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TV Review: Unforgotten, Series 4

Don’t read on if you haven’t finished Series 4 of Unforgotten for major spoilers are within 

“We are who we are – I don’t think you can ever really change that”

It’s a good job that Series 4 of Unforgotten aired as spring arrives in the air and the promise of easements is finally taking some of the sting out of lockdown life. For had it been on in the endless depths of the last few dark months, I don’t think I could have coped. Indeed, I’m not sure I can still really cope now even with it being 23 degrees outside.

They killed Nicola Walker! Again! I’ve barely recovered from how they did Ruth dirty, but given the way that episode 5 ended and the way people were talking at the beginning of episode 6, the writing was on the wall. And so as Sunny finally cracked the case and unwound the puzzle of Matthew Walsh’s death and the four young police officers intimately involved with it, DCI Cassie Stuart breathed her last. Continue reading “TV Review: Unforgotten, Series 4”

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fosterIAN awards 2019

 WinnerRunner-upOther nominees
Best Actress in a PlaySarah Niles/Natalie Simpson/Racheal Ofori,
Three Sisters		Marieke Heebink,
Medea		Adjoa Andoh,
Richard II
Sharon D Clarke,
Death of a Salesman
Claire Foy,
Lungs
Leah Harvey,
Small Island
Chris Nietvelt,
De Kersentuin
Best Actor in a Play
Lucian Msamati, ‘Master Harold’…and the boysCary Crankson,
Country Music		Tobias Menzies,
The Hunt
Daniel Monks,
Teenage Dick
Wendell Pierce,
Death of a Salesman
Matt Smith,
Lungs
Zubin Varla,
Equus
Best Supporting Actress in a PlayMonica Dolan,
All About Eve		Jackie Pulford,
Karaoke Play		Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo,
Three Sisters
Janni Goslinga,
De Kersentuin
Pippa Nixon,
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Cecilia Noble,
Faith Hope and Charity
Gemma Whelan,
Pinter Seven
Best Supporting Actor in a PlayNick Holder,
Faith Hope and Charity		Hugo Koolschijn,
De Kersentuin		Rupert Graves,
Pinter Five
John Heffernan,
Pinter Seven
Martins Imhangbe/Natey Jones,
Death of a Salesman
Arinzé Kene/Sope Dirisu,
Death of a Salesman
Ken Nwosu,
Three Sisters
Best Actress in a MusicalAudrey Brisson,
Amélie the Musical		Kirsty Findlay/Bethany Tennick,
Islander		Lucie Jones/Katherine McPhee,
Waitress
Miriam-Teak Lee,
& Juliet
Samantha Pauly,
Evita
Joanna Riding,
Follies
Zizi Strallen,
Mary Poppins
Best Actor in a MusicalJamie Muscato,
West Side Story (Curve Leicester)		Keith Ramsay,
Preludes		Andy Coxon,
West Side Story (Royal Exchange)
Jordan Fox/Michael Vinsen,
[title of show]
David Hunter,
Waitress,
Charlie Stemp,
Mary Poppins
Oliver Tompsett,
& Juliet,
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Cassidy Janson/Melanie La Barrie,
& Juliet 		Jocasta Almgill/Emily Langham,
West Side Story (Royal Exchange)		Laura Baldwin/Marisha Wallace,
Waitress
Tiffany Graves/Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson,
The Boy Friend
Claire Machin/Claire Moore,
Mary Poppins
Rebecca McKinnis/Lauren Ward,
Dear Evan Hansen
Carly Mercedes Dyer/Victoria Hamilton-Barritt,
The View UpStairs,
Best Supporting Actor in a MusicalDavid Bedella,
& Juliet		Jack Butterworth,
The Boy Friend		Ricardo Afonso,
Jesus Christ Superstar
Rob Houchen,
The Light in the Piazza
Samuel Holmes,
Curtains
Cedric Neal,
The View UpStairs
Jez Unwin,
Amélie the Musical
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2019 Best Supporting Actress in a Play + in a Musical

Best Supporting Actress in a Play

Monica Dolan, All About Eve
In a star-studded ensemble, it was Dolan’s no-nonsense pseudo-narrator Karen who ended up pulling focus with her every utterance. With Appropriate too, 2019 was a superb year for Dolan and those of us who are captivated by her work.

Honourable mention: Jackie Pulford, Karaoke Play
Scorchingly good in a doozy of a tragicomic role, this is one I wasn’t expecting and entirely typical that it emerged out of the brilliant Bunker. 

Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Three Sisters
Janni Goslinga, De Kersentuin
Pippa Nixon, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Cecilia Noble, Faith Hope and Charity
Gemma Whelan, Pinter Seven

8-10
Deborah Findlay, Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp.; Jane Horrocks, Pinter Five; Sarah Niles, Richard II

 

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical

Cassidy Janson/Melanie La Barrie, & Juliet
There was just so much superlative work in this category that shortlisting was nigh on impossible. So I doubled up on nominations, recognising how much great work was going on and in that crowded field, the glories of Janson and La Barrie just about edged it. Cassidy belting Céline as if her life depended on it, Mel getting it on in fine fashion (just watch her hips go!) – f**kin’ perfect you might say!

Honourable mention: Jocasta Almgill/Emily Langham, West Side Story (Royal Exchange)
Anita is probably one of my favourite roles in all of musical theatre and Almgill absolutely nailed it with a whirlwind of charismatic personality and pitch-perfect vocals. Langham’s Anybodys was a real surprise though, a near-constant presence in the background but a masterclass in detailed character work. And when ‘Somewhere’ starts…ooff!

Laura Baldwin/Marisha Wallace, Waitress
Tiffany Graves/Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson, The Boy Friend
Claire Machin/Claire Moore, Mary Poppins
Rebecca McKinnis/Lauren Ward, Dear Evan Hansen
Carly Mercedes Dyer/Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, The View UpStairs

8-10
Melissa James/Kate O’Donnell, Gypsy; Rebecca Lock/Carley Stenson, Curtains; Carly Mercedes Dyer/Beth Hinton-Lever, West Side Story (Curve Leicester)

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Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre

The theatrical magic of the excellent The Ocean at the End of the Lane finds a perfect home at the National Theatre

“A rip in forever where possibilities begin”

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and adapted by Joel Horwood, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is pretty much perfection at the National Theatre. Katy Rudd’s production is a triumph of creative endeavour, as she melds her various elements into a couple of hours of real theatrical magic. Key is Steven Hoggett’s inimitable movement, creating a wonderful sense of fluidity throughout, but particularly in the scene changes. The seamless ensemble work that results plays a huge part of the thoroughly enchanting world-building going on here.

That world is the England of fairytales, Sussex farmland where the fabric of the universe is thin. There, a boy meets a girl and in their japes, a monster breaks through from another world, so far so fantasy. But even the simple act of whipping props on and off stage becomes something more profound (the cooker moving just out of Dad’s reach…), manipulating fearsome puppets (designed by Samuel Wyer and directed by Finn Caldwell) makes something of an artistic statement, or just lying on the ground to embody some creature or other finds a similarly strange beauty. Continue reading “Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre”

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Review: The Importance of Being Earnest, Vaudeville

Sexed-up rather than subtle, I can’t help but be won over by this fresh take on Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at the Vaudeville Theatre

“I hope you have not been leading a double life…that would be hypocrisy”

I find it increasingly hard to get too excited about the prospect of Oscar Wilde these days, hence having been a rare visitor indeed to Classic Spring’s year-long residency at the Vaudeville. My problem is that, as with Noël Coward’s work, there’s an insistence on the specificity of its staging which means it is far too easy to feel like you’ve seen it all before, silk pyjamas, bustles, handbags, the lot. So the notion that Michael Fentiman’s The Importance of Being Earnest has ruffled a few feathers by daring to do something different, plus the kind of casting that I could never resist, meant that I had to see for myself.

And ultimately, there’s something laughable in the idea that there’s only the one way to do Wilde. It’s more that ‘certain people’ prefer it done the way they’ve always seen it done, which is all well and good (if soul-destroying) but to bemoan a lost art because someone is finally ringing the changes? Shove a cucumber sandwich in it mate. What’s even funnier is that you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference really, it’s not as if this production is set in space, or it’s being mimed, or it’s been directed in a…European way. It has just had a good shaking down, the dust blown off the manuscript, the cobwebs swept from the velvet curtains, and an enjoyable freshness thus brought to proceedings which are sexed-up rather than subtle. Continue reading “Review: The Importance of Being Earnest, Vaudeville”

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Round-up of news and other interesting things

In the wake of a global shift in politics that saw reality star Donald Trump become the 45th President of the United States of America, Nigel Farage’s Brexit campaign win the majority and the Conservative party seek out a deal with the DUP, Theatre Renegade is proud to present a one-off gala, In Response To… Politics.

>With performances from critically acclaimed performers including Pippa Nixon, Madalena Alberto, Gloria Onitiri and Nigel Richards, In Response To…Politics will take place on 24th July at The Other Palace Studio and feature a number of pieces each designed to directly respond to the current political turmoil. Continue reading “Round-up of news and other interesting things”

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The Complete Walk, from the comfort of your sofa #5

“When we are born, we cry”

Entries #1, #2, #3 and #4 – and here’s number 5. 

Actually taking Lear to the White Cliffs of Dover seems like a good enough reason to mount the entire Complete Walk project if you ask me, and director Bill Buckhurst doesn’t disappoint. Belaris Free Festival’s interpretation gets a wee whirl before we move to Kent where Kenneth Cranham’s disoriented monarch comes across powerfully in jerky jump-cuts and voiceover and then ultimately powerful soliloquy. Skipping to the end of the play, Joseph Marcell then takes on Lear for a sensationally powerful reunion with Zawe Ashton’s deeply considered Cordelia.


I must confess I do find it hard to get excited about King John and despite a huge affection for the much-missed Trystan Gravelle, I saw nothing here to change my mind. Filmed at Northampton’s Holy Sepulchre church, with inserts that acted almost as a Shakespearean documentary in covering the death of Shakespeare’s son at the time of writing the play, this one just didn’t do it for me I’m afraid.


Philip Cumbus’ anguished Clarence in his cell; Prasanna Puwanarajah and Paul Ready giving subtly comic life to the murderers on his way to him; Clare Higgins’ Margaret looming ominously in the shadows, Michelle Terry’s (for yes, she directs too!) take on Richard III uses all the shadowy sinister atmosphere of the Tower of London to capture the mood of the play rather successfully. It is contrasted with a silent film version which is amusing to watch at first but spookily effective in the end in the way it portrays Richard’s climactic dream. (NB: click on the title for the full clip.) 
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Review: Sunset at the Villa Thalia, National

“Something Greek sounds good”

It’s the ideal isn’t it, shipping off to a Greek island to escape grey clouds in June and point-settling about plus ones, and its what Charlotte and Theo have done in Alexi Kaye Campbell’s new play Sunset at the Villa Thalia. He’s a playwright seeking inspiration, she’s an actress who loves him very much, and so they’re renting a cottage on the idyllic isle of Skiathos. But the year is 1967, a momentous year in Greece’s political history, and the American couple they’ve bumped into at the port aren’t quite as benign as they might seem.

Harvey and June are swiftly invited over for drinks on the terrace and as tongues are loosened on the ouzo, we discover that he works for the US government in a shadowy role. With these heavy hints of the CIA, we discover what Kaye Campbell is up to as it was American intervention – in aid of stifling the threat of Soviet expansion – that arguably partly facilitated the military coup that’s about to happen. And it’s not just nations he’s manipulating but the people around him, as he convinces Charlotte and Theo to buy the cottage from its desperate owners who are emigrating to Australia. Continue reading “Review: Sunset at the Villa Thalia, National”

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TV Review: Shakespeare Live, Royal Shakespeare Theatre

“I am a spirit of no common rate”

The culmination of the BBC’s celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death was the 2 and a half hours of Shakespeare Live, a veritable landslide of multidisciplinary performances of and responses to his work. From theatre to opera, jazz to ballet, hip-hop to musicals, the enormous scope of his influence was showcased in a very well put together (royal) variety show (Charles and Camilla were in attendance) at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

And like anything with variety, a selection box or tub of Quality Street, there are the ones you love, the ones you can tolerate and the ones that you really don’t care for (the Bounty, or the purple hazelnutty one). And I have to say as impressive as they were, the dance, jazz and opera sections really didn’t do it for me whether Berlioz or Duke Ellington. I was predictably much more interested in the theatrical side of things, particularly as such an august cast of performers was in the offing along with the thrilling thought of a Dench and McKellen reunion. Continue reading “TV Review: Shakespeare Live, Royal Shakespeare Theatre”