Rent Party - Review - Northern Stage

Rent Party 

Northern Stage 
6th July 2019

So this was a party that I wasn't sure what to make of going in,  but wow did I enjoy it!

A Rent Party was a party back in 1950s America to help young black Americans pay their rent.

Thankfully I didn't need to go to America to go to this party! (It would have killed me in these heels.)

It's a play like no other and I don't think I'll see a play like it ever in my life again - you can only see this once.

We were given sweets and vouchers to give to the performers when each of them had performed. This is a great idea and it brought the interaction level up, not just between the performers and the audience but the audience with each other.

It's a play based around true life and the three main people tell their stories about being young, gifted and black.

Usually they have a 4th member of the team called Camille but she was absent as she is just about to have her second baby.

Her dream is to play Dolores Van Cartier in Sister Act - and I do love my musicals!

There were games to play like pass the parcel (called Pass the Duchy).

There was limbo which was funny as owt - but not what you think it would be, and it had audience participation.

There were party bags for the kids and stickers for everyone else, not forgetting the shots for the over 18s in the audience who toasted many things even Brexit (which went down like a lead balloon).

Jason - who looked gorgeous and whose makeup was on fleek - tells their story about how their bf kept locking them in the house so they couldn't get to work.

They all worked in the musical Starlight Express - which would be why they are so good on roller skates (they can do jumps and everything!).

Lena is a dancer and used to come up with dances with her two little sisters while she studied at uni.  Her family is important to her. And wow can she dance!

Tolu is one of the best musicians and he sings one of my favourite songs from the musical Charlie and the chocolate factory (Pure Imagination). He not only sings it well but puts his own twist on it which had me drawn to him. He talks about how his parents came from Nigeria and how he would love to be able to take his partner back to his homeland but doesn't think he will be able to.

The host of the Rent Party is Stuart Bowden who tells us about one event in his life where he went to his step sister's christening and was collared by all four mums of his 12 step siblings. 

He got called a little coconut which for him wasn't that a big of a deal but his mother was offended and I can guess he didn't see his dad for a long time after that incident! (Black on the outside, White on the inside!!!!).

The Director of the piece Darren Pritchard was a part of the cast helping to fill in the void that Camille had left.

This play/party was great and it was funny from minute one to the end. It has lots of audience involvement, and we were even allowed to have a dance.

It is part of the Curious Arts Festival allowing LGBTQI artists to put on their work. (I'm hopeful you might see some of my work in their Autumn programme).

This show is definitely one to see, it will live long in my memory.

Rubes Hiles 

Actors - 

Lena I Russell

Darren Pritchard 

Jason guest 

Tolu 

Stuart Bowden

Breaking the Code - Review - People's Theatre

Breaking the Code

People's Theatre 

13th Feb 2018

The impact of this show begins as soon as you take your seat – the stage is set with box shelves with typewriters and other paraphernalia each side of the stage, in perfect symmetry against a backdrop of oversized dials, dramatically lit, and at the front a single bare table and chair.

As the play starts a man – Alan Turing - enters, sits at the table and positions himself prone, one arm outstretched across the table, his head resting on the arm, he rests motionless as broken sentences, music, and electronic noise blare out in a cacophony of sound. This sound, harsh and abrasive will mark change of each scene as time switches between each flashback of Turing’s life.
The scene changes are swift and almost clinical as the cast and crew move props swiftly and silently in almost choreographed movements.  

From the very first line uttered Richard Jack holds us spellbound with his sympathetic, compassionate portrayal of Turing. The first scene is his interview with the police officer Mick Ross, reporting a burglary in which very little of worth has been taken. It becomes increasingly obvious that there is more to the burglary than Turing is admitting, and Detective Ross grows increasingly suspicious. You can feel the undercurrents of distrust and anxiety between Turing and Ross as the questions become more pointed and the answers unsatisfactorily vague. And yet it is also filled with humour – as is the whole play. It deals with such heart-breaking injustices and yet it is not at all self-pitying. It portrays Turing as a bright, intelligent, passionate, and compassionate man. A truthful and principled man. Lacking social skills, he appears gauche and awkward at times and yet is transformed when he speaks of his work, of the love of mathematics and philosophy.  Jack’s delivery is impeccable. From the young, adolescent Alan to the older, jaded man he is utterly believable.

The supporting cast all give excellent performances, but acknowledgements should go to Adam Kadow as Christopher, Richard Gardner upholding the law as Detective Ross, and  Eileen Davidson endearing as Turing’s mother. Steve Robertson is outstanding as Turing’s gruff, forgetful boss at Bletchley. While Nathan Hussain as Ron leaves us wondering whether he was a good guy or a bad guy – louche, charming, but dishonest.  

Breaking the Code is a funny, emotional, heartrending play. It seems horrific to us now that a man who was instrumental in helping end the Second World War should have been so hideously treated – act two really only hints at the difficulties that Turing encountered before and after his arrest. He is a national hero and yet was ostracised by the very people whose freedom he helped to win.

I wonder, did he take a bite of the poisoned apple to escape a life he felt was untenable,  hoping a charming prince would save him, or did he do it, knowing he had achieved all he could in the circumstances, and would finally join his prince, the boy he had loved, and who had inspired his entire life’s work?

This is the best performance yet from The People’s Theatre. It runs until Saturday. You should not miss it.

Denise Sparrowhawk

The Judas Kiss - Review - Royalty Theatre

The Judas Kiss

Royalty Theatre
7th Feb 2017

David Hare's play is a tragic love story. It follows the fate of three men who suffer because of the love they have for each other. The play begins just before Oscar Wilde's arrest for gross indecency - a direct result of a libel action he took out on behalf of his lover Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas - Wilde's friends have arranged for him to flee the country to avoid arrest but, swayed by Bosie, he decides to stay and face the consequences. Those consequences being that he is arrested, tried, and sentenced to two years hard labour. His reputation and career ruined.

Act One is set in a room of the Cadogan Hotel. Wilde's friend and former lover Robbie Ross entreats Bosie to allow Wilde to make the right decision and flee. There is clearly no love lost between these two characters - Bosie is petulant and childish, resenting Ross's interference, while Ross is impatient with Bosie's apparent lack of concern for Wilde's safety. As the scene progresses it becomes clear that these two are each jealous of the other's relationship with Wilde. Wilde himself is contrary - he professes to dislike being told how to live and yet is unable to decide for himself which course of
action to take. Eventually he rejects the advice of his friend and decides to stay for the sake of his lover. A decision that is to prove his downfall. Bosie leaves before the police arrive so as to avoid tarnishing his reputation, and Robbie remains against his better judgment to support his friend.
Act two opens after Wilde's release from prison, he and Bosie are living in Naples - they have no money and life is difficult in exile. Bosie amuses himself with a local fisherman, flaunting the relationship before Wilde, yet defensive and jealous when Wilde speaks to his lover in Italian - which Bosie does not understand.  It is very clear that their relationship has changed - Wilde still loves Bosie but he sees him now in a truer light. Bosie however remains much the same - demanding, selfish, railing against the injustice but failing to see his own culpability. He blames Wilde's cowardice for the misfortune but cannot see that his own actions have brought them to this pass.

Alex Goodchild and Robbie Ross play their characters well - Bosie demanding and self centred, Robbie earnest and concerned, frustrated by the relationship. Wilde is played by Andrew Barella - with less flamboyance than I expected. We see glimpses of the great man's wit, but his Wilde is subdued, resigned almost, yet expansive towards the staff in the hotel who have helped him. In Act Two his wit is more ascerbic, stemming from his disappointment and heartache. I expected perhaps more passion in Wilde, but on reflection, his demeanour in the last act is one of grace, and generosity in the face of betrayal and disappointment. The final speech is full of pathos. A sad end to the relationship that was the love of Wilde's life and Barella delivers it beautifully.

The team at the Royalty make some challenging choices in their programme. It doesn't always work. This time it does. John Appleton has directed a thoughtful and touching production.

The Judas Kiss plays until Sat 11th Feb.

Denise Sparrowhawk