20 August 2019 4**** Robin Hawdon is not a name that trips off the tongue when you are thinking of good writers of comedy and farce and although his output has not been prolific he has certainly made his mark – not least with his huge hit from the 1970s, ‘The Mating Game’. ‘Perfect Wedding’ […]
PERFECT WEDDING – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
4**** 1 August 2019 When Alan Ayckbourn let it be known that he was writing a trilogy of plays, he was advised that they were not a good idea for the West End. As he has always premiered his plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough he has never looked much beyond the North
TABLE MANNERS – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
2** 29 July 2019 The device of ‘twins’ in a film or play is a useful one for a writer to offer the audience an extra edge to the plot of their work. It takes something extra special to pull it off and for stage productions, some clever artistry is required to keep the patrons
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4**** 19 July 2019 Noel Coward completed writing PRESENT LAUGHTER in six days – but had to put it’s stage debut on hold for 3 years as war broke out as it went into rehearsal. Finally opening in 1942 it starred Coward, and as he acknowledged, playing a version of himself; the self-obsessed actor Garry
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5***** 11 July 2019 There is a very good reason why J.B. Priestley remains popular today – and studied by students and academics alike – he is a very good writer. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a masterpiece of construction, and the gradual exposure of secrets which have a devastating effect on the characters, is simply
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1* 7 July 2019 ‘Bristol Pantomime Productions Ltd are a new professional theatre company that tour around the UK producing high quality shows for children and adults alike’, so says a note in the programme for this production of ‘The Pirates of Portishead’. Having been invited to review this show – and I have no
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3*** 6 July 2019 The English writer Ray Cooney began his theatrical career acting in the famous ‘Whitehall Farces’ in the 1950s and 1960s and developed his own work as a writer in that genre. ‘Wife Begins at 40’ had its first performance in 1985 and was a collaboration with American comedy duo Arne Sultan
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5***** 28 June 2019 The 2010 film ‘The King’s Speech’ was the big winner at the Academy Awards the following year – quite rightly so. Writer, David Seidler, thereafter, crafted a stage play from his screenplay which had a short tour of the UK in London before a two-month run in the West End in
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22 June 2019 3*** In the recent annals of British Theatre there are probably few entries which make as fascinating reading as the history of ‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby’, David Edgar’s 1980 adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens. In his own words, Edgar recalls ‘the reviews had been grudging to hostile’.
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3*** 20 June 2019 The Summer Play Festival at the Manor Pavilion Theatre in Sidmouth is a phenomenon. 12 plays performed over 12 weeks. When one play ends, the set is taken down, a new one is built and the next play opens the following night. For 12 weeks. A company of actors, directors and
SUDDENLY AT HOME – Manor Pavilion Theatre, Sidmouth Read More »
