By Royal Appointment

 

Review by Paul Towers, 23/7/25

By Royal Appointment by Daisy Goodwin

Directed by Dominic Dromgoole

Produced by Daniel Schumann & Lee Dean

At The Richmond Theatre til Saturday 26th July 2025

Author Daisy Goodwin is probably best known for writing the TV series Victoria. So she already has a forensic interest in royalty and is ideally suited to a chronicle of the late Queen’s life. Very creatively she has used the proposed exhibition of some of Her Majesty’s (Anne Reid) clothes to hang the narrative on.

Supposedly her dresser (Caroline Quentin) and personal assistant Angela Kelly has been approached to vouch for the various outfits and the stories behind them. Very cleverly this allows for all sorts of world events to be referenced, thus anchoring the clothes in the correct period. The Curator (Grainne Dromgoole) of the proposed exhibition acts as narrator describing both the clothes and the current events, often to the amusement of the audience.

Her Majesty is served well by her Milliner (James Dreyfus) and Designer (James Wilby) who, apart from providing Her Majesty’s iconic outfits also provide the audience with much laughter with their spiky bitchiness.

By Royal Appointment is as much about how the Queen, never knowingly being indiscreet, nevertheless speaks volumes with the clothes (and jewellery) she wore. Sparkling and poignant in equal measure this show is a fascinating look behind the curtain of public duty. Something, perhaps, that some in the spotlight might like to learn from.

By Royal Appointment runs at Richmond Theatre until Saturday 26^th July and then continues touring.

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

Calamity Jane

 

Review by Paul Towers, 8/7/25

Calamity Jane by James O’Hanlon, music by Sammy Fain, lyrics by Paul Francis Webster

Directed by Nikolai Foster, choreographed by Nick Winston

Produced by The Watermill

At Curve til Saturday 12th July 2025

When the Deadwood Stage rolls into town you can be sure of an exciting time, especially if Calamity Jane is on the reins.

In the capable hands of Curve’s Nikolai Foster this classic musical of The Old West is a joyous evening of hoe-downing and whip cracking one liners.

Calamity Jane (a fabulous Carrie Hope Fletcher) runs the stagecoach that connects the remote townships such as Deadwood City to the outside world. Her authority, alongside that of Wild Bill Hickock (suave and brimming with sexuality Vinny Coyle), keeps the peace in the town, mostly. When local saloon owner Henry Miller (Peter Peverley) is let down when his bill topping act, Frances Fryer mistakenly turns out to be Francis, with an ‘i’ Fryer, a man (Samuel Holmes) Calamity only prevents a riot by waving her pistols about. To rectify matters Calamity offers to go to Chicago  and bring back a real life stage star, Adelaid Adams (Molly Grace Cutler).

Of course, mistakes are made and Calamity returns with the wrong girl, Katie Brown (Seren Sandham-Davies), who goes on to partner up with Calamity in double dating with Bill and local soldier Danny Gilmartin (Luke Wilson).

The main cast are joined on stage by a bevy of triple threat performers who sing, dance and play instruments which makes the illusion that you have wandered into a local saloon all the more real. Choreographer Nick Winston has the cast hoe-downing at a pace.

This is a great evening out and you will leave the theatre humming several well know songs and a light step, especially now a lot of the scaffolding around Curve is gone.

Calamity Jane is at Curve until Saturday 12^th July and then continues to tour.

https://calamityjanemusical.com/

www.curveonline.co.uk

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

Brassed Off

 Review by Paul Towers, 7/7/25

Brassed Off by Paul Allen, based on the screenplay by Mark Herman

Directed by Mary Jones

Produced by The Little Theatre

At The Little Theatre til Saturday 12th July 2025

When I was a teenager it was deemed advantageous for me to learn some sort of musical instrument. I couldn’t sing so finding something for me to play was felt more easily achieved. So it was that I was bought a cornet and enrolled in the school brass band. For the next five years I spent many after school sessions crammed in a dingy room puffing away as we waded through numerous brass band standards. Sadly once I left school the only thing I took with me was the ability to read music. It hasn’t been a lot of use.

Settling in my seat at The Little Theatre took me back to those sweaty practice sessions as the superb Enderby Senior Band were revealed on stage to play their part in Brassed Off.

Brassed Off is ‘the other miners’ strike’ show. Billy Elliot being the other better known one.

In 1994, with echoes of the 1984 miners’ strike still ringing in their ears, miners were seeing the shadow of pit closures looming ever closer. In the fictional Grimley the coal pit is the backbone of the local community and the Grimley Colliery Band is the pride of the colliery despite not winning any competitions for years.

Gloria (Nikki Favell) is sent back to her home town by the management to assess the profitability of the mine. Allegedly. Turning up at band practice she bumps into an old flame, Andy (Robin McFarland) and they rekindle their romance until Andy works out that she is working for ‘the other side’.

Danny (Adam Jones), the band leader, struggles to keep the band’s spirits up as he battles emphysema, the result of years of working down the pit. His son Phil (Chris Brookes), when not at the coalface moonlights as a children’s clown in an attempt to feed his wife, Sandra (Chloe Thorpe) and their children. One of which, 8 year old Shane (Samuel Smith on Press Night) acts as a sort of narrator filling the audience in on context when needed and provides many of the laughs with his assured performance.

A large main cast and a huge ensemble, as well as the band themselves, means this is a full-bodied production and will leave you tumbling out into the night humming tunes you had no idea were in your head.

Pics: Jonathan Pryke

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/