Wish You Were Dead

 

Review by Paul Towers, 18/7/23

Wish You Were Dead by Peter James, adapted by Shaun McKenna

Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle

Produced by Joshua Andrews & Peter James

At Curve til Saturday 22 July 2023

“the laughs come thick and fast”

If you are a fan of either the books or TV series of Peter James’ DI Roy Grace (played on TV by John Sim) then you are going to love this comedy thriller.

Roy Grace (George Rainsford), his wife Cleo (Katie McGlynn) and their new baby arrive at a remote French ‘chambre d’hote’, not a hotel but a home with paying guests. Accompanying them are their friends Kaitlynn (Gemma Stroyan) and Jack (Alex Stedman). Jack has got lost but is due to join them eventually. Eerily there seems to be no-one around but eventually the chatelaine, Madame L’Eveque emerges, treating them with the undisguised disdain only the French have for the English.

Although this is billed as a comedy thriller there is scant comedy in the first half as the thrills ramp up the tension. You have to wait for the second half and the arrival of Clive Mantel’s Curtis for the laughs to come thick and fast.

Wish You Were Dead is at Curve until 22^nd July and then continues to tour.

 

www.curveonline.co.uk

www.ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk

 

Ride

 

Review by Paul Towers, 10/7/23

Ride, a new musical by Freya Catrin Smith & Jack Williams

Directed by Sarah Meadows

Produced by DEM productions & Curve

At Curve til Saturday 30^th April 2023

“tales of daring do on a bike”

It’s 1894, the bicycle is the latest thing and all of America is fascinated by it. Somehow Annie Londonderry finds herself accepting a bet that a woman can’t cycle round the world  in just 15 months. Annie is not one to admit defeat just because she has only been on a bike twice. To the world, her world, she is a championship cyclist along with all the other amazing talents she has.

Her story opens with her selling her story to numerous American newspaper owners in order to help finance her trip. With daring do tales of hunting tigers with German royalty to being a Harvard Professor and robbed by armed bandits, Annie bamboozles the world and feeds back to various editors her tales as she circumnavigates the globe.

Unfortunately the tales are just that, imaginary stories to keep the newspapers and readers entertained. As Mark Twain once said “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story” and Annie knew how to spin a tale.

Ride has had a less than straightforward passage to this the first full touring production. In November 2019 a one woman 20 minute version was performed as part of The Ceiling Project. In March 2020 it was performed at The Vault Festival. In June 2021 the show was opened up and had a workshop production in London’s Garrick Theatre. From there it finally had a full stage production in Charing Cross Theatre with Liv Andrusier as Annie, a role she has made her own.

Liv’s Annie is hyperactive and full of wild ideas while Martha (Katy Ellis), her secretary, is the comedy foil. This two-hander makes full use of an amazing adaptable set designed by Amy Jane Cook and hides the talented four piece band under the direction of Sam Young.

Ride is not just a story about cycling round the world it is an illustration of how someone brought up in the greatest privation can make something of themselves. Annie Londonderry was the creation of Latvian Jew Annie Kopchovsky who endured a childhood of virulent antisemitism and racism in the Boston tenements while growing up. It is no wonder she created a fictional world for herself.

Ride continues at Curve until Saturday 11^th July and then at Southwark Playhouse.

www.demproductions.co.uk/ride

www.curveonline.co.uk

www.ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk

 

Hairspray - Kilworth House

 

Review by Paul Towers, 04/07/23

Hairspray by Mark O’Donnell & Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman,  lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman

Directed & choreographed by Lee Proud

Produced by Celia Mackay

At Kilworth House Theatre until 6^th August 2023

“a luscious production in a fairytale venue”

For some reason I have never been to Kilworth House Theatre. Oh boy, what have I missed?

Kilworth House is a big country house situated just outside Lutterworth. Set in beautiful grounds it is the musical theatre equivalent of Glyndebourne. Once you have parked in the ample grounds you are directed towards the woodland and your fairytale journey begins. Just past the ticket office, sympathetically styled as a woodland hide, you are guided along a walkway festooned with coloured lights. This opens out to a clearing where there is a bar, suitably warmed for chilly evenings. Round the corner, across more wooden walkways, you suddenly come upon the theatre space. Nestled in the trees the stage and auditorium are a marvel of engineering with a huge canvas-like roof covering the raked seating.

Taking our seats we have a perfect unobstructed view of the amazing set designed by Paul Farnsworth, a bright, highly coloured collection of signs and very sixties shapes. And so the fun begins.

An eight piece orchestra, hidden in an adjoining marquee, gives the whole production a spontaneous and full sound.

Paul Farnsworth also designed all the costumes and putting the male dancers in coordinated pastel suits is very effective while he is able to give full reign to his imagination with full 50’s style skirts and tops for the girls. Altogether a hugely colourful feast for the eyes.

Of course all these visual treats would not be enough without a great cast and director Lee Proud has assembled some of the best ‘unknown’ musical performers around.

Tracy Turnblad (Charlotte-Hannah Jones) is in just about every scene and has the voice of an angel. As her mother, Edna, renowned panto dame Michael J Batchelor hits just the right note playing it straight rather than as a man in a frock. Edna’s husband and Tracy’s doting father Wilbur (Steven Serlin), physically over-shadowed by the two women he adores, has great fun as the lynchpin of the family. Tracy’s dream heartthrob, Link Larkin (Alex Lodge) is torn between furthering his career with Amber Von Tussle (a wonderfully petulant Holly Willock) and her monstrous mother Velma (Jenny Gayner) or following his heart with Tracy. Tracy’s ‘partner in crime’ is Penny Pingleton (Biancha Szynal) who is desperate to escape the clutches of her God fearing mother. Much to her mother’s horror Penny falls for the son of Motormouth Maybelle (Ayesha Maynard), Seaweed J Stubbs (Ashford Campbell), both stalwarts of the black music scene of Baltimore.

A lot of the action is set around the studios of The Corny Collins Show (Liam Doyle) and Tracy’s insistence that the show should be integrated rather than segregated.

Every one of the cast sings, dances and acts beautifully but especial mention has to be made for Ayesha Maynard’s Motormouth’s rendition of Big, Blonde and Beautiful. A showstopper if ever there was one. Also of note has to be Edna and Wilbur’s love song, You’re Timeless To Me. They had the audience in stitches with their ‘ad libs’. Absolutely joyous.

I know I am supposed to just review the action on the stage but the entire experience from the venue layout to the way they handled the unseasonal rain made this one of the most unexpectedly wonderful theatre experiences. Don’t be like me and miss out on this fairytale venue for so long. Book a ticket. Hairspray runs til Sunday 6^th August

 

www.kilworthhouse.co.uk/kilworth-house-theatre/

www.ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk