"One Man Two Guvnors" by Encore.

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

Shakespeare once said "All the world's s stage" and "laughter is the best medicine", well maybe not the last one, but if said quotes are true then tonight made a world of difference and, had I had been ill I would have been miraculously cured. I can't remember the last time |I laughed so heartily, tell a lie it was at "Fawlty Towers" by the aforementioned Encore!.

Billed as the funniest show on earth by the theatrical powers that be, Encore proved that to be true. I've seen Rufus Hound and Norman Pace play Francis Henshall but neither made me laugh as much as Adam Guest. I can't be accused for being biased with these very talented, funny, wonderful, brilliant, excellent, consummate, outstanding group of actors who, most of them I know reasonably well, so here goes.....

"One Man, Two Guvnors", written by Richard Bean, is an English adaptation of Servant of Two Masters, a 1743 Commedia dell'arte style comedy play by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni. The play replaces the Italian setting of the original with Brighton in 1963.

Henshall becomes separately employed by two men – Roscoe Crabbe, a local gangster, and Stanley Stubbers, an upper class criminal. Francis tries to keep the two from meeting, in order to avoid each of them learning that Francis is also working for someone else.Roscoe is really Rachel Crabbe in disguise, her twin brother Roscoe having been killed by her lover, who is none other than Stanley Stubbers. Pauline Clench was originally meant to marry Roscoe but is now set to elope with over-the-top amateur actor Alan Dangle.

There's plenty of old skool slapstick and in between the scene changes, "entertainment" is laid on by several of the cast members, all adding to the comedy.

I've almost ran out of superlatives for most of the actors, most of which I have seen in several productions across the county many times in the past. It's almost like having a super-group of actors on the one stage.

Adam Guest is Francis Henshall, although in real life Adam is more intelligent, but just as quick thinking and funny as his character. He handles the improvised sections really well while being mindful of the script, flowing in and out of improvisation as if it had all been written in.

Ross Lowe (Stanley Stubbers) wonderfully upper class and echoes of the Major again from "Fawlty Towers".

Emma Collins (Rachel Crabbe) breaks her duck in her first ever play without being a musical, and hopefully she will add more plays to her roster because she is wonderfully funny.

Jack Readyhoof (Alan Dangle) is hilarious as the actor whose spotlight is always on "full". A hammy character from a brilliant comedy character actor.

Aston Fisher (Pauline Clench), far from the dippy blonde character of Pauline is Aston but always a bundle of fun in real life as well as on stage in character.

Gary Lever (Harry Dangle), another great role to add to Gary's theatrical CV as the Latin spouting solicitor to the Clench's.

Lewis Haycock (Charlie Clench) plays one of the best parts I've seen him perform, and although the character role is aged about mid fifties, he totally made the gangster character believable.

Amy Clover (Dolly) plays Henshall's love interest and the Clench's book-keeper. Voluptuous and sexy, reminiscent of Ruth Jones with some brilliant comedy lines.

Clive Williamson (Lloyd Boateng) is the one actor that that I've not seen before and one that i look forward to seeing again in whatever he does next. He reminded me a little of Paul Barber who played Denzil in "Only Fools & Horses". Clive is a seasoned actor and director and he makes his Encore debut in this role. Boateng is an ex-con from Parkhurst where we discover he learnt most of his life skills!

Kathryn McAuley (Gareth) plays the head waiter at The Cricketer's Arms. Lovely and upper class, who did well not to crack a smile. professional as always.

Kheenan Jones (Alfie) plays the most aged of the characters as the doddery old waiter with the pacemaker who is great fun to watch. You were just hoping that he would drop or spill one of the meal items, but he didn't.

Brilliant audience involvement, which at one stage even had the ever professional Mr Guest and Ms Collins lose composure for a second or three, and there was a near possibility that Lewis almost slipped from character (which he held on to steadfastly) with the scene surrounding the diary and a comment to an audience member.

Director Ollie Turner did a brilliant job, and with comedy there's always that pressure to keep the comedy rolling and the timing tight, all of which Ollie achieved, along with his assistant director, Verna Bayliss.A ridiculously talented and experienced team behind this show including producer Sam Griffiths.

This is the premiere of this play by a community drama group. A group who are not afraid to take on performances that other groups may shy away from. They take risks and so far they are paying off. It was just a shame though that Tuesday night was not better attended because you're missing out on a very, very funny piece of theatre, performed by a very talented and hard-working band of actors who deserve to be supported. And not only that, they are all really nice people in real life.

"One Man Two Guvnors" is on at the Nottingham Arts Theatre until Saturday 25 June 2016. Go on , you know you deserve a laugh, or several, you've earned it!

"Guys and Dolls"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

One of the greatest Noo Yoik based musicals of all time is back in Nottingham. The story of Nathan Detroit and his doll Adelaide and Sky Masterson and his newly discovered doll Sarah, who is in the process of saving souls. Will Sky's soul be one soul she can't save, or will Sky give up his gambling evil ways and succumb to the word of the Lord?

Based on the stories and characters written by Damon Runyon, the action starts in Runyonland where Nathan is looking for a place to hold his latest "crap game". The only way he can think of raising the funds to pay for a venue is to bet Sky $1000 that he can't take take a "doll" of Nathan's choice to Havana for dinner, and Nathan chooses Sarah Brown from the mission.

In the background Adelaide, Nathan's fiancée for the last 12 years, wants to get married and they plan to elope, but all does not go to plan while Nathan is still planning the latest "crap game".

This is Hollywood though so it's all bound to end up happily ever after, and it does, leaving you with a fluffy, warm, squidgy feeling in your tummy.

Maxwell Caulfield, who you may remember from "Emmerdale" and of course playing the lead in the movie "Grease 2", plays Nathan Detroit, and is suitably slippery as he wriggles in and out of Adelaide's grasp and away from the law, namely Lieutenant Brannigan, played by Anthony McGill. Having met Maxwell in the past and have spent time chatting to him, I know that he has a brilliant sense of humour and playing a role like Detroit, that humour seems to spill naturally from him into the character.

Richard Fleeshman (Sky Masterson) exudes confidence in the role and has a cheeky way of shoving his tongue into his cheek, which shows his character to have a fun arrogance at the start, but then we see the change as he falls for Sarah, and his devil-may-care attitude to "dolls" is broken down. Richard is a very talented singer and a songwriter, but I've not heard him sing in such a low key as he did tonight. Whether this is because he has expanded his vocal range I'm not sure but it just seemed a tad too deep for him. Nevertheless he did a brilliant job in the role and his version of "Luck Be A Lady" was powerful and pacy.

I love Adelaide's character and Louise Dearman was just wonderful in the role, and what a voice she has, She also sounded good singing with a broad New York accent, which didn't waver a zip code throughout. Great fun to watch and lovely to listen to her controlled clear voice.

Along with Louise, one of the other stand-out voices of the show was from Anna O'Byrne (Sarah). She has a voice that is made for Hollywood musical style shows. you can listen to her all night if you had to. A boon to the musical side of the cast.

Brilliant ensemble pieces and some amazingly athletic choreography devised by Carlos Acosta and Andrew Weight and performed brilliantly, and effortlessly by a very talented group of dancers.

I loved the costumes and there were so many suits and outfits which oozed glamour and style, making this show a visual delight.

A wonderful set which set the era just right by way of advertisement products in lights and covering the stage. The changing of the sets were smooth and also very quick, meaning that there was no hanging around with fill in instrumental sections. it all moved along at a nice pace, thanks to director, Gordon Greenberg.

There are many memorable songs in this classic musical, "A Bushel & A Peck", "If I Were A Bell", "Luck Be A Lady", "I've Never Been In Love Before", the brilliantly comic "Take Back Your Mink" (with a wonderful choreography piece to this song), and a rocking gospel version of "Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat".

A wonderful cast, great songs, fun and frantic dance routines and some lovely comedy pieces, This is one musical which has stood the test of time and will continue to be performed for many decades to come, especially when it is performed to the standard that it was performed here.

"Guys and Dolls" is on at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 25 June 2016.

"Betrayal" by Harold Pinter

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Inspired by Pinter's extramarital affair with Joan Bakewell, The plot relates to a seven-year affair involving a married couple, Emma and Robert, and Robert's "close friend" Jerry, who is also married, to a woman named Judith. For five years Jerry and Emma carry on their affair without Robert's knowledge until Emma's confession to Robert, without letting on to Jerry that she has done so.

The play is performed in reverse order where we start the play with a meeting up of Emma and Jerry a couple of years after the affair ended in 1977, and works backwards to the start of the affair in 1968.

There's the trademark simplicity of language as well as the pauses and silences for which Pinter was knows for, creating an awkwardness, which should be there, as per the writing style of the author.

The four actors, Jemma Froggitt (Emma), Graeme Jennings (Robert), Oliver Lovley (Jerry) and Timothy Pollard (Barman/Waiter) were all excellent in their roles, and I love Timothy's Italian accent. They all made me believe in the characters and the betrayal act they were portraying, I was totally hooked, thanks to the skillful direction of Cynthia Marsh.

The set, designed by Emma Pegg, was something else as well. Simple in it's visual aspect but, similar to the set of "The Curious Incident Of the Dog In The Night Time", the set had hidden depths and this is what it made it so interesting. Parts of the set pulled out from itself and there were interchangeable sections as well, making it visually very interesting.

A clever reverse timeline function by way of projection showing where we were in the scenes and the dates and settings, courtesy of Matthew Allcock.

This is one of the shortest plays I've been to, lasting only 80 minutes, and I had to check that with my watch because it flew by, always a good sign. But there was just one thing that I found niggled me a bit.

Pinter was a writer of realism and was heralded as one of the first kitchen-sink drama style writers and therefore realism is to the forefront of his plays. One thing I found to be in complete opposition to the realism of the play was something very simple that could be resolved.

There were several scenes where there were drinks involved, as well as a meal eaten in a restaurant. Bottles of wine were supposedly drunk but while there were bottles and glasses and plates served, there was no actual liquid or food on the plates. I know that this sounds a bit petty but surely if you're seen to be drinking wine, vodka or whatever the choice of drink, couldn't we see the "drink" being physically poured in to the glass from the bottle and then drank? Also the meal served in the restaurant were empty plates and the actors had to pretend to eat "invisible" food from the plates. It would make the scenes more believable in my opinion. Hey, I'm only the reviewer, not the director, but I appreciate the little touches within plays.

Apart from this very small criticism, i really enjoyed the play and the story of deception, as well as discovering that there were more than one case of betrayal going off here.

To see how many betrayals there are in the play, pop down to the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre this week until Saturday 25 June 2016.

"The Wizard Of Oz" by Bright Lights Theatre School

Loughborough Town Hall.

They say never work with children and animals. Well I am so pleased that producers Nick Sutcliffe and Patrick Croft didn't listen to that age old adage. This is a production of mammoth proportions with a cast of youngsters numbering over seventy on stage. And may I say, one of the best children's mass ensembles I have seen in the theatre.

I'm not going to precis the story of "The Wizard Of Oz" because you know it so I'm going to concentrate on the rest of it. This production alone has cost £23,000 to stage which shows the following this theatre group have because it's the paying audiences who have funded this not for profit drama group. it also shows the work that has gone into this show.

It has an old style MGM musical feel about it and this comes across with the ensemble singing as well as the dance routines, choreographed by Nick Sutcliffe and Zoe Curlett

The excellent cinematography and special effects, the clarity of the music, under the musical direction of Zoe Curlett and James Nelson, the brilliant costumes and make up, the props and scenery all added to the total professionalism for the audience and made the experience of these young actors something very special. A very talented technical team and directed by Alex Turner, which could not have been easy due to the size of the cast.

Let's talk about these young, and extremely talented actors. There are some really young actors who may well have been debuting in "Oz" here and carried themselves so professionally. Every single one of those youngsters delivered everything that they were asked to deliver, some even more, which I'll get on to shortly.

Normally an actor may stand out for the wrong reasons when in ensemble work, but they were all outstanding for all the right reasons. For putting on an amazing show.

I must though mention a few that really made me sit up even more than I was.

Amy Carter, who played Dorothy was so very confident in the main role. her accent remained constantly Kansas throughout, unwavering, and she had wonderful characterization in Dorothy. Being in charge of Toto, her dog, who was played by Lacey, can sometimes lead (if you'll pardon the pun) to unpredictability and Amy crossed these bridges with great control and maturity.

Munchkin Mayor was another character who caught my eye. Played by Zack Page, here is another very confident young man with just the right projection in his voice and a feel for the role. it may have only been a minor role but he made it his own and was wonderful in it.

They were all stars on stage but one actor, and I really didn't want to spotlight anyone in particular, but I'm afraid he has forced my hand through his utter professionalism and, whether he realised it or not, his ability to ad lib just right, was Daniel Johnson in the dual role as Hunk and The Scarecrow. His natural ability, character and comedy, as well as his timing were lovely to see in such a young actor, but there were two things he did tonight that gained my absolute respect.

There was a scene where the Emerald City Guard was due to come down from an upstairs window to let The Scarecrow, Tinman, Cowardly Lion and Dorothy in and he took just a bit longer to appear. Daniel took it upon himself to ad lib while Stefan Bos, as the guard, made his way into the scene.

The second was when one of the characters stumbled slightly on a line and Daniel prompted his fellow actor for the line. What a real pro. i have seen professionals stumble and fluff lines so it can happen to anyone but it is how you, and your fellow actor, recover and cover, and this lot were just totally professional to the letter. Daniel will go far in acting with that sort of professionalism mindset and discipline. All this plus he has a very controlled singing voice and a lovely, distinctiveness about his singing.

Don't you just hate it when you get kids this age who are so incredibly talented? i'm so jealous.

The rest of the main cast, who were just as incredibly disciplined, and talented were Lydia Bird (Aunt Em), Rafael Duarte (Uncle Henry), Madison Ditta (Hickory/Tinman), Zara Platts (Zeke/Lion), Ella Rose Gadd (Miss Gultch/Wicked Witch of The West), Samuel Beckett (Professor Marvel/ Wizard Of Oz) and Beth York (Glinda).

I'd love to mention all seventy-nine of you by name, but that is what a programme/playbill is for, so if you go and see this show, buy a programme, because that all helps as well. You can all feel very proud of yourselves, and that includes all the people involved behind the scenes.

"The Wizard Of Oz" is only on until Sunday 19 June 2016, but would make a brilliant Father's Day present. Truly wicked (you know what I mean).

"Footloose" by The Young Performers
Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

It's back to the 1980's for the latest show by the Young Performers and this is a wonderful vehicle for the drama society. It's the story of Ren McCormack, a teenager from Chicago, who has moved to a hick town called Bomont with his mum after his dad walked out a few years ago. The town minister, Shaw Moore, has banned dancing after a car accident years ago where four teenagers of the town died on the way back from a dance.

Ren slowly manages to fit in with the teenagers but makes enemies of the other townfolk. He makes friends with Willard, who isn't the fastest gun in the west, as well as befriending Ariel, the teenage daughter of Shaw and Vi Moore, and girlfriend to the bullying Chuck Cranston. Ren makes it his aim to overturn the dancing ban. With the kids on his side, all he now has to do is convince Shaw Moore..

Liam Morris (Ren) was excellent in the role of the town newcomer, and at 16 years old he showed great confidence as our boot-scooting hero that Ariel had been holding out for. A good choice for the leading man.

Nicola Northcott (Ariel) is the owner of a beautiful voice and her control on the stripped back version of "Holding out For A Hero" was lovely to hear, showing great maturity.

Harvey Latter (Shaw Moore) is another young actor who presented his character with great maturity. Where as the teenage parts, played by teenagers isn't a great stretch, because they are their playing age, Harvey had to convince us that he was a strict man of the cloth. For me after a while I soon forgot he was a teenager and he became the character, and it's great when one so young can convince an audience that they are their intended role. Brilliant job!

Erin Hill (Vi Moore), again a lovely voice showcased beautifully in her solo "Can You Find It In Your Heart".

Emily Owen (Ethyl McCormack) is another character actor in the making, and again playing a part so much older than she is and making us believe her character.

Zak Charlesworth (Chuck Cranston) is still only 18 years old but has done so much in musical theatre, When I get to see someone like Zak perform as I have several times, I sometimes get the feeling that he has a tendency to play it safe. With this role, there was no safe and it was great to see him play a nasty piece of work in Chuck. Not only was his character miles away from his past roles, it was also good to hear Zak belt out a song like "The Girl Gets Around". Much as I love to hear Zak sing musical theatre songs, this showed a new and fresh side of him, which i like just as much as his Jean Valjean types.Thanks Zak, you surprised me again.

Jake Truman (Willard) was an absolute star for me last night. A true country simpleton with a heart of gold, loyal to the last and a great sense of humour. His confession to Ren that he couldn't do "it" was hilarious, even though we knew "it" wasn't what Ren first thought "it" was. The section where Ren taught Willard a few choice dance moves was one of the many highlights for me, and it looked like Willard was hiding his dance talents under a bushel with some nifty moonwalking thrown in there.

A wonderful ensemble full of people who looked like they were loving every minute of stage time, almost as much as we in the audience were loving seeing them on the stage. The sheer enthusiasm was a joy to see from absolutely everyone, but I was drawn to one young man, who seemed to be the smallest one there, who constantly gave his all in every piece of choreography given. One of many stars in the making on stage.

A live band on stage under the direction of Leon Wade produced a wonderful musical back drop to some brilliant 80's classics from the film, "Let's Hear It For The Boy", "Holding Out For A Hero" and of course "Footloose" as well as lesser known numbers like "Learning To be Silent", sung wonderfully by Erin, Emily and Nicola and the fun song "Mama Says" sung by Jake, Ryan Yates, Finley McQuade and a character called Bickle.

Directed by Tricia Freer and Vicky Moran with superb choreography byAlex Tavener and Lauren Riley. A really swift stage crew shifted the props on and off stage and the lighting and sound was by Dave Martin and David Simms.

i must also mention the costumes and hair and especially the make up (Gemma Riley) because that black eye that Ren sported was pretty vicious looking!

All in all this was a very enjoyable romp through the backwoods of Bomont with a great cast who were having as much fun on stage as we were having off stage.

"Footloose" is on at the Duchess Theatre until Saturday 18 June 2016.

"Mamma Mia"

Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

I loved the film when it came out and guess what? I absolutely LOVE this stage production. What is there not to like about this brilliant fun, happy, feel good show?

The music of Abba is timeless. It's catchy. You'll find yourself singing along quietly with the show. You'll tap your feet, you'll clap your hands and at the end you get the chance to get up out of your seats and dance, sing and clap along and I did all three and I loved it.

The story is of Sophie, daughter of Donna. Sophie is getting married to Sky and, understandably, she wants her dad at the wedding. But the only problem is, she has the choice of three. She only knows the three, Harry, Sam and Bill, because she read her mum's diary. the three dads come over to the Greek isle and that's where the fun begins.

It's a brilliant cast with local connections, because playing Donna is Nottingham born Sara Poyzer. I've seen Sara in several productions and have had the pleasure of chatting to her on several occasions. Sara has a beautiful voice for musical theatre and when she sand "The Winner Takes It All" she put every ounce of emotion into that song, which was greatly appreciated by the audience.

Playing one of the possible fathers, Sam, is Sara's husband Richard Standing, who you'll recognise from several TV roles including Coronation Street. And guess what he has a better singing voice than Pearce Brosnan, who played the part in the film.

Playing the other prospective fathers were Tim Walton (Harry) and Christopher Hollis (Bill).

Donna's best friends, Rosie and Tanya are played brilliantly by Jacqueline Braun and Emma Clifford respectively. Jacqueline reminds me a bit of Dawn French with her great sense of fun she pours into Rosie's character and I loved the aloofness of Tanya, as well as the wonderful scene where she is putting down her young admirer, Pepper (Louis Stockil), who got to show off some pretty impressive dance moves.

Lucy May Barker (Sophie) had a lovely excitable air of innocence as she approached her big day with Sky, played by Phillip Ryan, her hunky groom to be, and a lovely sweet voice Lucy has. Her two bridesmaids were played by Micha Richardson (Ali) and Blaise Colangelo (Lisa). Sky's friends were played by Louis Stockil (Pepper) and Sam Robinson (Eddie).

A big ensemble cast who danced their socks off, and a real treat for the ladies as there was quite a bit of male flesh on show.

A fairly simple set which was rapidly added to with props by the ensemble who just as smoothly removed them and changed the set round. Well managed by the stage management crew.

Brilliant, vibrant lighting and, despite a slight technical hiccup with the sound, a very clear sound mix and design.

Wonderful 70's glam costumes,as only to be expected, and some wonderfully enthusiastic choreography, which left me breathless just watching them.A large production team who pulled everything together to bring a brilliantly fun, feel good show to chase away the rainy evening.

Everyone knows the songs and there are many in here spanning the many eras of Abba but I must admit my favourites were "The Winner Takes It All" because of the passion Sara sung with and "Slipping Through My Fingers". A lovely poignant version again sung by Sara as she was getting Sophie ready for the wedding and remembering how her daughter has grown from being her child to a grown woman. Something every parent can relate to as their child grows up, often far faster than we'd like.

"Mamma Mia" is at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall until Saturday 25 June 2016, so there's no excuse to not see this heart-warming musical.

"I KEEP A WOMAN IN MY FLAT CHAINED TO A RADIATOR"

by Theatre Apparantly.

A new theatre company to me, they were formed in 2015 and set out to present serious issues in such a way as not to preach but to get the message across in a light hearted way. they did this at the Nottingham New Theatre this afternoon with the play strangely entitled "I Keep A Woman In My Flat Chained To A Radiator".

Why she is there we never find out and the two-hander play never addresses this matter, as if it were common place that a young woman is shackled to a piece of plumbing inside a single man's flat.

The play and it's two actors Alex Wells-King, as Stephen the young twenty-something professional and Monica Forero as the chained woman, as well as writer/director Adam Willis stopped off in Nottingham New Theatre on the way to the Edinburgh Fringe, and I'm so glad that i had the chance to catch it.

The play is very well observed and written and that makes for a very funny short play about insecurities, expectations and social opinions and issues. With clever sections which border on farce, it's really nice to see something new written by young writers, performed by young actors with the subject matter addressing young people. When you reach the age that this reviewer has attained you can have great fun reminiscing the subjects like getting ready for a first date, what to wear, what to say as well as being able to laugh at sexual personal doubts, should you get over all the previous hurdles aforementioned and still make a positive impression on your first date.

It's fast paced, funny and very well acted which makes the unbelievable idea of having a woman chained to your radiator who, seemingly willingly, cooks, cleans and launders for you, quite believable. A brilliant script which has the scope to be extended past the 45 minutes or so length. I would have loved to have seen the "date" in action and the aftermath plus there could be a prequel to show how the woman was kidnapped and how/why she became so amenable to her captor.

I love it as a short piece of theatre and at the same time I want more, and there is room for more. the play should go down a storm at The Edinburgh Fringe because of it's off the wall humour and young cast, plus it's a little bit sexy as well, or is that just me?

If this play stops off on the way back from it's success at Edinburgh for a return performance, please go and see it, because I know I will.