Review of Singin' In The Rain at the Palace Theatre London Chatting the other day to one of my churchy contacts, a senior adviser, he told me he did his university thesis on the economics of the theatre. Examining the books of one provincial company, he discovered that comedy was riskiest in financial terms, straight theatre the next and for a sure fire hit, a producer should turn to a musical. Nowhere can this feel good factor be better apparent than in Singin' in the Rain. It is amazing … [Read more...]
A Woman of No Importance… Or Somewhat Little Importance Anyhow
Oscar Wilde's play A Woman of No Importance is one of his two plays with the line: "All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy." It is not just in the title - "A Woman of No Importance ... Or Somewhat Little Importance Anyhow" that this play, directed by Cat Robey references Wilde's comedy of upper class manners. The tone is somewhat lower, this being middle class manners, and the action is in the modern day. It contains elements of pure hilarious farce that made for an … [Read more...]
Beauty and the Beast at the Shaw Theatre
Beauty and the Beast is in keeping with the best of traditional pantomimes in staying close to key aspects of the original fairy story but enhancing it with modern spin underpinned by slapstick, childish and grown-up, even occasionally “adult” humour. It was fortunate it was funny for the grannies as well as the younger mums and dads in the audience, and that it kept the children and babies yelling loudly, because otherwise an oldie like me would never have stayed awake for as long as I did, so … [Read more...]