Originally created for Youth Music Theatre UK, and was performed for just two performances at South Hill Park, Bracknell in 2009, Loserville is a musical with music and lyrics by James Bourne and Elliot Davis. The story is based on an album entitled “Welcome to Loserville” from Bourne’s second band, Son of Dork. (With his first band being the chart-topping boyband Busted). The show then performed at both West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds and The Garrick Theatre, in the West End in 2012 and revived in 2015 at London’s Union Theatre.
A Brilliantly Funny Production
The Farndale series of plays by David McGillivray in collaboration with Walter Zerlin Jnr (and with a little contribution from William Shakespeare) are a spoof of local amateur productions, with their take on Macbeth first staged at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1976. It is a brave move for any company to attempt a play within a play, especially when all the characters are excruciatingly bad, but as their season opener, The Carlton Players, under the direction of Marc Smith, throw themselves enthusiastically into this intentionally shambolic production of the Scottish play involving last minute changes of cast, a variety of accents, a collapsing set, witches in wheelchairs, flying props and much, much more.
LIDOS (Leeds Insurance Dramatic and Operatic Society) presents an amateur production of Company at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds. Sondheim’s award winning musical, based on George Furth’s book, premiered on Broadway in 1970. The musical focuses on Bobby (James Sidgwick), a 35 year old single man, who is unable to commit to a relationship. He associates with his best friends who are five married/engaged couples and has on and off relationships with three girlfriends; April (Mariah Young), Marta (Sophie Ketteringham) and Kathy (Gemma Buck).
They say that 'train'ing is key to success but that isn't always the case. Mossley AODS' show tonight, at the George Lawton Hall, is just that - a success. They also say that the best actors are those who engage with the audience and act even before walking on stage. This bunch clearly are as each member seen by the audience before the show created director Michael Jones-McCaw's cleverly desired effect of us being in a real train station.
I suppose that one must come to accept that modern adaptations, reworkings and updatings of Shakespeare are not only acceptable but preferable to both modern actors and audiences. My personal feeling towards this is that if the work is to be changed to bring it more 'up-to-date', then don't just change the setting and the costumes, but the language also needs to change too... in other words, do as Shakespeare himself did with most of his plays... find a good story already in existence, and then write your own version. West Side Story is a classic example. A contemporary Musical set in New York using original dialogue and song. All too often do I see a modern interpretation of a Shakespeare play to find that the spoken word is at odds with action and costume. And so whilst the themes of Shakespeare's plays way well be timeless, the setting and language certainly are not.
This was the yearly showcase from students of the rather misleadingly named The Cheshire Theatre School. Having never heard anything about this school before, I assumed, quite wrongly two things. First, the school was in Cheshire, and second, that it was a Theatre School.
Broadway came to the stage last night with a fabulous production of Guys and Dolls, performed by members of the Preston Musical Comedy Society. Directed by Neil Townsend this popular musical which has been delighting audiences for over 60 years was full of energy and vibrancy. With fabulous dance routines, a lot of hard work has gone into the show by all of the performers and credit is to be given to Lorna Cookson the choreographer. Unfortunately Cookson was unable to be at the performance as she has taken a position abroad for a couple of years, but I am sure she would have been proud of everyone.
Having lived and worked in mainland Europe for many years, the so-called European style of theatre has always held a fascination for me, and never really understood why the UK has been and still is really quite resistant to it. Perhaps we think our theatre superior, and who knows, maybe it is, but there is certainly room for both to co-exist and as we see more and more mainland Europeans come to live here (putting the politics aside for once) surely we should also be embracing these countries' artistic cultures too.
Nostalgic Affection Played For Laughs
The action opens with a full cast Latin Mass led by Father Mullarkey (Joe Clarke) and the scene is well and truly set for Mary O'Malley's play set in London and based on the old saying 'Once a Catholic, always a Catholic,' and which sets out to mock the Catholicism inflicted on convent-school girls in the 1950's as they deal with their eccentric teachers, untrustworthy boys and each other.
John Godber was born in Upton, West Yorkshire, and was the son of a miner. He trained as a teacher of Drama at Bretton Hall College. Whilst he was Head of Drama at Minsthorpe High School, the same school he had been a pupil at himself as a student, he won every major award at the National Student Drama Festival between 1981 and 1983. John’s plays are performed across the world. He has the distinction of being one of the most performed writers in the English language. He has won numerous awards for his plays, including a Laurence Olivier Award and seven Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. His plays include; Bouncers, Up ‘n’ Under, Gym and Tonic, It Started With a Kiss and Big Trouble in the Little Bedroom.
Alan Ayckbourn is one of Britain's best known playwrights. If I Were You is one of his most recent works, published in 2006, following the story of a married couple who one morning wake up to discover they have swapped bodies. Believe it or not, this is actually Ayckbourn’s 70th play.
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