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Blonde Bombshells of 1943 - Bolton Octagon

A really fun afternoon at the Bolton Octagon last Saturday afternoon watching this. Director Zoe Waterman and her creative team have done a great job in bringing Alan Platters play to the Octagon stage.  A really witty and warm play that celebrates female friendships and making the most of life in wartime through a shared passion for music. 
 
Whilst it isn't the most demanding show to watch and only deals with the impacts of war on individuals at the surface level with witty and sometimes risqué lines and with biting northern humour (the city of Hull and men generally really takes a witty verbal bashing here from Platters writing). It is the cast of 8 actor-musicians assembled that bring those 1940's big-band numbers (from Glenn Miller to the Andrews Sisters) to life over 2 hrs that are worth the ticket price with a really high standard of musicianship and singing on show. Each of the cast gets a chance to shine individually and as a ensemble. From my viewing, I really couldn't fault any of the cast both the acting and musicianship were spot on for me. 

Staged in the round with a very basic set in the first Act to represent a bombed-out rehearsal room, there is a bit of glitz and glamour in Act 2 with the BBC radio broadcast to close the show. The show worked well in this configuration and there was a nice touch with the stage crew being dressed uo in period costumes for moving set pieces around. 

A really positive reception at the end as the show goes into concert mode and just generally a nice afternoon of nostalgia for the audience as a whole.

david That sounds almost the same as the concert I saw last June, except that was the CBSO rather than the Halle and Gina Beck rather than Lucy May Barker. I guess the performances last year, in Birmingham & Saffron Walden (I was at the latter), were popular enough that they decided to bring it to further venues. For me the South Pacific section was a preview, as I didn't see the Chichester production until it was at Sadler's Wells a couple of months later.

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Saw the matinee and LOVED it. I pretty much agree with everything Dave said. Thanks, Dave.

I'd go 4, 3, 4, with 4 stars overall.

And I'd add the name of Poppy Allem-Quarmby to your list of exceptional performances, which I otherwise agree with.

Some spoilers follow. . .

This collection of plays sort of fills the hole that Jane Austen's novels don't deal with. Like, Austen posits heroines who need men to save them, and then they either get saved by mega-rich men, rich men or men with a modest living.

But what if none of the above happens?

What if (in "Makeshifts") the man you look to save you is a cad?

What if (in "Realities")the only man available to save you has less than modest assets?

What if (in "Honour Thy Father") there is no man at all to save you, and even your Dad is a feckless gambler, and because you are a woman you haven't been educated to earn a living?

These plays are high quality period-piece discoveries, directed and acted sensitively and judiciously, like you sometimes see at the Jermyn Street Theatre or the Orange Street Theatre.

Since "Realities" is a sequel to "Makeshifts," featuring the same characters, they feel like one play, played together before the interval. One of the things I liked the best about "Makeshifts" was the relationship between the two sister protagonists, Quinn (heartache beneath mannered placidity) and Quarmby (roiling passion beneath put-on standoffishness), and the way the cad, Joe Eyre (who they both desire to save them) plays them off against each other.

I felt that the "Realities" sequel missed a trick by leaving out Quarmby's character, relying on Quinn's character's story to represent the ultimate fate of both sisters.

Joe Eyre plays the wealthy cad, object of both sister's affections, like a young David Thewlis, all beady-eyed scheming and entitlement, and it's dramatic how much you hate him lol.

In the final play, I was reminded how in the 1700s, one fifth of all women in London were prostitutes, but that by the early 1900s, when this play is set, that choice for a desperate woman would have been a total disgrace. And yet, Poppy Allem-Quarmby's character really has SO few respectable choices, living in an age before women's education, women's lib or even a quick scan of Tinder! As her father, Andrew Quinn was at once feckless, charming and judgemental, and made a worthy antagonist for Quarmby's character, stuck between a rock and a hard place, to go up against.

4 stars from me for some excellent, dated but revealing plays, wonderfully performed.

Birthright - Finborough.

Written in 1910, this is another 'rediscovery'. Set in a kitchen in rural Ireland, it is a family falling apart. Two sons drawn in their own directions but do these fit with the birthright, with the farm passing to the eldest? Performances push this up, in particular Pádraig Lynch as the father, in the tiny space of Finborough - his absolute rage was intimidating is the best word I can come up for it. Just primal rage and the look in his eyes - oof. Four stars. Just 60 minutes straight through now (and the AC isn't bad...)

Saw this last night. Would pretty much agree with the above. A short portrait of a family where all the men are seething with long-standing grievances and resentments while the mother tries to keep the peace. Intense stuff.

Ahir Shah: Ends

This stand-up show won the 2023 Sky Edinburgh Comedy Award.

I saw it last night at the Soho Theatre, and it was absolutely fantastic, one of the best stand-up shows I've seen.

It's like theatre too, in that it tells a coherent story about Shah's grandparents, and the way his own experiences differ from theirs. It certainly isn't just trivial set-ups and corresponding punchlines.

Although it goes deep, and is very moving in it's description of human experience and human nature, it's also (rarely) positive about Britain, and most significantly brilliantly funny, as Shah is terrific at comic turns, whereby he got me laughing instantly after I was incredibly moved.

I was a little worried at the beginning, when I understood that Shah is a fast-talking comedian (many of the best are), as, being over 40, my mind isn't capable of keeping up with the pace it used to, but Shah is so resolutely clear in what he is saying, never rambling, always building, that I followed every word.

The number of laughs and insights, and moving moments too, that can be contained within one hour, are among the highest I've experienced.

5 stars.

Although this now appears sold out at the Soho Theatre, there are still tickets for two shows of this at the Royal Court on March 16th:

royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/ends/

I hope "Ends" does a lot more touring so even more can experience this.

Couldn't have put it better myself, our david . Anyone who thinks Bouncers is *just* a comedy is very much mistaken.

Though I do have to disagree about removing the interval. That would deprive the audience of those three classic lines that close Act I. 

*Wilko - Jonathan Maitland - Queens Theatre Hornchurch - To Sat 24 February*

"A world premiere production of a new play
In 2012, Wilko Johnson, the iconic rock star and founder of legendary Essex band Dr Feelgood, was told he had inoperable cancer and a year to live. Refusing all treatment, he decided to spend his last months living meaningfully: seeing the people, places and things which meant most to him during his remarkable life. Then, a miracle happened…. This world premiere production of a new play – a mixture of words, rock ‘n roll, and quotes from the man himself – tells the amazing, uplifting true story of Wilko, the Canvey Island legend."

I'm not sure how many people would want to see this or be prepared to travel to Hornchuch (though very accessible by public transport), but you definitely don't need to be a Dr Feelgood/Wilko fan and reviews have been positive. A friend and I went to yesterday's matinee and were laughing within minutes; Jonathan Matiland can certainly write a good script and the cast were very impressive, acting, singing, playing instruments and all but the lead playing multiple parts.

Tickets are very affordable, too, if you're used to West End prices and we enjoyed seeing a new production in a theatre new to us. Amazing, too, in these days of funding cuts, that the theatre still appears to be going strong. I've often been attracted by previous well-reviewed productions there and though they seem to have fewer this season - and some touring, so available elsewhere - I'm definitely hoping to return.

London Zoo - Southwark Playhouse

From my viewing of this at today’s matinee, I’ll file this one in the “ok” rating and from reading the reviews of the critics, they seem to be doing the same with a 1-3⭐️ rating being the general feeling and I can’t really disagree with these rating’s unfortunately.  Sadly, this one didn’t put many bums on seats with around 20 of us watching it this afternoon. The run time for this was really uneven and certainly didn’t help in the pacing of the piece. A 70 minute Act 1, 15 min interval and 25 mins Act 2. Protracted scene changes also impacted on the pace of the piece. 

Farine Clarke’s play written back in 2007 but only first performed in 2021 is set in 1999 as electronic media starts to make its presence felt and tells the story of an attempt by an acquisitions publisher to buy out an electronic media company. Within the acquisitions company we follow all the office politics, racism, bullying and misogyny that takes place within the boardroom while trying to seal the deal. 

Whilst I don’t have any complaints about the cast 6 who do well with the material, with Natalie Lauren as Arabella and Simon Furness as Charles who are able to provide some  depth to their roles and have some nice bits of comedy. Unfortunately the rest of the cast are stuck with characters that are very 2D caricatures of very unlikeable office staff / management with little chance to develop as the plot unfolds. 

With the writing, there are lots of ideas, particularly in Act 1 being looked at giving moments of real interest and depth. One scene exploring racism in the workplace is particularly hard hitting but the piece is let down by the ending whilst shocking didn't really marry up with the tone of the piece prior to that and felt unearned in its use. I think whilst a lot of the ideas and their impacts in a 2024 working culture  
can still be seen and felt just as much as when the play was first written, whilst providing both some dark comedy moments and some language that may shock, the play for me didn’t pack enough of a punch for a satisfying trip to the SWP.