"The Great British Bake Off Musical" 

Gatepost Theatre Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

I will admit that, before Gatepost proclaimed that they were doing this musical, I had never watched an episode of the TV show; after all, who wants to watch people baking on TV? It'll just make me feel hungry! I now get the fascination and since that day, I've been watching "Bake Off" on a regular basis, so thank you Gatepost.

"The Great British Bake Off Musical" is a celebration of baking, self-discovery, and the joy of community, served with a generous helping of British charm and comedic flair. The show brings the beloved baking competition to life, blending the charm, humour, and heart-warming moments of the TV show with catchy tunes and recognisable characters. Whether you're a fan of the TV show or just love a good musical, this is a theatrical treat that promises to rise to the occasion with a guarantee that you won't end up with a soggy bottom with this showstopper of a musical.

The competitive bakers are.....

Gemma is played by Claire Webb. Gemma is a 35-year-old carer from Blackpool, England. Until recently, she has taken care of her late mother and has now been called onto the show as the backup contestant on "The Great British Bake Off". The girl next door, Gemma lacks confidence in her abilities as a baker but as she moves through the stages, discovers that her skills, and not just in the baking department, are rather tasty. The more confident Gemma gets, the fancier her clothes.

Ben is played by Ewan Waddell. A police officer from Bristol, Ben is a kind and caring dad who loves his daughter very much. Having lost his wife to illness not long ago, he is now trying to navigate what being a single dad is with his fourteen year-old daughter Lily. Knowing her dad needs cheering up, Lily fills out the application form without his knowledge. The duet with Ewan and Ben's daughter Lily, "My Dad"will bring a tear to your eye. Ewan and Claire also have a marvellous duet called "The Perfect Petit Fours" in the second act, where you get to experience some lovely choreography, as well as vocals.

Izzy is played by Isobelle Walker. Izzy is a 21-year old Cambridge student from the home counties in England. An incredibly ambitious girl, she spends most of the competition assuming she will take home the crown, but confidence can hide a few naughtier traits. the song "Obviously" tells you all you need to know about the character, right from the start.

Francesca is played by Laura Stone. Francesca is a fashionable Italian art teacher in her 30s who now lives in Bangor, North Wales. A very welcoming and kind soul, she describes her students as her “children” and is the kind to believe in everyone. There's an absolutely gorgeous track called "Grow" which reveals quite a sad secret of Francesca's, accompanied by a lovely animated video piece. I loved the conversation segment in the second act that Francesca has with Hussan as well.

Hassan is a 17-year-old student living in Wembley, and is played by Shantanu Bhumbra. With a very positive and optimistic personality, Hassan brings his lucky red T Shirt to the competition, confident it will help him succeed. When it goes missing later on, he continues to persevere and discovers that he can succeed without the T Shirt. This is such a lovely upbeat character, portrayed brilliantly by Shan, that you really hope that he wins the show. Hassan also gives Shan a chance to show off his rap skills.

Dezza is played by Jude Cliffman. Dezza is a hipster activist who lives on a canal boat in London. She is very passionate about causes like the environment and animal rights and arrives at the competition with a forward-thinking vegan take on baking. 

Russell is played by Josh Birchall, a nautical engineer who lives with his husband Mario in Macclesfield. Russell not Josh, that is. A man of precision, he has entered the competition hoping to use his tools, grafts and charts to stay on top in the tent. Josh brings some lovely campness to the story but is never over the top, just enough to extract a giggle or two.

Babs is played by Carrie-Anne Corner. Babs is a retired grandmother of 17 grandchildren and hails from London’s East End. With three ex-husbands under her belt, she learned to bake years ago and loves to add extra liqueur in everything for “flavour”, something that Pam is in favour of! The connection with Phil is really nice; it's a love/hate vibe, but those real feelings for Mr Hollingworth rise to the top in a big musical number called "Bab's Lament", and I loved what Babs had on under her coat flaps! And that's not a euphemism!

Sandy Lane is Pam Lee, one half of the famous "Great British Bake Off" judging team. Pam has tremendous life experience as a baker and shares her knowledge with the contestants throughout the show. Based on the real life Prue Leith, Pam is slightly over the top and provides many of the saucy double entendres. Sandy is perfect for this role as she has a naughty glint in her eye whenever I see her away from the stage, and that is perfect for Pam Lee. Act two opens with a big glitzy number called "Keep On Keeping On" which would not have looked out of place in an old Hollywood blockbuster. Sandy also gets a fun duet with Ian in "I'd Never Be Me Without You", which has a feel of "Timeless To Me" from "Hairspray"

Ian Taylor is the second judge, Phil Hollingworth, based on real-life celebrity baker Paul Hollywood. A very confident man, he is often known as the harsher of the two judges, but offers a coveted handshake to the bakers who have impressed him. A handsome silver fox who strikes up a lovely comedy pairing with Babs, with a series of "knock knock" jokes which runs throughout the musical. One of the catchiest songs in the musical is one called "Slap It Like That", sung by Phil and The Bakers, and there's some fun choreography in this section as well.

Luke Grainger is Jim, one half of the popular presenting duo of "The Great British Bake Off". A big personality, he bounces off his presenting partner Kim in an over the top hosting fashion throughout the entire show. Luke doesn't have to do a lot to make people smile because he has one of those faces that can extract laughter from an audience, and I mean that in the nicest of ways. I've seen Luke play comedy roles as well as serious roles and he excels in both genres. One of my favourite duets he gets to sing is called "Bring On The Scone" with Kim and the Ensemble. 

Lottie Lodge is Kim, the other half of the hosting. A big personality, she is loved on set and always happy to joke around with her other hosting half, Jim. Throughout the show, Kim lends a sympathetic ear to contestants when needed. 

The role of Lily, daughter of Ben is shared by Esmie Cockayne-Smith, Bella Nicholson and Isla Farrell. Wednesday night was Esmie's night on. Lily is fourteen years old and comes to set every week with Ben. Her mother, Ben's wife, passed away from not so long ago and together, they are learning what it is like to be a family of two. Very loving in nature, Lily only wants the best for her dad and is very protective of him.

Tilly Bedford, Arfaa Butt, Sarah Butler, Emily Corner, Daisy Donoghue, Ben Gray, Alana Grummitt, Ellie Heap, Amy Hunter-Parker, Jordan Neary, Gabi Owens, Alison Russell and Dean Porter make up the Ensemble, who also just happen to be the TV Crew Members as well.

I don't have to tell you what brilliant singers this cast are, all you have to do is listen to these gorgeous harmonies, quite choral in fact. All the main characters get to shine individually with their back stories and their vocals, which is why I've not said just how good they are separately with each character. It goes without saying when you look at just how strong the cast is.

Directed by Chris Collington, who is so good at bringing the comedy side of shows out even more. Anyone who has seen any other Gatepost show directed by this man will know just how good shows like this can be when you have a Director of Chris' quality on board. 

Musical Director is Martin Lewis, again another indication as to how good this show is musically. the Bake Off Band consist of Martin and Gabryl Oleshko (Keyboards), Dawn Bratby (Reeds), Austin Owen (Guitar), Jonathan Jarvis (Bass) and Harry Lane (Drums). A band that certainly rose to the occasion.

Choreography is by Lottie Lodge, and there's so much to love about the chorographical side of this musical, as I've already touched on earlier in the review. It has (Paul) Hollywood style running all the way through.

Set Design is by Mark, Will and Alison Russell. Loved it, and not a piece of canvas in sight.

The props for this show are brilliant with all of the cakes and baking items delivered to the stage, along with cooking utensils etc. So many and all sourced by Tilly Bedford, Chloe Porter and Jude Cliffman. 

Costume Supervisors are Tessa Raum and Gabi Owens. There are quite a few costume changes in this show, especially for the judges and presenters, plus the style upgrades for Gemma.

Stage managed by Mark Green with a Stage Crew consisting of Sam Bunting and Mark Russell.

Lighting Designer is Steven Greatorex and Sound Designer is Dave Dallard and Granite AV. I quite often have a knock at the sound quality, and occasionally the lighting, but tonight both fields were, yet again, absolutely spot on with the sound being crystal clear and the vocals well mixed with the live band. they all made these areas feel as easy as a piece of cake to be this good.

I mentioned the animated projection earlier and this was an area which really added another layer of style. From the very start of the show we were treated to really lovely projections onto cooking aprons and onto the fronts of the baking stands. This area of excellence was created by Chris Collington.

It's a fairly new musical, and sometimes theatre goers avoid shows that they don't know, especially musicals, but this is a fantastic musical which retains all the fun from the TV show and has a cast who are specialists in the field of entertainment. Only one downside and that is watching all that onstage baking, I found myself getting really hungry. Ah! but Gatepost have thought of that and there are cakes available to buy in the interval and they are delicious, so if your tummy rumbles throughout Act One, head for the foyer and quell that hunger.

Oh, I didn't say who was the final winner did I? Well, I advise to get a ticket to see the answer to that one.

"The Great British Bake Off Musical" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 19 September, so on your marks, Ready, Set, Get your tickets!!

 "The Silence Of The Lambs"

Indigo Productions and Crossroads Live in association with Curve.

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

The play had its world premiere at the Curve Theatre in Leicester earlier this year, and is Directed by Curve's Nikolai Foster. It's written by Gina Gionfriddo, based on the book of the same name by Thomas Harris.

The 1991 film has been one of my favourite thrillers probably since its' release, and this stage play is based more on the novel rather than the film, and you may notice a few slight differences in the stage version, one of them around "Buffalo Bill".

 FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent by her superior, Jack Crawford, to interview the brilliant but dangerous Dr. Hannibal Lecter. The FBI needs Lecter's unique psychological insight to track down "Buffalo Bill," a serial killer who kidnaps and skins women.  Lecter agrees to help, but only if Clarice feeds him details about her difficult childhood and innermost fears. Their sessions turn into a tense mind game that feels like a twisted form of therapy. 

John Partridge plays Hannibal Lector, the  brilliant, imprisoned psychiatrist and manipulative cannibal who offers Clarice psychological insights. I've reviewed John's stage performances several times now, but this is a role like no other. John has that ability to outwardly look like the nicest bloke on the planet, and then with just a change of his features, morphs into a look that will terrify you; and that is Hannibal lector. All he has to do is stand there and look out from the stage in his glass box to send the chills down your spine, with or without Lector's iconic mask. Add that voice to the equation and a glass of chianti is the last thing on your mind! It almost reminds me of a visit to one of those sea life centres where you can walk through a glass tube and there's a vicious shark in the tank, watching you, slowly circling, looking harmless until the teeth show and you pray that the glass is strong enough to keep that distance between you; frightening but thrilling all at the same time.

Clarice Starling is played by Coronation Street's Mollie Gallagher in her professional stage debut. Starling is the young FBI trainee assigned to help catch the notorious killer. You get so used to hearing an actor talking one particular way, with a certain accent, especially a soap actor who is in your living room several times a week, so when you first hear Mollie as Clarice, you have to hand it to her for sounding, and looking so different to Nina from Corrie, and so much like Jodie Foster. The accent, and you know I love accents, is so spot on it almost throws you for a second. Mollie is on stage probably about 99% of the time, an absolute mammoth of a task for anyone making their first outing as a professional stage actor. I can't wait for Nina to come back from Whitby, and then on the other hand, I can't wait to see Mollie on stage again.

Jame Gumb, aka "Buffalo Bill", the main serial killer hunted by the FBI who abducts women and skins his victims, is played by Sam Jackson, who I last saw on stage back in 2013 as Billy Caspar in the play version of my all-time favourite film "Kes" at Derby Theatre. You may recognise Sam from playing Alex in "Skins". Sam gives another excellent lesson in how to play a psychotic, unhinged serial killer, and the scenes where he dresses up as his late mother using human skin and hair is incredibly unnerving; the scenes near the end of the play are also made even more chilling with the lighting design in that particular scene.

Oliver Farnworth, who you'll also recognise as serial killer John Sugden in "Emmerdale", plays Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit who recruits Clarice for the dangerous assignment. Crawford comes across as quite hard-nosed at the start but then he starts to mellow out when he sees the quid pro quo results Starling gets from Lector. Oliver is a seasoned stage performer and has worked with Director Nikolai Foster previously. This character is a million miles away from the roles we have seen him play on the TV, showing his flexibility as an actor.

Dr. Frederick Chilton. a pompous and unpleasant supervisor of the psychiatric hospital where Lecter is locked away, is played by Minal Patel. Chilton is a real slimeball and soon changes his attitude with Clarice when he realises that she is not just going to cowtow to his demands because of his position. As with film, theatre of TV, a good actor will really make you feel things about their character and Minal has no problem making the bile rise with Chilton.

The rest of the cast are Jo Mousley, no stranger to Derby Theatre, (Senator Ruth Martin / Kimberly Emberg), Lottie Amour (Catherine Martin / Frederica Bimmel), Mark Peachey (Lucas / Pilcher / Greg), Andrew Joshi, another regular to the area, (Peterson / Lamar / Pembry), Jonny Magnanti (Brigham / Miggs) and Mary Timbrell Hill (Ensemble).

Having four extremely well recognised actors upfront can make believing the characters that they are playing sometimes a little difficult, but not this time around. It was long before I was watching the characters from the film/novel, and completely forgot that I was watching some of my favourite soap/drama actors on stage.

Directed by Nikolai Foster, the Leicester Curve legend who has brought so many great musicals and dramas to life on stage. The tension and the build up to the explosive sections were subtly done, building to a dramatic crescendo. Associate Director is Julia Thomas.

Michael Taylor's stage design is equally as thrilling. The glass enclosure housing Lector was superb and claustrophobic, and the journey to his prison would give anyone the creeps, especially when other crazies were shooting their arms out and shouting out obscenities. The rapid and smooth scene changes to the FBI Office all helped with the fluidity of the play, almost becoming cinematic. Gumb's hide out made you believe the threat he created for the women while having that cold feel, even though Gumb rarely wore more than just his pants, the starkness of his abode screaming serial killer. 

The lighting design by Howard Hudson is enough to provoke nightmares, the dim lighting, the smoky alleyways, the glaring white lights illuminating Lector's glass case presents a wonderfully overwhelming sense of doom and danger.

Carolyn Downing's sound design is also an important aspect to create the mood of the play. You can hear that creeping menace approaching which sets your nerves on edge, and of course, when it's combined with the lighting design it's guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seats.

The Projection Designer is George Reeve. Brilliantly designed to create that butterfly effect, only with moths, and of course the red designs of many of the video designs screams danger at you. It's also used to show the news report about Senator Ruth Martin's missing daughter, heightening the horror that she may be the next victim of Buffalo Bill.

Grant Olding's musical compositions are like another member of the cast. They creep up on you, surround you and swallow you up, giving every hair on your body permission to stand to attention, I love this musical score.

Costume Supervisor is Debbie Bennett and all the iconic costumes from the film are here, immediately positioning all of the characters in your mind, breaking down any need for introductions and background to the characters.

Wigs Supervisor is Bev Chorlton. It never fails to amaze me just how a good, accurate wig can change a person's whole look, and with Starling's look, the wig changed Mollie's appearance straight away.

Props Supervisor is Robyn Harding. At first glance you could be mistaken into thinking this stark set is just that, stark. But then just take a look around and tot up all of the props used, there's loads of them, all bringing the story to life.

The Movement Director for the show is Dale White. This area is most prevalent with Hannibal Lector. He has a very distinctive way of moving while cooped up in his tiny glass cell, almost as if he is saving energy, with only the odd outburst of angry energy. There's a very different set of movements with Dr Lector near the end of the play when he resembles an uncaged tiger, making sure the rest of the creatures know that he is the boss; a very confident swagger.

Everything you could want from such an iconic chiller thriller is here in this play, along with the perfect cast of actors. Anyone who has seen the film, or read the book, will know what happens at the end, so make sure that you don't have nightmares, and check that your front and back doors are securely locked, and in the words of Shaw Taylor, "keep 'em peeled". Sleep tight!

"The Silence Of The Lambs" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 19 September. The Doctor is expecting you, so book your appointment, it's best not to keep him waiting!

 "Grindr The Opera"

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

Here is a musical that is different from any other musical I've seen in the past, but is every bit as entertaining as the best of them, with its' tongue thrust well into it's cheek!

This musical parody takes a deep dive into Grindr, the gay dating app, and four characters who use the app for hook ups and all have a connection by the end, with each other.

Devon, the romantic one of the four characters, is played by Patrick Barrett. Devon is a doctor by profession and after a few failed romances decides it's time to get back on the dating wagon again via Grindr. What a voice Patrick has, in fact everyone in this show are blessed with really powerful voices that can easily accommodate both operatic and classical styles of singing.

Tom is the cynical one, played by Kane Verrell, who I last saw on stage about seven years ago in the musical "Club Tropicana" at the Theatre Royal. Tom doesn't quite know what he wants from love and life so uses the app to find out what he really wants from future relationships.

Jack is the twink and played by Will Joel who is just discovering this new world and is up for absolutely everything, well almost!

Don is the Daddy of the bunch, played by Dereck Walker. Don is married, has a son and is the opposite to Tom because he knows exactly what he wants and how and when to get it, even if he has to pay for the pleasure. Despite this tough, devil may care image, there's a song that Don sings which shows another side of the man, but his closeted side reappears when he is almost outed by one of the other characters,a nd then the full discretion is revealed in a later scene from one of the other characters!

Christian Lunn plays Grindr, who apparently is the mythical siren of casual sex (you see how educational theatre can be?) and returns as an app on smartphones. Christian has a large range vocally, playing and flirting with the comedy lyrics of the songs. You must admire Grindr's footwear as well as he is blessed with a pair of killer heels, which are almost as high as the notes he reaches.

Grindr has two helpers, Trogorium, played by Oliver Cartwright and Versipellis, played by Will Loader.

Will and Oliver are also Swing members of the cast with Will also taking the role of Dance Captain.

The book, music and lyrics are by Erik Ransom, all of which are immensely funny and incredibly rude, fortunately I have a sense of humour so found the whole show very humorous, although there are some parts which really make you think about modern day dating, gay, straight or whatever, and whoever you are into, and about the pros and cons of finding love via an app as opposed to the old ways of actually meeting someone face to face.

There is one scene which is saucy, maybe even risque but nothing ruder than what you'd see on the TV after the watershed. I was advised that the content was filthy, I wouldn't describe it as filthy, just saucy and a great deal of fun; after all, we're all adults here. Maybe my level of depraved viewing is lower than I once thought because I saw no filthiness in two consenting adults having fun in the comfort of their own bedrooms!

Director and Choreographer is William Spencer, who is a local Actor/Director, who I've had the pleasure of reviewing several years ago, so it's great to see him return to the Arts Theatre stage with this show. If this sauce had to be rated, it would definitely be Heinz; it's great fun with just the right amount of male flesh on stage to satisfy the predominantly male audience. The choreographed pieces work really well with the score, which is absolutely excellent. If I were to make any comparisons, the show is a cross between the gothic fun of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and a lesser appreciated musical called "Jerry Springer The Musical", which I have only seen on TV over the Covid period and absolutely loved it. After all, sex is supposed to be fun, as well as funny, isn't it?

Associate Director is Lilly Butcher

Musical Director and Orchestrator is Aaron Clingham. What a band indeed, completely tucked away stage left, they sounded absolutely awesome. The volume was immense as the comedic value from the script, sounding powerful and classical/operatic in tone, at times quite Wagner-esque, at other times pure musical theatre with songs like "We Met On Grindr". The vocals were powerful, as was this band that accompanied the vocalists.

Set & Costume Design is by David Shields and has a real Gothic design in both set and costume, obviously to show the darker underbelly of the dating game via mobile apps. In the foreground though we saw the more modern design with the various character's natural environments, so there's a nice mix of Grindr's gothic habitat with the contrasting modern environment.

Lighting Designer is Chuma Emembolu. I loved this design because it made sure that it pointed you to whatever part of the staging and character we needed to focus on, as well as creating a thrilling and exciting artist's palette of colour for the whole stage, giving another layer of thrills, especially whenever Grindr was on stage.

Sound Design is by Dominic Young. As mentioned previously, the sound volume was perfect for me, and combined with the lighting design, they created atmosphere.

Production Manager is Jacques James Moussi.

Intimacy Director is Emma Bailey.

Producer is Peter Bull for Above The Stag Theatre Ltd.

This show was the final outing for "Grindr The Opera" of its' current tour, and I was so pleased to have caught it here in Nottingham. Having downloaded the soundtrack before seeing the show, I just knew that I was going to love this show, mainly because of the humour, and seeing the music connect with the actors and storyline just created the perfect fun, saucy night out.

I'd certainly recommend anyone who has a sense of humour to see this show the next time it comes round. If you expected full nudity and things being waved in your face, you'll be disappointed - you see more male flesh in "The Full Monty". What you will get is a brilliantly and cleverly written piece of theatre, smothered with sauce, as well as food for thought about modern dating. I loved it.

 "One Man Two Guvnors" by Regis Theatre Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Written by Richard Bean, this is the comedy that rocketed James Corden’s theatre career. Set In Brighton in 1963 it tells the story of an out of work skiffle player, Francis Henshall. He goes from being unemployed to having two jobs and two masters, Roscoe Crabbe and Stanley Stubbers. This is where the confusion and comedy arises as he tries to keep the two masters from meeting and discovering his joint employment.

Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small time East End hood, now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from the dad of his fiancee. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel posing as her own dead brother, who has been killed by her boyfriend Stanley Stubbers.

Complicating events still further is local mobster Charlie the Duck, who has arranged his daughter Pauline's engagement to Roscoe despite her preference for over-the-top amateur actor Alan Dangle.

Holed up at The Cricketers Arms, the permanently ravenous Francis spots the chance of an extra meal ticket and takes a second job with one Stanley Stubbers, who is hiding from the police and waiting to be reunited with Rachel. To prevent discovery, Francis must keep his two guvnors apart. Simple.

I've seen this farcical piece of theatre on several occasions and have never seen the exact same show twice. Regis have created another different version of this brilliantly comical theatre piece.

A wonderful slice of slapstick and physical theatre which requires brilliant characterisation and comic timing. The play is like a bottle of wine, fruity, fizzy, very smooth and gets better with age and like a good cheese matures well and gets tastier every time you go back for a piece.

I could go into the history of the play and it's Italian roots and "Commedia Dell'arte" but what really matters here is that it is so very funny when performed with the panache and comedy timing of the cast of Regis Theatre Company.

Francis Henshaw is played by Kheenan Jones. This is a great role for Kheenan as it really pushes him. The speed and quick thinking of Francis is spot on and so is the tongue twisting script. Maybe not as tongue twisting as some productions that I've seen but there's additional comedy in other parts of Henshaw's role. We don't get the rapidity of James Corden, but what we do get is Kheenan Jones with a twinkle in his eye and a chance to show off improvisational skills as well as delivering some of the best language in the British sentences. Wonderfully funny guy on or off stage, and I love the tie style and I am sure that Francis must have another pair of shoes almost exactly the same back at home; one show per Guvnor?

Roscoe/Rachel is played by Emma Kelvey. There really isn't one character in this comedy who doesn't deliver comedically, and with Emma we get double the fun. Emma has really perfected the "man walk" and stature and that attitude with Roscoe, and then we get Rachel with a noticeably softer side. Plus we also get to hear Emma playing the flute!

Charlie "The Duck" Clench is played by Kim Harris. Kim has taken the laugh of "Only Fools And Horses" Boycie and incorporated it into the character of Charlie, which plastered a grin on my face every time that laugh was released.

Pauline Clench is played by Shannon O'Donnell, who portrays this slightly dim character perfectly and it's through that "naivety" that the natural comedy shines through, especially the way that Pauline scuttles off stage at speed.

Alan Dingle is played by Jack Readyhoof. Dangle is wonderfully over the top, and Jack presents the character just as he should be, as the actor who is always in the spotlight, probably even when opening the fridge door. The semi tragic, almost Shakespearean Dangle is one of my favourite comedy characters, and every time I've been to see this play, the actor always delivers it just a little different every time. Some wonderfully pained but funny facial expressions which all adds to the comedy. I must say as well that it's so refreshing to see Jack play a character like this because we don't often see Jack playing overtly comedy roles and this really suits him, but it also shows what a flexible character actor Jack is. I'll also let you into a secret, Jack has played this role before in 2016.

Stanley Stubbers is played by Adam Guest, who a whole decade ago played the role of Francis. This time around Adam is just as hilarious in the role of Stanley Stubbers and injects a bit of a speech impediment for Stubbers along with some saucy hip thrusting. During the scene changes, instead of a skiffle band playing songs to cover the changes, we are treated to various cast members providing a brief musical interlude, and it was with great joy that one of Adam's party classics was revitalised in "The Typewriter" by Leroy Anderson. If you've never seen this done before, get yourself over to the Duchess on Saturday to experience a classic piece of comedy, additional to Adam's portrayal of Stubbers.

Mariko Jones plays Dolly, Charlie "The Duck" Clench's book keeper and flirty floozie who attracts the eye of Francis. Like all the actors in this show they show off their comedy talents perfectly with these characters. Great accent as well from someone who lights up the stage, whatever role she plays.

Harry Dangle is played by Andy Cattanach. Another great character performer as Alan's Dad for Andy. You can never be too sure with this character if the references for his work, especially getting the "MowMow" off charges, are actually true or is this lawyer just stretching his legal abilities a little too far. Dangle's wink after some sentences may tell the audience a different story!

Luke Grainger is Alfie, the octogenarian waiter, one of the hardest roles in this play. The characterisation was wonderful and as Luke has a real flair of comedic roles, this part was just perfect for him. Ten years ago I saw Kheenan play this role, and as I have said with every production, the characters are always presented differently, which is why I love seeing shows, especially comedies like this, over and over again. I love the slow pace that Luke gives to Alfie, often looking like he is delaying the action while he slowly exits the stage, often to the amusement of the other actors on stage waiting to move the show on. Brilliant slapstick scenes with the door, and just how much talcum powder is used on that hair?

Lloyd Boateng is played by Des Francis. I can't recall seeing Des before, I'm probably wrong, but I will remember this role played by Des. I love accents, this show is full of them, and Des's accent for Lloyd is reminiscent of the kind that actors like the brilliant Rudolph Walker delivers with his characters, proper East End Jamaican style.

Harvey Latter plays Gareth, the head waiter at the Cricketer's Arms. The voice is the kind from someone who believes that they is further up the pecking order than they actually are. Wannabe upper class but slips into their natural voice every now and then. Yet another lovely gentle comedy part that does stand out.

Directed by Ollie Turner, assisted by Kayleigh Turner, and you may have noticed my referencing a production from ten years ago, featuring several of the same actors. Ollie was also the Director for that same production, but a decade on he has created something that seems to be very fresh and still as hilarious as the one I remember from 2016. A good Director will change and update sections of a play, and Ollie has done just that. There are bits that have been taken out but with absolutely no detriment to the story or the laughs, plus I suppose a suit of armour may be quite expensive to source and not something you could find in a charity shop nowadays for a few quid.

The decision to remove the musical element almost completely by a skiffle band is also relatively different, but I loved the fact that the scene changes were masked by the various musical talents from the characters in the production. The drama of the music produced by Alan Dangle created a wave of laughter from the audience, and we just about managed to recognise some of the other tunes, pre 1963 and Cockney related. We do get the classic song that ends the show, "Tomorrow Looks Good From Here" performed by the whole cast.

Talking of scene changes, Milly Bould is the Stage Manager, making sure the various changes were completed swiftly and smoothly behind the curtains.

Lots of props, all managed by Katie Bird, who also makes a quick stage appearance.

Lighting Designer and Operator is David Price.

Sound Operator is not credited but there are some additional sound effects involved in the show.

Set Designer is also not credited in the programme, but this also is a different look from other productions that I've seen in the past; different but just as good as any other I've seen. I love the design for the pier front, and whether Charlie Stubbers was aware of the length of the pier when he walked into the end of it, nobody knows if it were for comic effect or merely just an accident. Whatever Adam brought even more laughs from the jubilant audience on Friday night.

Wardrobe is also another area uncredited in the programme, but are all marvellous. From the simple black snug fitting black sweater and trousers for Alan Dangle to that wonderful tie, and especially the way that it was worn by Francis, the clothes were obviously very well thought out to extract even more comedic value from this show.

I could see this comedy over and over again and not see the same performance twice, in fact I could see this production over and over again full stop because the whole cast were wonderful, and they all looked to be loving just being part of the show, probably because they were being entertained while entertaining us, the audience.

There is a serious side of this particular production though and that is the charity that Regis are collecting for; Pancreatic Cancer UK. Andy's wife Lisa sadly passed away during the rehearsals of the play from Pancreatic Cancer, and the show is dedicated to Lisa.

If you want to give your chuckle muscles a good weekend workout, then pop along and see "One Man Two Guvnors" at the Duchess Theatre which ends with two more shows at 2.30 and 7.30 on Saturday 12 September.