The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me 2022

 

Review by Paul Towers, 16/8/22

The MP, Aunty Mandy and Me written and performed by Rob Ward

Directed by Clive Judd

Produced by Emerson Ward in association with Curve

At Curve til Saturday 17/8/22

“So good I saw it twice”

I was so blown away by this production when I first saw it in March 2020 that I jumped at the opportunity to revisit it.

Tucked away in Curve’s intimate Rehearsal Room No 2 on the mezzanine you feel as though you are part of the story. And in a way many of us are or were.

This is the story of Dom who is doing that thing all youngsters do and that is flail around looking for an identity, a purpose in life. He is convinced that if he can be a gay influencer he will find the perfect boyfriend and get away from his drug addled mother and the dreary, dead end town he lives in. Reclining permanently in an armchair and regularly topping herself up with MDMA, or her Aunty Mandy’s as she calls them, his mother is no role model.

But of course life never works out like that.

To get away from his mother’s nagging he takes a job as an intern with the local Labour MP, who happens to be gay and out. The MP, of course, takes advantage and subtly coerces Dom into a world of gay sex and drugs that he had never dreamed of. Although willingly led astray the MP is still taking advantage of Dom’s aspirations.  Of course when the next pretty face, bisexual Joey, turns up in the MP’s office Dom is gently dumped in favour of the new boy.

Ward’s clever script is liberally laced with innuendo, double entendre and hilarious misunderstandings. Under the expert guidance of director Clive Judd Ward slides effortlessly from character to character, each one easily identifiable.

Under Curve’s association Emerson Ward have been producing gems like this for nearly 10 years and the next production is in development as we speak.

The MP, Aunty Mandy & Me is back at Curve tomorrow, Saturday 17^th and then on tour. Details on Emmerson Ward’s website

www.emmersonandward.com

www.curveonline.co.uk

www.ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk

 

Billy Elliot

Review by Paul Towers, 20/7/22

Billy Elliot  The Musical

Music by Elton John, book & lyrics by Lee Hall

Directed by Nikolai Foster, choreographed by Lucy Hind

A Made at Curve production

At Curve til Saturday 20^th August 2022

“Nikolai Foster has taken an iconic favourite and given it a new perspective”

Way back in 2000 the original film of Billy Elliot (originally to be called The Dancer) took the Cannes Film Festival by storm and a musical adaptation was started work on. It was 2005 before it opened in London’s West End and that has been the definitive stage version ever since despite productions notably in Australia and the US. This is the first time a director (Nikolai Foster) has been given free reign to adapt the script and staging. The main differences seem to be the lack of tap dancing and quite a bit more laughter.

Set against the 1984 miners’ strike Billy (an astonishingly talented Jaden Shentall-Lee at tonight’s Press Night) is an orphaned 11 year old being brought up by a macho miner father (Joe Caffrey). His only real female role model is his aged grandmother (Rachel Izen) who shows him how dance helped her survive her abusive late husband. For Billy this is an escape route from the toxic masculine world of his home life. But trying to break free from the future he seems to have mapped out for him needs determination and strength. With the help of the formidable Mrs Wilkinson (Sally Ann Triplett) he discovers the wonderful world of ballet. Spurred on by his best friend Michael (Prem Masani) Billy embraces his differentness.

Having been trusted by the original creators to alter the show Foster has refocussed the story more on Billy. That said the extreme division the strike caused in communities not far from our city are still felt today which makes this revival especially pertinent especially with similar cracks today caused by Brexit and other social issues.

The set, designed by Michael Taylor is suitably industrial with gantries and chain fences as backdrops. Central to the story is the Elliot house, an intriguing 3 story edifice of kitchen bedroom and bathroom up and down which poor Billy has to climb regularly. Much use is made of the many ways to exit and enter the stage in Curve’s main house and crowds of striking miners and police frequently flooded  down the aisles.

Lighting designer Ben Cracknell has ignored the energy crisis and taken full advantage of Curve’s extensive lighting rig to provide atmosphere.

Musical director George Dyer has his 7 piece band ensconced in the eerie of the scaffolding at the back of the stage thus providing a full soundtrack to the action before them.

With a huge cast including local dancers and a team of four Billys this is a full blooded new production which, 40 years after the original action, still resonates across the Midlands and the North. Nikolai Foster has taken an iconic favourite and given it a new perspective.

A very welcome surprise during this unexpected heatwave was a free bottle of water left on every seat courtesy of Curve’s management. Much appreciated by this sweating hack!

Billy Elliot The Musical runs at Curve until Saturday 20^th August (not the 14^th as originally scheduled)

 

www.curveonline.co.uk

www.ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk

 

Riot Act

 

Review by Paul Towers, 7/7/22

Riot Act  by Alexis Gregory

Directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair

Produced by Alexis Gregory & Emmerson Ward Productions

At Curve 7 July 2022 and then touring

“How Gay history has evolved”

Fifty three years ago two momentous things happened. Judy Garland died and the Stonewall Riots happened. The two events are forever intertwined in gay history.

Riot Act is a theatrical triptych of how this moment in history has coloured gay civil rights to this day.

Michael is a New York drag queen who, at the age of 17, was actually at the Stonewall Riot. Too young to be in the thick of it he circled the periphery helping the injured. This meant he was able to see how everything unfolded, the police brutality, the Mafia intervention and how the fight-back on that night became the Gay Liberation movement.

Alexis’ next character, Lavinia, is a radical drag artist, a member of the infamous Bloo Lips troop in the 70’s challenging gender politics long before the current woke brigade.

His third character, Paul, is a prominent AIDS activist, campaigning to this day for the very best medical treatment and awareness. His experiences of how AIDS patients were treated is horrific.

All three of these characters are real people, interviewed by Gregory and their lives distilled into funny, sad and sometimes unbearable stories that we should all listen to lest the same mistakes are made again.

Alexis Gregory is not only an amazing actor but his writing skills are astonishing. Each character is clearly defined as we enter their world.

This is theatre that should be compulsory viewing for every young gay stepping out into the world for the first time. They should be learning from the elder gays that went before them

 

www.alexisgregory.co.uk

www.curveonline.co.uk

www.ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk