Theatre Reviews

The Roses has come up with yet another seasonal winner for Tewkesbury audiences in the shape of its much-anticipated pantomime Dick Whittington.
Writer and director Ben Crocker seems to produce first-class pantos for fun (literally). This year there will be over 200 of his pantomimes performed all over the world and this is his seventh consecutive year working at The Roses.

Quartet is the heartwarming tale of four ageing opera singers who reside in a beautiful retirement home in Kent.
We are introduced to Cecily (Wendi Peters), Reggie (Jeff Rawle) and Wilfred (Paul Nicholas) on a typical afternoon at the home and right from the off they have the audience chuckling at their various idiosyncrasies.

The annual panto at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham has increasingly become an essential Christmas treat for thousands of people from Gloucestershire and beyond.
And the audience of children – and the young at heart – who witnessed Friday night’s performance of Dick Whittington and his Cat, may well agree that this is the best one yet.

Cricket fans flocked to Cheltenham Town Hall on Tuesday evening to see cricketing legend ‘Sir’ Geoffrey Boycott hold court with fellow broadcaster Jonathan Agnew.
Dubbed ‘cricket’s odd couple’, the pair gave their thoughts on the forthcoming Ashes series and how England would cope with or without controversial all-rounder Ben Stokes.

With the prolific Ben Crocker at the helm, there was never any doubt that Robin Hood & the Babes in the Wood was going to be a surefire hit.
This year, there will be over 200 productions of Crocker’s pantomimes performed all over the world, so the Roses was fortunate indeed to have him return as writer and director for the fifth time.

We were promised the Everyman’s most gigantic pantomime yet – and we weren’t disappointed.
Having been bowled over by last year’s production of Cinderella, I was intrigued to see if the Everyman could do it again with Jack and the Beanstalk.

Rating: ***** By David Wood
Is this theatrical madness or a touch of truly inspired casting? London-born Tommy Steele, not far off his 80th birthday, playing the American band leader Glenn Miller, a man half his age when he died?

Rating: ★★★★☆ By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
Tricky things, orgies. Wagner wanted one – nymphs, sirens, satyrs all dancing around Venus and her lover, not to mention some dodgy mythological business between Leda and a swan.

By Colin Davison Rating: ★★★★☆
It comes up once in a generation, the question of our place in Europe, or to put it another way Cymbeline, Shakespeare’s rarely performed play about – at least in part – what it means to be British.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ by Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
It’s a remarkable coincidence that this Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of the death not only of England’s greatest writer, but also of Spain’s, Miguel de Cervantes.
So it is happily appropriate that the company dedicated to Shakespeare should adapt his Spanish contemporary’s comic masterpiece for the stage.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
It’s billed as “a play for the nation” using more than 650 amateurs and children alongside professional actors as the show moves around the country.

Rating: **** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison

“Clap now if you believe in fairies,” cried Rhys Rusbatch’s Peter, saying that only the audience’s applause could save the stricken Tink. He got an instant ovation.

Pantomime lovers in Gloucestershire might have been scratching their heads a little to discover that the area’s two major pantos this festive season are both based on the story of Cinderella.
Both the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham and The Roses in Tewkesbury have chosen the timeless rags to riches story to entertain audiences this year.
We found it slightly strange that both theatres so relatively close to each other opted for the same fairytale, but having visited early performances of both shows, Loving the Cotswolds’ editor David Wood is able to give you his verdict on both productions.

Cinderella, Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

This production has just about everything you’d hope and expect from a top-notch pantomime with several trump cards and a definite ace in the pack.
Cinderella is played with great aplomb by Ruth Betteridge who seemed like she was born to play the part, positively beaming her way through the show, singing and dancing with her knockout smile never seeming to leave her face, even when she was being so cruelly treated by her ever-so-nasty step-sisters Romoana (Wendy Abrahams) and Covonia (Kerry Whiteside).
Indeed, I heard someone next to me say that if Cinders had exhibited any more enthusiasm she would have exploded.
The ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ sisters were also superb, and despite getting constantly booed for their unrelenting cruelty to Cinders, they doubtless won a legion of fans for their over-the-top antics and fabulous fashions.
Cinders’ mother, Baroness Hilary Hardup was played to perfection by William Elliott who knew exactly how to get the maximum laughs out of the audience, and was even able to make the most of a couple of first night dialogue slip-ups. 
But there was one cast member who was responsible for elevating this panto from being exceedingly good to quite outstanding. Take a bow, Tweedy the Clown.
Fans of Gifford’s Circus will already know that Tweedy is a real gem of an entertainer and he was able to seamlessly transfer his ample circus skills to the panto stage, but also show us another string of his bow as a comic actor.
Tweedy was just perfect playing the part of Buttons and he found a great comic foil in Baroness Hardup during some some hilarious scenes. 
With some great catchy songs, dance routines (including a showstopping one to Uptown Funk) and a terrific feelgood factor throughout, Cheltenham’s Cinderella, written and directed by Phil Clark, is a five star winner.
The show runs until Sunday, January 10. Visit www.everymantheatre.org.uk or call the box office on 01242 572573.
 

Cinderella, The Roses, Tewkesbury

Writer and director Ben Crocker has produced yet another first-rate panto at The Roses, with hardly a chink in its armour.
Without exception, the cast excel themselves with the plaudits shared between the main characters who worked their socks off to entertain an appreciative audience.
Lizzie Franks appears as a rather fragile-looking Cinderella but she delivers an assured all-round performance.
Cinders’ number one fan Buttons (Luke Adamson) holds the show together in a cheeky but confident manner and is sure to be a favourite as this panto run progresses.
The Ugly Sisters, Beryl and Cheryl, are played in fine style by Noel White and Jeffrey Harmer, who won plenty of laughs from the grown-ups with their liberal use of innuendo, as well as getting regularly booed by the children.
But the biggest boos of the night were reserved for their wicked mother, the Baroness, superbly played by Kali Peacock, who was definitely not to be messed with.
Prince Charming (Ebony Buckle) and her manservant Dandini (Gemma Wilson) provided another assured double act.
Some inspired song-and-dance numbers included a very entertaining medley of the Seventies Glam Rock number Ballroom Blitz and this year’s favourite dance number Uptown Funk, which was co-incidentally also used in the Everyman’s Cinderella.
Cinderella runs at The Roses until Saturday, January 2. Visit www.rosestheatre.org or call the box office on 01684 295074.

So which Cinderella comes out tops? It’s actually impossible to say because both productions have so many good things about them and are both great family nights out.
But as Tewkesbury’s Buttons cheekily signed off: “If you’ve enjoyed the show tonight, we’ve been Cinderella at The Roses in Tewkesbury. If you haven’t enjoyed the show tonight, we’ve been Cinderella at The Everyman in Cheltenham.”   

There’s an irony even in the title of this fascinating exhibition of photographs from Audrey Hepburn’s childhood as a precocious ballet dancer in Holland to her late career as a Unicef ambassador in Africa.

Rating: **** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
What’s this? A plastic crocodile? Have we wandered into the RSC’s Peter Pan by mistake? Can it be panto season already?

Rating: ***** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
Tricky business these days, patriotism, and not just for politicians.

How to play today Shakespeare’s most nationalistic play, written in time of war, and most memorably defined by Olivier in time of another?

Rating: **** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
It’s 12 years since Henry Goodman, with typical flourish, stuck his head around a velvet curtain to present his Richard III at the RSC as a cheeky Victorian showman dressed in top hat and tails.

Rating: ** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
One moment he’s urbane, self-possessed, unruffled by taunts; another he’s holding a claw hammer for a bit of DIY dentistry on his supposed closest confidante Iago.
What sort of man is Hugh Quarshie’s Othello?

Rating: **** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
Interpretations of Shakespeare come and go, but revelations are rarer.

Rating: **** By Colin Davison @IamColinDavison
“If it’s got a label, don’t touch it,” curator Lyn Cluer Coleman advises helpfully as we walk past a table of odds and ends that just might have been one of the exhibits.