Reviews

This is a definitely a show for the whole family and the presence of attentive and focused children on stage is a brilliance in itself. There is a wonderful piece of writing in the programme from celebrated performer and eerie Ghost of Marley, Earl Carpenter. He writes about how the whole experience is absolutely free for all the children involved, which is such an amazing opportunity, and the enjoyment that they are having on stage emanates into the theatre. The children’s chorus is split into three: one team named ‘Bah’, the next ‘Hum’ and the last ‘Bug’. I watched the ‘Hum’

Alice in Wonderland is a darned good children’s story but extremely weird at anything beyond the most superficial level. That’s why it has provided rich pickings for adapters, analysts and imaginative stage designers. Psychologists love it, too, the Jungians for its dream-like quality and the Freudians for its rich symbolism, all set against the author’s strong interest in pre-pubescent girls. Few of the versions or adaptations are more interesting than Laura Wade’s, which opens at a funeral at which the usual embarrassed clichés are repeated ad nauseam while Alice sits immobile and silent on a large chair centre stage. It

I normally put my ‘go see’ at the end of the review, but today I will begin with it. Go and see this show; take the family, take the grandchildren, but don’t miss it. Having thoroughly enjoyed last year’s Duncan Reeves production of Aladdin, our little family were full of high hopes for Cinderella and we were certainly not disappointed. It’s fabulous! Cinderella’s writer and director, Peter Duncan, gets it so right. This show works so very well because it doesn’t try to be anything other than family entertainment, with a little bit of innuendo for the grown-ups, but with

The things that run through my mind in the aftermath of an evening at the theatre tend to influence how my review is crafted. Last night, I left the theatre and drove home with a lot if ‘is’s’ and ‘isn’ts’ running through my mind. First, an ‘isn’t’. It isn’t one of Alan Ayckbourn’s greatest masterpieces. There are many of his works that are masterpieces, but this, as a piece of writing, falls a bit short of his usual high quality and just doesn’t span well or sit right with me. What it is is a play about a woman who

Bitterly cold outside, gobos of falling snow on entering the performance space and festive music filling the venue all combine to set the tone for Maskers’ annual Christmas show in the intimate location of the Studio; with cabaret-style tables and a minimalist set, director Meri Mackney invites the select audience to ‘join in with all the songs, boo the villain, cheer the hero and chant the melodrama catchphrase’. As this suggests, this year’s December show has a wide variety of entertainment styles on offer: the first half provides a mixture of literary extracts, poems and music, followed by an interval

What a difference 24 hours makes! Last night I was in an audience with a goodly proportion of children, watching a traditional panto with nothing more risqué than the occasional mild double entendre. Tonight it was what has become an annual Stage Door tradition: its ‘adult’ pantomime. Never was there a more accurate label. The whole show is drenched in sex, and every erotic activity I’ve heard of is referred to at some point, plus some which were new to me – and I haven’t led exactly a sheltered life. The contrast between the two consecutive evenings’ entertainment is convincing