One Man Star Wars Trilogy - Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

We’ve had musical theatre, we’ve even had chic flic theatre but now it seems nerd theatre has truly landed.

Last year Canadian actor Charlie Ross impressed Bury St Edmunds audiences with his One Man Lord Of The Rings, a condensing of Peter Jackson’s opus into just over an hour. Now he returns to the Theatre Royal with the predecessor of that show, a one man compression of the three original Star Wars films into an hour.

The challenge to recreate these iconic films - perhaps some of the most visually impressive, effect filled, celluloid moments on stage - is a tough one. When you realise that the show is one man, no props, no costume and no set it seems an impossible task. When in the hands of Charlie Ross, however, it turns into a tour de-force of physical theatre and comedy.

For fans the material is instantly recognisable, conjuring up images of the classic films. The show however also adds a further dimension to the trilogy, Ross’s comic creations adding a new, surreal and beautifully observed layer. Luke’s flyaway hair and constant whining, the Skywalkers’ frankly incestuous kissing and Vader’s cross-racial vocals all coming in for spot on lampooning.

The set pieces of each of the movies are here, as are the characters but with a twist and fans will never be able to watch the movies in quite the same light again. Ross obviously has a deep affection of George Lucas’ work but isn’t afraid to gently mock. Watching Ross work is like watching a masterclass in physical theatre and it’s exhausting just to watch.

Although its inspiration cost multi million dollars and an entire army of special effects experts, this version of the Star Wars canon shows that for effective entertainment all you need at the end of the day is a strong story. Oh and talent and skill, and in the talent department Charlie Ross is world class. We’ve now seen two cinematic trilogies from Ross and based on this can only hope that his movie going inspires more comedic creations.

Hamlet:1603 - White Bear Theatre

Imagine watching the end of Gone With The Wind and Rhett Butler turns to Scarlett O’Hara and says “Frankly, my dear, I don't really care”. Close but not quite. It’s the same with Hamlet:1603 a rarely staged performance of the First Quarto Hamlet. The story is there but much truncated and many of the famous speeches and asides are either missing or abridged.


Published 20 years prior to the Folio text we mostly see now, there’s much academic debate over what this ‘Bad Quarto’ was. Some think it was a touring script with others thinking it was a pirate version penned from what could be remembered by an actor from the original production.

Whatever its origins, this production of Hamlet takes some getting used to. As well as the textual changes, familiar characters have subtle name changes; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern become Rossencraft and Gilderstone, Gertrude is Gertred, and Ophelia Ofelia. Running around half the length of the more traditional Hamlet, this is a fast paced romp through the state of Denmark.

Unfortunately the swift pace does come at the expense of any effective building of tension, resulting in a strangely sterile production.

How much of this is a result of the text or production is subject to debate but Imogen Bond’s staging never fully engages.

Transposed to the 1940s this is a minimalist production that mirrors the slimmed town script, a couple of benches and some voile curtains providing the backdrop for the action. The simple staging should work to focus attention onto the complex emotional interaction of the players but here the chemistry never fully works.

There are many different approaches to tackle the title role but Jamie Matthewman’s Hamlet can’t seem to decide which route to take. There’s no real conviction that this is a troubled Prince fighting his emotions, not helped by an accent that seems to wander widely. It’s often a melodramatic performance that seems at odds with the restrained nature of the remainder of the piece. Overall there is a lack of real chemistry between the characters, especially noticeable in scenes between Hamlet and his mother Gertred (an underplayed Diana Katis).

There are strong performances from Rebecca Pownall as Ofelia and from Katie Hayes as a female Horatio though this cross gender casting does provide its own confusion with a further romantic sub plot. Matthew Spencer also delivers a strong performance as Leartes but the edited script limits his opportunities.

On one level Hamlet:1603 acts as an introduction to the fuller text but on another it disappoints with its lack of depth and the poetic flourishes we have grown to expect. One for the Hamlet fans to add to their collections but sadly not fully served in this often flat production.

Spring Awakening - New Wolsey Studio

Spring. A burgeoning of new life and things that have lain dormant re-awakening. Not only in nature but in Ted Hughes’ translation of Franz Wedekind’s 1890 play, Spring Awakening, it is the sexual awakening of a group of teenagers that provides the dramatic drive.


In a world of repressed emotions, where talk of sex is taboo, young people have to rely on each other for snippets of information. Melchior seems outwardly worldly wise and is persuaded to write a guide to sex for his shy and slightly simple friend Moritz. Fourteen-year-old Wendla is still convinced that storks deliver babies after her mother staunchly refuses to tell her anything about the facts of life, while Hans is wracked with religious guilt over his urges.

Frank Wedekind's work has caused much controversy over the years, often banned and often heavily censored and, at first glance, it seems an odd choice for the late Poet Laurete Hughes to translate. Hughes’ influence is evident, however, with passages of lyrical language that often counterpoint the pain onstage.

Covering subjects including rape, homosexuality, and teenage suicide, Spring Awakening is a brave choice for any theatre group and especially a youth theatre company. The New Wolsey Young Company, though, tackles these emotive subjects with frank honesty and maturity.

Set against a simple staging combining the claustrophobic interior of their homes with the dark and concealing forest, the scenes flow with choreographic style.

There are some nice individual performances that manage to combine innocence with teenage angst and burgeoning sexual awareness. Particularly impressive are Steve Withers as the tortured soul, Moritz, a highly detailed characterisation that grips the attention Aidan Napier as the outwardly confident but inwardly equally naïve Melchior has to come to terms with the consequences of his actions that also has a catastrophic outcomes for Lorna Garside’s Wendla.

Rob Salmon’s direction draws much out from his young company but there are a couple of areas that would benefit from some work. Hughes’ text is full of long speeches that require rhythm and pace to allow the audience to absorb the rich, often visual, language. At times the language is lost in rapid delivery that results in hurried diction and meter.

The decision to play the academic staff in the piece as comedic parodies also sits uncomfortably with the naturalistic style of the rest of the piece. While the wish to inject some light and humour into an otherwise dark and intense evening is understandable, here it does little more than detract.

Spring Awakening shows that youth theatre doesn’t have to shy away from tackling risqué and challenging subjects. The piece may be 120 years old but the challenges faced by the teenagers remain just as relevant today and, lets hope that by highlighting these challenges on stage, it provokes open discussion and debate instead of the climate of repression faced by the protagonists.

Photo: Aidan Napier and Steve Withers in Spring Awakening. Photo by Mike Kwasniak

Cardenio - Swan Theatre Stratford Upon Avon

The RSC is cannily sitting on the fence with the first new show in its restored Swan Theatre - the non-committal subtitle for Cardenio is Shakespeare’s ‘lost play’ re-imagined.

Now while much scholarly debate will surely ensue over is this play based on Shakespeare’s long lost masterpiece and, indeed, given the amount of hands involved in the script, many a game of ‘who wrote that line’ could be played. Although it is tempting to enter into that debate and audiences will surely form their own view of the authorship of the play, as a review it is perhaps unfair to focus on that provenance.

In deepest Andalucía, Cardenio is deeply in love with Luscinda but needs his father’s permission to marry. Before he gets the chance, he is whisked away to court to serve the Duke’s youngest son, Fernando. Fernando has romantic problems of his own, obsessed as he is with Dorotea although she spurns his advances. Not one to miss an opportunity, though, Fernando soon contrives to steal Cardenio’s love from under his nose and plots to marry her from himself, driving Cardenio from court and into madness.

In a well-crafted mix of tragedy and comedy, the play examines the themes of love, betrayal and revenge with well-drawn characters. At times it is a dark piece, touching on subjects such as rape, death and betrayal but this blackness is contrasted with human interest.

Greg Doran has cast a relatively young and inexperienced cast and it fits well with this rediscovery, feeling somewhat appropriate for a revamped theatre and a historical rediscovery.

Oliver Rix, making an impressive professional stage debut, works well in the title role. Here is a Cardenio torn apart by the perceived betrayal of his love and the actual betrayal of Fernando. It’s a well conceived performance balancing initial bravado with the subsequent decline. Alex Hassell provides Fernando with a richly drawn character, brooding and dark but somehow vulnerable in his calculating plotting.

As the two misled objects of romantic affection Lucy Briggs-Owen and Pippa Nixon give strong and passionate performances. Briggs-Owen’s Luscinda realisation of her inability to halt her fate is wonderfully observed, while Pippa Nixon’s Dorotea has no intention of sitting back and let events overcome her.

Doran directs the piece with pace and flair, making effective use of Niki Turner’s simple but effective set and the Swan Theatre itself. The whole piece is lent an authentic Spanish air by Tim Mitchell’s almost sculptural lighting plot and Paul Englishby’s flamenco inspired music. It provides a visually impressive backdrop for the text with several iconic images; the Día de los Muertos inspired festival, the religious ceremony and the procession of Spanish Monks all help create a world where passion, familial honour and religion combine.

The reconstruction of Cardenio has been a project Doran has been working on for many years and the passion for the material shows. Doran has created a gripping and thought provoking staging of a lost classic. Its authorship may never be conclusively proven but it should be savoured as the opportunity to sit and watch, at the very least, a play of the Shakespearian period, without knowing the script or what happens next.

And in a time when many are familiar with the Bard’s canon before they set foot inside the theatre, Cardenio offers us that rare treat of something unexpected and new.

Love, Love, Love - New Wolsey Theatre

Is love all we need? The Beatles would have us believe so but can love also be a destructive force? In Mike Bartlett’s epic Love, Love, Love, we get an panoramic vista at one couple’s relationship across 40 years.

Here the course of true love certainly doesn’t run smooth. In 1967, 19-year-old Sandra is on a first date with Henry but ends up romantically entangled with his hipper brother, Ken, instead. It’s a fragile start to a relationship fuelled by drink and drugs and one that, on first glance, seems likely to end as a one night stand. Surprisingly, then, we find that 23 years later the couple are not only married but have two children.

Love, though, has descended into hatred and as Sandra turns increasingly to drink to cope with life there is little chance that daughter Rosie’s 16th birthday will pass smoothly.

As bombshells drop it’s clear that the children are mere ammunition in the couple’s battles and, as time passes, a further 21 years we see the impact this corrosive lifestyle has taken on their children.

Bartlett’s script pulls no punches; his narrative is packed with lines dripping with acid. Characters use verbal spars to score points and inflict as much damage as they can. Partners, family, children – all are fair game for a verbal attack. This unrelenting machine gunning could easily turn into a depressing evening but Bartlett carefully balances the pain with just the right amount of dry, dark humour.

In many ways, despite the subject matter, this is a highly traditional drawing room drama. Director James Grieve makes good use of Lucy Osborne’s three distinctive sets to convey a world teetering on the edge of total destruction but somehow just clinging on to the last thread of familial cohesion.

While it’s difficult to emotionally care for what turns out to be a group of thoroughly unlikeable and self serving characters, the cast revel in the opportunities these richly drawn figures provide.

Strong central performances from Ben Addis and Lisa Jackson as the warring couple work well, as does Rosie Wyatt’s Rose, emotionally scared by her upbringing but also calculating enough to try and use that guilt to her own advantage.

The strong language and content may not be to everyone’s taste but Love, Love, Love is a gripping and well crafted look at the realities of life, warts and all.

Once again Paines Plough demonstrates that they are not afraid to bring quality, challenging drama to regional audiences and, in Love, Love, Love, Mike Bartlett confirms his place as one of the country’s most exciting playwrights.

The Gospel of Matthew - Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

Stage and Church have been intrinsically linked over the centuries. Occasionally in conflict over content and ideology, there is also something overtly theatrical involved in many religious rites; the tradition the ceremony and the oration of the sermon all containing elements of performance.

In this Easter week, it is therefore perhaps appropriate that George Dillon brings his one man rendition of The Gospel of Matthew to the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.

Dillon was apparently inspired to stage the show by a strange mix of Bob Geldof and Enoch Powell but, despite this unorthodox muse, it turns out to be a traditional staging.

Dillon is obviously an accomplished actor who commands the stage in a detailed performance. Without props or set, Dillon relies on a few simple sound effects and projections to add atmosphere.

Sadly the sum of the parts never add up. While performed with conviction it never frees itself from the feeling that one is watching a sermon rather than a theatrical performance.

Some of the ambiguity lies in the choice of video projection. While effective use of technology might well add depth and atmosphere to a production, here it distracts. Opening images of Aramaic text merging into Greek and finally English promise much but these initial hopes are dashed as subsequent imagery resembles a PowerPoint presentation or a series of hastily cobbled together media player visualisations.

The result is that we end up asking why? Yes, it’s a powerful performance but what is Dillon trying to tell us. If it is purely a recounting of the Gospel, why a theatrical production? If intended to show some alternative view, it fails to ignite that curiosity. For theatre to truly work it needs to stimulate, challenge or provoke and, regardless of particular beliefs, The Gospel of Matthew sheds little fresh light.

Perhaps in a church setting this sermon like staging would work but as a theatre show it needs more sophistication.

London Road - National Theatre

National Theatre. Its very name implies it should reflect life in communities all across the nation. It also has a remit to challenge and provoke thought.

In its latest production, London Road, a verbatim play with music based on interviews with Suffolk residents coming to terms with their road becoming infamous for the home of serial killer Steve Wright, the National Theatre have produced a piece that not only challenges but stands strong as a piece of theatre on its own merit.

In autumn 2006, the normally quiet market town of Ipswich was thrust into the world’s media spotlight as five women were abducted from the town’s red light district and, one by one, their bodies were subsequently discovered in the surrounding areas. This small community was in a state of shock as the speed of the serial killings took the police, the town and the media by surprise. Five years on and the scars of Ipswich’s darkest hour still run deep.

Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork’s London road fuses Blythe’s interviews with local residents with an evocative musical score to take a look at a community struggling to recover after horrific events beyond their control. Although of course set against the backdrop of the five murders the victims themselves are not portrayed on stage, instead we focus on the residents of London Road as they try and rebuild their fractured community.

It could easily turn into voyeuristic bad taste and, while for anyone who lived through the events of 2006, it will be uncomfortable viewing, it does prove to be a hauntingly moving look at the wider impact of this crime.

As the London Road Neighbourhood Watch team reforms to improve the area, their good intentions are overtaken by the fast moving events happening in the town. As the climate of fear builds in the town, suspicion turns on neighbours with women across the town fearing ‘it could be him’. As Christmas preparations fall flat and the world media descends on the town, focus turns to 79 London Road and its resident of the last 10 weeks, Steve Wright. As Wright is charged and then convicted on five counts of murder, the residents face an uphill battle to remove the ghoulish stigma their road has unwittingly obtained.

The testimony of the residents provides the text for the piece and it’s therefore raw and emotive. Cork sets this dialogue against a rich score but the music never overpowers, eschewing traditional song structure in favour of repeated choral number, cannon and underscore the score provides emotional score that blends into the whole.

The 11-strong ensemble portray not only the residents of London Road but a multitude of characters from across the town, all using verbatim words collected by Blythe during numerous visits to town. This approach does provide a real sense of authenticity and soul bearing and the ensemble work well to bring these multiple voices to light.

Rufus Norris’ directs with an almost cinematic style, focusing in on individual close ups when needed before opening up to the wider community.

There are some genuinely disturbing moments in the work. Three girls emerging slowly from a shadowy fog talking after the murders about their change in working practices merging into a long silence that seems to hang in the air for an eternity genuinely provides reflection while one characters declaration that she would like to shake Steve Wright’s hand to thank him for cleaning up their community illicit a palpable intake of breath.

Overall, though, London Road doesn’t judge or offer explanation. Instead, by focusing on the residents, it provides an insight into the power of community and, by harnessing that spirit, how the darkest moments can ultimately provide the inspiration for hope and change.

Yes, as someone who lived through that turbulent time, it is uncomfortable viewing but, ultimately, isn’t theatre there to challenge, move and stimulate? It may stir painful memories but, as a piece of theatre with the power to reflect actual lives, London Road excels. The controversy remains and many would like this period in Suffolk’s history to be closed.

It may still be too soon but let’s hope that London Road eventually makes the trip to Suffolk to be performed locally. Its reflection on the wider impact of the events of December 2006 may help provide a sense of closure.

Songs For A New World - Jerwood Dance House

Jason Robert Brown may not be as famous as, say, Andrew Lloyd Webber to UK audiences but his work is slowly gaining the reputation it deserves here.

His rich material is also providing opportunities for local groups seeking a change for the traditional cannon of Rogers and Hammerstein.

Appeal Theatre Group are one such company and their staging of Brown’s 1995 musical, Songs For A New World, will do much to encourage more people to discover this thrilling work.

The show itself is difficult to summarise. More of a song cycle than a traditional book musical, a series of what initially seem stand-alone numbers develop through the evening as a group of Americans sing of their hopes, fears and challenges. What could easily be a disjointed evening of musical melodies becomes a moving and evocative reflection on life.

Mixing gospel, jazz, classical and modern musical motifs, Brown’s marries a wide range of musical genres and couples them with complex, often darkly witty, lyrics to provide a multi-layered score. This complexity makes it a challenge to perform but Appeal Theatre Group have assembled a 10 strong ensemble who negotiate the piece with flair. Close harmonies are delivered with ease and solo numbers performed with skill and vocal strength.

Although all give strong performances, some individual numbers and performances stick in the memory; Jan Needle’s Stars And The Moon, a vocal powerhouse filled with emotion, Shelley Clempson channelling of the spirit of Marlene Dietrich as a spurned Mrs Santa Claus, and Phil Kinsella’s gospel-fuelled Flying Home among the highlights.

Jo King’s musical direction revels in the variety of Brown’s score while John Welton’s direction keeps action flowing smoothly. Damien Goddard’s wonderfully atmospheric lighting design provides the visual spectacle in an otherwise simple staging.

It’s often difficult to convince audiences to book for unfamiliar shows. You may not have heard of Songs for A New World before but fans of musical theatre should flock to the Jerwood Dance House.

Jason Robert Brown is one of the most exciting new composers in Musical Theatre and in this production Appeal Theatre Group has well and truly thrown down the gauntlet. Other local groups will have to raise their game to come up with a stronger production this year.

Taking responsibility

Who has responsibility for customer service in your organisation? If you produce your own product it may seem straightforward but, if you are a receiving venue, perhaps the boundaries are less clear. Add in ticket agencies, producers and production companies, and the situation blurs even more.


Does it matter? Well in these times of increasing customer expectations and the potential for brand reputation damage, a clear policy on customer care is key to any organisation’s success. While we may understand the differences between the various parties does the customer? When producers also own venues the situation becomes virtually impossible for an audience member to untangle.

This thought was triggered by a recent theatre trip. Tickets were purchased through the theatre’s own online box office and, while some seats did carry warnings of restricted views of varying degrees, the seats purchased carried no such warning. On arrival, though, the booked seats turned out to have a restricted view of the stage.

What prompted the question of responsibility for customer service was the response from the theatre manager when raising the concern over the restrictions during the interval. Now you would think seating and view complaints are standard issues for venue management to deal with. The theatre manager advised, however, that, despite tickets being sold by the theatre themselves; they have no responsibility for complaints and that responsibility lies with the producers of the show. Is this a wise customer service strategy for building brand reputation?

Yes, producers do set seat prices and classification of price bands but who do audiences identify their customer service experience with – producer or venue?

After a bad experience at a particular venue, is the customer likely to avoid shows from a certain producer or, more likely, avoid returning to that venue? Word of mouth and now the social media age means negative comments about the venue can soon spread and, while it may have a short impact on the current production, long-term the reputation of the venue is likely to suffer more.

So I return to the original question. Who has responsibility for customer service in your organisation? Is it worth taking a step back and checking that internal divisions within the industry are not blocking your customers’ perception of your service and brand?

This blog originially written for http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/

Betty Blue Eyes - Novello Theatre

After years of American imports and jukebox musicals, at long last the British musical is fighting back with a show about austerity Britain and a forthcoming Royal Wedding.

Belts are being tightened, spending reviewed and parties being thrown to celebrate the royal nuptials. This isn’t 2011, though, but 1947 and Betty Blue Eyes, a musical adaptation of Alan Bennett’s quintessential British film A Private Function.

Although the war is over, life is still hard and rationing continues. In the daily queue for what little meat is on sale, bitter rivalries and class prejudices come to the fore.

Joyce Chilvers is desperate to climb the social ladder but, while she may have ambitions, the Town Council and their influential wives don’t see the wife of a struggling chiropodist as one of ‘their kind’. Husband Gilbert is trying his best to please his wife’s aspirations but never quite hits the mark.

When Joyce overhears the Town Council is planning a ‘private function’ for the town’s social elite to celebrate the forthcoming royal wedding, she’s determined to be invited but, when snubbed, she plots her revenge by kidnapping their illegally held pig – the eponymous Betty - who is being fattened up to bolster the flagging rations.

Que one manic tale of pignapping, Government meat inspectors, and even a dream sequence featuring a guest appearance from their Royal Highnesses Elizabeth and Phillip.

George Stiles and Anthony Drewe’s music and lyrics are full of whimsical charm, mixing comic numbers, ballads and even a Busby Berkeley tribute into an evocative score. It echoes Bennett’s original piece perfectly with a clever script that moves with tongue firmly in cheek but always true to character.

Central to the piece are two strong performances from Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith as Joyce and Gilbert Chilvers. Lancashire seems a natural stage musical leading lady, totally commanding the stage and blessed with a strong vocal presence and deadpan comic timing. Her rendition of Nobody, a fantasy sequence transforming the housewife into glittering star perhaps the highlight of the evening.

While Shearsmith may not quite match the singing abilities of Lancashire, his performance as the other half of this crazy couple is poignantly touching.

There are also strong performances from Ann Emery as a wonderfully dotty Mother and Adrian Scarborough as the Gestapo-like German measles-suffering meat inspector Woemwold.

Of course then there is the true star of the show, Betty herself. Her blue eyes do indeed dazzle and win the hearts of all in the audience. Its no surprise that Betty gets perhaps the biggest reception at the curtain call but she does hold back a secret until the very end.

Tim Hatley’s designs provide an effective backdrop to this madcap world while Stephen Mear’s choreography supplies the necessary glamour without ever overpowering the drama. Richard Eyre sensibly allows the comedy to shine through without over-emphasis and makes this a surprisingly poignant show.

Among the laughs there are moments of sheer emotion that counteract the farcical.

There may have been a raft of film to musical adaptations over the years but Betty Blue Eyes is one of those rare things, it not only honours the original but stands alone as a work of art on its own merits.

This is one sow that will have you squealing with delight.

This review of a preview performance on Saturday 9th April. The show officially opens on April 13th.

Wastwater - Royal Court

Still waters run deep in Wastwater, Englands deepest lake and there are also dark secrets buried just beneath its shadowy waters.

The lake is the inspiration, and provides the title, for Simon Stephens’ new play, but instead of being set in the Lake District, for some reason the action takes place in various locations around the perimeter of Heathrow Airport.

Three scenes each feature a different couple facing a decision that will change their lives forever. There is no common theme across the pieces and, although there is a tenuous link between the protagonists, it’s never clear what message Stephens is trying to leave us with.

Scene one, set in a village under threat of demolition by Heathrow expansion sees foster mother Freida preparing to say farewell to her latest ward, who is about to jet off to Canada to escape his demons. It’s an intimate portrayal but one that never fully captivates the imagination nor gives a real insight into the characters.

Scene two moves to a luxury hotel room at the airport, scene of a clandestine meeting between two married individuals – married to other people, that is. What starts out as an illicit but exciting prospect takes a much darker turn but, again, the characters are only slightly drawn and we never understand their motives.

The final scene is perhaps the darkest of the triptych. In a warehouse on the edge of the runway a man is having second thoughts about a deal to buy a nine-year-old girl, the child smuggled into the country by a trafficking gang. It’s starkly chilling but, once more, there is nothing to explain the rationale behind the actions, nor an understanding of how this fits into the whole.

Lizzie Clachan’s designs are the one success of the evening, creating three locales in quick succession but Katie Mitchell’s direction doesn’t really make full use of the design, with mainly static blocking.

There is perhaps potential for individual stories to be expanded into full length pieces and, at the moment, there is something of an air of tasters about Wastwater. In many ways it resembles a writer showing his portfolio of ideas for development rather than a coherent evening.

There are some strong performances from the company who try their best with the limited material. Paul Ready as the nervous art teacher in the hotel room; Linda Bassett as Frieda the brooding foster mother and Amanda Hale as the manipulative people trafficker Sian. It is, however, difficult to engage with any of the characters as Stephens’ never provides a credible framework for their behaviour.

Despite the ever present sound of jumbo jets, Wastwater is a play that never fully takes off.

My Mother Said I Never Should

We’ve all been there, receiving a long list of instructions from our mothers that give us a long list of horrors that await us should we fail to follow her advice.

It’s this basis that forms the jumping off point for Charlotte Keatley’s debut play My Mother Said I Never Should.

Taking a look at the interwoven lives of four female members of the same family spanning a period of 60 years, the play not only looks at the changing relationship of mother/daughter relationships over the years but also the changing social status of women over the period.

It’s an ambitious piece, attempting to cover multiple characters, time frames and locations over three acts. Scenes switch swiftly from time period and location, with act one alone containing 10 scenes. This non-linear approach perhaps intended to introduce us to the four protagonists but, instead, it results in a bitty evening, making it hard to fully engage with the characters.

Things calm down slightly in the middle act, keeping to one scene that allows more emotional connection with the women but the third act again resorts to artistic wanderlust and gives us a further eight scenes.

Gallery Players’ production at the Sir John Mills Theatre does attempt to mitigate this constantly shifting diorama with a simple set and minimal props; however, the intimate dimension of the numerous scene changes required does interrupt narrative flow. Despite the simple staging, here is a show crying out for a larger space to allow smoother scene transitions.

As Doris, Margaret, Jackie and Rosie, Brenda Caddick, Jayne Lindill, Ruth Hayward and Emily Rowe respectively work well together but, perhaps down to the script, it is often difficult to warm to any of the women. Although each generation hopes to have a better life than her mother, there is never any real sense of progression or improvement.

For a play that looks at the familial bond it’s a strangely icy and lonely atmosphere that prevails; that apart from an obvious plot twist regarding Rosie parentage, never really provides any dramatic crescendo.

The Royal National Theatre listed My Mother Said I Never Should as one of the ‘100 significant plays of the century’ but it is hard to see their justification. While Keatley’s play is perhaps rare in its all female construction, her script and structure does little to engage.

There is potential to offer some sort of insight into the changing role of mothers over the century but, instead, we are left wondering what Keatley’s message is. A brave choice by Gallery Players who continue to bring unexpected work to the region but a choice on this occasion that somehow misses the mark.

April In Paris - Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

Sometimes in our everyday grey lives all we need is a little injection of colour. That’s certainly the case for Bet and Al. They’ve been married for 25 years and virtually all the joy has been drained from their lives. He’s unemployed and spends most of his time taking refuge in the garden shed, she sells shoes for a living and takes refuge in her glossy magazines.

All looks bleak for the pair in John Godber’s April In Paris. Then life takes a turn for the better and Bet’s addiction to magazine competitions pays off when she wins a romantic trip to Paris. Can the ultimate city of love rekindle their passion or have things gone too far?

Originally written in 1992 for John Godber and his wife, Jane, April In Paris has become a regular part of the Hull Truck repertoire over the years. Now revived starring Rob Angell and Wendi Peters, and directed by Godber himself, it’s lost none of its power.

It’s an all too real look at relationships that contains moments that will be perhaps too close to home for anyone that is in, or has ever been in a longterm relationship. The give and take, the frustrations, the arguments over the silliest things but, ultimately, the love that conquers.

Godber’s writing captures perfectly the trials and tribulations of relationships. It’s a script full of dark humour, witty one liners and killer put downs. Alongside the sniping, however, there is also passion, hidden though it is at times and some genuinely moving and poignant moments.

While the writing is well crafted, it does require a convincing couple to perform the piece believably. The chemistry between Wendi Peters and Rob Angell is evident throughout, utterly gripping as the married couple. Peters’ Bet blossoming with the possibilities that a new culture offers and Angell’s initially cynical Al discovering his own artistic block freed by new horizons. There are echoes of Shirley Valentine here but, unlike Shirley, both Al and Bet find fulfilment. Both actors manage to balance the comedy with the pathos that keeps the audience gripped on the journey.

This is an intimate show that focuses on the detail, not only in the relationship but also in the staging. Pip Leckenby’s design slowly transforming from a monochrome Hull where even the tomato sauce is grey, to a North Sea Ferry, to the sophistication of Paris, where colour eventually seeps in to the monochrome existences of Al and Bet.

John Godber always manages to capture the rawest of human emotion in productions that resonate with audiences. In April In Paris he manages to look at what it means to be in a relationship and this production is the perfect marriage of script, direction, acting and staging.

Photo: Rob Angell and Wendi Peters in April In Paris. Photo by Louise Buckby