"The Wicked Lady"

Nottingham Theatre Royal

This is not the play version of the film but a new play based on the film.

Before the play started we were all asked not to tell anyone what the play was about or the outcome of so I'll just give you a little taster of what it's all about

There's a six year old child missing and Sergeant Sean Fenton has asked ghost dispeller, Alice Beaumont, to help locate her. Alice at first turns down Sergeant Fenton, but curiosity gets the better of her and advises that she will assist, but on her terms.

Alice finds herself in a wood, in a dilapidated old shack, in the dark.

There's an old legend around the area of sounds of horses hooves, and the appearance of The Wicked Lady, Katherine Ferrer's, who robs her victims and terrorises them.

Well you can guess what comes next!

The old shack also echoes to ghostly bell jingling and thunderous banging on the walls and the door, and then she discovers the priest holes, and one particular one which houses cloaks and clothes, and maybe some thing, or someone more sinister.

Throw in a misty woodland and a spooky hooded image at the broken window, as well as some ghoulish childish laughter, and a creepy twist, and you have a classy ghostly thriller.

For me though I was slightly confused that the exterior woodland and the interior of the cabin often became the same area, but that may be me just overthinking the stage set.

Both actors, Nicki Davy (Alice) and Saul Bache (Fenton) play their parts very well but what really adds that special atmosphere is the sound design, by Dan Clarkson, and the lighting design, by Alex Johnson, who also designed the set.

Let's just say there were a couple of parts that really made me jump. Not as many jump scares as some audience members experienced, but a couple is better than none!

Hopefully the above has given you an idea of the play, but to get the full story, the full twist, and the full experience of "The Wicked Lady" go see the play but go with a friend.

"The Wicked Lady" will be haunting the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 24 September.

 "Vincent In Brixton" by Nicholas Wright.

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

In 1873, at the age of 20, Vincent Van Gogh - pronounced in the same way as "Fun Loch" - rented a room in Brixton while he was being groomed for a career as an art dealer in his family's business. Vincent, in falling first for the landlady's daughter and then the landlady herself, is drawn into the household's web of secrets, all while carrying out household chores like peeling potatoes and doing the gardening.

Vincent is extremely naive for a twenty-year-old, by today's standards, in every sense; worldly wise and emotionally.

The play traces the transforming effects of love, sex and youthful adventure on Van Gogh's still unformed talent, portraying him as he might have been over four years. It's a mostly fictional piece of work but also includes some factual information. This is due to a lack of information from the early years of Van Gogh's life. What's a bit of poetic licence though where a good story is concerned?

Jake Turner (Vincent) dons a credible Dutch accent, which did not waver throughout. One thing you notice about the physical appearance of Jake and pictures of Van Gogh is the resemblance, it's uncanny, and the clothes have been really well researched as they match many of the clothes worn by the artist via pictorial evidence. The whole wide doe eyed look works very well to depict the naivety of the character and by the end of the four-year period, you also start to see the makings of the more mature Vincent, also brought out by his drawings.

Clare Choubey (Ursula) really wears her emotions on her sleeve as Vincent's landlady; well in fact not just on her sleeve as her style of clothes and the shade of her clothes gives indication to her mood and feelings. It's been a while since I've seen Clare on stage but she has lost none of that emotion she manages to inject into the characters she plays.

Ben Dixon (Sam) plays Ursula's other lodger. A painter and decorator who also produces decent drawings, which is where Vincent first comes across Sam. Sam is very down to earth and speaks his mind, which Vincent finds a bit hard to take and comprehend at their first meeting. The atmosphere soon mellows though and Vincent even helps Sam with his artistry. Sam is also very much in love with Ursula's daughter, causing a short-lived love triangle between Sam, Eugenie and Vincent, although one party lusts at a distance for a short while.

Laura Sherratt (Eugenie) really comes alive with the introduction of Vincent's younger sister, Anna, and sparks start to fly from all angles. There's a really nice slow burn with Eugenie and Laura bubbles along nicely until she forces Anna's hand and the pressure cooker boils over.

Alex Milligan (Anna) is the antagonist without even realising what she is doing or that she is throwing the cat among the pigeons. Her desire to look after her elder brother causes trouble and that is when Anna, in her blunt Dutch outspoken way, explains what she thinks is going on with Vincent and Eugenie and tells Ursula that Vincent is leaving for Paris on the orders of the family. What she says though causes all sorts of upset within the household. I also love Anna's accent which is even stronger than Vincent's softer Dutch tone.

Directed by Guy Evans he keeps the pace up all the way through, and while the play is not a long one, with the pace, it seems to be done sooner than we'd expected. Obviously the sign of a good storyline, direction and good acting ability to keep us all centred on the action and story unfolding before us.

There is good attention to detail, especially with the scene where Vincent returns from his Paris journey, and turns up at Ursula's door in the rain, and enters with wet hair and spots of rain on his raincoat, but there were a couple of other times I thought might have shown more realism.

When Sam and Vincent were having a beer session, bottles of beer were brought in with no liquid in. Water could have been put in the bottles for realism. One scene had Ursula take an imaginary top off of the bottle and when Ursula invited Vincent to admire the border that Sam had painted in the room, we had to imagine the border. Apart from these small things, which probably no one else noticed, I loved the rustic furniture and cooking vessels as well as the actual preparation of the food in the first scene.

Lighting Design by Allan Green. Nothing fancy here, it wasn't needed, but just told us when there was a scene change or closing and opening of the acts. Simple and effective.

Sound Design by Jack Harris. Again, the same as the lighting, simple, but a gorgeous choice of music for the scene changes and Act division.

Max Bromley is in charge of the costumes for "Vincent In Brixton". and again, we come back to that keen eye of what Vincent Van Gogh wore from the pictorial history books. the other costumes also looked to be appropriate for the time period and fitted in like the proverbial jigsaw, maybe the one that Sam was working on!

I feel educated, as well as entertained with this play, and will admit that I could have sat there even longer to see more if there had been an extended version, such was the extent of my enjoyment of this story and the classy acting form this perfectly cast cast.

"Vincent In Brixton" is sold out apart from a few tickets available for Saturday evening's performance. A great start to the new season and in my opinion, the future audiences this week will not be disappointed.

 "Jersey Boys"

Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

Finally, I get to see this on-stage musical journey of one of the most iconic and vocally instantly recognisable groups of the 1960's and 1970's. I missed it the last time it was in the area several years ago, but tonight Matthew, I got to tick another one off of the musical theatre bucket list. Oh What A Night!

"Jersey Boys" is a musical biography of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. This is no tribute concert, "Jersey Boys" gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group—with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto. In addition to following the quartet’s coming of age as performers, the core of the show is about their code of honour learned in the streets of their native New Jersey which got them through a multitude of challenges: gambling debts, Mafia threats and family disasters. "Jersey Boys" is a glimpse at the people behind a sound that has managed to last over four decades in the hearts of the public.

Mike Pickering plays Frankie Valli, and Mike gets within a gnat's breath of sounding exactly like Frankie Valli. His falsetto his spectacular, and when he sings tracks like "Beggin'", "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" and best of all "Fallen Angel", you feel that you could be in the same room as Frankie Valli himself.

Lewis Griffiths plays Nick Massi, the bass in the Four Seasons. The tidy one in the band and also the man who feels the need to iron his shirts twice before going on stage. There were times when I felt that Lewis' mic needed to be turned up a smidge as, when he was telling his side of the story, I had to strain my ears to hear what he was saying. That's not his fault, it's something that may need to be looked at by the sound man.

Dalton Wood plays Tommy DeVito. What a character Tommy was! Causing most of the upset, and debt within the band, but if it were not for Tommy, maybe we would not have been sat in a theatre enjoying the Jersey Boys at all. Dalton is a worthy addition to the Jersey Boys family and feels like he had been there from the start, the chemistry was that strong.

Blair Gibson plays Bob Gaudio. We get to see and hear everything about Gaudio's life; from his first hit "Short Shorts" for The Royal Teens back in 1957, through to the 1970's hits "December '63 (Oh What A Night)" - which after tonight I understand the background to the song, "Silver Star" and "Who Loves You". For some reason it also featured "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels which was not written by Bob Gaudio or seems not to have a connection to Gaudio, as far as I know.

Michael Levi plays Bob Crewe. The musical depicts Crewe as being openly gay, although reports state that he hid his sexuality, especially around The Four Seasons. Crewe wrote so many hit records over the decades, many with Gaudio but also stacks of doo wop hits like "Daddy Cool" and "Silhouettes" and 1970's disco records like "Lady Marmalade" for Labelle and "Get Dancin" for Disco Tex and The Sex O Lettes.

George Salmon plays Joe Pesci. Now here is one thing that I had forgotten that Pesci had had a hand in Bob Gaudio joining the band. This role as Pesci for George marks his professional debut and is fun, and energetic debut for Salmon.

The orchestra, under the musical direction of Ben Atkinson were punchy and powerful with a brilliant brass section.

Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, the staccato dance moves were all there with an abundance of energy.

Lighting Design by Howard Binkley and Sound Design by Steve Canyon Kennedy.

Loved the set with the lightning scene changes and especially the TV Studio setting and the projection background reliving the style of TV shows like "Ready Steady Go" and the American equivalent.

My eyes, and ears, adored hearing these classic pop songs performed so tightly and faithfully and, as I mentioned earlier, at times it was like holding court with Frankie Valli himself, who is still touring today and still has that amazing multi-octave set of vocals.

I will admit that up to the middle of the first act, it tootled along nicely and didn't grab me as much as the ramp up to the interval and the second act, but that is because I knew the majority of the information given out. Don't get me wrong, this is very educational where some juke box musicals are not, but it seemed like there was a long touch paper until the firework exploded into life.

That said I loved the show, I love the music and I love the energy. What I was not such a fan of, and what surprised me, was the amount of swear words in the show. I'm no prude but the amount of blaspheming could have been toned down, just a bit. That aside the show is an absolute smasher and deserving of the many awards its' received over the years and can see why people return again and again to see these silver stars perform. Who love you? Nottingham does and was shown by a unanimous standing ovation.

"Jersey Boys" is at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall until Saturday 24 September. There is no performance on Monday 19 September due to Her Majesty's funeral. So go on, walk like a man and get your tickets pretty quick, else you may find yourself beggin' for a ticket and if you miss out you will find that big girls do cry and won't be workin' their way back to you anytime soon! I thank you.

 "The Clothes They Stood Up In" by Alan Bennett

Nottingham Playhouse.

I love Alan Bennett's plays, and this is one that I haven't seen before. And one play that I can now say that I have seen, adding to the selection of other beloved Bennett works.

"The Clothes They Stood Up In" tells the story of an older married couple, Maurice and Rosemary Ransome. They return from the opera one night only to find that they have been burgled. You often hear the people who have been burgled state "They took everything", in this instance the burglars literally did. Every bit of furniture is gone, every inch of carpet, every possession, every appliance, everything. They even took the light bulbs - bar one - and the toilet paper as well as the chicken casserole they had in the oven as well as the oven. Well, I suppose it's hungry work stripping a property of everything!

They try to unravel what has happened and without their worldly possessions, they are forced to examine their lives and their relationship and are confronted with some uncomfortable truths. Should they rebuild their old life, or begin afresh?

The mystery of what has happened is resolved over the course of the play and there is a clever resolution to the situation, after Rosemary returns a letter mistakenly popped through their letter box, addressed to a neighbour named Hanson. It is not just that though which forms the heart of the story. This Ransomes, we discover, have a very empty life, lacking real relationship and the loss of their worldly possessions opens up new opportunities for them.

Alan Bennett's novella has been adapted by Adrian Scarborough, who co stars in the play as Mr Ransome, and the play is directed by Nottingham Playhouse's Adam Penford and Jane Anderson.

Sophie Thompson plays Mrs Ransome and the chemistry between the stage husband and wife was so believable, which given the class and quality of these two actors is only to be expected. They bounce off of each other so well it seemed as if the audience were flies on the wall looking in on disturbed domesticity. Incredible performances.

Ned Costello (Constable/Croucher/Martin/Hanson) recently made his stage debut, but seeing the quartet of characters Ned plays, and the difference and quality of the performances, would not lead you to believe that this man is at the start of his professional acting career. From the fresh out of law enforcement college, slightly wet behind the ears constable attending the burglary and making sure every box is ticked nerdy PC, to the ripped, topless hunk of Hanson, Rosemary encounters to discover what really happened with the disappearance of their belongings, Ned is a talented character actor.

Charlie de Melo (Mr Anwar/Sarge/Nurse) shows a completely different side of his various acting skills here to those recently seen in his role of the recently deceased Imran Habeeb in Coronation Street. Some people often berate the acting of soap stars but Charlie shows that he can do comedy just as well as the more serious stuff. It was nice to see Kate Spencer, who plays Grace Vickers in the Street in the press enclosure supporting her fellow Street star.

Natasha Magigi (Lady/Dusty/Christine Thoseby/Cleo) is another wonderful character actor. Every role different to the previous. The Jamaican launderette woman, Dusty the crime counsellor, Christine the call centre worker with attitude and Cleo, Martin's lover. Wonderful human roles, so well written by Bennett.

Robin Jones' set design is wonderful with the Ransome's home emerging from the back of the stage, leaving the front section of the stage for all the other settings, the opera, the bus ride, the call centre, the corner shop, the exterior of the storage depot and the penultimate scene, which I am not going to tell you about. There is one change where the storage depot section, complete with the Ransome's home within, very quickly reverts back to the Ransome's actual home. the magic of stage management, scene moving and direction.

Jon Nicholls provides the music, which is mainly Mozart, blends so well with the storyline and while recognisable, never intrudes. The Sound Design is by Jon Nicholls and the Lighting by Aideen Malone.

It's witty, clever, very wry and quintessentially Alan Bennett, and is an absolute joy. Some people may view some of the characters slightly stereotypical but it was written by someone who is an observer of people and of a certain age, something I can enjoy, appreciate and not be offended by. Plus, I have a sense of humour which was developed before political correctness was invented.

It's not a long play, two and a half hours with interval, but packed with some great Bennett comedy, and just a touch of sadness at times. You'll find yourself having empathy for Rosemary but also loving the stoic of Maurice. You will also love the discovery of the secrets that are revealed on both sides. More than that I won't divulge; just go and see this wonderfully witty and warm play.

And just like Mary Berry's recipes, it just works.

"The Clothes They Stood Up In" is at the Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 1 October.

 " Kinky Boots " by Gatepost Theatre Company

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

It's time to get your boots out for the lads...and the gals as well, of course in this brilliantly fun musical.

Based on the 2005 film Kinky Boots, written by Geoff Deane, who used to be in the band Modern Romance - remember them? - and Tim Firth of Calendar Girls fame, and inspired by true events. The musical tells the story of Charlie Price, who having inherited Price & Son, a shoe factory from his father, forms an unlikely partnership with cabaret performer and drag queen Lola to produce a line of high-heeled boots and save the business. In the process, Charlie and Lola discover that they are not so different after all.

Lola is played by Dan Surj and it's quite uncanny that when dressed as Simon - Lola is Simon's alter-ego drag queen name - his attitude changes altogether, that confident person is not there, and the reason for this can be gleaned from Simon's song "Not My Father's Son". Dan really is pushed out of his comfort zone as an actor with this role but I think that I can speak for the audience by stating that he absolutely nailed it. The confidence in the acting as well as the singing, while wearing heels is very impressive. A wonderfully emotive version of "Hold Me In Your Heart" highlighted Dan's ability to not only sing a song but to really deliver a song with heartfelt emotion.

Charlie is played by Jarrod Makin. I can remember the first time that I saw Jarrod on stage and he has come so, so far as an actor. Again, the confidence he has as a leading man is plain to see, and his vocals are just as impressive, and when you hear the long notes that he sustains, he causes the hairs to stand up on your arms. The strength in Jarrod's vocals were really highlighted with his song "The Soul Of A Man".

Nicola, Charlie's fiancee, is played by Kiah Smith with the fiery red hair, and her character is as fiery as her hair. Not a major role in the story but always there to pick away at Charlie's confidence and self-belief.

Lauren, one of the women on the assembly line, who just happens to have a bit of a crush on Charlie, is played by Claire Rybicki. It's so nice to see Claire back on stage - it seems ages. Lauren is a great character who has some lovely comedy scenes, especially with her lead song "The History Of Wrong Guys" allowing us to hear Claire's great voice.

Don, who is one of the male members of the factory gets his macho ego bruised by the appearance of Lola at the factory, is played by Simon Owen; an actor who I always enjoy seeing on stage. Don is one of the characters that really stand out; Mark Addy played the role in the film, so you need a big character to play him and Gatepost got it spot on again choosing Simon for the part of Don. And just wait for Simon's vocals, which would not seem out of place in a rock band.

The other factory workers are played by Jude Cliffman (Trish), Gary Heap (Harry/George), Ben Gray and Laura Stone (Pat). The ensemble also included Ellie Branbury and Michelle Syson, Lottie Lodge played Roberta Bailey, Neil Ledders played Mr Price Senior, the young Charlie was played by Isaac Fisher and young Lola/played by one of my favourite younger actors, William Hall.

Lola's Angels were played by Stephanie Wright, Matthew Charlton and the brilliant Lucas Young. Matthew is another actor; I imagine who with this role, has been pushed out of his comfort zone. Lucas has been showing our drag stars exactly how to perform in drag and in heels and has been indispensable with their knowledge. And they look incredible to boot.

Directed by Christopher Collington, this show is pacy, immense fun but also delivers serious messages like acceptance, being different along with the guilt carried by a person. Another massive success for one of my favourite local theatre Directors.

Choreographed by Stephanie Wright, and I especially loved the tango sequence, plus the choreographed boxing scene, all done in slow motion, brilliantly lit. As with the rest of the show, the choreography was exciting to watch and the actors clearly show the hard work that has been put in by Stephanie, as well as themselves.

The soundtrack, which was written by Cyndi "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" Lauper, it includes some catchy tunes such as "The Sex Is In The Heel", "Land Of Lola", "Everybody Say Yeah", the rousing "Raise You Up/Just Be" as well as the very poignant "Not My Father's Son".

In charge of the music for the show is Musical Director Martin Lewis, and like knowing who is in the cast, you just know that you can relax because this department as well is in the best of hands. I was not mistaken.

Sound is by MASCD Audio and there was no way we were going to not hear the cast, the band or anything. Nice and beefy and the clarity was perfect, showing that the acoustics at The Duchess can be perfect. Only a couple of missed mic cues, nothing to worry about on first night.

The Lighting is by Stephen Greatorex, and I can truly say that this is possibly one of the best lighting designs that i have seen for a while. It was almost concert style quality and there was only one thing that I could find to pick at. At the start there are several gaps made for heads to be thrust through when singing and all but one had a spotlight focused on. There needs to be another spotlight to focus on the face in the darkness.

Talking of the set, designed by Mark Green, I almost felt like I was in a factory, especially with the thousands - I didn't count them, I tried but gave up - of shoe boxes that made the backgrouind of the set and those that were scattered around the stage. I loved the simplicity of this idea, especially as part of the back of the set also included a door, disguised by the shoe boxes. Clever stuff.

Great costumes, sourced by Lottie Lodge and the Drag Queen Costumes were provided by Lucas Young, all very glamorous and sparkly.

This musical is quickly becoming one of my favourites as it's just such a great feel-good piece of theatre, great songs and some wonderful social messages given out as well. A brilliant cast, amazing vocals, great band and sound, a lot of soul and that wonderful lighting design, all makes this show one not to be missed out on this week. So get your boots on and start walking - as Nancy Sinatra once said.

"Kinky Boots" by Gatepost Theatre Company will be parading on stage until Saturday 17 September with a matinee performance on that day as well.