RoughCast Theatre at the Fisher Theatre, Bungay Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 1 December 2007 Broken Glass A relatively modern play from the Arthur Miller catalogue, this challenging piece about love and Jewishness is set in 1930s New York as the persecution of European Jews begins. The challenge of entering a tight, claustrophobic world is embraced warmly by the continuously maturing RoughCast Theatre. Director David Green exploits the Miller device of unfolding global affairs punctuating an unravelling relationship. The central protagonists are a middle aged Jewish couple. Sylvia (an impeccable performance from Yves Green) is suffering a physiological paralysis brought on by fear of Jewish persecution. Her husband (Paul Baker) is at sea in relationships and uncomfortable about love. He is extremely effective. The devious doctor who lasts after the wife (Mark Burridge) shows conflict with … Read entire article »

Sewell Barn Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 23 November 2007 Fallen Angels “Several drinks never did anyone any harm. It’s only the first one!” An early Noel Coward, this play is clearly a forerunner of his greater work to come. It is light, spicy, witty and dramatically theatrical. In the Sewell Barn company hands, ably directed by David Hare, it is a comic gem. Julie, mistress of the house, is the central character and Ginny Porteous is playing her quite splendidly, covering sickness at very short notice. Her best friend Jane (Gill Cichbourne) is consistently delightful and her getting tipsy is priceless. Saunders, the know-all housemaid (Jill Fuller), carries off the doing and knowing everything with panache. The flimsy but mannered plot works through well-drawn characters firmly anchored in the 1920s. Costumes are perfect. Drawing-room … Read entire article »

The Cut, Halesworth Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 18 March 2008. StopGap Dance “Challenging” is a catch-all descriptor of experimental, edgy or fusion performing arts. StopGap Dance is all that and more. An internationally-recognised professional group of able-bodied and disabled dancers presents a collection of pieces challenging both dancers and audience. They confront our notions of what is disability; question how far can social integration go and stretch physical and psychological boundaries to new limits. These professionals are celebrating the different giftings people have and the ties that bind us, and the opening piece of six, with a verbal motif, ‘your useless body’, really hits hard. Provocative duets, ensemble segments exploring relationships, behaviour and human limitations, in a spotlight, with a single chair, around a girl in a wheelchair… it’s a stunningly diverse programme. The lonely … Read entire article »

Black Ram Theatre at The Cut, Halesworth Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 4 February 2008 Wildest Dreams A somewhat surreal mix of comedy, pathos and menace is this piece by Alan Ayckbourn, often described as one of his darkest comedies. It begins in a dingy room with a motley collection of friends engaged in a role-play game, not unlike Dungeons and Dragons. It ends in a bewildering concoction of legends and bizarre lunacies. There is Stanley (Ed Birch), English teacher and host of the fantasy. Melissa Ramadan is his long-suffering wife who finally goes mad. Other players are Tom Hartill who thinks he is an alien and whose mother is a disembodied voice and Rachel Porter who lives in squalor and eats cold tinned beans. Into their dull routine life comes Marcie (Rebecca Lewis-Smith) … Read entire article »

Norfolk and Norwich Operatic Society at the Theatre Royal, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 29 January 2008 Titanic If you think the sinking of the Titanic is a strange subject for a musical, you’re in good company. However, with such quality performing and all the human interest you want, it’s a great show. It’s full of mini tales about real people, though the relentless inevitability of the ship being pushed ever faster while iceberg warnings keep coming in, is the big story. It is compelling. The music and songs convey the impending disaster right into your heart. Jeremy Tustin, the director, captures the sense of tragic destiny against the folly of people believing the largest moving object on earth couldn’t sink. Geoffrey Davidson conducts a magnificent orchestra that swells into the revamped Theatre Royal … Read entire article »

Sewell Barn Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 21 March 2008 Educating Rita (1)   This compelling drama is all about clashes of ideas, personalities, social classes and emotions. The Sewell Barn have come up with a masterpiece of such emotions. Rita, (the outstanding Kiera Long) a working class Liverpudlian hairdresser, decides to get an education, enrols on an English literature course and enters the world of Frank (Bob Young), an alcoholic professor/poet. She yearns to learn about herself and about culture. He’s drained, cynical, a lonely academic taking comfort in the bottle, reluctant to teach her. There is comedy on the surface as class and culture clash. Yet beneath, in typical Willy Russell writing, flows a dark tide exposing what is wrong with education and society and what is important about learning. A full-length play … Read entire article »

Fairport Convention at the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 1 December 2005 The Dylan Project This autumn has seen a feast of Bob Dylan interest, reborn through a TV movie and the current tour by the legend himself. For one night some of Fairport Convention dropped into Norwich to share songs from their latest album – all by Dylan. Four middle aged guys on stage and lots more in the audience. A piece of banter between songs went like this: “Back to the 60s…” “YES please” “It’s not easy living in this century”. But you don’t have to have been raised on the original poetry of his lyrics, haunting vocals, acoustic versus electric and protest songs to appreciate what a giant Bob Dylan is in our culture. The show was no nostalgia-fest. Well, … Read entire article »

RoughCast Theatre Company at The Fisher Theatre, Bungay Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 25 May 2007 What the Butler Saw A controversial play about incest on a summer’s evening? Just what the doctor ordered. A middle-aged psychiatrist is interviewing a young secretary. At once confusion, in and out entrances, dropped trousers and increasing madness takes over. Written in the 1960s this is Joe Orton’s final play, some say his finest. The plot gets thicker and more bizarre as twist follows improbability. And it gets funnier. Humour starts black and grows murkier and more sinister. Given a riotous treatment by RoughCast Theatre, director David Green tackles his fisrt insane farce with an expert touch. Simon Evans as the chief protagonist is a comic model of frantic lunacy. The young secretary is Becky Martin handling the innocent role … Read entire article »