Flash Festival 2018: Screw You by Sonder Ensemble at Hazelrigg House, Northampton

So, I return once again for the annual Flash Festival, the moment where the graduating BA Actors get their moment to show in their dissertation piece, what they have learnt over their three years at the University of Northampton.

Opening my fifth year of shows was Sonder Ensemble's topical offering, and interestingly titled, Screw You, This group of three performers created a snappy (just 25 minutes) piece influenced by Harvey Weinstein and the fallout from those revelations. Delving into a mixture of stories based upon real cases (some more obvious, about who they refer, than others) to create a brief piece exploring what has been one of the biggest stories of the last year.

The three performers in this show are Ceara Coveney, Gemma Leigh and Katie Lawson, and the first two already have already proven themselves to be extremely talented from past shows, and here they perhaps show themselves at their best. Lawson though had lurked a little more in the background in the main ensemble shows, but with Flash, as is often the case, there is a greater opportunity to show their skills, and here she brings her A-game to the stage.

All three actors have a number of characters during this play, and often are challenged with some very specific accents to accomplish, and here they are all strong, from the clear and impressive drawl of Leigh, though to the antipodean skills of Coveney, all accents delivered here are very impressive, and more importantly crystal clear to the listener.

Many of the sequences of dialogue are also greatly enhanced by some nice physical theatre, moving potentially boring dialogue into a much more interesting affair. It didn't detract from your understanding of how strong the pieces were, and actually, by maintaining the interest with movement, I feel it enhanced all the stories they told.

It's tough material to enjoy, so as ever at this point, I use the caveat that this is a piece to admire instead. It was gloriously performed, with three talented performers and in the intimacy of the space at Hazelrigg, it gained a much more powerful impact as well. An excellent piece to start Flash for 2018.

Performance viewed: Monday 23rd April 2018

The Flash Festival 2018 ran between Monday 23rd and Friday 27th April 2018 at three venues across the town.

Photos: Looking Glass Theatre

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 Unexpected Twist at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

This new stage adaptation by Roy Williams of Michael Rosen's Unexpected Twist is a very important piece of theatre. Much like a pantomime's appeal, this special little production could be key to a lifetime of theatre activity for young people who experience it. The production, directed by James Dacre, ticks so many of the boxes to make this interesting for them, talk of mobile phones, streetwise kids at the stories centre, R&B, and beatboxing. It is as down with the kids and as cool as any Royal & Derngate Made in Northampton production I have seen and in arrangement with The Children's Theatre Partnership this is something very special. Not to say that this show is just for kids, as this is as much for grown-ups as well. Rosen's story takes Charles Dickens Oliver Twist , and wait for it, twists a new story from it while linking brilliantly to the trials of life and families in 2023. You see, every modern character in this story sees their world collide with a

Review of Shrek (NMTC) at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Three and a half years ago, in a land far far away, in a world very different to the one we are now in, I saw the touring professional production of Shrek The Musical , it was a mixed bag of quality, tilted extremely heavily in favour of one particular character (not the one you might expect) and not firing on all cylinders much of the time. One and a half years after my last visit to the Derngate theatre, I return to see the homegrown Northampton Musical Theatre Company's own take on the very same show. Would they be able to breathe more life into the show than the professionals did in that distant land? It is a bit of a yes and no really. Pretty much all of this is done to the best possible standard, and at times, with being an amateur show you could easily forget, they all have normal day jobs. The show oozes professional quality at times. The set looks magnificent, the costumes (from Molly Limpet's Theatrical Emporium) are superb, and as ever with NMTC, the backstage team c

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog