Theatre Review - THE CASTLE PLAYER'S ALICE IN WONDERLAND - BARNARD CASTLE

Alice (Lois Falshaw), Alice's Sister (Elizabeth Wheeler)
photo credit Helen Brown

The Castle Players, based in Barnard Castle, have a fantastic reputation across the region for producing high quality community theatre. Their productions range from winter touring shows in local village halls, a two-night production in the Autumn to develop new directors, regular readings in residential homes and their annual summer production in the grounds of the magnificent Bowes Museum. Supporters of The Castle Players have become used to the excellent productions of Shakespeare over the years. This year, for their 31^st Summer production, they have taken the brave decision to try something completely different with Alice in Wonderland.

Queen of Hearts (Bunny Forsyth)
photo credit Helen Brown

Opening with Lewis Carroll, Angus Wheeler, explains he is finishing writing the story of Alice and invites us to take the journey with Alice (Lois Falshaw). Through the journey we meet many of the familiar weird and wonderful characters, which include the frantic White Rabbit (Cal Baker), the slapstick of Tweedledee (Dan Richards) and Tweedledum (Jake Moore), the comedy of The Cook (Trudi Dixon) and The Duchess (Sam McCormack) and the terrifying Queen of Hearts (Bunny Forsyth) to name just a few.

Caterpillar (Rhonda Hart-Davis)
photo credit Helen Brown 

Mad Hatter (Ben Pearson), Queen of Hearts
(Bunny Forsyth) photo credit Helen Brown

After a steady start the larger than life, colourful characters just kept on flowing onto the stage. The Caucus Race was full of energy and exhausting to watch. Tweedledee and Tweedledum looked as if they were having great fun, during their scene of slapstick. The Caterpillar (Rhonda Hart-Davis) was absolutely wonderful, a stylish performance with one the best costumes of the night. The Mock Turtle (Gordon Duffy-McGhie) and the Gryphon (Andy Moorhouse) created a delightful partnership and a scene the cast and audience clearly enjoyed with the Lobster Quadrille. The Mad Hatter (Ben Pearson) was just as mad as you would expect, delighting the audience through every entrance.

The costumes are amazing, the team behind them have certainly worked their magic. You can also see how much love and passion has gone into creating the set and props.

There were two parts of the production which really stood out, firstly that was the community involvement, the show in its nature creates lots of smaller roles giving the large number of parts. The Castle Players have certainly embraced the words ‘community involvement’ it won’t be long before there are more people involved than they can fit in the audience. Finally, the true star of the night was Alice. WOW! Lois Falshaw truly became Alice and owned the stage. Such a confident and delightful performance. I am sure this is not the last we have seen of her on stage.

Alice (Lois Falshaw)
photo credit Helen Brown

Alice in Wonderland runs until Saturday 13^th July @19:30 with a Saturday matinee.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.castleplayers.co.uk, by telephone 01833-631107, or in person at The Witham, Barnard Castle.

  

Theatre Preview - ALICE IN WONDERLAND - BARNARD CASTLE

Roll up, roll up “We’re all mad here!”

The Castle Player’s summer production of Alice in Wonderland in the grounds of the Bowes Museum, promises to be an extravaganza of colourful costumes, music and crazy antics.

The huge cast of 52 ranges from the ages of 8 to 80 and includes some familiar faces and some new, all working hard to entertain us, supported by an army of set builders, prop makers, costume designers and make-up artists.

One of the youngest, 8-year-old Libby Forsyth, who is playing a canary in the production, will be joined by great-uncle and oldest member Nick Perkins. He will be playing the frustrated executioner to the Queen of Hearts and jokingly says “I’m longing to chop someone’s head off but don’t think I’m going to get the opportunity!”

                                                                                                                        

Tickets are now on sale for the show which will feature characters from both Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, such as the bumbling ‘mad’ Hatter, the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Jabberwock with the ‘jaws that bite and claws that catch’, and the melancholy Mock Turtle who sings about ‘beau-ootiful soo-oop’ and dancing lobsters!

Director Dawn Trevor says “I’m hoping that when people come to see the show, whatever else is going on in their life, they forget about it for a few hours, and enjoy 52 people making fools of themselves!”

The show will run from July 10th - 13th and will include a Saturday matinee. Tickets can be purchased online at www.castleplayers.co.uk, by telephone 01833-631107, or in person at The Witham, Barnard Castle.

Theatre Review: A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS - NORTHERN STAGE

A Thousand Splendid Suns Company - Pamela Raith Photography

A Thousand Splendid Suns originally a novel by Khaled Hosseini has been adapted for the stage by Ursula Rani Sarma. Set in Afghanistan before and after The Taliban, it spans the lives of 3 generations, focusing on the treatment of women.

Amina Zia (Mariam)
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Pamela Raith Photography

Laila, Sujaya Dasgupta, is orphaned aged 15 and is taken in by a neighbouring couple Mariam, Amina Zia and Rasheed, Pal Aron. Rasheed decides she should join their family by becoming his wife alongside Mariam. The action moves from seeing Laila growing up, the relationship between the two wives, Mariam’s early years, where she is played by Shala Nyx and finally the new rules which are forced on woman by The Taliban.

This is a play which does have some difficult and horrifying scenes to watch due to the subject matter but the acting is so powerful, I was immediately entranced by the entire production. With subtle lighting from Simon Bond, slick direction from Roxana Silbert and a simple yet effective set by Ana Ines Jabares-Pita, this is one production which must be seen to gain an understanding in the treatment which continues to happen in our ‘civilised world.’ This is one of the most powerful and moving productions I have seen this year.

Runs until Saturday 15th June.

Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Amina Zia (Mariam) A Thousand Splendid Suns Pamela Raith Photography

Theatre Preview - A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS - NORTHERN STAGE

A Thousand Splendid Suns company Pamela Raith Photography

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini’s spiritual sequel to The Kite Runner runs at Northern Stage from 30 May – 15 June.

Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Amina Zia (Mariam)
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Pamela Raith Photography

Khaled Hosseini’s international best-selling novel is the powerful story of three generations of women discovering strength in unity and finding hope in the unlikeliest of places. Set in 1992 in an Afghanistan ravaged by war, an orphaned Laila is left alone in an increasingly threatening world. Her older neighbour Rasheed is quick to open his home and takes Laila as his second wife.

Rasheed’s first wife Mariam has no choice but to accept her younger, and now pregnant, rival. As the Taliban take over, life for all of them becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, and the two women find themselves unlikely allies. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, love grows and sustains the human spirit even during the hardest of times.

The cast features Waleed Akhtar (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen/ Lasse Hallström; What Shadows / Birmingham Repertory Theatre and The Kite Runner/Nottingham Playhouse & Liverpool Everyman); Pal Aron (Behind the Beautiful Forevers/National Theatre; Stella/ Sky One); Sujaya Dasgupta (Death of a Salesman/Royal & Derngate, Press/BBC); Munir Khairdin (Whitechapel/ITV); Naveed Khan (Tamburlaine and Tartuffe /RSC); Mollie Lambert (The White Devil/Shakespeare’s Globe); Shala Nyx (Miss Prue/Bristol Old Vic; The Shadow Factory/Nuffield Southampton Theatres) and Lisa Zahra (The Kite Runner/Wyndham’s) and Amina Zia (Tartuffe/RSC).

Roxana Silbert directs A Thousand Splendid Suns, her final show as Artistic Director of Birmingham Repertory Theatre. She said:

Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Naveed Khan (Babi)
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Pamela Raith Photography

“In Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns we are given a rare glimpse into 30 years of contemporary Afghan history and thanks to Ursula Rani Sarma’s emotionally stirring adaptation audiences will be able to bear witness to the extraordinary story of two radiant women who struggle to survive the terrifying political situation they find themselves in. I can’t wait to bring this inspiring and enlightening story to the stage.”

Playwright Ursula Rani Sarma said:

“This play is about the immense strength and endurance of women and how they can survive tremendous suffering to keep those they love alive. It is also about how even in the darkest of times and places, love can grow and sustain the human spirit beyond all pain and hard-ship. It’s about friendship and loyalty, courage and selflessness, grief and violence. What the play has to say about love, endurance, and survival is very much worth listening to for a contemporary audience. There is beauty and strength at the heart of A Thousand Splendid Suns, and I feel so proud to be part of its evolution from novel to stage.”

Ursula Rani Sarma is a scriptwriter for stage and screen. Her previous credits include Delicious (Sky), the award-winning film Anywhere But Here, Yerma (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Dark Things (Traverse Theatre).

Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read and beloved novelists in the world, with over 38 million copies of his books sold in more than seventy countries. The Kite Runner was a major film and was a Book of the Decade, chosen by The Times, Daily Telegraph and Guardian. A Thousand Splendid Suns was the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year in 2008. Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN Refugee Agency and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and lives in northern California.

A Thousand Splendid Suns will have set and costume designs by Ana Inés Jabares-Pita, lighting design by Simon Bond, composition by Mahmood Kamen, sound design and co-composition by Dave Price with Ben Hart as magic consultant.

Tour Listings

30 May – 15 June Northern Stage

Box Office: 0191 230 5151 / northernstage.co.uk

25 June – 6 July

Nuffield Southampton Theatres

Box Office: 023 8067 1771 / nstheatre.co.uk

Sujaya Dasgupta (Laila) Pal Aron (Rasheed) Amina Zia (Mariam)
Pamela Raith Photography

Theatre Review - PRINCESS AND THE HUSTLER - LIVE THEATRE, NEWCASTLE

The Princess and The Hustler is a new multi-layered play written by Chinonyerem Odimba, current writer in residence at The Live Theatre and Northumbria University.

The story revolves around 10-year-old Princess, who dreams of winning the Weston-Super-Mare Beauty Contest. It is Christmas Day, signified by a very small tree showing their poverty with a lack of presents. As Princess’ Mother, Mavis, prepares a chicken dinner, a surprise visitor arrives. Enter, Wendell The Hustler, the long-lost homeless father, who also has a half-sister for Princess, Lorna in tow. He is not welcomed by Mavis, Princess or Wendell Junior. What follows is a well scripted journey which not only brilliantly develops all of the characters, but also brings in the prejudice encountered which led to the bus boycott in Bristol in 1963.

It has to be said that the acting is perfect throughout from the entire cast. Though Kudzia Sitima as Princess and Emily Burnett as Lorna produce outstanding performances playing the young girls, they both achieve truly believable performances.

This is a wonderfully crafted play, dealing with important issues which we should be reminded about. It certainly deserves another tour in the future. I for one can’t wait to see more work from Chinonyerem Odimba

Theatre Review - THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST - PEOPLE'S THEATRE, NEWCASTLE

Algernon (Richard Jack) & Jack (Colin Jeffrey)
photo Richard Gardner

It’s always with much anticipation and high expectation we return to Newcastle’s People’s Theatre. Serving up this mouth- watering classic from Oscar Wilde would surely be something to savour, and I’m not just talking about the cucumber sandwiches…

Algernon (Richard Jack), Jack (Colin Jeffrey)
 photo Richard Gardner

There was a very healthy turn out for opening night, in this great venue. We were first of all treated to a delightful classic set. Well done to the scenic team, designers, builders and painters. Each scene looked perfect with the use of the space available on this massive stage well executed. Though the hard floor was occasionally noisy under foot of the actors.

Each actors costume and hair was perfect with Lady Bracknell (Karen Elliot) particularly elaborate. Take a bow wardrobe (Julie Tucker).

Cecily (Kitty Parkins), Algernon (Richard Jack),
Gwendolen (Rachel Scott) photo Richard Gardner

All nine of the cast were excellent, with each one of them bringing individuality to their character. The confidence so evidently displayed allowed the audience to relax into this great play from Wilde. Praise must go to the Director Kevin Gibson and his assistants Brian Green and Emma Weetch who got so much out of the performers.

Dr Chasuble (Jack Thompson) and Miss Prism (Alison Carr)
photo Richard Gardner

For those new to the play it revolves around two bachelors John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. Each have their creative excuses to allow them to have alternative lives whilst in ‘London’ or ‘The country’. Mr Worthing who calls himself Earnest in London is in love with Gwendolen Fairfax, Algernon’s cousin and daughter of his aunt, Lady Bracknell. Algernon travels to the country and pretends to be John Worthing’s non-existent brother ‘Earnest’ and falls in love with Cecily, the Ward of Mr Worthing. In order to win Gwendolen’s hand in marriage under questioning from Lady Bracknell Mr Worthing reveals that as a baby he was abandoned and found in a handbag. Gwendolen and Cecily both declare they could only marry someone with the name Earnest.     

Now to single out individual actors feels like I’m being asked to choose a favourite child. I could easily list the positives for each of them, but... The chaps drove the play along with great timing, and I did delight in the ladies performances, especially Kitty Parkins portrayal of the 18 year old Cecily Cardew. Some of her expressions made me laugh out loud on several occasions!

The exquisite script with such competent delivery is a sure fire winner. Don’t miss out on another great show from the People’s Theatre. I for one will be back. I’m starving now. Cucumber sandwich anyone?

Lady Bracknell (Karen Elliott) photo Richard Gardner

Theatre Review - TOM STOPPARD'S ARCADIA AT THE PEOPLE'S THEATRE, NEWCASTLE

Hannah (Anna Dobson), Bernard (Adam Lowe),
Thomasina (Catherine Ellis), Septimus (Adam Owers)

Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia is a mix of the past and present as they are comically blurred in an English country house as the life of the Croom family in 1809 is juxtaposed with two present-day researchers working in the library of Sidley Park

A unique and interesting play involving inter-relating timelines, with a complex and compelling plot. Simplistic set design is often difficult to master, but master it they did. Only using a large dining table with a few chairs, lectern and occasional props, this allowed the audience to focus on the complexity of the story. The misted panels at the back of the set produced a lovely diffused lighting effect, adding to the atmosphere of the scenes (although occasionally the paper-based panels detracted from the feeling of the scene by rustling as they were moved). The set designer Sands Hope Dobson, alongside lighting designers Will Lupton and James Appleby, created an apt mood that suited the tone of the play and its performance.

Hannah (Anna Dobson), Septimus (Adam Owers),
Bernard (Adam Lowe), Thomasina (Catherine Ellis)

As to the actors, there was not a weak performance amidst them, a truly well-crafted cast, each well-fitted to their roles. Catherine Ellis gives a wondrous performance as the inquisitive Thomansia; Adam Owers commands the stage as the witty and charismatic Septimus; Anna Dobsons utilised every article of wit and sarcasm, appearing to be as relaxed in the role as her character Hannah Jarvis would be.  However, perhaps my favourite of all was James Critchley as Gus, whose mute character did much to endear the audience to him. It must be said that all of the actors managed the difficult trick of being completely involved in their characters’ own worlds, even when the two collided. A funny and thought-provoking show that will leave you contemplating all the mysteries of life.

Arcadia runs until Saturday 16^th March at The People’s Theatre.