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Hitchcock Blonde

Hitchcock Blonde at the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 22 February 2014.   Playwright Terry Johnson doesn’t write about famous people so much as use them in his own intricate fixation dramas. This intriguing work runs two parallel obsession stories. The superbly loathsome Alfred Hitchcock (John Mangan) and his nameless, underestimated blonde (Gemma Johnston) play dangerous games with cameras, a knife and her darkly silent man (Dave Myers). On a Greek island, working through the chance discovery of rotting reels of early Hitchcock celluloid in rusty cans, middle-aged university lecturer Alex (Edward Wallis) tries it on with his not so naive blonde student (Libby Waite) so that she becomes more infatuated with him than the film. It’s Educating Rita taken to a different level. It’s obsession with consequences while unpicking human frailties … Read entire article »

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John Newton – Amazing Grace

‘John Newton – Amazing Grace’ Saltmine Theatre, Marina Theatre, Lowestoft Review published in Eastern Daily Press, 17 February 2014 The man who wrote the world’s most famous hymn, Amazon Grace, was John Newton (1725-1807). To state that doesn’t do justice to an extraordinary life of sea adventuring, long-life romance with his wife and finding God. However, Saltmine Theatre have taken his story and brought it to life in a gripping drama culminating in his crowning achievement of his hymn. In a period when the British economy depended on slavery, Newton was press ganged into the navy before working slave ships to the colonies. When his ship was storm threatened, he cried out in wretched fear to God to be saved and became a passionate Christian believer, leading into ministry. A parallel with the Prodigal Son was well … Read entire article »

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