A brand-new production of Michael Frayn’s classic comedy premiered at The New Wolsey Theatre this month before it embarks on a nationwide tour. Originally written in 1982, this comedy is often regarded as a masterpiece in farce construction, with an ingenious play-within-a-play structure. This production is truly a collaborative effort, with The New Wolsey being partnered by their first international co-producer, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, in addition to partnering with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and Theatre by the Lake in Cumbria.
It was pleasing to see a full house of eager audience members of all ages, ready to be entertained on a hot Saturday afternoon, even though Ipswich Town Football Club were playing at home. The pastel stage set depicted a living room, complete with old-style rotary phone, and immediately set the scene for what seemed like a bygone era. The show opens with the cast onstage, furiously and haplessly rehearsing in the forlorn hope of being ready for opening night the following day. Hilary Maclean plays Dotty, the ageing actress who staggers in and out with endless plates of sardines but cannot seem to remember her part, much to the irritation of the director, Lloyd, played by Harry Long. We quickly meet the other cast members: sexy Brooke (Ailsa Joy), fragile Freddy (Hisham Abdel Razek), incoherent Garry who can’t finish a sentence (George Kemp), alcoholic Selsdon (Russell Richardson) and posh Belinda (Clare-Louise English). The overworked Tim (Ezra Alexander) and Poppy (Gemma Salter) officially provide stage management for the play, but are also expected to fix the set, buy endless bunches of flowers, babysit Selsdon and be ready at a moment’s notice to understudy any part!
Act I was deftly played by the whole cast as Frayn masterfully sets the groundwork for what is to follow. We are introduced to the complex and chaotic interconnections of this small touring company. Garry and Dotty are in a turbulent relationship, Freddy is devastated as his wife has left him, while Lloyd is cosying up to both Brooke and Poppy! Meanwhile, Selsdon cannot remember his lines, keeps disappearing and just wants to get drunk.
The pace really ramps up in Acts II and III which are laugh-out loud funny, with the talented cast demonstrating exceptional class and faultless timing as they juggle the on-stage action with the off-stage stories playing behind the scenes, brilliantly mimed by all of the actors. The chemistry between the cast is wonderful, complemented by hilarious slapstick comedy and a sense of escalating panic as they race in and out of the many doors on the set…trying and failing to keep the show on the road. We are reminded once again, “it’s all about doors and sardines”! The hilarious way that the jealous Garry manages to bounce up the stairs and navigate the stage with his shoe laces tied together really must be seen to be believed! George Kemp playing Garry stood out amongst a hugely impressive cast, utilising his tall stature and expressive face to drive the physical and slapstick comedy, to the delight of the audience.
While some aspects of the play itself, particularly around gender stereotypes and sexual power imbalances, can feel slightly uncomfortable when viewed through a post #MeToo lens, the farce is best regarded as of its era, especially as it was written more than 40 years ago. It’s fast, furious, and hysterically funny. And this cast are impeccable – grab a ticket while you still can for a couple of hours of pure escapism! Noises Off continues at The New Wolsey until 24 May 2025: Noises Off – New Wolsey Theatre
Luca Silvestrini’s Protein made a welcome return to DanceEast this week with their award-winning production of The Little Prince. Based on the classic children’s story by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, this quintessential Christmas show blends Protein’s distinctive mix of dance, spoken word, lighting and video design.
DanceEast and The Place Theatre originally co-commissioned The Little Prince, and it was wonderful to see an excited audience of families and young children at this relaxed performance at the DanceHouse. As a National Dance Agency, DanceEast brings the joy of dance to over 40,000 people annually, showcasing world-class dance to the people of Suffolk in the Jerwood DanceHouse’s intimate 200-seater space.
The show begins with the Pilot – a man who used to be a child that liked drawing. But the grown-ups could not understand his drawing no 1 and, most especially, what was on the inside. The Pilot soon encounters the Little Prince, delightfully acted, and danced in this production by the talented Mette Nilsen. The Little Prince immediately grasps the unseeable – the drawing is an elephant trapped inside a boa constrictor! And so, a firm friendship is formed.
The Little Prince lives on his own tiny asteroid with three volcanos and a beautiful, if demanding, red rose. The humour in this charming piece appeals to children and adults alike – the children at this performance were laughing unreservedly which was infectious. The Little Prince leaves behind his beloved rose and journeys through the universe. Danced to a stunning original score by Frank Moon, the movement quality of the versatile cast of four dancers is exceptional: sweeping contemporary moves, soaring lifts and flowing floorwork which all combine to drive the narrative forwards. Along the fantastical journey, the Little Prince meets a quirky and absurd cast of characters, including a king who reigns over nothing, and a businessman obsessively counting the stars. Yet we are reminded that nobody owns the stars… I particularly liked the joyful lamplighter, and the gorgeous circling choreography of this section of the show.
The staging of the production is incredible: simple yet imaginative and appealing. The digital projections, lighting and effective stage set transport the audience to an enchanted space. Lasting 70 minutes with no interval, the cast effortlessly captured the attention of even the youngest of children in the Ipswich audience.
The Little Prince journeys onto Earth before finally finding his way home, having made new friends and grown in wisdom. Even the curtain call was beautifully inventive, with the talented cast taking a bow as each of the many characters they played in the performance and interacting with the audience. The show is a mini-masterpiece, uplifting and entertaining for all ages with its distinctive blend of humour, absurdity, and pure heart. Above all, this enchanting production highlights the importance of friendship, love, and imagination – “what is essential is invisible to the eye”.
London Classic Theatre brought their production of Joe Orton’s classic farce, What The Butler Saw, to Ipswich audiences this week, as part of their nationwide tour. Incredibly, this masterpiece, written by Joe Orton in 1967, is more than five decades old, but even though the play feels a little archaic at times, it still packs a powerful, satirical punch.
The plot centres on Doctor Prentice, played with wonderful aplomb by John Dorney. Doctor Prentice is a corrupt and sleazy psychiatrist who is trying to take advantage of the young Geraldine Barclay, interviewing for the role of his secretary.
As the play opens, Doctor Prentice is trying to persuade the naïve Geraldine Barclay to undress, as part of the recruitment process –the recent Harvey Weinstein scandal comes to mind, an uncomfortable parallel. This demonstrates Orton’s prophetic genius: the outspoken writer was unafraid to address dark and subversive themes at a time when open expression of homosexuality was still forbidden by law.
Orton’s plot becomes ever more complex and convoluted. Mrs Prentice enters unexpectedly during the attempted seduction, causing Dr Prentice to weave an intricate web of lies and deception to try to cover up his betrayal. Mrs Prentice has her own situation to contend with: a bellboy has taken compromising photos of her and trying to extort money and a job from her as a result!
A government official, Doctor Rance, turns up at the clinic, and a confused yet likeable policeman, played by Jon-Paul Rowden, also gets involved in untangling this ridiculous tale of mistaken identities, full of double-entendre, risqué humour and cutting satire.
The cast of six were superb: funny, fearless, and beautifully rehearsed. The slapstick humour and comedic timing were faultless throughout, elements that are extremely easy to mis-judge. As the pace of the farce increased in Act II, the audience willingly suspended disbelief right through to the implausible reveal at the end.
The set complements the illogical script fantastically: the designer Bek Palmer has taken inspiration from Pop Art, Monty Python and Surrealism to create something fresh and wonderfully weird. The show was very well-received on a rainy Tuesday night by the Ipswich audience, deservedly so!
This farce is definitely not politically correct, but it is unashamedly funny, while questioning important themes such as power, sanity, gender expression and sexuality.
Mark Bruce Company wowed Suffolk audiences this week with a double bill of brand-new work. Mark Bruce is an internationally recognised choreographer who founded his multi-award-winning Mark Bruce Company in 1991. To be transparent, it is difficult for me to be completely unbiased about the Company because Mark Bruce is a fellow Rambert School graduate. I remember being a first-year student at the prestigious Rambert conservatoire when there was great excitement because the wonderful Mark Bruce had been commissioned to create a new piece of work on third year students. Even in the early 1990s, Bruce’s talent shone brightly, a portent of his superb creativity and genius for dance storytelling.
Jerwood DanceHouse was sold-out for this two-night run at DanceEast. The evening started with a shorter work, Liberation Day. This new creation was danced to music composed by Mark Bruce and sung by Eva Todd and Bruce himself. The cinematic quality of the piece was enhanced by atmospheric lighting. The suite of different dance episodes, featuring duets, solos, a trio, and the whole company, shifted seamlessly. Exploring abstract themes of life, love and the passing of time, the company of six extraordinary dancers performed beautifully.
The fifty-minute pièce de resistance, Frankenstein, showcases Bruce’s distinctive and compelling choreographic language, and the darkness of the material is captured perfectly with the starkness of the adaptation. True to form, Bruce has not simply created a straightforward adaption of Mary Shelley’s famous book, which was originally published anonymously in 1818. Instead, he has chosen to present a narrative dance-theatre piece which tells the story of the tragic Monster, danced by the outstanding Johnathon Goddard. Bruce has also taken inspiration from the book’s subtitle – ‘The Modern Prometheus’ – and introduced figures from Greek mythology to the narrative.
The surreal piece opens with thunder and lightning, and we see Doctor Frankenstein, played by the believable Dominic Rocca. The Doctor is driven by his unrelenting ambition to create life. He stitches human body parts together, to create the Monster: a towering, menacing but somehow empty facsimile of a man. Horrified at what he has recklessly created, Doctor Frankenstein rejects the Monster, who is destined to wander alone and suffering in a timeless and stark landscape. Goddard’s muscular portrayal of the Monster is engrossing and authentic: dark and brooding but, at the same time, complex and nuanced. With stillness and eloquence, Bruce’s choreography conveys the essence of what it means to be “other”, powerfully provoking reflection about the universal need for empathy and connection. What the Monster wants is love, but his darkness brings tragic drama and mutilation to the lives of all he touches.
The company are fantastically accomplished dancers and actors – who mostly trained at Rambert. Classical lines, pointed feet, and tricky balletic moves effortlessly complement the contemporary flowing style and distinctive cinematic feel of the production. Cordelia Braithwaite was exceptional as the Bride of the Monster, and Anna Daly embodied the spirit of innocence as Elizabeth. Elizabeth and the Doctor try to flee the Monster, but she falls prey to his uncontrollable impulses, and the Doctor is left grieving at her tombstone.
Bruce’s choreography revolves around a masterful and varied choice of music: ranging from Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Arvo Pärt to more modern choices such as the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, and even folk elements such as a haunting version of the song “Wayfaring Stranger” by David Eugene Edwards.
This new work is powerful, profound and a masterpiece of storytelling. The recklessness of human ambition and its uncontrollable consequences has strong parallels with current debate around A.I. But above all, this piece takes the audience to another world, challenging us to think about what it means to be human, and how we can choose to include or exclude others. It seems almost certain that this wonderful new dance-theatre creation will reap even more well-deserved awards for the incredible Mark Bruce Company.
The brand-new production of the musical, Little Shop of Horrors, is currently playing at the New Wolsey Theatre – and the mean green monster musical is simply a delectable smash hit! Little Shop of Horrors, with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, and music by Alan Menken, originally premiered in off-off-Broadway in 1982, before receiving numerous productions in the U.S. and abroad, including on Broadway itself.
The New Wolsey Theatre was packed during a Saturday afternoon when Ipswich Town Football Club were playing at home, which speaks volumes about the enormous appeal of this unique horror/comedy musical. The narrative is set in 1960s New York City, in Mr Mushnik’s florist shop, which is situated down on Skid Row. The set is effective, but not overdone: an angular shopfloor, an alley complete with garbage bins and an abandoned shopping trolley, a neon sign and space above the set for the superb live band.
The story follows Seymour, a green-fingered orphan who was taken in by Mr Mushnik, the owner of the flower shop. Seymour is secretly in love with his glamorous co-worker, Audrey. However, Audrey is trapped in a domestically abusive relationship with a sadistic dentist, Orin. Business is so bad that Mr Mushnik threatens to close the shop, but the clumsy and jittery Seymour has a proposition: he will save the shop with a strange plant, resembling a Venus flytrap, that he names Audrey 2 in honour of his secret crush.
The plant is a sensation, and its growing notoriety saves the flower shop, bringing celebrity status to Seymour. Business is booming, but the plant has a dark secret: it needs blood to grow and demands incessantly “feed me, Seymour!” This leads to some dark deeds and both Orin and Mr Mushnik are fed to the rapacious Audrey 2. A succession of puppets is used to portray the plant as it grows from a cute green curiosity to a huge monstrosity, dominating the set. Audrey 2 is played by the incredible and charismatic Anton Stephans, and his mesmerising, feisty portrayal is hugely entertaining.
Laura Jane Matthewson plays Audrey: her acting and singing bring a beautiful poignancy to this sensitive role. In the solo ‘Somewhere That’s Green,’ Matthewson sings expressively about her longing for a piece of suburban safety, not an overly ambitious dream but one that seems far out of her reach due to her controlling boyfriend, Orin. Matthew Ganley plays the role of Orin with Machiavellian delight, bringing a warped energy to the performance. Oliver Mawdsley plays Seymour, who is a lovable hero for our times: geeky and underconfident but with a true and loyal heart.
The rock and roll numbers throughout this show are beautifully sung, from the opening number ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ right through to the high-energy finale ‘Don’t Feed the Plants.’ A trio of street urchins comprised of three female singer-musicians bring a wonderful and knowing energy to the show. Keyboardist Janna May plays Chiffon, while guitarists Chardai Shaw and Zweyla Mitchell dos Santos play Ronnette and Crystal, respectively. The chemistry between the trio was spot on and the harmonies were sublime. The choreography was serviceable, but Zweyla stood out with the extra sassiness that she brought to the simple moves.
The talented cast had the audience laughing, tapping their feet, and totally engrossed in the fantastical tale. This off-beat comedic musical was certainly different to anything I have seen before. The finale was energetic and captivating, bringing this show to a triumphant close. The audience roared their approval and gave the cast a well-deserved standing ovation.
This touring co-production between the New Wolsey Theatre, Bolton Octagon Theatre, Theatre By The Lake and Hull Truck Theatre runs until Saturday 23 March in Ipswich. Catch a chance to see this wonderfully quirky 5-star show while you still can.
