______ 22 July 2025 ______ 5***** ______ There is a scene in the first half of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell which rather sums up the show; two young men meet on a park bench, coy, guarded, attracted to each other, they indulge in a routine of extraordinary complexity and intimacy, it is like a […]
MATTHEW BOURNE’S THE MIDNIGHT BELL – Theatre Royal Plymouth Read More »
______ 21 July 2025 ______ 3***½ ______ The plot of ‘A Foot in the Door’ is simple; slightly dotty old lady plays host to a number of salespeople, all desperate for a sale, but she has less than no interest in their products and as continues to avoid commitment, frustration and farce ensue. The story
A FOOT IN THE DOOR – Manor Pavilion, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 14 July 2025 ______ 5***** ______ Some familiar Ayckbourn themes were still being born in the 1971 play ‘Time and Time Again’; disappointment, selfish men, the oddball, the resilient woman …..all would re-appear and recur in his subsequent plays. Comedy with an underlying sadness is also very much a mark of the writer and,
TIME AND TIME AGAIN – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
_______ 7 July 2025 ______ 4**** ______ The opportunities for four highly experienced actors to take to the stage in a play just featuring them are very few and far between; Ronald Harwood’s 1999 play ‘Quartet’ fulfils that function and does so perfectly. Set in a retirement home for opera singers and musicians – possiblybased
QUARTET – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 30 June 2025 ______ 5***** ______ There are a few elements that are required when delivering a farce on stage; a good script is handy, physicality, great pace in line delivery, plenty of entrances and exits on stage, immaculate timing … the list goes on. For the second play of the Summer Repertory Season
DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 26 June 2025 ______ 5***** ______ I have seen many shockingly judged versions of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and the current outdoor touring production by Sun and Moon Theatre Company is not one of them. This utterly glorious and incredibly funny interpretation is a complete joy. The Company aim to bring Shakespeare to as
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM – Poltimore House & Gardens Read More »
______ 23 June 2025 ______ 3*** ______ The opening of another summer play repertory season at the Manor Pavilion Theatre in Sidmouth is very much something to celebrate. This is the 67th year of this great event since starting regularly in 1958, with only 2020 missing out on the annual festival of plays. The rollercoaster
A TOUCH OF DANGER – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
______ 22 June 2025 ______ 5***** ______ The remarkable story of the displaced people when US airspace was closed following the 9/11 attacks and the town of Gander in Newfoundland where many ended up for some days was developed into a small-scale musical – with book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein
COME FROM AWAY – Axminster Guild Hall Read More »
_____ 20 June 2025 _____ 4**** ______ From the moment Natasha Newsam-Mabey, impressively, gives voice to the title song of the show, you just get the feeling that ‘Grease’ is in safe hands. The 1971 musical was given longevity by the 1978 film which catapulted it into the stratosphere. In essence it is a curiously
GREASE – The Playhouse, Weston super Mare Read More »
_____ 30 May 2025 ______ 4**** ______ If you were to take at face value the basic thread of Nick Payne’s highly successful play ‘Constellations’, then it would seem straightforward and, maybe, fairly unremarkable. However, Payne isn’t playing with a straight bat here and creates a four-dimensional puzzle within that story. With the subject of
CONSTELLATIONS – Roborough Studios, University of Exeter Read More »
