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

Heaton! - Review - People's Theatre

Heaton!

The People's Theatre
17th July 2018

Heaton! The Peoples Theatre 17^th July 2018 presented in association with Shoe Tree Arts.

Heaton! Is a play inspired by local area of Heaton and the Great Exhibition of the North and is an original production for The People’s Theatre. Upon my arrival my ears were greeted with a full band playing, which was nice, the band was also featured in the play and performed at the end. The play itself was a cornucopia of ideas mixing several genres, including musical aspects, live film action, a blend of real and fictitious characters and stories, set against a backdrop of footage on a giant screen (which wouldn’t look out of place in a cinema).

There was a boatload (quite literally at one point) of cast, not all in speaking rolls, some just for the musical elements, which did make it feel like a musical in places, aside from the fact it actually had some plots to it (sorry I’m not a fan of musicals) The quality of the music was actually quite high too. Some of the characters included from Heaton’s illustrious past included: Lord Armstrong, engineer and original owner of Armstrong Park; Sir Ove Arup the engineer of the Sydney opera house; Sir Charles Parsons the inventor of the steam turbine; Lady Katharine Parsons, the founder of women’s engineering society; Colin Veitch, Heaton’s footballing wonder kid who played in a successful Newcastle United side in the 1800s and early 1900s, who was also co founder The People's Theatre and later a journalist with the Evening Chronicle; prominent feminist and suffragist activist Florence Nightingale Harrison Bell; Rachel Parsons, engineer and advocate for women's employment rights; Edith Stoney, mathematician who helped Charles Parsons in his gas turbine calculations.; Jorn Oberg Utzon a Danish architect notable for designing the Sydney Opera House, and finally George Stanley a historian who narrates much of the action.  

What was very nice was the brilliant original music compositions created specifically for this production by Ken Patterson and Richard Scott. The acting was good and in one of the most enjoyable moments the narrator said Newcastle Upon Tyne instead of Newcastle council, (I guess you had to be there!).  One of the reviews from a guy in the audience made me laugh he said “I thought I was going to fall asleep, but I didn’t it was good”. Praise indeed.

There were so many different stories going on in it, too many to mention, but all weaved into a nice overall narrative capturing the early 1900s in Heaton very well. It was also funny in places, - it seemed to have everything mixing the various genres seamlessly. A whole year's work went into the production and it’s evident, you can see the love that’s gone into it - this is people who are clearly proud of their local heritage. The place was packed out like I’ve rarely seen it, I had a blast and learned a lot and you will too. Get down and share in some local pride! 

Frank Cromartie Murphy

All Together Like the Folks of Shields - Review - Westovians at the Pier Pavilion

All Together Like the Folks of Shields

Pier Pavillion
17th Oct 2017

Cast
The Charltons
David Beston
Tracy Office
Jack Robert Young
Declan Marshall
The Armstrongs
John Errington
Viv Wiggins
Katie Stubbs

Directed by Jim Barton


Written by David Cooke this is a comedy set in neighbouring flats in South Shields in the 1970. It follows the relationships of two families. The Charltons, and the Armstrongs. They have very different outlooks on life, and very different lifestyles. The Charltons are a dyed in the wool Shields family, Des is a bloke's bloke, the life and soul of the party. They are established in their home which was left to them by Des's mother. The Armstrongs have moved into their flat after a downturn in their fortunes. Alvera has had to give up her big house, full of all the mod-cons the 70s could offer and take a job cleaning other people's big houses. She is not happy in the flat.
The contrasts between the two families provide the opportunity for comedy. Des is constantly drunk, while George Armstrong is straight-laced and serious, disillusioned with life. As the play progresses we learn that all is not as it seems for either of the households. Life in the Charlton's house is not quite the one long party it appears. Pushed to the limit by their husbands' attitudes and behaviours, the two wives take action and creating the bizarre circumstance that finally reveals all the secrets of the two families. Alongside this their sons and daughter watch the developments and play out their own drama.

There is a lot wit in the sparring verbal sparring between the characters, and this is the strength of the play. The dialogue is very funny, and the extreme action the women take to teach their men a lesson leads to humorous situations. But there is a lot going on in this play - it has more twists than a corkscrew. There are several threads - the reason for George Armstrong losing his job, the history behind the dislike between the two men, not to mention what is really going on in Des Charlton's life. Then there is the two sons and the daughter's storylines. The play tackles unemployment, self esteem, relationships, teenage aspiration, family values, sexism and chauvinism, and the value of reputation and principles and finally of friendship and vindication. That's a whole lot for one play to try to deal with. Act One lays the foundations and sets us up for the (many) revelations that are to come. It is the stronger half of the play - because of its simplicity. Act Two has so much to unveil that it loses its way a little - it feels like there are just too many threads to follow. You could make two plays out of it - one with the adult's story and another with the teenager's story. Director Jim Barton does a fair job of pulling it all together.

That said it is very funny and the characters are likeable despite their many flaws. The set is cleverly done with the stage split between the two flats, and the lighting and freeze frame effects work well as the action swaps between the Charlton's and the Armstrong's homes. There are good performances from all the cast. as always we see some excellent drunk acting from all four adults but particularly David Beston.  I think particular mention should go to Declan Marshall who gave an assured performance as Jack Charlton in his stage debut.

All Together Like the Folks of Shields runs until Sat 21st October. It will give you a laugh even if, like me, you come from Sunderland.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Under Milk Wood - People's Theatre - Review

Under Milk Wood

People's Theatre
June 13th 2017


Staged as a radio play within a play, the People's Theatre production reproduces the original recording of the play by the BBC.  On stage we have a set designed as the recording studio, with organ and piano, sound effects crew, and the cast of 12 actors who will voice 45 characters from the imaginary welsh town of Llareggub.

As the audience arrive the cast are already taking their places on stage, as if they too are just arriving for the show. (in fact we saw some arriving in the bar, before we even got to the auditorium). They chat quietly together until a very plummy BBC announcer draws our attention and introduces the play. The lights dim and the recording of Dylan's "play for voices" begins.

And what a tour de force it is. We are instantly drawn in to the sleepy dreamworld of the inhabitants of Llareggub, as First Voice Frank Coles begins to recite Dylan's lyrical words. The town sleeps, dreaming of wild and and wonderful things, strange and mysterious thing, of love and lust and death and life. And gradually the sun rises and we meet the good people of the town.

The play flows through a day in the life of this little town, narrated by Frank Coles and Steve Hewitt, We meet its characters, we see glimpses into their past and their present, and perhaps their future, as heard by blind Captain Cat (Mike Smith). The words flow, beautiful and musical with lilting welsh accents and the images appear in our heads as the loving, and plotting, and gossiping carries on around us.

Photo by Paula Smart

There would not be much action to hold our attention in the reproduction of the recording of a radio play, you might think. But as the actors come forward to deliver their lines, they flounce, and slink, and creep around, casting knowing looks to the other actors, and to the audience, so we know what's going on, both in the town and in the recording studio - there are little rivalries and friendships. Ho ho!

The play is enhanced with sound effects - some recorded - bird song, cows lowing, a cart trundling by, while others are produced on stage by the actors - the rubbing of a brush against a box, the tapping of a pen against a glass.

The small details make the play. Inevitably there are some stumbles over lines - Dylan's words are almost tongue twisters at times, yet even this was skillfully fielded with a wry aside to the audience.
All of the cast do a remarkable job of remembering and delivering this beautiful, sensuous play.

Lyrical words, enhanced by a beautiful musical score, and soulful singing. Come along, lose yourself for a day in Llareggub.
You'll laugh, and love, and maybe cry a little. You may not understand all of it, but you will not forget it.

Under Milk Wood plays until 17th June. Time hurries on. Don't miss it.

Denise Sparrowhawk

The Pitman Painters - Review - Royalty Theatre

The Pitman Painters

Royalty Theatre
16th May 2017

After a year long wait, I finally got to see this production by the team at the Royalty. Lee Hall's northern classic was scheduled to run last season but unfortunately had to be cancelled at the twelfth hour. I was keen to see how the team at the Royalty tackled the play, especially considering the enforced hiatus.

It is one of my favourite plays, probably because Lee Hall writes with such empathy about the north east. His characters are entirely believable and are written with genuine affection and humour yet he does not sugar coat them. So with the Pitman Painters we have five irascible characters who argue and bicker, sometimes in  fun, sometimes in earnest, yet manage never to fall out altogether despite their disagreements.

They come together for the unlikely purpose of taking an art appreciation class with the WEA. It very quickly becomes clear that the tutor's planned programme is way above the heads of the pitman and so a compromise is found - they will learn to appreciate art through participating in art themselves - they will be painters. It is glorious to see their development from huffy, defensive, reluctant painters into a group who are confident and assured enough to voice their opinions, and to exhibit their art.
Their forthright salt of the earth manner provokes plenty of chuckles from the audience.

There are some fair performances - Kristian Colling as George Brown - the stickler for the rules and regulations, holds the group together, breaking up the arguments when they start to get too earnest, particularly between Harry (Graham Alex) and Jimmy (Michael Fletcher) who just can't see eye to eye about anything. Yet just as often, George stalls the progress of the group when regulations look like they may be contravened.
Matt McNamee takes on the role of Oliver Kilbourn - the pitman who is most affected by the art class. Oliver's character is different to the others, as he struggles inwardly with the idea of becoming something other than a pitman, and this is a challenging first major role for McNamee. He acquitted  himself well, though his performance was lacking some of the emotion I expected from his character. That said he has certainly grown as an actor and I look forward to seeing how he develops in future roles.
David Farn plays the intellectual and rather pretentious art tutor who benefits from the group. There are some lovely moments when he begins to pontificate and is undercut by the pitmen and Mrs Sullivan (Corinne Kilvington).

What makes the show for me is the clear chemistry between Michael Fletcher, Graham Alex and Kristian Colling. Their timing and delivery is almost perfect, and the banter between their three characters acts as a foil for the seriousness of Oliver Kilbourn.

It's a play with a message that is still relevant today though it is set in the mid-20th Century, social class, capitalism, nationalisation, working class aspirations and bourgeois pretensions. Well worth seeing, Pitman Painters runs until Sat 20th May.

Denise Sparrowhawk

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads - Sunderland Stages - Review

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads

Sunderland Stages at the Royalty Theatre
14th Feb 2017

From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads is a one man show written and directed by Adrian Berry, performed by Alex Walton and featuring the voices of Margaret Campbell (Glenda) and Rob Newman (Bowie).

This is the story of Martin - a boy with problems. His father left when he was just two years old, his mother is a chain smoking alcoholic. Martin himself is isolated, bullied, lonely and confused. He has an eating disorder and self harms - not a lot, "just enough to remind himself what it's like to feel". He is intrigued by a box in his mother's room and one day - aged 11- he picks the lock on the box and discovers a different world. The box is full of Bowie memorabilia, tickets, programmes, badges, playlists, and photographs of his father. For this lonely, misfit child it is a revelation and the birth of an obsession. From that day on he lives and breathes Bowie and dreams of his father. On his 18th birthday his mother gives him a letter that his father wrote before he left sixteen years earlier. It contains a map and an invitation to adventure. An invitation to follow his father's journey in search of their idol. Martin sets off to London on a pilgrimage to visit all the places that are significant in Bowie's early life, and believing he will finally, maybe, see his father.

Alex Walton narrates the story, introducing Martin and describing his London pilgrimage, he also plays all of the characters throughout from Martin, to the record shop owner, bus driver, barman, kebab shop server, and Martin's mother. Walton moves from character to character seamlessly, transforming with little more than a shrug from dispassionate narrator to the childlike Martin - filled with the joy of his passion for Bowie or crippled by his insecurities, or into a gruff Scottish shopkeeper, or a streetwise barman. His performance is gripping, holding the  audience and carrying us along for almost an hour and a half through the joy and pain of Martin's journey.



The story is punctuated with blasts of Bowie's music, images projected onto the backdrop, and snippets of speeches from Bowie (Newman). It's a story of how Bowie influenced and inspired two people. It is full of dreams, anguish, humour and heartache. Will Martin follow in his father's footsteps right to the end or will he become a Starman and shine? The ending is satisfyingly ambiguous. We are left to draw our own conclusions.

The UK tour of Ibiza ends on 27th Feb. You can catch the show at these venues in the north:
15 Feb: York, King's Theatre Queen Ethelburga's Collegiate
16 Feb: Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, North Yorkshire
18 Feb: Selby Town Hall SOLD OUT
21 Feb: Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre

Tickets are selling fast so I recommend booking in advance!
Information on other dates and venues can be found on the website: https://www.fromibiza.net/tour

This is the third show I have seen from Sunderland Stages. All three have been very different but all have been excellent, thought provoking productions. Their aim is to bring the best theatre, dance and
spoken word performances to different, unexpected and favourite venues in Sunderland; watch out for more from them in the coming year.

Denise Sparrowhawk