It’s good sense for Colchester’s Mercury Theatre to reopen with Baskerville, a family-friendly lark: Ken Ludwig’s take on Sherlock Holmes’ adventure with the Hound of the Baskervilles.
‘A crack team of acting talent has been assembled’: THE GIRL NEXT DOOR – Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough (Online review)
The piece in question is Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door which harks back to earlier plays such as Whenever, Miss Yesterday, Surprises and especially Communicating Doors in its central conceit of time travel.
‘A ghostly tale which delivers so much more than its initial premise’: HAUNTING JULIA – Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough (Online review)
It is sometimes possible to get a better perspective on a play through experiencing it as a piece of audio drama rather than seeing it live on stage and I found this to be the case with Haunting Julia by Alan Ayckbourn.
Twenty shows to look out for at the VAULT Festival 2020
Insofar as it is humanly possible for any one person to know everything that is happening at the VAULT Festival this year, I present a handful of my recommendations for 2020.
‘Streaks of compassionate melancholy under the sparkles of hilarity’: BIRTHDAYS PAST, BIRTHDAYS PRESENT – Scarborough ★★★★★
Underneath Birthdays Past, Birthdays Present beats Ayckbourn’s sorrowful, understanding heart, showing us that comedy is just tragedy on its way to happening.
‘Has to be some of the best improv I’ve seen’: SORRY – Vault Festival
Improv done well is one of the greatest pleasures I know, and Sorry’s take on the form, which is inexplicably only playing at the VAULT Festival for a couple of dates, has to be some of the best I’ve seen.
Girl power? What do Death Takes a Holiday & Promises, Promises have in common?
A few thoughts on musical productions I’ve seen recently, with my on-the-night tweet thoughts further below. Promises, Promises Less than a week left to see this rarely seen Broadway musical – the first London production, in fact, since its 1969 West End premiere. I have fond memories of the Oscar-winning 1960 film The Apartment, which […]