Category Archives: Literature

Literature

Review: Don’t Go To Work The World Is Ending by Paul Dalton by Sian Thomas

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4 Stars

Don’t Go to Work the World is Ending by Paul Dalton was a fun and evocative read, that toed the line brilliantly between a fun and lively fantasy story, with a modern climate cautionary tale.

I got it on pre-order and was lucky that it arrived earlier than I had anticipated, since I was beyond eager to read it. The book technically debuts on May 25th, but I consider myself fortunate to have been able to read it so soon! Don’t Go to Work the World is Ending is Paul Dalton’s debut novel, and I was excited to see a fresh story from a fresh author, especially in an age of franchises and sequels on sequels on sequels. In many ways, my expectations were met and even exceeded!

Jack’s character stood out to me especially. He was a relatable yet fresh voice to take a hold of the narrative with, and I like how you see him grow into himself and change in a realistic way, without being an obvious “Chosen One” trope, or even an obvious subversion of such trope. I really enjoyed his placid but moral nature and how it drove him to take actions that didn’t feel sudden or especially high fantasy, but still fit in brilliantly with a story that become increasingly more fantastical! I also really enjoyed his sense of humour and the classic deadpan British kind of tone. He was a wonderful character to follow and experience the story “with”, and one that will stick with me!

The rest of the overall cast was fun, varied, and well-explored over the course of the story. The dynamics between Jack, Nisha, and Muriel worked well, and I enjoyed the ways they complemented one another in terms of action, and decision. By the end of the novel, I was glad for their reunion and they way that they felt like a real and capable team!

I especially enjoyed the climate change aspect of the novel too, and the way that the sweltering city heat was described so thoroughly and evocatively that I could feel it myself, sitting in a stone cottage that wouldn’t trap the heat even if you begged it to. The heat acting almost as a character in and of itself was an impressive take, and it brought me into this version of London without looking back to check if I was there, or even really giving me the chance to flee! Including a very modern issue in a fantasy book such as this was a clever and creatively unique move, and created a feeling of atmosphere that felt both very close to the present-day and real world, and still had that faraway charm of a high fantasy novel, which I enjoyed a lot.

Paul Dalton has a fantastic writing style and it shows you that it came from years of hard work, and sheer determination. He creates a wonderful sense of intrigue, allure, and mystique in the ever-recognizable setting of London, and a classically British voice to match it, and still manages to cultivate some phenomenal tension, and surprise. You can find him here or here.

Sian Thomas

Literature

A Critical Issue by Simon Kensdale

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A CRITICAL ISSUE

Last year, the National Poetry competition’s judges awarded second prize to a poem which they claimed was ‘quietly moving’.  They felt the poem, ‘Eric’, ‘establishes a voice and a world …and tells a miniature tragedy with incredible economy’.  The reader learns ‘the world is careless and greedy and love itself is both fragile and surprising.’  Breaking News, then…

But ‘Eric’(available on The Poetry Society website) is not a poem.  It is a 210-word piece of prose flash fiction about a boy who keeps a rabbit and a guinea pig.  The animals make friends but the rabbit disappears, probably stolen to be eaten, and the guinea pig dies, possibly of a broken heart.  The language is authentic, in the sense that it sounds like a boy speaking, even though we know it isn’t.  Children between six and thirteen would respond to the story’s content but adolescents would find it ridiculous.  It has little to offer an unsentimental adult reader, but it could be used in schools to stimulate creative writing or a discussion about relationships.

‘Eric’ was selected ahead of 19,000 other poems entered into the competition by 8,841 poets in 110 countries. Given, from the little I know about judging writing competitions, that few entries are publishable, if the National Poetry judges had thrown away 99% of the entries, they would still have been left with 190.  Many of these would have been well written.  Getting down to a short list of 30 must have been difficult.  After that there wouldn’t have been anything to choose between any of them.  I think ‘Eric’ made the cut because, under extreme pressure, the judges lost the plot – and their pedestrian comments on the little story bear this out.

This is more disconcerting than the merger of criticism and marketing which dominates the cultural scene today.  The judges were being sincere.  They weren’t interested in selling the poem or promoting its author, since competition entries are anonymous.  They believed they had it right, even when they got it wrong.  This is not to say ‘Eric’ is a poor piece of writing but simply that it cannot have been better than all but one of the top 1% of entries, if only because it’s not a poem.  Just as elsewhere the mass-production of cultural product has resulted in restaurant-style reviewing (with only four- and five-star awards being acceptable) the sheer volume of entries in the National Poetry Competition made last year’s result somewhat meaningless.  And if major literary competitions are becoming meaningless, where are we today with critical appreciation?  What can we do?

Not much – other than remember that virtually no contemporary cultural products will survive beyond the year of their making, whatever gets said about them.  For those who have learned not just what we know we like but what is worth exploring, the situation is tolerable.  But for younger members of society looking to broaden their cultural horizons and understand more of the human experience, things are not looking good.

Art, Literature

Review: The Adventure Zone The Suffering Game by Sian Thomas

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5 Stars

The Adventure Zone: The Suffering Game is the newest release in the TAZ Graphic Novel series, a book series spun from their first iteration of the story, through playing DND for a podcast. I’ve loved this podcast since I first heard it, and it’s incredible to relive and re-experience the story with a fresh new look and some changes to the story after time has elapsed.

Suffering Game is the sixth book in the series of (what I think will be) seven total, and the sixth arc of seven in the podcast’s original storytelling. And though my softest spot is for TAZ: The Eleventh Hour (which is arc five), this is a close second. The ramping tension and upheaval of the stakes in this arc is fantastic, and I love how well it was put to paper in this novel.

The art and transition to paper that this arc takes is fantastic; the drawings and attention to detail is done to an exceptionally high standard, and the movement of the story into book form is really well done. That being said, there are some omissions in the book from the original podcast story, and some of them are moment that I miss greatly, but understand wholeheartedly why they were removed. A lot of it is to do with streamlining, naturally, and things like “trimming the fat”, but it was “the fat” that I liked the taste of best. There are things removed from the character’s arc that I understand – removing these aspects is fine since they technically don’t lead anywhere. They’re superficial aspects (character’s looks being sacrificed to the game, character backstory going unexplored) because, ultimately, they don’t serve any purpose in the finale or wider story. Which is fine. Except for, I miss them. But it is fine.

This story as a whole means a lot to me, I’ve always really enjoyed it, and I still do. I like it in both audio and visual form. The art by Carey Pietsch is fantastic (as it always has been), and the writing works brilliantly to invoke its origins, keep the pace, and make you laugh. Which it does!

It’s an excellent graphic novel – though maybe not as an entry to the series (would be hard to start a series at the penultimate!). Though I think that part of my five stars comes from nostalgia and old love for the material, I still think it deserves that ranking. It’s a great book, an easy read; the art is fantastic and it’s fun to look for the small details across every page.

Sian Thomas
Literature, Theatre

THEN THERE WERE NONE, NEW THEATRE, CARDIFF BY JANE BISSETT

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

From the pen of the Queen of Crime, Mrs Agatha Christie, Then There Were None, was written in 1939 and has become the best-selling crime novel of all time. In this novel, as well as others, Christie immortalises the county of her birth by allowing the Devon landscapes and coastlines to inspire her.

Playing to a full house, the play is a cautionary tale, a murder mystery and a horror. It is the story of what happens to those who evade justice and believe themselves to be above the law and beyond reproach.

Lured to an Island off the Devon coast, a group of ten seemingly unconnected individuals find themselves the terrorised victims of an undetected murderer. They cannot leave the island as the weather has closed in and there are no available communications with the mainland, until the supply boat returns.

Will anyone be alive to tell what has transpired? Or as the poem about the Ten little soldiers suggests each of them, one by one, will meet a grizzly death.

Expertly cast the characters themselves were believable with the exception of Miss Emily Brent’s rather distracting knitting. Clearly not a knitter, rather than occupying her hands, it manifested as agitated fumbling and I just wanted her to put the needles back into the bag. This was a shame as Katy Stephens’ portrayal of Brent was spot on.

I also enjoyed Lucy Tregear as Rogers, not what I was expecting but brilliant.

For those who know the story well this production was a joyful combination of inspired set design and direction, teamed with sound and lighting.

The set was confined to one area of the mansion and the approach. This was limiting as we didn’t really get the full sense of mounting fear as the guests tried to discover, what was actually happening, how they could escape and who they were escaping from.

Sadly, there was not a full enough understanding of the back stories (flashbacks) of the ten and it made the story telling, as a whole, a little fragmented.

The play concluded with one of the most dramatic endings I have seen and I knew what was coming.

Then There Were None plays at the New Theatre until Saturday 23 March.

Literature, Theatre

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, THE CRIMES AND COMEDY COMPANY, GWYN HALL, NEATH – A REVIEW BY KEVIN JOHNSON

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out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

A production by the Crime and Comedy Theatre Company created on the 120th anniversary of the story, this is presented as a radio-play live on stage. Starring Colin Baker, Terry Molloy and Dee Sadler, it’s been adapted and directed by Martin Parsons.

One of the most famous cases faced by Sherlock Holmes, it’s actually based on Conan Doyle’s third novel, and sees the detective consulted by Dr Mortimer on behalf of her friend Sir Charles Baskerville, who has just inherited the title after the strange, untimely death of his father. She reveals the dark, centuries old curse on the family and asks for Holmes help to prevent the new heir suffering the same fate as the last.

Maybe it’s the concept, the classic story or even the way the actors and director convey the story, but there is something so warm and old fashioned about this production. A merging of a theatrical play and a radio mystery broadcast, it works as both. In fact, I enjoyed closing my eyes and listening to the sound effects of the countryside, the birds, the animals and even the weather. It gives a much richer atmosphere to the play and adds an extra dimension to the story. Such sounds are not immediately apparent with your eyes open, it really evokes the eeriness of the moor, and brings the story to life. In fact, for people who have loved ones who are blind or partially-sighted, this is an excellent opportunity to see things from their perspective, to share a performance you can both enjoy equally. My late mother lost her sight in old age, I think she would have loved this show.

There’s a vein of humour running through it to relieve the tension, some tongue in cheek, and plenty of in-jokes and references to other stories for Holmes fans, including one of the most famous and chilling lines from the stories: “Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound.”
The cast of seven are excellent, and a special mention must go to Martin Parsons for the adaptation. Although a Holmes fan I’ve never really cared for this story, but it’s made me reassess my opinion. Go see it, enjoy it, maybe even close your eyes, but remember, whatever you do, don’t try to cross the moor at night….

You can find out more about this production here

Film & TV, Literature, Theatre

Review: Life of Pi, Wales Millennium Centre by Gemma Treharne-Foose

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out of 5 stars (3 / 5)

Press Night Oct 18th 2023 

‘A visual feast…’

Those who watched Ang Lee’s film adaptation of Yann Martel’s 2001 novel will be familiar with the premise of Life of Pi. A young 16-year old boy from Pondicherry in India is launched into an epic adventure as the ship carrying his family and their zoo to a new life in Canada sinks – and he finds himself adrift in the ocean with only a fearsome Bengal tiger for company. 

Through the prism of Pi’s recollections later in a hospital ward, we hear how he survives 227 days at sea – and how the narrative which we come to believe – as bizarre and hallucinogenic it seems – is later completely turned on its head. 

This is a story exploring themes of religion, the complexities of people, the sanctity and sentience of animals and the sheer will to survive. The degree to which this stage adaptation adds to or takes away from both the book and Ang Lee’s film adaptation is up for debate, however. 

Previous reactions to the stage tour all seem to touch on this production being a “visual feast” or “an incredible visual adaptation”, “aesthetically pleasing” or that the puppeteers and animals steal the show. This is most certainly true – the production’s stunning set, magical special effects and masterful puppetry will wow the senses and pack a visual punch. 

But some of the book and film’s deeper delves into the philosophies of the human experience and the hypocrisies of religion are lost somewhat in this truncated stage adaptation. Speaking for myself and my father, seeing this stage show for the first time, we found ourselves disliking and feeling upset by some of the depictions of animal suffering. Truth be told, we can’t even stomach David Attenborough’s programmes these days.

This unease mind you, is probably a sign of the incredibly well-executed puppetry and choreography by the team. This did remind me also of the discomfort I felt watching Ang Lee’s film. So absorbed was I by the idea that the animals were suffering, I probably missed some of the intended broader points of the story. The highlight of this production, then becomes focused on the mode of delivery of the story rather than the story itself. Because the plot is pretty harrowing and – to quote a former colleague of mine who I bumped into in the show’s interval: “pretty grim”. 

This is not a stage show that will not exactly elevate or lift you as some productions can. It illustrates the difficult line writers and directors tread in that no creative really wants to spoon feed their audience and only serve up neat and today tales in a pretty little bow. But in the quest to make us think and engage us with what’s going on via the mechanisms of the stage production, we lose the potential to get under the skin of the characters and get to know them well. The characters become pawns for pondering the story, rather than characters you truly care about. Life of Pi is also an exploration of the stories we tell and how they come to form part of our “truth” – and as an audience you’ll be confronted with these idiosyncrasies in live time, preferring one version of “truth” over another. 

As an audience, we become desperate for those light moments of relief when Pi makes a quip, when the stars come out, when the glowing wiggly fish arrive because we’re reminded of the moments of light relief and beauty in a world that can be truly depressing and awful at times. As Pi tells Ms Okamoto in the hospital ward: “I’ve had a TERRIBLE journey…” 

Life of Pi in 2023 hits differently. You’ll think about how some things never change. When Pi’s family flee India due to the dangerous unrest (supposedly echoing Indira Ghandi’s 1976 declaration of “The Emergency”), you’ll ponder the plight of others in the world who now face becoming refugees in hostile territories, as we see playing out when the family are treated poorly by crew and passengers on route to Canada. 

Huge congratulations and oceans of praise must go to the energetic and engaging Divesh Subaskaran playing Pi. His physicality and presence in the lead role is stupendous, leaping from one side of the boat / bed to the other and embodying all of the trauma, hope and mania of Pi during his tumultuous journey across the sea. His stamina, his powerful voice, warmth and wit shine through even in the bleakest of times. You are rooting for him from the very beginning and willing for his terrible story to take a turn for the better. The chemistry and rapport between Divesh and Keshini Misha playing Pi’s sister Rani is sweet, offering up a ray of hope ahead of the family’s ill-fated journey. 

Finally, the purveyors of the visual magic in this show have to be set and costume designer Tim Hartley, Puppetry and Movement Director Finn Caldwell. The lighting, visual effects and projections in this production are wonderful thanks to Andrzej Goulding and Tim Lutkin. 

Life of Pi may not be an easy watch – but it’s certainly a beautiful one.

Film & TV, Literature

Review, An Audience with Lucy Worsley on Agatha Christie, St David’s Hall by James Ellis

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Photo credit: Hay Festival/Paul Musso

Perhaps best known for her documentaries on the telly, Lucy Worsley remains a vision of the past. It remains her openness, her determination to shed light upon these famous female figures throughout English history that is endearing. Her girlish charm, her sensible style and swift wit are what make you fall in love with her.

Her arrival to the Cardiff stage was everything I expected it to be and I was still elated. Gracing the space in a nymph like green and sparkly number, her time throught the night was on the murder mystery mistress Agatha Christie. All this to smoothly plug her new book, which people, bought in droves on the night. Impressive to hear that over a thousand tickets had been sold for the Cardiff talk alone.

Christie, here is given the full shake down by Worsley. Her upbringing in Torquay, two separate marriages swirled with affairs, archeology and aging gracefully. The might of her huge selling power in novels galore is commendable, though I’m thinking “was she truly a great writer?”, our presenter saying Murder in the Vicarage is a work of genius. It’s easy to tap into Agatha’s old psyche to see why she loved stories that involed murder and the mode of finding the killer. Work as a nurse during WWI, might pertian to certain horrors, her need to write with a driving force of creation her fuel. Catharsis unbounded.

Lucy makes a PowerPoint presentation funny, thoughtful and expectedly educational. Her reach spans far with TV work, books, live events and job at Hampton Court Palace. We won’t dare mention what a contractor once said to her when she was knocking about with her parasol one day! Though I must confess, I think I might respectfully disagree with Lucy over Christie’s famous disappearance. Her hubbie’s affair put her into an apparent fugue state, which resulted in a suicide attempt, hiding in a hotel for two weeks, alleged amnesia and apparently…a South African accent. If she was faking it, I doubt she could be blamed, her husband pushing her over the edge in mental and physical realms (she planned to force her car over some sand dunes). We are never ourselves in extraordinary circumstances.

Though I doubt I’ll be reading Lucy’s recent page flutter, this was a thoroughly good evening and meeting her after was a briefly, real delight, the longest queue behind me itching to meet her themselves.

Lucy Worsley continues on tour around the UK.

Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley is available to buy now.

Literature, Theatre

Review The Crucible, Gielgud Theatre, London by James Ellis

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Photo credits: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg

out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

Lyndsey Turner’s version of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece of 20th century theatre will not be underestimated. There is a striking use of lighting thanks to the talents of Tim Lutkin, who wants to expose these characters at every angle. The stage is often alight, a large screen above the stage mimics a Rothko abstract. Perhaps the most showy thrill of this hot shot show is the water feature. Rain treacles down the front of the stage, no doubt the first few rows were in the splash zone. Its gimmicky and it’s real meaning may be contested, but I have much praise for this production.

The soft ambient drones thanks to the work of Tintying Dong and Christopher Shutt are the ever present vain throughout. The girls of the village offer further effective vocalising passages to add to the exquisite broth, another acoustic thrill. The atmosphere is heightened thanks to this and the music of Caroline Shaw also adds to this remarkable story. The actors at the start remind us of the context of the play’s creation: Miller mirroring the Salem Witch Trials with the ongoing attack from Andrew McCarthy in the ever increasing anxiety about communism in American life. Miller weaves a fine tale, facts mingle with dynamite theatre, there is never any disrespect here. The show is therefore set in the time it was written to hammer this truth home.

The Crucible remains a fine example of how not to be in a community. Its is the indulging of gossip, conjecture and hatred for the fellow man that sees these events play out. Faith and delusion intermingle and the threat of the devil and his effect upon people. Yet who has seen what? Are they really servicing the devil himself? The play skillfully used old timey English language without being too archaic, we hear and understand these characters clearly.

A remarkable cast, stun in a list of names as long as the village. Too many to say, but Nick Fletcher does well as the annoying Reverend Samuel Parris who potter’s about lost in his own pomposity. Milly Alcock is a resounding Abigail, one of the girls accused of dancing naked in the woods. Many Irish and English accent float around though Milly’s give wonderful across the pond pipes and her convulsions were immeasurably disturbing. Brian Gleeson has a lap of honour as John Proctor. This saintly figure, who fights for his wife Elizabeth aside his problematic role with Abigial.

Elizabeth is Caitlin FitzGerald, the tall, blonde presence who was hardly involved in any of the witch implied antics. I love her resilience in the face of terror. Giles Corey was a grand Karl Johnson, who get good laughs and offers great insight. Reverend John Hale is Fisayo Akinade, the serious and effective role who on the quest for truth, finds horror instead, as many girls and women are tried for witchcraft with the sentence being hanging. My favourite role was Matthew Marsh as Deputy Governor Danforth. I was awash with goose bumps for the tense trial scene and Marsh is a jammy voiced, highly intimidating figure and simply gloria in the role. Also how the quest for truth, though still extremely biased. I’ll say sorry now for not going into all the great acting in this show.

Just go and see it.

The Crucible is at the Gielgud Theatre till 2 Sept 2023.

Literature

Review Bernie Sanders, It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism Talk, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre by James Ellis

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Image: Pete Woodhead

out of 5 stars (5 / 5)

I’m usually in London for theatre and concerts. Yet, there was an unmissable chance at the Southbank Centre to see Bernie Sanders live. The man who ran for U. S. President twice and remains the longest running serving independent representative in congressional history has a reputation like no over.

There was a very brief window to meet him at a reception beforehand. I may have had the privilege of being the only person at the event to get a copy signed of his new book: ‘It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism’, a review will soon follow. I shook his hand, as ever an honour and he had to shoot of to the main event after a little speech just for us as guests, his wife, some family and even Jeremy Corbyn in attendance. In his talk, he dazzled us with home truths about the deep troubles in his own country and on these shores. This post mortem asked us “Where do we want to go in the future?”. Strong words, indeed.  

To say I’m a fan of Bernie is a huge understatement. I found even my host in London had a lot to say about the man, all highly critical and disparaging. His ideas, though old in some respects now, have only ever made people get the chance in life, the right to healthcare and as Americans love to say…“the pursuit of happiness”. I think he knows himself the baton has been passed on in these views and ideas, yet Bernie who is now 81 is still full of gusto.  

The galvanising political spectrum we’ve all been lost in the past few years has only emboldened enemies of Bernie and his philosophy. Taxes are always the word in his mouth, I think most people can agree the Musks, Zuckerbergs and Bezoss should lift their wallets more often. He also spoke highly of the NHS and in a rather touching moment glowed about our Nye Bevan. The NHS may have its flaws, but we should be thankful for it in the end. He even encouraged younger people to consider getting into politics, something which is happening more now. 

Interviewed by writer and academic Emma Dabiri, the evening strolled along nicely with a laid back feel. Bernie even wanted to stand for the first part of the interview since he was as he said, used to doing it that way. There was so much to take in during this discussion, oligarchs, Ukraine, wages, social media and more all popped up. I love Bernie’s frank, no nonsense approach to these topics. He happily gets to the root of these problems and the reasons for them, it’s very refreshing from some one who has been in politics for so long. We simply need more people just like him. It has to happen.  

I really do wonder how the world will be after the pandemic, energy and bills crisis, strikes, the ugly return of sexism, homophobia, racism and transphobia, amongst many other fears. I feel Bernie who delighted this Festival Hall audience and live stream viewers the strength to keep going in both life, work, beliefs and everything in between.   

I left London with worries, yet thankfully a lot of hope about the future. 

Thank you, Bernie.  

Watch the stream for free till 2 March 2023. 

It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism, published by Crown Publishing Group/Penguin Random House out now in all good book shops and to order online. 

Literature, Music, Musical, Theatre

Review The Lion , the B*tch and the Wardrobe, Wales Millennium Centre by Rhys Payne

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Images Credit Jorge Lizalde

out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)

When applying to join Get the Chance I talked about how as someone who has taken part in a plethora of community productions across Wales in both on and off-stage roles I have a deeper understanding of how the mechanics of putting on a show works. Usually, as a reviewer, we are focused on whatever happens on or around the stage for the three-ish hours of a select performance but I am going to start this week’s review a little bit differently by talking about something that happened before the auditorium even opened for “The Lion, the B*tch and the Wardrobe. As me and the famous Aunty Chris sat eating waiting for the doors of the venue to open, we discovered that Bar One at Wales Millennium Centre was selling a unique “B*tch Juice” cocktail to help celebrate the press evening of the show we were moments from seeing. At around £6 (which was under what I expected to pay for a cocktail at the Millennium Center) the vodka, cranberry and lemonade drink was incredibly refreshing and wonderfully delicious! In fact, I’m going to try experimenting at home to try and get the recipe as close to the one I had as possible as it was simply that nice!

This time last year I was invited to attend a performance of XXXmas Carol where I talked about my not-so-secret love of Polly Amorous from meeting her in nightclub settings and being absolutely astonished by how much of an incredible performer she was on the stage! When it was announced that Polly and the gang were returning for ‘The Lion, the B*tch and the Wardrobe’ the surprise of Polly’s acting prowess was gone. I walked into this show (sort of unfairly) with the knowledge of the previous show and how amazing the sober songbird of Splott was but despite all this she still managed to surpass the already high bar she had previously set! Not only had she built on her already fantastic stage presence but her vocal abilities seem to have only grown tenfold since the last time.

The show opens with Polly and her personal piano player Felix Sürbe as they take the audience of a whistle-stop tour of iconic Christmas anthems! The later sections of these mash-ups were where Polly really found her footing and managed to introduce her brand of hilarious humour and amazing vocals! Polly not only plays an integral part of the camp retelling of the CS Lewis story itself but also acts as a narrator of the show helping to transition from storytelling to an array of performers to scenes flawlessly. She is able to maintain the humour embedded into the show while also driving the plot without appearing like she is pushing things along which is not an easy thing to do. Whenever I watch Polly perform I always ask if she can give us a rendition of defying gravity from Wicked as this is a musical I love and is one of my favourite songs she does in her set. This is why I was totally overwhelmed when she not only busted out of a performance of this iconic song but did so while suspended in the air on a zip wire. Seeing her dangle in the air while singing about flying not only made sense narratively but the humour in her being left on stage had the audience howling!

In last year’s performance, we were introduced to the incredibly sensual Erik McGill who wowed the audience with his gravity-defying trapeze skills. This year he was given a much bigger responsibility of playing the loveable (yet extremely horny) Mr Bumnus. From the moment we first met this unique character to the more emotional moments throughout Eric is able to portray this goat/Human hybrid creature wonderfully while taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster throughout. His first performance was a beautiful routine which involved Erik scaling up a floating lamp post and showcasing the most mesmerising poses and positions while keeping a lustful gaze at Polly the entire time.  He manages to control his body in such a smooth and fluid way meaning that the transitions from poses is just as entertaining as the tricks themselves. Early in the show, we see a hilarious scene where Mr Bumnus was Polly to spank him in return for secrets that would help the host on her quest. Erik does a fantastic job of taking this sexual (by nature) scene and injecting the perfect amount of comedy making it suitable for the stage. My favourite moment of this character however was just after an emotional moment with Mr Bumnus is violently punished for betraying the queen and Polly needs to find a way to bring him back to life. This leads to Polly discovering a paddle and using it to deliver a thunderous spank that not only jolts him back to life but straight into an incredible trapeze act. While Asha Jane delivered a wonderful performance of “It’s Raining Men”, Erik soared through the air on his trapeze with every time he leapt from the trapeze I physically jumped out of my seat! The range of flips and tricks he was able to perform while dangling so dangerously high in the air had my heart racing on the floor so I can’t imagine what he would have been feeling up there!

I was a little disappointed however that Rahim El Habachi had a much more drawn-back involvement in this year’s show not only because he is a friend of mine but also because his unique brand of belly dancing is always a crowd favourite! Last year he was able to showcase his dance skills, live singing and showcase original spoken word pieces and while he could showcase some of his talents, he did not have as many opportunities as last year! This performance was much more focused on his acting talents as he took on the role of a sexy reindeer and the mighty Ass-lan where he was able to throw his voice in such a way to create a powerful, bombing sound this character has become associated with. Throughout the show, Foo Foo LaBelle was able to showcase her incredible burlesque-infused performances including a police-inspired number where a lucky audience member was selected to go on stage and receive a sensual lap dance live in front of everyone. The performer was able to totally command the stage while also allowing for a reasonable amount of chaos and comedy with the audience member involved which is always a gamble in shows! I also thoroughly enjoyed the rendition of “Feeling Good” by Asha which ended with a vibrant explosion of streamers with every performing storming the stage to help mark the end of act one!

Overall, creating a queer retelling of a story originally created by a devoted Christian is not only an extremely powerful and political statement but also the fantastical elements of Narnia lend themselves beautifully to the series of unique performances. Polly managed to anchor the explosion of sensual eroticism (of whips, chains, spanking etc) with a mind-blowing performance and wonderful vocals (from Polly included) which is no easy feat! I would rate this show 4.5 stars out of 5!

You can find out more about the production and book tickets here