(4 / 5)

‘Little Women’ is loved across the world in its various iterations; from its original publication in 1868, it has been widely adored, with critical and commercial success. Based loosely on author Louisa May Alcott’s own life, we follow the lives of four sisters; young women forging their path from childhood to adulthood. Loud and rambunctious Jo, ladylike Meg, quiet yet ‘good’ Beth and the youngest, Amy, used to getting her own way. The play begins just after their Pa has left to serve as a Chaplain for the Union in the American Civil War, and each girl is dealing with it in her own unique way.

This version has been adapted by Anne-Marie Casey, screenwriter initially who has now turned her attention to stage adaptations, having also adapted Wuthering Heights for stage in 2014. I loved the pace and the humour of this script; it loses none of the original whilst breathing life into the plot and giving these characters a chance to come alive on stage. It is genuinely witty and funny and full of heart, a fact we can, obviously, primarily credit to the original novel, but also shines here on stage which is a credit to Casey. The piece has direction and movement direction from Loveday Ingram and Mike Ashcroft respectively, and I loved the innovative use of the space. The set changes very slightly throughout, but with the direction we always feel like we are in a new space, whether that’s skating across an ice-covered pond, dancing on a balcony at a ball or stealing that first kiss in the snow.

Lighting and design, by Ruari Murchison and Mike Robertson, complements the actors well. I loved the world of ‘Little Women.’ The set is a living room amongst the trees, so to speak, but we are never in any doubt as to where we are. The trees and stool double as the window that Laurie is constantly clambering through, the flats at the back of the stage mean we can see each girl in tableau as time passes and they go from girl to woman. Sometimes simplicity is best, and I loved the idea of nature permeating the house in which the girls lived. Jo’s writing desk being ever present is also a nice touch as if, it’s the desk itself, that is charting the lives of these women. Lighting is also simple but effective; especially stark during Amy’s fall through the ice. I loved the addition of contemporary hymns and Christmas songs to add colour to the piece and to the lives of Marmee and her girls. Matthew Bugg, Composer and Sound Designer, adds his own touch to the piece; the arrangements are beautiful and sang so well by the ensemble.

This is a very well-cast company. Led by Grace Molony as Jo, who perfectly balances Jo’s tomboyish tendencies with her uncompromising love for her family, her passion for life, writing and independence, and her softer, more loving side towards the end of the show. She is excellent, a perfect Jo and she achieves plenty of laughter in our matinee audience. Jade Kennedy as Meg is wonderful; the will she, won’t she romance she shares with Jack Ashton as John Brooke is very endearing. There is, again, a lovely balance of humour but also the more serious, mothering side of Meg. They are joined by Catherine Chalk as Beth; her nervous energy around strangers is truly palpable throughout act one, and her tragic ending is expertly handled by Chalk. The final ‘little woman’ is indeed the littlest; Imogen Elliot as Amy brings a childlike innocence and petulance in act one, which blossoms very effectively into a society woman in act two.

They are accompanied by Belinda Lang who is excellent as Aunt March. Her accent is perfect, and her deadpan lines are delivered with expertise. She is delightfully blunt and rude, a fantastic addition to the cast. Ellie Pawsey understudied as Marmee in this performance and her motherly light really shone in the role. Her strength in holding together her family was really evident yet she was able to balance this with the emotion of hearing about her injured husband and the pain of losing a daughter. Outnumbered, but no less talented are the men of the piece. Cillian Lenaghan as Laurie bounds across the stage, the perfect opposite to Meg, seemingly more grown up and mature than them all in act one and then discovering his petulance in act two. Cillian counterbalances Monoly’s Jo with ease and they have a lovely chemistry. Finally, Jack Ashton who spends act one as Meg’s love interest, John Brooke and act two as Jo’s love interest, Frederick Bhaer. Ashton delivers these two distinct characters with ease. It is easy to put aside our dramatic disbelief and invest in him as both characters. I really enjoyed his Frederick especially, with a great accent and a softness and hesitation to his admission of feelings for Jo. This is a faithful adaptation, which keeps close to the original but also has its own voice and identity. Its true success is in its accessibility; I have never read the book (but will do so now!) and was sat alongside two sisters who have seen every iteration on film and were read the novel every night by their mother as children. I love how we came in with very different expectations and knowledges of the story but all left having absolutely loved this version. The show is lovely; touching, poignant at times, full of heart and humour; perfectly chronicling the lives of these little girls into ‘Little Women

Photo credit: Patricio Cassinoni

(4 / 5)

Samuel Beckett might just be my favourite playwright. Why? It’s his abstractions, the eerie usage of prose for a higher truth. His plays in French and German then translated into English, capturing profound depths that wouldn’t be seen if it was just in English first.

First seen in 1958 with actor Patrick Magee, Krapp’s Last Tape have seen much success and is often regarded as one of Beckett’s finer works. This isn’t my personal favourite, though thanks to a tight production it holds up as enlightening. The play is even going with Gary Oldman in York , so there are plenty of chances to see this odd tale.

Per annum, Krapp on his birthday records another tape. A post-mortem of the year he’s had. He listens to recordings from decades past and loses himself in then, only to dismiss them as ancient histories. Aged 69, he leaves his last tape, after eating a few bananas, popping out to the kitchen in a hurried scuttle to what sounds like the pouring of wine (quite possibly urination) a few times and constantly critiques the man he was, against the man he is now.

Stephen Rea is a true Beckett actor. He had the foresight to pre-recorded the relevant material a decade ago, just in case he ever did play Krapp. Luck would be on his side thanks to laser focused director Vicky Featherstone. Set designer Jamie Vartan has the most simplistic plan, yet all you really need is a sliding door, chair, table with extended draw and that’s your lot. Katie Davenport got the tattyness of old age and white boots that might just not match the outfit. Lighting by Paul Keogan is scary and alluring in all ways. Kevin Gleeson’s, sound design keeps the suggestion of a drone in utter pianissimo throughout, near Lynchian. Stephen Wright as audio director assisted Rea with the old recordings and did a valiant job. You can tell Rea is younger, though not by a huge amount. Imagine the 30 years old tapes…

There is much to unpack about archivism, longing, resentment, ageing, loneliness, sex and lust in this mere 55 minutes. Other artists have taken the tapes ideas and ran with it, musicians especially with opera and looping material are really nice ideas. It has made me wonder about how do we preserve items in needs of tender love and care, with the passage of time decaying most materials. Through it all…was this the purpose of recording something?

Its runs till 3rd May 2025  

Having had no idea of what to expect upon taking my seat in the New Theatre, I can happily confirm that ‘…Earnest?’ is one of the maddest, most exhilarating, hilarious pieces of theatre I have seen in a while. ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ is turning 130 this year; after being encouraged to sing happy birthday…to the play…we are launched into our evening. Anyone seeing ‘…Earnest?’ should take on board what Wilde himself once said, ‘we should treat all the trivial things of life very seriously, and all the serious things of life with sincere and studied triviality.’

What happens when your lead actor fails to show up? Well, in the case of ‘…Earnest?,’ they turn to the only place they can think of…the audience. The director, Simon takes to the stage valiantly and tries to pluck the next Olivier from the crowd as, the show must go on. Our evening was fronted by unsuspecting Chris, a data analyst who may have picked a seat slightly too close to the stage… From there, things just continue to descend into abject chaos, with the actress playing Cecily disappearing off to cover for the lead skater on ‘Harry Potter…On Ice’ and more and more audience members are plucked from obscurity to stardom as the show becomes more and more barking mad.

What is truly impressive is the sheer skill of the actors involved here. Their improvisation and ability to think on their feet is excellent. The show must never look the same from night to night and yet the cast never falter; their responses are witty and immediate, their ability to move around the hapless audience members joining them on stage creates such hilarity, especially as the props keep moving, Jack Daniels gets added to glasses instead of ‘stage whiskey’ and chaos unfolds in front of us.

The cast are excellent; Guido Garcia Lueches as Terry/Algernon and Rhys Tees as Graham/Lane open the show as we are launched into our production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest.’ Their flamboyant blocking and over the top delivery is particularly satisfying for anyone involved in, or having seen a slightly hammy community production. When Earnest does not appear, their panic is palpable; Terry is unable to change any of his blocking and Graham starts suffering from props inevitably being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Josh Haberfield enters from the audience as our hapless director, Simon Slough, who comes up with a solution; an audience member can help, script in hand, to perform the show. We are also joined by Ben Mann as Josh, our techie, who’s just trying to be useful but with limited, screamed instructions he’s finding it a bit tricky…

These opening scenes are so important in setting up the action and the expectations of the piece. The cast’s interactions with each other and the audience members are genuinely funny and topical. I had no idea what to expect from the show and I’m pleased to report it is riotous. Trynity Silk as Jennifer/Gwendolen and Judith Amsenga as Eleanor/Lady Bracknell then join us, and the anarchy continues. We are joined on stage but a very ‘feminine’ Cecily in a resplendent pink frock, we have a sword fight with one sword, a drunken Gwendolen becoming more and more undressed and Lady Bracknell losing her voice. My personal favourite part was the explanation of Earnest being found in a train station in a handbag (not Victoria Station as originally intended but Severn Tunnel Junction for our performance), performed entirely in interpretive, physical dance with Graham Tees bounding across the stage with sheer joy and abandon; it sums up a perfectly crazy evening.

Say It Again, Sorry? have truly brought an experience to the stage, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The sheer talent of the writers and the actors involved to basically perform a different show every evening based on what their brand-new stars might (or might not) say had me holding my breath in anticipation. Even if you’re not familiar with the original Oscar Wilde play, I implore you to go and see this (again and again, it’ll be different every time!) as it is a pure tonic and highly entertaining. I really cannot wait to see what the team behind Say it Again, Sorry? will do next; their refreshing take on theatre is definitely something I will be following, in ‘earnest’ so to speak!

(2 / 5)

Arthur Miller is often declared the greatest American Playwright of the last century. Though I might declare The Crucible his finest work, most school teens and theatre bugs will no doubt learn toward Death of a Salesman.

This is a raging, shoulder shaking, alarm call for the so called ‘American Dream’. Did it ever really exist? And for whom, exactly? Recent American politics would mirror these sour ideas tenfold. Willy Loman is the salesman in question, a deeply exhausted man of business who drives hundreds of miles for his work. A job with little gratis nor promise of a promotion, he like many before and after remain under the thumb of ‘the man’. With two grown up sons and a wife, everything appears stable, till the emergence of attempted suicide, rising debt and matrimonial troubles.

In this production from Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Raw Material, I’m sad to say I was left rather cold. There appears to be several things in need of tweaking. Dare I say, the actors could have been mic’d up higher, the musicians (who like the actors not in their scenes) watch from the sides, could have been utilised much more than their fleeting folk and bluesy bars. The American accents are also tricky, proven by poor to passable attempts from the company. The whole show simply should have had more electricity.

The set is average to fair: planks of wood suggest the Loman garden, a screen of a tree towers above and some props offer the home interiors itself. Its tourable, at least. David Hayman as Loman, has good tics and knows the piece well, but it still doesn’t work as a lead. I think it’s the quietness and the lack of real vibrancy. As Happy and Biff, Daniel Cahil and Michael Wallace are the backbone of the show. The constant seeking of approval from their father is paramount, getting the right job and even a declaration of a marriage proposal is never acknowledged. They do what they can in the heady roles and almost get away with it. Perhaps the strongest casting choices in this.

The weary wife Linda played by Beth Marshall, is a hard role to crack. She must support her husband, constantly remind her children of their fathers major issues, as well as keep the house going. Marshal plays the tired but bright role well enough, it’s a fine example of a great female character being behind a typical man. Stuart Ennis is Willy’s brother Ben, looking like composer Charles Ives, a distinguished gentleman who fared well in business. We only see him in some of Willy’s multiple flashbacks, Ben is only ever there to boast and remind Willy of his lack of luck in life. Ennis played this with fun and pomp, the only old world fibre to the show, originally set in the late 1940s. Other cast members are by the numbers, though some moments of humour flickered, some tensions almost palpable.

Runs at New Theatre till 5 April 2025.