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The Soldier’s Tale

Chamber Orchestra Anglia Playhouse Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 25 September 2010 The Soldiers Tale A concert in aid of Help for Heroes was a perfect vehicle for Chamber Orchestra Anglia to show their skills in an entertaining and richly varied way, under the firm but sensitive baton of Sharon Choa. A suite compiled from an original radio score by Benjamin Britten, Sword in the Stone, started the loosely-militaristic themed evening. This early work of some parody and musical directness demonstrated perfectly Britten’s emerging but unique voice. Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale is set to a text from an old Russian folk tale. With repeated militaristic imagery and rhythms of jazz, ragtime, tango, waltz and marching, it demands the highest virtuosity and dexterity from the instrumentalists. They gave it in full measure. The libretto was … Read entire article »

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Snake in the Grass

Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 18 September 2010 Snake in the Grass Alan Ayckbourn writes brilliant comedy with a dark side, an under belly of thoughtful, uncomfortable truth that makes for a fascinating evening, as if we are being mesmerised by a literal snake. Director Judi Daykin takes hold of this less well-known four-hander and produces rivetting drama. Rhett Davies’ set, cunningly built into the small stage, is a delight, a deceptively peaceful, ramshackle old English garden, hiding all sorts of menace. Two sisters are reunited after the death of their father. The apparently capable older one is played with perfectly balanced strength and vulnerability by Dawn Brindle. Her sibling, a masterful Etta Geras, is not quite as broken and crazy as she first appears. Alexandra Berridge is the nurse/companion to … Read entire article »

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