Blackadder Goes Forth - Review - Royalty Theatre

Blackadder Goes Forth

Royalty Theatre 
23rd Sept 2019

Kicking off this year's season with Matthew Hope's adaptation of Blackadder  Goes Forth, the team at the Royalty have chosen a play that packs a punch in more ways than one. This satirical look at the first world war rattles through a season of Blackadder in just under two hours, presenting key scenes in a series of vignettes. It has elements of just about every type of comedy, from slapstick and bawdy farce, through to high end intellectual wit. It is at once very funny, and heartbreakingly dark.

The roles are demanding for the cast - quickfire repartee and tongue twisting wordplay, combined with physical humour mean that delivery and timing have to be spot on for it to work. And of course, these are well known and much loved characters for the British public; portraying them on successfully stage is a whole other challenge. Thee is always the danger of mimicking the TV characters rather than bringing them to life in their own way. Would the cast and directors be up to such a challenge? There was quite a bit of speculation in the foyer as to whether it would be achieved.

First impressions as we entered the auditorium were encouraging - a selection of war time songs played us in, and the curtain raised to reveal the set - the typical trench dugout was perfect.

And the cast did rise to the challenge. Jacob Hughes as Blackadder, had just the right level of crippling disdain for his fellow soldiers, who were - with exception of Capt. Darling, and Lord Flasheart -  completely oblivious to both his disdain and his cutting sarcasm. Alex Parkin-Goodchild was suitably ingenuous as George. His scene as Georgina, describing his date with General Melchett is a classic and almost stole the show from Private Baldrick, however Lee Wilkins recitation of "War's a funny thing" and "German Guns" may just have edged the balance back in his favour and his treatment at the hands (and foot) of Capt. Blackadder elicited sympathetic gasps from the audience.
James Errington explodes onto the stage as Lord Flasheart and successfully lowers the tone with his rampant libido and huge personality.

John Appleton and Andrew Barella both gave excellent supporting performances as  General Melchett and Capt Darling. The General typically bombastic upper class military and completely insane and Darling, obsequious, self-serving and underhand and yet still in the final scenes we felt sympathy for him, ironically double crossed by his eccentric superior officer. Of all the roles Capt Darling is the most understated - the humour of this character is much more sublte, conveyed through body language and facial expressions, and could easily be lost among the mayhem of rest of the crew.

Newcomer to the Royalty, Michael Alexander was able to try out his German accent as Baron von Richthoven - arch enemy of Lord Flasheart and as Brigadier Smith the undercover spy. I actually liked him best as the Brigadier - quietly funny as he spied on the hospital inmates.

I did feel for the two female characters - Emma Thomson as Bob and Olivia Bowern as Nurse Mary - as they did seem to be there purely to provide the eye candy in a very "blokey" scenario, which is a shame because other Blackadder females have been stronger characters.

Lorna Breeze's direction has produced a play worthy of the fourth incarnation of Edmund Blackadder. The cast were clearly enjoying the experience on stage (we did note Baldrick's near corpsing in the second act, he held it together well!). Lots of laughter from the audience throughout and we were suitably subdued in the final scenes which were emotional, and very well executed.

The general consensus after the curtain came down was that the team had indeed risen to the challenge. A great start to the new season at Royalty Theatre.

Blackadder goes forth until Saturday 28th September. Book a ticket.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Review - My Cousin Rachel - Royalty Theatre

My Cousin Rachel
Royalty Theatre
29th Oct 2018


Written by Diana Morgan 
Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier


My Cousin Rachel is a tale of suspense and murder. Philip Ashley has travelled to Italy after he receives the news that his cousin Ambrose is seriously ill. He receives a number of letters that cast suspicion on Ambrose's new wife. When Philip arrives in Italy he discovers Ambrose has died and the funeral has already taken place. The new wife, Rachel, has disappeared.

The play opens as Philip returns to his home in Cornwall and has to recount the strange situation to his guardian Nicholas Kendall. While they wait for Philip, Nicholas and his daughter Louise discuss the sudden and surprising marriage between Ambrose and Rachel. Louise is sure that Rachel must be extraordinary and beautiful, since she managed to capture the heart of confirmed bachelor Ambrose Ashley. 
Philip is convinced that the letters he received from Ambrose prove that his death is suspicious and that Rachel and her Italian friend Rainaldi are involved. Why else should she have left so suddenly after the funeral? 

James Errington acquits himself well as the young Philip Ashley, seduced by the beauty of his older cousin Rachel, yet suspicious of her involvement in Ambrose's death. His performance gathers strength as the conflict pushes him to a kind of madness.  Olivia Bowern is rather aloof as the grieving widow making the character difficult to read - which perhaps was the intention of the director. The play hinges on the doubt surrounding her - is she a cold blooded murderer or simply an unfortunate, misunderstood widow?

The outstanding performance of the evening goes to Stephanie Cubello whose playful portrayal of Louise Kendall provides the most engaging and convincing character in the play.

The drama and suspense is heightened throughout the play by an excellent choice of background music and very slick lighting.

The play has been likened to an Agatha Christie suspense - and the ingredients are there. A suspicious death, strange letters, a widow left with nothing, a naïve young man just ripe for manipulation by a beautiful, older woman and a small country village rife with rumour.

I'm sure Du Maurier's novel conveys all the expected tension and suspense, but for me it somehow doesn't translate into this stage adaptation by Diana Morgan. A lot of scene setting and background information has to be given through the dialogue and it lacked the flare and finesse of a Christie play, though it does have a killer twist at the end. 

The audience this evening however was fully engaged and displayed appropriate amounts of surprise, shock and awe throughout - most notably when Philip, in a fit of rage, throws a candlestick which bounces back with some force! (I'd like to see more of this sort of passion from the actors - after all two of the characters are Italian!) 

My Cousin Rachel plays until 3rdNovember. It has some excellent dramatic moments and some strong performances and it will keep you guessing - till the end. 

Denise Sparrowhawk

The Vagina Monologues - Review - Royalty Theatre

The Vagina Monologues
Royalty Theatre
27th April 2016

Cast:
Amy Herdman-Burns
Emma McLeary
Beth McAneny
Jude Nelson
Julie Chisholm


The Royalty is staging The Vagina Monologues as its second studio production this season. It's a bold choice but perfectly suited to the intimacy of the studio venue.

The scene is set with a red brick wall as backdrop, no stage and the performance area is incredibly close to the audience making for a close and intimate experience. As the play starts the women are actually seated in the front rows and each stands and joins the others in a conversation about the most intimate part of their anatomy, explaining what the monologues are, how and why they they came about before introducing the first one.

It's brash, it's forward, it's funny. There is much laughter as they list the many names given to vaginas around the country. The women declare their love and loathing, their interest and indifference about this magical, mysterious and monstrous part of their bodies. It is part of us, but it is never spoken about, never touched by us and heaven forbid that we should ever LOOK at it! The monologues, we are told, are a mixture of individual and collective stories. Most are a humorous look at our - and others - attitudes to our vaginas, but some are serious and sad and horrifying. Vaginas, it seems are rarely seen as belonging to the woman whose body it is a part of and the monologues are about us reclaiming, and coming to love what is ours. I was expecting some rank feminism and there certainly is an element of it, but what comes across most is the sadness and confusion that women have felt about their bodies and their lives. The monologues are about finding our identy, and sometimes losing it.

The writing is colourful and frank, and incredibly sensitive and beautiful. The cast do it full justice. presenting the monlogues with such a sense of fun but with seriousness and calm when the script demands it.

I came to this with misgivings, I have been disappointed in the last two productions at the Royalty and was totally unsure that the team here would be able to deliver on this one. But deliver they do - slick production, excellent lighting and sound, and the closeness of the actors to the audience is perfect for the subject matter - providing intimacy and just enough discomfort when eye contact is made! The five women give strong and varied performances. And if on the first night the proximity of the audience and first night nerves got the better of them at times it was barely noticed and expertly dealt with. Nikki Briggs has done a great job directing her cast of women and they have produced an entertaining and thought provoking show.

If the performances in all their productions were as assured and professional as this the theatre would be full every time.
Wednesday was a full house - I recommend booking your ticket in advance - it's worth the booking fee to guarantee you get a seat for this. The Vagina Monologues runs until Sat 30th.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Where There's a Will - Review - Royalty Theatre

Where There's a Will

Royalty Theatre
27th Jan 2016

Caast
Philip - Liam Jack Foster
Kathy - Sinead Lindley
Jack - Lee Stewart
Sally - Olivia Bowern
Solicitor - Amy Herdman-Burns
Dave - Steve White

Where There's a Will written and directed by local writer Lee Stewart, was performed in the Studio at the Royalty Theatre. I always look forward to studio performances at any theatre, as the smaller venues invariably produce a more intimate experience for the audience and actors alike. At the Royalty last week this was even more true because there was no staging, and the audience were seated around three sides of the studio on the same level as the actors so it gave the feel of actually being in the solicitor's office and the hotel room with them.

The premise of the play is simple - three brothers and two of their wives are brought together for the reading of their uncle's will and, naturally, the will reading is not straight forward. The uncle has attached conditions. The brothers have not seen each other for some time, and parted on bad terms. The youngest, Philip, has born the brunt of caring for the uncle in his last days. There is a lot of bitterness, most particularly from Philip's wife Kathy, and the conditions of the will place greater pressure on already taut relationships.

As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that a happy outcome is unlikely and a tense situation is destined to explode. It quickly becomes clear that the group was never going to survive intact - someone was bound to end up dead - and in fact more than one of the characters comes to a sticky end. The question for the audience is - who will die, and who will do the killing? In this, Lee Stewart kept the audience guessing right to the end.

The play has all the ingredients of a tense thriller, a dysfunctional group thrown together and forced to deal with their issues, with the lure of a substantial financial gain, and a surprising twist at the end. It almost worked, it was full of tension but for me it didn't quite hit the mark. I felt as if  Lee Stewart had tried too hard - he threw everything into the pot but the ingredients didn't quite bind together. I wasn't sure if this was trying to be a dark comedy or a tense "courtroom" thriller.

That said, the acting performances were good - Sinead Lindley portraying the poisonous wife/sister-in-law Kathy, with venomous enunciation and withering facial expressions. Philip, played by Liam Jack Foster was the archetypal hen-pecked husband, showing flashes of  fire that were quickly doused by his wife and older brother. Lee Stewart swaggered and preened as the boastful "something in the city" brother Jack. And as for Steve White's portrayal of the lecherous (and somewhat insecure) Dave - ladies, if you spot a guy in a rhinestone shirt and a Stetson out on the town any night, be sure to give him a wide berth!

To sum up - some interesting, if not very likeable characters, a slightly disjointed feel, but a shedload of tension and a surprising twist. It has the potential to be a really good suspense thriller or a very black comedy.

"Where there's a Will" was shortlisted for the BBC Writersroom Script Room 8 Stage Play competition.

Denise Sparrowhawk

The LadyKillers - Royalty Theatre - Review

The Ladykillers

Royalty Theatre

22nd Sept 2015

The Royalty has started the season with a cracking comedy – The Ladykillers – adapted by Graham Linehan from the classic Ealing film of the same name.

In the opening scene Mrs Wilberforce (Lorna Breeze) is seen reporting the suspicious behaviour of the newsagent, who she feels has asked unnecessarily probing questions about the whereabouts of her house. She is quite sure this is linked to some letters she wrote to the Times at the beginning of the war...She is calmed by the Constable McDonald (Mik Richardson)who points out that he was more likely asking because she had placed an ad in his window for a room to rent. Thus the audience is set up to know that Mrs Wilberforce is patriotic, honest, suspicious, and a little bit dotty...

Enter Professor Marcus who has responded to the ad and finds the room to be a perfect location to plan a heist and stage the getaway. Mrs Wilberforce is a sweet old lady who would pose no threat to his plan. Or would she? Posing as a string quartet and their conductor, the gang arrive with their instruments to “practice” in the upstairs room. They are a strange mix of eccentrics: well spoken, educated Professor Marcus played brilliantly by Michael Luke, is the brains behind the plan. His gang comprises the most unmilitary Claude (Major Courtney) played with more camp than Butlins by Damien Wood, One Round (Mr Lawson) a punch-drunk ex-boxer and the muscles of the outfit, played with stereotypical precision by David Armstrong; Harry, (Mr Robinson) good-looking, charming, plagued by nerves, popping a pill for every situation, played with convincing OCD by Lee Stewart. And finally Louis, (Mr Harvey) the killer from Eastern Europe, his cool exterior hiding the trauma of childhood abuse and a resulting terror of old women - James Errington balances the dual personality of this character with aplomb - cool and dispassionate one minute, and roused to passion, whether anger or fear, the next.  

As the play progresses the gang discover that Mrs Wilberforce is a force to be reckoned with, appearing regularly with offers of tea and an inclination to chat she disrupts their plan at every turn. Is she just a lonely old woman seeking company, or is she suspicious of the activities of this strange band of so-called musicians? She draws out the good and the bad in each of them.

A mixture of farce, slapstick and black humour, The Ladykillers is a very English comedy. The characters are eccentric as only the English can be, and the team at the Royalty under Andrew Barella's direction have put together a good production - the comic timing and the interaction between the characters is almost faultless. If there is a downside to the production, it would be the set which is a little bit wobbly, and I admit to be a bit concerned that it may not last the week. However, the scene changes all work well despite the wobbles, and the technical team more than make up for it with a robust lighting and sound set.

Well worth seeing, ignore the shortcomings of the set and lose yourself in the great performance of a very English comedy. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season, which promises to be interesting and entertaining.

The Ladykillers plays until 26^th. Tickets are only £8 available online or on the door.

Denise Sparrowhawk 

Born in the Dark - Review - Royalty Theatre

Born in the Dark
Royalty Theatre
Fri 8th Aug

Since he is a bit of a Springsteen fan, I dragged the Reluctant Teenager along to see this one. Oddly,

he was less reluctant this time, not sure why...and amazingly, he agreed to write a review. So without further ado, I give you the Reluctant Teenager's Review...



Born in The Dark 
A Reluctant Teenager's review
(Spoilers may ensue) 

For starters, I would like to comment that I am a big Springsteen fan. Not the biggest ever, but I am still really into his early stuff, so I may be biased in my enjoyment of the play, as I enjoyed its score. But Born in The Dark did not disappoint my expectations. 2 parts Springsteen, 1 part teen angst, and 1 part romantic comedy. And 4 parts good and honest writing. This play does not try and romanticize teen life; it does not try and portray it as the best times of your life. It does show it exactly as it is: awkward, clumsy and full of heartache and full of optimism. But it is not overly happy and it is not overly down, it is truthful, in adolescence you will have fun and you will have bad, and all of it will be good. At no point in the play does it portray adolescence as better than adulthood. It has its ups and downs. From air guitar-ing to Born in the USA to having your mam knock down your door because you didn't come for tea (Which happens everyday in my household). Not only does it show the struggles of teenage life, but also of adulthood; from money problems to loss of a loved one and possible loss of yourself. And they are shown in conjunction with each other, the audience isn't told of one and then of the other: they flow together. Possibly as an allegory for how teenage life truly isn't different to adulthood, and human kind just want that which they don't have. And that both parties suffer from nostalgia for different times, one wanting more freedom, the other wishing they had less. More probably, it just fitted the narrative and kept the audience interested, I don't know, I'm a teenager with no real history in analysis of writing, how would I know... The cast did a fantastic job in their roles and were stellar performances; the lighting crew were also excellent, changing lighting tone to emphasize the scene through either bright lighting or dark to really heighten the mood. Not to forget the Springsteen fan(s) who chose the best tracks for the scene. *Major spoiler from here* My only gripe is the ending, in which, Bruce (Not Springsteen) loses Wendy, his love interest, to the inability to say how he feels in not a Bruce Springsteen lyric, and to just honestly say "I love you". After failing to say it twice, his mother gives him some advice. And so in a grand romantic gesture to win back Wendy he dances to Dancing In The Dark and succeeds with the help of a heartfelt letter. My complaint is that no one told me this was a thing girls were into; otherwise a lot of teen angst could have been avoided on my part. Other than embitterment that I did not dance at past flames, I give Born in The Dark 10 marks out of 10 it will make you laugh, maybe cry slightly, and keeps you keen and interested for the entire run of its script. An all round excellent story for Springsteen lovers, teenagers, or adults who like to re-live teenage years.

Mark Sparrowhawk

P.S Did anyone else notice that the Dad who was obsessed with Springsteen to start with, married a woman named Mary, he met when they were 18? 'The River' reference, anyone?)

Born in the Dark plays again tonight - a fiver on the door, money well spent for an evening of home grown entertainment!

Denise Sparrowhawk