Preview - Miss Crispy 1988 - Gala Theatre

Journey back to the 1980s for a play that is packed full of fun and flavour

Shoulder pads, tiaras and cheese and onion crisps – beauty pageants and North East factory lines collide in a must-see play set in the 1980s.

Miss Crispy 1988 tells the story of a group of female friends whose working life at a Teesside crisp factory is turned upside down when they are invited to enter a beauty contest. 

The production is set to entertain audiences at Durham’s Gala Theatre at 7.30pm on Friday 17 January and is inspired by the stories of workers at The Crispy – the nickname given to the KP crisps factory in Billingham. 

The factory was a major employer in the area in the 1980s and theatregoers can look forward to big hair, legwarmers and plenty of Northern wit in this nostalgic yet moving comedy about female friendship, love and overcoming adversity. 

Miss Crispy 1988 was written by David Tuffnell and is produced by Less is More, a Middlesbrough-based theatre company with a passion for telling stories from working-class communities. It received rave reviews when it first toured the region in 2013, and the Less is More team cannot wait to bring the show to the Gala.

The theatre is close to the heart of the play’s director Laura Lonsdale, who is currently appearing as the genie in this year’s Gala pantomime, Aladdin. Laura previously taught at the Gala Theatre Stage School and has gone on to cast many former students in the shows she has directed over the years. 

Laura, from Middlesbrough, said: “It’s always a joy to come to the Gala Theatre. County Durham audiences are a pleasure to perform to and I know they will love Miss Crispy 1988. It’s the tenth anniversary of Less is More this year and what better way to celebrate than to tour a show that epitomises what we are all about; honesty, drama and humour.”

 

David added: “I think Miss Crispy has received such a positive reaction because it’s a story that is set in our region with characters people can relate to. Those of us who lived through the 1980s will enjoy the sense of nostalgia it evokes – the music, the clothes, the big perms.  

“However, the 1980s were also an important period in history and a time of great change, especially for women. This is explored in the play through the thoughts, experiences and ambitions of five unique but very relatable female characters.”

Tickets for Miss Crispy 1988 are priced at £15, £13 for concessions and £12 for Gala members. To book, visit www.galadurham.co.uk or call 03000 266 600.

Two - Review - Gala Theatre

Two

Gala Theatre
3rd Oct 2018

Written by Jim Cartwright
Directed by Tom Wright
Set design Hannah Sibai

Two takes place over one evening in a traditional pub somewhere in Durham. We meet the landlord and landlady as they serve an array of regulars, and we meet some of the regulars too.

The set is a perfect replica of a traditional pub from the 80s. Dark wood bar, optics full of spirits and taps for the beers, stools ranged round tables adorned with beermats and ash trays - yes, these are the days before smoking bans, when you'd come home from the pub stinking of smoke and beer. From the moment you enter the auditorium you feel like you could be in the local boozer. You can almost smell the smoke and alcohol.

The two actors, Jess Johnson and Christopher Price, play the Landlord and Landlady. Full of smiles and chatter for the customers but spitting insults at each other. it becomes clear as the night progresses that there is a serious issue between the outwardly jovial pair.
Johnson and Price also play all of the other characters who come into the pub - from amorous youngsters to the frail and elderly. They morph from publican to punter with surprising ease, transformed by a change of clothes and facial expression.

The delivery is punchy - literally at times - as we are taken on the rollercoaster experience of meeting the characters and having their true selves revealed. It is funny - belly laugh funny - but also poignant and shocking. price and Johnson constantly build tension and puncture it.
You will laugh, gasp, and maybe cry as the truth is revealed.

A fabulous set, hilarious costumes, and the subtlest lighting, alongside the prodigious talent of these two versatile actors makes this production an experience not to be missed.

Two plays until Sat 6th October. It ought to be on longer! Get a ticket and get the beers in before they call last orders.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Birdsong - Review - Gala Theatre

Birdsong

Gala Theatre
21st may 2018

Birdsong Productions Ltd in Association with The Original Theatre Compnay
Stage adaptation by Rachel Wagstaff
Directed by Alastair Whatley and Charlotte Peters

In adapting Sebastian Faulks' novel for the stage, Rachel Wagstaff has to condense over 300 pages of a story spanning several years and 3 generations, into a little over two hours of theatre. She has to recreate the intimacy of a love story, alongside the expansive horror of The First Word War. The result is a taut, fast moving, emotionally tense play.

The story of the war - the sappers tunneling towards the German lines - is linear. We watch the sappers and their infantry support living (and dying) day to day, month to month through to the big push and finally the end of the war.
The love story is interspersed throughout this with flashback images of Lieutenant Wraysford's time spent in the town of Amiens before the war - when he fell in love with the young wife of his employer. These flashbacks are a splash of colour in the drab darkness of the trenches and tunnels, but they are far from happy - there are moments of passion and joy, but also the danger and threats in both the personal abusive relationships and the social unrest.

The staging is a magnificent representation of both the trenches and the tunnels, from the ladders leading to barbed wire and broken fences, to the narrow mouth of the dimly lit tunnel, the constant quiet trickle of water in the background, and the sudden flashbang of an explosion, to the gentle chirrup of the birdsong - almost as constant as the water. The men scratch constantly at fleas and lice, so much so that you feel you need to scratch too. Every sense is engaged bar that of smell - yet the set is so convincing that you can almost smell the cordite and the sweat.

The cast carry you along,  their banter ad jokes perfectly evoking the camaraderie of the soldiers, but there are moments too that depict the tenderness of friendship and shared grief between these gruff solders.

There are strong performances from all of the cast members, but Tim Treloar as Jack Firebrace is outstanding. He will move you to tears, as will the beautiful voice of James Findlay whose songs punctuate the play and highlight the brutality of the men's situation.

An incredible show that questions the nature of love, and highlights the futility of war, and the waste of life. It is a sad thought that 100 years later governments are still trying to solve problems and prove their strength by blowing their people to pieces.

Birdsong runs until Saturday 26th May. Buy a ticket, and take a hanky.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Preview - Birdsong - Gala Theatre

Birdsong set to return to Gala to mark centenary 

Based on the world famous, emotionally powerful novel by Sebastian Faulks, this critically acclaimed show returns from Monday 21 May to Saturday 26 May, 7.30pm (+ 2.30pm on Thursday and Saturday) to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. A post-show discussion will also take place on Wednesday 23 May.

“It left me choked up and blinking back the tears at the end”

**** The Daily Telegraph

Set in pre-war France. A young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, embarks on a passionate and dangerous affair with the beautiful Isabelle Azaire that turns their world upside down.

As the war breaks out over the idyll of his former life, Stephen must lead his men through the carnage of the Battle of the Somme and through the sprawling tunnels that lie deep underground. Faced with the unprecedented horror of the war and with her love forever engraved on his heart, Stephen clings to the memory of Isabelle, as his world explodes around him.

This enthralling version of one of the nation’s most loved novels has been adapted by Rachel Wagstaff, and brought to life by the award-winning Original Theatre Company.

A mesmerising story of love, survival and courage. Set before and during the Great War and performed by a large ensemble company.

“Moving, gripping, dramatically electrifying and outstanding”

**** The Times

Tickets for the show are £25 (£23 concession) £22 for first night, matinees and for Gala Members. You can book by calling the box office on 03000 266 600 or via the website . 

*information provided by Gala Theatre

Private Lives - Gala Theatre - Review

Private Lives

http://www.londonclassictheatre.co.uk/index.php/2017/09/private-lives/

Gala Theatre
28th Sept 2017

Presented by London Classic Theatre
Written by Noel Coward
Directed by Michael Cabot


The stage is set  - matching verandas in a hotel in the south of France. Louvred shutters, leading into unseen rooms. Two honeymoon suites with two newly married couples. A band plays below in the hotel grounds. A familiar tune to one half of each couple and the catalyst that sets the drama in motion as they realise that their ex-spouse in the room next door.

Olivia Beardsley as Sybil Chase hits just the right level of ingenuous innocence as she gushes over the hotel, the view, her new husband - but quickly reveals a knowing waspishness when asking about his ex-wife.  She is not so naïve as she makes out. Elyot (Jack Hardwick) is louche and sardonic, but quickly loses his temper as the questions and comments about his first wife come thick and fast.

Amanda (Helen Keeley) and Victor Prynne (Kieran Buckeridge)  in the neighbouring suite play out a mirror image of the Chases' conversation - all is not as it seems in their newly wed relationships. Helen Keeley plays the glamorous socialite with flare, slipping from vampish teasing to sardonic boredom and back again with ease. While Kieran Buckeridge carries off the bluff, utterly smitten husband, the archetypal gentleman, prepared to defend the honour of his lady. What he discovers is his lady may not have any honour to be defended.

The joy of the play is that the audience sees the situation unfolding - we are in the know and can anticipate what will happen. Although written in 1930 and set very much in the sophisticated world of the elite upper classes, Coward's observation of human nature is such that the story can still be enjoyed today by a very different audience. The plot - a story of a couple who love with a passion, who cannot bear to be apart but cannot live together is a perennial one. Written today it would perhaps be a darker, grittier play. but this is Noel Coward, and it is a light, frothy battle of the sexes.

A sumptuous set, fabulous frocks for the girls, great timing and sharp acting make this a perfect night out.
Private Lives is at the Gala till Saturday before continuing its national tour. Dates and venues here: http://www.londonclassictheatre.co.uk/index.php/2017/09/private-lives/

Denise Sparrowhawk

Rent - Gala Theatre Durham - Review

Rent
Gala Theatre Durham
29th July 2017

GTSS Production
My son (the former Reluctant Teenager) reminded me that when he first told me that he wanted to see a performance of this musical, and asked if I had heard of it, I (allegedly) said, "isn't that the rude one?" So you might think it something of a bold move by GTSS Director Kate Sorahan to choose this
as the summer show. It is not just a show with pretty adult themes - AIDS, prostitution, sexuality, anarchy, -  it is also a pretty demanding show musically. The programme lists 25 musical numbers in the first act alone. With a cast ranging in age from just 14 to 20 years would the Gala Stage School have the skill and stamina to do it justice? This is the School Edition, so some of the language has been modified, and a verse or two omitted from one of the songs, but other than that it does not differ from the full version.

Set in the Bohemian artist's community in New York at the end of the twentieth century, RENT follows a year in the lives of a group of friends. Recorded by Mark (Luke Henderson), for his documentary film, they struggle to find money to live, find ways to cope with the knowledge that they are HIV positive or worse, and that they will almost certainly not have a long life. They live day to day on the margins of society, with the knowledge that life is not permanent. So they live for the day taking what comfort they can, wherever they can, however they can, fighting for what they believe, for their way of life and for those who are marginalised by the authorities and whose voices are not heard. It sounds bleak, and at times it is, but it is also joyous and life affirming, as they each find a way to follow their dream.

So, can such a young cast deliver? You bet your sweet ass they can!

From the first note we are swept up into the world of Rent. We watch as they fall in and out of love, struggling to cope with friendships, lovers, ex-lovers, parents. It is an emotional, exhilarating, heart-breaking rollercoaster of a musical and the audience feels every joy and every pain along the way.

For such a young cast they give astounding performances. There is not a single actor or actress who doesn't shine on stage, but special mention has to be made of Stephen Robson, his performance is absolutely brilliant as the cross-dressing Angel. He has dance moves to die for and I swear there is not a dry eye in the house in Act Two.
Georgia Lennon is excellent in the role of Mimi, and Amy George as Maureen, gives a fantastic and funny performance of the avant-garde Over the Moon (based on the nursery rhyme the Cat and the Fiddle). It feels unfair to single out any performer but these are my three favourites from an extremely talented cast.

If you can still get one, buy a ticket for this - it is worth every penny and more. You see will a fabulous show performed most surely by some of the future stars of the West End.

Rent runs until 5th August. Tickets are £14.50 and are available (but be quick!) from the Gala Box Office.

Denise Sparrowhawk