"The Little Mermaid" by Mike Kenny

Derby Theatre Online.

Derby Theatre has an excellent record for producing and presenting alternative Christmas entertainment, not only for young people but for any age, and this is another classic piece of theatre, this year though available online.

The story of The Little Mermaid is told by Flotsam and Jetsam and while this does not have a happy ending, there is enough comedy to cover the sadness through so as not to upset any sensitive young viewers.

The Little Mermaid has always wanted to rise above the waves but, as told by her Grandmother, she can only do this on her 15th Birthday and while she hears the wondrous tales related by her sisters, she can't wait to see what life is like above the waves.

Her time finally arrives and she sees a marvellous party on board a ship for a Prince who is celebrating his 16 Birthday. She falls madly in love with him but the a storm wrecks his ship and he plummets to the bottom of the ocean. The Little Mermaid carries him to the surface and leaves him on the shore, saving his life.

She is absolutely smitten with the handsome Prince and seeks advice on how to woo him from her Grandmother, but as she can't live on land, and the Prince would drown in the sea, the romance looks failed from the start. The answer though lies with the Sea Witch, but there are consequences and prices to be paid!

Let me first mention the wonderful set, designed by Ali Allen, who also designed the costumes. You get a real feel of being underwater, which is enhanced by the lighting design by Jamie Vella. Also creating that special feel is the sound design by Ivan Stott, who also composed the original music, which is so relaxing.

Written by Mike Kenny and directed by Sarah Brigham, this has a lovely child friendly feel about it. And when I say child friendly, I mean children of any age.

The Sea Witch is quite scary, well witches are supposed to be aren't they? Created and Directed by John Barber and voiced by either Oliver or Jordan - there are two sets of actors alternating.

Talking of the actors, the online pair I saw were Oliver Ashworth (Jetsam) and April Nerissa Hudson (Flotsam). the other pair who I know will be just as entertaining are Joelle Brabben (Flotsam) and Jordan Laidley (Jetsam).

The story telling is magical and you could just shut your eyes and let the story wash over you, the descriptiveness painting pictures in your mind.

The show lasts about 48 minutes long, so this would be a perfect treat for anyone who wants a Christmas treat guaranteed to keep the kids quiet and mesmerised.

"The Little Mermaid" is online from Derby Theatre until 2 January 2021 so please go to the Derby Theatre website to make sure that you secure your chance to see this Watery Winter tale.

 "Cinderella"

Nottingham Playhouse.

Ay Up Me Ducks! If it is one thing that I really look forward to at Christmas it is Nottingham's pantomimes. This year is very different but the Nottingham Playhouse panto is here and apart from not being sat in the audience, this show is as full of fun as any other year, even if there are a few differences, brought about by Covid.

A really traditional panto with some modern touches, thanks to the script, written, as well as directed by Adam Penford. Adam has kept the trademark Kenneth Allan-Taylor lines and feel, and blended it with some fresh corny jokes. Watch out for the boomerang gag!

Everything you have come to expect from the Playhouse pantos is there. Great sets, designed by Morgan Brind, choreography by Rachael Nanyonjo, and what would we do without Uncle Johnny Morton as Musical Director. There is a sectio which is orchestrated and reminded me of all of my favourite instrumental sections of every old Christmas film I can remember. Lovely and lush.

There is just the one bunny though and no swathes of young dancers to open the show.

The mix of songs is well balanced with more than a couple of nods to Sara Poyzer's recent "Mamma Mia" West End and touring production.

Sara Poyzer

doubles up as Fairy Godmother as well as the nasty Baroness Kim, who when we first see her bears a striking resemblance to Glenn Close in "Sunset Boulevard", and in one number sounds a cross between Beyonce and Julie Andrews. Love the Nottingham accented Fairy Godmother but I am also a sucker for a powerful nasty woman!

The Ugly Sisters are wonderfully brought to life by Nottingham panto legend John Elkington as Kourtney and Nottingham panto newcomer

Tom Hopcroft

, who looks completely at ease in heels and a frock, as Kylie. Some brilliant scenes with these two including Bolero on wheels and a mad tongue twister, plus of course those crazy costume designs! Just clock what they wear for the wedding scenes at the end.

David Albury plays the handsome Prince who of course falls for the gorgeous Cinderella, played by Gabrielle Brooks. These two are well matched in every way, and especially when they duet during the Prince's Ball... I won't give away the song they sing but it's amazing. And you will gasp as Cinderella's rags turn into that magical ball gown.

Jessica Lee is so cute as Dandini, and is also blessed with a lovely set of vocals.

Back on the Playhouse Panto stage is Tim Frater, this year as Buttons. Tim is the equivalent of opening a bottle of fizzy pop when shaken. He explodes onto the stage and must be powered by some copper topped battery as his energy levels are never ending.

We still have the kids from the audience but socially distanced with their own bit of stage and microphone, so abiding by all the rules put into place, and there is still the audience sing song, so much of the traditional panto fare we have come to love is still in there, just carefully positioned.

Needless to say there are several topical jokes about Brexit and Covid as well as the Big Fat Man with the ruddy complexion with the sack, yes Donald Trump even gets a mention.

"Cinderella" is at the Nottingham Playhouse from Saturday 19 December 2020 - Saturday 16 January 2021. There will be the chance to see the show On Demand as well as Live Streamed on Saturday 19 December and a very special Christmas Eve production with bonus bits! Oh and you can always enjoy it at the theatre as well, so this year there is absolutely no excuse not to see this wonderfully festive, frolic filled and fantastic family fun fest.

 "faces". by tara anegada & rosiella sutherland.

NNT Online Season

The latest addition to the Nottingham New Theatre Online Season is a quartet of mini films highlighting some of the worst traits in people.

"baptism" narrated by laura garvin-gomez shows the affect that the death of her character's family members have on her life as a she looks back at her childhood and how this dramatic and life changing event affects her in her adult life.

"half *****" narrated by ella seber-rajan is all about racism. It highlights some of the things that some people say that, while at times they may not realise may be rascist, possibly due to their age, that comments can hurt. Comments like "where do you come from, no, where do you really come from".

I recently was listening back to an interview I did with a big 1960's singer and he used the "coloured" adjective to describe black people and I felt so uncomfortable listening back to this, While this may be how people from this particular age see no wrong in this, I can see that this is wrong and can be deeply hurtful.

ella relates several examples of rascism, all of which would be embarrassing to hear as well as being insulting and hurtful to the black community in this passionate and heartfelt monologue.

"first" narrated by emily rule is all about a young woman falling in love with her school friend and we automatically think that the object of her desire is male. This particular monologue shines a spotlight on homophobia and biphobia. I personally have never understood why parents can change the way they feel about their children just by the choices that they make in who they decide to love. It should change nothing and it is sad to find out that people can reject their own blood due to this.

I feel very strongly about homophobia and this particular piece of film really is important. What a shame we have no vaccine to inject homophobics with. Again this phobia may be something that is residual from decades gone by but is still here today, and this film shows this.

The final film in this quartet is called "reclamation" and narrated by eleanor rickenbach. We see some wonderful descriptive passages about the visual affects from drink and drugs on the user, as well as a sad routine of life that the drinker and drug taker can fall into.

All four separate monologues within this film are delivered with passion and I found myself closing my eyes and listening to the voices and the words as opposed to watching the films, ironic as the film is called "faces".

Unlike the previous pieces in the current online season, this delivers serious messages throughout which is at times difficult to watch and listen to.

Let's mention the people who are behind the scenes of this important film.

written & directed by tara anegada & rosiella sutherland

produced by alice zelenka martin

shadow director & dramaturg: joseph holmes-milner

publicity assistant: libby horobin

creative assistants: nadia elafi & japneet matharu

video editor: jesse rough

assistant video editor: charlie finney

caption writer: skylar turnbull hurd

"faces" can be seen on Wednesday 9 December at 7.30 via the NNT Facebook page link.

 'When Sally met Gary Henry Harry' by Cecilia Alexander.

Nottingham New Theatre Online Season.

Sally is bored at the start of lockdown, and after chatting with best friend Chrissy, she is coerced into looking for love by turning to Tinder. With little faith in the dating site, she gives it a go, never expecting to find "the one", but after a few virtual dates she realises that the first one, was indeed "the one". A bit like when you go shopping, find something you really like at the start of the shopping trip, walk all the way around town and then go back to that first shop and buy the item you saw six hours previously!!

To be honest, I had a few doubts about this piece but gradually I started to really warm to this "girl finds boy, girl loses boy, girl gets boy back again" story. So much so that the very end scene, I felt like dancing around with Sally and Harry.

There are some lovely comedy moments written into this piece, like the Wombats/Wombles and Sally's crazy dancing, which she does a lot. I also enjoyed the conversations between both Sally and Chrissy and Harry and his best friend Flinty, because they were so well observed in what was said and the way it was said. There was a succinct difference between the male and female conversations but both inevitably led to the same conclusion. Surely this shows that the way male and female minds work can't be all that different?

Chrissy (

Katie Booth

) and Sally (

Rachel Coussins

) were instantly likeable characters and I have seen them both Katie and Rachel before so know the quality of their work. When Sally finally admitted to liking Harry, after a few other virtual dates with Gary (Gazza) and Henry, I virtually punched the air and rejoiced with Sally.

Likewise, Flinty (

Charlie Basley

) and Harry (

Demi Idowu

) are again very likeable characters and, like Katie and Rachel I have also seen both actors before and know how good they are.

Charlie

always makes me smile but, and I don't know if it is because I've not been to the New Theatre for such a while, I couldn't remember if the Southern accent was naturally his, or just for this role.

I loved the light and shade of this piece, particularly noticeable with

Rachel

and

Demi

as they both show their character's emotions for each other. I also loved the jokey and sensible advice given by

Katie

and

Charlie

's characters, making this a lovely warm and fuzzy piece of writing.

This really is another way of saying what a well observed script that writer Cecilia Alexander has delivered.

I have just a couple of minor points. The first being that some of the sound production, and mainly in the face-timing sections at the start for Sally was lower in volume and at times not that easy to hear. That however seemed to get resolved as the film went on.

The second is a very minor issue but up until the last sections, Harry seemed to wear the same Tom Tailor Denim hoodie in every shot. I don't know if this was to make out that us blokes don't change our clothes very often, so I could blame Cecilia for this as she also directed the film. Only joking!

And so to the people who are responsible for the behind the scenes work.....

Co-Producers -

Nadia Elalfi

and Ylana Gibert

Assistant Director -

Pete Rouse

Shadow Director -

Lauren Birks

Shadow Producer -

Conor Waldock

Publicity Assistant and Sound Designer - Izzy de Bono

Video Editor -

Caetano Capurro

Graphic Designer - Zoe Smith

Captioner -

Emma Barber

A really well shot, well written and wonderfully acted piece of film that you can see online TONIGHT at 7.30 on the NNT Youtube site and via the NNT Facebook page.

 "Familiar Strangers" by Maddie Craig

NNT Autumn Online Season.

What I love about new writing is that I have no preconceptions about what I am about to see, and this is one piece that really made me sit up. I was not expecting the finale!

"Familiar Strangers" is a fictional online dating site which as Laura, the main character in this piece of writing, describes as "holding auditions for your soul mate".

Match 1 is a brilliant tour de force of comic character writing. He is the archetypal 1980's wine bar loner who is corny, comical - in the eyes of the distant observer - the sort of man who every woman should avoid dating. He tells Laura that she "will never meet anyone like him", and boy is that the truth, but for all the wrong reasons. I can imagine him like a shark, prowling and dressed in tight leather trousers, shirt open to the navel, bleached blond hair, tacky jewellery et al.

Match 2 is slightly better but has a terrible line in pick up banter; he even tells Laura that he won an award for the worst banter! I loved the misunderstanding of Match 2's job title. Even though I did anticipate the "mix up", it still made me smile.

Match 3 would have been the one that I expected Laura to choose. there was a natural connection and at least he showed an interest in Laura and what she was doing, and you could see that Laura also gravitated towards his personality.

If this had been "Blind Date" you just knew that Laura would tell Cilla that she would be choosing contestant number three. Laura and Match 3 chatted about meeting up.

And then came the part that I didn't expect. the part where everything took on a decidedly darker turn.....

Time passed when Laura received a really dark message from her ex, Jasper. Controlling, intense and bordering on the maniacal stalker, he came across as a dangerous and desperate person. He knew exactly what Laura had been doing, and what she had been talking about....but how come he knew so much about what had been going down?

What I had first expected to be a comedy turned out to be a worrying piece of online theatre, highlighting the downfalls of online match-making and online presence. It really did leave a feeling of unease as I did not know what would happen next, and how far Jasper would go. A possible sequel to this, Maddie?

The filming was excellent, as was the sound and captioning. The Autumn Online Season for Nottingham New Theatre has gone from strength to strength, and I for one have rejoiced in the fact that they have found an outlet for their immense talents during lockdown, and produced such a high quality set of work.

Talking of talented people, time for me to shine a spotlight on them.....

Laura - Ace Edwards

Match One -

Nicholas Landon

Match Two - James Fellas-Lauries

Match Three - Max Nichols

Jasper -

Jack Titley

Writer and Director - Maddie Craig

Producer - Ella Seber-Rajan

Assistant Director - Phoebe Marshall

Video Editor - Shayla Dimaano

Creative Assistant - Pip Horn

Sound Designer - Jesse Rough

Captioner -

Zoe Smith

Assistant Video Editor & Graphics Designer -

Skylar Turnbull Hurd

"Familiar Strangers" will be shown on Wednesday 2 December at 7.30pm on the NNT Youtube Channel as part of their Online Season

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq6zOPIOcfIK6fxtxILeffw

 "Autumn Showers" by Alexandra Hogg

NNT Autumn Online Season.

Sofia has left home to go to Uni, and it's a world of discovery. Fitting in to life away from home with new friends, a new way of life but also personal discovery, or to be more conclusive, personal affirmation. It shows the conversations between a mother and a daughter at different stages of the growing process.

There is a lovely retrospective section where Sofia, the daughter, looks back at a particular situation just before she goes out to a party, and recognises the concern and love from Katherine, the mother, which at that time was lost on her daughter. Something that all of us parents can recognise and can only hope that their children grow to acknowledge.

This short film, just a smidgen over 21 minutes long, is really quite beautiful because it does reveal several issues and highlights areas of a mother/daughter relationship with the trust that is invested within.

It shows the expectations from peers, which can often be so out dated, and the pressure that is put upon the youth. It shows the weight that a young person carries around when they anticipate revelations to a parent, revelations that can be life changing but in the wide scheme of things, not that important, or not that important that warrants the weight that can be envisaged by the bearer.

This is a beautiful film and a really lovely story by Alexandra Hogg. Now I don't know Alexandra so I do not know if this is a work of fiction or she has written this from personal experience, but either way, this is a story that has a lot of heart invested in it.

I loved the descriptive passage where Sofia describes herself as "living in a grey area". Watching this film you can really understand where she is coming from, and a description that could describe several areas of most people's lives, throughout life.

The maturity of the script and the way the script has been written, for me belies the youth of the author.

The camera work is also beautifully done with the external shots really capturing the beauty of Autumn.

The music compliments the mood throughout. It is melancholy but soothing and also very beautiful, even in the scenes where you would not expect the soothing soundtrack to fit in , like the slow motion clubbing scenes. Everything fits perfectly.

The ending fades out and again provides another call for help, something that is repeated throughout, and with this ending it left me wanting more. More because I wanted to know what Sofia wanted to discuss with Katherine, and more because Sofia is someone you want to know, and know more about, and care about..

The actors portraying the roles were Katie Booth (Sofia 1),

Lily Bailes

(Sofia 2) and

Megan Peace

(Katherine). Needless to say with my comments above, this trio were very well cast.

The crew are as follows

Director and writer - Alexandra Hogg

Producer -

Charlie Basley

Assistant Producer -

Lottie wright

Shadow Producer -

Anna Schooling

Shadow Director / Video Editor -

Lauren Brady

Video Editor -

Alicia Conte

Sound Designer / Video Editor - Charlie Finney

Captioner -

Emma Barber

Creative Assistants -

Beth White

and Giulia Duggan

Publicity Assistant -

Laura Sherratt

Poster Designer - Anya (Ace) Edwards.

This is an online event that you can access via the Nottingham New Theatre Youtube channel at 7.30 pm tonight https://www.youtube.com/cha.../UCq6zOPIOcfIK6fxtxILeffwhttps:

 "Far Apart" by Alice Walker &

Libby Horobin

NNT's Autumn Online Season.

The latest in the Nottingham New Theatre's Autumn Online Season which can be seen on Wednesday 25 November at 7.30.

As in the last production, I feel that this works so well as an online piece of theatre. It would work as a piece on stage with segmented spotlight highlighted parts of the stage but you would not get as much out of the backgrounds as in this online piece.

The story is about three siblings, Andi, Cal and Alex. They are far apart, Cal is just starting Uni, Alex is working abroad and Andi is at home, on the brink of going to Uni. And then something within the family circle happens to cause worry and grief.

The conversation is over face time, sometimes with all three and sometimes between two of the three siblings.

Andi, with being at home and, although in the thick of it, is often shielded, but she knows what is what and at times feels guilt over wanting to get out of there and also feels great responsibility to be at home. She is adamant though that she is going to put her life on hold for the sake of her parents, something she sometimes feels Cal and Alex should also do. She feels segregated but is with her family unit.

Cal is in the throes of Fresher's Week but often feels that she does not fit in with the Uni crowd, which also at times makes her ever more longing to be home.

Alex works abroad, and has done well for himself and we start with discovering that he is in the early stages of a new relationship, something he tells Andi not to tell his parents of. That sibling trust is broken but we discover why as the story unfolds.

The production is just shy of 33 minutes long but you become so wrapped up in the conversation and what is happening in the background of the story that it seems a fraction of that time.

It's lovely how we see what little things make the trio smile and laugh, from wearing odd socks to "Countdown", and that really breaks the intensity of the conversation.

It's also nice that the final five minutes unfold and we get a happy ending for all three but the silver lining also has that darker cloud just beneath.

The production highlights different life choices and personal responsibilities

Lelah Gorgin (Andi),

Georgia Barnwell

(Cal) and Mikey Flannery (Alex) are all very natural performers and I would love to see them on stage in a production, maybe in 2021. I do have a feeling that I have seen Georgia before anyway at NNT. I must also say that I love the drawings on the wall behind Georgia's head.

And now to some more talented people responsible for this piece...

Director and Co-writer: Alice Walker

Producer and Co-writer:

Libby Horobin

Assistant Producer:

Gabriella Teriaca

Sound Designer: Em Rule

Publicity Assistant/Poster Designer: Skylar Turnbull Hurd

Video Editor: Jasmine Butler & Rose Edgeworth

Creative Assistant and Captioner: Izzy De Bono.

You can catch "Far Apart" on the Nottingham New Theatre Youtube Channel on Wednesday 25 November at 7.30pm