The Sound of Music

 

Review by Paul Towers, 27/11/25

The Sound of Music book by Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse. Music by Richard Rogers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Directed by Nikolai Foster

Produced by Curve

At Curve til Saturday 17th January 2026

From the moment that the Preludium started and the Nuns of Nonnberg Abbey slowly  emerged from under the stage and out of the wings it was obvious that this production of The Sound of Music would be spectacular.

There were gasps from the audience as the curtain rose to reveal the full splendour of the set. Michael Taylor has created an amazing edifice of a mountainside rearing up from the back of the stage which enables members of the cast to run up and down the mountain. It even has a series of pools with water in. What adds to the spectacle are the birch trees scattered across the landscape. The other main feature of the set is the now traditional spiral staircase. In this case it is wound round a tower of medieval splendour.

The aforementioned nuns are lead by Mother Abbess (Joanna Riding) as she unsuccessfully battles to rein in the exuberance of Maria (Molly Lynch using her native Irish accent to add a further layer to the character’s free spirit).

Sent off to be temporary governess to Captain Von Trapp’s (David Eadon-Young) children Maria quickly allies herself with the youngsters and eventually catches the eye of the widowed Captain, much to the chagrin of his fiancée Elsa Shraeder (Faye Brooks).

Eventually Maria and the Captain are married and Elsa retreats to Vienna.

As the storm clouds of Nazism gather (cleverly illustrated by Hitler’s soldiers gathering along the skyline on the mountain) there is confusion in the household as to the best course of action. Max Detweiler (Minal Patel) the Captain’s best friend, champions acquiescence even if he doesn’t agree with the policies, while Von Trapp insists on escaping with his family to safety. Thus the scene is set for the family to travel over the Alps to safety.

The success of this show rests on the children and Nikolai Foster has got three teams of youngsters playing the various children to great effect. 

A large ensemble of actor/dancers along with two teams of the Community Company ensure the stage is full to overflowing and the live orchestra of 11 provides a full sound to the score. 

The Sound of Music runs til Saturday 17 th January 2026 

Pics: Marc Brenner 

www.curveonline.co.uk

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

Things I know to be true

 Review by Paul Towers, 10/11/25

Things I Know To Be True by Andrew Bovell

Directed by Nadine Beasley

Produced by Leicester Drama Society

At The Little Theatre til Saturday 15th November 2025

Things I Know To Be True is a family drama set in Australia. Thankfully director Nadine Beasley has chosen not to attempt authentic accents.

The Price family, two parents and their four children, live in a nice suburban house in Adelaide. Father, Bob, (Paul Beasley) was recently made redundant and has retreated to his garden to occupy himself while his wife, Fran (Nicky Mewer) works as a nurse and organises the entire family. Youngest son, Mark (Joe Allen), is in the throes of leaving his wife while, coincidentally, eldest daughter Pip (Kate Carey) wants to leave her husband and move to Vancouver.

Eldest son, Ben (Richie Phillips), arrives with an extravagant car and a suspiciously vague source of funding it. Youngest daughter, Rosie (Sophie Johnston) has returned unexpectedly from her gap year travelling around Europe and is reluctant to say why. All of this puts Mother Fran in a spin and she goes into Mom-zilla mode demanding Rosie gives her every detail of what went wrong.

But it isn’t just Rosie who gets both barrels of her over-protectiveness. Both Pip and Mark are castigated for failing in their respective marriages as she expects them to follow their parents’ example and plough through any hiccups in their relationships.

By pushing so hard at her family Fran exposes the cracks both in her relationship with them but also with her husband.

While this all sounds quite heavy there are lighter moments and director Nadine Beasley has managed to squeeze quite a few laughs out along the way. As always with Leicester Drama Society productions the acting is first rate.

Things I Know To Be True runs at The Little Theatre until Saturday 15^th November.

Pics: Jonathan Pryke

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

Death on the Nile

 

Review by Paul Towers, 5/1/5

Agatha Christies’ Death On The Nile, adapted by Ken Ludwig

Directed by Lucy Bailey

Produced by Fiery Angel

At Royal & Derngate, Northampton until Saturday 8^th November 2025

While I enjoyed Fiery Angel’s recent production of Murder On The Orient Express I was disappointed that Hercule Poirot was not played with a Belgian accent. Death On The Nile by the same producers rectifies that. Mark Hadfield’s Belgian detective is everything you could want from the treasured Christie sleuth.  Chubby,  heavily accented and moustachioed, he is perfect.

Set aboard an Egyptian Nile steamer which is returning a pharaoh’s sarcophagus to its rightful resting place, an eclectic mix of passengers join Poirot and his chum Colonel Race.

As with many Christies stage adaptions there is a diva (Glynis Barbers’s Salome Otterbourne), a spoilt brat (Libby Alexandra-Cooper’s Linnet Doyle) and a hunky love interest (Nye Occomore’s Simon Doyle, recently married to Linnet). There is also Simon’s vengeful ex, Jaqueline De Bellefort (Esme Hough) to add to the line-up of potential murderers, people who have been wronged by Linnet’s father.

The script by Ken Ludwig is full of knowing nods for Christie fans and doesn’t take itself particularly seriously.

The set by Mike Britton is astonishing, huge slatted panels that slide across and a balcony housing bedrooms.

Altogether a very entertaining production and worth catching as it continues to tour

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/