Review - The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff - Northern Stage

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff     

Northern Stage 

Sept 2021

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff at the Northern Stage

Old tunes, new words: workers history then and now

Coming back to the theatre after two years absence does focus the mind on: what is theatre for? What have I been missing? You might think theatricality, big casts, lavish sets and costumes, a sense of occasion, being taken out of the ordinary. I did dress up and had a sense of a ‘proper night out’, but a few moments into this performance, I realised it was something else entirely – live human interaction.

The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff is not big on that sort of theatricality: three musicians on stage, a minimal set, just songs interwoven with narrative and the recorded voice of Johnny Langstaff himself. But it was riveting precisely because that enabled an undistracted focus on the words and music and story. 

And what a story! I thought, erroneously, that Johnny was a composite character created to showcase all the high points of working class activism in the 1930s: the hunger marches, strikes, mass trespass, the Battle of Cable Street and the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. No, Johnny was there for all of them, and it is his actual voice, recorded in 1984-6, that we hear.

The set is minimal but canny, in the shape of flags or banners onto which are projected images, like the voice, from the archive of the Imperial War Museum. I watched it at the Northern Stage, a proper institutional theatre, but it could have been a pub theatre or community centre (if such still exist). Specifically, it reminded me of a watching a production of ‘Waiting for Lefty’ at the Unity Theatre, 50 years ago.

Bear with me, this is not just the rambling reminiscence of a doddery old-timer. There is a thread that runs through the show of ‘old tunes, new words’: ‘Carrying the Coffin’, the Hunger March song is set to the tune of ‘John Brown’s Body’, an American Civil War hymn; ‘the Great Tomorrow’ of the Spanish Civil War is to the tune of the Internationale. Working class history needs to be retold and popular tunes and popular theatre are a way of keeping alive the memory. Unity Theatre was set up in the 1930’s precisely to bring their own stories to working class audiences.

At a time when history is once again highly disputed, it’s good to remember we’ve been here before. As I left the house for the theatre, the news carried the story of Home Secretary Priti Patel threatening to turn back refugee boats in the Channel, arguably in breach of international law. In the show, Johnny meets Basque refugees fleeing the Spanish Civil War and it is their plight which prompts him to enlist in the International Brigades to fight in Spain.

The National government’s strict neutrality in the face of the rise of fascism in Europe and their criminalisation of the volunteers like Johnny reminded me of the treatment of those who went to fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Or our government’s hobnobbing with fascist leaders in Europe and beyond. Plus ça change.

Johnny Longstaff was born in Stockton-on-Tees in 1919, and in 1934 when an injury left him unemployed in the midst of the Great Depression, he joined the Hunger March to London. Once there, initially sleeping rough, he found work in Tooting and joined the Labour League of Youth. Much like today, the tops of the Labour Party were indistinguishable from the Tories; but the youth wing was full of Communists and Trotskyists and were heavily involved in fighting fascism. 

At Cable Street, Oswald Moseley’s Blackshirts, the British Union of Fascists, threatened to march through the working-class Jewish area of London’s East End. Trade unionists, Labour Youth and Communists massed to defend these streets, with the slogan borrowed from the Spanish anti-fascists: No Pasaran – they shall not pass. Moseley’s fascists were stopped in a bloody street skirmish that became known as the Battle of Cable Street.

Through the Labour League of Youth, Johnny met refugees from Franco’s fascists and enlisted, lying about his age, in the British Battalion of the International Brigades to fight in the Spanish Civil War. Many of the songs from the show are based on his memories of those bloody battles and commemorate his fallen comrades, including Lewis Clive, an Olympian swimmer and David Guest, a world-class mathematician who said, “It has required an incredible effort to concentrate on pure mathematics when the world seems on fire.”

With the world again on fire, we need to remember our anti-fascist heroes. The Young ‘Uns, a Teeside-based trio, have brought us a magnificent tribute to Johnny Longstaff, his comrades and that generation of brave anti-fascists. No Pasaran.

Gerry Byrne

The Snow Queen - Review - Northern Stage

The Snow Queen

Northern Stage

Thursday 5th December 

Sometimes you go to see a show and afterwards think to yourself, 'well that was something a bit special'. Northern Stage's production of The Snow Queen definitely falls into that category for me. Adapted by Laura Lindow and directed by Mark Calvert, this version of Hans Christian Andersen's fable certainly captures both the strange and beautiful elements of it perfectly.

There have been lots of different versions and interpretations of this classic story throughout the years, more recently being the inspiration for Walt Disney's Frozen.This adaptation tells of the townsfolk of Stifle, and as the name suggests they have barricaded themselves in behind a wall from the threat of the outside. They lead a restrictive way of life with very strict rules that must be followed in order to keep themselves protected from what peril lies beyond. 

The tale is of, and told by, Gerda (played by Lauren Waine) and the friendship she forms with a boy called Kai (Gregor Mackay); a newcomer to the school she attends. As their friendship grows and flourishes Kai starts to question all the rules and restrictions - why are they not allowed to speak openly of their hopes and wishes and what exactly is beyond the barricade?

One fateful night he speaks aloud of these things, climbs to where he shouldn't and he, along with other children of the town, goes missing. It is then that we enter the icy world of The Snow Queen. It is now up to Gerda, through her friendship and with strength and courage (and a snowglobe) to enter The Snow Queen's world and discover the fate of Kai and the others who are missing. Can she rescue them or will The Snow Queen get her wish of a perpetual winter?

What I loved about this show was that it felt magical throughout. It is a very lavish production, a

stunning set with the props the lighting the sounds all adding to the excitement. The stage is like a boardwalk with audience on opposite sides and it is used throughout to great effect. There is great energy from all the cast. Lots of lively singing and dancing making the tale being told a delight visually and musically.

Many members of the cast took turns in playing different instruments too. This I particularly enjoyed, the musical score played live upstairs on the stage. Described as rustic and folky, the music really fitted the vibe of the production. The puppetry was used really effectively and made the stage become even more alive, especially when the reindeer appears.

The costumes were great, very colourful and quirky. Special mention must go to The Snow Queen. As she became more powerful her costumes became more and more stunning and spectacular.

There is a mild danger element to the story, but lots of interesting characters and lots of fun, merriment and humour included in the show too (its suitable for the whole family, great for ages 5+) Particular mention must go to the schoolteacher and strict disciplinarian Elsie Orr (Paula Penman) who for me provided the biggest laughs and played her part brilliantly.

To find out if Gerda fulfills her dream of playing a musical solo, and if she succeeds in her quest to stop The Snow Queen's plan and save Kai and the missing children, to discover if the people of Stifle will have a happy Christmas….The Snow Queen is on until 4th January 2020. I thoroughly recommend a visit to see it. *Picture Credit: Pamela Raith Photography

Belinda Bekki-Winter

Wasteland - Review - Northern Stage

Wasteland

Northern Stage 

25th Sept 2019

Wasteland is Gary Clarke's interpretation in music and dance of the rise of the rave music scene in the 90s. In aftermath of pit closures we are given a glimpse into the lives of a father - the last miner - and his son as they each try to cope with the empty prospects left to them by the destruction of the mining industry. 

The Last Miner sinks into alcoholic despair while his son finds an escape in the euphoria of the illegal rave scene - losing himself in music, dance and drugs. The father and son don't always see eye to eye, they fight often, but all they have is each other. there is conflict, but there is also affection - and this is movingly illustrated in the final scene.

This is more than dance piece, it is a piece of social history. The contrast between the miners with

their male voice choirs and brass bands, clutching their UB40s and the manic energy of the youth with their manic, bass beat music is stark and telling. Yet the hypnotic, trance-like dancing is just a different form of escape from reality to that of the miners.

The historical context of the story is explained with projected newsreel scenes showing the closure and destruction of a pit, the men leaving and the iconic pithead building being destroyed, and later footage of the break-up of an illegal rave by the police, and the supercilious voice of a newsreader describing the scenes. I was stuck by the similarity between these scenes of police intervention and the those from the picket lines during the miner's strike.

The dancing is energetic, manic - as it should be - and at times painful - Alistair Goldsmith as the

Last Miner contorts his body into shapes that echo the agonising heartbreak of the losses that pit closures brought - not personal but national. A way of life, was destroyed, but also the livelihoods of the following generations.  The beat of the music is relentless, a form of escape, but perhaps one with no real exit.

I found the show incredibly moving. Though I lived through the rave scene era I was not part of it - too conservative (with a small "c" and timid) but I do remember it - and I remember the miner's strike and the sense of desolation that followed. The rave culture was a reaction against that desolation and depression. I don't think we have found a way out of either state yet.

Emotional and emotive stuff. Find out more here www.wastelandtour.co.uk

*Photographs by Joe Armitage

Denise Sparrowhawk

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

Woke - Review -Northern Stage

Woke

Northern Stage

23rd May 2019

Of late it seems to be my fate to find myself at Northern Stage surrounded by people half my age. I'm not complaining. I think it's commendable of Northern Stage to seek to reach out to a new younger audience. It's just – you know – I don't really know what I'm talking about here.

Woke is a one-man show by south London rapper, Testament, who describes himself a human beatbox and conscious MC. Are they actual things or is he making it up?

Human beatboxing, according to my friend Wiki, is a type of vocal percussion, imitating drum machines, using mouth, lips, tongue and voice; it may also, as in this case be vocal imitation of turntabling and other musical instruments. 

I know nothing about hip-hop but I can recognise skills. Testament is an amazing performer, not just vocally, sampling and turntabling a range of styles. 

His theatre skills are enviable. He interacts with his little daughter Elise so convincingly we believe she is there, and I as an audience member felt none of the usual awkwardness in greeting her likewise as if she were really there.

Woke is about the impact of having his daughter on Testament; how her birth made him question the culture of rap but also of wider society. It's a mixture of spoken word, live theatre and hip hop rap, which manages to get its message across with wit and passionate style. Testament goes through the history of rap and its precursors and manages to subvert rap's own techniques -- rewinds, remix and repetition – to underscore the insistent sexism and an echo-y meaninglessness at its heart.

The track 'Ojectify' (which you can download at: www.testamenthomecut.com, all profits go to Refuge.org.uk) is a masterpiece of satire and rap beats. It's the skills that lift this show out of worthiness into something that rap's own audience can relate to and question their own assumptions.

But it's not just a critique of rap culture, an easy target, which comfortably lets white liberals off the hook. He examines the stereotypes of the 'black father': "My wife – oh you're surprised? You thought I had a baby-mother?"; or of being congratulated for playing with his own child at the playground.

He also situates it within the sexism of the wider culture, through a mash-up of film and tv tropes that emphasise female passivity and objectification.

What sort of a society is he bringing his little girl up in?

He ended the show by acknowledging the irony of a one-man show about girls and sexism, asking the

women in the audience to give their advice to Elise, or "What would you like to tell your younger self?" The response was all a bit affirmative, like the insta poems of Rupi Kaur. But maybe that's just me being a bitter old woman, and young women are much nicer. (My contribution was: don't take any bullshit.)

Testament than improvised a rap from the advice solicited.

Seriously, it was a great night, great skills. I wished the audience was a hundred times bigger. Testament is a voice that should be heard.

*pics courtesy of Northern Stage  

Gerry Byrne

Preview - A Thousand Splendid Suns - Northern Stage

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
By Ursula Rani Sarma
Based on the book by Khaled Hosseini


Khaled Hosseini’s book has been adapted by Ursula Rani Sarma and is directed by Artistic Director, Roxana Silbert, her last as Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini’s spiritual sequel to The Kite Runner had its European première at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and is on its way to Northern Stage at the end of this month. The cast features Waleed Akhtar (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen/ Lasse Hallström; What Shadows / Birmingham Repertory Theatre and The Kite Runner/Nottingham Playhouse & Liverpool Pal Aron (Behind the Beautiful Forevers/National Theatre; Stella/ Sky One); Sujaya Dasgupta (Death of a Salesman/Royal & Derngate, Press/BBC);  Munir Khairdin (Whitechapel/ITV); Naveed Khan (Tamburlaine and Tartuffe /RSC); Mollie Lambert (The White Devil/Shakespeare’s Globe); Shala Nyx (Miss Prue/Bristol Old Vic; The Shadow Factory/Nuffield Southampton Theatres) and Lisa Zahra (The Kite Runner/Wyndham’s) and

Amina Zia (Tartuffe/RSC). 

Khaled Hosseini’s international best-selling novel is the powerful story of three generations of

women discovering strength in unity and finding hope in the unlikeliest of places. Set in 1992 in an Afghanistan ravaged by war, an orphaned Laila is left alone in an increasingly threatening world.  Her older neighbour Rasheed is quick to open his home and takes Laila as his second wife.
Everyman); Rasheed’s first wife Mariam has no choice but to accept her younger, and now pregnant, rival. As the Taliban take over, life for all of them becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, and the two women find themselves unlikely allies.  In A Thousand Splendid Suns, love grows and sustains the human spirit even during the hardest of times.

Roxana Silbert directs A Thousand Splendid Suns, her final show as Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre. She said:
“In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns we are given a rare glimpse into 30 years of contemporary Afghan history and thanks to Ursula Rani Sarma’s emotionally stirring adaptation audiences will be able to bear witness to the extraordinary story of two radiant women who struggle to survive the terrifying political situation they find themselves in. I can’t wait to bring this inspiring and enlightening story to the stage.”

Playwright Ursula Rani Sarma said: “This play is about the immense strength and endurance of women and how they can survive tremendous suffering to keep those they love alive. It is also about how even in the darkest of times and places, love can grow and sustain the human spirit beyond all pain and hard-ship. It’s about friendship and loyalty, courage and selflessness, grief and violence. What the play has to say about love, endurance, and survival is very much worth listening to for a contemporary audience. There is beauty and strength at the heart of A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I feel so proud to be part of its evolution from novel to stage.”

Ursula Rani Sarma is a scriptwriter for stage and screen. Her previous credits include Delicious (Sky), the award-winning film Anywhere But Here, Yerma (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Dark Things (Traverse Theatre).

Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read and beloved novelists in the world, with over 38 million copies of his books sold in more than seventy countries. The Kite Runner was a major film and was a Book of the Decade, chosen by The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian. A Thousand Splendid Suns was the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year in 2008. Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Refugee Agency and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lives in northern California.

A Thousand Splendid Suns has set and costume designs by Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, lighting design by Simon Bond, composition by Mahmood Kamen, sound design and co-composition by Dave Price with Ben Hart as magic consultant.


Tickets and Information: 0191 230 5151
Book online: northernstage.co.uk

Images: Pamela Raith

Noughts and Crosses - Review - Northern Stage

Noughts and Crosses

Northern Stage
7th May 2019

Arriving at the Northern Stage was a shock: the place was heaving with teenagers. I have never seen so many young people at a theatre production. Aha! of course, Malorie Blackman!

Noughts and Crosses is based on the book series of the same name by award-winning Young Adult writer, Malorie Blackman, who as Children’s Laureate initiated the Young Adult Literary Convention, which takes place at London ComiCon. She saw a way of bringing books to where her young audience was already. More recently, she wrote the Doctor Who episode concerning Rosa Parks. You may begin to detect a theme here. What Malorie Blackman excels at is taking highly political themes, of oppression and resistance, racism and direct action, and examining them through the lens of young lovers and fighters, in a speculative world that resembles but whose difference sheds light on our own.

Noughts and Crosses is set in a world divided between the privileged (black) Crosses and the exploited (white) Noughts, who are derogatorily referred to a ‘Blankers’, a term which has the same hateful power as the N-word in our world. It features two young people, Sephy and Callum, who fall in love across this divide. So, as my friend put it, just Romeo and Juliet then? In a sense, yes. But its dilemmas seem very modern, with echoes not just of Apartheid South Africa and the US Civil rights Movement, but also of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, whose spectre has been re-raised by the murder of Lyra McKee by the New IRA.

The young lovers are: Sephy (Persephone), daughter of the Cross Home Secretary, Kamal and alcoholic mother, Jasmine; and Callum McGregor, the Nought son of their sacked servant, Maggie. Sephy and Callum are childhood friends who, as they grow, are forced to keep their friendship secret. Under external political pressure, Kamal is forced to begin desegregation, allowing the first Nought pupils into previously exclusively Cross schools. Callum is one of the first of this experimental intake.
The violent reaction of the Crosses to this is reminiscent of the racist violence against the US Civil Rights Movement. Sephy is ostracised and later assaulted by her Cross friends, for attempting to bridge this violent divide. Callum is forced to publicly deny his friendship with Sephy, a betrayal he attempts to justify by saying it was for her own protection.

As the political tension increases, Callum’s brother Jude and his father Ryan are drawn to the Resistance Militia. Callum and his mother Meggie maintain that resistance must be non-violent. The divide is not just between communities but is causing a rift within families. We learn that Callum’s sister has been the victim of violence from within their Nought community for having a Cross boyfriend, and the internal conflict has driven her mad. She refuses to leave her room and labours under the delusion that she is not a Nought but a Cross.
When the Resistance Militia set a bomb in a crowded shopping centre, Jude and Ryan are forced to flee in the ensuing anti-terrorist crackdown. Ryan is caught but, refuses to betray his son’s whereabouts. He is prepared to die for the cause. He is tried and sentenced.

Sephy finds the whole situation unbearable and resolves to escape: either to boarding school or to run away with Callum, who she asks, in a smuggled letter, to meet her.
Thus ends Act One.

Act Two opens, three years later.
Sephy is back from boarding school; Callum is on a brief visit home from the Militia which he has joined following his father’s death. It is only now that he receives Sephy’s letter. They meet, but in a shocking twist Sephy is taken hostage.
Callum is left alone to guard Sephy, while the others go to pick up the ransom. She angrily confronts him and they are reconciled.

The kidnappers are betrayed and the plot darkens further; options are offered and choices made leading to a horrifying finale.  However thehearbreaking final scene offers a slither of hope for the future, in an echo of the opening scene.

The play packs a huge amount of action into its two hours. It felt Shakespearean in its weight and complexity, but also startlingly modern. The staging, set design, video, sound and lighting design, all added heft and drama to the powerfully adapted script by Sabrina Mahfouz. Stark black and rusty red walls, minimalist set, banks of tv screens, the discordant soundscape created a pressing sense of drama. The surreal slo-mo physicality of the fight and bombing scenes used the minimal props to extreme effect. The massive steps up to the gallows and the eerily lit noose, dwarfing the onlookers, added dramatic tension and shocking power to the climax of each act.
I was weeping at the final scene and praying for a reprieve. But this is a modern Romeo and Juliet.

My only quibble: in compressing such a vast story, summarising the 3-year gap when Sephy is at boarding school and Callum in the Militia, felt a bit feeble, and the device of the undelivered letter strained credulity – but I’m not sure how you would do it otherwise.
Malorie Blackman is quoted as saying that she is sorry that the themes are still as relevant as when she wrote the book 20 years ago. Which is sadly true on a societal level, but as drama it gives added grip. And that teens could still be talking animatedly and identifying so intensely with a book written before they were born, is a tribute to both Malorie Blackman and the production team, from the writer, director, designers and cast, who played their roles flawlessly.

It sent me back wanting to read the whole series from the start to the latest book, Crossfire, due out this summer.

Gerry Byrne

Equus - Review - Northern Stage

Equus

Northern Stage
30th April 2019

I didn't know much about Equus before I opted to review it at Northern stage. I knew it was about a young man who committed heinous crime, I knew it involved nudity and eroticism. I knew this because of the furore that followed the announcement that Daniel Radcliffe was to take the lead role shortly after finishing his stint as the saviour of the world in Harry Potter. I suspect that most people - none theatre people, I mean -  if they are aware of this play at all, are aware of it because of this. I admit that it was partly Potter-induced curiosity that led me to raise my hand when the offer of reviewing Equus came up. I was curious to see what all that fuss had been about, had it been justified or was it all just media fuelled hysteria with little substance. I wondered if the cast of this production felt pressured by the play's recent history. And so I arrived not knowing much, not certain that the little I did know was accurate, and feeling just a little trepidatious. I really was not sure what to expect.

The stage as we entered the auditorium was clear - pale grey curtains, around the three sides, a grey
floor with the appearance of velvety texture - a dappled horse hide, perhaps? And in the corner a small brown clad figure. Martin Dysart, child psychiatrist. The best in the field and, as it turns out, a man on the edge. Martin, already over stretched, takes on the case of Alan Strang, a boy who has committed a terrible crime and it is through his eyes that we learn the truth, as he gently, patiently uses his psychiatrist's tricks to draw Alan out. He talks to the boy, to the parents, to his friend the magistrate who brought the boy to him and gradually secrets are revealed. Not just Alan's secret, but those of his parents and of Dysart himself. this story is as much about the doctor as it is the patient. As he unravels the mystery of the boy's actions, we see that he himself is unravelling, questioning the very core of his being, the validity of his skill, of his profession. The doctor is as chained as the horses, as much a prisoner in a world of his own making as the boy is. Both are trapped, and as the boy gradually breaks free from his prison, Dysart seems pulled deeper into his own.

The play is full of religious imagery and symbolism. The jealous, vengeful gods, demanding worship
and sacrifice and yet capable of  bestowing the most agonising joy, a spiritual and physical ecstasy. It shows how the extremes and contradictions of life, and love and devotion can influence an impressionable mind, and how imagination and fantasy can blur reality, with tragic consequences.

The performances are superb, throughout. Ethan Kai is a brooding presence on the stage, glowering with anger one minute, and painfully vulnerable the next. Zubin Varla's storytelling skills are matchless as he chain-smokes his way through Alan's strange and disturbing tale. And this tale is told as much through body language as words - most notably through the horses. They are noble and beautiful creatures - played by the actors without props, they stand, regally flanks quivering and nostrils flaring and at no point do you think that this is a man pretending to be a horse. They simply are the horse. Ira Mandela Siobhan as Nugget creates the most beautiful, regal creature.

The play is compelling, and disturbing, unutterably beautiful and unsettling, painful and sensual. I have rarely been so entranced by a performance, so completely absorbed by it - I realised as the first act drew to a close that I had been actually holding my breath and sitting so still for so long that the movement and noise of the audience as the curtain came down felt almost intrusive.

Was my trepidation justified? Not at all. There is no shocking sensationalism. There is a painful and sad story, an horrific act by a desperate boy, and a powerful and moving portrayal of the events and characters involved. Powerful, moving, compelling, beautiful. None of these words adequately describe the experience that Ned Bennett has created for this English Touring Theatre production. It is sensational for all the right reasons.

Equus runs until Sat 4th May.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Rain Man - Northern Stage - Review

Rain Man
Northern Stage
8th April 2019



Charlie Babbitt is not a nice man. He is a selfish, self-absorbed cynical shyster, out to make a fast buck and willing to use anyone and everyone to do it. He is on the wrong side of one too many deals gone wrong - customers are demanding their money back, loans are being called in. Charlie Babbitt needs a shitload of money, and he needs it fast.

Raymond is an autistic savant, unable to process emotion, institutionalised in a hospital for his entire life, he navigates his way through the world via regimented routine. He is Charlie Babbitt's brother, and he has just inherited their father's entire fortune. 

Bill Kenwright's play is a faithful adaptation of the original Hollywood movie, though the movie was  essentially a road trip and that is a pretty difficult thing to reproduce on stage. So what Kenwright gives us is a series of stopping off points on the journey -  hotel room, airport lounge, diner, motel room, Vegas Casino... each one a step along the journey of self awareness for Charlie Babbitt. What starts out as a callous, calculated, money grabbing plot becomes a battle to maintain a connection with something that has been sorely missing from Charlie's life, and finally a touching realisation that that what he wants is not the best thing for his brother. 

This is a play firmly rooted in it's 1980s origin. Big suits, shoulder pads, a brick of a mobile phone, and a playlist (if you are my age) that will have you reliving your college years...

The set is simple - an eclectic mix of picture frames, mostly empty, but some with neon signs that light up at the appropriate moment. It has the feel of an 80s pop video set and the sharp scene changes carried out almost in time to the blast of 80s pop and rock add to this feel.  

The performances by the two leading actors are astonishingly convincing - Chris Fountain begins the play as a petulant manipulator - switching between insincere charm and ferocious anger to get his own way. He is as unable to make an emotional connection as Raymond, simply in a different way. The pivotal moment in the play when Charlie realises that he has known and forgotten that he had a brother, when he makes the connection to Raymond, the Rain Man is incredibly touching and Chris Fountain achieves it with a change of expression, the tiniest alteration in his posture - small actions that have a huge impact and from that point his relationship with his brother changes. 

Adam Lilley maintains the character of Raymond throughout - the closed off expression, the impossibility of making eye contact, the ticks and twitches all conveying his discomfort with any and every situation. In Adam Lilley's performance we do not see an actor on stage playing the part, we see Raymond and we feel every moment of his experience, from the confusion, the panic, and finally the tiniest show of affection. 

Both actors are utterly convincing and their performances have the audience enthralled, along with supporting actress, Elizabeth Carter, whose character Susan is essentially Charlie's conscience. 

Funny, uncomfortable, poignant, brilliant. I loved every minute of this play. 

Rain Man plays until 13th April. 

*Photo Credit: Lloyd Evans

Denise Sparrowhawk

Bouncers -Review- Northern Stage

Bouncers 
Theatre Royal Wakefield and John

Godber Company

at Northern Stage
Tuesday 19th March 2019 

Cast:  Frazer Hammill, Peter McMillan, Duncan Riches, Lamin Touray


This smash hit comedy is described by the National Theatre as one of the plays of the millenium. The original writer John Godber has revisited the show to bring us this bang up to date (uber and selfies) production which tells of one night in a Yorkshire nightclub all under the watchful eye of the bouncers.

What makes Bouncers such the brilliant comedy for me is primarily the relatability. We've all either been there, recognising ourselves, friends or have seen first hand the coming and goings of a typical night out in the nightclub world.

I can't think of bouncers without remembering the cringeworthy time of me in my teens attempting to get into a trendy nightclub and being refused. It wasn't because of being underage (which I most definitely was) no, the bouncers took one look at me, in a denim jacket I'd badly accessorized with half sewn bits of flag, short spiky hair and Doc Martin boots shook their heads and quoted the dress policy to me.

The story is told through the four bouncers (Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph) and also a group of four ladies and four men on their night out. The writing really is outstanding, capturing perfectly and humorously the characters’ hopes and thoughts as they prepare for and go about their night out. It is a great observational piece punchily told as it goes between the various groups of people as the night unfolds.

Whilst very funny it does also include a few short ‘speeches’ interspaced through the show from one of the bouncers Lucky Eric (the more serious one) He tells things he’s seen in his career from a different side away from all the fun, shots, drugs and general having a good time. Also touching at times on social commentary, this gives it a more real feel which is part of the brilliance of this show. It made me feel as though I was there in the club.

The four actors were all exceptional. Playing the parts of the bouncers as well as the lads and lasses on the night out. The set was minimal (only a few beer kegs and moveable metal fences were needed) and at the back of the stage strips of multi coloured lights and 4 archways which the cast momentarily went behind and reappeared signalling the start of a different scene. This was done seamlessly and apart from a few handbags no change of clothes or other props were required and this was because the actors switched characters and immediately took on their different personas they were playing really well.

There was swearing, dancing (reminiscent at times of that hilarious scene from The Inbetweeners) singing, contemporary music, tears, shots galore, copping off (or trying to) talk of a sexual nature and most of all lots of laughs and highly entertaining throughout. I enjoyed every second and my jaw still aches. I would definitely go see this again. As I made my way out I couldn't walk past a group of people without overhearing them say how good it was or “he's beautiful” and “he's hot” life imitating art and vice versa.

It is on at Northern Stage until Saturday 23rd March

Belinda Bekki-Winter

Playing Up 9 - Review - Northern Stage

Playing up 9  - New play showcase 
Northern Stage
27th Feb 2019

Tonight's showcase was for five new short plays all written and directed by local writers and directors and performed by local actors in two acts.

First up was Something Less Deplorable by Luke Bateman and directed by Jack Hilton. Opening with music, two friends come together on a hilltop at dusk. Adam (Alastair Park) as the frustrated friend who wants more than just friendship from Laith (James Howlett). There’s exchanging of banter back and forth and an imminent issue Adam has with a relative in hospital. Laith is wonderfully camp and there is some sexual tension there. There could be more action and less expedition, to make it more than talking heads. Interesting play all the same exploring unrequited love.

Fucking Black Magic by Chris Wilkins, directed by Anna Snell was a two hander set in a restaurant in what first appears as a date and later transpires to be a reunion of David (Mark Buckley) and his estranged birth mother Tracey (Mary Pickin) the second play in a row with the c word among many other expletives. David's job in risk management is somewhat mocked and the relationship is anything but instantly loving. Tracey is excellent and charismatic, but somewhat blasé in nature. David is almost polar opposite. This was funny and well paced and had a nice resolution.

How Not To Date by Elle Douglas, directed by Beth O’Doherty Does exactly as it says on the tin. This works as a kind of romcom-esque play. Two unlucky in love singletons are taking the leap and meeting a stranger from online in person! Asking the question is it possible to have a successful first date? This all played out in a peep show like style, in which we here Lucy and Mike’s inner thoughts are voiced by other actors as a sort of inner conflict and commentary on the disaster unfolding. Lucy is played by Eilish Stout Cairns and Eleanor Beck. Mike is played by Craig Fairbairn and Liam Scarth. This highlights the awkwardness of modern dating and the desperate measures some people go to, to find companionship. Quite amusing with high energy.

Soulmates by Lewis Cuthbert , directed by Matt Jamie was the first play of the second act. Starting with a commercial for Sycorax Systems Incorporated the world leaders in soul transfer. This is science fiction in a black mirror sort of style. The commercial is very comical as the supposed alive patients seem to be in an almost catatonic state. In what should be a demonstration of the system working an ex solider freaks out at the idea he has been resurrected, meanwhile an angry father confronts the company after his daughter died and wasn’t able to use their technology. Wonderfully corporate from start to finish ending on a nice punchline.

The final play was Paper Plane by Rachael Walsh, co directed by Richard Gardner. Opening with music It’s Luke’s (Adam Jordan Donaldson) wedding day and his best man is a woman, Poppy (Jude Nelson). Tom (Benjamin Storey) is Poppy’s ex, this plays out as a kind of a love quadrangle. It asks the when Harry met sally question of can men and women truly just be good friends? It’s well placed, with good humour and drama in places. Poppy makes a powerful best man speech and Tom woefully attempts to get Poppy back. There’s a good level of tension, drama and feels here. It addresses the unrealistic expectations films and theatre presents of romantic love. Well performed. 

Producers : Lewis Cuthbert, John Harrison, Chris Wilkins

Technician: Jayden Blacklock

To get involved with playing it up contact them by email : playing_up@outlook.com Twitter @playingup_tc
Blog: https://playingupblog.wordpress.com

Next Playing Up 10th May
                     

Frank Cromartie Murphy

Wonderland - Review - Northern Stage

Wonderland 

Northern Stage 
27th Feb 2019


Wonderland. That's a word to conjure with, isn't it? It's full of allusions and connotations and promise! Alice in Wonderland immediately springs to mind - in her strange and wonderful world down the rabbit hole, where everything is not always good and creatures talk in confusing half truths and riddles, ad who don't always have Alice's best interests at heart. Wonderland: it's aspirational, the stuff of dreams - who wouldn't want to go to there?

Set in the eighties, during the miner's strike,

Beth Steel's Wonderland is the land of miners, of  pits shafts and cages, heat and hard graft. This land is equally wonderful, and dangerous and riddled with double speaking creatures who all have something they want from Wonderland and it is not always the same thing.

Wonderland follows the fortunes of a group of Nottinghamshire miners. From the first

day dfor a couple of 17 year old rookies to the last days of the strike and the return to work. Beth Steel is a miner's daughter. I was expecting a piece that was sympathetic to the mining community, and was fully prepared for the usual polarised opinions that the miner's strike inevitably draws out. I grew up I a pit town in the Durham coalfield. Family members and friends worked in the industry - not all down the pit and not all with the same view of the strike. Miners had a strong work ethic. They were tough men doing a tough job and they were proud of it. They were also loyal - to the men they worked with and to the pit. The pit was their livelihood and they respected it. The strike took that away from them, completely and utterly. It's hardly surprising that they remain bitter in the face of what they see as a betrayal. 

What Beth Steel's Wonderland shows is the power of the mining communities pitted against the political powers and their machinations. Her portrayal is a balanced view - yes the sympathy for the miners is there but she does not shirk away from

showing all sides of the story. Not all the politicians agreed with the plan, but they were in the end self-serving - they followed the party line to preserve themselves. Those that insisted on voicing a contrary opinion were silenced, or cut out. I actually began to feel a certain sympathy for Ian MacGregor - seen as the hatchet man, he was brought in believing he was going to transform the industry and make it profitable, and he became the scapegoat. I think he was shafted almost as much as the miners. 
Equally, not all the miners support the strike - but once the wheels are in motion it's impossible stop the machine from rolling. Entitled to a vote, but given none, the strike was effectively illegal but loyalty to the union and to fellow mineworkers is the watchword and you did not dissent. You are either with, or against. No middle ground. 


All this sounds very heavy, and political and serious but this is a superbly entertain

ing, funny and emotional play. I love the incongruity of  singing and dancing miners and the humour - from the subtlest jokes to the ribald banter between the men. Act one is full of energy, laughter, music.. Act two is darker - the music has died away and the humour is blacker than the coalface. 

Wonderland is a bold, beautiful piece of theatre. It starts with a lone  miner scraping the title in coal on the grubby shutter. WONDERLAND. It's not exactly sparkling neon. The shutter curtain rolls up with industrial clatter and grinding , a sudden flash bang lights the stage for a second and we see scaffolding, rusty, and rail tracks...and the coalface, black, glistening, immense. Just for that instant there is a hint of wonder - what world is this? It ends on the forlorn, heartrending reprieve - "I am the son, of the son, of the son of collier's son". 

It is an outstanding production. Everyone who thinks they know what the miners strike was about needs to see this play. It's about the people and the politics, and the breaking of a country and it is about life and loyalty and dignity. 

Wonderland runs until 9th March.

*Photo credit Darren Bell  

Denise Sparrowhawk