Review of Café Crescendo - The Late Show by R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton

The Early Show had been quite special, however the Late Show was to offer even more and this time with truly added audience participation and experience. The dust cloths of the haunted cafe had been discarded and delicate white tablecloths, candles and a flower in a vase were in its place. We were at a quality cafe and ready for a bit of cabaret style entertainment.

Jessica (a superb Lauren Moody) is busy cleaning up the cafe when her boyfriend (we shall see about that) Daniel (Ryan McLean) turns up ready to take her to a party. Well not just a party, but also Edinburgh, because special things await him there so Lauren must come too.

In between my making Daniel sound a bit selfish, we also have a tale to be told to Lauren through our wonderful time travelling cafe. Switching through the decades we are treated to 20s, 40s, 60s and 80s ensembles. Each of these has a group leader; Anne (Francesca Chaisson), Rosie (Mia Rista), Rosa (Michaela Blackburn) and Sarah (Amara Browning); and each performs a full solo laying out the path of decision for Jessica (and indeed us).

The solos are all excellent and performed with excellent choreographed numbers by the groups, but my favourite two would have to be the flapper styled Maybe This Time performed by Francesca, and Just A Housewife by Mrs Lovett herself Amara Browning. The latter is performed by her with such emotion that the die is cast in the audience just in time for the announcement of our part in proceedings. The audience is to select if Jessica goes or stays, and our cold hearted lot make the correct decision to send Daniel packing to bonny old Scotland on his tod.

The cast is uniformly excellent, with Lauren Moody and Ryan McLean just amazing in their lead roles. Once again applause to all involved in this show, this is not only a superb piece of theatre presented in a unique style, but also with the wonderful interactive element for the audience. It really was a special and fun show. Congratulations to absolutely everyone involved.

Performance reviewed: Sunday 25th May, 2015 (second show) at the Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton.

Café Crescendo was performed by the R&D Youth Theatre at the Royal & Derngate between Friday 22nd May and Sunday 24th May, 2015.

For further details about the Royal & Derngate visit their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Review of Cluedo 2 at Milton Keynes Theatre

Back in 2022, the original Cluedo stage play, based on a 1985 play by Sandy Rustin, itself based on the cult US film Clue , journeyed to Milton Keynes Theatre as part of a UK tour. It was, it has to be said, an average affair, made good by some excellent staging and at times a very fair tribute to the original board game. Now two years later, the success of that tour clearly warranted a return to the franchise and we find Cluedo 2 now on stage at Milton Keynes Theatre. So, is a follow-up warranted, and does it address many of the issues of the original? Let's find out. Unlike the original and with no film source material to create a second play from, legendary TV comedy writers Maurice Gran and Lawrence Mark have taken the helm to provide the script for this production. Sadly, the legendary writers have for the best part plowed through their archives of extremely dated, and tiresome comedy. Much of the script is heavy on the obvious, high on the cringe, and while at times it can

Review of UoN Fringe 2019: Working For The Man by Naked Truth Theatre at The Platform Club, Northampton

When looking at the prospect of the Fringe performance Working For The Man , it is slightly difficult to work out who is the bravest person involved in this remarkable one performer, one audience member show set totally within or around the edges of a car. I guess I would in my case, say myself, but it takes some daring for performer Ellie Lomas of Naked Truth Theatre to also create a piece that offers the boldness that it does. Working for the Man is perhaps unsurprisingly about the sex trade, and explores exploitation and how, or if, prostitution is taken as a serious profession. It involves no live audio dialogue from performer Ellie Lomas, instead, she inhabits a purely physical performance, that is progressed by the use of a pair of headphones which you are given at the start. Across this audio are instructions of what to do. "Get in the car", "sit in the middle seat in the back", "open the glove compartment" etc, as you move to different areas

Review of Moby Dick at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Moby Dick is a story that most people asked would say they have heard of. Less would perhaps be able to give a detailed account of the tale it tells. Even less so, it seems, would be able to claim they have actually read the sprawling 700-plus-page novel. Herman Melville's novel you see seems to be highly regarded, but now, slowly but surely becoming less read in these short-attention-spanned days. So, what can a neatly brief two-hour production from Simple8 in association with Royal & Derngate do for the epic novel? First of all, a brief synopsis to get us going. Moby Dick tells the story of Ishmael, a young sailor who joins the whaling ship Pequod , captained by the mysterious Ahab. Captain Ahab is a driven man, seeking revenge on the white whale of the title, who rudely took his leg away in a previous encounter. During the tale, we meet a likable assortment of characters, and the impressive ensemble of nine performers brings them delightfully to life to tell this tale. Ou

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