College Productions

Mountview have announced their shows for the next couple of months, including Urinetown and 9 to 5 – www.mountview.org.uk/whats-on/shows-and-events/

ArtsEd's production of Made in Dagenham has quietly gone on sale. These can sell out quickly.

Sweet Charity at ArtsEd is now on sale. Go quick. Some dates already sold out.

Some thoughts on the ArtsEd and Mountview productions I've seen this week.

Both very strong, although it did hit me that there was less diversity of actor types than I can remember, perhaps a casualty of Covid era auditions and the challenges of getting international students post Brexit.

Two shows about women standing up for their rights.

Made in Dagenham - Arts Ed

I saw both casts. As usually happens, I preferred one over the other, but also one show had a few microphone problems so that didn't help matters. Thursday and Friday matinees, with several actors in (and one of Theatreboard's favourite critics). Neither matinee was particularly full, which is always a shame as they were sold out on the website. I did overhear several conversations I probably shouldn't have (while sat at my seat) and I now appreciate much more the challenge of attending a Thursday matinee in Chiswick that runs 2 hours and 45 minutes, then trying to not to be late to the West End show you're starring in.

I really liked this. Very similar standard to Mountview's recent version. There were some odd casting choices, some odd accents, a gift comedy role that didn't really go to a comic actor, plus some relatively minor parts that were double cast. But I know there are reasons for these things. Having seen several actors announce which parts they're playing in Rent, this does make me a lot more excited to see that production.

9 to 5 - Mountview

A lot of the audience really liked this. They were whooping and cheering. But they were mostly Mountview students. The whole culture of Mountview always seems so different to Arts Ed.

I saw the Saturday matinee, which I think was the first performance. This is billed as very dark, although that didn't come across to me. It is dark in that the set is black and white (with the props all made out of cardboard), dim lighting, everyone dressed interchangeable in black, grey and white etc (with odd exceptions for effect). There's a very slight change to the ending. The songs are done very well and there's an excellent dance number in the second act. Otherwise, this is rather manic.

Thankfully, for those of us who prefer to avoid gunshots, the gun is also made of cardboard.

My main concern is that some will say this is a triumph for direction, production and set design. It screams modern fringe production. But for actors looking for representation, hiding them all behind black and white make up makes them all so much less memorable and means it's hard for any one of them to stand out. It is very good, but I'm not convinced this particular show needs a radical reinvention just yet.

I also saw Made in Dagenham on Friday matinee and enjoyed it a lot. The leading lady did a excellent job and I hope to see her again in something else. The rest of the cast were generally good, although a couple of them probably needed more direction. Overall, a very enjoyable production. Also surprised by the amount of empty seats which is a pity.

Look forward to their production of Sweet Charity.

Oh amazing! I love Hunchback!! Tried to get tickets for Bird's production a few years ago, but unfortunately their productions weren't open to the general public.

I tried to book but they don't seem to offer a seating plan for Angels in America, so I'll give it a miss.

Thats what we had for Company earlier this year. Crazy system considering how great their auditorium is, complete with fixed down seats and everything!

It's probably because it's a flexible space! The stalls can be lifted to the be level with the stage, but the only time I've seen it used is for the condensed Shakespeares they used to do — saw a dreadful Cymbeline that made no sense there back in 2019 😂

Sorry you couldn't make it, Paul, for your sake and cos I missed you, as I was there this afternoon.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The absolutely fantastic staging and fun choreography reminded me of the seductively silly sixties zaniness you see in Austin Powers movies. The action freezes so that the principals can deliver their lines before the frozen ensemble starts up dancing again right where they left off, exuding the self-involved exclusionary campness that keeps the character of Charity a perpetual outsider. Delightful, engaging and infectious, I found myself dancing in my seat, with "Big Spender" being a particular highlight, a laugh riot as well as an effervescent toetapper.

Unfortunately, for me, Mia Endicott's Charity is directed to be just as zany as the ensemble, if not more so, gurning wackily like a Jim Carrey character. It is an absolutely terrific comic characterisation for another show, in which such a character would comically disrupt the normal lives of everyone around her. She is like Miracle Chance blundering through "Unfortunate the Musical" treading on toes.

But if you are going to have a character walk through an alienating uncaring comic landscape, like in this show, said lead character needs to ground the show in pathos, like Tamsin Outhwaite in the West End. It is a great showcase for Endicott's adeptness for broad comedy, but in my view, it works against rooting the piece in human emotions, reducing the whole to a cartoon.

At the very end, Endicott does produce significant pathos, proving herself to be an adept dramatic actor, but it's so late that it feels inorganic to her character's road runner resilience in the rest of the show, where she repeatedly falls off metaphorical cliffs without a scratch to her jazz hands.

Joel Wilding kills it as Charity's boss, Herman, singing "I Love to Cry at Weddings," with his camp gangsterish delivery feeling of a piece with the goings on at "Guys and Dolls" at the Bridge Theatre.

Anyway, despite the director taking a decision to push Charity into the broadest comedy, which I disagree with, the sustained camp sixties vibe made this an absolute ball from start to finish, significantly outdoing the Donmar version for sheer brio.

I'd give this "Sweet Charity" 3 and a half stars.

Saw Urinetown last week and really enjoyed it. I had never seen or heard the show before (only saw Yeast Nation at Southwark Playhouse by the same creatives), but I really enjoyed this. Thought the cast were great and really looking forward to seeing what they end up doing in their professional careers.

Mountview seems to be doing Pippin and She Loves Me next term

Booking also open for Pippin and She Loves Me at Mountview next term!