"Home I'm Darling" by Laura Wade.

Bonington Players.

Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

Here's another play that I'd not heard of until Bonington Players advertised that they were performing it, so up until this production it had remained a hidden gem. This is the first time this play has been performed on a Nottingham stage.

We are transported back to the 1950’s, as the play starts in full “Mad Men” style. Judy is in her fifties style dress, high heels and coiffured hair preparing breakfast for her husband Johnny. On the immaculately clean surface(s), their marriage seems perfect – they themselves are “disgracefully happy” they announce to each other.  It is clear from the start that this kitchen sink drama, and the domestic goddess image Judy works hard to maintain, that we are going to witness some kind of deterioration of this idyllic oasis and we watch in anticipation as things slowly begin to unravel by the end of the first act.

Act two comes as a real surprise as we start in a flashback scene and then gradually gets darker. But is there anything that Judy can do to dig herself out of the situation that she has created for Johnny and herself?

There are many questions that arise about gender stereotyping, identity, tradition, feminism, the imbalance of power and relationships.  In the end though, the play is still about love and marriage and how to work through all the hard times and find a way to stay happily together, and maybe a little fantasy in a marriage isn't always a bad, or good thing, depending on how you view the term "fantasy".

Anna Hodkin plays Judy. and while we start off in a sickeningly saccharine sweet situation, Anna also shows the dark underbelly of Judy's character which became a real eye opening second act. 

Alex Brimelow plays Johnny. Like Anna he starts off in a completely different mindset to the one we see in Act Two. the end of the play though sees both characters in a more palatable relationship. When Johnny snaps though, Alex forces us to sit up and take notice of his character. Anna and Alex show great flexibility in their characterisation of this complex couple.

Gennie Price plays Fran, best friend of Judy's along with her husband Marcus, played by Tom Spencer. The two couples frequent "Jivefest" annually but this year Fran and Marcus have decided to head off on their own holiday, but something happens that is the catalyst of the darker mood in the second act. 

Zoe Lander plays Sylvia, Fran's mother, who is not a fan of Judy's lifestyle choices. When Judy asks her for help it's like Judy being a match and Sylvia being the short touch paper, and the fallout explosion is another sit up and take note moment.

Abi Hemmings plays Johnny's new boss, Alex. It's partly down to Alex as to whether Johnny gets the promotion that he is after, so he invites Alex around to meet Judy. A promotion means a wage rise, but the meet and greet with Judy does not go quite as Johnny had planned. Cue the unravelling.......

Co Directed by Charlotte Hukin and Eddie Januszczyk. The play lasts about two and a half hours and, for me, the success of a well directed production is if that time seems to be  less than the advised time. This show flew by. The first act being great fun with bright and bouncy direction. The second act being the epitome of dark comedy. 

The scene changes are combined with Gennie, Tom, Zoe and Abi dancing to 1950's hits while re arranging various bits of the scenery and props, continuing the lighter side of the story, and creating that 1950's atmosphere. The choreography is thanks to Jenny Chatten.

Sound operation is by David Goatham, and the Smartphone sound effects were very well timed to create realism. The soundtrack songs were also perfectly segued into the production to keep the pace going.

Lighting operation is by Peter Hodgkinson.

Bonington Players always tick the props box for me, and this play is no different with their variety of props for the production. Glynis Hunt, Jeff Casterton and Laura Harding sourced the props; everything from an authentic looking record player of the period, fridge, cooker, kitchen units etc.

And there's actual food and drink as well. I really frown on "invisible" food and drink in productions but these poor actors have to deliver lines while eating the most delicious looking chocolate cake, drink tea or eat boiled eggs and toast with marmalade. Don't see this play on an empty stomach!

The set design is split into two, the kitchen area and the front room, complete with fifties style drinking cabinet/bar, and dressed by Linda Whitehurst and Teresa Smith. 

I have just one small gripe. The invisible door from the front room to the kitchen which the actors pretended to open and close to enter or exit the kitchen. I did note that a few times the door was not opened, or maybe not closed, before or after the entrance/exit into the kitchen. If that was me, I'd have just not had the door and would have just had the actors moving from one room to the next without having to remember to open/close a door we couldn't see. I am sure the open plan layout was around in the 1950's.

The costumes were gorgeous, especially Fran's bright red with white polka dot dress. There were several costume changes, especially for Judy, each one as lovely as the previous.

I stated at the start that this play is a gem, and it really is. There are places where the phrase "I wasn't expecting that" popped into my mind as well. There's also a section that makes you feel quite uncomfortable, but there are several parts that will leave you pleasantly surprised at just how good this story is, and why you've not seen this play previously.

Another thing I really enjoyed was seeing a selection of 1950's advertisements that would have been posted in the newspapers of the day, screened upon the curtains.

"Home I'm Darling" is at Bonington Theatre in Arnold until Saturday 27 April.

 "Frozen Jr" by Spotlight Theatre Company.

Squire Performing Arts Centre, Nottingham.

It's only recently that I saw the Disney film of "Frozen", I am so late to the party, I know! I've not been the biggest fan of this musical, the film left me slightly cold, but my heart has melted at this production. For those who don't know the story, or need a reminder, this is what it's all about.....

When Queen Elsa accidentally sets off an eternal winter in the town of Arendelle, her younger sister Anna (along with her friends Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven) goes off on an adventure to find her sister and save the kingdom. Facing an unsuspected villain, unpredictable ice powers, and something new waiting round every corner, Anna must fight alongside her friends to bring back summer. "Frozen Jr" reveals how true love can come in many forms, and can at times be deceptive, that the bond between sisters is something truly special. 

Amy Flatman plays Anna on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. Amy has a wonderful talent for producing believable chemistry with every character she interacts with on stage; Amy also has a lovely control in her vocals which makes her very easy to listen to. I loved the duet of "Love Is An Open Door" and the timing with Preston was spot on.

Erin Hanby plays Anna on Saturday matinee and Sunday evening. 

Hemani Kader plays teen Anna. We don't get to see too much of Hemani, but the taster of her talent we did see shows a promising future on stage.

Emily Taylor plays young Anna. I remember Emily from one of the shows at the Arts Theatre and remember that her smile just lights up the stage, and here she is again lighting up the stage. You can really tell that Emily is having a ball with Spotlight and especially playing young Anna because her enthusiasm is completely contagious. The duet of "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" was packed with fun with Emily and Eliza.

Emily Holder plays Elsa on Friday evening, Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. Emily gets the task of singing that big song from the musical, "Let It Go", and she really did. I was really impressed with Emily's vocals and that big note was pitch perfect, so perfect that it gave me shivers. The scene where Elsa gets an on stage costume change is carried out with split timing and, while Elsa isn't really classed as Disney Princess, there's no doubting that Emily looked every inch a Princess. 

Kayla Burgess plays Elsa on Saturday matinee and Sunday evening.

Karin Hurst plays teen Elsa, and as with Hemandi, her time on stage was limited, but a nice taster for her future stage roles.

Eliza Harrison plays young Elsa. The pairing of Eliza with Emily was heaven made because they are both as cute as two buttons, they compliment each other wonderfully, and their duet, as mentioned above was packed with innocent fun.

Hemi Lewis plays King Agnarr and Lucy Horton plays Queen Iduna.

Jason Thompson plays Oaken, and Jason quite literally stands out due to his height, but not only that but he has a lovely comic feel surrounding him, and this role. The song "Hygge" perfectly represents this fact along with the fun choreography; plus he is another actor who has a great smile, which also makes this scene great fun to watch.

Oaken's wife is played by Mia Kostrzebski. The Oaken children are played by Sophie Brown, Seth Burgess, Hattie Buxey, Lottie Buxey, Tessa Gibbons, Kiera Hicken and Holly towey.

Tom Blakey plays Weselton, the  Duke Of Weasel Town - oops, sorry Weselton. What a marvellous young actor Tom is going to be, well he is already, injecting real comedy into this character. Even when he wasn't acting, I found myself watching him just so that I didn't miss any of his stage comedy.  Tom also went down a storm with the audience on Friday night as well.

Bria Spencer plays Pabbie and Evie Andrew plays Bulda.

Megan Holder is Olaf, the magical snowman who the two sisters created when they were younger. Megan operates the puppet Olaf, created by Amanda Hall, as well as voicing the character. As with any good puppet master, she made sure that my eyes were focused on the Olaf character and not Megan the actor. One of my favourite fun characters in this production.

Preston Nash plays Hans and what a twist of a character for Preston to play. For those who don't know, Prince Hans "falls" for Anna but that's where the twist comes in, as we discover later on in the musical. As previously mentioned the duet of "Love Is An Open Door" has been timed to perfection, showing the hard work not only Preston and Amy have put in, but the Musical Director Laura Ellis has invested in this piece.

George Young plays Kristoff, and another successful character role for George. You can always guarantee that George will deliver a solid performance.

Scarlett Coleman-Smith is Sven the Reindeer. A lovely comedy part for Scarlett which I enjoyed tremendously.

Another actor who really drew me to them was Jack Lamb as the Bishop. His voice is so mature and commanding. He has a voice that will always sound great in the theatre, whether that be musical theatre or in play form.

Snow and Ice are played by Darcey Adams and Hermione Cumbers respectively.

The Snow Chorus are Sophie Benner, Lyla Calladine, Hallie Gregory, jessica Griffiths, Zara halse, Lucy Horton, Willow Hunter, Karin Hurst and Jessica Sutcliffe.

The Castle Staff are played by Ella-Mai Blower, Stephanie Booth, Abigail Cusack, Jasmine Leek, Ace Merkelt and Charlotte Wright.

There are hundreds more who play the Townspeople, Hidden Folk and feature in the "Summer section". Ok, maybe not hundreds but A LOT!!

Directed by Amanda Hall - need I say more? Whenever, and whatever Amanda is involved in turns gold, I think she ought to be renamed Amanda "Midas" Hall.

Choreographed by Bethany Wear, this was a job and a half but what a performance Bethany teased out of everyone. I especially enjoyed the opening section with the young Elsa and Anna as well as the "Summer" scenes, but there was not one piece that I didn't love choreographically.

Musical director is Laura Ellis. This creative team at Spotlight are like well oiled cogs because they work so smoothly together. All you have to do is listen to this cast singing to recognise the work that has been put into this production by Laura.

The soundtrack contains, not only the well known songs like "Let It Go", "Love Is An Open Door", "Do You Want To Build A Snowman" and "For The First time In Forever", but also has some lesser known earworms like "In Summer" and the tongue twisty "Kristoff's Joik Fixer Upper".

Lighting design is by Tom Mowat; basically see above regarding the creative team. There are some lovely touches with the lighting that highlight the intended actor in such a beautiful light. Pure class.

Sound design is by Rob Kettridge, and all I need to say is "ditto" to the above. The sound is perfectly balanced between the soundtrack and the vocals, another indication to the work that has been invested into this show.

A basic set, provided by Spotlight as well as Roydon Charlesworth. You could argue that a backdrop or video design could add something to a production, but I didn't miss any of that because the quality and strength of these performers drew all of your attention to them, so I certainly did not miss any extras in the set department.

This production will certainly warm the cockles of your heart. The cast's energy spills over from the stage like the haze used to replicate the coldness, and of course there's snow falling. Don't get left out in the cold, go and chill out with this fun and immensely enjoyable musical that isn't just for young girls who dream of being Disney Princesses. it's for anybody who appreciates great entertainment from the future stars of Nottingham's stages. And if I can just mention Grace Hodgett-Young who was once a Spotlight member who is now starring with Nicole Scherzinger in "Sunset Boulevard" and recently nominated for an Olivier Award this last week. You never know where your love of theatre will take you! Today Squire Performing Arts Centre.... 2025 London's west End. Just saying!!

"Frozen Jr" is at Squire Performing Arts Centre until Sunday evening with matinees on both Saturday and Sunday.

Photography by Martin Holtom and Liam Arthur Petruccio-Hall

 The Funky Company presents The Last Five Years.

Create Theatre, West Notts College, Mansfield.

Having seen this play with music (as opposed to a musical) before, I was already in love with the music and the play itself, and to set the tone for this review, I will state that this production is already one of my highlights of the year so far.

Jason Robert Brown is one of the most underrated yet talented writers and composers of the modern theatre, in my opinion, and while his songs are complex, from a singers point of view, they are an absolute joy for a musical theatre fan to listen to.

"The Last 5 Years" tells the story of Jamie Wellerstein and Cathy Hiatt, two Americans who fall in love, marry and then break up but is told from the viewpoint of Jamie and Cathy but from the start of the relationship in Jamie's case and from the break up backwards with Cathy.

Where the two overlap, or come together in the middle, Jamie proposes to Cathy, and is an incredibly tender piece especially with the song "The Next 10 Minutes" being performed as a duet.

Jonah Williams and Anna McAuley are so wonderful on stage as a couple, there's so much chemistry anyone would think that they were a couple off stage! They make you feel empathy for Cathy and her anger and tears with the opening song, "Still Hurting", what an amazing song, and in a strange way, from a bloke's point of view, you do actually feel the regret Jamie shows after his one night stand when the marriage is breaking down in "Nobody Needs To Know".

The soundtrack has always been one of my favourites; the lyrics are funny, sensitive, heartbreaking, fun and the music is simply gorgeous. The six-piece group of musicians, and especially the beauty of those lush strings just sound so good in this acoustically perfect space.

Jonah and Anna - and before I get loads of people messaging me to let me know that this pair ARE a couple away from the stage, I do know - give perfect performances, their vocals are so gorgeous to listen to. They hang in the air like delicate feathers, the fragility of the messages in the majority of these songs are like bubbles that disappear if you touch them, but when the fun elements of the songs are delivered, you just feel such a warmth and can't help but smile looking at this pair.

Eye contact is a really special thing that can sometimes be missed in some plays and musicals, but Jonah and Anna have no issues looking into each other's eyes when they sing to each other. But when they are hurting you can feel that pain, not only in their vocals but in their faces. Both Jonah and Anna also connected with their audience with eye contact, which is something you don't often get, but this smaller, more intimate space is perfect for that connection.

Directed by Katie Funk Clarke, I am so pleased that Katie and Funky Company took on this production because not many companies or Directors would be brave enough to take on this two hander, which is probably why it's so rarely produced, the last time I saw it locally was ten years ago.

No set is needed for a production like this and apart from three raised rostrums the set was bare, making sure that there were no distractions from this beautifully sung through piece of theatre. And thank goodness there was no interval because the flow of the story was sublime. 80 minutes of pure joy.

Musical Director is Jon Orton, so I knew that this side of the production was going to be as perfect as the performance of the two stars, and I was not wrong.

Produced by Cat Orton.

This musical gets performed so rarely that you should not miss the opportunity to see what is a beautifully written piece of theatre, performed beautifully by two insanely talented performers like Jonah and Anna.

"The Last 5 Years" is at Create Theatre, West Notts College in Mansfield until Saturday 20 April.