______ 16 September 2024 ______ 5***** ______ It’s bonkers, it’s barmy, it’s brilliant. Following on from Patrick Barlow’s take on ‘The 39 Steps’ last year, the same team have taken on Barlow’s version of the epic ‘Ben Hur’, a tale of the Christ. A theatre company of just four (The Daniel Veil Collective) present every […]
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______ 9 September 2024 ______ 5***** ______ When it comes to stage thrillers, Ira Levin’s ‘Deathtrap’ is one of the big hitters. The 1978 play had lengthy runs on both the Broadway and West End stages. Many writers have tried to emulate the twists and turns of the plot, but barely anyone has achieved the
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______ 2 September 2024 ______ 5***** ______ Sometimes it is so refreshing to discover a play one has neither read nor seen on stage and Terence Rattigan’s 1943 comedy, ‘While The Sun Shines’ is just such a play to this reviewer. First appearing the year after the writers’ hit ‘Flare Path’ it is something the
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______ 26 August 2024 ______ 4**** ______ With his 1972 play, ‘Absurd Person Singular’, Alan Ayckbourn had his first real hit. Far from being a straightforward comedy, the story is full of many layers and is, at times, far from obviously funny. Three sets of couples (and one you never get to meet) meet on
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______ 19 August 2024 ______ 3*** ______ Peter James’ thrillers have been something of a phenomenon, they sell by the bucketload and have been successfully adapted for TV in the form of the series ‘Grace’. In the recent past they have also made their way on to the stage, ‘Looking Good Dead’ is the third
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______ 12 August 2024 ______ 5****** ______ Since first appearing on stage in 1977 and subsequently on television soon after, Mike Leigh’s play ‘Abigail’s Party’ has become firmly entrenched in British theatrical heritage. An exploration of the developing strata of class and the materialistic society of the time is brought to life in an excruciating
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______ 4 August 2024 ______ 4**** ______ The story of Arnold Ridley is extraordinary. Known to millions from his portrayal of Private Godfrey in the (still) enormously popular TV series ‘Dad’s Army’ and as author of one of the most popular plays in the English language, ‘The Ghost Train’, this new biographical play is engrossing,
______ 29 July 2024 ______ 5***** ______ Yasmina Reza’s extraordinary 2008 play lifts the lid off the genteel politeness of middle-class Parisians as two couples meet to discuss the fallout from an incident between their respective sons – one has hit the other in the face with a stick, breaking two teeth. In trying to
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______ 27 July 2024 ______ 4**** ______ Within the delightful grounds of the, sadly, derelict and fire ravaged, Poltimore House, near Exeter Devon, the scene is set on a beautiful summer’s evening (kicked off with a very short shower just before curtain up), for a production of one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays. Locally based
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______ 25 July 2024 ______ 5***** _____ As an astonishingly popular TV series of the 1970s, it took until 2018 for a stage version to hit the stage – with great success – it starred Joe Pasquale as the hapless character Frank Spencer, the role created on screen by Michael Crawford. The delightful Barn Theatre
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