Review - The Son - People's Theatre

The Son

People's Theatre

8th Sept, 2025

Written by Florian Zeller

(translated by Christopher Hampton)

Directed by Brian Green, Karen Elliot

The Son is the third in a trilogy of plays by French writer Florian Zeller.  I have not seen either of the other plays, and though I feel there would be some value in having seen all three; it may give some insight into the characters to have seen the other two plays but it is not essential - the The Son stands up on its own account. 

Nikolas, struggling with the disintegration of his family after his parents divorce, has been absent from school for months, he is withdrawn, moody, and uncommunicative. His mother, Anne, is at the end of her tether and seeks help from his estranged father, Pierre. Nikolas moves to live with Pierre and Sofia and their new baby. Sofia is wary of Nikolas, but both she and Pierre believe he is nothing more than a moody teenager. At first things seem to be going well, but it soon becomes clear that Nikolas' problems go much deeper. His mood swings increase and he clashes with his father and Sofia with catastrophic results.

Staged in the studio with a minimal set, this creates a very immediate experience for the audience - at times almost claustrophobic, we don't just witness the trauma that envelops this family, we live it, breathe it in. We are no more able to escape it than the characters themselves.  

The set mirrors the emotional state of the characters. Pierre and Sofia's home is bright, colourful, warm - everything that Nikolas' life is not. When Anne, comes to speak to Pierre about their son, the conversation takes place to the left of the stage where there are just two plain, grey chairs. Similarly when Nikolas goes to his mother after the argument with his father, these chairs represent Anne's home, and later the waiting room of the hospital is represented by these chairs. The contrast between this and Pierre and Sofia's home is stark. Their home represents everything that Nikolas feels he has lost - his home, his, family, and his sanity. 

The subject matter is painful, uncomfortable, unsettling, and yet compulsive. Jack Stuart's performance as Nikolas is painfully convincing, a brooding presence on the the stage throughout, with his glowering countenance and anxious ticks and twitches, as he struggles to communicate. Craig Fairbairn gives an equally telling performance as the father struggling to understand his son, desperate to help and crushed by his own inability to do so, haunted by the memory of his own father's neglect. Brooke Milburn as Anne, and Annie Cairns as Sofia give admirable supporting performances but I did feel that their characters lacked the depth given to the father and son.  

The is a difficult play to watch but the directors and cast have delivered a compelling, heartbreaking production.  

The Son plays until 13th September. 

                                    *Images: Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk

I have met the enemy (and the enemy is us) - Review - Byker Community Centre

I have met the enemy (and the enemy is us)

Byker Community Centre
17th Oct 2019

A Common Wealth/Northern Stage production

Staged in the upper room of Byker Community Centre, this is a theatre experience with a difference. There is no stage, and no seats, we are invited to move around the space, interact with the actors and each other, but not to touch anything -unless specifically asked to do so... I enter the room, soft music is playing and there are structures with lights dotted around. "Hello, I'm Alex, how are you? Have you been to an arms fair before?" Within minutes I have been greeted by four people, and given advice on personal security by two of them, invited to look around, sample the refreshments and enjoy... Audience participation is not my thing - unless you count booing at the baddie in Panto, but I go with the flow as best I can. I hope I won't be called on to do more than make small talk.

This is not going to be your average theatre show.

In the prologue of the Arms Fair, we are introduced to the latest technological killing machines by a series of salesmen with slick sales patter where names such BAE and Rolls Royce are dropped into the conversation. And then the narrative moves to the more personal stories - of Alex, a British soldier, veteran of the Afghan conflict, Mo'min, a Palestinian from the West Bank, an actor, now living in London, and Shatha, an artist in Yemen, who appears via a pre-recorded video. They tell of their own experiences of war, of air strikes, of guns and bombs. Each one told from a different perspective, each one very personal. Each one painful. And each one the direct result of British arms deals.

Their stories are enhanced ad illustrated with the strange ticking light box props. These it transpires are metronomes. There are seventy two of them, representing the seventy two Eurofighter jets sold to Saudi Arabia and used in Yemen. The ticking of the metronomes echoes the Domesday Clock, ticking down to the destruction of mankind.

I Have Met The Enemy is hard -hitting, political theatre. It does not pull punches. But it is also compassionate and human, even as it highlights the inhumanity of the arms trade. These are real people, and their experiences are real. Their losses are real. Their fears are real. Their stories draw you in, you are delighted by the thought of Alex's mother walking her dog in Wales, of Mo'min out with the sheep and the horse, and of Shatha dancing at a wedding. But, they pull no punches - just as you settle into the stories, a gun is levelled, or a grenade is thrown, or an airstrike hits. Blood mixes with jasmine flowers.

It raises so many issues, asks so many questions, and leaves us uncomfortable, thinking about the consequences of war, and our part in it.

You can meet the enemy at Byker Community Centre until Saturday 26th Oct.

Denise Sparrowhawk

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

Clear White Light -Review- Live Theatre

Clear White Light Live Theatre - World Premier 23^rd October

Joe Caffrey and Bryony Corrigan (Live Theatre)

Clear white light is named after a Lindisfarne song and is a cross between a gig and a play. Music  is played by a live band, most of whom are also characters in the play. It’s set in an all male hospital ward, with patients having a variety of mental health difficulties. The main characters are Rod - a male staff nurse in his 50s played by Joe Caffrey, - and a student nurse Alison, played by Bryony Corrigan, who recently stared in Live’s My Romantic History.

Bryony’s ability to convey angst and horror are incredibly impressive and Joe brings a well rounded characterisation to Rod. They both feel very believable. I have personal experience of being a patient in a mental health ward and I can say so much of this play rings true. The Gothic and spooky elements don’t convince me as much as the emotional intelligence of the characters. I can relate to both the experience of the patients and the realism of the nurses. We always wondered if some of the nurses belonged as patients more than we did at times, and this comes across in parts here as there are various meltdowns.

This play was written by Paul Sirett and he has done an excellent job with it. Charlie Hardwick of Emmerdale fame played Maddie (not sure if this was a play on words or not). She also did the majority of the singing in the play, which was great. The remaining cast were also in the band and consisted of Phil Adele (Aaron patient), Alice Blundell (Jo nurse), Dale Jewitt (Charlie), Billy Mitchell (Barry patient / Lindisfarne) and Ray Laidlaw (percussion / Lindisfarne).

I found both the musical element and the play enjoyable, however I am not convinced both elements belong together. A lot of the time the songs seem to have little relevance to that particular part of the play. I found the play element to be the stronger of the two. My friend remarked it was Lindisfarne’s version of Mama Mia.

This play is based on a cross between Edgar Alan Poe’s short story the Fall of the House of Usher and Alan Hull’s music based on his own experience working for the NHS.

Alan Hull had worked in St Nick’s hospital in Gosforth, which at the time inspired many of his songs, many which are used in this play. It’s kind of like a love letter to the NHS and stands very proudly behind the now seventy year old institution, at the end it conveys a very unsubtle message about the NHS, but one that many agree with. I would definitely recommend this, especially if you are fans of Lindisfarne, and don’t worry Fog on the Tyne and Gazza are nowhere in sight.

A solid 7/10.   

Clear White Light it is running at Live until November 10.

Frank Cromartie Murphy

Suicide Notes -review- Northern Stage

Suicide Notes by Christopher Brett Bailey 
Northern Stage
2nd October 2018

Suicide Notes isn’t as depressive as it sounds, though to say it’s not depressive in one sense would be inaccurate. Christopher was brought up in the USA and Canada, but moved to the UK in his teen years, so his accent is undeniably American. He starts the show off sat at a desk, with an audio recording device, pretty much coughing at the entire audience for what seems like about five minutes - an odd introduction , but it tells you a lot about his character and humour. I had a similar start to my comedy sets when I performed comedy, “my names DR Carlos, I’m not a real doctor, but I do like to tell people what’s wrong with them.” Your intro should set up the rest of the show and (unlike most of my stand up gigs) it only got funnier from there on.

The start of this spoken word show reminded me of the many open mic comedy gigs I’ve been to. Lots of one liner poems, some funny, some insightful, some both. He’s an intriguing character, somewhat majestical. He has all the snear of a 70s punk, which is lucky , because he’s in a punk band himself. Look it up, it’s very long. He reminds me of a cross between Patti Smith of 70s punk fame and Zach De La Roche from rock band Rage Against the Machine. Every night is different as he reads from his latest spoken word book, Suicide Notes, the follow up to his last book This is How We Die. The book is supposed to be five hours long and this show was about a hundred minutes long.

There are interesting themes not just suicide, but a wide range of topics, there are some political bits, some life pondering moments and some existential questions I could certainly relate to. At one point he suggests that parents revealing in their child’s achievement's is the biological equivalent of smelling your own farts and that if you really want to make a difference take on someone else’s problem and adopt. My sentiments exactly, not quite sure the audience agreed with that, but look around you it’s clearly not a popular idea.

Some of his stories are kinda sadistic fables ingested with real elements, like the time he goes drinking with Adam off of the bible and that. It’s clear he has a wicked sense of humour and I certainty enjoyed his piece, However like a lot of poetry and spoken word it does tend to quite often wander into ranty and preachy territory. You can tell he likes to improvise and probably does a fair bit of automatic writing. Some of the longer spoken word bits do seem unedited and came across like a flow of conciousness. The guy has a great charisma though, you really want to know what he’s going to say next and, his one liners aside, you really don’t see what’s coming next.

If you enjoy poetry, comedy and spoken word, I suggest you check him out next time he tours, or catch his last date on this tour at the showroom in Chichester on the 18th October 2018.

Frank Cromartie Murphy

Rattlesnake - Live Theatre - Review

Rattlesnake

Live Theatre
05 June 2018

OMG!!! I don't know what to say about a show that we have already done a review of here at SpikeMike.

Open Clasp once again make the north east proud with this fantastic show.  Roma Yagnik needs a special mention for the music - when you walked in Sting was playing (Every Step You Take) but sometimes it skipped then continued from the same spot.

Set in a cube in the centre of the stage we meet Suzy, played by the much travelled but great local actor Christina Berriman Dawson, and Jen who is played by adopted Geordie Eilidh Talman.
The two women are connected by James (who is never seen).

The story takes us through the whirlwind romances that both girls have with him and what goes wrong.

It's hard for a man to watch, and to think this happens in real life makes me angry.
The story is a real one from real people and it does happen!

Anna Reid did a fantastic job with the set design and Ali Hunter used the lighting to great effect especially at the end.

Open Clasp's Artistic Director and Writer has once again created a play that brings feelings out of you that you didn't know existed.
Charlotte Bennett did a great job with this show taking the issue and bringing the page off the paper.

For me the thing that made it stand out wasn't what was said and done but what wasn't!!

As a member of the audience You had to create the image of James in your head and picture him to make him seem real.

The Boxing Scene was hard hitting and really packed a punch (pun intended) and Robby Graham who I forgot to include in the above bit deserves credit for this part and all the movement.

I don't think I will ever see a show like this again (and I would go see it again). I look forward to seeing the next show by Open Clasp.

On until Saturday 9th of June

Reuben Hiles

John Scott: Delusions - Alphabetti Theatre - Review

John Scott - Delusions

Photo from www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk 

Alphabetti Theatre

Wed 21st March

John Scott's gig on his mental health doubled up as a showcase for students of his stand up course. Each night involves several comedians new to comedy, some doing their very first gigs. They were impressively cohesive and funny,  and if you hadn’t been told it was their first time doing stand up you might not even know it.

John Scott briefly MCed the acts before coming  himself in the second half to do his one hour show (which featured at Edinburgh Festival last year).

It was a witty, clever, political and very polished performance. He delved into his mental health history with a great deal of tact and really gave the audience an insight into having a mental health condition His own condition is bipolar disorder type one, a diagnosis I share, so I can highly relate to the things he was talking about, such as hypomania, feeling like you are Jesus and self harming thoughts.

I thoroughly recommend this show if you're in need of a good belly laugh and have ever wanted to know more about what it's like to suffer with a mental health condition.

Playing Thursday and Friday this week at 9pm.

Frank Cromartie Murphy

Find more info about John Scott at:

www.facebook.com/johnscottcomedy  twitter.com/JohnScottComedy mindpalaver.com/

Rattle Snake - Live Theatre - Review

Rattle Snake

Live Theatre
26th September 2017

Presented by Open Clasp Theatre
Written by Catrina McHugh
Directed by Charlotte Bennett


Rattlesnake - a venomous snake, with a potentially deadly bite, makes a noise like a rattle to ward off its predators. Snakes are hypnotic creatures, not all are dangerous, but some are. The rattlesnake is dangerous and duplicitous, rattling to warn you that it is there, rattling to make sure you don't interfere.

James rattles. He rattles to control the women in his life, he rattles to keep the neighbours at bay. He rattles to protect himself while he destroys the lives of two women.

This play is mesmerising - from the start, as the two characters beat out a complicated, rhythmic pat-a-cake game, through to the closing scene of this story that has no end. You daren't look away, because you never know what might happen while you are not paying attention.

Rattlesnake is a fictional drama based on truth, an amalgamation of the stories of many women who have endured coercive controlling domestic abuse. Eilidh Talman and Christina Berriman Dawson play the two women snared by one man - James. Together they bring to life the horror and insidiousness of the control he exerts on them. The two women at times speak together, at other times they repeat each other's phrases, marking the parallels between the way their two relationships develop and disintegrate as James manipulates, coerces and threatens them into submission.

The set is simple and stark - the outline of a box-like room, table and chairs. The open sides are symbolic - despite external appearances the women are trapped, unable to escape a prison that most people are not aware of. The single overhead light flickers ominously, brightening and dimming as the atmosphere tightens, and bright floor lights flash like lightning bolts to emphasize pain, or danger or the sudden realisation of a truth. In the background a quiet hypnotic beat echoes the pat-a-cake game and the rattlesnake's warning.

This is superbly directed, produced and acted. The two actresses are utterly convincing in their roles. It is emotional, taut, intense.

Writer Catrina McHugh says "I believe Rattle Snake is important theatre, it takes your breath away and will change lives." Throughout the performance there was barely a sound from the audience - I think we were all holding our collective breath.

Rattle Snake is at Live Theatre until 30th September and then goes on tour around the region so there are plenty of opportunities to experience it. It is important theatre. Don't miss it.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Autumn Tour 2017

• 21 - 30 Sep: Live Theatre, Newcastle www.live.org.uk / 0191 232 1232
• 2 Oct: Rape Crisis @ Morpeth Town Hall rattlesnakerctn.eventbrite.co.uk
• 3 Oct: Teesside University, Middlesbrough 01642 738232
• 4 Oct: Sunderland Stages @ The Royalty Theatre sunderlandstages.co.uk / 0191 561 3455
• 5 Oct: Riverside Community Health Project, Newcastle0191 226 0754
• 9 Oct: Linhope Referral Unit (closed performance)
• 11 Oct: Trinity Academy, Newcastle (closed performance)
• 12 Oct: West End Women & Girls Centre, Newcastle0191 273 4942
• 13 Oct: Durham University
• 17 - 21 Oct: York Theatre Royal yorktheatreroyal.co.uk / 01904 623568
• 24 - 28th Oct: Soho Theatre, London sohotheatre.com / 020 7478 0100

Royalty Theatre - New Season - Preview

2017/18 Season Preview
Royalty Theatre

The Royalty team never shy away from staging plays that challenge their performers and their audiences. Their 93rd season is no exception. There are some dark and chilling tales coming up with a spattering of comedy to lighten the mood.

The season kick starts fairly safely with an Agatha Christie classic. And Then There Were None is widely considered to be Christie's masterpiece and her darkest tale. The tension and suspense builds throughout to the climactic reveal. Who is next on the list of casualties and just who is killing off the guests? And Then There Were None runs from Sept 18th - 23rd.

From Agatha Christie they move to Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills. A chilling drama set in the Forest of Dean in the summer of 1943. Childish games take sinister turn. Not supernatural but definitely something evil here, a good choice for Halloween and Guy Fawkes week it runs from Oct 30th to Nov 4th.

Christmas and the Panto Season rescue us from the darkness for a spell, thrusting us into the adventures of Dick Whittington, and a more light-hearted battle of good and evil. Will the streets be paved with gold? Maybe, maybe not, but the stage will be paved with song, dance and jokes from 7th- 17th December. Oh yes, it will...

New year brings more murder and madness with a studio production of Shelagh Stephenson's Five Kinds of Silence.  This dark play explores the damaged relationship between a man and his family. Its claustrophobic atmosphere makes it a perfect choice for staging in the studio. It runs from 24th to 27th Jan.

February brings a Pulitzer Prize winning play - The Rabbit Hole by David Lindsey-Abair. This play deals with the nature of grief and investigates with drama and humour how different family members cope with loss. From Feb 19th-24th.

The second half of the season takes a lighter turn with Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense. This Goodall Brothers adaptation of  this PG Wodehouse tale runs from Mar 19th to 24th.

Their second studio production is a touching and witty fictional account of the Occupy London Protests of 2011. Temple by Steve Waters occupies the stage from 25th-28th April.

From a very British crisis we move to a typically English farce in Move Over Mrs Markham by Ray Cooney and John Chapman. Two couples separately arrange to use a friend's flat to meet up with their lovers...confusion and hilarity ensue between 21st - 26th May.

The final show of the season is Mike Kenney's adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. A great family show with Mole, Badger, Ratty and of course, Toad of Toad Hall. Explore the Wild Wood with them from 25th -30th June.

As well as the main programme, there are a number of one off performances including a concert by soprano Joanna Forest and an Open Clasp production of Rattle Snake from Sunderland Stages in October,  and in July there is the opportunity to see work by Lee Stewart, one of the Royalty's regular actor/directors as they stage his latest play There's Someone Coming Through.


All the details are available on the Royalty website. Tickets are available now and can be booked online or in person at the box office - times and dates are listed on the site. At under a tenner a ticket it's a night at the theatre that won't break the bank.

Denise Sparrowhawk

It's not the character's problem - Royalty Theatre - Review

It's Not The Character's Problem
Royalty Theatre

2nd June 2017

Written and performed by Jordan Carling

I have seen a fair few one man (and one woman) shows over the last couple of years. It's a form of theatre that I increasingly love. They are invariably performed in small venues, and not necessarily to capacity audiences. Although, it has to be said, depending on the particular venue even a capacity audience can be pretty intimate.

There is something very special about being in a small space, listening to what are essentially very personal experiences. The shows take many forms - some have a lot of props to create atmosphere or context. They tend to follow a similar pattern in terms of theme - the meaning of life - or death - the nature of love, hate, indifference. They deal with some heavy subjects, and they usually do it with a fair amount of humour - often self deprecating - as the protagonist takes us on their journey of discovery. They are conversational, questions are posed, answers are invited, the audience is drawn in.

It's Not The Character's Problem we are told is a hard story tell, and may be a hard story to hear. It's Jordan's story. It is very personal. For this reason, I think, after the initial introduction - with some very sobering statistics about male suicide rates - he switches from first person, to third person. He tells Jordan's story almost like a case study, thereby distancing himself from it, and at the same time illustrating perfectly the isolation he creates for himself. In order to cope with unwelcome, negative feelings, Jordan removes them from his life - he banishes them to the wall of switches and turns them off. He builds a fortress around himself so that he doesn't have to deal with any of them, thinking that this makes him a man. Cold, dispassionate, ruled by his head not his heart. And it works fine (sort of) until a cataclysmic event leads him to finally realise that feelings, even the painful ones, are necessary to be able to fully experience life.

The show deals with a difficult subject and themes. It is a journey of self discovery. It is Jordan's journey, as he explores the way men are conditioned to respond to the emotional demands of life. How are men supposed to react to the events that life throws at them? How, in fact, has Jordan reacted to these? Not too well to begin with, as it turns out.

In this respect, this show is pretty much like others that I have seen. However it is also quite different. This is a very serious piece of story telling. There is humour - but the humour is used sparingly, with pinpoint accuracy it punctuates the narrative, providing a moment of welcome relief and preventing it from becoming too difficult to bear.

The dispassionate, third person narration means that when finally emotion begins to break through, it is all the more telling; the anger is more shocking, the grief more poignant.

"It's not the character's problem" is performed very simply with minimal props, and almost no staging - a chair, some papers, a spotlight and a white screen. Nothing is projected onto the screen, it is just there. Jordan sits throughout, reading from the papers and discarding the pages one at a time, until the story is almost done. The only action is the representation of the heart monitor in the hospital room, he draws the line in the air with his finger and taps out the heartbeat on his chest. This is an incredibly moving moment, followed by a literal thirty second pause, until the realisation that the heart has stopped. I find myself counting off the seconds. On the count of 30 Jordan resumes the story and brings it to slowly to its conclusion.

Finally an image appears on the screen.  A dedication to his father.

This must be a hard story to tell. It is a hard story to hear, but for an hour the audience's attention is held, and we listen and we feel.

"It's not the character's problem"  showed for one night only to an almost capacity crowd in the studio at the Royalty. It has also been staged at Northern Stage and the Customs House. I would hope it gets an airing in other venues, it's a story worth telling and a story worth hearing.

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

Rob Hudson Needs to Talk - Alphabetti Theatre - Review

Rob Hudson Needs to Talk
Alphabetti Theatre

10th Feb 2017

As I entered Alphabetti for tonight's show I was greeted by a sign on the door that sais I should be aware that the performance contained partial nudity. Another sign reiterated the message on the door to the bar...I get the feeling that someone has complained somewhere down the line. I don't recall seeing such signs when I came to see Jon Coleman trying to be a man and there was a fair bit of partial in that. Still, I was a little bit concerned for Matt Miller - Alphabetti is never warm at the best of times and tonight it was actually snowing outside. I feared he might catch his death. I needn't have worried - the partial nudity was very partial as it happens (just his bum showing).

The auditorium is declared open and we file in - collecting a rug for our knees on the way (like I said, snowing out) and choose a seat. Alphabetti seats are mildly famous - infamous? - a mishmash of chairs - some padded, some not - and there was a friendly scuffle in the front row over a "squidgy" chair. I can understand that - I have sat on one of the lesser padded seats and it can be distracting. Tonight however I chose with care and sat comfortably on red velvet for the hour of the show. And what a show! I almost don't know where to begin, as you can probably tell by the previous preamble! This is a fifty minute one man show and it is packed full of laughs, observations, advice, onions, sadness, pain, more laughs, self help, lies, more onions, questions, relationships, friendship, heartbreak. And laughs. And darkness. It soars up into the brightness of a new relationship, and it plumbs the depths of its break up.

Matt Miller leads us through the relationship between Rob and Sarah - how it all began, and how it all ended. Rob needs to talk. Sarah has broken his heart, and for a while ruined his life. But he's getting better. He is better thanks to his mother (she likes to help) and his self help books: Louise Hay's "You can heal your life" and "F**k It, the Ultimate Spiritual Way". Yes, it is a real book, written by John C Parkin. You can borrow it from the library, as Rob did. And you can breathe in and release the stress from your life by naming the stressor and then, instead of breathing out, you say F**k it. Rob invites us to try and asks if anyone has anything that is causing us angst. Either no-one in the audience has any anxieties or they are too shy. Surprising really because they appear to be a group of drama students. So, to help out I share the current propensity for parts of my car to drop off, making life a tad difficult lately. We breathe and F**k it. We laugh. I feel better.

Rob however has taken a good while to feel better. Sarah has not been a perfect girlfriend. She has not been entirely honest or open and this has taken her to a dark place, a place that Rob understands, and he endeavours to help her out of it. He helps her so successfully that she moves back to London. She is still not very honest and open. Another book helps him to understand Sarah. This one is not from the library though. This one is Sarah's diary and it is full of truth, and lies. Truth that she has not shared with Rob, and lies that she has. The truth and lies break him and he spends a very long time getting better.

This show is a conversation with the audience, and at the end we are left with a decision - he needs our advice on what to do next, we are invited to help him decide by placing our "pay what you think" envelopes in a "burn" or "return" bucket. Whichever bucket gets the most votes will be the final course of action for Rob. As I put my vote in the bucket it seems most people have gone for burn. I hope he follows the advice - he really doesn't need to give Sarah any more ammunition. Burn the book, Rob, and close the chapter.

Rob Hudson has talked for the last time at Alphabetti tonight, but am sure he'll be talking in other venues. If you get the chance to hear him go along - he's worth a listen.

Denise Sparrowhawk