Author: kizzydvdsn

REVIEW: Treasure Island

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

“Treasure Island” was certainly not your typical night out but boy was it entertaining. Full of belly laughter and absolute joy onstage the play was brilliant to watch”

“Physical Theatre Company “Le Navet Bete” have been operating for over 10 years and have won multiple awards for their UK touring productions. The journey began in 2003 where Al Dunn, Nick Bunt and Matt Freeman met at the University of Plymouth all with a passion for clowning and comedy  who then went on to create the company in 2008. “Treasure Island” was first performed in 2019/2020. Due to its success Le Navet Bete took the show on tour again around the UK in 2024. Although there were a few hiccups on opening night, this only added more joy and hysteria to the performance.  

The play was a hilarious interpretation of the classic tale “Treasure Island” written and directed by the brilliant John Nicholson. The cast consisted of 4 talented actors who had flawless multirole skills. This was assisted by the intricately designed costumes reflecting each character effortlessly. Matt Freeman worked flat out throughout the whole show changing costumes, characters and performing with excellent comedic timing even if it did mean tripping up the stage as the infamous Ben Gunn wearing a flip flop and a welly boot. Nick Bunt performed as 14 year old Jim Hawkins with grit, determination and with “the musical talented of a poo hitting a drum”. The jokes were witty and a great balance between mature and suitable for a younger audience.

The set design had a similar resemble to the Mamma Mia musical set that was really interesting and visually pleasing. The set for “Treasure Island” had palm trees and trapdoors and ladders onto top deck which was very effective. The set was lit by Marcus Bartlett and Alex Best, who captured the essence of a deserted island extremely well and showcased the acting perfectly. There was lots of audience interaction, including bringing an audience member on stage to help play a game of higher or lower. The play had well known songs that the audience bopped along to, especially played by Long John Silver’s bird “Alexa”. The opening night mishaps made the audience shriek with laughter and giggles as it was covered well by the actors and successfully continued the scenes if something went wrong. A very talented cast!

“Treasure Island” was certainly not your typical night out but boy was it entertaining. Full of belly laughter and absolute joy onstage the play was brilliant to watch. Making such funny writing into a full-scale play is big feat and the company achieved it in leaps and bounds! Hats off to Abi Jones who stepped in last minute as stage manager on the show and doing an excellent job. The performance of the show on the 5th July at the Oxford Playhouse was an awesome watch and I highly recommend any theatre goers of any age to see this fabulous show on the next leg of its journey in Wakefield in September.

REVIEW: Twelfth Night

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

It was funny, heartfelt and, most of all, a really impressive watch

Twelfth Night  by William Shakespeare was performed by BMH Productions at the Oxford Castle as part of Oxford’s Summer Shakespeare Festival. The play tells the comedic story of a pair of twins who get separated in a storm and Viola, dressed as Cesario, pretends to be brother in order to serve in Duke Orsino’s court. Meanwhile, she gets tangled in problematic situations where love and hidden disguises do not mix. The show was performed by a fairly small yet extremely talented cast of actors and actor-musicians.

The atmosphere was brought to life having been performed in an open-air theatre. It immersed its audience in the environment and allowed the actors to engage with the audience in a humorous and witty way. Overall, the projection of the cast was very good however some words were lost occasionally due to the wind. The blocking of the scenes was very successful and made the story easy to follow, which is always a key part of any Shakespearean play. Twelfth Night was directed by Kate O’Connor who had a clear vision of how the play would be interpreted by its cast. This included a slightly modern take including song and ukulele playing by the brilliant Nicola Jones with powerful vocals from Ed Blagrove. The set was simple and subtly hinted to Illyria and the waves of the sea.

Photography by Simon Vail

Each of the actors had unique interpretations of their characters that elevated their performances because of their specific character choices. The costume design didn’t overpower the acting which was very effective. The fight choreography was excellently choreographed and executed well by the cast. It  created cool shapes that were exciting to watch. The cast had a solid grasp of the text which was brilliant as the comedy landed with the audience, especially Alistair Nunn who played Malvolio and made the audience crack up with laughter in his scene dressed up in yellow stockings.

Overall, it was a brilliant play and showcased some of the extraordinary talent we have here in Oxford. It was funny, heartfelt and most of all a really impressive watch. The show is being performed at the Oxford Castle until the 5th of July. It is not one to be missed!

REVIEW: Last Rites

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

A deeply moving and grounded play developed by the multi-award-winning physical theatre company, Ad Infinitum.

Last Rites is a deeply moving and grounded play developed by the multi-award-winning physical theatre company, Ad Infinitum. The play sensitively raised questions about culture, identity and the education system. British Sign Language was used as a way of honouring the deaf community and bringing context to what was being performed, which not only connected the audience and the performer but also created a level of intimacy with the audience.

The play was a one-man-show which demonstrated the talent and openness that Ramesh Meyyappan was able to convey during the performance. He held the audience for the full hour not dropping concentration or specificity in his work. As a hearing audience member, I was able to immerse myself within the deaf experience and how a deaf person’s life differs hugely from my own. The play was a great balance between exploring the themes of deaf identity and culture. There was a powerful crossover of the father’s willingness to educate his son about his Hindu culture and the father’s inability to listen and respond to his son’s culture of being deaf in a hearing world.

The play incorporated the ritual of hand washing which was really emotional at times as it felt like he was washing away his ability to communicate in order to conform to the Hindu culture of purity and cleanliness. Ramesh performed with such versatility and flexibility with both characterisation and the specificity of his performance. His movements were fluid and his comedic timing was brilliant. I was to go to the post show discussion for Press Night Ramesh Meyyappan and David Ellington talked about the meaning behind the play and how he was able to bring his personal experiences into the role. This opportunity was really interesting to see how the play came to fruition.

Overall, this was an absolute stunning piece of theatre which I am grateful that I got to see. To me, it is important for theatre to explore important stories and this play did exactly that. The play will be touring around the UK in the next coming months and I urge you to watch this comedic and thought-provoking physical theatre piece.

REVIEW: War Horse

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

“The play eloquently explores truth, friendship, love and violence in the midst of the first World War”

War Horse originated as a novel by Michael Morpurgo then premiered in 2007 as a stage play by the National Theatre. Ever since, the play has been adapted and performed by various creatives until its 2024-25 UK and Ireland Tour directed by Tom Morris with revival director Katie Henry. The play was associated with the award-winning Handspring Puppet Company who managed the large-scale puppetry that took place during the show. The play eloquently explores truth, friendship, love and violence in the midst of the first World War.

The play tells the story of Joey, a foal, who gets sold at an auction to a family with a young son called Albert who befriends Joey and they grow up together. Joey gets sent to France to fight against Germany in the war. Albert, aged only 16, makes the choice to enlist in the army to find and bring Joey home safe. It is a tale of true bravery and deep love and affection.

The show had an incredible breadth of talent stretching from actor-musicians, puppeteers, singers and had a very diverse cast of performers. The set was minimal and catered towards the interpretation of the story being focussed on the horses and Joey. Sally Swanson playing ‘The Singer’ beautifully narrated the play through folk music supported by Dom Coyote as Musical Director for the show. The acting was thought-provoking and deeply moving. Tom Sturgess who played Albert Narracott, created such a believable connection with the puppet of Joey which was really impressive and necessary for the play’s success. The ensemble scenes were grounded and strong with many people onstage at once which was really effective. The larger scenes were coupled with ensemble numbers with powerful harmonies and slick vocal choices as a full company.

The show is critically acclaimed and a performance by the National Theatre. This was evident by the high standard of performance and its seamless yet complex scene changes with large members of the cast onstage. War Horse was gritty and vivid in a really sensitive way directed by Tom Morris and Katie Henry. The acting choices were strong and drove the story forward with absolute sincerity and preciseness. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and it truly lived up to its acclaim and the high standard set at previous shows.

REVIEW: Run Rebel

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

“The play embraced culture and bravery and standing up for what you believe in”

“Run Rebel” is a stage adaptation of the novel by Manjeet Mann, an actor, author and playwright. The play was performed by Pilot Theatre who are a York based international touring theatre company who makes work targeted at young people. Run Rebel tells the story of Amber Rai, a young teenager who is really passionate about running but is dealing with her emotionally abusive, alcoholic father. The play explores her life and escaping her father to achieve her dreams of being a professional runner. Run Rebel was dynamic and thought-provoking and told a deep and meaningful story.

The script was really grounded and worked to explore poetry as a form of telling a story. The script was eloquently told through the actors drive and emotion. It was coupled with music and sound effects that deepened the story further. The Bollywood music captured the culture of the characters. The 6-strong cast multirole so incredibly seamlessly and build such specific and beautiful characters so well. Jessica Kaur led the show as the lead, Amber. She had impressive projection and diction skills as well as a brilliant ability to attain so many lines and stamina throughout the whole show. Heather Forster portrayed wonderful characterisation and was thoroughly enjoyable to watch as Amber’s best friend in the play.

The costume changes were super quick and really worked with the pace of the play. They were accurate to the characters ages and alongside the lighting design really emphasised the story being told. The use of lighting was engaging and really clever. It was really effective and was very exciting to watch. The acting from all was incredibly moving and emotional, it was beautiful to see what the company was presenting and telling. It was an important story being told and that certainly was achieved through the acting.

There were quite a few funny moments in the show which made the audience laugh. As the target audience is young people, the humour was created with children in mind and so it was comedic and balanced out the emotional parts really well. The skate ramp used for the play offered opportunity for levels and free movement across the stage. The script the script was created to break the fourth wall and this made the play immersive and engaging. The moments of silence were very effective and allowed the play to build suspense successfully going into the next scenes.

Overall, this play was strong and powerful. It embraced culture and bravery and standing up for what you believe in. The cast and creative team did a brilliant job on the show and I wish them all the best for the next leg of their run in Leeds, starting on the 22nd.

REVIEW: Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Dancing that appeared inhuman, and bodies contorted as if possessed

Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby is currently touring around the UK and parts of Europe until August 2025. It is being performed at the New Theatre, Oxford from the 15-19th October. The show is a dance adaptation of the BBC series that has been choreographed by the insanely talented, Benoit Swan Pouffer. Rambert School of Dance initially explored classical ballet but then evolved into many other different dance styles including hip hop and more abstract dance forms. The companies training and work is located in the South Bank area in London. It is a breeding group of intensive and groundbreaking training that is developed into large scale touring productions. Themes that the play looks into include gang violence, grief, war and community. It tells the story of Thomas Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders (a Birmingham based gang), who takes control of Birmingham in 1919 through violence and child trafficking. It was a deeply moving and thought-provoking piece of theatre. With huge dance numbers and a brilliant live band this show is not one to be missed.

The set was incredible. It catered for every need of the show in the most creative way imaginable. With the band onstage you became completely immersed and locked into the story. This was accompanied by the lighting design that involved back-lit performers and spotlights to enhance the darkness of the performance. Smoke machines were used continually and it added an edge of eeriness and suspense to the acting aspects. You would think that because of the lack of dialogue it would be hard to follow but this only provoked a deeper expression of emotion through the dancers’ body language and attack to the choreography. There was lots of dancing that felt inhuman and possessed which was really impressive to watch. They were able to contort their bodies to appear almost dead.  

Most of the performers were dancing in complex costumes that could be seen as restrictive but still they danced flawlessly and had really cool costumes on. The soundtrack that was used had lots of well-known artists such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Radiohead and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with the theme tune “Red Right Hand” from the BBC Series. Recorded snippets of Benjamin Zephaniah’s voice was used as a voice over telling the story and it was really effective having simple dialogue recorded to flow through the performance.

From the beginning it was evident that the cast was the best of the best. The story was easy to follow and portrayed in such an interesting and clever way through the choreography. The chemistry between Thomas Shelby (Conor Kerrigan) and Grace (Naya Lovell) was so strong and evident in the blindfolded dance which was mind blowing and full of lifts and choreography that required absolute trust between each other. The lighting choice for the bar/club scene was really cool with purples and yellows creating an intense and really exciting dance to watch. This show was probably one of the most powerful and profound pieces of theatre I have watched in a long time so catch it while you still can at the New Theatre showing from now until Saturday 19th October.

REVIEW: Seed Generations

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

“A beautiful portrayal of nature, love and justice using physical theatre and real life experiences”

Mandala Theatre Company is an Oxfordshire based theatre company that devises and creates plays focussed on social justice and raising awareness. They are a platform for ethnically diverse performers and people from marginalised communities to engage with the arts and explore their identities and heritage through acting and performance. ‘Seed Guardians’ written and directed by Yasmin Sidhwa. The play is a UK touring production that tells an impactful story about 3 friends who are fighting against food poverty and exercising their right to protest. It is centred around Grandma Seed (Gogo) from Zimbabwe who collapses while at a march against food poverty, her granddaughter Zahra tries to uncover the truth alongside her friends Raf and Daniel. The writing in the play is incredibly powerful and well written using statistics and information to back up the storyline. The play was a profoundly moving and witty piece of art that I was lucky enough to have seen.

Yasmin Sidhwa created the script alongside poet Jenny Lewis who interweaved poetry throughout the play to incorporate heightened text and powerful words that flowed through the piece. The actors spoke precisely with beautiful articulation and projection to honour the poetry and its meaning. The lighting design choice complemented the costumes really well and enhanced the colours of the set and props as well.

The actors truly embodied the text and felt it deeply. This was essential for the depth of the script and the emotion that was required to do the storyline justice. It was poignant and beautifully portrayed. The scene changes were very well done and drove the story on swiftly. The physical theatre and movement aspects were brilliantly choreographed by Marie-Louise Flexen who created really connected and exciting moments of ensemble work. I was very impressed at the cast’s ability to multirole. Their characters were so different from each other and this was effective in telling the story in further detail. The stage was barely empty so I was constantly being fed new information and stories which kept me engaged and interested.

To explore the global impact of food poverty, the show used a white head statue with red eyes that spoke about the United States’ aims and thoughts on saving the worlds population against crop failure and starvation. This was very clever at explaining, on a global scale, what was happening. The music greatly accompanied the actors, and the story, using music to convey different cultures and backgrounds.

The show finished with a Q+A, which I thought was really interesting and useful that went into detail about the play from a different perspective, from the actors and creatives. The play finished with beautiful colours of plants and growth and a wonderful monologue performed by Mya Fraser who played Zahra to honour her Gogo’s life and impact on her and the planet. ‘Seed Generations’ is going on tour across the UK for the next 2 months and I really recommend you go if you want to be challenged politically and emotionally. 

REVIEW: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

A fabulous night of flawless dancing and flying cars. You won’t want to miss it

The cast of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ UK tour are performing at the New Theatre Oxford from the 2nd – 6th of October. I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Press Night and what a show it was! Huge ensemble numbers, fabulous costumes and brilliant comedic timing. The show tells the story of Caractacus Potts, an inventor, who is forced to raise money to afford to make his inventions such as “Toot Sweets” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. It all takes a turn when the Vulgarians try to steal Chitty and the Child Catcher tries to capture Caractacus Pott’s children, Jeremy and Jemima. Will Chitty Chitty Bang Bang be able to save them? I loved this show, it was so bright and fun with lots of memorable tunes and a fantastic audience to accompany it.

“Toot Sweets” was the first large ensemble number with complex dancing it was flawless and the main ensemble partner work was inspiring to watch. The costumes were pink and white and the lights matched the colour of the costumes which worked really effectively and created a really immersive experience. Lots of the songs in the show were very uplifting and joyful but ‘Hushabye Mountain’ was a beautiful contrast to the rest of the numbers. It was soft and sung by Callum Train who played Caractacus Potts. His vibrato was clean and his tone work well with the song.

Charlie McGuire and Isabella Manning who played Jeremy and Jemima Potts were extremely talented and both have bright futures ahead of them. Their acting was truthful and they were a force to be reckoned with as a duo. They conveyed such a strong, lovable sibling bond which was lovely to watch and at song a young age they had powerful voices that commanded the stage completely. The set changes were smooth and incredibly clever, as the set was simple and consisted of boxes that moved around the stage to create different locations. The car was such a mesmerizing thing to watch, I was baffled by how they could make it fly on stage. The backstage team for costumes, set, props and lighting outdid themselves in so many amazing ways. It really created a spectacle.

The children’s chorus were brilliant and ‘Teamwork’ was such a heartwarming song filled with so much power and enthusiasm by the kids. Their voices worked so well together and had obviously worked extremely hard on their performances ready for the show as there was no faults.

Overall, this show was a really lovely show aimed at a younger audience. The quality wasn’t any less because of it and it was still was an insanely talented cast. I had a fabulous night watching flawless dancers and flying cars.

REVIEW: Grease

Published on by kizzydvdsnLeave a comment

Rating: 5 out of 5.

“I urge you to go watch these exceptionally talented performers tell you how “Grease is the way they are feeling!”.”

The new UK tour of Grease the Musical is being performed at the New Theatre Oxford from the 24th – 28th of September 2024. I went along to the Press Night and it blew my socks off. The show is set in the 90s at Rydell High School and tells the story of Danny Zuko (Marley Fenton) and Sandy Dumbrowski (Hope Dawe), who meet and end up falling in love. The show navigates the struggles of romance during school and maintaining a reputation that you have created for yourself. The show had an extremely strong cast of actors that commanded the stage during complex dances and worked together to create a joyful atmosphere for its audience.

The play began with the powerhouse of a number ‘Grease’ which was a full company number that set the bar incredibly high for the rest of the show. To be, already, immersed in the story from the first number was astonishing. It was polished and dynamic with flawless dancing and vocals by all. I was blown away by the actors’ stamina to perform the song alongside the technical dances which were brilliantly choreographed by Arlene Phillips. The lighting design and operating was spot on with the beats of the music and complimented the actors’ costumes very well. The score in ‘Grease’ carries the story line and is purposeful in telling the story further rather than being separate and irrelevant to the plot.

The costumes were brightly coloured, fun and accurately represent the ‘90s high school’ feel. The contrast in colour was interesting with the boys wearing black and denim while the girls wore pink and oranges. The only costume item that was consistent was that everyone wore different coloured Converse shoes which united and bonded the company into one. The set was easily manoeuvred around the stage in many ways and was so simple yet so effective. The lighting accurately lit the stairs and the follow spot worked incredibly hard to make sure that the performers were seen at any given moment while moving on the stairs.

Marley Fenton and Hope Dawe played the lovable characters of Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski. Both had beautiful tone to their voices and great chemistry with each other. In ‘Summer Days’ their voices blended together precisely and sounded gorgeous. Overall, the acting was brilliant and even in the big ensemble scenes everyone’s’ characters had backstory and purpose throughout that really brought the stage to life. The two were accompanied boldly by Rebecca Stenhouse (Rizzo), Keiran Lynch (Doody), Ben Nicholas (Kenickie), Alicia Belgrade (Frenchy), Emerald B (Jan) and India Chadwick (Marty) who all completed the package of the performance. Their performances were quick-witted, high energy and thoughtful.

Grease the Musical will continue to be shown at the New Theatre in Oxford until the 28th of September then it will go back on tour around the UK and Ireland. I urge you to go watch these exceptionally talented performers tell you how “Grease is the way they are feeling!”.

REVIEW: Funny Girl

Published on by kizzydvdsn1 Comment

Rating: 4 out of 5.

“A whole host of tap dancing, vulnerability and love of the theatre”

Oxford Operatic Society is an Oxfordshire based musical theatre company that was founded in 1907 by Percy Walters, George Walker and Bill Sawyer. Ever since, the company has won multiple awards and performed in some of the top venues in Oxford’s City Centre. As a company, they perform a variety of old and modern musicals that engage different target audiences maintaining their popularity and full audiences yearly. ‘Funny Girl’ tells the story of Fanny Brice is desperate for a career onstage and the show follows her as she falls in love with Nick Arnstein, an entrepreneur, which tests her as she deals with her career aspirations and the love of her life.

Craig Smith is a hair and makeup artist who created looks that accurately conveyed the time period of when the play was set. Some of the wigs were slightly distracting to begin with but overtime, due to time passing in the play, the wigs got more simplistic and complemented the costumes successfully.  The costume design in the ensemble numbers such as “Henry Street” and “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” were visually impressive and had great attention to detail.

The set was minimal and was used to emphasise the story than to overpower it which I thoroughly enjoyed. The centre piece of the set was a large revolving stage that was used cleverly and the actors felt very comfortable using it during large numbers. Although, on a few occasions the revolve was late to start spinning in certain songs but it was recovered quickly and the actors continued to act through it. At a few points there may have been a few too many people on stage at once but that is also the joy of watching amateur companies perform because they involve the whole cast and it is exciting to watch large companies navigate the stage and perform together.

The company was a 60+ strong cast that evidently worked hard to blend their voices together in harmony. The orchestra was faultless and sounded exceptional throughout, guided by the talented Musical Director, Chris Payne. The role of Fanny Brice was performed brilliantly by Nicola Pratley who had a powerful voice with lovely tone that commanded the stage and engaged the audience. The duet between Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein “Who Are You Now? – Reprise” was poignant and beautifully performed. Ben Ashton who played the role of Eddie Ryan mastered the ability to tap dance flawlessly while singing with fervour and accuracy on every note.

The dancing was excellently choreographed and was picked up very well by the company. The company contained multi-talented performers who tackled tap dancing as the main dance style in the show. The actors performed complex dance moves that were extremely quick and really impressive to watch. Ed Blagrove directed the show and is very focused on the acting aspect, first and foremost, then the other disciplines afterwards. The dialogue was truthful and naturalistic and certainly not overacted. I loved the vulnerability that the actors portrayed it was very powerful and drove the story line forward. The acting-through-song was sublime and impactful to me as an audience member.

The backstage crew clearly had a long to handle with the mics, lighting, scene changes and costume changes. The colour that was chosen for the lights were interesting and worked well with the story that was being told. Overall, the mics worked well with only a couple missed lines but were fixed quickly and efficiently so the actors could be heard.

Overall, I loved the show and would really recommend going to watch it from the 9-13th July at the Oxford Playhouse