Muriel's Wedding

 

Review by Paul Towers, 22/4/25

Muriel’s Wedding, the musical by PJ Hogan, music & lyrics by Kate Miller-Heidke & Kier Nuttall. With additional songs by Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus & Stig Andersson

Directed by Simon Phillips

Produced by Curve, Global Creatures & Sydney Theatre Company

At Curve til Saturday 10^th May 2025

What a great way to spend an evening in the fabulously bonkers world of Muriel Heslop as she dreams about her ultimate fantasy of a big white wedding.

In 1994 this silly little Australian film, which sat alongside other antipodean musicals that made it worldwide like Priscilla and Strictly Ballroom, quickly became a cult classic. But it wasn’t until 2017 that it finally hit the stage in Sydney. Since then every opportunity to bring it over to Europe was foiled by one thing or another (mainly Covid).

So it is a huge achievement that it has finally landed in the UK and Curve is one of the co-producers.

Since its inception the musical has been tweaked but is now almost perfect.

Muriel Heslop (Megan Ellis), is a miserable girl stuck at home in a small town with the local mayor her corrupt braggart father (Darren Day), downtrodden mother (Laura Medforth) and three lazy siblings (Jacob Warner, Joseph Peacock & Lena Pattie Jones). To escape this drudgery she lives in a fantasy world where she lies constantly and the music of ABBA is her source of inspiration. Then one day she meets Rhonda (Annabel Marlow), a free-living spirit who says what she feels. This is the girl who teaches Muriel that anything is possible and together they move to Sydney.

In Muriel’s imagination ABBA (Bronte Alice-Tadman, Jasmine Hackett, Aaron Tsindos, Jamie Doncaster) constantly pop up and, using the lyrics of their songs, guide her through life. Her fantasy is to get married in a big white dress to her ultimate man (Stephen Madsen, a David Beckham look-a-like). Of course fantasies are never what they are cracked up to be and so it transpires.

This is a wonderfully bonkers production that redefines the word camp!

The opening number, Sunshine State of Mind, sets the tone for the affectionate joshing of Australians and their idiosyncrasies.

The set is a huge, versatile conglomeration of sliding panels and drop down edifices designed by Matt Kinley which makes full use of Curve’s extraordinary technical capabilities. This show deserves to tour but I doubt many theatres could stage it as it is. There is a great use of video by Andrzej Goulding.

Muriel’s Wedding runs til Saturday 10^th May. Grab a ticket and have the time of your life.

Pics: Marc Brenner

www.curveonline.co.uk

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

Handbagged

Review by Paul Towers, 25/3/25

Handbagged by Moira Buffini

Directed by Alex Thorpe

Produced by Queens Theatre & National Theatre

At Curve til Saturday 29^th March 2025

Handbagged is the imagined story of the meetings between Magaret Thatcher during her Prime Ministership and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Traditionally these meetings are completely confidential and are never recorded. So Moira Buffini has mischievously imagined how they went. The result is an hilarious interaction between the two most powerful and influential women of the time.

Cleverly each of the women is played by two actresses, one the younger woman and the other the older and wiser one. This allows for internal dialogue. The Queens are played by Sarah Moyle and Helen Reuben while the Maggies are played by Morag Cross and Emma Ernest. Additionally there are two male actors (Cassius Konneh and Dennis Herdman) who play a myriad of characters, and not always male! There are also two ensemble actors, Tiajna Amayo & Jane Quinn, performing various roles.

The set is a simple dais above which is a large gold coin with a queen’s head embossed on it.

So, the stage is set for the historic confrontations over 11 years and much national and international turmoil. While there is much to bemoan in that era writer Buffini has found lots of laughs as well. All of the characters break the fourth wall constantly, which makes for much hilarity.

How close to the truth this production comes, we will never know, but I like to think that much of the gist of the various characters is fairly accurate. It is known that Thatcher was unsure how to interact with the Queen as she was used to Handbagging her male colleagues (hence the title). Whereas HM, with decades of experience, probably just treated Maggie the way she would treat any of her ministers.

With lots of laughs Handbagging is at Curve until Saturday 29^th March before it continues touring

www.curveonline.co.uk

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/  

The Vicar of Dibley

 

Review by Paul Towers, 24/3/25

The Vicar of Dibley by Richard Curtis & Paul Mayhew-Archer, adapted by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter

Directed by Nikki Favell

Produced by Leicester Drama Society

At The Little Theatre til Saturday 29th March 2025

TV’s much loved sitcom about the Clerical Comedy, The Vicar of Dibley, comes to The Little Theatre for a week. Starring all the regular characters this is an evening of Holy Humour and Dibley Drama. OK enough of the Ecclesiastical puns.

Dibley is an amalgam of some of the best bits from across all three series. Although I imagine it was tough selecting just a couple of hours’ worth of gems. The story goes from Geraldine Grainger’s (Kat Seddon) arrival in Dibley through to her transfer to Liverpool. Along the way we are witness to the blossoming romance and ultimate wedding between verger Alice Tinker (Kathryn Lenthall) and Hugo Horton (Keir Watson), much to the horror of Hugo’s father autocratic David Horton (David Lovell).

Sat at the head of the Parish Council, David Horton rules with a iron fist over fellow councillors Jim Trott (Ian Carr), Owen Newitt (Jordan Handford), Frank Pickle (John Bale) and Letitia Cropley (Elizabeth Spendlove).

There is also a tiny cameo form Tabitha Fogg, but I won’t spoil it by saying what she plays.

It has to be said that every single actor nails their character’s idiosyncrasies with aplomb. Their vocal mimicry is spot on and won’t disappoint regular viewers of the series.

The set, designed by Tristan Knowles, is a versatile depiction of three separate areas; the council meeting room, Geraldine’s parlour and the inimitable study where Alice fails to understand any of the Vicar’s jokes.

Director Nikki Favell has created a joyous show that will be loved by anyone who has watched the TV series. Grab one of the last tickets and revel in an evening of almost continuous laughter.

The Vicar of Dibley is at The Little Theatre until Saturday 29^th March 2025

Pics: Dave Morris

The Little Theatre

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Inside No9/Fright Night

 

Review by Paul Towers, 11/3/25

Inside No 9/Fright Night by Steve Pemberton & Reece Shearsmith

Directed by Simon Evans

Produced by Phil McIntyre Live

At Wyndham’s Theatre til Wednesday 2^nd April 2025

The first thing that has to be said about Inside No 9/Fright Night is that you have to be a fan of, or at least have watched the various works of Messrs Pemberton & Shearsmith. Otherwise you will miss so much of the fun and horror of this stage version of Inside No 9.

Without giving too much away the stage opens on a set of theatre seats where Shearsmith is trying to watch a performance of Hamlet. As so many of us can testify there are always annoying audience members that we would wish to berate. But, being British, all we do is tut. In P&S’s alternative universe dire revenge is taken on these annoying patrons, much to the approbation of the (real) audience. Stepping out of character our two author/performers issue a not always tongue in cheek warning of what would happen to disruptive audience members to thunderous applause.

Playing to an appreciative audience a lot of the time the ‘sketches’ get darker and darker with some elements lifted almost wholesale from the TV series, while others are completely new. Of especial note has to be the almost entire sketch of Bernie Clifton’s Dressing Room and, in the second half, an horrific visit to an insane asylum.

Not only do we have the authors in starring roles but there is also a very talented ensemble who back them up and, each night, a surprise special guest. This means that new material has to be written every night to accommodate them. My visit coincided with Chris MacCausland’s  appearance which, of course, had to reference his win on Strictly and his blindness.

Along the way the pair poke fun at some of theatreland’s peccadillos. The current trend of onstage live video feeds is sent up and used to good effect when it goes on a backstage tour of the supposedly haunted Wyndham’s Theatre. Some good natured tail tweaking of theatre managements, artist agents and method actors ensures the laughs continue alongside the cries of horror.

All in all this is everything and more that you would expect from the team behind Inside No 9. Five stars all the way. A shame it is sold out, but you have to get in quick for these popular limited run shows.

 

https://www.wyndhamstheatre.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

A taste of honey

 

Review by Paul Towers, 3/3/25

A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney

Directed by Russell Hughes

Produced by Leicester Drama Society

At The Little Theatre til Saturday 8^th March 2025

Shelagh Delaney’s 1958 play set in poverty stricken Salford highlighted issues of class, race, age of sexual consent, gender, sexual orientation and illegitimacy at the time. Not a huge lot has changed in the interim.

Jo (Celester Walton), a teenager, is dragged into yet another unsuitable lodging by her wayward mother, Helen (Holly Matusiewicz). It suddenly dawns on Jo that her mother is close to being a prostitute, living off the handouts of her various lovers. Their relationship is tempestuous, to say the least, partly due to Helen’s drinking. Her latest boyfriend’s sudden proposal of marriage throws their relationship askew. Meanwhile Jo is being courted by a black ship’s cook, Jimmy (Abdullah Henly) who ultimately gets her pregnant. When Helen waltzes off to get married to Peter (Freddie Dobrijevic) Jo is left alone to cope with her pregnancy. It is at this point that Geoff (Thom Jones) enters her life. A lonely gay lad from art college the two form a mutually beneficial friendship.

As always with LDS productions the acting is superb and the set is imaginative. Special mention has to go to Holly Matusiewicz’s Helen who has to constantly switch moods as the drink takes hold.

A Taste Of Honey is at The Little Theatre until Saturday 8^th March

Pics: Jenny Harding

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

The Breath of Life

 

Review by Paul Towers, 3/1/25

The Breath of Life by David Hare

Directed by Ruth Cheetham

Produced by Leicester Drama Society

At The Little Theatre til Saturday 8th February 2025

David Hare’s powerful two-hander is a tour-de-force for the pair of actresses who play the wife (Angela Hill) Francis and mistress (Liz Kavanagh) Madeleine of absent lothario Martin Beale who has decamped to America with a ditzy blonde.

Francis has only recently found out about Madeleine and turns up on her doorstep wanting to find some sort of closure on her failed marriage. While both women are in their sixties it turns out they have both been in Martin’s life for more than 40 years.

Over the course of a day and night the two women talk and sometimes scream at each other while they attempt to untangle their emotions both towards Martin and each other.

While this may seem, on the face of it, an emotionally heavy piece of theatre it is sprinkled with some laugh-out-loud moments to alleviate the atmosphere.

A beautiful set by Nadine Hall invokes the Isle of Wight seafront that Madeleine has retired to.

The Breath of Life runs until Saturday 8^th February.

Pics: Sally Evans

https://thelittletheatre.co.uk/

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/ 

It could be any one of us

 

Review by Paul Towers, 20/1/25

It Could Be Any One Of Us by Alan Ayckbourn

Directed by Mary Jones

Produced by Leicester Drama Society

At The Little Theatre until Saturday 25^th January

Alan Ayckbourn’s take on a comedy thriller hits The Little Theatre this week.

Norris Honeywell (Paul Large) and his partner Jocelyn Polegate (Karen Gordon), a failed novelist, live in a ramshackle old house that belongs to Jocelyn’s brother Mortimer Chalke (Adam Jones) along with her other brother Brinton (David Stevens), a failed painter, and her teenage daughter with Norris Amy (Steph Allured).

There has always been tension between Mortimer, who has written dozens of pieces of music but has never had any performed, and Norris who resents Mortimer’s lording it over the rest of the family.

Tensions are further inflamed when Mortimer announces that he has changed his will and is leaving everything to Wendy Winwood (Nikki Favell), an ex pupil of his.

Most of the comedy comes form Mortimer’s acidic put downs to various family members. While Norris, flapping around like an injured seagull, creates hilarious moments with his stream of consciousness narrative.

Jocelyn, meanwhile, is trying to keep the peace between everyone and also motivate her stroppy teenage daughter, Amy.

Brother Brinton wafts around dreamily declaring his love for Wendy.

Everything gradually winds up and a series of ‘accidents’ point towards someone trying to kill Wendy to prevent her inheriting. A dead body means that ‘it could be any one of us’ who is a murderer.

This is a comedic Country House murder mystery that will have you laughing from the start.

It Could Be Any One Of Us runs at The Little Theatre until Saturday 25^th January

 

www.thelittletheatre.co.uk

https://ptheatre.blogspot.com/