Reviews

Arts University Bournemouth (AUB)     Studio Theatre, AUB Campus, Poole JJ     8 December 2022 I had never heard of this play and I had never had the pleasure of seeing an AUB Production before. So, as I left on a freezing cold December evening, I feared I might be heading to see some weird impenetrable modern piece of theatre. How wrong I was. The Belle’s Stratagem is a romantic comedy of manners. It is the most successful work of its playwright, Hannah, and premiered on 22 February 1780, filling the 2,000-seat Drury Lane theatre. It is the tale of

Studio Theatre     Studio Theatre, Salisbury Lloyd Perry     6 December 2022 This was my first time in reviewing the award winning Studio Theatre based in their purpose built theatre in Salisbury. There is no better way to kick start the Christmas festivities than with a pantomime, and this was the offering from Studio, self-penned by the director Ian Flindell. The story does not need too much explaining and is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic book. The story starts in the Admiral Bimbo Inn on the North Somerset coast and, over 14 scenes, takes the audience on a journey

Maskers Theatre Company     Maskers Studio, Southampton David A Putley     5 December 2022 SPOILER ALERT Masker’s member Brian Stansbridge has captured the written moment in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol when Spirit takes Scrooge ( a wonderfully emotional Philip de Grouchy) to the Cratchit household and re-imagined an alternate timeline. What if the Cratchits were in fact more Larkin/Del-boy-esque than the all accepting of their poor lot characters portrayed by the great writer ( Joao Pinto giving a very dignified and warm performance throughout). Jez Minns beautifully casually throwing away the crutch usually associated with Tiny Tim, cleverly giving him

Spot On Productions     The Point, Eastleigh Mark Ponsford     2 December 2022 My first encounter with this show was in London, several months into its original run. It was a midweek matinee, the rain was nothing short of Biblical, and (for reasons we don’t need to go into here) I was in the grumpiest mood imaginable, all set to resist whatever the show might have to offer. By the time the final curtain fell, I left the theatre feeling 10 feet off the ground. Proof again of the power of Theatre, of what it can do for us, and

Milton Musical Society    Forest Arts Centre, New Milton  Carole Gadsby  30 November 2022 The atmosphere as we walked into Forest Arts was buzzing with anticipation and excitement; we were warmly greeted by Front of House staff, which contributes to the feeling of “this is going to be good”. What I was expecting I am not sure, but I was certainly not disappointed. The barman at The King Henry, Cayton Francis, opened the proceedings with all the other characters in tableaus strategically placed around the stage.  Dan Murrell as Fagin was superb in his interpretation of ‘Gotta Pick A Pocket

The playwright, Joel Horwood, takes the basic premise that global warming is caused by capitalism and adds other tropes such as the abuse of power, the threat posed from outsiders and the desire to build a better society. This production was performed by twelve women from the BA (Hons) Acting course, supported by students from two of the Costume Design courses and the Make-Up for Media and Performance course. Several disenchanted young women have formed The Community on a platform out at sea, to create a better way of living. They rail against the negative effects of Capitalism and inequality,