18 October 2022 5***** It seems almost inconceivable that it has taken 46 years to bring the musical ‘Bugsy Malone’ on a UK stage tour; but the 1976 film has defeated producers for that length of time. A long-time staple of schools and am dram companies, this wonderful vehicle for young people has found a […]
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5 October 2022 5***** One of the true pleasures of reviewing theatre productions is getting to know the work of particular companies and that of Birmingham Royal Ballet has never failed to impress me. Their twice-yearly visits to Theatre Royal Plymouth are lauded by the audiences who await their arrival with bated breath. ‘Coppélia’ is
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20 September 2022 3*** To popular music devotees, the very name Carole King sparks delight and admiration; her list of song hits is long and impressive and in her collaboration with Gerry Goffin achieved great fame and a place in history. Her name is much less widely known than her songs, which are still regularly
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12 September 2022 2** Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 comedy, THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR, tells of a small town’s politicians trying to cover up their corrupt practices as they realise they are being investigated by an inspector who is arriving incognito. Bribery and mistaken identity play a major part as the officials dig themselves into a deeper hole
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5 September 2022 4**** Next year, Arnold Ridley’s play ‘THE GHOST TRAIN’ will reach it’s centenary; there is no argument, it can rightfully be regarded as a classic of the British Theatre. There is no other play I can think of which so brilliantly combines a whole raft of theatrical genres; romance, mystery, thriller, drama,
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29 August 2022 4**** Only last week it was announced that Alan Ayckbourn’s 87th play was due to open. Up and down the country and across the world his plays are regularly performed and have won multiple awards over his career of 60 years. Ayckbourn’s gift is to take relationships and place them in front of
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22 August 2022 5***** The joy of the Summer Play Festival at the Manor Pavilion Theatre in Sidmouth is the juxtaposition of productions, widely differing in genre, being performed one after another. Witness the lunacy of JEEVES & WOOSTER from last week to the sublimity of BREAKING THE CODE this. Such variety is not handed
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16 August 2022 4**** It took 30 years before the classic film musical ‘SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN’ made it onto the stage when it premiered in London starring Tommy Steele and Roy Castle. Following closely to the film, the show re-creates many iconic scenes and is jam-packed with great songs and dance sequences. A complex
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15 August 2022 5***** PG Wodehouse was a one-off; his writings, particularly those featuring Bertie Wooster and his manservant Jeeves, are some of the daftest in all literature. Stage plays featuring the two are few and far between so this wonderfully original script by David and Robert Goodale, which was first staged in 2013, has
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8 August 2022 3*** When it comes to plotting a multi-layered thriller, they don’t come much better than Francis Durbridge and he remains popular, not least at the Sidmouth Summer Play Festival, where big audiences are the order of the day. Best known as a writer of radio and TV serials, he only produced a
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