Reviews

This play by Amanda Whittington is a sequel to her earlier Ladies’ Day, in which four Hull fish packers took a trip to the races and hit the jackpot. Now we find them using some of their winnings to have the holiday of a lifetime in Australia, and I found myself mightily impressed that the Players had even managed to arrange Sydney-type weather for the production. Actually this is not a first, as I distinctly remember that a few years ago one of their productions featured a thunderstorm – and we actually got the real thing. Clearly someone at Poulner

Alfred Hickling recently reminisced in the Guardian about the Tom Stoppard screenplay for Shakespeare in Love (and/or the Lee Hall adaptation for the stage), where the fledgling Will receives some poignant guidance from the world-wearier Henslowe: ‘Comedy.  That’s what they want.  Love and a bit with a dog.’  And sure enough, as night follows day, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona that is what you get, as it is written on the side of the tin.  This is one of Shakespeare’s initial plays; some say it is the earliest.  It is a dabbling tale of friendship, love, duplicity and friendship