is by Russell Hepplewhite, a young composer with a growing reputation, whose works have been premiered at the Royal Albert Hall, Glyndebourne and

Having escaped from this totally bonkers evening almost completely unscathed, and having even won a raffle prize – I shall treasure that tin of pilchards – I have arrived home to discover in the programme (the programme within a programme, that is) that it had been erroneously reported that I was ‘missing in Acton’. How such a false rumour came about I cannot fathom, as I have never been to Acton in my life – but it just shows the lengths to which some reviewers will go in their efforts to see off rivals. I must say, though, that I