"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen.

Your Chance Productions.

Duchess Theatre.

I've never really read much Jane Austen. Like most people I knew "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility", but "Northanger Abbey", her first novel, is not one that I can recall, and you know I love expanding my theatrical education, and this education blends the Austen humour with a Gothic backdraft.

So for the uneducated, where Jane Austen is concerned, this is what the play is about...

"Northanger Abbey" is the coming-of-age story of a young woman named Catherine Morland. She has grown up in the countryside, the eldest daughter of a parson in a family of ten children, and is obsessed by Gothic novels of the time, something that influences her mindset later within the play.

She has been invited on a holiday to Bath by her neighbours, The Allens, where she encounters the Thorpes and the Tilneys. During balls, she befriends Isabella and fancies Henry. Soon, Isabella gets engaged to James, but starts flirting with Captain Frederick. 

Catherine visits Northanger Abbey, on the invite from Henry and expects a Gothic mansion. Instead, she is received in a lovely house. However, there are mysterious rooms she cannot enter and her imagination starts to run away with her.

Catherine's visit ends when a furious General Tilney rudely sends her home. It turns out that John Thorpe has lied about Catherine's family being dirt-poor. What could possibly happen now? Is this the end of a beautiful friendship? Unless you have read the book or seen the film, there's only one way to find out... go along to the Duchess Theatre and see what unfolds!!

The wonderful thing about the Duchess Theatre is that it's incredibly popular with many different theatre groups and booking in for a run of a play is something that needs doing there many months in advance. That also means that rehearsal time on the stage that you're going to perform on is very limited, and that is something that this production would have benefitted from, more rehearsal time on that stage, and that doesn't just mean for the actors but for the sound and lighting department to make sure that they get everything, if you'll pardon the pun, spot on.

Not knowing the story of "Northanger Abbey", and I didn't want to watch the film or look tto deep into the synopsis of the story, I wanted this production to tell me everything I needed to know about the plot and the characters, and that is where my first niggle was. Halfway back in the auditorium and I had trouble hearing some of the actors. When they turned away from the audience their sound was lost, sometimes when they faced the audience, I couldn't hear what was being said, so I became lost to the characters and part of the storyline. There were mics, five of them set up, three at the front of the stage and two above the stage, but projection was not strong enough from a handful of actors, while others, when projecting didn't need any electrical magnification.

With not having access to the theatre for rehearsals there was also, so it seemed to me, a lack of blocking for lighting purposes and several times the spotlight meant that the actors heads were in darkness while everything from the neck down was illuminated. I did find out that there had only been time for just one technical rehearsal, which will be frustrating for the lighting team, actors and Director. I know though that, with this being opening night, notes will have been made and points will be refreshed all round. I know that because I know the Director and most of the cast and know the work ethic they have when they strive for the standard of work that they always aim for. And I know for a fact that it's only due to the time available over the last couple of months, getting the cast together for rehearsals and the limited stage time available to them that niggly things like the lighting, the vocal projection, the repetition of a couple of the lines and maybe a few missed lines all crept in there. Monday was only day one though and Tuesday and Wednesday are other days to smash this play!

It's not all negativity though because there is a lot of extremely positive points to tell you about....

The costumes are wonderful. There's no credit in the programme but the gowns for the ladies are full of colour and style, and the men's suits were perfectly periodic and brought such class to the proceedings. A lot of work has obviously gone into their creation to look the part.

I loved Alice Goodall's choreography in the ballroom sections, again so of the period. The music was magical, possibly Mozart, all added to the Austen-esque feel of the era.

What I also liked was the narrative of the story and characters by breaking the fourth wall, all the while moving the story along.

The dramaturgy was another thing that I enjoyed, and let's be honest who does not love it when a play gets very dramatic, especially in the second half with General Tilney's speeches!

There were several sections where we are taken into the world of Catherine's Gothic obsessions when the stage was flooded in blood red lighting and masked characters invaded the stage, breaking forth from Catherine's imagination, enough to bring on nightmares! The masks and the set by the way was the work of Philippa Buchanan.

The cast are Samantha Hempsall (Catherine Morland), Darren Taylor (Henry Tilney),  Rachel Augustsson (Isabella Thorpe), Martin Weston (John Thorpe), Alice Goodall (Eleanor Tilney), James Taylor (James Morland), Rachel Bates (Mrs Allen/ Annette), Dan Bates (General Tilney) and Kourtney White (Mrs Thorpe/Mrs Morland). All to be applauded as this kind of play isn't performed very often at all and getting the right feel for the era as well as the physical attributes of the characters is also not an easy ask, or getting the language the way it should sound.

Directed by Jessica Morgan-McLean, this show is a big deal and with all the time restraints put in her way, I honestly think she did a really good job of getting this play seen. I also know, as I said earlier, that there will be some tweaking done overnight to tighten up the production. It's a cracking story and I for one am really pleased that I got to see this story performed on stage, and by Your Chance Productions.

Lighting and sound is by Dave Martin, again I know that the one combined tech and costume rehearsal would have frustrated him like anything getting the sound and light cues just right for opening night, but I did notice a tighter combined technical show in the second half.

I've never liked the title of "critic" because it gives rise to the term "criticise", something that I don't like to do, well maybe with professional/touring productions where the cast have months to get everything right and are paid to get it right. I prefer the title of "reviewer" where the job is to give an honest review of what is seen on stage, so please do not think that I am criticising any area of this production, because I know so many of the actors on local stages and I know the hard work and love that they pour into what they do on stage, and do for the love of theatre. I also have been told by so many local actors that they are very rarely satisfied with their performances, even when an outsider to the stage like myself sees a great performance, and reports on what he sees.

I know that Tuesday's and Wednesday's performances are going to going to be up there where they should be; I know because I know this group, and not something like a shortage of stage rehearsal time is going to stop any of them, on or off the stage, from giving you their best performances.

"Northanger Abbey" is at the Duchess Theatre only until Wednesday 7 January, so you'd better hurry up and get those tickets for this often overlooked Jane Austen classic.

 "Aladdin" by Flying High Expressive Arts CIC.

Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

This year theatrically has been an incredible year from a reviewer's point of view. This will be my last show of 2025 to review and my 165^th review of the year, so I must thank everyone who has asked this lad in to review their shows.

This show has recently returned from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it won the award for the "Best Young Cast". Based on the original story from The Arabian Nights, this one-hour long show includes five original songs and has been written and directed by Carrie Bird.

The story is set against a wonderful backdrop of an Egyptian village scene, straight away setting you right in the heart of the story and at the market place where we meet Aladdin and his friends

Aladdin, the handsome street urchin and hero of the story is played by Finlay Foote. A really confident leading man and, like every other young person on that stage, a fine singer.

The Genie is played by Harrison Bird, and what an energetic young man he is; bringing a smile to your face every time he appears on stage.

Amelia James plays The Spirit of The Ring, and once more, a very energetic, as well as athletic performer Amelia is.

Nasira the Nurse is played by Lily Smith.

Lana, the Sultana's companion, is played by Macey Shepperson.

Princess Yasmin, a very modern Princess, is played by Poppy Ogburn.

Princess Samara, Yasmin's sister and a martial arts addict, is played by Ellie Pickering.

Yusef the Vizier, who is trying to marry off his son to Princess Yasmin, is played by Daniel Holdstock.

 Amir, Yusef's son is played by Ash Byrne.

Jack Bridgmount plays Bashir, the Magician, who tells the family that he is Aladdin's Uncle, provides a character filled performance. 

The Sultan Raheem is played by Danny Mitchell and The Sultana, his attitude filled wife, is played by Ella Flewitt. They say opposites attract which may explain why the Sultan and Sultana were attracted. The Sultan holds himself with regality throughout, and both parts acted fabulously by both.

Aladdin's Mother is played by Liv Ali

Mrs Rachid is played by Ophelia Johnson, and doubles up her roles as the Narrator and Market Owner.

Tim Burns, Willow Evans and Oscar Straw play Kareem, Farah and Jamal, Aladdin's friends.

One thing that struck me about this cast, which is an ensemble cast, even though Aladdin is the main character, is the joy on these young people's faces as they perform, and how easily they fall into character. The songs are all ensemble created with some of them giving solo lines, especially the song about the Princess being traced via France, Great Britain, Australia and Egypt - and there's some nice accents in there as well.

Directed by Carrie Bird, assisted by Sophie Hatton.           .

Costumes  and the backdrop are by Aaron Belcher. The costumes add to the whole feel and atmosphere of the show.

Sound Designer is Jack Quarton-Manuel, who also wrote the infuriatingly catchy songs that are performed by this marvellous cast.

Lighting Designer is Peter Hodgkinson.

It comes as no surprise that this cast won the "Best Young Cast" award this year in Edinburgh. I missed last year's Christmas Show that Flying High did, so there was no way that I was going to miss out on seeing this award winning show.

"Aladdin" is at Bonington Theatre until Tuesday 23 December, 2pm and 5pm.

 "The Littlest Yak" by LasTheatre.

Lakeside, Djanogly Theatre.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Children's Theatre, and especially around this time of year. I am in a very fortunate position in that I can go along and see a show like this appreciate the wonderful story-telling, the puppetry, the original music and the artistry that goes into Children's theatre, and go along without having a child to watch - mine are all now grown up - and relax and also appreciate the work that goes into making something technical and, not as some people may think with it being theatre for children, being easy, but being like the proverbial iceberg. What you see on top is only a fraction of what goes into making the whole thing.

The story is based on the book by Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley about a little Yak called Gertie, not just little, but the littlest, who doesn't want to be the littlest Yak, she wants to be a BIGGEST Yak. Nothing wrong with being ambitious!

Gertie eats as much as she can to try and make herself grow, but still feels just a little bit helpless. Then something happens that puts Gertie right at the centre of attention, making her feel very happy that she is not as big as the other Yaks.

With children's theatre, there's always a message interwoven into the fabric of the storyline that permeates a youngster's mind, Here the message is to celebrate YOU for who you are, and not for what you might be or could be (for now at least), and also not to be in a rush to grow up.

You can see the enjoyment that the youngsters get out of theatre aimed especially for their age group. There are parts where the audience are invited to dance, which can be done sitting down but there's never any pressure of audience participation, and I must also mention that there are relaxed performances of "The Littlest Yak" on Sunday 28 December as well as Saturday 3 January.

Let me introduce you to the characters in this piece of theatre...

There's Gertie, The Littlest Yak, who is very excitable and great fun to watch.

Gertie's Mum is called Fluffy Sue.

One of Gertie's friends is a bird called Barbara.

There's also a full herd of yaks, eight more in fact! This herd of yaks are handled by three humans called Louise, Darcey and Emily, who also narrate the story. Alexandra may also make an appearance in one of the other roles, or maybe several roles.

The puppets are absolutely lovely to look at, and you just fall in love with the story, the characters, the music, just everything about this piece of theatre is so lovely. The story telling reminded me a bit of the children's tv shows that I used to watch when a child. the sort where there is a story behind what you were watching; educational as well as entertaining, something I think is missing from so many tv shows aimed at the younger audiences nowadays.

The music written especially for the show is by Joseph Hardy and is as catchy as measles, but a great deal more pleasant. The opening number "The Big Yak Pack" is still running around my head at the moment as is another song called "What If"

This show is ideal for young audience goers as it is presented in such a way as to be easy to understand the story plus it's only 45 minutes long. the youngsters were only too willing to participate when required and by the looks on the faces of the kids as they were leaving, they had enjoyed the show as much as I had. the families went out into the cold Sunday evening with their eyes full of excitement, chattering away about Gertie and her friends.

Directed and written by Barra Collins.

"The Littlest Yak" is at Djanogly Theatre, Lakeside, Nottingham until Sunday 4 January 2026, so don't be sheepish, stop yakking and get some tickets before they're all gone. Now that would be baaaaad!

 "Sleeping Beauty" by Talegate Theatre.

Mountsorrel Memorial Centre (MMC).

It seems to be one of the most popular pantomimes to be performed this year, but every production tells the story in quite a different way. This production has that lovely modern feel about it while keeping the elements of the traditional storyline.

I've only been to the MMC once before, last June, and the amount of shows now being performed at this wonderful little complex has grown, especially if you look at the amount of flyers advertising upcoming shows at the venue on the wall inside. And quite rightly so that it's becoming a named place to perform at because it's a beautiful smaller scale venue.

I've never heard of Talegate Theatre before but if this show is a window to their talents, then this company is one to watch for going forward.

The Dame in this production is called Queenie and is played by Danny Mills, who is also the Company Manager. Every Dame that I've seen over this year's festive period have been very different, and rightly so, which is why they are all memorable. Danny's experience in the field of Damedom is very evident. The confidence that he brings to this character is wonderful, the voice is great and his management of the audience with participation is perfect, never allowing them to get off with just a half-cocked call and response session. Panto performance is different at each one, depending on the audience as well as being caught in the set curtains, which gave us chance to see Danny's ad-libbing skills, and always in character. I must also say that I loved "The Traitors" scene with Queenie as Claudia Winkleman.

Princess Aurora - the beauty that falls to sleep - is played by Grace Gauld and makes her professional debut in this role. There's an accent there and I wasn't sure if that was for the character or whether Grace herself has an accent - I'll probably never know. Very believable pairing with Aurora and the Prince, and they look good together, as well as sounding good together.

Prince Valentine is played by Ashton Peat, who is also making his professional debut in this production. Here you have a handsome lad who looks the part of the Prince, has a very soulful voice, reminding me ever so slightly of early Terence Trent D'Arby. Solo singing is very easy on the ear - that is a compliment by the way - and when he duets with Grace on "A Million Dreams" from "The Greatest Showman" they both make you sit up and appreciate the sound that make as one of the best duets I've heard in panto land 2025. Not only can Ashton play the strong leading man with a lovely comedy feel, he also camps it up in the section where the gargoyle is "behind you" and picks off the group one by one. 

Molevola, the evil fairy, is played by Bethany Grace Wright. It's no secret that I really enjoy the eviller characters in pantos because, a lot of the time, they have real substance to the role, and here is yet another evil fairy role that I adore. Molevola comes across as a quite matter of fact nasty, probably because of the confidence she has of getting what she wants. Reading the bio in the programme, several things become confirmed in my head from what I'd seen on stage - I don't read the programmes until after the show. Bethany has been very involved in immersive and children's theatre, and the way that she involved the younger audience in the story shows that. It says that she is an accomplished singer and dancer, and that too is bore out with what I saw on stage. Bethany has a gorgeous voice makes her Talegate debut as Molevola.

Completing the cast is Ellie Conroy as Fairy Fabulous, and quite aptly named as Ellie is fabulous at this. The good Fairy in any panto always gets to rhyme her part, and that's what separates them from most of the other characters in panto, and sets them apart and more noticeable, well, in my eyes anyway. Brilliant singer who also gets to perform in a couple of other guises, but no one could mistake that marvellous hair. 

Many highlights for me in this two hour fun show, but the scene where the main characters are being picked off by the Gargoyle, and the utter campness of it just ensured that the smile on my face remained there throughout.

There are three teams of junior ensembles from Bright Lights Theatre School, Team Queenie, Team Valentine and Team Aurora. On Saturday night Team Valentine were on show. They were Rio Hatcher, Ell-J Thurman, Amelie Vickers, Ruari Fenton, Elizabeth Brauer, Erin Millward, Thea Reeves and Florence Burt.

I know the quality of performer from Bright Lights Theatre School, having seen quite a few shows that they have put on in the past. This team are like little pocket rockets, every single one of them. There were two young lads in this team and they were amazing in their style and energy. The whole team also looked as if they were loving every second of stage time. Knowing just how good Bright Lights are, I also know that the other two teams will be of the same high quality.

The songs in this production I've not heard in any pantomime this year. "Ghostbusters", "The Land Of Make Believe", "A Million Dreams" and a brilliant medley performed by Queenie with everything from "YMCA", "Teletubbies", "Hey Baby" and "Bob The Builder" among them made sure that the younger audience members were all kept in the loop musically and gave them a chance to air their lungs.

I would have loved to have told you all about the Production team but they have been left out of the programme, so I don't know who directed, choreographed or musically directed this marvellous show, but whoever you are, consider all those boxes ticked.

Sound is by Ethan Lissaman, and I must commend this area of excellence because in the first act I felt that, while the backing music was beautifully clear, the volume on the actors' mics needed increasing slightly to blend in with the backing. Act Two came about and I noticed an increase in the mics, and the mix between backing track and the vocals were spot on. All other sound used in the show was spot on.

Lighting for this show was spectacular and is thanks to Ellis Gilliam as Assistant Designer with Talegate, and operated by Kevin Cutts. 

Technical Manager is Kim Tuplin.

Stage manager is Sami Hindmarsh.

Thoroughly enjoyed myself tonight, so if you're in the Mountsorrel area, do not miss out on going to support this venue, Talegate and Bright Lights. Great value for the ticket price, which is lower than a lot of local theatre tickets for this time of year.

"Sleeping Beauty" is being performed at MMC until Tuesday 23 December with a Relaxed Performance on Monday 15 December.

 "Sleeping Beauty"

Bingham Arena.

Bingham Musical Theatre Company.

I don't need to tell you the story of "Sleeping Beauty" because I am sure that you all know it by now, so I won't, even though this version nis slightly different in part; what I will tell you is just how good the cast are and how hard working they all are.

Princess Beauty is played by Darcie Cound, who makes her debut for Bingham Musical theatre Company (BMTC) and her panto debut at that! As expected, Darcie brings the magic of the panto Princess to life with all the fun of a modern Princess celebrating her 21^st Birthday; well, that is until she has to sleep for a hundred years. Loved the sleepover section which showed exactly why girls wanna have fun.

Chester the Jester is played by Dr Jemma Franklin. Yes, Jemma is a real medical person and this operation will have you in stitches. Jemma provides a lot of the comedy, some groan-worthy but a lot of the humour is fresh and the genuine laughter combined with the groans she delivers makes this Jester great fun, and there are a few saucy lines to listen out for too. And she doesn't even look old enough to understand some of the saucy gags - go on, tell me to mind my own business!

There's no sleeping on the job when Fairy Forty Winks is on stage. Played by Alicia Richardson I love all the rhyming that the good fairy characters have to deal with because it shows the sign of a clever writer, even when some of the rhymes almost don't make the rhyming couplet. The costume makes her look lovely and fragile as well as fairy like, and I half expected her to float across the stage. Some nice comedy moments for Alicia, especially with her first scene where she is introduced to the audience.

Prince Francis the First of Farndon is played by the dashing James Bennett, who you may make the mistake of thinking that Prince William has stepped into his first panto role as James, with his lovely hair tucked into his hat, looks the spitting image of the real Royal Prince. James also makes his debut for BMTC, fresh from his role as Warner Huntingdon III in Loughborough, he shows just why he is leading man material, and plays Prince Francis the First of Farndon with his tongue firmly in his cheek. Musical highlight for me was "I'm All Alone" from "Spamalot" as he finds himself locked in a cage in the dungeons of Carrabosse's Black Forest Chateau. Ladies, prepare to swoon as he sings about his big sausage!!!

Simon Hawkins plays Queen Doreen, the matriarch of the Bingham stage. Great fun as our Dame figure and the experience he has behind him, no that's not his bustle, shows in this role. As usual there are several costume changes and lots of silly fun with Queen Doreen who flits from man to man - what a flirt - from Paul in the front row to wanting to get together with King Kevin of Cotgrave, to cosying up to the Prince. Fantastic fun in flouncy frocks.

Lurgy is played by Dom Mills, who is also the show's Production Manager. Dom has done just about everything that you'd expect an actor can do within theatre, so it's nice to see him back on stage again as Carabosse's right hand nasty. The voice for the character is almost like listening to a snake taunting you just before it sinks their fangs into you, and the make up and costume straight away gives away that this character is not the sort that you want to meet in a dark alley in Bingham! The whole get up makes you think straight away of another horror from some picture show, and there's a reason for that, but I won't give any spoilers for that. Comedically creepy, just the way this character should be.

Playing Carabosse is Yara Tamsyn Johns-Ramos. I love a good villain, and Carabosse is a brilliant villain. Yara really gets into the nastiness of the character and delivers everything that I expected from this evil fairy, but she also has fun with the character which covers all bases with panto villains.

There are two teams of young dancers over the panto period, Team Pink and Team Blue. On Friday night it was time for Team Pink who consisted of Amelia P, Evelyn P, Libby S, Caitlin T, Hattie L, Lucie W, Charlotte B, Jasmine M, Meg T, Elsie S, Katelyn L and Sophia G. If Team Blue have as much energy as Team Pink, you're in for a good show, whichever team you see on whichever performance you see. Team Blue perform on Saturday matinee and Team Pink on Saturday night.

Also must not forget to mention Jenny Branson who is the ensemble, which means that she is here, there and everywhere.

Directed by the BMTC Committee. I am going to be brutally honest here; I felt that there were sections that could have been shortened, or cut to make the running time of two and a half hours a bit more concise. The black out sections, while covered by music did give the audience time to fidget and chatter, which then, at times, ran over into the performance. That said the audience, while enjoying the show, did tend to talk over the scene starting after the blackout. I know that if the run of the panto had been longer, I think that some tweaking would have been done by the Directors and the panto tightened up. Now, more than likely, the audience may not have been aware of this, but it's something that I picked up from the technical side of viewing.

The Set Designer is Katie Brougham. Box tick there!

Choreographed by Megan Nicholson. The Bingham School Of Dance teams were everywhere. On stage, in the aisles, either end of the chairs down the sides, all confidently giving their all.

Sound and Light is by Nick Elliot and Alan Betton. I don't know what it is about the acoustics at Bingham Arena, and I think I mentioned this last year, but most of the backing tracks sounded great, crisp and clear, but the clarity of the mic packs seemed a little muffled, on some of the mics not all. I personally would have liked the backing track turned up a little more and maybe a wee bit more treble on the mic packs - don't believe Meghan Trainor when she says that it's all about the bass. There were also a few missed mic cues, but don't forget, I am looking at this from a technical side and I don't think many of the audience even noticed, they were so wrapped up in the splendour and fun of the show, which is exactly what they should be. The Lighting is great, as I've always found to be at Bingham Arena.

Costume Designer is Amanda Warriner, and there are some wonderful creations on the stage to look at. It's the greatest accolade for a Designer to make a costume and the audience to know straight away the kind of character that wears the costume. In this panto, you know straight away just by looking at the costume they wear.

Hair and Make Up is by Caroline Morley.

Script is by Tom Whalley Pantomimes.

Another fun production and a brilliant hard working cast, who also took time after the show to chat to people on their way out and to have pictures and selfies taken.

"Sleeping Beauty" is at Bingham Arena until Saturday 13 December, so don't snooze or you may lose out on getting one of the very few tickets that may be still available!

King Kevin (not of Cotgrave) over and out!

 "The Last Noel" by Chris Bush

Nottingham Lace Market Theatre.

Tess’s parents work for the emergency services and that has always meant that Christmas celebrations have to be a moveable feast. Today is no different, and Tess, her Gran, and her Uncle Mike are once more awaiting their arrival. But something is different this time, and if everything is changing, then maybe the stories they tell have to change too?

 

Maybe traditions need to be reworked to fit in with this new narrative?

 

They pass the time telling their stories in turns, breaking off for the odd musical interlude. As they do, we see a picture of how one family forms its traditions, and we recognise how those traditions matter most, when there are problems on the horizon.

 

This is a bittersweet story about three generations of a family getting ready to celebrate Christmas. It is a play with songs, laughter, melancholy, mulled beverages, and a kiss of nostalgia.

Ezra Roberts plays Tess and with the other two characters, I'm not going to tell you what stories they all tell, but she relates that transition period between school and University and the physical and mental changes that go into maturing a person, but there's still that touch of sadness in certain parts.

Lesley Brown plays Alice, The Gran. Always worrying about getting things sorted in time for Christmas, her family arguing and relating tales from the past. There was a really lovely emotional piece in the show which you probably won't see on future performances which really drew emotion from the audience, and as this is staged in the Studio upstairs, you're only feet away from the actors. Alice really shows the importance and need for family at this time of year, and highlights that Christmas is not always a happy time for everyone.

Uncle Mike is played by Michael Radford. This is a great character. Uncle Mike is gay and part of his story focuses on a crush that he has on a straight man and is tender as well as gently comical.

All three of the tales that are told within the 75 minutes of stage time are wonderfully descriptive and much of the script is in rhyme, giving almost the feel of a grown up pantomime, but with pathos. The style of story-telling draws you in and almost confides in you as invited guests.

Talking of which, I urge you to get there at least fifteen minutes before the show starts because all three creative an interactive pre show activity session; Thursday evening (opening night) even saw the audience singing carols even before the start of the play.

I mentioned that throughout the play there were musical interludes. These were all original pieces, lyrically by Chris Bush, but the music side of the interludes was composed and played on the keyboard by Sam Marshall, the Musical Director. If you can imagine the thoughtfulness of Jason Robert Brown with the playfulness of Victoria Wood, that's the kind of sound you can expect from the songs. Simply gorgeous.

Directed by Laurie Owen, assisted by Ali Lit, this is just the kind of play to leave you feeling festive but thoughtful with a side of melancholy, with the pace varying throughout to reflect the variety of emotions that Laurie required the three wonderful actors to give.

Lighting Design is by Nick Gale, and there is one section where the lights are dimmed, creating that lovely warm Christmassy feeling that only the glow from the Christmas tree lights can provide.

• Sound Design is by Gareth Morris. With the intimacy of the Studio surroundings, and of course with no need for electronic enhancement of the voice, the sound from the keyboard was well balanced through the speakers to accompany the singing and the background musical sections under the script sections. A lovely blend; and then there's the sound effects that are used which are also well executed and mixed.
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• Stage Managed by Rebecca ‘Bex’ Steele, assisted by Anthony Garton.

  

  
  
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• The Costumes are by Hazel Salisbury and are apt for the characters, distinguishing the age gaps between the three characters.

Although this is staged in the upstairs performing space, I had the chance to have a good look around the set and you'd be surprised at the amount of props used, and all relevant. Several items that took me back to my Christmases as a child. The props are managed by Freya Morgan.

This is not your usual "Deck the halls fah la la la la, la la la la" Christmas fare because of the wonderful way that the script takes you to a lovely warm happy place from your past, to a decidedly darker place, and just as quick the family is brought back and the virtual family hug wraps itself around the characters and gives you reason to smile again with another lovely dollop of comedy.

"The Last Noel" is at the Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 20 December, but the whole week is practically sold out, and I can see why this is the case. There's also a relaxed performance on Wednesday 17 December, supported by The Lasting Project.

 "Little Shop Of Horrors"

Gilly Archer Theatre.

Bilborough College.

From an audience point of view, this is one musical that you can't go wrong with. It has everything going for it, comedy, great songs, romance as well as a dark, macabre man eating plant that lives on human flesh and blood, sado-masochism, greed, murder, lies and deceit. And all this in a couple of hours!

The story follows a nerdy florist shop worker, Seymour Krelborn, who raises a plant that feeds on human blood and flesh. Up until then the shop was on the skids, well it is located on Skid Row, and on the verge of closing down, but this new, exciting and rare plant that Seymour had discovered was going to save the day as it attracted new customers to the shop. Rapidly the new plant, Audrey 2, transforms Seymour from zero to hero, but what a cost to Seymour, the flower shop owner, Mr Mushnik and his other shop worker, and Seymour's secret crush, Audrey.

Seymour, the nerdy florist assistant, is played by Ashton Knight. He has a lovely physicality in his acting which brings Seymour to clumsy life. His wide eyed-look also projects the nervousness of the character well. Great voice as well; maybe a little too loud in some of the big notes, but that could be toned down with the sound department, but his softer tones are really nice to hear. Good leading man qualities.

Mr Mushnik, the flower shop owner, is played by Jake-Logan Loftus. Again the volume may need to be toned down slightly, but this also shows some excellent projection in his voice, and I love the consistent accent, even in song. Jake-Logan is going to be a strong character actor in the future.

Audrey is played by Caitlin Creswick. Another expressive actor as I noticed that when Seymour's name was mentioned by Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette towards the start of the musical, Audrey's eyes lit up. Singing registers are the same as Ashton with the softer scale sounding great but the bigger notes just a tad loud, which makes me think that this could be due to getting the volume on the mic packs equalised, or just the fact that the cast may not be used to using the mics.

Audrey II, the blood-thirsty, man-eating flora is voiced by Illijah Weaviung, and what a voice! Illijah has one of those really soulful and, I don't really like to use this advective with a college production, but dirty and bluesy voice, giving a real seedy side to the character of Audrey II.

Audrey II is operated by Grace Tomlinson and Katie Peel. In a production like this where a large puppet is being operated and separate to the puppet's voice, sometimes there could be timing issues to make the jaws of the puppet coincide with the script being spoken. There were a couple of late movements but this is a big puppet to operate and on the whole the timing was pretty well matched to Illijah's vocalisation of Audrey II. This role as puppeteer is not an easy one by any stretch of the imagination.

Orin Scrivello, the bullying, sado-masochistic sleazeball of a Dentist, is played by Tyler Peters. This role is one where you can go over the top and because the character has such an over the top personality, it would still be in line with the character description. Tyler's hip thrusting accentuated the sado-masochistic perversions of the Dentist, and I loved the look of absolute glee in his eyes as he fondled his dental apparatus and the thought of using the novocaine. Perfect casting and I am sure that Tyler loved playing Orin.

Chiffon, Crystal and Ronette are played by Niamh Hunter-Woods, Emilia-Mai Owen and Connie Tegerdine respectively.  Connie I know well from performing parts at the Nottingham Arts Theatre. This threesome provided the close-knit harmonies for the Sixties style, trio straight out of a Phil Spector production studio. These three provided the first set of tingles for the evening with their well-blended vocals with just a few well-placed vocal acrobatics.

There's a big ensemble in this show with some playing minor roles and they are Lowri Moore (Customer), Lucy Horton (Interviewer), Emily Crompton-Brown (Mr Bernstein), Mio Davies-Bright (Mrs Luce), Eva Moss (Skip-Snip) - marvellous accent dahling!, Fox Reeve (Patrick Martin), Joseph Coke (Wino #1) and Daniel Adamson (Wino #2) - both excellent character acting drunks and I must mention Daniel's energy throughout, especially in the choreographed ensemble pieces, and he looked like he was having the best time performing from his smile.

The rest of the ensemble were made up of Emma Carnegie-Brown, Kayla Burgess, Lexie Hart, Tian-Tian Gosling-Lewis, Sam Curtis, Mary Scothern, Jasmine Armstrong, Esme Martin, Alexa Tomlinson, Niamh Burrows, Connie Webster and Thomas Pears. Every one of them projected so much energy.

Directed by Grace Tomlinson and Katie Peel, they presented an energy packed and fun show that sped along at a mighty pace. I will here though just mention one thing that I spotted. When Seymour goes to visit Orin he carries the gun in his pocket and does not have a baseball cap on. These are important details as the reason why Mr Mushnik is called into the police station is that they wanted Mushnik to identify the baseball cap as Seymour's and also to ask why the Mushnik carrier bag was at the dentists. I have seen this musical so many times over the years and spotted this tiny faux pas as soon as Seymour entered the dentists.

Set and Props Designers for the show are Anna Carter, Nimrat Gill, Alexandra Bonam, Silas Patrick, Kelchi Binch, Maryam Welbourne, Ash Kirkham and Holly Allsop. What a brilliant set design it is as well. Even though the main part of the set is constantly in view, there are a few changes, additions and adjustments throughout the show, as well as a clock with movable hands. A resounding success for the Stage Manager, Katie Peel, Deputy Stage Manager, Grace Tomlinson and the Backstage Crew, Milan Wijesuriya and Khadijah Usman.

Choreographed by Evie Swetnam-Prince. From the big ensemble numbers to the smaller choreographed pieces like the wonderful "Mushnik & Son" piece, the choreography was brilliant fun to watch and, as I've said earlier, all you have to do is look at the faces of the dancers to see the joy that they got out of these dance routines to know that the performers were enjoying this show just as much as the audience.

I'm not normally a massive fan of backing tracks for musicals but the one used for this performance worked well, and sounded really good. Performers have to be really on their game and have their timing spot on because if you miss any cue on a backing track, you just have to try and catch up. Fortunately every one was on their game and the timing for the tracks were all spot on. I would have liked the backing turned up just a notch though.

Sound Design is by Mhari Sanderson and Matthew Price, and I've already mentioned part of the sound earlier in this review. I know that this was the first performance with an audience and so tweaks can be made now they have the heard how everything sounds with an audience, as that does make a difference in volume levels. Apart from that, the sound was really good and the sound quality seems to get better every year.

Lighting Design is by Camille Capon and James Wilfred. Absolutely no issues at all.

The Costume Designer is Esme Barnes and Deputy Costume Designer Kawa Emec. Loved all the sparkle at the end.

Make Up Designers are Maddison Vowles and Emma Jane Chan. Audrey's black eye make up looked really realistic and painful.

Hair Design is by Amiyah Britton and Alayah Myers.

The show is such a lot of fun to watch and I could see from the cast, also to perform in. The soundtrack is one of my favourites with songs like "Suddenly Seymour", "Somewhere That's Green", "It's the Gas", "Ska Doo", "Skid Row", "Feed Me" and of course the title track, all performed with great energy at Bilborough College by this cast. This is a pre Christmas treat for all the family so go and have a cracker of a time!

"Little Shop Of Horrors" is currently being performed at Bilborough College until 11 December.