David Porter » Archive
The Rat Pack
Theatre Royal, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 5 July 2005 The Rat Pack I did it my way. A philosophy for the generation who grew up with the Rat Pack. Songs like That’s Life, That’s Amore, Fly Me to the Moon, Chicago, New York … are the soundtrack of the 1950s and much of the 60s too. In the company of talented performers, unmistakable music, cool dance moves, it wasn’t hard to imagine being at The Sands, Las Vegas. Individually and together Sammy Davis Jnr, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were a force in entertainment that is felt to this day. The show is a cabaret tribute and more. The luscious Berelli Sisters were the dancing chorus eye candy – It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing. They swung. The 15-piece … Read entire article »
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Vincent in Brixton
Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 25 June 2005 Vincent in Brixton Would Vincent van Gogh be remembered today if he had become a preacher? We’ll never know. His destiny was to paint and his life led that way. It’s that early life in the form of a portrait of an artist as a young man that is the burden of this play. It is a fresh perspective, though it divided the critics from breathless admiration to ‘an impersonation of writing’. Director Rhett Davies takes the five-strong cast through the twists of fortune as young Vincent works for an art dealer in London and lodges in Brixton. Falling first for the daughter – elegantly played by Millie Woolsey-Brown, despite her ties to a fellow lodger amusingly played by Owen Bevan – he discovers … Read entire article »
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Tamla Motown
Theatre Royal, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 27 June 2005 Tamla Motown Along with mini-skirts, long hair and flower-power, Tamla Motown is the 60s. Those of a certain age have only to catch the opening bars of Reach Out I’ll Be There, Baby Love or Get Ready, to start grooving all over again. To have a string of the greatest mighty Motown classics in 60’s costumes, hair-dos and dance routines as performed by The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, The Miracles and Stevie Wonder, was sheer joy. These were living funky artistes, re-creating the heyday of that unique sound from Detroit that gave a voice to black and white people, then as now. Story there was none – the music spoke for itself. Just to list the titles of the songs is to … Read entire article »
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Romeo and Juliet
Shakespearean Lunges at The Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 26 August 2005 Romeo and Juliet The launch of a new amateur theatre ensemble of students and older people is an exciting event. The intriguingly-entitled company is Shakespearean Lunges and their choice of one of the most well-known tragedies from the Bard’s cannon for their debut, is a challenging one. There is always a difficulty in reciting lines that have become part of the fabric of our English language, but director Sam Grayston has found a number of fresh angles. Modern settings and touches like slow dancing at the Capulets’ ball, small but well-formed comic moments from characters and Tybalt’s blood spat over Romeo’s face, all work to lift the text. Love’s young dream is Romeo (Rhys King) whose measured victim-hood is contrasted … Read entire article »
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And Then There Were None
Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 19 August 2005 And Then There Were None Lovers of art-deco crime, of the English island view of the world of twists and turns in plot, of actors who go beyond stereotypical characters and fans of the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, should set course for the Maddermarket. And Then There Were None is based on a verse, Ten Little Soldiers,the plot ingeniously sees a mystery host bring ten unconnected people to an island to accuse them of a variety of murders. Subsequently they are bumped off in increasingly gruesome acts of vengeance. Undercurrents of loathing, class conflict and a sense of period are directed superbly by Peter Sowerbutts around a clever and workable set. Stylistically it is difficult to portray characters who face certain but … Read entire article »
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Moll Flanders
Kaos Theatre at The Playhouse, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 6 October 2005 Moll Flanders Kaos Theatre returns to Norwich with a reputation for cutting-edge physical theatre and original storytelling. Expectations are high in the tale of the heroine/anti-heroine Moll, whore, victim, thief, woman…. The trouble is, Moll is played by a man (to reflect that the story is really of the disreputable writer Daniel Defoe himself). Many of the male and female parts are strangely swapped. By the end, the confusion has ceased to be comic and become distasteful and pointless. If there was any doubt that performance art reinvents the past, this is proof. It has shades of The Beggar’s Opera (six songs and early musical theatre) and a touch of Brecht’s Threepenny Opera (music, villains and a moral message). But the … Read entire article »
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A Dulditch Angel
Eastern Angles Theatre Company at The Cut, Halesworth Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 29 September 2005 A Dulditch Angel The latest show by Eastern Angles has been launched on its tour of venues across our region. And a gripping tour-de-force it is. Five talented and versatile cast weave the fabric of a rural community struggling, loving, marrying and dying. Told from the stories of Mary Mann, it is set as the 19th century gives way to the 20th. However, the performance style gives it a timeless, haunting resonance with all English life. Few may have heard of Mary Mann – but one of her stories of love between a gamekeeper and an educated woman was pilfered by DH Lawrence and became Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Eastern Angles are doing a service bringing these darkly humorous tales … Read entire article »
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Black Shuck
Oskar Foxtrot Theatre at The Cut, Halesworth Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 21 July 2005 Black Shuck The premiere of an East Anglian musical is both a rare and agreeable delight. This is a fascinating piece, part ghost story, part mix of local folklore and history, cunningly wrapped in a variety of new ideas. Giving a new lease of life to the old shaggy dog story of Black Shuck, writer Andy Durham, lyricist Phil Corbett and composer Sarah Corbett have devised both entertainment and food for thought. Was it just a demon dog, a devil hound who terrorised people 400 years ago? Or a cover for smugglers to keep away the over-curious? Or even a modern parable of fear, retribution and punishment? It’s all that and more. The deepening of the evil in the … Read entire article »
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The Improvisers
Theatre Royal, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 12 July 2005 The Improvisers Most actors act. Some improvise. Some tell jokes. A few are stand-up comics. Some comics perform a good yarn. But to do and be all at once takes a special performer – one of The Improvisers, in fact. Stephen Frost brought his crack team of improvisers to town, his theatre without a safety net, and almost the only time we stopped laughing was to draw breath. It’s one thing to go on stage with barely a notion of the way a sketch could go, but to be at the mercy of what the audience calls out – that’s another league. Some audience suggestions teetered on the obscene, but were skilfully paried. Others strayed into the obscure (yetis in the shed), the bizarre … Read entire article »
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Funny Money
Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review Published in the Eastern Daily Press, 15 February 2008 Funny Money One of the many strengths of the Maddermarket is the variety of its plays. Ray Cooney’s madcap romp is a highlight of the season. If farce is the comedy of extraordinary things that happen to ordinary people, this is a masterclass in the genre. We have a full measure of almost believable characters caught in an increasingly ludicrous web of implausible white lies, inventions, distractions and downright absurdities. Trevor Burton is a wonderfully slightly mad man who finds £735,000 in a suitcase and tries to hang on to it. His wife (Dawn Brindle) drinks herself into a stupor to cope while their friends (Angela Goymer and Matthew Pinkerton) are in turn helpful and otherwise as they cover up the deceits. In the … Read entire article »
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