An evening of Nottingham Playhouse delights

As a supporter and theatre reviewer of the theatrically excellent Nottingham Playhouse I was invited along, with other guests, to the venue tonight to hear about their forthcoming Spring Season. Regular readers may well recall that I went along to another event earlier in the year to hear about the proposals and theatrical development of their new home grown show 'My Judy Garland Life'. More about this shortly. For more detailed background info on the writing process of My Judy Garland Life please link here.

From the Nottingham Playhouse marketing and publicity department.


'Find out more about our ambitious five theatre co-production of Brecht and Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, a riot of a musical for riotous times. Looking ahead to autumn, we present a season inspired by the theme of time and memory. Our autumn shows include dazzling, time-spanning dramas from two master playwrights of the modern age:  J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. Our piece of new writing this autumn is Propaganda Swing, a toe-tapping new show from Peter Arnold which explores how music can be manipulated in the most evil of times.

Actors will deliver one short scene live on stage from Time and the Conways and Arcadia. We’ll also be interviewing the directors of both productions to find out more about their visions for the two shows.

Giles Croft, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse will also be introducing elements for the neat2014 festival (Nottingham & European Arts Theatre Festival) which will run 23 May – 1 June.

We’ll be taking a look at our fantastic dance season which includes Richard Alston Dance Company, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, and the magnificent Ballet Boyz.'


I saw the Ballet Boyz last year at Derby Theatre and can certainly recommend a visit to their show. Read my review here. The Fabulous Beast piece looked totally un-missable. A fabulous blend of mask work, dance and performance art.

'Benjamin Zephaniah’s Refugee Boy is set to be a huge hit when it reaches us in March. As part of our season launch, you will have an exclusive chance to see how this hilarious and heart-breaking play is shaping up in the rehearsal room.

Lucy Speed, best known for her roles in EastEnders and The Bill, and star of our Neville Studio show, co-produced with Fifth Word, Amateur Girl, by Amanda Whittington will be taking part in a Q&A session on stage.



And to wrap up the evening there will be a live duet from the two stars of My Judy Garland Life, Sally Ann Triplett and Faye Elvin, accompanied on stage by their actor-musician band.'

For an interesting read about the background into Amanda Whittington's work and development in taking the script form page to stage click here.

All exciting stuff and a fabulously varied programme for theatre goers in the Nottingham region and beyond. I do sincerely hope that you will support the Nottingham Playhouse and their excellent programme spring 2014 and beyond.

Phil Lowe

My top shows of my reviewing year are...

These choices are taken from my reviewing around the East Midlands and have been  difficult choices because I have the privilege of seeing some excellent shows both professional and amateur.

Top show of the year. Cooking with Elvis at Derby Theatre directed by Mark Babych.

Best musical. Chicago at Curve. Directed by Paul Kerryson.

Best Panto. Jack and the Beanstalk at Nottingham Playhouse. Directed by Kenneth Alan-Taylor.

Best drama. The Pitman Painters (touring). directed by Max Roberts.

Best dance work. Balletboyz - the talent. Choreographed by Liam Scarlett and Russell Maliphant.

Best children's show. A Christmas Carol. Lakeside. Directed by Martin Berry.


A Christmas Carol at Lakeside Arts Centre from Lakeside Marketing on Vimeo.

Best amateur musical. Oklahoma! Nottingham Operatic Society.

Best amateur drama. God of Carnage. Lace Market Theatre. directed by Graeme Jennings.

Well done to all these super shows that made it to the top of my reviewing list. Here's to some great theatre across the East Midlands in 2014. Phil Lowe.

Review: Balletboyz – the Talent. Derby Theatre. November 5th 2013

Co-produced by Sadlers Wells – Balletboyz-the Talent (ten very impressive professional male ballet dancers) electrified the Derby Theatre stage with two challenging ballet works. The fine attention to detail to every single body position, move and extension, the juxtapositions, the incredible balancing acts of male body against male body – still – gliding or in flight – held the mainly youthful audience in rapture. Once the lights went down and we were presented with a short film and the first dance sequence nary a sweet wrapper rustled across the auditorium. Such was the respect and admiration for this company.

Each of the two dance pieces is announced by a short film about the Balletboyz company's inner workings and rehearsals plus the two choreographers ideas and inspirations. The first work is called Serpent with music by Max Richter. It is choreographed by Liam Scarlett.The supine dancers create the abstract world of gliding and linked/unlinked serpents with utter fluidity, visual poetry, coiling and striking rivals through the medium of ballet. Throughout the dance and Richter's music amplified water drops punctuate the movement and the lighting by Michael Hulls works well with the near bare dancers. The over all effect is stunningly beautiful.

 

The second ballet work, Fallen, choreographed by Russell Maliphant is a completely different artistic animal. This piece is densely industrial in feel. The music by Armand Amar rises and falls to a dull beat and the dancers, clothed in quasi fatigues spiral from without a scrum and the bodies pulse and dive and spin like elastic crouching dervishes in green pools of light. The dancing becomes more and more animated and is impressive (perhaps an understatement) as bodies begin to fly across the stage as if light as feathers. Then the Balletboyz use balance to an extraordinary degree throughout manner of acute body angling and brave falls and catches. This is certainly a brave dance company and are acclaimed throughout the world for their depiction of forms old and new in ballet.

 

The Derby Theatre audience rose as one and gave the guys a well deserved standing ovation. Catch them if you can! 'Real men wear tights' as their t-shirts say.

Phil Lowe

www.balletboyz.com