Posts tagged ‘oxford times’

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14 May, 2009

Ross Noble: Things

Hexagon Theatre, touring 12 May – 27 June 2009

Reviewed for the Oxford Times

For the uninitiated, this is the template for a Ross Noble stand-up show. Noble, an energetic and dishevelled Geordie, bounds on stage in front of an imaginative inflatable set piece. Chats with people in the front row provide a jumping-off point leading to a sequence of surreal tangents, loose associations and non-sequiturs, which is either entirely improvised or intricately structured to seem that way. Nearly three hours later he stops – not because he’s run out of steam, but because people have to get up for work in the morning.

Noble’s latest tour, Things (at Oxford’s New Theatre on 15 May), deviates from the formula not one bit. And why should it? The loyalty of his fans remains undimmed by repetition. During his performance at Reading’s Hexagon Theatre, they provide him with material by leaving hats, magazines and soft toys on stage in the interval, and heckle him with obscure references to previous tours. Potentially frustrating for more casual followers – but Noble makes sure to explain those callbacks worth repeating, and to dismiss the more insular ones.

This tour’s inflatable is a monstrous winged chimæra with four heads, each of them Noble’s. Considering he claims to have designed it himself on a napkin, it would be easy to mistake this for hubris; but from the few personal anecdotes that sneak in amongst the weird imaginings, it seems that, in fact, Noble is his own worst enemy. Perhaps the creature represents the part of him that can’t resist a quip, however ill-advised or inappropriate.

References to swine flu, MPs’ expenses and Jade Goody mark out Things as more topically influenced than previous tours, but don’t expect a move towards cutting-edge satire. Noble’s greatest asset is the amount of quality nonsense he can tease from a single heckle, and his usual format is the one that makes the most of it.

Written by Ross Noble

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5 March, 2009

My Grandfather’s Great War

South Street Arts Centre, touring 4 February – 1 May 2009

Reviewed for the Oxford Times

What can a play say about the horrors of World War One trench warfare that we haven’t already heard a thousand times? Precious little – but Cameron Stewart’s lecture-cum-documentary-play My Grandfather’s Great War resonates on personal and contemporary levels that prove more than capable of refreshing the material.

Stewart’s grandfather, Captain Alexander “Tim” Stewart, left behind a cache of detailed letters and journals from the Somme, Passchendaele and several other important front-line battles. The material has been published in print and online, read by Stewart on BBC Radio 4, and adapted into this one-man show, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe and now tours the UK.

Stewart plays both himself and his grandfather, switching frequently from enthusiastic biographer to square-shouldered, solemn, commanding soldier. Colder lighting, a few well-chosen sound effects and Captain Stewart’s verbatim testimony all combine to conjure up the muddy, hopeless wasteland of the front lines.

Early on, Captain Stewart is a solid, reassuring presence, but as the play progresses he becomes increasingly prone to violent outbursts. After we’ve become accustomed to his stillness, seeing him suddenly lunge wild-eyed at the front row wielding an imaginary pickaxe is genuinely disturbing, and amply demonstrates the terrifying power of warfare to transform ordinary people into madmen.

Unfortunately, as these frenetic episodes grow more frequent, their potency becomes greatly diluted.

To his credit, even after many performances, the material still leaves Stewart breathless and choked with emotion. Throughout the show he exploits this personal connection to compare the very different mindsets of young men then and now.

From the diaries, Stewart teases a portrait of a generation that still felt able to trust the government; many of whom made a conscious decision to fight even before conscription; and for whom patriotism was not synonymous with thickheadedness.

Just because those convictions seem unthinkable to us now, says Stewart, doesn’t mean his grandfather’s generation were, as we often paint them, the innocent but ignorant victims of government misdirection. And we thought we knew everything worth knowing about the Great War.

Written by David Benson

Crew includes David Benson (director), Phil Spencer Hunter (lighting) and Tom Lishman (sound)

Cast includes Cameron Stewart (Himself/Captain Alexander Stewart)

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11 December, 2008

Dick Whittington

Hexagon Theatre, 6 December 2008 – 4 January 2009

Reviewed for the Maidenhead Advertiser, 11 December 2008 edition

This year’s Hexagon panto did nearly everything right. Unfortunately, the few things it did wrong nearly ruined it.

Dick Whittington is a great choice of panto to stage this year. It’s all about finding, losing and regaining your fortune in London, so there were plenty of opportunities for jokes about the credit crunch.

The sets, from Gloucester to London to Morocco, were bold and colourful with a comic-book look. So were the many costumes worn by the dame, Sarah the Cook (Tim Hudson) – some nearly qualified as sets themselves.

Hudson’s double act with Sarah’s workshy helper Idle Jack (Nathan Guy) was the highlight of the show, especially in the scenes aboard the good ship Saucy Sal. Guy put his experience working with children in CBeebies’ Lazy Town Live to excellent use – he built a strong rapport with the young audience.

But throughout the first act nearly the whole company had problems with their comic timing. They threw away some great punchlines without waiting for a response, and the resulting lack of laughs drained nearly all the energy from the performance.

Luckily the pace picked up for Act Two, and they all lived nearly happily ever after.

Also reviewed for the Oxford Times, 25 December 2008 edition

Dick Whittington certainly feels like the right pantomime for this year. The message – that even the lowliest country boy can find fame and fortune – speaks to the same vainly optimistic streak as reality television; and the collapse of Alderman Fitzwarren’s business, following a rash investment and an unexpected shipwreck, suddenly seems uncannily reminiscent of a certain international economic crisis.

So the Proper Panto Company are clearly onto something by staging it as this year’s Hexagon show. Yet they come within inches of throwing that potential away.

Comic timing for panto is not difficult to grasp. You build up the gag, then deliver the punchline straight out to the audience, nice and loud, and gesture so the boys and girls know they’re meant to laugh. Yet throughout Dick Whittington’s first act punchline after punchline whizzes by, mumbled as an almost inaudible aside or cut off so quickly by the next line that there’s no time to react.

The resultant bewildered lack of laughter saps energy and pace from the show, making it feel flat and, in places, forced.

In fairness, this is an issue that will probably work itself out after a few more performances – just in time for Christmas.

In the meantime it’s up to the dame, Sarah the Cook (Tim Hudson) and her unhelpful helper Idle Jack (Nathan Guy) to regain the audience’s attention, which they do with aplomb. Guy is particularly skilled at engaging the little ones, informed no doubt by his role in CBeebies’ Lazy Town Live, while Hudson’s man-eating Sarah provides some risqué comedy for the grown-ups.

Even celebrity audience magnet Christina Baily, best known as Danni Carbone in Hollyoaks, seems at least to be giving it her all as Dick; though she is consistently flat throughout her musical numbers. Isn’t the Principal Boy traditionally the one member of a panto cast that can act straight and sing in tune?

Written by Christopher Lillicrap

Crew includes Samantha Hughes (director), Nicola Miles (choreographer/assistant director), Christopher Lillicrap (producer/writer) and Simon Walters (musical director/arranger)

Cast includes John Altman (King Rat), Christina Baily (Dick Whittington), Nathan Guy (Idle Jack), Tim Hudson (Sarah the Cook), Samantha Hughes (Fairy Bowbells), Guy Siner (Alderman Fitzwarren) and Nicola Weeks (Alice Fitzwarren)

Need a second opinion?

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4 December, 2008

Touch and Go

The Mill at Sonning Dinner Theatre, 2 December 2008 – 10 January 2009

Reviewed for the Oxford Times, 4 December 2008 edition

That simple theatrical device, the split stage, is used to great dramatic and comic effect in Touch and Go, the latest offering from the Mill at Sonning.

Two flats, home to two married couples, occupy opposite halves of the stage. Brian borrows George’s flat once a week to bed his mistress, Wendy; George, meanwhile, is at Brian’s flat bedding Brian’s wife Hilary. With both pairs of lovers onstage at once, the parallels between them are made clear.

Both women primp themselves the same way before answering the door. Both men want to get straight to the bedroom; both women want romance with coq au vin. Both couples flirt remarkably similarly – though here the device also highlights the differences between worldly Brian (Darren Machin) and his more awkward, portly counterpart George (Patrick Monckton).

No matter how exciting your affair may seem, writer Derek Benfield is apparently suggesting, other couples are probably going through the same motions at the same moment.

The acting, too, is of a good standard. Maxine Gregory as Wendy achieves an accomplished comic performance without resort to overplay, but is sadly confined backstage most of the time; and then there is Patrick Monckton.
If anyone knows how to please a Mill audience, it is surely Monckton. He is a popular Christmas regular and this is his seventh role at the theatre. No one can deny, either, that he looks hilarious tottering around the stage in polka dot boxers and cycle helmet.

Unfortunately he seems to have taken his credentials as licence to muck about. He continually upstages his fellow actors, and when called on to act shocked he instead delivers lines as if he has a swollen tongue and a sock down his throat.

Farce is a sophisticated form of comedy, and Benfield’s script is a clever example, full of overlapping excuses and alibis. We should be laughing at bumbling George, not at the antics of Patrick Monckton.

Written by Derek Benfield

Crew includes Ron Aldridge, Director; Tony Eden, Set Designer; Jane Kidd, Costume Designer; Janet A. Cantrill, Lighting Designer

Cast includes Belinda Carroll, Jessica; Elizabeth Elvin, Hilary; Maxine Gregory, Wendy; Darren Machin, Brian; Patrick Monckton, George

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20 November, 2008

That’ll Be The Day

Hexagon Theatre

Reviewed for the Oxford Times, 20 November 2008

That’ll Be The Day is a high-speed romp through rock’n'roll history. Kicking off in 1954 with ‘Rock Around the Clock’, it zips without a pause through hits by Sir Cliff Richard, The Beatles, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Queen and others, ending with a triumphant medley of 70s number ones.

Clive Fishback’s vocal arrangement demands attention by keeping the songs short and blending them together. Skits and stand-up comedy break up the format and provide some breathing space for both audience and performers.

This show has survived in some form since 1987. That means there’s been plenty of time to polish and prune, and the result is slick and shiny indeed. It also means the target audience has reached a certain age, something the show acknowledges by delivering a shameless nostalgia trip.

Snappy costume changes take us through the good, the bad and the spangly of fashion since the 50s. Inspector Clouseau and Sergeant Bilko make appearances in comic routines. Finally, one particularly elaborate band reshuffle is accompanied by an elderly advertisement for Findus fish fingers.

Creator and star performer Trevor Payne channels Sir Cliff and Mick Jagger with ebullient precision. He looks wrong as Johnny Cash, but emulates the Man in Black’s voice and mannerisms accurately. Only Nikki Renee Hechavarria-Hume can match Payne’s flair for impersonations, delivering enthusiastic vocal facsimiles of Shirley Bassey and Diana Ross.

Performer and choreographer Julia Greenham is a less convincing Marilyn Monroe, but her dance routines are clearly well researched. Rebel Dean doesn’t have the moves to play a young Elvis, but makes an unexpectedly good Freddie Mercury; old, portly Elvis is played for laughs by Gary Anderson, who shines brightest in the comic interludes.

A quick scan of the headlines is enough to make anyone want to live in the past. That’ll Be The Day obliges, letting you temporarily forget your cares as you high-kick and toe-tap your way down Memory Lane.

Written by Trevor Payne

Crew includes Trevor Payne (director), Clive Fishback (vocal arrangement) and Julia Greenham (choreographer)

Cast includes Gary Anderson, Rebel Dean, Julia Greenham, Nikki Renee Hechavarria-Hume and Trevor Payne

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