"Much Ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare
The People's Theatre Company.

"Much Ado" is one of Shakespeare's finest comedies and the People's Theatre Company bring out every comical line to the best effect. It's the story of two sets of lovers, Hero and Claudio are to be married in a week. To pass the time, they conspire with Don Pedro to set a "lover's trap" for Benedick, an arrogant confirmed bachelor, and Beatrice, his favourite sparring partner. Meanwhile, the nasty Don Jon conspires to break up the wedding by accusing Hero of infidelity. In the end, though, it all turns out to be "much ado about nothing."

Set in modern times in a blank canvas setting that could be anywhere, this production took the Shakespearian script and made it sound modern as well. Some folk are against sexing up Shakespeare's plays but when it's done well, it's very entertaining and opens up the Bard's works to a whole new audience of young people to the joys of the rhythm and rhyme of Shakespearian time.

What I really enjoyed was that this cast spanned the full age range of the cast members and I found that the younger cast had really worked hard to, not only get their teeth into the text, they delivered the words with fluidity and naturalness as if they had been born to perform the piece. There's nothing more off putting to see an actor deliver lines that they themselves didn't either understand or believe in. No fear of that here because the script was delivered as if it were their natural tongue.

Ryan Chadwick (Benedick) for me was the stand out performer, combining great comedy with the more passionate speeches. A fluid actor with a flair for expressing with his face the emotions of the speech naturally as if he had been doing this all his life.

His sparring partner to be, and like all great theatrical lovers they start out seemingly bitter enemies, is Beatrice, played by Hannah Rose. Again a very natural actor who delivers a great show of veiling her feelings for the "class clown" Benedick, even up to the end.

Jak Truswell (Claudio) and Lauren Stephenson (Hero) are the two, soon to be married lovers and both young actors delivered solid, comfortable performances which created a natural pairing between the two, making their scenes believable.

Richard Fife (Leonato) delivered another solid performance, as did Robbie Robb in his dual role as Antonio and Friar Francis, Tom Spencer (Don Pedro), Liam Dexter as the trouble making Don John, Chris Collins (Borachio), Danielle Hall (Conrad), Carly Smith (Balthasar), Mariana Kyriacou (Margaret) and Corrine Welford-Proctor as Ursula. A truly talented and supreme cast. Thou hath not a thumb that is sore within! These were also supported by quite a large ensemble of talent as members of the Watch, townsfolk, messengers and friends and family.

A directorial masterpiece by Sally Nix, cleverly splicing faithful text with modern costumes, swag and attitude, bringing a fresh new coat of paint to an old favourite. It's like hearing a remix of your favourite oldie which brings a smile to your face.

The scene and prop movers unobtrusively placed and removed the props easily with the pace of the action being just as it should be. I was quite surprised that the first act was over so soon, a really good sign for any play, and act two soon came to a close deceptively fast. I was amazed that the whole lot was over in just under two and a half hours. Time really does fly when you're enjoying a class play and troupe of performers such as the People's Theatre Company.

"Much Ado About Nothing" is on until Saturday 19 September 2015 at the Nottingham Arts Theatre and if you have any doubts about Shakespeare, then go and see this bright, fresh and comical play; it may just change your outlook on Stratford Bill as a stuffy old playwright and you may come out thinking him as a dope dramatist, innit!

"1984" by George Orwell
Nottingham Playhouse.

Orwell's classic book telling the story of Winston Smith and he rebellion against the monstrous world in which he lives in. A world that is controlled by "Big Brother" who dictates what he does, says and even thinks. This does not stop him though from keeping a diary which is also monitored by the thought police and eventually cleared from existence and from Winston's memory in a violent and bloody way.

This production is almost the same as the production we first saw  previously at the Playhouse and has since toured the West End and is set to travel to Australia and America. I say almost the same as there are a  couple of "tweaks" here and there which only enhance this brilliantly thought provoking but shocking play.

A very talented cast headed by Matthew Spencer who played Winston and Janine Harouni who played Winston's "partner in crime", Julia who in the end betrayed him to the powers that be... or did she? Did he betray her? Very powerful in the messages given here and shows a possibility that by 2050, what Orwell wrote about could, by this date, be what we can expect. After all, with the rise of CCTV keeping us in check, this could be a diluted stepping stone to what could be a frightening future for our children and grandchildren.

I may seem an extremity to think that in the relatively free living society we live in today that some time in the future we may be told what to say, do and think by a minority bureaucratic group, and if we don't follow the rules......

What I particularly loved about this production was the seamless timing between the sound design team, the lighting design and the actors, which can only really be appreciated by seeing the play itself. Split second timing between the three areas combine to create a visual and aural splendour, creating instant and maximum effect, sometimes quite shockingly. Expertise like this closes the gap between film makers and theatre productions when producing visual images and shocks.

There's no visual "horror" in the torture scenes of Winston, but you don't need to see the fingernails being removed or the electric shock treatment because the sound and light design build the intensity and horror and you know what's coming so you see it in your own mind. The scene with the starving rats in the rectangular tube about to be unleashed onto Winston's face is, at least, hair-raising, especially for one like myself who can't stand rodents. Again the imagination and the human mind is shown to be a wonderful thing.

Setting the scene is all important in this production and  with the "double think' sections of the play, you often question what you're seeing, and could you really be seeing inside the mind of Winston, again questioning what you see on stage in the same way that Winston himself is unsure of what he is seeing and hearing.

The ending of the play is set in stark white, in contrast to the busy library scene and the "secret room" scene, which is played out on the upper screen, as well as being revealed at the rear of the library style setting. This blank white canvas lets you concentrate on the full horror of the "mind changing" scenes where the mysterious six white clad, and face hidden workers, calmly and unemotionally convince Winston that what he thinks and feel are not what he should be thinking and feeling.

Possibly not for the squeamish,but most definitely for the lovers of powerful, shocking and great theatre, because that is what you'll get. A show that will make you appreciate where you are in life and question where you think you are, because who knows what may happen in the future!

"1984" is being played out at the Nottingham Playhouse until 26 September 2015 and is part of the Playhouse's Conspiracy Season.

"School For Scandal"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

Who would've thought that a play written in 1775 could be so entertaining? Well, believe me, it is and "Scandal" kicks off the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Theatre Royal. "School For Scandal" was the first play to be performed on the Nottingham Theatre Royal stage, 25 September 1865.

One thing I thought may be an issue was the language in which Richard Sheridan wrote this play all those years ago but The Royal Company, the theatre's community ensemble, made the script very easy to understand.

There are several sub plots running alongside the marital issues had by Sir Peter Teazle (Mik Horvath) and Lady Teazle (Victoria Murphy) which, once you start to notice the plots become easy to understand and follow, in the same way as a modern day soap opera can run several story-lines within the same episode,revisiting the action when needed. I won't give the sub-plots away because they have to be seen within the context of the play to be understood.

There's plenty of comedy and action in this promenade play,and it's all moved on swiftly and musically by the three clowns, MC and musicians. Taking the audience along with the actors to several parts of the theatre; parts where you wouldn't normally get to see, it made for a fascinating tour of the theatre as well as a rolling set of sorts. The players made sure that their audience were seated, acting as part time ushers, before continuing with the action and story, occasionally using the audience in part of the play.

One of the first thing that struck me were the brilliant costumes and even more brilliant wigs, constructed from modern magazines, but still looking like the wigs of the period. A great deal of hard work went into the imagery of the actors with the costumes, wigs and make up and all this added to the wonderful atmosphere.

The acting troupe of twenty were excellent, and much as I'd like to single out separate actors, I'm not going to because as a throng of actors they were like a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece fitted in and the whole would be incomplete without the other pieces.

Also loved the musicians who played all the way through the promenading, entertaining us as we moved from one part of the theatre to the next. The design of the piece by the Nottingham Trent University students successfully blended the period of the play with a modern feel. Throw in a soundtrack from Tom Jones, Deborah Harry and Iggy Pop among others and the whole experience is a very different, but so enjoyable piece of theatre.

"School For Scandal" is on at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 12 September 2015, and it's be a scandal if you let this one slip by!

"Our Moment" Zak Scott & Friends

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Following Zak's charity concert from last year, "Our Moment" went one better and Zak and his very talented friends performed over two nights, hopefully raising twice as much money this year. The recipients of the raised funds being the Duchess Theatre and Maggies Cancer Care Fund.

It's always a pleasure being entertained by young, talented singers and performers, and when you know some of them quite well, you also appreciate the hard work and effort that goes into putting on a show of this calibre.

Both openings of part one and two showcased the collective performers with "The Stars look Down" from "Billy Elliott" and part two with a track from "Avenue Q" called "It Sucks To Be Me" and from these openings we were treated to separate performances from the individuals. Zak's name is in the title of the show but he's a very generous performer allowing each artist to shine individually and with several duets.

Last year Zak seemed to focus on the more serious side of musical theatre and took time to look as if he was comfortable on stage. This year was such a turnaround because from the moment he stepped on stage he looked as if he owned the place, comfortable and at ease which really made me feel at ease watching him. He also mixed in some lovely uptempo and comic performances like his opening solo "All I Care About" from "Chicago" and "Well Did You Evah" as a duet with Oliver Wheddon, from the musical "High Society". He didn't forget that he is also a class act when it comes to those emotional musical theatre songs like "Why God Why" from "Miss Saigon" and a piece that really suited his more contemporary vocals from McBusted called "Beautiful Girls", accompanied by guitarist Chris Renshaw.

Oliver, who also appeared last year in the fund raiser also has matured so much from last year. His voice has grown ever stronger and variable. Taking in opera. "Lascha Chio Pianga" through to a rather cheeky "Let's Face The Music And Dance" and "When I Get My Name Up In Lights" from "A Boy From Oz" as well as duetting with Tayla Evans on "Suddenly Seymour".from "Little Shop Of Horrors". Tayla also gave a gorgeous performance of "My House" from "Matilda"

So many classy performances, two of my favourites came from Emily-Rose Gent who performed "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and an equally beautiful version of "With You" from "Ghost" which literally brought a tear to my eye it was so emotive. Emily-Rose made me believe every single word of both songs, she didn't just sing them, she performed them.

Nice to see Curtis Salmon perform again and his voice too has matured well. Curtis has a very distinctive voice which complemented his duet partner, Amy Parker perfectly.

Georgie Bond also did more than sing her songs, she performed them, especially "Climbing Uphill" from one of my favourite musicals, "The Last Five Years" and also another emotional performance of "On My Own" from "Les Miserables". Georgie has a wonderful tool in her voice and sounds perfect for musical theatre and I'm sure we'll get to hear more of in the future.

Holly Pilgrim was on fine form showing both sides of her vocals with Rihanna's "Take A Bow" and "Over The Rainbow" from "Wizard Of Oz".

There was also dance from Cara & Rosie Verney, a sublime version of "Sister Act" from the musical of the same name from Emily Horner, Showcase Drama showcasing some very talented youngsters in scenes from "Annie" and "Jungle Book", directed by Elaine Clemerson, and all kept running smoothly by compere Mr David Allen, reprising the excellent job he did from last year. I even laughed at his jokes... "ex tractor fan"... you had to be there!!!

Backing these performers was a four piece band who were excellent, under the direction of Leon Wade There was Dave Dallard on keyboards, Chris Renshaw on guitar, Jeff Widdowson on bass and Adam Baskil on drums. Combining to make a well rounded and full sound. they performed on the stage and didn't manage to drown the performers once.

So many other people also went into making this special night run smoothly, from the excellent choreography of Cara Verney to the management of the invited and VIP guests, Nicky Wheddon, as well as the front of house staff managed by Sarah Charlesworth, the set building, which was classy, unfussy and practical by Roydon Charlesworth to the lighting man, Tom Olding. So many people did so many wonderful unseen jobs on the night which also goes to show what an excellent tight knit family they all are at the Duchess Theatre.

Thank you, every single one of those stage performers tonight for putting together a brilliant show for an amazing cause. Keep on having those big ideas, Zak, because as an audience member and someone who knows you, we love those big ideas, and it's great to see such positive energy from an age group who so often receive negative press.

SUNSET BOULEVARD by Esna Players

Loughborough Town Hall.

The musicals of Lord Lloyd-Webber can be like a bag of Revels. Sometimes you'll get a chocolate one, a toffee one, a honeycomb one. But then again you may get an orange or coffee one. What I'm trying to say is that his musicals can be inconsistent. "Sunset Boulevard" is definitely a chocolate one for me. A classic start, middle and end musical with plenty of glamour, glitz with romance, jealousy and murder thrown in.

Based on the Billy Wilder film of the same name, it's about an ageing, eccentric and faded Hollywood star, Norma Desmond, who, quite by accident sees her way back to the limelight through a young, good looking screen writer, Joe Gillis, who just happens to drive his car into her driveway to escape the pair who are looking to repossess his car. Short of money and seeing that doing what Norma wants, he sees a chance to make it big and strike it rich, but when Norma gets possessive and discovers Joe's squeeze, Betty Schaefer, she decides that if she can't have him....no one can!

The musical starts off with a cinematic introduction and in the style of the classic black and white movies of the day, we see who the actors are in name form, setting the scene and mood wonderfully.

Ashley Bright, plays Gillis, the good looking screen-writer who has a voice just made for musical theatre. A rich timbre making him very easy to listen to and while there were some parts which became just slightly drowned by the live orchestra, he told the story in song with ease and passion.

Cat Orton played Joe's co screen-writer and object of his affection. They started off on the wrong foot, which means that they were destined to become "close" in the world of musicals. All four main roles were strong of voice and Cat has a lovely controlled vocal technique. Easy on the eye and ear.

Norma's man servant, and first husband and director Max Van Mayerling,(Jonathan Penton), protective to the last, shielding his ex wife from anything that may cause upset to the frail and eccentric Norma. That included trying to control Joe to make him do Norma's bidding. Jonathan has a voice I could listen to all night, a wonderful richness that pours like liquid chocolate from his mouth. A wonderful choice of casting, as are all of these roles tonight.

And finally, the "Greatest Star Of Them All", Norma Desmond. Eccentric, glamorous, bossy, crazy, pitiful, controlling, yes all of the above and I imagine an absolute dream of a role to play. Liz Berrisford was just amazing in this role and she controlled that stage every single minute she was on it. And what a voice!! Again another wonderful voice I would not tire of listening to. I've heard Glenn Close sing "With One Look" and "This Perfect Year" as Desmond but Close's versions were not a patch on Liz's renditions, the first round of applause went to "Look" and deservedly so.

There are several classic musical pieces here, the title track, "As If We Never Said Goodbye", "The Perfect Year' and "With One Look" all outstanding commercial songs. Several other songs sound like Lloyd-Webber may have run out of musical ideas and borrowed from "Phantom" and "Superstar".

The scenes were vibrant and exuberant and fitting with Norma's extravagant lifestyle, a great film set setting and with the interspersed cinematic sections the action moved well. Lovely props and costumes, which as you can imagine were also very glamorous, the male costumes also very smart, even in casual mode.

Apart from the odd microphone blips, sound wise it was almost faultless, only occasionally did we lose out with the lyrics of the pieces by the orchestra. Neither of these minor items detracted from this wonderful musical. Talking of the orchestra and the arrangements, they were lush and full bodied, like a rich, fruity wine, brought to blossom and fruition by musical director, Jon Orton.The musical pieces were almost non stop throughout which gave hardly any breathing space for the 24 strong orchestra, sounding beautiful throughout.

All in all this is one of Lloyd-Webber's better, and possibly lesser known works but most definitely one to go and see. Stick through the sometimes disjointed first half for the second part, and you will not be disappointed with the Esna Players latest success. Great songs, brilliant acting from not just the four leads but for the whole, large ensemble, who by the way sounded immense when together. Classy sets and a wonderful orchestral backing combine to give you a trip back in time to another, more decadent time.

"Sunset Boulevard" is on at Loughborough Town Hall until Saturday 5 September 2015.

TALKING HEADS by Alan Bennett

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

"Talking Heads" is a series of three monologues, or should that be monodramas, with a theme of loneliness and age running through the three. there are also minor threads of religion and race interspersed in them all to various degrees.

Never having seen, or heard of this set of three playlets under the umbrella of "Talking Heads", I was looking forward to seeing this Bennett offering. After all he was responsible for one of my favourite films, and plays, "The History Boys", so I expected it be Northern based, funny as well as a dollop of emotion. I was not wrong. Alan Bennett is one of our finest playwrights, delivering real life, almost kitchen sink drama bordering on soap opera to the stage.

Siobhan Redmond gave us Miss Ruddock in "Lady Of Letters". A lady who at first you perceive as a lonely elderly lady whose enjoyment in life was writing to companies and organisations, bringing miniscule, but irksome to herself to their attention. You feel sorry for her because this is what keeps her going through her lonely existence. She worries that the new neighbours seem to be neglecting their young child by going out every night and leaving the child home alone. As the monodrama unfolds you discover that Miss Ruddock has a different side to her which contrasts to your original perception of her, and there's a twist at the end which you don't see coming.

"A Chip In The Sugar" is the second piece, played by Karl Theobold. Karl plays Graham, a role once played on stage by Bennett, who is the son of a 72 year old lady who bumps into an old flame and starts to relive her history with him. She is willing to marry the old flame and be whisked off on honeymoon, but Graham is visited by the old flame, Turnbull's daughter, who reveals that the marriage offer is not a valid, or moral one. His fear of having to leave the place he calls home to provide a marital love nest for the aged pair of love birds disappears as he reveals why marriage for Turnbull and his mother can't go ahead.

The final vignette, "A Cream Cracker Under The Settee", features the wonderful Stephanie Cole as Doris. Fighting to stay in her own home and not be moved out to a care home, she describes the cleaner, Zulema, who is the only one that stands between this unwanted move as a slacker who advises Doris not to "run round with the ewbank", but doesn't do the job herself. This reveals the cracker scenario after Doris hurts her leg while trying to check if Zulema dusted the photo of her late husband, Wilfred.

This is the most poignant monologue as we learn of the heartache of her lost child and Wilfred and his dreams which never became reality for him. Her independence got the better of her as she tried to get the attention of passers by as she struggled with her hurt leg, but then turned down the offer of help from a passing policeman. So true of many people, old and not so old today to battle on whatever, not wanting to show a weakness.The ending leaves you wondering if Doris just fell asleep or.....

Alan Bennett is a writer of our generation and a great people watcher and manages to capture what he sees and turn it into brilliantly realistic and emotive pieces of work. He paints pictures in your mind with his wonderful descriptive passages. We all like listening to stories and these three excellent translators of words to mind pictures are as talented an artist in their own right as any of the great painters.

Set in Yorkshire in the 1980's, the sets are simple, but there's no need for fancy sets because that's not what this piece of theatre is all about. It's all about the words and the imagery.

Powerful theatre which will make you think, and think again. You can see "Talking Heads" at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 5 September 2015.

"Suddenly At Home" by Tabs Productions

Nottingham Theatre Royal

Another classic Francis Durbridge thriller is brought to the Nottingham stage by Tabs Productions as part of the Colin McIntyre Classic Thriller Season 2015. It never ceases to amaze me that the quality of their productions remains so very high, injecting just the right amount of comedy into a serious thriller to balance the scales is a hard job, but this theatrical troupe do just that.

It's one of those thrillers where you know who the victim is, because you see them bumped off by the murderer, but then there are lots of clever twists to the plot to keep you guessing, And if you don't know the story, which I didn't, it'll keep you guessing what the ending is and this is one ending that I certainly didn't see coming.You're looking for when the murderer trips himself up, which of course he does, and you find yourself mentally collecting the clues to how he'll do this as you go along with the story, but the ending is unexpected!

Glenn Howard (Jeremy Lloyd Thomas) has already planned to kill off his wife, Maggie Howard (Karen Henson) for her fortune, and has the plot down to a tee. He has engaged the help of the woman he is planning to run off with, Sheila Wallis (Angie Smith), but things start to unravel when Glenn's plan to point the blame in Maggie's ex partner Sam Blaine's (Robert Laughlin) direction goes a little bit wrong. Sam calls the Howard's home to say that Maggie had just arrived at his house, at nearly midnight. This can't be true could it? After all Glenn had killed Maggie hours before and dumped the body in a pond near Sam's home, arranged for the car to be found in a ditch and planted the seeds sufficiently enough to point to just one suspect.

So what went wrong? Is Maggie really dead? Why has Superintendent Remick (John Goodrum) suddenly taken over the case from Appleton (Andrew Ryan) and where does the Howard's German au pair, Ruth Belcher (Sarah Wynne Kordas) fit in to the story? Suddenly it all becomes too clear, but not until just before the end!

Brilliant performances all round, yet again. Susan Earnshaw also plays Maggie's sister who is as confused as the rest of us at the start of the murder mystery, but soon helps to unravel the plot. Some of the characters only appear for a short time on stage, which also at times give rise to the mystery as to where they fit in to the plot, but the reasons for this unravel in the second half.

Set in the 1970's there's big, and long hair, wide lapels, flares, garish colour schemes, crazy bold wallpaper and furniture and props which could well be worth something on the Antique Road Show. A proper trip down memory lane and so relevant to the plot.

Again lighting design by Michael William John Donoghue and sound by David Gilbrook creating just the right level of suspense, especially the sound in this play because the "creeping" music fill in the gaps on stage which built the tension nicely.

Wonderfully, and I expect lovingly, directed by Adrian Lloyd-James, the glue that sticks all the bits together to make a masterpiece of a thriller.

Classy piece of work, once more from the theatre group we all now look forward to every year, And long may they return to the Nottingham Theatre Royal stage to repeatedly bring us classic after well produced and acted classic under the umbrella of the Colin McIntyre Thriller Season.

"Suddenly At Home" by Francis Durbridge is on at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 22 August 2015. The season concludes next week with "Stage Struck" by Simon Gray from Monday 24 August 2015 to Saturday 29 August 2015.