Reviews

Bournemouth Little Theatre    Bournemouth Little Theatre, Bournemouth  John Sivewright   19 April  2023   Thrillers are never easy to stage, never mind classic ones that have been adapted for the big screen, but BLTC deliver such a polished and gripping production of Frederick Knott’s ‘Dial M For Murder’ that you’d never know it.  Many will be familiar with Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film version starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly, but the story perhaps works best on the stage, and especially within the intimate setting of BLTC’s own theatre.  The play sees ex-tennis pro Tony Wendice discovering the infidelity of

Ringwood Musical & Dramatic Society [RMDS]     The Barn, Ringwood School, Ringwood Caroline Burr  12 April  2023   This was a very ambitious evening’s entertainment as the company performed 30 numbers and added three sketches for good measure.  The theatre itself has excellent facilities, and sound, lighting and smoke machine were used to good effect throughout. The costumes were often very colourful, and the many quick changes were accomplished successfully. I loved the attention to detail on the women’s costumes for the two numbers from Made in Dagenham which included Ford badges on all the blue overalls. The period costumes

Bournemouth and Boscombe Light Opera Company [BBLOC]    Bournemouth Pavilion, Bournemouth  Chelsea Ball  5 April  2023 We’ve all become used to seeing stage adaptions of popular films in recent years, and we love to see musical versions of some of our favourite characters come to life in the theatre. It adds a completely different challenge when a show was not only a very popular film with an excellent cast, but is also based on the true life events of the loss of a woman’s husband. In the case of tackling the Calendar Girls, this adds a need for a level of

Studio Theatre    Studio Theatre, Salisbury Anne Waggott  28 March  2023 Widowed 30 years ago, Margaret Harvey has cocooned herself in a safe haven with her daughter, Rebecca, in their comfy little cottage in a British seaside town. When Rebecca bites the bullet and moves out to start a new life with her partner (the unseen Pete), she ‘invites’ visiting artist, Milton Farnsworth, to be her mother’s new lodger… setting her mother up with a potential source of income as well as a second chance of love… I am familiar with playwright Philip Goulding’s work, having reviewed on a number of

Dorsetborn    The Arc, Winchester  Anne Waggott  26 March  2023 What an adventurous holiday of a lifetime for 12-year-old Georgia: a visit to her elder sister Helena, a scientist, who is stationed at a research base in Antarctica! However, Georgia’s relaxation is shattered when she finds that an enormous iceberg is on a collision course with a nearby penguin colony. Desperate to save them from impending danger, Georgia might just need your help… “Dorestborn are here to discover new stories deserving of new audiences” – and what better new audiences than the very young? As an introduction to what theatre

Swanage Musical Theatre Company    The Mowlem Theatre, Swanage  KD Johnson  23 March  2023 To anyone with even a passing interest in musical comedy, My Fair Lady will be at least slightly familiar, whether from the 1964 film version, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, or from any of the many times that it has been staged by amateur societies around the country. I have performed in it twice in the last 20 years and so its characters, themes and the songs are well known. People like it for that comfortable familiarity (like an old pair of slippers that might