Reviews

Maskers Theatre Company  Maskers Studio, Southampton Anne Waggott 13 September  2023 Southampton has had a centuries-long association with the sea and ships, from the Mayflower via RMS Titanic to the Tall Ships Youth Trust and modern cruise ships, and much more besides. So, when the Lord Mayor’s office approached Maskers Theatre Company to put on a show highlighting Southampton’s maritime history, they dove right in and produced a show to create quite the splash! Masker’s Time And Tide is a collection of sketches, monologues, poems and a cappella sea shanties, reflecting the history of Southampton and its links with the sea

Double Act drama group    North Castle Field, opp Castle View NT car park, Nr Corfe Castle  Caroline Burr 2 August  2023   Set against the dramatic back drop of Corfe Castle a small party of us set off across the beautiful Dorset countryside to try to solve the murder of Sir Henry Paget. The story is loosely based on real events which happened in the 14th century, when Isabella, mother of Edward III, and her lover Mortimer, were plotting to take control of the English throne. A troupe of actors, full of stock characters such as the evil Lady

Brownsea Open Air Theatre [BOAT]   Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour KD Johnson 31 July  2023 A visit to Brownsea Island, on any day of reasonable weather, is always a treat. To be able to take the early ferry over, eat a picnic meal on the island and then to watch a great show by Brownsea Open Air Theatre (BOAT) in their 60th anniversary year, has to be counted amongst the best of treats. It is a shame that the nature reserve has been closed due to Avian Flu – but it is due to reopen on Saturday 5 August. One of

JT Productions  Chesil Theatre, Winchester Mark Ponsford 29 July  2023 Haunting and memorable. Writing this review on the morning after attending this quietly astonishing evening at the Chesil Theatre, I find myself replaying so many moments in my mind, and if that’s not an example of the effectiveness and power of Fine Theatre, then I don’t know what is. Six wildly contrasting monologues, judiciously selected by Mark Gatiss, all pinpointing specific times in LGBTQ History, and put before us in the Queen Ann Arms, a pub which remains, as the years progress, a consistent and somehow comforting haven, in which the

Centrestage Productions Youth Theatre [CPYT]  The Point, Eastleigh  David A Putley 27 July  2023 CYPT in the capable hands of Mike Mullen and his team have shown once again how to turn a very difficult adult-themed show into something highly accessible and polished. And what is being staged is not a dumbed down children only adaption but the real script and score as it would be performed by professionals and as an ensemble piece it works on so many levels in a way I have not experienced this show before. As written, it has disjointed themes- Fame does cost in

Lyndhurst Drama & Musical Society    Vernon Theatre, Lyndhurst  Anne Waggott 27 July  2023 There is a big challenge when portraying well known, real-life people on stage in a fictional play – if you haven’t actually come across these people yourself, you’re likely to have seen an interpretation of them somewhere along the line, and so have preconceived ideas of what they should be like. For the actors who portray them, there is then an additional challenge in making the role their own whilst still capturing all the nuances and peculiarities of the original – especially when they are two