There are few things more magical than a classic Hollywood musical: a lavish spectacle with characters to adore and songs to die for. And there are few more beloved than My Fair Lady, one of the last golden age musicals, in which a snooty phonetics professor vows to transform a Cockney flower girl into an English rose. Based on George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion, the film starred Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and featured iconic Lerner & Loewe songs like ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ and ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’. It’s a classic for a reason – and, direct from the West End, the Lincoln Center’s dazzling new revival is here to remind us just how loverly a show this is.
Charlotte Kennedy and the My Fair Lady ensemble (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
Lerner & Lowe also brought us the musical delights of Camelot, Gigi, and Brigadoon (not to mention the vastly underrated Paint Your Wagon) – but it’s easy to see why My Fair Lady is their most beloved work. Directed by Bartlett Sher (helmer of the critically-acclaimed revival of The King and I), this new production – the first major revival in fifteen years – comes with revitalised sets, costumes and musical arrangements. The score has never sounded as magnificent does here under the musical direction of Alex Parker, and you won’t find a finer chorus this side of the Edwardian era.
Michael D. Xavier, Heather Jackson and Charlotte Kennedy (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
Having made her professional debut in Les Miserables in the West End, Charlotte Kennedy puts her own instantly-iconic spin on the beloved character of Eliza Doolittle. Her powerful voice and equally powerful performance makes her the beating heart of every scene she’s in – and her hilarious conversation with the aristos in Ascot is truly one for the ages.
Michael D. Xavier, Charlotte Kennedy and John Middleton in My Fair Lady (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
Two-time Olivier Award nominee Michael D. Xavier (who performed opposite Glenn Close to great acclaim in Broadway’s Sunset Boulevard revival) brings a haughty charm to Henry Higgins, pitched somewhere between David Tennant and Dickie Attenborough. Xavier brings a beautifully self-aware silliness to the totally oblivious Prof, especially in ‘An Ordinary Man’ and ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face’. His rapport with Emmerdale’s John Middleton as Colonel Pickering is especially fun to watch – and their ‘Eureka!’ moment with Kennedy during ‘The Rain in Spain’ is a joy.
Adam Woodyatt and the My Fair Lady ensemble (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
EastEnders’ Adam Woodyatt is perfectly cast as the lovably roguish Alfred P. Doolittle, a role he was born to play – in his hands, ‘With a Little Bit of Luck’ is delightfully puckish, but it’s the barnstorming ‘Get Me to the Church On Time’, culminating in an exceedingly camp can-can, which really brings the house down. Woodyatt flexed his dramatic chops the last time he performed in Cardiff, to great effect – but it’s brilliant to see him really let loose here.
Lesley Garrett, Michael D. Xavier, Charlotte Kennedy and John Middleton in My Fair Lady (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
Tom Liggins brings a boyish charm to Freddy Eynsford-Hill (and a sublime rendition of ‘On the Street Where You Live’) while Heather Jackson, known to many as the West End’s Madame Giry (The Phantom of the Opera), brings gravitas even in just a few scenes as Mrs Higgins, as does world famous soprano wonderful Lesley Garrett, who – if slightly under-utilised – brings warmth to the role of Mrs Pearce, and lends her beautiful voice to some of the show’s best numbers. And kudos to Tom Pring for stealing scenes as a sardonic butler.
The My Fair Lady ensemble in full swing (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
Michael Yeargan’s sets are nothing short of an architectural marvel and make an ingenious use of the Millennium Centre’s impressive stage. Especially extraordinary is the way in which Higgins’ luxurious London townhouse rotates during musical numbers to show off an elegant hall, a stylish study, a chic bathroom and a leafy alcove within which an amorous young couple meet by midnight. The sets transport you from the East End to the Embassy Ball, aided by Catherine Zuber’s exquisite costumes which capture every inch of the scale and grandeur of the classic film.
The My Fair Lady ensemble dressed to the nines for a day at the races (photo credit: Marc Brenner)
While there are a few aspects that might benefit from a modern touch – the decision to keep all of Higgins’ unpleasantness towards Eliza does threaten to undercut the budding romance and has an impact on how you view the ending – the sheer talent on display makes My Fair Lady an unmissable night of sumptuous entertainment. With a little bit of luck, you’ll not only have a bloomin’ loverly time, but you’ll dance all night too!
Touring throughout the UK, My Fair Lady is performing at the Wales Millennium Centre for 3 weeks only from 9 – 26 November. For more information and to book tickets, click here.
Get the Chance Community Critic Barbara Hughes-Moore speaks with actor Robert Wilfort, who plays the title role in SPIKE, a new play by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman which charts the rise of Spike Milligan and The Goons. Milligan was the head writer and one third of The Goons, a working-class British comedy trio which also comprised Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe (and, later, Michael Bentine), who took the nation by storm in the 1950s. Despite frequent run-ins with the BBC, The Goons’ avant-garde silliness inspired countless comedic greats from Monty Python to Mischief Theatre. The UK tour ends its run in Cardiff, playing at the New Theatre from 22 – 26 November (you can find out more about the production and book tickets here). Robert chats about what it’s like to play such a beloved icon of British comedy, and why Spike aficionados and newcomers alike will leave the theatre laughing!
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today, Robert!
Thank you for having me.
Tell us a little bit about SPIKE.
The Spike of the title is Spike Milligan, played by me. It’s a new play written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman written about Spike and The Goons, particularly focusing on the time round about when they were starting to become popular in the 1950s. For those of you who don’t know who Spike Milligan is, he’s a hugely influential comedian, writer, poet, performer who burst onto the scene in the early 1950s with this anarchic radio comedy show called The Goons which was quite unlike anything that came before it. It was hugely popular and hugely influential, so this play is exploring the development of that time and a celebration of his work.
How surreal does the play get? The Goons toyed with that kind of comedy.
They did! They were absolutely mad; they took these huge surreal logical leaps. We’re not too surreal: we try to tell the real story of his life, but we do have some fun surreal moments in the playing of it. Spike breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience quite a lot, and the staging is quite fast and fluid, and funny, strange things happen; we mix scenes together. There is a nice surreal thread running through the show.
How do you bring that into the creative process: is the comedy quite regimented or do you keep it quite loose?
We keep it fairly loose – if we interact with the audience we do have room to go off a bit, but we do tend to stick to the script! It’s a great script – the play is very fast and snappy so that was the thing we were trying to capture the most, because The Goons have a huge energy to them. Most of their clips are on BBC Sounds. They’re fast, snappy, they don’t let up with the jokes and we try to capture that energy in the play. If you don’t like one joke, there’s always another one along in a minute! I think what Ian and Nick wanted particularly to capture is that, when we see things on tv that talk about comedian’s life it’s often quite dark, tears of a clown – and Spike did have that side to him; he did have that side to him. He got shell shocked in WWII and had serious mental health issues throughout this life which he was always very honest about. We deal with them but we don’t dwell on them: the tone of the show is joyful and silly and happy, because I think that’s what people need at the moment.
Was it important then to bring those two tones together in the show?
That’s been the big challenge: finding when Spike is ‘on’, which he kind of always was. He was always funny and always telling jokes, he just couldn’t help it. But he could also be quite argumentative and difficult to work with and worked himself into a breakdown. He used to write an episode a week, thirty episodes in a series, and he pretty much did it on his own. It was his passion project, so he would just work and work and work. We showed the effect this had on his marriage. For me as a performer it was about finding the moments of being real as opposed to the jokes.
There are a lot of jokes, a lot of Spike’s jokes – Ian and Nick will freely say that they wrote this show because half of it was written already! We do also act out parts of Goons’ shows as well, with the microphones as if we’re recording them. So there’s a lot of original Spike material in there. It was all about finding the pattern, finding a real person in amongst all the jokes and the tomfoolery.
How do you even begin to approach playing a real person who is so eccentric, unique and beloved? What is your way into that?
When I was offered it, I thought ‘what a great part!’ then I started to get slightly worried because he’s one of the funniest people who has ever been – no pressure! I tried not to let that worry me too much. It helped that I was a fan and I knew his work, my dad was a big fan and he grew up listening to it first time around. I felt like I knew the style of the comedy and then I read and watched a lot about him. I knew his performing style but I wanted to try and find footage of him from the time. I think a lot of people have an image of him as a grumpy old man figure, but he was quite young when he started. So it was about trying to capture his energy and essence without trying to do a picture perfect impression. It’s our version of Spike, our story we’re telling. Ad it was really good fun to research – lots of silly videos!
How do you interact with the other cast members playing The Goons, and get that sense of camaraderie?
Luckily, everyone in the company is really lovely and naturally funny themselves, so it hasn’t been that much of a challenge to look like we’re having fun. It’s about getting the speed and the timing right so it feels like it’s flowing. We have some scenes where they are just messing about in the pub, because that’s how it started (and how a lot of great comedy starts: good friends messing around together in a pub!) Jeremy who plays Harry Secombe is fantastic; Paddy Warner who plays Peter Sellers is fantastic too – so it’s not been hard, we just kind of keep throwing things around and see what works. We still try and play around with it, never try to do it exactly the same every night but tweak it a bit and catch the other person off a little bit. It’s about trying to make other people laugh!
Is that one of the joys of touring this kind of show? That you not only play the different interpretations on the stage every night but different audiences react differently?
They do! That’s the fun: that every theatre presents a new challenge, and a different space and size. You have a different experience depending on where you are. We definitely notice that different towns have different feelings to them – I’m sure Cardiff’s going to be the best, though!
All my friends and family are coming to the Cardiff shows – I’m from Porthcawl so I grew up only half an hour down the road.
Have you ever performed in Cardiff before?
I haven’t performed onstage in Cardiff since I was in the National Youth Theatre – I’ve done TV and radio in Cardiff since but never a play, so I’m really looking forward to it. We’re there the last week in November, we finish on the 26th.
Just before Christmas!
Come and do your Christmas shopping on Queen Street and then see our show – it’s a great day out!
The Goons in 1956
Even if people didn’t grow up with The Goons, they will have grown up with those who were influenced by them, like Monty Python, Mischief Theatre and the Horrible Histories crew.
We acknowledge that at the end of the play, actually: just how many people have been influenced by him. The Goons started in 1950, so you had people like John Lennon and Paul McCartney listening to it, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, as well as all of the Pythons. I don’t think you would have had Monty Python and all of these people without Spike. You can hear the influences in later classic sketches, like ‘Don’t tell him your name, Pike!’, there’s a version of that on The Goons twenty years before Dad’s Army. People would gather round listen to it on the radio. It was like the rock and roll of comedy: the parents didn’t understand it, but they did. I think Ian and Nick thought Spike may have been forgotten – I’ve actually explained who he was to a lot of people my age.
Is that part of the impetus behind the show: to find out more about this person who influenced so much?
Yes! Also, it was an interesting and important time: all the Goons were in the army, and they would go and entertain the troops. The Second World War helped to create this whole generation of working-class actors, writers and performers. I can’t think of the same happening now: three working-class lads having their own sketch show seems like it would be rare now. It was an interesting and important time, and we want to celebrate that. Spike died 20 years ago, a whole generation have grown up not really knowing him, other than maybe doing his poems at school. We have had all ages in the audience! It’s a good night out for anyone whether you know the Goons or not.
Why is theatre suited to telling this story?
You get the instant reaction, the laughter. It could absolutely work as a TV project, it might have originated as that. Because there’s been no theatre for such a long time, and because there’s that communal feeling you can sense as the show goes on. Being in a space with other people all enjoying the same thing, I don’t think anything is quite like that.
What’s your favourite moment that’s happened so far?
We had a couple of drunk ladies in the front row the other week! That’s the joy of live performance – they were really enjoying it, and joining in. we had a strange moment in Brighton where a few kids broke into the theatre and were running around the royal boxes trying not to get caught! That’s all part of the joy: you never know quite what’s going to happen. The best moment for me is just having an audience being happy and entertained.
What makes you laugh like that? Who are your comedy influences?
My favourites are Vic and Bob! They were my heroes, along with people like Chris Morris (The Day Today, Brass Eye) and Steve Coogan. They have a special place in my heart: pure silliness, pure nonsense.
Speaking of Chris Morris, I often quote “Peter, you’ve lost the news!” out of context, totally unprompted. Do you have a favourite Spike Milligan joke that you find yourself dropping into conversation?
His poems always make me laugh: he has one that goes ‘There was a young man called Wyatt, whose voice was incredibly quiet, and then one day, it faded away, [mimes the rest of the line silently]’. It’s always the strange experimental moments in The Goons that make me laugh most: there’s a scene where a spy has been sent to the Secret Rendezvous, and the code is to knock the door six thousand times. It goes on for ages and the knocks get faster, then the door opens and he asks ‘Is this the Tea House of the Orchard Moon’? ‘No, next door’, and then he does it all over again! What the show deals with is how much Spike had to fight the BBC to get stuff like that on, because the bigwigs at the BBC didn’t understand the comedy. The core of the play is Spike’s battle with the BBC to get the show, and its special effects, how he wanted it.
He ended up transforming BBC sound effects. He’d ask for the most ridiculous things like Big Ben falling off Beachy Head, or a Wurlitzer organ travelling through the desert as fast as it can go. He was constantly pushing and challenging, and out of that came the radiophonic workshop and all the amazing things they did on Dr Who. He wasn’t just an influence on comedy but on radio and sfx as well.
What do you think is the secret of comedy: is it that boundary-breaking rebellion against authority that Spike embodied so well?
I think it is that. It can be saying the least expected thing or breaking the boundaries. Spike would find the surreal or the silly in anything: any turn of phrase he could make a pun out of. I think it is having a way that looks at the world that turns it on its head, that makes it come to your point of view. It doesn’t have to be taboo busting, though there is a place for that in comedy.
Spike wasn’t an overnight success: like all the best kind of artists, he spent years out on the comedy circuit and then people slowly came round to his style. I think the world came to Spike as opposed to the other way round; he didn’t emerge fully formed. He was aways funny; his war memoirs are always a great read because they’re very silly.
He has a joke even on his grave – “I told you I was ill!” – there’s not many people who could do that, and make you laugh long after they’re no longer with us.
And there’s not many people who could have got away with saying what he did to Prince Charles!
What do you want audiences to come out of this play, this theatrical comedy experience, to feel when they leave the theatre?
If we send people out there to explore his work who maybe wouldn’t have before, and to go back to The Goons as a lot of people haven’t listened to them. We just want to send people out happy, really. I want people to go out and say “That was the best actor I’ve ever seen in my entire life! Nothing will ever top that!” Send them out happy, and then dip their toes into this amazing world of comedy.
I’m sure they will, Robert – we can’t wait to see SPIKE!
Please come and see us, we’re really looking forward to Cardiff. My mum’s bringing a coachload of her friends to the Wednesday matinee. Fifty pensioners from Porthcawl!
I don’t think you could have a better audience!
The UK tour of SPIKE ends its run in Cardiff, playing at the New Theatre from 22 – 26 November (you can find out more about the production and book tickets here).
It’s been a mere seven weeks since Dyad Productions has graced Chapter once again. This time it’s for the spooky season, when the clocks go back and a general eeriness lingers in the air. We’ve been truly lost in our screens this Halloween seasons, Dahmer on Netflix’s has both horrified and caused outrage in equal measure. The smash hit, UK made puppet show Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared finally saw it’s Channel 4 premier, disgusting and brilliant for it six episode run. Though Female Gothic tries to go back to the horror of the old school, the OG if you will.
It’s easy to look back at the Victorians as another world, yet their perspective on death still has a clutch on society today. People such as Ask A Mortician on YouTube have tried to look at the Victorian way of handling death and funerals, with a new approach to the deceased. Many of these macabre stories prove their fear of dying and also what lies beyond. Dyad have evoked three similar stories, one that would not feel out of place in The Tales of the Unexpected. They mostly involve the regret of a past love through grief, the quest for knowledge and its downfall alongside the worry of maternal death. All of this is in the Gothic vein so its ghosts, an exotic potion from the south seas and a dark spirit that wouldn’t sound out of place in a manga.
Rebecca Vaughn holds us in the space in what was a rather chilly depth for the evening. Her entire costume is expectedly black and imposing, yet beautiful. Her diction is something I’ve been taken with after hearing her in A Room of One’s Own, the candlelit and soft lamp hue of the theatre had a evocative vibe, perfect for the context. I craved a bit more sound work and music in particular passages of this trio of stories, though the silence was highly effective in other moments. Dyad has proven the legitimacy of intimate theatre shows, with an ever increasing list of one woman pieces, made marvellous thanks to the ardour of Vaughn.
Female Gothic continues on tour, along with Christmas Gothic. Dyad Productions will present a new version of A Christmas Carol next winter.
There’s nothing quite like that Ealing feeling: the slew of indubitably British comedies that raised the spirits of postwar Blighty. There’s misbehaviour, yes – Kind Hearts and Coronets, for one, has more deaths than an episode of Game of Thrones – but it’s all done in a rather genial fashion. In Ealing comedies, hoodlums don spiffy suits and jaunty bowler hats, and stop to wish you a good day after they’ve mugged you. This is the spirit which infuses the new touring production of The Lavender Hill Mob, widely considered one of the finest British films of all time, which performs at the New Theatre in Cardiff this week.
Directed by Jeremy Sams and adapted from T.E.B. Clarke’s 1951 screenplay by Phil Porter, The Lavender Hill Mob follows Henry Holland (Miles Jupp), an unassuming bank clerk now living like a king in Rio. His unlikely rise has inspired a film director (Guy Burgess) to put Holland’s story in the movies – leading Holland and his entourage to re-enact the tale with much theatrical aplomb. It’s as funny as you might expect from a show which is led by two proud alumni of The Thick of It, with Jupp channelling Alec Guinness’ breezy RP charm and Justin Edwards doing an uncanny evocation of the great Stanley Holloway as the befuddled Pendlebury.
Holland’s friends are played by Tessa Churchard, John Dougall, Victoria Blunt, Aamira Challenger and Tim Sutton, with much of the laugh out loud moments coming from their playing of multiple of roles, each one more chaotic than the last. There’s a car chase in Calais, a mad dash through London, and the iconic scene on the Eiffel Tower (on whose novelty souvenirs the plot hinges).
While the heist never quite reaches the comic heights of its original, it’s a consistently amusing and well-played caper, with all the charm of its classic counterpart. For fans of modern comedies like The Play that Goes Wrong, it’s a night of fun and frolics – with The Lavender Hill Mob, you’ll be in criminally good company.
The Lavender Hill Mob is playing at the New Theatre Cardiff until Saturday 5 November. For more information and to book tickets, click here.
I have to say I wasn’t sure what to expect on a rainy Welsh Wednesday in an ex-working men’s club in Maes Y Coed, Pontypridd. It’s not your usual venue for a bit of theatre, but Pontypridd-born Katie Payne (accompanied by live DJ Glade Marie) took the small, buzzy audience on a rollercoaster ride through the memories and present-day happenings of character Phoebe Phillips. I haven’t always connected with plays written about Valleys characters. They can be a little over-done, a pastiche or caricature of a romanticised myth that can be sickeningly saccharine at times. But this evening’s performance exploring what it’s like to be in the orbit of an ADHD mind was quite possibly one of the best and most relatable depictions of Welsh working class Valleys women I have seen on stage.
“One of the best depictions of Welsh working class Valleys women I have seen on stage…”
Phoebe is uncompromisingly, restlessly real. Painfully and honestly so. We skip back and forth between memories and songs and scenes from her childhood, thorough messy confrontations, and the myriad of relationships with friends, families and foes. Valleys folk will all recognise the characters who pop up in ‘Duffy’s’ (but really, this was as true for me of Tonyrefail, just up the road). You’ll meet “Bag-face Linda”, the bouncer with the spade arms, “Pick Me” Caroline, sweet/spiteful Alex and Jamie bloody Richards – the lad’s lad you love to hate. There’s a constant drum beat of frenetic energy brewing from the very beginning, building up to a crescendo of chaos that gets better and stronger as the performance reaches the summit.
As a family currently on the waiting list for an ADHD assessment and with suspected neurodivergent traits of our own, this really did hit home. My teenage daughter said she thought it was written about her. I thought it could have been written about me, too! The play explores the turbulence of having emotions that are always brimming just below the surface and the ensuing fireworks that leave a host of disappointed faces in their wake. Throughout, main character Phoebe navigates the stigma and grief associated with never ever feeling good enough and of living inside your own head constantly.
ADHD presents differently in girls of course, and while many ADHD girls perhaps won’t be as disruptive, energetic and borderline violent as Phoebe, all will recognise the panic of being exposed and ‘found out’. There’s a gendered level of shame to confronting and owning anger and the end scene where Phoebe lets her guard down with boyfriend Ben was like a punch in the gut. If it’s exhausting to be with me, imagine what it’s like being me, Phoebe says. But the audience instinctively see that there should be no shame in her realness. There is, in fact – power in her drive, her hyper-focus, her silliness (the beautiful scene where she curls her lip and cuts through the conflict with a single facial expression is sheer perfection).
I asked my daughter how she felt after the show. “I feel seen” she said…
Neurdivergent or not, this is an absolute must-see. Katie Payne is not only a sharp writer and a gifted performer, but she absolutely NAILS the working class experience of growing up in the Valleys. Throughout this show, there are nostalgic references, witty one liners and great little cameo voices from relatives and members of the wedding party who depict the humour, the claustrophobia and often – the sheer absurdity of the Valleys experience. Sometimes, the stifling yet gripping hold ‘home’ can have on you can be discombobulating. As Phoebe did during Caroline’s wedding, you confront your past, your weaknesses and your failures. TH Parry Williams the North-Walian poet described “home” as being like a dragon’s claw gripping your heart and riffed about resenting the folks you try to leave behind. But in true Welsh “Hiraeth” fashion, you may feel an inexplicable sense of disconnect or loss when you move away. For those of us who were lucky enough to grow up in the Valleys, though, My Mix(ed up) Tape makes coming home to Duffy’s feel like a big warm cwtch. You may feel like you’ve been punched in the feels, but my god – you will bloody laugh, mun.
The buoy band that breams were made of! Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical, written by Amanda Whittington and directed by James Grieve, is based on the true ragfish-to-riches story of the best Cornish export since the pasty: an acapella group comprised of local fishermen whose chart-topping rise to fame saw them playing the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2011. The musical, which draws on the screenplay for the 2019 film starring James Purefoy and Daniel Mays, includes a raft of sea shanties (including lockdown TikTok sensation Wellerman) alongside original songs written for the show by musical director James Findlay. Having premiered in Plymouth in September, the UK tour drops anchor in Cardiff this week.
The UK touring cast of Fisherman’s Friends 2022
The story centres around the band’s discovery by Jason Langley’s Danny, a disgraced record producer who wants to use the Fishermen for his comeback, and who ends up falling for them hook, line and sinker. With the team at Island Records sceptical of the band being able to find an audience, Danny lies his way to London with the Fishermen in tow. A classic fish out of water, Langley’s interactions with the Fishermen – and his budding romance with Alywyn (Parisa Shahmir), ‘The Taylor Swift of Port Isaac’ – are hugely entertaining to watch.
The UK touring cast of Fisherman’s Friends 2022
This is in no small part due to the energy and enthusiasm of this wonderful cast, who are onstage together for most of the show. Kudos to the actors who play the titular Fishermen: James Gaddas, Robert Duncan, Anton Stephans, John O’Mahony, Hadrian Delacey, Dan Buckley, Dominic Brewer, and the double act of Dakota Starr and Pete Gallagher who won the toughest-fought battle of ‘having the most fun onstage’ I’ve seen in a while. (You can check out our interview with Dakota here). Mind you, everyone onstage (and in the audience) lit up during the scene where the Fishermen hit the Soho club scene – and if you were wondering whether you can disco-ify a sea shanty, then wonder no more.
The UK touring cast of Fisherman’s Friends 2022
The team have done an excellent job at translating the story and sense of place to the stage. St Piran’s Day is duly celebrated and Bodmin duly sassed, and Lucy Osborne’s gorgeous set took my breath away when the curtain went up, and the spectacular opening scene – where the Fishermen sing ‘Norman’s Blood’ on a stormy ocean – is something you truly have to see (or ‘sea’?) for yourself. With such a huge cast, the show nails both the raucous group numbers (like the jolly ‘South Australia’ and any scene in the Golden Lion pub) and intimate two-handers (like the first tentative steps of courtship between Langley and Shahmir, where they circle slowly around each other singing ‘Sloop John B’). Meanwhile, Cornish actors like Susan Penhaligon and Robert Duncan bring a sense of mischief, gravitas and authenticity, and Shahmir lends grace and passion to the stage in ‘A Village by the Sea’.
The UK touring cast of Fisherman’s Friends 2022
The sense of warmth and affection among the cast is sure to reel you in, as will the top-notch singing – these shanties have never sounded better. While you might struggle to remember every Steinman lyric or Osmonds riff, these call-and-response songs are easy to pick up and sing along to – the pitcher sings a verse, and everyone joins in on the chorus. Shanties originated as working men’s songs, designed to help sailors keep to a strict rhythm during everyday tasks on the ship, and to keep up morale. So if you’re feeling even the teensiest bit down in the dumps, a couple of bars of ‘John Kanaka’, ‘Drunken Sailor’, or ‘Blow the Man Down’ is sure to lift you up.
There really is something for everyone in this show. The songs have a sense of history and humour that make them a rich live experience. As one character says: these songs are for anyone with a heart, a soul, and a taste for adventure. Set sail for Fisherman’s Friends and you’re sure to have a fin-tastic time!
Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is playing at New Theatre in Cardiff through to 29th October (you can find out more about the production and book tickets here).
So it’s 20th October 2022, and I’m in my hometown of Porthcawl, walking up to the Grand Pavilion, a place I have frequented often over the past 23 years of my life. The lights from inside reflect and shine on the seaside town, but this time, we’re going downstairs. We’re going to watch a production by Dirty Protest called My Mix(ed up) Tape. I’m not sure what to expect but I’m excited, I’m ready to go in with an open mind. We head downstairs. It’s an encouraging number of people in the audience, and quite a different target to those who usually attend the performances in our small town. I’m pleased. The stage is set up with projections, and subtitles, and the room is set up with small round tables. What am I in for? I’m hit with music. DJ Glade Marie is vibing on the stage with her DJ set up, and suddenly I’m vibing too. I order a beer at the bar, sit down, and take in the atmosphere.
DJ Glade Marie
Then there she is, Katie Payne. A burst of energy, and we are thrown in straight away. Immersed in her story telling. I love her voice, she has a great Welsh accent that just makes me feel at home. She’s come back home to Pontypridd after living in London for a while. She’s here for her cousins wedding. She’s just been chucked out by the bouncer. She’s causing a bit of havoc, something we realise may not be an uncommon occurrence for Katie. She may be the only one who’s speaking on stage but she is not alone. She knows the town and the people like the back of her hand. She physicalises them well, and she manages to bring them to life. It’s comedic, it’s fun, then suddenly, it’s dark.
Katie Payne
Katie’s story is beautifully matched with a wide range of music that makes up her mix tape. The music is the second performer in this play. It makes me feel something- comfort, excitement, bliss. It elevates the moments and provides the perfect soundtrack for Payne’s story. I was really enjoying the different styles, some well-known classics, but also a few more obscure and underground tracks which I really appreciated. Music is clearly nostalgia and expression for Katie, and it’s the same for me. I felt connected to her. Like when a song you really love comes on and you find out your mate likes it too. Then all that’s left to do is dance.
Katie and Glade Marie had many subtle and unique interactions throughout the play. The little moments they shared felt sometimes like we were intruding on them as an audience. I was curious about their relationship, but it worked, and it left me wanting more.
Paynes’ performance was phenomenal and I was pretty speechless by the end of the production. The way she made use of the whole space, her voice, her movement, her energy, her pacing, were all on point and totally mind-blowing. I didn’t find myself disengaging once throughout the hour and fifteen minutes. I honestly don’t know how she did it, and how she made it look so effortless.
I couldn’t fault this production and I couldn’t give it anything but 5 stars. When you are let into someone’s mind, their vulnerability, their fears, and their truth, it’s such a privilege, and not one to be taken lightly. Everyone should see this production and have the privilege of witnessing Katie Payne’s performance first hand. The messaging is strong and I feel it would resonate with many audiences. This is a remarkable play, culminating from a raw female voice straight out of the Welsh Valleys. It’s overwhelming and confusing, It’s electric, it’s dark, it’s funny, it’s real, it’s brave.
It’s Welsh.
You can find out more about the tour and book tickets here
‘The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes’ projects insight into the world’s fragmented misconceptions when it comes to disability and how much of this world as a collective perceives ‘difference’ negatively.
Well performed by cast members Simon Laherty , Sarah Mainwaring, & Scott Price from Back to Back theatre company, a neurodiverse theatre company based in Australia.
Each cast members visible disability became heavily overlooked due potent humour, indirect audience rage & views on adaptation, whilst remaining themselves in character. The message elaborated in this production was incredibly touching, inspiring & reflective. The method is simple when they meet in a Town Hall as a trio, to change the way disabled people are viewed, labelled & treated.
The statements highlighted in this play were on derogatory universal language, terminologies towards those who’ve been born with a disability, the internal conflict to why Sarah strongly disliked seeing subtitles up on the screen behind her during the play & her confidence to lead in conversation!
The biggest status quo that lingered during this production was society’s notions about inferiority complex, misfortune, restrictions, exclusion, limitations, various forms of oppression & emotional barriers related to a narrow minded gate thinking, human conditioning & social justice for change.
The Internal questions for the audience explored the framework of re-learning to look beyond the surface & see people as people without critical judgments! The play explores objective thoughts on disability, repositioning power status to embody strength, charisma, leader influence within politics, non – discriminatory job opportunities; free from harassment, pain & societal neglect… I couldn’t agree more!
Most importantly, are the people who’ve labelled themselves as mentally & physically stronger unaware of the rising epidemic ‘intellectual disability’ a phenomenon which’ll dumb down emotions, ability to think & physically restrict human beings from being able to function, haven given too much of their strengths over to the powers that be without a sense of self or acknowledgement on how this phenomenon will impact our future generations wellbeing, health, mental state & cognitive ability.
From Autism, Asberger’s syndrome to other physical & learning disabilities; are we about to realise a major disadvantage due to AI? Will Artificial Intelligence treat disabilities futuristically & Intellectually disable – if so, can it be stopped in time or are we already walking daily towards a tech weapon of mass destruction?
A truly reflective, deep & well performed show to help educate, raise awareness & help create social change amongst communities! This insightful production will be touring to Brighton and Leeds until 5th Nov! Grab a ticket, you won’t regret it ;)).
Dyma un o glasuron Shakespeare – comedi am gariadon a’u troeon trwstan a’r cyfan yn digwydd mewn coedwig llawn tylwyth teg a hudoliaeth. Fel arfer, llwyfannir y ddrama mewn gwisg draddodiadol ac ar set soffistigedig gydag effeithiau golau a sain gymhleth.
Ond os mai dyma beth ydych yn disgwyl gweld yn y cynhyrchiad yma, gwell i chi ail feddwl. Yn hytrach, mae’r fersiwn hwn o’r ddrama Breuddwyd Nos Ŵyl Ifan yn profi bod Shakespeare yn esblygu a goroesi ac yr un mor berthnasol heddiw ag erioed.
Dyma ddehongliad ffres, egniol a hynod ddoniol o’r clasur hwn. Mae’r cyfarwyddwr wedi mentro gwneud llawer o addasiadau ac maent yn rhai dewr a dychmygus. Gwelir merched yn chwarae rolau dynion a chymeriadau yn cyfnewid llinellau. Cymhleth? Na, dim o gwbl, oherwydd mae’r themâu, y gomedi a’r gwrthdaro mor amlwg ag erioed. Mae’r cynnwrf a’r diffyg cyfathrebu rhwng y cariadon, y tensiwn rhwng y bonedd a’r trigolion cyffredin a’r triciau mae’r tylwyth teg yn chwarae yn themâu amlwg drwy gydol y cynhyrchiad.
Yr hyn sy’n taro’r gynulleidfa yn syth yw’r moderneiddiad sydd wedi digwydd ac arddull gyfoes y cyfathrebu: e.e. merch yw Lysander yn y cynhyrchiad hwn ac wedi’i ail henwi’n Lysaana sydd mewn cariad gyda Hermia – mae Oberon, Brenin y Tylwyth Teg a Titania’r Frenhines, wedi cyfnewid llinellau ac o ganlyniad mae ystyr y stori’n newid ychydig. Yn y fersiwn hon, Titania sy’n chwarae tric ar Oberon drwy rhoi’r hylif blodau ar ei lygaid sy’n achosi iddo syrthio mewn cariad â Bottom! Hi sy’n rheoli ac yn meddu ar yr holl bŵer. Girl power go iawn!
Efallai bod hyn yn swnio’n gymhleth ond, wir i chi, mae’n gweithio ac mae’r cyfan yn syrthio i’w le yn hynod o gyfforddus.
Mae portread pob un o’r actorion yn y cynhyrchiad hwn yn hyfryd – pob un wedi meistroli elfennau unigryw a ffres i`w rolau. Mae ffocws cryf ar greu elfennnau doniol i`r cymeriadu ac mae’r actorion wedi canolbwyntio ar eu symudiadau a’u hystumiau i drosglwyddo hyn yn llwyddiannus. Roedd portread Sion Ifan o Oberon/Theseus yn arbennig a hefyd Nia Roberts fel Titania/Hippolyta. Roedd y ddau yn cydweithio ac yn dangos tensiynau eu perthynas yn hynod o effeithiol. Yn ogystal, roedd y cariadon, Dena Davies fel Hermia, Lauren Morais fel Lysanna, Tom Mumford fel Demetrius a Rebecca Wilson fel Helena yn portreadu egni ieuenctid ac angst torcalon yn hyfryd.
Ond i mi elfen fwyaf llwyddiannus y sioe oedd perfformiad y gweithwyr neu’r ‘mechanicals’, ac yn enwedig Sion Pritchard fel Bottom. Dyma beth oedd gwledd – y criw hurt a boncyrs yma’n ceisio ymarfer drama I’w pherfformio o flaen y Dug . Roedd amseru’r ddeialog a’r cydweithio rhwng yr actorion yn y darnau yma’n wych, gyda Bottom yn arwain y doniolwch a`r hurtrwydd yn hynod o gelfydd.
Un o uchafbwyntiau’r cynhyrchiad oedd diwedd y rhan gyntaf pan oedd Oberon wedi deffro a syrthio mewn cariad â Bottom oedd nawr yn gwisgo penwisg asyn! Er mwyn profi’i gariad ato, mae’n dechrau canu’r glasur, “I wanna know what love is” mewn arddull hollol dros y top a camp! Roedd y gynulleidfa wrth eu bodd wrth gwrs ac yn ymuno â’r canu i ddangos eu mwynhad! Roedd hyn yn coronni sefyllfa abswrd y cymeriadau drwy arddull fodern a doniol
iawn. Cafwyd sawl achlysur tebyg o ryngweithio rhwng y gynulleidfa a’r actorion yn arbennig pan oedd Puck ar y llwyfan, ac ar adegau, roeddech chi’n teimlo eich bod mewn pantomeim Shakesperaidd!
Elfen drawiadol arall oedd penderfyniad y cwmni i greu cynhyrchiad cwbl ddwyieithog. Roedd y Gymraeg fel arfer yn cael ei ddefnyddio gan y Tylwyth Teg ac yn cael statws cyfartal â’r Saesneg. Addasodd Mari Izzard a Nia Morais iaith Shakespeare i Gymraeg fodern fywiog, gan ddefnyddio amryw o dafodiaethoedd gwahanol. Llwyddodd y trosiad hwn i greu deialog fyrlymus a pherthnasol i gynulleidfa heddiw. Roedd isdeitlau wrth gwrs yn ymddangos law yn llaw â’r Gymraeg ond ni wnaeth hyn dynnu sylw’r gwyliwr o gwbl.
Nid yn unig addasiad y sgript, y cyfarwyddo a’r actio sydd i’w ganmol, ond hefyd yr elfennau technegol. Mae’r set yn foel a modern – yn debyg i set deledu, gydag un lefel ar ffurf ‘cat walk’. Does dim offer llwyfan a dim llawer o brops chwaith. Mae’r gofod yn enfawr ac yn cael ei ddefnyddio’n helaeth, ond does dim ôl addurno fel sydd mewn cynyrchiadau arferol o’r ddrama. Mae’n gynhyrchiad moel a minimalistaidd sy’n rhoi sylw i’r actio a’r sgript.
Mae’r sain a’r gerddoriaeth fodern hefyd yn ategu’n wych at y munudau o gomedi, ac yn ychwanegu at yr awyrgylch drwyddi draw.
Mae’r cynhyrchiad hwn yn profi bod Shakespeare yn gyrchadwy i gynulleidfoedd heddiw – ac mae modd gwerthfawrogi ei waith drwy arddulliau newydd a ffres. Mae’r fersiwn hon yn glyfar a boncyrs ar yr un pryd, ac yn addas i gynulleidfa eang. Llongyfarchiadau mawr i’r holl dîm artistig.
Gallwch weld A Misummer Night’s Dream yn Theatr y Sherman, Caerdydd tan y Hydref y 29ain …….
Disclaimer: some of my thoughts of the production are quite hazy, as I saw it several weeks ago, so I apologise if any of what I say does not reflect it entirely accurately.
To begin, I thought that the premise of ‘The In-Between’ was very solid, I loved the idea of a girl who had childhood dreams and went to music college, despite those plans not being as great as she initially thought, she goes through hardship and struggles to eventually get to a place of genuine happiness. It’s a great storyline of growing up, moving on and finding your place.
It starts off really strong, with the main lead Fay being a compelling character, she is initially excited by her future but struggles with adapting to her college and trying to impress her teacher and peers.
One of the things I noticed however, is that we never really get much insight into her peers, it would have been great for Fay to open up about her problems to one of her friends, and for one of them to affirm that they too are going through something similar things to her, and that she’s not alone in her struggles. That could have been a realistic turn of events, as in the production Fay’s classmates are all seemingly portrayed as significantly better than her, people that she fights to impress and gain approval of, they don’t really seem like legitimate characters, just props to further her story arc.
On another note, the inclusion of Fay’s dead Grandmother was strange to me personally. All she really did was appear ominously on stage from time to time and from what I saw she didn’t leave a powerful impact on Fay. We never saw her have many vulnerable moments where it looked like she was really affected by her Grandmothers death, and the only scene where it seemed like the story moved along a bit was a scene near the beginning when Fay was practising and her ghost showed up and listened to her performing, but from what I recall from Fay’s reaction, we didn’t see an emotional response while being confronted with a seemingly vulnerable element of her past, but I digress.
Additionally, the scene where she saved the boy’s life when he fell from a tree left me wondering – she saved his life, he gets sent to the hospital, she gets annoyed that no-one will know that she saved a life, and it’s never brought up again afterwards. She never had another interaction with the boy, and it’s never brought to a head or anything like that. I predicted/imagined that she would have met the boy again, and they would form a strong bond, but from what we see we never see them interact or give any indication that the boy is still around! That was odd to me that they would add something so prominent into the storyline for it to not be built on afterwards.
I personally feel it would have benefited from a longer performance time, as when it was wrapping up, I thought to myself “oh, it must be half-time!” but then it ended, and that confused me initially. For me it felt too short – it just didn’t feel like it had enough time to fully explore the characters and flesh out the scenes fully. However, I’ve since learned there were time constraints, seeing the actors/actresses only meeting two, or so, weeks prior to it going to live performance. Given this, it begins to make more sense. If it had been possible, even just half an hour more to wrap it up would have been welcome because it didn’t seem like the production had a clear middle – it certainly had an introduction, a drama and then a climax. If it just had a bit more of a longer middle, then it wouldn’t seem as rushed perhaps.
I do think the production team and actors/actresses managed to do a great job of creating what they did in such a short time, something that turned out to be very watchable, yet left me hoping for more.
To end on a positive note, the performers were extremely good. Their chemistry before it even began was apparent, with all of them hyping each other up onstage and the clear dedication to their role, which I applaud.
Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw
(3 / 5)
(5 / 5)
